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laleiaSo. As a direct result of reading Anne of Green Gables fanfic while listening to the soundtrack of the Anne of Gilbert musical, I got the sudden urge to write Anne of Green Gables fanfic, as might be expected. But not just any fanfic -- travesty!
Because it occurred to me that I had not come across a SINGLE Anne of Green Gables High School AU or Modern Day AU or AU of any significant sort. Which is a TOTAL travesty. (Also, a lie -- I just came across one just now but it is not worth my attention because it lacked commas.) And I was all set on committing an even greater travesty by writing one!
But then, I realized that I'd have to write all the bits where Anne disdains Gilbert, and I wasn't sure if I would have the heart to do that to poor Gilbert, nor the bits where poor Roy Gardner thinks he has a chance.
So then, I thought I could do one of those total AUs you see everywhere on ff.net ... you know the ones I'm talking about. The fanfics that are essentially Harlequin romances with the pairing in question in the starring roles. (I note that no matter how canon fanfics are criticized for writing OOC characters, said Harlequin romance-esque fanfics can completely distort the characters' personalities and give them SEVERE cases of Stockholm Syndrome, and nobody complains.) So you'd have Gilbert, the dashing pirate sweeping poor Anne the girl-who-must-dress-as-a-cabin-boy of her feet. Except that wouldn't work at all. As a plot. Because Anne is really not the dress-as-a-boy sort.
And then it came to me, that there's always the high school AU. You know. Anne is the quiet, bookish, orphan nerd who suddenly finds inexplicably hot, smart, and popular Gilbert Blythe has returned to school and she is no longer valedictorian! Oh noes! And as she struggles to beat him, maybe he shows interest in her? You know why this scenario would not work? I will enlighten you. Because there is no way in a modern high school, Gilbert would pull her pigtails, and she would whack him on the head. She was (I'm pretty sure) in middle school at the time. [Although, side note, if she lived in modern times, I imagine she'd be very much like Luna Lovegood.]
Also modern high school AUs tend to have a lot more sex and unplanned pregnancies than I feel is necessary in an Anne/Gilbert fic of any universe.
[Side Note 2: I have suddenly randomly having visions of an Anne of Green Gables prehistoric AU with caveman!Gilbert and cavewoman!Anne and cannot stop laughing.]
And then I thought, I could have one of those generic AU summaries "Anne feels all alone in the world, but then bad boy Gilbert Blythe comes into town and maybe she's not so alone after all." It would be filled with suitably emo song lyrics I would have to look up, not being a music connoisseur myself. But then I would lose all self-respect. Also, Gilbert is not really bad boy. Seeing as he gets top grades, wins scholarships, is pre-med, becomes a doctor, stays home to help his sick father, is super-brilliant, etc. Although perhaps it would not be a stretch if he owned a motorcycle, but I digress ...
The thing is, I don't think there could ever be a satisfying Anne/Gilbert fanfic, in my opinion. Because the best, best, best part of their romance is the part where Anne completely refuses to speak to him. (The worst part being when she thinks she likes Roy Gardner.) And I couldn't possibly bear to change the part where she refuses to speak to him, but couldn't possibly bear to write that part simply because I don't think I could write an Anne that could resist a Gilbert Blythe. So an AU would be out of the question, because the UST is irreplicable. Unreproducible. Etc.
I have no idea what my conclusion is, except perhaps that AUs are inherently ridiculous and I read so many anyways because it's just like a Harlequin romance, with less guilt involved.
Because it occurred to me that I had not come across a SINGLE Anne of Green Gables High School AU or Modern Day AU or AU of any significant sort. Which is a TOTAL travesty. (Also, a lie -- I just came across one just now but it is not worth my attention because it lacked commas.) And I was all set on committing an even greater travesty by writing one!
But then, I realized that I'd have to write all the bits where Anne disdains Gilbert, and I wasn't sure if I would have the heart to do that to poor Gilbert, nor the bits where poor Roy Gardner thinks he has a chance.
So then, I thought I could do one of those total AUs you see everywhere on ff.net ... you know the ones I'm talking about. The fanfics that are essentially Harlequin romances with the pairing in question in the starring roles. (I note that no matter how canon fanfics are criticized for writing OOC characters, said Harlequin romance-esque fanfics can completely distort the characters' personalities and give them SEVERE cases of Stockholm Syndrome, and nobody complains.) So you'd have Gilbert, the dashing pirate sweeping poor Anne the girl-who-must-dress-as-a-cabin-boy of her feet. Except that wouldn't work at all. As a plot. Because Anne is really not the dress-as-a-boy sort.
And then it came to me, that there's always the high school AU. You know. Anne is the quiet, bookish, orphan nerd who suddenly finds inexplicably hot, smart, and popular Gilbert Blythe has returned to school and she is no longer valedictorian! Oh noes! And as she struggles to beat him, maybe he shows interest in her? You know why this scenario would not work? I will enlighten you. Because there is no way in a modern high school, Gilbert would pull her pigtails, and she would whack him on the head. She was (I'm pretty sure) in middle school at the time. [Although, side note, if she lived in modern times, I imagine she'd be very much like Luna Lovegood.]
Also modern high school AUs tend to have a lot more sex and unplanned pregnancies than I feel is necessary in an Anne/Gilbert fic of any universe.
[Side Note 2: I have suddenly randomly having visions of an Anne of Green Gables prehistoric AU with caveman!Gilbert and cavewoman!Anne and cannot stop laughing.]
And then I thought, I could have one of those generic AU summaries "Anne feels all alone in the world, but then bad boy Gilbert Blythe comes into town and maybe she's not so alone after all." It would be filled with suitably emo song lyrics I would have to look up, not being a music connoisseur myself. But then I would lose all self-respect. Also, Gilbert is not really bad boy. Seeing as he gets top grades, wins scholarships, is pre-med, becomes a doctor, stays home to help his sick father, is super-brilliant, etc. Although perhaps it would not be a stretch if he owned a motorcycle, but I digress ...
The thing is, I don't think there could ever be a satisfying Anne/Gilbert fanfic, in my opinion. Because the best, best, best part of their romance is the part where Anne completely refuses to speak to him. (The worst part being when she thinks she likes Roy Gardner.) And I couldn't possibly bear to change the part where she refuses to speak to him, but couldn't possibly bear to write that part simply because I don't think I could write an Anne that could resist a Gilbert Blythe. So an AU would be out of the question, because the UST is irreplicable. Unreproducible. Etc.
I have no idea what my conclusion is, except perhaps that AUs are inherently ridiculous and I read so many anyways because it's just like a Harlequin romance, with less guilt involved.
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Date: 2008-07-10 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-11 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-12 12:49 am (UTC)Haha, that's true. But after all, a guy like Gilbert can only, but the laws of love and irony, fall for someone like Anne. It's too bad I only read the first three books.