Incongruous sci-fi occupations

[sholio]

There's something I forgot to say in my earlier post talking about AUs, which specifically applies to the difference between fanfic AUs and original fiction of whatever stripe. Fanfic AUs throw a really wonderful element of character incongruity into the mix. That is, you end up with space adventures or epic fantasy or rom-coms in which the characters are really not the type of people who tend to be in those kinds of stories. And that's wonderful! I think that's honestly one of the things I love most about AUs, and it's something that I keep making a mental note to apply as much as possible to my original fiction. It's one of the reasons, I think, that fanfic AUs can be so much livelier and more original-feeling than a lot of published genre fiction -- because, when you go to create a fantasy or urban fantasy or space opera or whatever from the ground up, it's really hard to think outside the box and not go straight to the fresh-faced farm boy and tomboyish princess in disguise, or whatever. Your character may (hopefully will) eventually evolve beyond the stereotype, but it's difficult not to do that in the initial planning stages without even thinking about it.

Although I've thought about this before, what got me thinking about it today was answering older comments on my "White Collar IN SPACE!" AU, and one of the comments was speculating on Elizabeth's role in the AU: she could be an event planner for spaceship galas! And I thought, wow, how cool and original is that? I've read a ton of sci-fi, but I've never seen anything like that. I'm not sure if I would read a contemporary novel about an event planner, but I would totally read a novel about a space event planner. (Or write one!)

But you get that a lot in fanfic AUs, because you start off with a cast of characters who are typical cop-show characters, or sci-fi spaceship show characters ... and THEN you stick them into a whole different genre, so suddenly they are space explorer types running a coffee shop, or cop-show characters as the police force in a fantasy land. I wish there was more of that kind of thing in original fiction, though you do get some genre crossover (murder mysteries in a space setting, for example).

Anyway, since I'm still working out my slate of things to write in 2014 - help me brainstorm, flist! Spaceship marines, doctors, and emotionally constipated smugglers are a dime a dozen in sci-fi. One of the things I really loved about Zenna Henderson's 1960s SF books and short stories is that she often wrote about stay-at-home moms and kids, which is something you hardly ever saw in sci-fi of that era. What else don't you see in sci-fi or fantasy? What would you like to see? Throw ideas at me -- what are some occupations/social roles you don't really ever see in spec fic? (Space event planner!) On the flip side, it'd also be interesting to hear which occupations/character types are so common in sci-fi/fantasy/urban fantasy that you're getting tired of them! (Space marines, anyone?) Flist: go! :D

Comments

[d_generate_girl]

Sorry to barge into the thread, but have you seen any of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? It takes place on a space station, so you have a lot of the slice-of-life, attempts at normalization on this giant revolving door of personalities. Two of the main characters specifically deal with the professions you mention - Garak is the station's tailor, but he's from a race of interplanetary conquerors (the Cardassians) who just lost the war with the two now-dominant factions in the area (the Bajorans and the Federation). And he's just fascinating, I don't want to spoil too much, but there's a lot more to Garak than meets the eye, and his profession puts him in contact with a lot of people very different than him. The other character is Odo, a shapeshifter (one of the few in existence), and he's the chief of security on DS9. A lot of the episodes incorporate the difficulties with enforcing Federation law on a huge population that aren't all from Federation planets, as well as mediating the transition of power from the Cardassians to the Bajorans, under the banner of the Federation.

[krait]

I have seen a little bit of DS9, just recently-ish, thanks to a friend who loves it and has taken it upon herself to introduce me to it. :D I confess, I was thinking of Garak when I brought up tailors, because I have yet to see him actually sew anything (or sell anything, or even mention designing anything) -- his professed profession doesn't appear to get any screen time (as opposed to his second job, spying, which falls into the "politics gets all the airtime" trend). I still don't know where clothes come from in the Federation, much less how a non-Federation tailor might fit into that framework!

Odo is awesome and sexy and should be in every episode ever! Even if Homestuck fandom has forever made buckets a source of hilarity to me, and thus any mention of his sleeping arrangements always results in me snorting tea up my nose due to giggling. :D