What is an alternate universe story (AU)?
Simply put, an alternate universe story is any story that takes place in a Star Wars universe in which some part of canon (the Star Wars universe as it has been shown) has been deliberately changed. It might be changed for better or for worse; it might be a large change or small one. Someone who died could live, or someone who lived could die. An AU tries to understand what is by asking “What if?” What makes a good AU? Plausibility. A successful AU depends not on the changes in the scenario, but on the constants in the characters. This is what makes any given universe plausible. Would these characters, given a change in the course of their lives, behave this way, and create the worlds around them in the way you need them to? For instance, it’s one thing to say, “I’m going to write a story where Leia becomes a Sith”–that’s good, that’s possible… but what kind of Sith would Leia be? What might make her turn, and how would she behave on the Dark Side? Like Palpatine, tormenting people
