In your TSAMS AUs, do the characters personalities, motivations and relationships tend to be the same/similar to canon or different? How different from canon are they? In what ways?
Hmm. I couldnât begin to answer this for every single one, but Iâll give examples and an overall explanation.
The whole point of it being an AU is to explore how a world and circumstances affect a characterâs development, what would have had to happened for them to resemble the character they are in canon, or for relationships to happen how I want them to. I ask myself about what needs to happen in order for them to be familiar enough to still be that character, but different enough to be interesting in a fresh way. What happens next entirely depends on what my intent is with the AU.
For example, in monster hunter (EAPS group), Ruin is trying to get Eclipse to be cooperative with him so they A. Donât get themselves killed in the wilderness due to miscommunication and grudges and B. So they donât hate their jobs and burn out. My intent with this specific AU is to explore what Ruin and Eclipseâs relationship could have looked like if they actually were able to collaborate and have a good relationship in early-mid EAPS. Ruin and Eclipse donât have the same history together that they do in canon, itâs impossible to accomplish in this AU, so instead I give Eclipse reasons to genuinely dislike Ruin that maybe arenât exactly ruinâs fault at all. Maybe for his attitude, how chipper he is all the time, maybe eclipse doesnât like to be led by the hand or to be the one who doesnât know what heâs doing. Maybe Eclipse hasnât gotten over the reasons why he accepted the expedition offer to the forbidden land in the first place; because he felt unwanted at home, like he was a guest. Like how eclipse was before he left TSAMS to go to EAPS. Maybe he didnât get along well with his previous team, so his team decided to just leave him out. Or eclipse decided they didnât need him first, before they could decide that for themselves, to save himself that hurt of rejection.
Thatâs me setting the stage for in-AU-universe reasons for characters to be the way they are.
Some characters look closer to their canon counterparts than others. In my most recent viva piĂąata au, Dahlia is different; heâs never seen war. That world doesnât have a lot of physical conflict in general, like that. Instead, I amplify his history with Willow and Nightshade, I give him regrets and lasting consequences and an empty home with physical, painful reminders of what used to be. He still has Dahliaâs core personality traits, but his upbringing is different because the AU canât exactly supply an equivalent that makes sense.
However, in that same AU, Carme is closer to canon in a specific way. He used to be part of a merchantâs fleet, helped around wherever needed, with Rigel. He got off the ship one day and never got back on. He and Rigel are still on talking terms; the ship comes to town every now and then, but Carme avoids Rigel because Rigel keeps suggesting Carme come back, come sail the seas and see new places with him again. But Carme wants to settle down and be on his own. That conflict is similar to what they are in canon, just scaled way down and more personal. Itâs about finding what parts of a character can be switched out and what needs to be a constant. Like for Carme, the circus part doesnât matter so long as the âI left so I could have freedom and autonomy but Rigel wants me to come backâ conflict is there, so heâs instantly more familiar because thatâs how he is in canon.
So. Tldr. It varies with my intent. Maybe Iâll make a relationship between two characters better or worse intentionally, to find out what happens. Or Iâll experiment with how much I can change about a character and still have them be recognizable. Sometimes they are exactly the same and I donât change anything. ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ