Question...

[bluflamingo]

Say you've got a '5 things' prompt which is '4 ways x didn't happen and 1 way it did.' How would you write to that prompt: 4 possibilities that we know didn't happen, almost like tiny AUs, and one that could happen? Or actually 4 ways it didn't happen, like 4 accounts of something not happening nad one account of it happening? Either? Neither? Something else?

And if you did see someone doing the one you didn't pick, would it be wrong to you, or just a different interpretation?

The things I end up contemplating while formatting the next round of sg1_five_things prompts!! Which reminds me-there's a bit of a derth of responses this time around, and the deadline's not till Monday...

Comments

[carta.livejournal.com]

I've never really understood the "4 ways x didn't happen and 1 way it did" thing to begin with. If they're written as little AU snippets, then what's the difference between the four that didn't happen and the one that did? So your question of how people write them is kind of my question about how to READ them.

(Also, as a genre, they tend to be really short. :\ Sometimes I feel like I've read five story excerpts, and was cheated out of five actual stories.)

And here ends my unasked for but heartfelt comment of confusion wrt the "4 that didn't 1 that did" fic thing.

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

If they're written as little AU snippets, then what's the difference between the four that didn't happen and the one that did?

Yeah, that's where I always get confused. No-one seems to have a clear idea of which way to write them, either, though, which helps if you're writing, but probably not at all as a reader.

Which is a totally unhelpful response to your response :o)

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

If they're written as little AU snippets, then what's the difference between the four that didn't happen and the one that did?

It really depends on the 5 things fic itself, because it does vary from fic to fic. Like Em says, it could be that 4 times something does/doesn't happen and 1 time the opposite happens, and it can be close to canon (Daniel tries 4 times to get to Atlantis and then finally succeeds) or very far away from canon (4 different ways Earth gets destroyed and 1 way it gets saved). And for me as a reader, it's about reading the differences *between the 5 things themselves* and maybe, to a lesser degree, their differences compared to canon.

Sometimes I feel like I've read five story excerpts, and was cheated out of five actual stories.

This is true. I've done it myself. But I sometimes find them useful for generating ideas and possibly spawning longer stories. Too bad we don't always follow through, though!

I do want to point out (to Em as well), however, that Five Things fics don't *have* to be 4x, 1y format. The original form simply had 5 unrelated scenes and didn't necessarily make a point of "one of these things is not like the others". Check out the Fanlore article on the Five Things form (invented by the ever talented basingstoke).

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Five Things fics don't *have* to be 4x, 1y format.

Yeah, I know :o) Those, I can cope with! There just seems to be a run of 4 x 1 y at the sg1 5 things comm, and I had a crisis of confidence after writing for one of them one way. Clearly, I should have gone and read the article helpfully linked from that comm *rolls eyes at self*

[10pmpacifictime.livejournal.com]

I tend to favor the first interpretation, but either is valid.

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Me as well, until I'd written it that way, at which point I had a crisis of confidence and wondered if I should have done it the other way !

[vakair-dar.livejournal.com]

I'm writing a 4 futures didn't happen, and 1 that did, but I plan on writing at least three in-depth sequels.

So I would definitely go with the 4 that didn't, and 1 it did. ^.^

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Hmm, see, I'd be totally confused by being asked to write that because - well, none of them happen, surely, since we're making it all up and... ok, now my brain hurts!

[vakair-dar.livejournal.com]

Now I'm confused, but you can explain it like this...

4 Futures That Didn't Happen and 1 That Did obviously looks to the future. All those futures can be with someone else or the same person, different lifestyles and outcomes, yada yada. You already know thus.

So we arrive at the one that confuses everyone in the beginning: 4 Ways It Didn't Happen and 1 It Did. Which is actually the most simple out of them all, but somehow the hardest to explain. (Am I right? XD)

Anyway, 5 Ways is showing 5 different ways to go about something, say for example, asking someone out on a date. In at least two of those situations, or 4, depending on the person's bunny, ends in failure or different outcome.

At the end of all this, I'm still slightly confused and under no illusion that I didn't just make a complete asshat out of myself at nearly 4:30AM in the morning.

Thus, why Beck should be sleeping. IGNORE ME.

Thank you and good night, dear flamingo. XD

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Which is actually the most simple out of them all, but somehow the hardest to explain. (Am I right? XD)

I think this is one of those conversations where we make sense to ourselves and not so much to each other :o) Or possibly that we've just confused each other and should give up.

[vakair-dar.livejournal.com]

Yeaaah. Definitely. XD

[sid]

Yeah, it could be 4 ways it almost-but-not-quite-happened, 4 ways thank-goodness-it-didn't-happen, 4 ways that-would-have-been-hilarious, etc. All just at the discretion of the writer and her muse.

And even #5 is going to be totally made up. So does the writer just pick her favorite for #5 if she's doing the tiny-AUs method?

Interesting! :-)

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I like the idea of four ways thank goodness it didn't happen.

And even #5 is going to be totally made up. So does the writer just pick her favorite for #5 if she's doing the tiny-AUs method?

I ended up going with four possibilities that didn't happen in canon, taking off from four episodes that have already aired, and one possibility for a hypothetical future for #5, but yeah - it made more sense to me before I started thinking about it!

[slybrarian.livejournal.com]

It tends to depend on the subject matter for me. I usually go with something like the first, along the lines of "four ways something almost happened and one way it did". Also, I am ignoring your last sentence, because I've already got enough challenges devouring my brain when I should be working on Stargate Summer fic....

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Also, I am ignoring your last sentence, because I've already got enough challenges devouring my brain when I should be working on Stargate Summer fic....

But they're 5 things! They can be really short!

[skieswideopen]

Personally, I favour making the four didn't happen stories either crack, or heartbreaking, thank-god-it-didn't-happen-that-way AUs, but I think there are many valid interpretations, including both of the ones you describe. Whatever works for the story, really.

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

thank-god-it-didn't-happen-that-way AUs

You're the second person to say that. I think that's kind of what I ended up doing, subconsciously - the first four are pretty depressing!

[miss-zedem.livejournal.com]

Yup, I would say both are valid. I personally like it when the four are conceivable from canon - kind of 'turn left' AU, if that makes sense. But that's just me. I've seen them done all sorts of ways :)

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

I personally like it when the four are conceivable from canon - kind of 'turn left' AU, if that makes sense

Yeah, me as well - kind of plausible alternatives that could have happened but obviously didn't, rather than total au.

[kyizi.livejournal.com]

See, I've see all different ways of doing it. Often I've seen it where all 5 things (the 4 that didn't and the one that did) happen in the same story/timeline and they come one after the other, I often write five things that way, or where they're from different PoVs and the same timeline, although, i guess that doesn't depends on what the topic is and then, yeah, there's the teeny AU's thing.

...I'm no help at all, am I!? ;p

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Often I've seen it where all 5 things (the 4 that didn't and the one that did) happen in the same story/timeline and they come one after the other

Now that makes sense to me, so yeah, you were a help :O)

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm re-posting part of my previous comment just in case people don't see the Fanlore link. The original Five Things fic simply had 5 unrelated scenes and didn't necessarily make a point of "one of these things is not like the others". That was a later evolution, and a terrific one, IMHO, but it's not necessary to the form.

I think we can all agree that writers can make it work however they choose, and that there's no "right way" of writing a 5 things. I'm just trying to provide some context in case people didn't know the fandom history.

Fanlore article on the Five Things form, "invented" by basingstoke in the SV fandom.

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

Ha! And I see that sg1_five_things actually links to the Fanlore article on its profile page. Very good, very good. *g*