World War II AUs

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

I'm looking for WWII AUs, set in Europe or the UK, by *non-USan* fan writers. WWI AUs would do, too, but I know of ... none? maybe? ... offhand. For extra credit, is there a WWII AU where John is a pilot on the Burma Hump route? Because you *know* he'd go for it like a shot.

Comments

[hickman1937.livejournal.com]

You probably already know Missed the Saturday Dance (http://opendoors.transformativeworks.org/mtsd/) No extra credit.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Is zoetrope a Brit? I wasn't sure.

[hickman1937.livejournal.com]

Profile says London, United Kingdom.

[skaredykat.livejournal.com]

Would you take a just-past WWII near-AU set in the UK? Liminal (http://www.freaky.nu/glorious/010109b.htm) by gloria mundi.

[cathalin.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just was going to mention Liminal, the gorgeous fic viva_gloria wrote me in last year's sga santa. She is British, and the story is infused with local knowledge and experiences of the war.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was exactly what I was looking for -- how much difference local cultural knowledge makes, even though no-one in the fandom (that I know of) is old enough to have *personal* experience.

[cathalin.livejournal.com]

Oh, yay! Now that you mention it, when I read it the first time, I definitely had that feeling that someone with a different experience of the war had written it. It--hmm, thinking--it felt like a portrait of a place that had experienced war *right there* in a way where everyone and everything was affected by it.

Great idea! I'm curious now why you had this question, and it's a really interesting one!

I'll never forget the first few lines of that fic -- it was so, so beautiful, and seemed so *John*...

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

long comment just below this one about where I grew up and how the war is still very present! I honestly hadn't thought of that aspect -- I was doing what they tell you in the books, writing what I know -- but yes, the landscape and the people were changed by it, and thirty years after the war they hadn't forgotten what it was like. And even another thirty-forty years on, there are still so many visible reminders ...

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

oooh! *basks* I'm very glad you liked ...

Am not old enough to have personal experience of the war per se, but both my parents lived through it and my mother told me stories of what it was like. Plus, as cathalin says below, that sense of living in a landscape that still bore the marks of war. There are pillboxes -- little concrete mini-bunkers -- all over the east coast; the wartime radio mast in the village was demolished when I was about 7; for a long time the village hall was an old Nissen hut, left over from the war (which had been over for 30 years by then, but it is, or was, a relatively poor part of the country, so why get rid of something useful?)

Plus even now it's commonplace to see plaques commemorating wartime tragedies, or to walk past a wall that's scarred with bomb damage, or to see where iron railings were removed to be melted down and made into weaponry.

And sea-mines from the war occasionally wash up on the beaches. And there are visible shipwrecks ...

Y'know, I hadn't thought of it like that, the thing about living in a landscape changed by war. But now you mention it: yes.

[skaredykat.livejournal.com]

Neat info, thanks. I didn't comment on liminal when I originally read it, but I remember the story striking me as very textured, a lot of depth hidden in the backgrounds and backstories.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Perfect! That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

[skaredykat.livejournal.com]

:) And I hope you get pointed to more, as I'd be psyched to read more like that too...

[shibela.livejournal.com]

I only perused this one briefly, so I can't say if there's any mention of John piloting the Burma Hump route, but... it's WWII AU, John's a pilot, the author is from the UK, and while the current time of the story is in USA (I think?), there are plenty of flashbacks to events during the War. So, hopefully this will work for you. Just a little warning, you'll be wanting some kleenex handy while you read. Oh yeah, and it's McShep slash.

"Something to Remember You By" (http://hestia-lacey.livejournal.com/37203.html) by hestia_lacey

[gelbes-gilatier.livejournal.com]

In case you're still interested (probably not ;)) and if you don't mind it, I have a self-pimp for you:

It's a trilogy that's part of my Lorne/Cadman fanfic100 claim, with Lorne as the commander of a tank company and Cadman as a war reporter. The stories are as following:

Win When I Lose (http://gelbes-gilatier.livejournal.com/86090.html)

Their Disgrace (http://gelbes-gilatier.livejournal.com/86757.html)


Scratching at the Surface (http://gelbes-gilatier.livejournal.com/87178.html)

And yes, I actually am German ;)