Alternate Universe

An alternate-universe (AU) fanfic is one in which a change is made to the sequence of events that occur in the canon Daria TV series. AU stories are seen more often since the show went off the air, but it could be argued that many of the stories done while the series was ongoing were also AUs (e.g., Daria/Trent shippers in which they actually date, or Kara Wild's monumental Driven Wild Universe).

One can make a distinction between two types of Daria AUs. In the first, the alteration to events is made only to events internal to the series&mdash;i.e., not to the larger historical setting of the United States or the world. An AU in which Daria does not come to Lawndale High but instead attends Grove Hills, for instance, is not assumed to be a consequence of a historical event outside of Daria's family; her parents had a choice of which school to send her to, and they chose Grove Hills.

In the second, rarer type, a change to commonly shared history has taken place&mdash;the Confederacy wins the American Civil War, Nazi Germany wins World War II, etc.&mdash;and the story describes the assumed consequences of such a change. "Gone," by The Angst Guy, is one such example. These are usually called alternate-history or counterfactual stories.

It is also possible to find both types combined in a single AU, such as in the Daria Von Doom Series. Within events of the show, Daria breaks up with Tom early, during Is It Fall Yet? This occurs after Daria discovers that Tom hadn't included her in decisions about attending Sloane family activities, like the Starry Night Ball. In addition, the common history is different from the AU is different from regular Daria continuity by occurring within one of the Marvel Universes, making the series a crossover as well.

CINCGREEN once proposed a division of AU fanfiction into "organic" and "inorganic" groups. Organic AUs are those in which the divergence flows from a multiple-outcome event that is part of Daria canon, such as the near-accident Daria experiences in "Boxing Daria." An inorganic AU is one that flows from a unique event not present in canon, such as a car accident that takes place after the conclusion of the episode "Road Worrier," resulting in Trent Lane's death and Daria's mourning for him.

One problem in writing AU fanfics is the knowledge that the episodes of Daria were not necessarily shown in chronological sequence. It is commonly assumed that the episodes from seasons one and two show Daria's first year in Lawndale, seasons three and four (and Is It Fall Yet?) show her second year, and season five (and Is It College Yet?) show her final year. However, the episodes within each season are not always in sequence. Most famously, "Road Worrier" from the first season shows Daria and company attempting to go to Alternapalooza, a rock concert that takes place in mid-August (per The Daria Diaries) but is sandwiched between episodes showing portions of Daria's sophomore year at Lawndale High. The same problem is seen with the episodes of Season Five and events in Is It College Yet? Occasionally an AU fanfic incorporates the out-of-sequence episodes as still being in sequence with a tidy explanation as to why (e.g., "Deus Jane," by The Angst Guy).

A system for naming fan-created AU worlds is described at Daria Multiverse.

For a DariaWiki list of original AU Daria characters, go to Alternate Universe Characters.