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Okay, you've basically got two tropes here:
In Spite of a Nail covers the timeline ending up in approximately the same state despite things playing out differently along the way.
It sounds like you also have some pure The Stations of the Canon here too, though: the stations don't have to play out exactly the same so long as they're acknowledged- say, if they highlight the moment where the spoilered event is prevented from happening, that'd still be a visit to that station. The important part is that it makes a landmark you can point to as "this is something specific that is different in this timeline".
As an example, if in my Spiderman alternate universe fic I have Peter Parker stop the thief at the wrestling match so he has leverage to demand his payout for the match, I'm still visiting the station where Uncle Ben is killed by the thief when I have Peter riding home that night with Uncle Ben, half-listening to the lecture about responsibility prompted by Uncle Ben immediately figuring out that he hadn't been studying at the library as claimed.
It becomes In Spite of a Nail if I then have Peter keep going back to the amateur wrestling matches for easy money until a humiliated opponent finds out where he lives, and Uncle Ben dies in a Gun Struggle trying to save Peter and Aunt May.
Edited by Scorpion451
Thanks! In Spite of a Nail definitely applies better as despite all the events of the fic, further canon events are set to happen anyway, at most a little later than originally. on top of that, the author also took into account some situations that, while fully revealed later, were developing behind the scenes at the time the fic is set, furhter driving the point of canon eventually returning.
Since it's the first time I use this, not sure if the category should be this or "Anime" because it's a My Hero Academia fanfic.
Anyway: said fanfic, recently concluded, is set after the School Festival arc and from there, it takes place over several weeks. However, by the last two chapters it's made clear that some pivotal canon events will still play out eventually, with just a few differences (for example, Endeavor has not received the big scar on his face); not surprisingly by the end the various OCs, while very important during the story itself, are either dead, imprisoned, or gone to places where they aren't expected to influence future events. Basically, the story has replaced the Pro Hero and Joint Training arcs but has not created a completely new timeline.
Does some trope applicable to it exist? Also not being a big reader of fanfics in general, I don't know how many do something similar. The closest I can think of is something akin to replacing some of The Stations of the Canon.
Edited by GendoIkari