Look! There is a thing!

 

I’ve been discussing AU’s with a friend from the Sentinel fandom -- specifically, stories in The Old Guard fandom where the characters are ordinary mortals. I thoroughly enjoy them; she’s wary of them in general, though she’s enjoyed a few I rec’d to her. She feels like The Sentinel would lack something important if Jim didn’t have his enhanced senses, and there’s a similar lack if TOG are not immortal.

I agree about point 1, but not point 2. I feel there’s a major difference between Jim’s enhanced senses and The Old Guards’ immortality --

The enhanced senses changes Jim’s relationship to the world, and the senses are a part of him; he’d be a very different person if he never developed them. Actually, no he wouldn’t, but he would react to and interact with the world in a very different way. BUT! Jim can be a sentinel any time, any place, in ancient Rome, or the jungle, or a spaceship, or a 16-year-old at a riding stable. He could work as a cop, or search and rescue, or similar ‘protective’ professions and still be Jim. But it’s true; without the senses, he wouldn’t be ‘Jim’.

But an extra (extra, extra, extra...) long life doesn’t change the Old Guard characters; they’re still ‘ordinary’ people -- the sum of their lived life, with beliefs and attitudes built on their experiences, just like the rest of us. It’s just that their lived life stretches back waaaayyyy longer than most of us, with far more experiences. But they draw on those experiences to inform their decisions and live the best life they can, just as we non-immortals do. If we decide that a few extra centuries of experiences makes them intrinsically different from us ordinary mortals, we’d have to extrapolate that and decide that a 75-year-old is intrinsically different than a 21-year-old, and that just doesn’t make sense to me. They even know that they’ll eventually have a final death, and they don’t know when or how it will happen -- exactly like the rest of us. Them being immortal doesn’t make huge changes in them as people

But for story-telling purposes, the immortality changes the Old Guard characters in an intrinsic way. If they've already been alive for a few hundred years, it's impossible to have a setup like coerced marriage to prevent feuding between families. The ‘eternal husbands’ (as they’re called around some circles of the fandom) are a lot of fun, and sweet, and I love seeing how they keep that fresh and make it work within their long lives and within the larger family dynamics. But if we want stories about ‘new love’, or ‘getting to know each other’, the stories must either [a] be set in the early 1100’s, or [b] we have to remove immortality from the equation. If we want them to be something other than constantly on the move, helping where they can and then disappearing before their secret is discovered, we need to delete the ‘immortal’ part of the equation.

Personally, I love AUs, and I’m not terribly picky about them, as long as they include my favorite characters. However, I can separate what I like from how effective the AU actually is. (I’m capable of enjoying a story that I wouldn’t rec because it’s just not that well done.) I judge the success of an AU by how well the author keeps the characterizations true to what the movie showed, or what we can extrapolate from that and the graphic novels. And some of the characterization I expect comes from fanon, I think, but I don’t care; it works for me. Basically --

I expect to see a Joe who is rather expansive in his speech and body-language, with a large amount of joi de vivre and an underlying bedrock of kindness, who is a gifted artist and a poet (or at least enjoys poetry), who is deeply, fervently in love with Nicky. If the author gives me that kind of Joe, I don’t care if he’s a witch in the forest, or a baker in Malta, or a court bard on a quest, or a widower with six-year-old twins. And actually -- points 1, 2, or 3 are fairly minor points in the ‘witch in the forest story’... but there’s such an essential Joeness in the characterization, even though I can’t put my finger on exactly what that is, that it doesn’t matter.

I expect a Nicky who is more reserved in speech and body-language, who is fairly quiet and rather self-effacing, but with a similar underlying bedrock of kindness as we see in Joe, and a passionate commitment to helping others. It’s a bonus if he shows that with his Italian-grandmother style of talented cooking to feed everyone within his circle. And of course, he’s gotta be just as deeply, fervently in love with Joe. Given that kind of Nicky, I don’t care if he’s a furniture restoration specialist, or a doctor on respite leave, or a tattoo artist (in that one, Joe’s creativity comes out in growing plants), or working part-time as a volunteer fireman.

I could expound on the characterizations I want to see in Andy, Nile, and Booker, but I’ve spent two days (off and on) pulling my thoughts together and putting them in coherent form. And I figure there’s no need -- you’ll most likely be looking for different aspects than I will anyway; it’s the nature of the beast.

What inspired this ramble was my email conversation with my friend, and the realization that a lot of my Old Guard recs seem to be AUs. Ah, well, that’s how I groove; I’m not twisting anyone’s arm to read them. (Although I’m trying to twist my friend’s arm to read the ‘Joe has kids and hires Nicky as their babysitter’ story; it’s stupendous!) It’s not that I avoid Old Guard stories that are canon-compliant (or at least canon-adjacent); it’s just that if, when I’m choosing the next story to read, I’ll frequently pick the AU first, and save the canon-adjacent for later.

So, after all this, I’ve decided that today’s recs will be all Old Guard, and two of them will be AUs. I was planning to make it three, but the canon-compliant story is just too delightful not to rec. <g>




Fandom: The Old Guard
Fanwork Links: A Fool And His Sword (Are Easily Parted)
Creator Links: FlirtyFroggy
Category: M/M
Rating: Teen
Length: 40,000 words

Summary: In which Nicolò gets drunk for the first time in over a century, gets into an ill-advised fight with Steven Merrick's great-great-great-etc-grandfather, and sparks a chase across Europe where there are a surprising number of baths and the local inn always seems to have only one bed.

Reccer's Notes: This is so much fun -- the teasing banter, the comfort with each other's companionship, the surety that they can always depend on each other, the spark of 'something more' developing... it's just totally delightful. And the humor threaded throughout is delicious, as well as the general good humor with which they deal with their circumstances. (Other than their frustration with Merrick, of course.) But aside from him, this story is a perfect depiction of early Yusuf and Nicolò, the way we hope it truly was for them.

Characters: Yusuf and Nicolò and multiple OCs
Pairings: Yusuf/Nicolò
Themes: Friends to lovers, Pre-canon, Road trip, Back story, Friendship
Warnings: None apply
Status: Complete

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Fandom: The Old Guard
Fanwork Links: Will You Stay Just a Little Bit Longer?
Creator Links: Bedalk05
Category: M/M, F/F, M/F
Rating: Teen
Length: 236,300 words

Summary: Joe is a single father of two wonderful twins. Unfortunately, he has the worst luck when it comes to keeping babysitters long term. Nicky is looking for another job to help pay the rent when he stumbles across an oddly phrased “help wanted” advertisement and decides to call the number. What ensues is far more than what either man could have dreamed.
        A tale of two lost souls who find each other and, with the help of their meddling friends and two mischievous six year olds, find their happily ever after as well.

Reccer's Notes: This story ate my brain in the very best way; I fell so hard that I illustrated it and sent it to my iPad.
        I loved everything -- the twins were delightful, Joe as a teacher works so well, and Andy and Quynh as Nicky's rescuers and great role models are superb. But what I think I liked most was that, as wonderful and engaging as everyone is, the author didn't gloss over the hard parts. Joe and the twins still struggling with Monique's death and finally going for therapy was realistic, and the hard times made the good times even sweeter. I was also impressed with the background of Nicky being a raging homophobic asshole that he's now working to atone for; it's a very convincing alternate reason for the way canon-Nicky worked to atone for having been a Crusader. I love how all the threads and pieces are woven together to make such a beautiful tapestry of happiness and love for all the characters.
        This is such a thoroughly feel-good, happy-family story, I want to shout it from the rooftops. However, in lieu of that, I'll just rec it, and hope lots of people find it. Enjoy the ride; it's spectacular.

Characters: Joe, Nicky, Andy, Quynh, Nile, Booker, multiple OCs
Pairings: Joe/Nicky and Andy/Quynh and Nile/Booker
Themes: Kid fic, AU - no powers, Friends to Lovers, domestic, Novel
Warnings: None apply
Status: Complete

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Fandom: The Old Guard
Fanwork Links: the world was prose
Creator Links: mellyflori
Category: M/M
Rating: Teen
Length: 5,900 words

Summary: Joe’s barely seen the man in the next seat; he caught a glimpse of floppy brown hair and large hands, but that’s all he knows. Well, that and the fact that he’s the bane of Joe’s existence.

Reccer's Notes: This is an absolutely fun, almost-instant attraction and psyches fitting seamlessly together that we all wish we could have. Cute and sweet and smile-making.

Characters: Joe and Nicky
Pairings: Joe/Nicky
Themes: Strangers to friends to lovers, Getting to know each other, AU - no powers
Warnings: None apply
Status: Complete