The Alternate Universe Tag: When Is It Applicable? · 3:08am Jun 20th, 2018
This is a continuation of a discussion from the comment section of Retrograde, because my collaborator took it upon himself (without consulting me first) to effectively ban further discussion of the AU tag and how Retrograde either needs/doesn't need one. However, it could technically apply to most fanfiction in general, and not just that collab. As such, you're all probably here from a link I'm posting to this blog entry on the subject.
So now that the preamble is over, let's get down to business: The Alternate Universe tag.
First off, I think it should go without saying that, for all intents and purposes, all fanfiction can effectively be classified as "Alternate Universe." There are several reasons for this, of course, but the primary reason is basically the following: Anything that isn't made directly by the owner(s)/creator(s) of the original work, or by those hired by the aforementioned owner(s)/creator(s), doesn't exist in the canon universe of the original work, and is therefore, set in what is effectively an "Alternate Universe."
This is a fancy, roundabout way of saying that all fanfiction is not canon, and therefore, isn't part of the canon universe, regardless of how well the fan's work can fit into the canon of the original work. This means it is an "alternate universe" solely because of that fact alone.
Does this mean that all fanfiction should have an "Alternate Universe" tag then? Well, no, because that would be redundant. Again, technically, all fanfiction is set in a alternate universe from the canon universe, and no amount of "well it's not interfering with the canon events at all" can make this any less true, because it's not something the person/people in charge of the canon created; it's something a fan created. This is why the idea of "headcanons" exist; in the fan's mind, their work fits within the limitations set by the canon as they perceive it, and that in itself is subjective.
So when is the "Alternate Universe" tag applicable?
There are a number of different viewpoints on the subject, and I can't even begin to voice all of them. However, I'm going to use two prominent ones I've heard a lot.
Viewpoint 1: If the canon is changed at all, regardless of scope, it should be marked with the "Alternate Universe" tag.
Viewpoint 2: If the canon is changed drastically, or is outright ignored, only then should it be marked with an "Alternate Universe" tag.
With the first viewpoint, a fanfiction that is based off of an event in the canon being changed to have a different outcome, or to involve (or otherwise include) a character not in the canon version of events is enough to mark it as an "Alternate Universe" fic. In this sense, the act of changing the canon itself, regardless of how major or minor the change, is enough to make the distinction.
However, I think this is incredibly short sighted, as by technicality, this is what all fanfiction does. Fanfiction that can be inserted during a gap in events within the canon is still effectively changing the canon, as no matter how you slice it, it's technically not canon. No matter how insignificant the events of a fanfiction, nor how detached it is from the actual canon, it is fundamentally something that occurs in your own personal "headcanon," and by proxy, in an Alternate Universe.
With the second viewpoint, the idea is simple: if the story deviates from the canon, the amount of deviation from the canon is what determines the need for an "Alternate Universe" tag. Stories with large changes should be tagged, whereas stories with relatively minor changes are left tagless. This is mostly to give meaning to the "Alternate Universe" tag, as it helps show people that the story has a significant departure from the canon. In case it wasn't obvious, I'm of this mindset personally.
I am of this mindset because I have written fanfiction that fall under different "levels" of the "Alternate Universe" scale.
An example of what I'd consider worthy of an "Alternate Universe" tag: Once upon a time, I started a Sword Art Online fanfiction called "NeuroBlade Online." It was, at it's core, a story that used canon SAO characters, but it ignored the events of the series, and was a "Death Game" set in a different game (the titular "NeuroBlade Online"), instead of Sword Art Online (the game). This is, effectively, a totally different universe than the canon, despite the fact that it shares characters from the canon. It was firmly what I would have tagged "Alternate Universe" had that kind of option existed on Fanfiction.net (which is still not an option on that site at the time of writing, for the record).
By contrast, Retrograde is effectively just myself and RQK taking everything that happened in the canon, up until the end of Forgotten Friendship, changing said ending, and then going about exploring how we think events should play out as a result of said change. It is, by all accounts, a smaller change than my example from above. It isn't ignoring the events in the series up until the end of Forgotten Friendship to tell our own story with the characters, we're changing the outcome of an event as the jumping off point for a story. Yes, we are diverging from canon, but ultimately, it's not as major a change as, say, something like the example I've provided above, or even something like "Sunset in Ponyville." (which is a great fic that you should be reading if you like SunLight)
At the end of the day, the debate over this tag probably won't stop because of this blog post. That said, if you want to talk about how you think I'm wrong or whatever, this is the place to do it.
Even with the 'Alt. Universe' tag, I tend to assume character backstories are the same as in canon (e.g. Twilight hatched Spike via magical overload, and became Celestia's student afterwards; Luna was possessed by Nightmare Moon and was subsequently banished; Fluttershy and Rainbow met at that flying camp and that race occurred), unless explicitly stated.
For example, if the story outright states Characters A, B and/or C have died, that counts as a change in backstory; how much of an effect that has depends on the characters and what's further explained. If nothing much is explained - that is, the story only mentions the fact Characters A, B and/or C are now dead as a past event - then I assume most of the backstory is still intact, and don't give any related characters clean slates.
It's only if related characters are seen (read?) going through different memories, or have drastically different personalities, that I give them clean slates.
This also holds true for those -verses people like; y'know, Lunaverse, Trioverse, etc. These have drastically different backstories, so even familiar faces get clean slates.
So for those saying that every 'Alt. Universe'-tagged story has to have a clean slate in terms of backstory, I say no; assuming the same backstory allows me to flesh out characters in my head, instead of leaving them as mere words on a page. Sure, I know the saying 'to assume is to make an ass out of u and me' - basically, that assumptions can lead me down the wrong path - but I don't care and I will deal with wrong assumptions as they're proven incorrect.
This is just how I deal with Alt. Universes and backstories, anyway; might be applicable to others (well, probability dictates there are others who share my opinion, just as there are others who don't), so I decided to share it.
I've always marked AU by 2 categories that I routinely come across.
1) What Ifs?:
Changing an event in canon, and seeing where it goes. Much like in Retrograde. You changed, "All stolen memories are returned after the EoH breaks the stone.", to "Sunset's sacrifice is permanent, and she has to figure out who and what she is now that part of her is no more."
There are lots of good AU fics that play off the alteration of events either in the present, or past making a different present.
2a) Completely different universes:
And by this I mean laws of magic, physics, reality are different. Backgrounds are changed from slight to massive levels. Events are different from one degree or another.
And honestly I really, really hate the second one. At least when people do it without a list of everything that's different. And making it seem like it's #1, but in reality it's #2. And they simply use the "It's an Alternate Universe" as an excuse for hack writing. The only #2 that has pulled it off well is the LunaVerse IMO.
2b) Hack AUs:
As mentioned in 2a, when a writer uses the whole Alternate Universe Tag, as an excuse to insert headcanon in place of canon. And doesn't give reason for the change, or what changes there are. And gives the entire fic the feeling of a hack job, and lazy writing.
2c) The only thing the same is the names:
Like you mentioned earlier. These are timelines where basically the only thing the same is that they have the same characters (and if you're lucky the same backgrounds, else it's just actors in the character's skin). Not as bad as 2b, but can be as confusing as 2a. Especially if there's no supplemental material to show all the things that are different.