AU Dilemma.
I've asked myself this question a lot since I first forayed into fandom, and I've been asking it quite a bit these last few weeks.
What is the definition of Alternate Universe?
Is it a complete or significant reversal of the canon we're familiar with, or can it just be a tiny change?
Okay, bear with me while I think this out. I don't want to start an argument here: I just want some perspective. As examples, I'll be using the Harry Potter fandom, but feel free to substitute it with your own. Beware of spoilers!
→ Scenario 1: The epilogue happened, but Harry and Ginny (or Ron and Hermione or Draco and Astoria) divorced. Would that be AU?
→ Scenario 2: The epilogue didn't happen. But the epilogue is canon, whether you agree with it or enjoy the writing or not. But saying it didn't happen would be AU, yes or no?
→ Scenario 3: The epilogue happened. Canon, yes? However, someone writes a tender moment in between the final chapter and the epilogue with first time parents Ginny and Harry.
This is where, in my opinion, things get sticky.
Would that be AU, or something else entirely (e.g., just 'fan fiction')? We don't really know what occurred in the 19 years between those chapters, even though we're sticking with canon pairings. As readers and writers, we're just speculating. For all we know, Harry could have missed the birth of his first child. Or Ginny could have had a serious complication arise. Or they put her in this tub filled with magical goo and her skin melts away and the baby tap-dances his way out.
Regardless, we're only speculating. Even if the author revealed some details of James Sirius II's birth, if we wrote it down, we can't really call it canon. The author didn't write it themselves.
So can the label Alternate Universe hold the same weight with every story penned by a fan? Or just the stories with major plot alterations, like ones without magic, or where James and Lily survive, or Sirius didn't die?
In short, no matter how small or big the change, is a story still AU by definition, or is it all relative?
This is confusing. I'm probably just rambling nonsense, but I'm curious to know how you all classify it.
So what do you think?
What is the definition of Alternate Universe?
Is it a complete or significant reversal of the canon we're familiar with, or can it just be a tiny change?
Okay, bear with me while I think this out. I don't want to start an argument here: I just want some perspective. As examples, I'll be using the Harry Potter fandom, but feel free to substitute it with your own. Beware of spoilers!
→ Scenario 1: The epilogue happened, but Harry and Ginny (or Ron and Hermione or Draco and Astoria) divorced. Would that be AU?
→ Scenario 2: The epilogue didn't happen. But the epilogue is canon, whether you agree with it or enjoy the writing or not. But saying it didn't happen would be AU, yes or no?
→ Scenario 3: The epilogue happened. Canon, yes? However, someone writes a tender moment in between the final chapter and the epilogue with first time parents Ginny and Harry.
This is where, in my opinion, things get sticky.
Would that be AU, or something else entirely (e.g., just 'fan fiction')? We don't really know what occurred in the 19 years between those chapters, even though we're sticking with canon pairings. As readers and writers, we're just speculating. For all we know, Harry could have missed the birth of his first child. Or Ginny could have had a serious complication arise. Or they put her in this tub filled with magical goo and her skin melts away and the baby tap-dances his way out.
Regardless, we're only speculating. Even if the author revealed some details of James Sirius II's birth, if we wrote it down, we can't really call it canon. The author didn't write it themselves.
So can the label Alternate Universe hold the same weight with every story penned by a fan? Or just the stories with major plot alterations, like ones without magic, or where James and Lily survive, or Sirius didn't die?
In short, no matter how small or big the change, is a story still AU by definition, or is it all relative?
This is confusing. I'm probably just rambling nonsense, but I'm curious to know how you all classify it.
So what do you think?