Special Episode 16: Tropefest: Canon-Divergent AU
What-ifs, left turns, and the kinds of things that fans like to change.
In the second special episode in the “Tropefest” series, Flourish and Elizabeth dig into Elizabeth’s favorite type of fic, the canon-divergent AU. They discuss mirror universes, postcolonial literature, the relationship between plot and character, and the specific ways that canon-divergent fics are intertextually entwined with the source material.
Show Notes
[00:00:00] As always, our intro music is “Awel” by stefsax, used under a CC BY 3.0 license. This time, it’s also our interstitial music.
[00:01:35] We’ve done one other Tropefest episode so far, Special Episode #15, “Tropefest: Trapped Together.”
[00:05:03]
[00:08:42] “Stealing Harry” by Copperbadge.
[00:13:52] The Dark!Charles fic that Elizabeth was only able to read once is “Us” by Pangea. Please heed the tags! Including “choose not to warn.”
[00:19:28] Flourish cannot bear to show you a picture of Jaime and Brienne being sad, so here is a gif of them (well, the actors) being happy.
[00:37:11]
[00:42:45] The novel Flourish is referring to is The Crown of Dalemark by Diana Wynne Jones.
[00:44:02] This American Life, “Gardens of Branching Paths.”
[00:56:19] The Game of Thrones showrunners famously told an audience at the Austin Film Festival that the show was like “expensive film school.” An audience member live-tweeted the comments, and the response was as you might expect.
