Alternate Universe: Difference between revisions

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In the first, the alteration to eventschange is made only to events internalthat tohappened thein series—i.e., not''Daria'' to(or the''Beavis largerand historical setting of the United States or the worldButt-head''). An AU in which Daria doesnever not comegoes to [[Lawndale High]] but instead attends [[Grove Hills]] ("[[RegiftedGrove Hell on Earth]]") andor [[Fielding]] ("[[GroveThe HellHallowed onHalls Earthof Fielding]]"), for instance,; isthe notwider assumedworld tois bestill athe consequencesame of a historical event outside of Daria's family;but her parents hadchose a choice of whichdifferent school to send her to, andwhen they chose Grove Hillsmoved. An AU in which an event happens later in the series, like where Daria fallingchose to go to Grove Hills at the end of "[[Gifted]]" ("[[Regifted]]") or Daria fell pregnant byduring Season accident5 ("[[The Longest Year]]"), would be similar but would be able to draw on specific canon events in its backstory as well. A great change could happen to Lawndale, like the town never being founded ("[[Anywhere But Here]]") but this would not impact on the 'real world': the show's characters are the only ones affected.
 
Three particular points in the series are often used as the diverging point in this AU. The first episode of the series in which Daria arrives in Lawndale and meets Jane, "[[Esteemsters]]," has received enormous attention and has been re-written many times. (See [[Esteemsters and Daria Fanfic|"Esteemsters" and ''Daria'' Fanfic]] - examples are "[[Victory Lane]]" by [[Brother Grimace]], [http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=29897&start=0 Iron Chef: Real Esteem].) The circumstances and fallout of [[The Kiss]] have also had great attention, being a significant (and divisive) moment in canon (see [[Dye! Dye! My Darling#Dye! Dye! My Darling and Fanfic|Dye! Dye! My Darling and Fanfic]]). Daria/Trent [[shipper]] tales that strengthen the crush into mature love and the entire Daria-Tom-Jane triangle have also been revisited on a regular basis, though the former less often of late - examples of this include "[[Vengeance]]" and "[[Out of the Slushpile]]" by [[Nemo Blank]].▼
 
An alteration to the family dynamic of a character can also cause an AU: a family member may be absent entirely ("[[Malice of Absence]]" by [[Renfield]]), have a different job or social circumstance ("[http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=367528#p367528 Jacob Morgendorffer, Esq]" by [[CAP]]), or simply have turned out different due to a small change.
 
▲Three particular points in the series are often used as the diverging point in this AU. The first episode of the series in which Daria arrives in Lawndale and meets Jane, "[[Esteemsters]]"," has received enormous attention and has been re-written many times. (See [[Esteemsters and Daria Fanfic|"Esteemsters" and ''Daria'' Fanfic]] - examples are "[[Victory Lane]]" by [[Brother Grimace]], [http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=29897&start=0 Iron Chef: Real Esteem].) The circumstances and fallout of [[The Kiss]] have also had great attention, being a significant (and divisive) moment in canon (see [[Dye! Dye! My Darling#Dye! Dye! My Darling and Fanfic|Dye! Dye! My Darling and Fanfic]]). Daria/Trent [[shipper]] tales that strengthen the crush into mature love and the entire Daria-Tom-Jane triangle have also been revisited on a regular basis, though the former less often of late - examples of this include "[[Vengeance]]" and "[[Out of the Slushpile]]" by [[Nemo Blank]].
A popular subdivision of this AU are stories in which the sex of a major character is reversed (assuming the usual 50/50 chance of having a boy or girl with each birth); the [[John Lane series]], [[Finn Morgendorffer]] series, [[The James Lane Chronicles]] and "[[Darius]]" are examples, but earlier tales along this line have been told, such as [[MMan]]'s "[[Brother, I Asked for It]]," in which Daria [[dream world|dreams]] Quinn had turned out as Quint. It's most common to see a male version of Jane - there've been John, Jake, James and Zane Lanes - in order to see how the Daria/Jane dynamic would be with Jane as a male (and thus a potential love interest). Notably, when Daria or Quinn's gender is switched, the siblings are usually shown to have a ''better'' relationship than in canon, under the assumption that they'd be less 'in competition'; the Finn Morgendorffer series is a notable exception, with the relationship being far ''more'' vicious and ugly. ▼
 
▲A popular subdivision of this AU are stories in which the sex of a major character is reversed (assuming the usual 50/50 chance of having a boy or girl with each birth); the [[John Lane series]], [[Finn Morgendorffer]] series, [[The James Lane Chronicles]] and "[[Darius]]" are examples, but earlier tales along this line have been told, such as [[MMan]]'s "[[Brother, I Asked for It]]," in which Daria [[dream world|dreams]] Quinn had turned out as Quint. It's most common to see a male version of Jane - there've been John, Jake, James and Zane Lanes - in order to see how the Daria/Jane dynamic would be with Jane as a male (and thus a potential love interest). Notably, when Daria or Quinn's gender is switched, the siblings are usually shown to have a ''better'' relationship than in canon, under the assumption that they'd be less 'in competition'; the Finn Morgendorffer series is a notable exception, with the relationship being far ''more'' vicious and ugly.
 
A specifically targeted version of this AU is the [[Alternate Ending]], where an author will often rewrite the ending of an episode to show what they'd have preferred to have happened. One of the earliest, "[[A Desperately Needed Ending (to "Depth Takes a Holiday")]]" by Kara Wild, was to make the then-recent "[[Depth Takes a Holiday]]" fit into the show's semi-realistic tone.
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A subdivision of the second type is for the ''Daria'' characters to live in a clearly fantasy-based universe, either a crossover with another fiction or an original story. A key example would be the crossover "[[Esteeminator: The Daria Morgendorffer Chronicles]]", where Daria lives in the universe from the ''Terminator'' franchise. There are many stories in this second subdivision about ''Daria'' characters as [[superheroes]]. Various canon characters are assigned roles as heroes or villains, depending on their behavior in the series. "[[Legion of Lawndale Heroes]]" is the longest running of these, though "[[Lawndale's Finest]]" (an explicit DC Comics crossover0 also has notable length.
 
An increasingly popular type of this second AU is one where the Daria cast exist in a different time: "[[Rocket Girls]]" by [[The Angst Guy]] moves Daria and Jane to the late-1940s, "[[Import/Export]]" by [[Brian Taylor]] is set during Prohibition. Some fanfics move the show forward from the 1990s to the present day - or what ''was'' the present day when it was written - to examine how things might be different as a result of the change, such as "[[Daria 2007: The Girl from Hope]]" by [[The Angst Guy]] or "[[God Save The Esteem]]" by Charles RB. (ManyThis fanficsis havedifferent alsoto placedfanfics Dariaset in the present, butday notbecause as an attempt at an AU butof the writer's preference, astreating the show wasas meant'happening to be "present-day"now' rather than a period piece.)
 
It is also possible to find two types of AU combined in a single fic, 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 the [[Marvel Universe]], making the series a [[Crossover|crossover]] as well.
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