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Okay, a friend of mine, being a dutiful reader and replying to a fic they thought was well written and entertaining, told a pair of authors that they did a great job with characterization in their fic. The pair of authors - very well known in the GW writing community, wrote back saying that while they appreciated the compliment, any characterization that seemed in character was entirely accidental - because all their fics were AU and by definition, they didn't have to be in character.
Now, I do appreciate the candidness there - but what the hell? Since when did AU imply OOC? AU merely stands, as was my understanding for the past 7 years, for Alternate Universe. This means that characters in the fanfic are found in situations/environments that fall outside of the canon. It doesn't mean, and never has, OOC or Out of Character. In fact, it's always been my opinion that AUs actually need to be in character more so that the readers can identify who the characters are. It should not be by name alone. An AU with OOC characters is an original piece of fiction. It's not fanfic. If nothing is there to reflect the characters or the plot of the show - there is nothing there that a fan would recognize. Authors need to have a little confidence and post that stuff to original fiction sites/list which are found all over the net.
What are the opinions of others on this matter?
While I'm ranting - comedy/humor writers. . . OOCing the characters does not a comedy make. The humor is more appreciated when you nail the characterization. Also, the more plausible the situation, the funnier it is. Few people can get away with out and out slapstick. Great when it's done well, really, really horrid when it's not. 3% of the writing population does slapstick well. Please, please, please, stop.
Today's Send a Hug: A friend of mine is having a horrible few days. Those of you that know her, please send a note of encouragement. *HUG*
Now, I do appreciate the candidness there - but what the hell? Since when did AU imply OOC? AU merely stands, as was my understanding for the past 7 years, for Alternate Universe. This means that characters in the fanfic are found in situations/environments that fall outside of the canon. It doesn't mean, and never has, OOC or Out of Character. In fact, it's always been my opinion that AUs actually need to be in character more so that the readers can identify who the characters are. It should not be by name alone. An AU with OOC characters is an original piece of fiction. It's not fanfic. If nothing is there to reflect the characters or the plot of the show - there is nothing there that a fan would recognize. Authors need to have a little confidence and post that stuff to original fiction sites/list which are found all over the net.
What are the opinions of others on this matter?
While I'm ranting - comedy/humor writers. . . OOCing the characters does not a comedy make. The humor is more appreciated when you nail the characterization. Also, the more plausible the situation, the funnier it is. Few people can get away with out and out slapstick. Great when it's done well, really, really horrid when it's not. 3% of the writing population does slapstick well. Please, please, please, stop.
Today's Send a Hug: A friend of mine is having a horrible few days. Those of you that know her, please send a note of encouragement. *HUG*
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Yeah . . . I still say the authors would be a lot better off if they actually thought about what they wrote rather than wrote a fic for every little idea that crossed their minds. Like write now, for instance, I'm noodling over a silly fic idea for placing the Gundam Pilots and the Oz crew as opposing teams in Junk Yard Wars. It was a silly fun thing to think up while riding the bus, but would it work and would people care - that's the question ;)
As for your AU "two ways" comment - I mentioned the same two ways just above. Nope. The comment was that they didn't have to write in character, didn't even want to write in character, because they were writing AUs. It was actually being very arrogant about it - and in my opinion tried to belittle the person that replied to their fic. I know it's hard to believe, I certainly do not understand this, but some people really think that AU means no rules whatsoever. Anything goes. And because they're popular writers, I guess they can get away with it. So I guess that means there's also a big audience for OOC/AU fics - but then, there's also a big audience for bodice ripper romances. Doesn't make them good. *shrug*