Snowflake Challenge 2022 #3: What If...?

Challenge #3 asks us to cast our imagination from things that are into things that might have been.

In your own space, put some favorite characters into an AU, fuse some favorite canons together, or tell us why AU/fusions aren't your cup of tea.

Before I get too far into this, I should probably define some terms, so that way you can look at me strange about where I'm getting my ideas from. These are my own thoughts, so if I contradict Fanlore or something, it's probably because I'm not well read.

( Definitions and Examples )

So I guess the reason I'm intrigued about AU prompts and fusions and the like is the challenge they dangle in front of me. Can I keep these characters recognizable and true to themselves while transplanting them into an entirely new setting? What parts of their backstory change? How do they channel the energy and activity they would be doing in their original setting into the new setting, where conflicts have to be resolved with words and cutting remarks instead of shields and cutting swords? How well can I hide the seams of what's been created, so the experience looks smooth and reasonable to the intended audience? Those things remain fascinating to me, and they apparently always have been. I have evidence of some of my earliest writing, and I can see how I learned to stitch in them. Like first craft projects, I can see where there were difficulties and mistakes and where things didn't quite align just right, but I can also see what I was learning there, what I was trying to emphasize, and what gets better and smoother with time and practice. Even then, I was doing a lot of my learning by trying to fit different worlds together.

Here's to crossovers and fusions, and AUs cozy and strange. And for descriptive enough tags that someone who wants only to engage with the canon-compliant can find what they want.