Subject: AU =/= crossover.
Author:
Posted on: 2010-09-08 23:21:00 UTC
People get "Improbable (AUs)" and "Implausible (Crossovers)" mixed up all the time. {= )
(And then there's also the Department of Improbabilities...)
~Neshomeh
Does anyone have any ideas on what the flash patch for the Department of Improbable AUs should look like? I'm asking because I want to do a few Danny/Laura punishment missions dealing with AUs and there's almost no details regarding the DIAU itself, including the flash patch (http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/DepartmentofImprobable_AUs).
My ideas:
-- A white upside-down question mark
-- A rubin vase (the vase-two faces optical illusion)
-- A mirror
-- Layered images of the Earth
-- A coin balanced on its edge
Thoughts? Concerns?
Seeing as the voting is stuck at three (and I never officially cast my vote), I am going to break the tie and make the Rubin vase the flash patch design of the Department of Improbable AUs.*
If anyone has any questions or concerns, feel free to let me know.
*Because that's my idea and I'm awful like that.
What does the Rubin Vase represent in order for it to be connected to The Improbable AUs Department, anyway? I can understand the other two choices (the lightning and the broken mirror), but I'm just wondering about the vase.
(No offense to anyone).
The Thoughtful Answer
Think of the canonical universe as the two faces and the alternative universe as the vase. All it takes to go from one to the other is a change in perspective, which is provided by the fic author. Good AUs make the illusion work, whereas poor AUs give you headaches. The DIAU agent's job is to cull out the weak realities (badfics) and leave the strong ones (goodfics) be.
The Not-So-Thoughtful Answer
It represents the same thing as a cactus does for the Department of Mary Sues.
Reduced to three:
-- A rubin vase
-- Twin lighting bolts striking the same spot
-- A mirror (presumably an image of a mirror and not an actual mirror)
It just seems so appropriate.
...because it was my idea and I'm awful like that. :)
for the Department of Improbable AU, and cast the vote for twin lightening strikes hitting the same place for the Department of Improbabilities.
three each, but that they came in perfectly alternated.
Is a compromise possible? A rubin vase sort of image made with lightning bolts?
I'd have to sketch it and scan it, and I'm in a bit of a hurry now. Later today, maybe, or tomorrow.
It'd help if anyone has any specific ideas about how to arrange it.
The rubin vase effect needs a shared border between two images to make the effect, and I haven't been able to make anything out of the borders of two lightning bolts except two lightning bolts - everything else comes out looking like abstract art. I'll keep trying, but don't bet on it.
As a side note, I stand by my original vote for the rubin vase.
eventhough the two lightningbolts could be good as well.
If it ends up being a rubin vase, though, I think it should be an odd-shaped one--maybe with a unicorn horn, or something. If possible.
~Neshomeh + $0.02
Because my agents are going to be in Improbable AU (whenever I actually get to write about them... things are getting in the way), I was going to ask just this question! Also, how the missions work. I read a bit of despatch and thought it sounded similar: the canon has to be neuralized and portalled back to wherever he/she belongs.
I like the question mark a lot, second the mirror (not sure how you'd put it on, though), but not the other three. I guess maybe the coin. I don't have ideas myself.
Please make sure I don't get left out of this, because whenever I can write (soon I hope), this will be my department!
If you want a simple image, two lightning bolts--for the phrase "lightning strikes twice in the same place", meaning an extremely unlikely event. Of course, lightning does strike some places repeatedly (depending on elevation and location)--but improbable AUs are actually highly probable because there are so many badfic writers! I think it kinda fits.
A little like your balanced-on-edge coin, but doesn't take a 3-d image. And not so continuum-specific as the whale/petunias idea.
The Despatch flash patch has a single lightning bolt, but I don't think it would be too confusing. Visually it would be quite different enough.
The two bolts would have to meet at a single point, naturally.
~Neshomeh
I also like the mirror for its more direct symbolism, but it would be a rather hard thing to embroider on a flash patch - unless you want agents to actually have small mirrors on their shoulders, which may or may not be a Good Idea.
I also like the sperm whale and bowl of petunias ;) (Though in all fairness, maybe that should be just for DIAU agents that work in Hitchhiker's fics, as it's rather fandom-specific, and no other flash patch that I know of has something from a particular fandom on it.)
Sounds nice and easy to me, then again I have been making flash patches so I am a tad bit bias towards simple symbols.
A cracked mirror, perhaps? It's bad luck, and it portrays the crudiness of improbable crossovers! *is then shot for explaining the joke*
People get "Improbable (AUs)" and "Implausible (Crossovers)" mixed up all the time. {= )
(And then there's also the Department of Improbabilities...)
~Neshomeh
The suggestion still stands, at least. I had the right idea but used the wrong words.
It's a bit too continuum specific, as Sedri mentioned in her post. That's why I didn't post my full idea for the mirror (that it should have a goatee in it). I think we should shoot for something a little more general.