#yes aus aren't my cup of tea yes I wrote a 350k au

[bookwyrminspiration]

One of my favorite parts of writing AUs is taking characters that have X relationship in canon and giving them Y relationship in the AU, especially if that changes their character arc. I haven't read a lot of the wings AU, but I was wondering what you thought of this/general AU thoughts? - Amethyst

Well since I wrote the wings au, I happen to know a lot about it! And love to talk about it! And can tell you that I adore doing these sorts of things, the most notable being in the wings au where I altered the relationships between the characters.

I removed all romance between them and decided they were one big family that all loved each other, even if they annoyed each other at times, and it was delightful. I was able to explore the characters in a depth the romance drama wouldn't have allowed, which also led to scenes that either wouldn't have happened or would have a very different context in canon (like the sokeefitz cuddle scene in one particular chapter). It allowed some of them to be much more open with and supportive of each other, so I love it.

it's a wonderful exercise and method of self-expression, allowing you to truly tailor your story to be your own. Sure, I could've written the romantic drama, but then it wouldn't have been a story for me, I would've been following someone else's script. AUs are for creativity and messing around with the plot, that's the whole point! You're making new situations and interactions! Character dynamics are also part of that, though depending on how extreme you can lose people (like if I were to switch Tam and Keefe's personalities entirely).

General AU thoughts: I'm actually, surprisingly, typically uninterested in AUs. Not because they're bad or anything like that, AUs are wonderful creative ventures and I fully support everyone making them! I just happen to be someone who enjoys canon--you'll find a particular lack of headcanons and similar things on my blog, as it just doesn't interest me the way it does others. And AUs are often too divorced from the original story I enjoyed for it to hold much appeal to me.

Kinda ironic considering I wrote an AU, but if you read it you may notice that the way I did so, it's an entirely plausible (if absurdly unlikely) extension of keeper. It fits into canon. I may take it a step further, but everything works with canon.

So my general thoughts are: AUs are lovely! I love seeing what people can do with the characters and the stories they create! I love the creativity and thought and dedication. At the same time, with complete transparency despite the irony, they're not my particular cup of tea given the canon divergence. I fully believe that if I stumbled upon my own wings au on ao3 I would pass it by because it was an AU (I already rarely read fic, though).

That's not to say I won't enjoy or support anyone who makes an AU and wants to share it, as I'd be overjoyed to do so! I know at least one nonsie talked about working on one, and I hope theirs goes well and I'm curious about it!