Why Human AU:
the value in stripping away the supernatural
thatotherperv
I think that making the characters human can sometimes deconstruct their personalities and relationships and rebuild them again…in a way that, for me, is sometimes very revealing of the puppet strings that hold the Buffyverse together.
Vague spoilers through As5 Not Fade Away, to be safe.
A while back, Madame Meretrix asked if I would be interested in writing a human AU manifesto. Pretty much, I said no. It’s something I have given a great deal of thought to (the value of human AU), ever since I first realized there was a rift in the fandom over whether or not it’s the thing to do. Whether or not it’s still fanfic if you’ve taken away such essential elements of a character.
I thought it was an interesting question, actually, because when I first found human AU, my initial reaction was not “WTF????” It was…fascination and intrigue It didn’t occur to me at the time that it could be a controversial thing. I guess it must have been a good fic, to strike me that way. Then as I poked around more, and found apologetics attached to otherwise excellent fic, I realized from my then-outsider’s perspective that there was controversy over the genre.
I think that was the first time I became aware of fandom politics. Ah, it was a more innocent time :)
I had considered the idea of writing meta on the subject in the past, and I had decided against it. Some politics, fandom or real life, aren’t worth touching, because you reach an opinion saturation point. The lines are drawn and minds are made up, and you might as well let things lie. but this essay has been stirring at the back of my mind for some time now, and it’s not going to shut up until it’s out there. I have some worthwhile things to say on the subject, and it’s a question I’ve been circling around more and more.
I’ll strive to say something intelligent.
I’ve read human AU, or its equivalent, in fandoms outside the Buffyverse, and in my experience, it rarely works. POTC, for example: If you take the pirate out of Captain Jack, all you’re left with, really, is a self-absorbed queen with Johnny Depp’s face (not to say this idea doesn’t have its merits, hee). If you put Elizabeth in the current century, her unusual chutzpah becomes commonplace. AU spn? Well, I mean, if you take the supernatural out of Supernatural, you’re left with two brothers who bicker a lot, and perhaps love one another too much (nudge, nudge), which doesn’t really interest me. Okay, actually, it interests me a little, because I’m a pervert. But you lose the uniqueness of Dean and Sam.
Something gets lost in translation…some defining quality that can’t be transmuted into a modern, non-supernatural universe. *Integral* qualities of the character, which, once removed, turn the individual into an OC with a pale resemblance to that character from that show with the thing and the stuff.
So why, in the right hands, does it work in the Buffyverse?
Because the supernatural qualities of our characters do not define them, imo. Is vampirism an important part of who Angel and Spike are? Obviously. Has being the Slayer shaped Buffy’s life in a crucial way? A resounding yes. And the same can be said for Willow, Oz, Dru, Darla…everyone.
But the thing that allows us to connect to these characters—the characteristics that make them who they *are*—are in the end, quite human. Spike is that guy you know, who falls in love too quickly and isn’t careful with his heart. Or he’s that kid who’s had a rough go of it, and built up a tough shell. Or he’s the friend who generally wants the world to fuck itself, but can be fiercely loyal to the chosen few. Angel’s story—well, you’ve seen him on the news…the one who’s unable to forgive himself for something he’s done. Or he’s that guy you knew in high school that was a raging asshole back in the day, who surprised everyone by becoming a decent guy after life dealt him a nasty blow. He’s the friend that doubts everything good that comes across his path till you want to throttle him. He’s the one with the sense of humor that not everyone gets, the weakness for a certain type of woman that usually means trouble, a stubborn streak a mile wide and a vein of darkness running through a deceptively upstanding personality. And Buffy—there are girls like her, forged by something other than a mystical calling. I know a few. Girls that were hit with life’s ugly truths a little too early. It made them stronger, more grounded, and they didn’t always handle it gracefully, but they handled it the best they could, and better than most would.
We know these people. They are not pale, two-dimensional puppets serving a Twilight-Zone-eque premise. Take away the supernatural, give them the right back-story to support the development of their canon personalities, and they’re still them. They’re flawed, and they’re complex, and they’re real, and they are the reason I could never leave this fandom for any other fandom *I’ve* met in all seriousness. There are certain things that I wouldn’t care to thank Joss for, but I cannot fault him on characterization.
Hell, I think Spike and Angel are more wholeheartedly human than a lot of human characters in television and film.
Well that explains why you *can* do it, but why should you? Or rather, why should anyone? Why would anyone want to.
Honestly, some of it is just kink. I’m guilty of this (though I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty for it). Teen Spike gets my rocks off. As does whore Spike, or dirty-old-man Spike, or (dear sweet lord) power-exec dark!Angel. They take aspects of the character which get you off and super kinkify them. I have a special place in my heart for making human AU Spike or Angel as morally questionable as their vampire selves. There’s something about a *human* doing those things that makes that bad boy side of them more delicious.
Is it a serious venture, turning them human to slavishly serve The Kink? Well, uh…no. I would call my orgy Spander a lot of things, but “serious” isn’t one of them. I think that it’s better if you integrate the roundness of the character in canon, but in the name of kink, I can forgive one-dimensional characterization.
But as shallow as I purport myself to be, this is not the real reason I love human AU. Some of the coolest human AUs explore canon characteristics or themes or dynamics in a new and refreshing way.
In a fandom that’s entering middle age, new and refreshing is a rare thing. Seriously.
There’s something about stripping the supernatural elements out of these characters that brings to fruition some of the seeds Joss planted, in a way that can get lost in the familiarity and white noise of canon. I think that making the characters human can sometimes deconstruct their personalities and relationships and rebuild them again…in a way that, for me, is sometimes very revealing of the puppet strings that hold the Buffyverse together.
Why *does* Spike have such knee-jerk, sometimes childish opposition to Angel? The obvious answer in canon is Angelus’ past (mis)treatment of him, as seen in Destiny. But there are other possibilities…the answer can be more complex, even though in canon, it’s tempting to stop there. What about the way Spike has interacted with his peers in the past? What about unrequited attraction (or attraction perceived to be unrequited)? What about bitterly disappointed hero worship? What about personal insecurity? How much of a role does each of these play in their dynamic? To me, human AU can give a blank page to explore possibilities like these, because it removes them from the givens of canon. Think of it as the scientific method. With porn.
Some examples of folks who have pulled this off? I always thought the concept of blood (or evil) as addiction was hokey as hell (though not as hokey as ‘magic as addiction’…that’s another story), until I read Meretrix’s Street Hassle(one-shot). The issue there is drug addiction, not blood/evil, but it mirrors canon so well that after I read that fic, I got it. Understood the merit and the canon seeds of that idea. It also has great things to say about the dysfunctional nature of Spike and Angel’s relationship, the one-upsmanship of evil, and why post-soul Angel might have wanted to distance himself from Spike in canon.
I think Casey’s It’s an Ache (wip) has dark, fascinating things to say about how Angel’s relationship to Spike is informed by his own upbringing, and how Spike really looks back on Angelus’ influence in his life…the mixed emotions there. The complex, fucked-up emotions that Angelus could have had for William…yes. Just yes. It uses their canon personalities to serve a human story, but it resonates heavily with canon in places.
I think Felis’ Closer (short series) can be read as allegory for the abuse and bad blood in Spike and Angel’s past, and how it might be possible to get past all that now that they’re different people. (it also has some very disturbing / thought-provoking things to say about kink and consensuality and personal lines…and how fucking complex our emotions can get when it comes to sex and power.)
EvilManicLaugh’s Lil Devils (series) or Shrew’s Three Quid Whore (series)…well those fics speak better (for me) to how Spike and Xander would *be* together in canon than most canon-set fics I’ve read. (it should be said that I have a dark view of that ‘ship).
And it’s what I’ve tried to do in Wayward Boys—explore how Angel’s three “personalities” interact and inform who he is—though it’s probably less effective than I’d like because I’ve bastardized Liam a bit, in order to distinguish him from the other two.
The funny thing is, I doubt most of these folks set out to say something new and different about canon. It just worked out that way, from translocating the characters and rebuilding their lives and relationships from the ground up—and it worked out because they understand their characters. I think good human AU requires a *very* good understanding of your characters, if you’re going to pull it off. You have to understand them well enough to pay tribute to their canon characteristics while also serving the story you’re telling. It ain’t easy, folks.
There’s sort of a third category of human AU, and I think most long human AU wips fit in here. They’re more than kink, but they don’t particularly have anything new to say to canon. They simply ask “what if,” the same way canon AUs do.
This fandom is big, and it’s embarking on its second decade. There are very few canon scenarios that have not been done, and done to death. You get to a point where 99% of fic is derivative. This is the reason I told myself a long time ago that I’d never write fanfic. It seemed that everything had been done, and done better than I could ever hope to do it.
Human AU, though, seemed rife with possibilities, and that’s what brought me out of the shadows. A host of new universes in which to explore the characters we love. A whole new world of ways to keep them alive—walking, talking, making choices, falling in love. I think Kat’s Bent Justice is a shining example of this (honestly, this is when I fell hard for human AU). Jan’s Soapstone is another. In both of those fics, Spike and Angel are…Spike and Angel. Spike is jaded and snarky with a well-hidden soft spot. Angel is more idealistic than Spike in his worldview, but just as stubborn. They clash, and they click—hate fight love fuck. But instead of doing it in California over mugs of blood, they do it in the prison system, or the Vietnam War. And both make for very interesting, entertaining reads. As does Inca’s Mainline, though explaining the approach in that fic would screw up the plot twist.
In these ‘what-if’ human AUs, the characters might not react to a situation as they would in canon, even when the characterization is solid. Altered circumstances and differences in back-story can have subtle effects on how the same personality will deal with something. I enjoy seeing what authors will do with this concept.
There is a lot of canon fic that I love. I have my favorite canon authors who bring canon to life again. I have canon bunnies that strike me over the head that prove worth writing. But if I have to choose between a stale has-been canon scenario and a human AU whose setting is a little out there? Quality of characterization and writing being equal, I’m going to go with something new and different.
That’s my two cents, folks. They’re shiny, but they ain’t worth much. Dissenting opinions are welcomed and encouraged.
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