Alternative universe (fan fiction)
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An alternative universe (also known as alternate universe) is a type or form of fan fiction in which known, canonical facts about the universe being explored or written about, are deliberately changed. In Alternative Universe stories, characters' known motivations may vary considerably from their actual decisions. The author of an alternative universe story thus can use the same characters, but send them down different paths in a different plot.
Commonly abbreviated AU, stories of this type are usually "what-ifs", where possibilities arising from different circumstances, decisions, etc., are explored. The appeal of the AU for both writer and reader is the exploration of which facets of the characters we know were/are determined by their environments. (For example, in Daria fanfic, "What if Jane was blind?" [link]) In addition, the author also gets a built in audience for their story based on the fans for that universe which they would not get if they wrote it as an original story instead of fan fiction.
Alternative universe settings are sometimes written when the author was unhappy with the direction the original source took, a major example being "The Gargoyles Saga" [link] fan fiction series, which ignores all but one of the episodes of Gargoyles' third and final season. The are also known as fix-its, HEXes or denial-fics. Stories in this category of AU follow the established canon before veering away at a crucial moment (similar in concept to most of the entries in Marvel Comics' What If series), and are commonly called divergences.
Alternate universes also arise in fanfic when the source material is released in a serial form, such as a television series running several seasons with holidays between or a series of books released with considerable time between volumes. For instance, much Harry Potter fanfic in the nearly three years between the publication of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was written as Continuation fanfiction, but became AU as soon as the new canonical material appeared.
Also within this arena is the idea of taking all the characters from the series, placing them in a different time/place/situation, and working with it as a new series. An example of this is "Simple and Clean," by Ethelflaed [link] a Yu-Gi-Oh Anime AU fic set in 1066 in Normandy. Although this technique has been tried in the actual canon of many fandoms, it is still debated as a valid fanfiction form. This form of AU is popular among some new writers, who tend to move the characters of a series into a setting more familiar to the author (as in the much-maligned "high school fic").
One type of alternate universe fan-fic involves swapping the characters with the actors who play them. The actors may find themselves actually in the fictional universe, or the fictional characters may find themselves in our real universe, or the story may feature both sides of the swap.
On occasions, a fan fiction writer will create a character that is supposed to be there from the beginning and does not exist in the actual program that inspired it.
Another term that means essentially the same thing as AU is divergent timeline, indicating that at some point in the canon's past or present, there was a divergence from what 'really' happened. This terminology was largely created to avoid the negative stigma that labelling a story AU might bring.
AU in original fiction
Alternative universes are also used in original fiction works themselves, such as in the webcomic El Goonish Shive, where it is an integral part of the storyline, and has spurred works of fanfiction in these and other alternate universes. The webcomic Sluggy Freelance had an alternate universe storyline[link] which, while not integral, was re-visited for another storyline[link]. Another example of an original fiction story taking place in an alternate universe is Red Son, a Superman graphic novel in which Superman landed in the USSR instead of the USA.In the many Gundam anime series, there are 6 major timelines that are independent of one another (though there is some debate about the 5th timeline), and some fan circles (especially in North America) refer to the timelines created after the original Universal Century as "Alternate Universes". However, this does not truly fit the standard definition of AU, as the timelines share neither characters nor locations (aside from the Solar system itself). Tenchi Muyo! and El-Hazard utilize the more traditional alternative universe concept, each beginning with an OVA series and being followed up by TV series that utilize many of the same characters and locations, but with alterations made to both (some minor and some drastic).
The comic series is an official aspect of the "What If?" style of alternate universe fiction, telling the story of the Original Trilogy Movies, if something went wrong.
AU Problems
One of the most ongoing problems many fanfiction authors have with AUs are the fact that some totally disregard everything in the series and simply take the characters looks and names and place them in completely different situations. Another type of AU that authors have a problem with use the exact storyline from a famous movie or video game (One of the most used being Kingdom Hearts) while completely replacing the characters with their own characters or characters for other series. Despite this, the few good AUs to be done have made the genre respected for its originality and unique situations.See also
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