PT and OT alternate universes

Just wondering, what do you all think of PT and OT AU's? I'm thinking about writing a PT/OT AU, but when I think about it, I'm not sure if it's that great. What would you define as a GOOD PT/OT AU -- what elements are good, or what tones for the fic? I'm a humor writer, so writing something serious is a bit hard for me, and I'd appreciate any tips.

 

Remember the Masks of Drama: Comedy and Tragedy.

The PT and the OT is still a treasure trove ripe for explotiation and exploration even thought the NJO is starting to come around. But the areas I think are not explored is the time inbetween and prior to the PT; you want to talk about creating your own astral plane of an AU, you talk to me about that.

Could it be all entirely comedy? Absolutely! Humor is just as simple as breathing; without it we turn blue and die. You could create all sorts of comical situations if you apply yourself to the known data.

OR be couragous; make up the entire AU. Create new characters and have them interact with new characters: that's pure creativity and it can be a draw of new readers; just remember characterization is what makes a reader relate to the characters.

Nothing says 'I'm not afraid of Writer's Block' than creating your own thing using SW as a template.

If you do PT and OT and you want to slip away from comedy, then I say be daring; it never hurts. And yes, in comedy there is tragedy; just remember, psychos and evil dudes have to laugh too.

 

I don't know about that. An AU with all original characters... it's hard to see where the changes to the universe are if we're with complete strangers. The AU almost by definition is about the established characters, and how they would be if the situation were different.

There are a lot of "What if Amidala is alive?" and "What if Anakin didn't turn?" types (I'm guilty as charged on both counts), so you might want to try something a little more off the wall. What if the Jedi didn't fight the Empire, and someone was able to call off the fight against them? What if Palpy decided that it was even better to have enslaved Jedi than dead Jedi? What if Mace had agreed to allow them to be held for ransom?

I assume by PT/OT AU, you mean creating an AU where the PT has more interaction with the OT?

Hmmm.

What if the Trade Federation, furious at being betrayed by the anti-alien Empire, started bankrolling the Rebellion?

What if Watto decided that Qui-Gon cheated him, and decides to claim Luke Skywalker as a "replacement" slave for Anakin, and Owen and Beru can't afford to buy him back?

What if Jar Jar Binks visited Alderaan, met Leia, and decided to tell her the whole story?

What if Threepio hit a weird memory block, and his logic found a way around it, and he remembered his creation and original owner?

What if a Tusken chief realized who Vader was and confronted him?

What if a Tusken chief found Luke in the desert and recognized his name? And what if Vader suddenly started having dreams about his young son captured and in pain?

What if the child Lando met Jedi during the Clone Wars? And what if he helped one escape?

 

Well the definition of AU is very broad; you can still have the same situations happening, but have different characters doing something else and still have it be part of the plot, or be grander in scale; it can be done, it's not impossible, and it is AU.

It doesn't have to be completely What if really. I think it is based on how close you want to be to the original universe; of course using established characters get you there. But it can be done; I've been doing it now with success for two years and over 50 stories later.

 

Thanks for the help But I guess I should be more specific with my own idea. It's kind of a fic with a "different type of balance" going on with the whole prophecy thing. It screws up where everyone is supposed to be (all canon characters, I don't like reading/writing fics with originals that much), mixes personalities of people, and the PT and OT are tied together a lot closer. I've only ever read one PT/OT AU called "Conduit" and it put the PT characters in an OT situation. I've seen others like "By the Grace of Lady Vader" and the "what if Leia got her ride?" fics on the boards, but I have yet to read them. What my fic does is completely tear apart what happened in the saga and rearrange it as Picasso might have. I'm going for a serious overtone, with a slight glossing of humor, and it's sort of someone in which you're not really sure who's who for a while.

But what I'm really not sure of is if it's worth really going through with -- like, what makes an AU idea good? The idea has been bugging me like hell since a couple weeks before episode 2, so that's the reason I'm trying to see now if there's an especially good way to go about writing it. And I really appreciate the help!

 

The key to making a good AU is that it's plausible. What makes an AU work is the ability of the reader to recognize the characters and believe that in the new situation, they would react in these new ways. For instance, a fic in which Amidala was never queen and born on another world, and never met Anakin (who was discovered by the Jedi at birth and raised properly by their standards) would be believable if she was still, at her core, Padme Naberrie. If the character were presented with a choice between serving her people and living a hedonistic life as one of Jabba's dancing girls, she would choose to serve. It may take a totally different direction, and could even be dark (as it is in "Lady Vader"), but it would be in character, and therefore plausible as an AU.

 

Hmmm...very interesting. Thanks for pointing that out, I wouldn't have realized that concept if you hadn't