*waves*

[sage]

Helllllllllooooooo, AU-makers! We are SO GLAD you're playing in the Alternate Universe challenge, and we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who's contributed to the GIANT BRAINSTORMING POST OF AWESOME! If you haven't looked lately, go check it out. It's still open to new suggestions, and everyone is welcome to jump in (again and again) at any point.

Right now we want to give y'all a place to chat about what you might want to make. Feel free to ask for or offer help, work out logistics, recruit co-creators, ask research questions, request help with plot or format ideas, crowdsource ideas for your AU fanworks-to-be, and so on!

Comment Policy:
Kindly be respectful! We have a wild array of fannish loves in this challenge, and so we expect ALL characters, pairings, fandoms, and fanwork-formats to be treated with respect, no matter how far out in left field you might think they are. Please leave the "My OTP is the BEST!" jingoism at the door, okay? There's totally enough fannish love here for everyone!

Deadlines:
The first posting weekend is in 9 weeks! The last one is in 29 weeks. ALL types of fanworks are welcome, of whatever length/complexity, so let's get started!

Optional questions:
What are you making/going to make?
How far have you gotten?
When/how did you find DS/C6D fandom?

The next check-in post will go up in 2 weeks, but they'll become weekly as the deadlines near. As always, if you have any questions, let us know! \o/

Comments

[ardyforshort]

What are you making/going to make? How far have you gotten?

Oh my... At the moment, I seem to be massively drawn to fantasy/supernatural elements, but the real challenge is to a)decide which specific elements I want and which canon I want to mix them with, and b)to somehow make a 'verse with those elements that can stand on its own two feet and is way further away from canon than what I've done so far.

The problem with this is that I am fairly terrible at plot and writing long things, and I do better with loosely connected stories, but worldbuilding works better with long stories. So... I'm not sure. Still at the contemplative stage of the process. I need to knuckle down.

When/how did you find DS/C6D fandom?
Very, very recently. I'd seen people talking about due South for as long as I can remember being on the internet, but it only ever occurred to me to actually watch it when my friend Amy (flawedamythyst) mentioned it some time last autumn. She's a big fan. Thankfully, the series is on YouTube these days. Started watching, bought the DVDs after I'd seen S1, mainlined the series in about two months, then started branching out first in Paul Gross' direction to Men in Brooms (thanks to Amy) and S&A, then in CKR's to Hard Core Logo and Wilby Wonderful. Currently hooked on Flashpoint, and very happy to have found the online comms, because they're full of fab people :)

[sage]

You can always do small vignettes! Epic AU works are awesome, but they're a hell of a commitment, and, as you say, plot can be really really hard, especially on a large scale. Go with what works for you!

And welcome to the fandom! If you're a fan of theatre/Shakespeare at all, you should put Slings & Arrows on your list, too. It is smart, fun, and Paul Gross' Geoffrey is AMAZING. (FWIW, the first episode is the most, ah, problematic? of the lot, as they're setting so much up. After that, it's soooo good.)

[ardyforshort]

Aw, thanks for the encouragement! I'll see what happens. I have a couple of vague ideas so maybe I can work a couple of snapshot/vignette type things.

S&A is on the list, you just overlooked it :D I've watched up to midway through S2 now. I made Amy come to my house the other weekend so I could introduce her to it. She didn't complain, strangely enough...

[sage]

Oops, that's what I get for multitasking. YAY S&A! And yay vignettes! I'm partly tempted to try to do drabbles for a whole bunch of random ideas on the list, but that's largely because my writing muses are still AWOL. *sigh*

[ardyforshort]

Drabble is what I do when all else fails, so I am in favour of this plan *nods encouragingly*

[luzula]

At the moment, I seem to be massively drawn to fantasy/supernatural elements, but the real challenge is to a)decide which specific elements I want and which canon I want to mix them with

Oh, that sounds interesting! What are your ideas so far (if you want to tell, of course--sometimes it feels better to keep them to yourself until you're done thinking about them)?

[ardyforshort]

Thanks for asking! I think this is one of those cases where talking is better than silence, so, um, prepare for length.

You've seen what I've done with Wilby, so that's one way to go. Well, two ways, actually, but I figure the second one would be easier as there is more source material. Making it completely AU would involve quite a different tack from what I've done so far though, so it's challenging, but definitely possible.

I also had this random classic fantasy setting idea some weeks ago, about Ray K being some sort of old bard kind of character who tells stories about the adventures of his youth at the tavern fire on cold winter nights. The idea being to retell the relevant parts of due South as a fantasy story (this involves figuring out what the relevant parts are and whether to take it as a classic "a stranger comes to town" tale or put a romance spin on it or what). It's grown since I first thought about it though and there's various ways this one could go. He could actually tell the story, or the tavern could just be a framing device, or the story of Ray and Fraser could be a legend that's been told in various ways through the ages... I don't know. I just really like the idea of old Ray and stories at the fireplace. (I blame "Likely Story".) And I should probably figure out what happened to Fraser in this 'verse, because Ray on his own is a sad kind of concept.

There's a couple other ideas that I'm kind of flirting with at the moment, but these are the ones that I've got the farthest with so far. Any comments welcome :)

[luzula]

Ooh, I like the idea of old fireside Ray and retelling dS as fantasy-style legends. That could be really cool. And now I'm getting the image of Fraser as a sort of shining knight, Lancelot-style. "From underneath his helmet flowed/his coal-black curls as on he rode." Er, sorry, I have The Lady of Shalott on the brain. *g*

Anyway, it sounds like the telling-stories-by-the-fireside idea could lend itself to a sort of snapshot/episodic format if you want?

[ardyforshort]

Oh, I like this :D
If Fraser is the knight in shining armor, that would make Ray the damsel in distress though...

Okay, yeah, ACCURATE.

I hadn't thought of it as being suited to an episodic format but now you say it, I can see how that could work. TYK!

[sage]

Also: Trusty Sidekick! Arthur/Launcelot is canon, after all, depending on which canon you go with. *g*

[ardyforshort]

Ahaha, trufax on Arthur/Launcelot.
This is starting to take shape. An odd sort of shape but shape all the same \o/