Shared Universe

Synonyms:	Friendfiction
See also:	verse, collaboration, responsefic, remix
Click here for articles related to this term on Fanlore.

A shared universe is a series of fanfic stories written by multiple authors in the same "universe" -- or using shared elements such as particular characterization, plot assumptions, etc. -- often at least slightly AU from canon.

Shared universes generally start off as a single story that inspires other fans to use the elements that set that original story apart from canon. Sometimes these shared universes are open for anyone to play in, and sometimes it's just a handful of fans, creating a universe together. Shared universes started very early in media fandom: the Kraith stories are a set of inter-connected works of Star Trek fan fiction. The earliest were written by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (also creator of the Sime - Gen Universe) beginning in 1969, in the T Negative fanzine, and continued through the first few years after the cancellation of the original TV series. As such, Kraith represents some of the earliest Star Trek fan fiction. (The stories are named after the "Kraith", a goblet or chalice used in the performance of certain Vulcan rituals, featuring prominently in several of the stories in the sequence.) By the time interest in Kraith had waned, over 50 writers had written stories in the universe.

In some fandoms, the shared universe can become as popular as the canonical universe, such as The Magnificent Seven fandom's widespread ATF universe, where the seven main characters are taken out of the Old West of canon and pulled forward in time to become modern-day ATF (U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) agents.

In other fandoms, shared universes occupy a niche, such as the Pegasus-B universe in Stargate Atlantis fandom, or the Less Than Legendary Journeys universe in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys fandom. In Pros fandom, an early elf story called The Hunting, by Jane of Australia, grew into a huge multivolume creation that nevertheless was only a small part of the larger Professionals fandom.

Some shared universes are multi-fandom, such as the stories set in Poisontaster's A Kept Boy universe or Helen's Take Clothes Off As Directed universe, which itself is a riff on Xanthe's Coming Home universe, which is a shared universe of its own.

Friendfiction is the term used by Original Slash fans for a similar concept.

Potential controversy

Sometimes writers using shared universes can result in problems or even wank, because there are different assumptions and expectations about how much an author can control a fanfic universe. Not every fan writer enjoys sharing their universes or having remixes made of their work. Some fans feel that any fan story is fair game to be used; others feel it should require specific permission until a shared universe is a certain (indeterminate) size, or has been declared open by the original author. Some fans feel a sequel shouldn't criticize the original, seeing it as other fans "fixing" or rewriting their work, while others think that it is hypocritical for fans to have more rights in their universes than they give the original copyright holders or creators of canon. Problems can arise when someone writing in a specific fan genre (slash, gen, het) finds their universe expanded to include a genre they may not approve of. Similar issues come up with the idea of fannish remixes. There's also a fairly subtle difference between writing in someone else's universe, and responsefic.