Alternate Universes ~ Its not canon, but it could be!

[Ren LehCrow]

Alternate Universes


An alternate universe is exactly what it sounds like, a different setting containing the same characters. Some works even have AUs within their canon. Example of this would be the Mirror World from Star Trek: the Original Series, an alternate universe where the heroes are villains. Or in Back to the Future 2, when Biff creates an alternate future by giving his past-self a book of sports statistics. Or in Dragon Ball Z, Mirai Trunks' post-apocolypton future terrorized by cyborgs. These are all alternate universes within their own canon.

What makes them AUs?

They posit a setting or scenario that is strikingly different from the canon world. An AU might be started by something simple and mundane, such as… 'The car didn't kill Yuske, it just ran over his legs'. A small change, but will alter the course of the series dramatically. Or something larger, affecting things on a much larger scale, such as… 'Princess Serenity didn't kill herself after Prince Endymion was killed, but instead turned her anger and grief back towards Earth, becoming the solar system's biggest tyrant'. Or it might not be an event, but rather an alternate philosophy that makes it an AU, say… 'Instead of capturing and training Pokemon, people instead hunt and capture them for their pelts, hones, scales, etc. and children are trained to do this from the age of ten. To be the very best Pokemon Poacher.'

All of these things are AUs.

 

[Ren LehCrow]

High School AU

This one is pretty self explanatory. Its also one of the most common AU premises out there. The idea is simple: 'What if all the canon characters attended high school?' Sometimes this AU calls for some tweaking of the characters' ages so that they all can be in the same year, or turn them all into teenagers. Occasionally only some of the characters will be students while others will be teachers or administrators in the high school. Other characters might be students of a ravel school, etc. But the single, defining, characteristic of a high school AU is that the story takes place in a high school and one or more of the cannon characters attend as students.

When is it not an AU?

A premix like this would not be considered a high school AU in the event that the character (or characters) are not real students at the school, but attending fro some other reason. For example, if in canon the character is a child-detective (as in the case of any of Batman's Robins) and the character is only attending the school under-cover as part of a case, then it is not a high school AU, but rather just a high school fic. But is you change the canon in order for the character to attend school, then it is an AU.

How do you make a high school AU good?

High school AUs are among the most popular of alternate universes out there. However, very few of them would be called 'good' by the greater fan fiction population. This does not mean that high school AUs are never good. Far be it. An premiss can be good if handled by a competent author.

One of the major pit-falls of the high school AU is the author's reason behind it. Usually something along the lines of 'wouldn't it be cool if the characters were in high school because I'm in high school'. This idea makes it relatable and fun for the author, but to create a better reading experience for your readers you will need a bit more than that. What will be going on in the fic besides just attending high school? If the characters have special abilities in canon, will they still have those abilities in your AU? How will those abilities affect them in their school life? Or, will the school be a 'special school' for people with powers/abilities, etc.?

Those are all questions of the setting. But the thing that really drives a story is conflict. Where does the conflict come from? Will it be internal conflict, a personal problem with one of the character? Or will it be an external conflict, between the main character and another character, or perhaps the school institution?

One big piece of advice I'd like to give is, don't fall into a trap that I see a lot of high school AU authors fall into. That is, don't let the fact that they characters are in high school dominate their personalities or change their characters. Just because they're in high school doesn't mean that their thoughts must be dominated by thoughts of who's dating whom, or what they're going to wear to the prom, or why jocks are so stupid, etc. We get it, they're in high school, but they're still established characters with thoughts and feelings beyond the lunch room. Its silly to imagine Bruce Wayne pinning over the exchange student Talia Al G'hul or have varsity quarterback Clark Kent thinking of nothing but his love-tringle between Lana Lane and school newspaper editor Lois Lane. If you're going to write a story about Batman and Superman in high school, remember that they are Batman and Superman and that they have thoughts and motivations beyond the standard school yard melodrama. Otherwise, if you're not gonna keep the characters true to themselves, why even write about those characters at all?

 

[Ren LehCrow]

Future AU

The future AU is one of the most fun to read if its done well.

It posits the scenario of the character(s)' future. Simple to understand. The future could be anything from a week in the future all the way to 100 years in the future or beyond. (A sub-genre of the future AU could be the 'soul mates AU' or 'reincarnated AU'. Where in two -or more- characters are reincarnated in the future.)

Usually, these AUs have a darker or dystopian feel to them. This AU could have been caused by the death of a main character or perhaps not death but a character leaving the cast in some other permanent way. Or, instead of a character leaving, a partnership was ended or a relationship broken up. Perhaps an enemy invaded at some point in the future that the heroes were unable to beat and that caused the dystopian AU.

Of course, not all future AUs need be dark, sad, or angsty. There are plenty of future AUs where everything is sunshine and rainbows. A bit of fantasy fulfillment for the fan in which they want their favorite characters to be happy, so they make them happy.

In order to make a future AU good, you must first base it the canon, then change the cannon to fit your future. Be sure to be clear on the event that changed the future and all the things that resulted from it. Even if the story is focussed mainly on one or two characters, be sure to at least mention (either in dialogue or narrative) what happened to the others. How did the event that caused your future affect them as well? Not just the characters, but the world as well. How is the world changed?

When is a Future AU not an AU? If it is already established in the canon that this is the future that results from events in the series, then it is not an AU, it is just a future fic. Example, a fic for Back to the Future taking place in the alternate future created by Biff in the second movie would not be an AU fic because, while that was an alternate future, it was still established in the canon, not created by a fan.

 

[Faerie Dust Dreaming]

Gender-Bend AU

Confession: One of my favorite AUs to contemplate is the Gender-bending AU. In this world, all the main cast have switched genders. I enjoy doing this, because more often then not it changes everything. Boys are treated differently than girls, and they think differently. A certain personality in a female character makes her hated by the fandom; however, the same personality, when transposed to a male, would make the character a fan favorite.

I'd like to emphasize that just because it's a gender-bending AU, does not give excuse for slash ships. If you use this AU, it has to be complete; all the main heroes, villains, sidekicks, etc. must be swapped. My one exception is with the adults. The dynamic between a mother and child is different than with father and child; it is often awkward to switch the parental roles. So with side characters or adult/mentor figures, you have to use a bit more judgement in whether or not to Bend them.

Thoughts?

 

[Ren LehCrow]

Prince/Princess AU

The prince/princess AU is an off-shoot of the 'fantasy AU'. This is where one (or more) of the characters is a member of a royal house, the offspring of a nation's leader, or any other facsimile of a prince or princess. Please note, it only counts as a prince/princess AU if the character(s) is not actually royalty in the cannon. For example, a fic where Trunks is a prince would not be this AU since Trunks is a decedent of the royal House of Vegeta in canon. However, if Goten were the prince, then it would be this AU.

A common trend with this AU, though not a consistent characteristic, is to ignore any representation of what its like to be a real-world prince or princess and instead portray the royal character(s) in a way more common to traditional fairy tales. There is little mention of or conflict derived from politics, economy, line of succession, or other such monarchal concerns. Instead, the then conflicts or driving forces within the story tend to be class barriers (royalty vs. commoner), and the quest to find/save true love. This does not mean, however, that the prince/princess AU does not contain deeper or more worldly themes and conflicts. They are just rarely the main conflict or central theme.

The prince/princess AU is spawned from the Disney desire for a happy ending and a poor cinder girl becoming a 'Cinderella'.

 

[Ren LehCrow]

Fundamental Backstory Change

This is probably the most common alternate universe, though you may not notice it. It can be combined with any of the others, but also stands on its own. The fundamental backstory change AU (FBC) is where something in the history of the cannon changed, happened differently, didn't happen at all, happened to soon, happened to late, happened to the wrong person, etc. Example of this AU in canon would be DC Comic's Elseworld where Superman's rocket lands in Soviet Russia instead of Kansas and Kal-El grows up a Communist hero. Also, from the DC universe is the Elseworld where it's Bruce Wayne who is killed in the alley and his father becomes Batman while his mother (driven mad from grief) became the Joker.

The important thing to remember in this AU is that the change occurred BEFORE the actual story began. Before Obi-wan met Anakin, before the Phantom became fixated on Christine, before Sherlock and Watson became roommates, etc. Perhaps the Moon Kingdom was never destroyed. What if Freeza never blew up Planet Vegeta? Imagine if Kirk never cheated on the Kobayashimaru. Etc.

A fundamental event is changed in the history of the world, but the reader doesn't get to witness the change first hand. the reader only witnesses the impact said change has on the world.

 

[Ren LehCrow]

Real World AU  

[Ren LehCrow]

Historical AU  

[Ren LehCrow]

[BLANK]punk AU

Steampunk
Dieselpunk
Cyberpunk  

[Ren LehCrow]

Mid-point Event Change AU