What is "Abruptly Amy (The Spinoff That Never Was)"?
It's the first fanfic I (Kara Wild) ever wrote that was a complete departure from my continuum, The Driven Wild Universe. That is, unless you count my mini-fic, "A Desperately-Needed Ending (To Depth Takes a Holiday)," which I dashed off a few days after finishing "Rose-Colored Lenses."
It stars Daria's Aunt Amy as an F.B.I. agent who runs home to the town where she grew up in order to escape the mob. Supporting characters include:
ANDREA: the only regular on Daria to cross over to the spinoff series. After running away from Lawndale, she meets Amy and becomes her adopted daughter.
RITA: Amy's younger sister. Instead of having a rivarly with Helen, she has one with Amy. Instead of being supported by her mother, she supports her mother by working in the family bakery all day, every day, even though she hates it.
RUTH: Amy's mother and the crusty, wiley matriarch of the family.
KRISTOVO MARTINEZ: Amy's sexy boyfriend, who is also F.B.I. agent.
These are just the bare details. The promo covers them pretty well. If you want to find out what happens, read Abruptly Amy: A New Beginning.
Why the hell did you write it?
My Author's Notes lay out all the reasons. But I'll go into them more here.
If it's supposed to be "the spinoff that never was," then why are there new "episodes" being made?
I was originally thinking of just doing a follow-up special, explaining how the Amy H.E.A.D.s got reconciled to the idea of an Amy spinoff, but then it turned out that several fanfic authors liked the fic so much, they were willing to be a part of a project in which we collaborated to write the "lost eight episodes." If you read the Epilogue for "A New Beginning," you'll see that I mention eight episodes were left on the "storage room shelf." These are the eight episodes. In "An Interview With Amy Terwilliger," I intend to explain how these episodes got picked up by the Lifetime Network.
The main attraction of these episodes was getting to mock even more trends than "Abruptly Amy (The Spinoff That Never Was)" could cover. We could focus our energy on poorly-conceived television concepts (ex: the "very special episode," the "Movie of the Week," and the spinoff itself), unfortunate fanfic trends, and reprehensible social trends.
I go into more detail in the postscript for "A.A. A.O.K."
Will there be any major differences between the episodes and the pilot?
Not really. There will be in the sense that I'm not the only one writing these fics, so the style will vary somewhat. Yet the basic details will stay the same: Amy will function partly as an FBI agent, finding time to go on the odd assignment, partly as a bakery manager, partly as a mother to Andrea, and partly as a frustrated lover of Kristovo. All of the writers have been trying to stay true to the tone of the pilot, which is heavy on melodrama, cheesy dialogue, wacky and improbable scenarios, and action sequences. A new villian or two will also appear.
The other differences will be that the episodes are half as long as the hour-long pilot, and that they might feature an eensy bit more character development than the pilot, which was pure satire. Just an eensy bit. Maybe.
Why do you authors use aliases instead of your real names? Are you too ashamed?
We're just pretending to be different people. The basic fantasy is: what if a group of writers (in Hollywood, say) really did cook up a show like Abruptly Amy? What would be going through their minds? It emphasizes that A.A. works on two levels: one, as that fantasy, two as a reality check. The real authors know that such a show would be horrible, and our main objective is to go over the how and the why.
Will the Daria characters ever make any guest appearances?
Oh yes. Many... many times.
Will you ever do 5 more episodes for a complete season, like with Daria?
We will if enough people respond favorably to the first eight... and if we can scrounge up enough energy to pull together for 5 more. I might have to seek out another writer or two.
If Amy has her own spinoff, does that mean she won't be back in the Driven Wild Universe?
As I mentioned in the introductory paragraph, Amy in the DWU will carry on as though Abruptly Amy doesn't exist. And yes, she will be back. I have a large role for her in DWU #19. If you're wondering why I have two Amys, it's because one thing I realize is that Amy is not my character to begin with, so in a sense, my one interpretation from the DWU can never be the standard interpretation. Why not mock the fact that there are so many versions of Amy floating out there, all heroic? And no, it's not very confusing. I just see the DWU universe Amy as the "real" one (i.e: the one connected to canon/the show), and the A.A. Amy as the "funhouse" one. ; > I enjoy working with both Amys.
What is the point of all this?
It's just fun! It's a departure from the usual joys and pains of Daria fic, a chance for all of us to let loose with our wackiest ideas. And for some of us, it may not be much of a stretch. ; >