#canon divergence of course

[angelsdean]

a silly inconsistency that drives me nuts is in after school special it's november 1997, which makes dean 18 going on 19 and he's still....in school ?? a 19 yr old wouldn't still be in high school unless he got held back (which, very likely for dean and moving around so much) except i don't believe he'd still keep bothering to go once he hit 18 and could instead be working somewhere to make money they desperately need. then there's the only-canon-when-i-feel-like-it John's Journal which says dean graduated high school at 18. and you know, i could actually see dean lying to john (who hasn't been around enough to know if dean's been going to school or not) and telling him he actually graduated but really he's been working part-time jobs this whole time. but dean actually still going to school in late-1997?? it's pushing my suspension of disbelief lol. like i could only see if really if he's like trying to keep an eye on sam and stuff. but even then i still think he'd prioritize making money over going to school esp after yrs of being made to feel like he's not smart enough

#anyways one day i'll write the canon divergent from after school special fic that lives in my mind where john dumps them in jersey #for a whole school yr after sam kicks up a fuss abt never staying in one place long enough. and dean works at a pizzeria #and it's basically also and AU bc lots of spn characters from later seasons make an appearance. everyone just lives in jersey now #and of course cas is there<3 and queer coming of age things happen for dean<3 #vic.txt

[mitsuki91]

(... Anyway I already have another idea for a Coriolanus Snow/Lucy Gray Baird fic, sigh. But I need to read the book first 😭😭😭 but this fic screams in my head 😭😭😭 How can I live like this...)

#lucy gray x coriolanus #coriolanus x lucy gray #coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird #coryo x lucy #snowbaird #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #the hunger games #tbosas #this will be canon divergent of course #fanfiction

[non-un-topo]

Rating: M

Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Trans Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Trans Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Gender Identity, Crusades Era Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, No actual SA occurs, Canon-Typical Violence, POV First Person, just trust me though, Melodrama, gotta tag for that because i'm a dramatic person

Summary:

At first, there were only names. Yusuf of the Kaysanites, pious and sure and cunning like my merchant father before me. Yusuf, a strong, godly name, given and taken by no one but myself. It was the name with which I carried myself to my new life, to the walls of al-Quds. I could not have predicted, at the time, the violence that would befall her. Her, that was the land that was holy, and her, that was me. A merchant’s daughter from Mahdia, who carried an old sword and a new story.

#sage writes #yoo here's the canon-divergent crusades era t4t au i drew quite a while back #sort of an experimental piece. please lmk if you want more! i might make it into a series of snapshots through time. #please heed the warnings of course. they're there for a reason! #the old guard #tog fic #kaysanova #dsfdgfhds i feel like this fic is a wild card of a bunch of things ao3 readers typically skip BUT let's see where this goes! #i should not have been writing i should have been working but here ya goooo

[lgbtlunaverse]

Bad news is: due to canon Dabi not really having a self-image or fully realized identity and only regarding himself as a tool for his eventual murder-suicide with his dad, I... kinda can't see him pursuing a romantic or sexual relationship for his own good. He's not really interested in his own happiness. I feel like he'd only fuck someone if he could use it to make his father's life worse.

Good news is: you can, in fact, validate most dabi ships by him wanting to fuck them to make his dad's life worse.

Dabihawks: seduce your father's trusted collegue and dedicated fanboy to villainy and smear it in his face. You shatter hero society and get off. No downsides to this.

Shigadabi: you're fucking the most wanted villain in the world. Also related to all might's mentor, basically all might's honorary villain godson at this point. Double "smack dad in the face" points. Post redemption you can obnoxiously call All Might your father in law and he'll actually appreciate it despite him and your boyfriend not being legally related and you and your boyfriend not being legally married.

Dabitwice: not the most wanted man in the world BUT he's still an S-rank villain. Will make clones of you so you don't have to interact with your family if you don't want to AND the clone can dramatically die at the end of the evening and turn into goo to retraumatize your father. Also, unlike the previous two pricks he's actually nice enough that your mom and sister will like him and invite him over for family dinners. He will, somehow, manage to bring Toga. She bites. It'll be great.

These are my main ones but you can keep going with this for rarepairs. Dabispinner, getdabi, dabirumi, whatever you're into. There is no way this ends with endeavor having decent in-laws.

#bnha #dabi #todoroki touya #dabihawks #shigadabi #dabitwice #and of course if you want him to actually be nice to himself there's always canon divergence and fanon

[atopvisenyashill]

What if Rhaenyra and Alicent's children took after their mothers in appearances?

this is difficult for me bc the answer is “everything” and “nothing at all.”

rhaenyra has a much easier time convincing people the children are laenor’s bc the only evidence the greens & vaemond put forth is that they don’t look like laenor’s kids (which tbh, in a time before dna testing, saying “hey these kids look suspiciously like the mail man i mean the captain of the guard” is great evidence). if the three oldest LOOK Valyrian, then not only is Rhaenyra’s reputation much better bc she’s not considered an adulterous whore, but it leaves the greens with only one real argument against her and that’s HER gender and not that she doesn’t have a proper heir. The gender argument is still incredibly good because it’s the argument the greens push anyway - Boremund, Peake, Aemond, and that expired jar of mayo Orwyle all explicitly say that their issue is a woman inheriting the throne! Whether Laenor lives in this situation affects a lot as well; if he’s less stressed at court it’s possible he’s a better political ally to Rhaenyra so he doesn’t get offed for being useless & Laenor as Prince Consort during the Dance is just leaps and bounds better than Daemon.

HOWEVER. Alicent’s children looking like her actually gives Rhaenyra a new argument - something something, my son & heir is of Pure Valyrian Blood, look at him with his Pure Valyrian Looks and look at my brown haired baby brother. This can certainly be overlooked by being cool and riding a dragon - pls see Rhaenys and Meleys - but even flying on the prettiest dragon might not be enough goodwill to get people to overlook The Everything about Aegon not even wanting to be king. And an Aegon who doesn’t want to be king AND doesn’t even look Valyrian AND his sister has a true born son that looks Valyrian? Even if a faction forms up around Aegon - and to be clear it definitely still would because Otto will still be pushing it - I think it becomes an uphill battle to get Aegon to actually take up the crown.

I would say that they’d deal with this by betrothing Helaena and Jace but the thing about the Targaryens is that they are their own biggest opps so I genuinely don’t know if Rhaenyra, Viserys, or Alicent would see the sense in combining their lines & do this or if Rhaenyra still decides “Laena & Daemon are my besties of course I’m tying our lines & ensuring Daemon fights for me in the upcoming political showdown” (even tho Daemon was never gonna fight for Alicent in a million years) or if Laenor pushes for a different betrothal (either a smarter one that gets them allies, like betrothing Jace to one of the Baratheon girls, or wants to combine his line with his sisters & pushes for Baela/Rhaena anyways). If Jace and Helaena DON’T marry I think there’s still going to be a succession crisis, and if they still decide to use their dragons to fight that crisis, it’s still destructive no matter what. The main issue is that if Rhaenyra can make the greens look bad, they have less of a foothold in ousting her, but can Rhaenyra use the fact that her sons are legitimate well enough to shore up support? On her own I don’t think so - she got a lot of support in canon even with the boys looking like Harwin, but also needlessly shot herself in the foot like several times as well so - but with Jacaerys by her side (and potentially Laenor as well) I do think she’d have a better shot at taking & holding Westeros bloodlessly over Aegon. But again - while Otto focuses on Rhaenyra being a whore (bc they live in a hellscape and it’s a great argument) the issue is Andal succession laws & Jaehaerys. There was always going to be conflict surrounding Rhaenyra taking the throne. If she can make an ally out of Alicent somehow or even completely bury Alicent’s arguments (ie, why do your kids look like Criston Cole or something to that affect), the issue becomes more akin to Aenys’ problems of having a few unruly lords. Jacaerys and Laenor are good politicians though, as is Corlys, and if she doesn’t have the legitimacy of her children being questioned, i think she has an easier time but that doesn’t mean it might not still come to war.

#valyrianscrolls #the dance of the dragons #rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #asks #i am swinging at a hornet’s nest tagging this i think but i want to find it later so #canon divergent au #i had a lot more about like. what EYE think the best course of action is but idk if it’s relevant #legitimacy in asoiaf #personal and political violence in asoiaf

[blitheringmcgonagall]

P.S. I Still Wait for You

Chapter 2/4

Ten days before the wedding and he comes home from training to find Marlene McKinnon sitting on the low wall outside his flat, smoking a cigarette. The door is open and there’s a muggle contraption inside making an infernal noise.

“S’ up?” she says, without moving. She is the epitome of cool – backcombed blonde hair, black leather trousers, black eyeliner, The Cure t-shirt, red Doc Martins.

He raises his brow.

“Do I want to know about…?” he waves his arm vaguely in the direction of his home.

She shrugs, chips at her black nail polish, takes a long drag of the short cigarette.

“I can explain.”

He snorts, sits down beside her on the wall, and waits in companionable silence. A muggle man emerges after a while, wearing navy overalls, pencil behind his ear.

“There you are, love, all sorted,” he says, grinning at the two of them, like he’s just done them a massive favour.

“Thanks Mr. Smith. How much do we owe you?” Marlene says, stubbing out the cigarette on the wall and rummaging in her black satchel.

She pays him and watches him leave, scanning the street, hand on the wand in her pocket, eyes narrowed.

“Still worried in case a Deater follows him?” James says.

“Yup,” she nods. “Force of habit. Can’t seem to stop. Even after three years.��

“Some things don’t change easily.”

He’s talking about something else entirely and Marlene knows it.

She takes a deep breath, turns and faces him head on.

“I got a telephone installed, line’s connected now. Lily wants to ring you. She’ll phone you before the weekend, after seven some time.”

It’s simultaneously the worst and best news he has heard since she left.

“Why?” he finally manages to say.

“Because.” Marlene shrugs again. “She wouldn’t say.”

He runs a hand down his face.

“What the actual fuck.”

She stands closer to him, grabbing both his shoulders.

“Just talk to her, yeah?” she says.

Like it’s perfectly easy.

“Please. She deserves one conversation.”

He can’t seem to answer so he doesn’t. He nods, brusque.

“You’ve gone quieter in your old age,” Marlene smiles back at him, then leans in and gives him a strong hug, suffocating.

He laughs then, smiles back at her, even if it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Yeah,” he agrees.

“I love you both,” she says. “You coming Friday to the local? Dorcas’ll be there. So will the lads. She got a promotion. Assistant Editor.”

“Holy shit! Congrats!” he gives a low whistle.

“Will we see you?”

“Probably,” he says, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the concrete.

It depends on the call. It depends on what Lily says.

***

 The phone rings on Friday night, at 7pm exactly. He’s been walking up and down the hall, repeatedly, for the past two hours. He picks up the receiver and finds he cannot speak.

“James? Hi, hello. It’s Lily… are you there?”

He laughs then, short and bitter. As if him not hanging on to every word she says was ever an option.

“James?”

“Lily.”

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

There is an awkward pause.

“Hi,” she repeats. “Thanks for taking my call.”

He doesn’t say anything.

“Hello?”

He takes a deep breath, looks up at the ceiling.

“What do you want, Lily?”

He didn’t want to sound like a pathetic looser. A weirdo who still thinks about her most days. He tries for polite, detached. He hears her swallowing.

“I was hoping we could have a brief talk.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“I, er, when I was, I was surprised to receive the invitation to Remus and Sirius’ wedding. I didn’t feel it was right to go. But they insisted. To the point of visiting me on a number of occasions. And they were my friends, are my friends. I don’t want to upset them. I’m so happy for them…” she pauses, and she sounds like she’s short of breath for some reason.

“Yes, I’m happy for them too. They both deserve to be happy.”

“They do. It’s… it’s just… difficult. I wanted to ask you a favour.”

“A favour?” he slides down the wall, until he’s hunched into the corner, on the floor, telephone cord in his left hand, twisting it repeatedly.

“If I come, I… I don’t want to talk to you. It would be too… difficult. Too hard. I couldn’t… I’ve told them. If I come, I’m not sitting at your table and I’m not talking to you.”

He makes a sound, so she knows he’s listening.

“I can’t do it.”

“I understand,” he says.

He hears her long exhale.

“Thank you, James.” She sounds relieved.

“Would you do it again?”

“Sorry?”

“Would you walk away, without saying a word? Would you do anything differently if you could go back?”

A heartbeat.

“No, I would do it again, every time.”

He’s glad she can’t see his face. His knuckles are white from how hard he grips the phone.

“I won’t talk to you, I won’t even look at you. You needn’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

“Goodbye Lily.”

“I hope you are alright.”

He’s perfectly fine. His heart isn’t breaking down this long-distance line tonight.

“I’m fine. I’m not missing you at all. I’ve moved on. Made new friends. Met new lovers.”

He sounds so plausible he can almost convince himself.

“Good. That’s good, James, I’m so glad to hear that.”

If she’s been feeling any remaining sliver of guilt about how she left him, he’s made it easy for that to evaporate.

“Yeah, so, you needn’t worry, I’ll leave you alone. It won’t be any problem.”

“Okay. Thank you, James.”

If she says James one more time he will scream or sob or punch something.

“Goodbye,” he says, formal, brisk.

“Good –"

He hangs up the phone, before she can say anything more hurtful. He’s struggling to understand how he was ever in love with her. Why he was ever in love with her.

@jilychallenge2023 this is from April, but I kept going… 🩷

#ps i still wait for you #jilychallenge #april jilychallenge #Jily angst #chapter 2/4 #come on of course they’ll talk! #and we find out wTF happened #canon divergent au #jily fic

[possamble]

yes!!! getting good grade in farcille!!!

#asks #the dragoness of melini #kicking my heels and giggling #god i just had a dogshit night staying up for work i needed this #marcille has bunny animal neurosis YES but also it's backed up by this absolutely charming vanity and ridiculousness #and selfishness that it honestly hit me like a lightning bolt that i can say she's also dragon-like in a way falin's dragon would recognize #also tbh im always a little surprised when people talk about falin's characterization in a little creature #i went into it with the full knowledge that it was self-indulgent and i would inevitably be diverging from her canon personality #of course i put in a lot of work studying what little we get to see of her and building on that to the best of my ability but.. #it's like. almost as surprising as it is nice to hear that it feels natural to people #anyway. do you have any idea how much i want to sneak into farcille servers without saying who i am #just so i can lurk on what people are saying about my fic #people get so shy about yelling about it in public or directly at me and i get it i get it sooo much but also. #I Want To See. I Put Many Hours And Almost All My Braincells Into This. I Want To See Your Uninhibited Thoughts On It...

[hellcheerficdatabase]

Of Dio, Billy Joel and Vandalism

Author: @shroomystar

Rating/Warning: Teen and up audience

Chapter Count: 1/1

Description:

No, it’s loopy, pretty handwriting, with the is dotted with little hearts. Eddie blinks again.

Don’t vandalize the desk.

Tags: Alternate Universe- canon divergence, pen pals, on the desk, pining, a LOT of pining, this is one of my favs, how come I forgot to recommend it earlier!?, hurt/comfort, Eddie writes on desks, because of course he does, fluff, Eddie POV, one-shot, status: Completed

#Alternate Universe- canon divergence #pen pals #on the desk #pining #a LOT of pining #this is one of my favs #how come I forgot to recommend it earlier!? #hurt/comfort #Eddie writes on desks #because of course he does #fluff #Eddie POV #one-shot #status: Completed #eddie munson #eddie and chrissy #eddissy #eddie x chrissy #chrissy deserved better #eddsy #munningham #hellcheer #chreddie #stranger things #chrissy cunningham

[myalchod]

Silrah + AU in which Farah's not killed but sent to Earth forgetting everything about the Otherworld

Another one that didn't come out the way I intended to, but I've been staring at it for long enough that I'm just gonna go with what I have at this point ...

1. It’s Sky who finds her, chasing a rumour that he hopes might be Bloom into the First World. He watches only long enough to be sure that she doesn’t know him — their eyes meeting across the expanse of parkland, the complete lack of recognition in hers — before returning to the Otherworld. “It’s her,” he tells them, sitting around the table that evening, and sees hope flare in the eyes of the man who raised him. “I know it’s her. But …” and that light fades as he continues.

2. Of course Saul goes. For her, he would always go; even if the rumour proves false, he would risk far more for the possibility that it’s his fairy out there. The bond between them has been dead since the day he’d been dragged to the Solarian prison over a year ago, leaving him certain that Rosalind had killed her, but as he watches the woman who could be her ghost, he feels, or imagines he does, something stir in his chest.

3. He doesn’t approach. At first it’s fear, because there’s a possibility that he’s wrong and this isn’t Farah, but when Musa accompanies him on his next scouting run, she confirms what he’s known in his gut from the moment he first set eyes on her. There’s such sympathy in her gaze that he has to look away, focussing instead on the clouds overhead, wondering if this is the same sky as they see in the Otherworld. The thought is less comforting than it should be.

4. They had talked, in the years after Aster Dell, about what it might be like to forget that day — if walking away from the past might let them find some measure of happiness once freed of its weight. Remembering those conversations, he tries to tell himself that he should stay away; she’s achieved that, and he has no right to wake the demons of the past for his own selfishness. And yet he comes back, again and again, because the pull remains too strong, and because his own nightmares persist and he needs to know she’s safe, she’s well, that at least one of them has broken free.

5. He thinks he’s been discreet, and so he’s entirely unprepared for the day she sits down on the bench beside him. “I don’t bite, you know,” she says without preamble, and as she smiles he’s struck yet again by the lightness of this woman, and the unfairness of bringing the weight of memory to crash down on her again. (And yet.)

6. If this was a First World fairy tale, that first brush of her lips against his would right everything once more. But he knows, better than most, that those tales hold little of reality, and so it is nothing more than a kiss.

[ ask me another ] [ all answers ]

#fate the winx saga #au headcanon meme #farah dowling #saul silva #silrah #au: canon divergence #asked and answered #charis writes #i'm so sorry #except not because of course not #(and also because i think anne will endorse pain for these two) #i wanted so badly to resolve it but i couldn't decide how #so there are at least three different possible endings in my notes somewhere

[feynavaley]

I keep seeing people claiming things that straight-up contradict canon about America and Canada's dynamic, so I'm going to clarify a couple of points.

What's canon: Canada makes America cry after insulting him at length during an argument. Once. (The other time, we don't get to see America's reaction, even though we can certainly surmise he doesn't take it well.)

What's NOT canon: Canada constantly bullies (or even abuses!) America, treats him horribly and believes to be above him.

As I have already stressed, Canada makes America cry at most two times in canon.

Now, this obviously isn't okay and I'm not claiming Canada's actions were right. However, people just love to dismiss the context. First of all, this isn't Canada just insulting America out of nowhere without a justification, they're in the middle of arguments. Not to mention, both times, America is the one who starts insulting Canada. (This is another thing people conveniently never mention.) Then, Canada answers and, with the spirits running so high, he definitely goes too far. Even so, there is a context that, without justifying it, does explain why he lashed out so.

Moreover, Canada insulting America definitely isn't their everyday dynamic. They're depicted at ease around each other numerous times, doing activities and spending time together. All instances in which both of them are nice and friendly, clearly enjoying what they're doing. To make this even clearer, in most of their interactions, Canada shows no hostility towards America and is, instead, very kind to him.

Lastly, regarding the assumption that Canada feels superior to America... that one is explicitly denied in canon. Canada does have some issues with America's behaviour, this much is true. However, he believes himself to be overall inferior to America, not superior. He explicitly says so.

With all this, I'm not trying to claim that Canada is perfect or that he never does anything wrong. Just like every person, he has his limits and flaws and even though he's generally nice and accommodating, he can reach the breaking point when put under a lot of stress and then, make mistakes. But not being perfect all the time doesn't make him a bad person either. Not when that faulty behaviour is so different from his normal one.

#hetalia #analysis #aph america #aph canada #feyna talks about hetalia #feyna speaks #hetalia fandom stuff #na brothers #this obviously doesn't apply to people who have canon-divergent interpretations of course #but claiming that Canada is constantly awful to America in canon... well yes this is character bashing because it just isn't true #reminds me of a post I saw once a while ago #about this behaviour so typical of tumblr of just... being unable to accept that a character can just be kind and a good a person #and having to use every possible excuse to claim that character is actually a monster #so the fact he's not a complete saint and he's even slightly unkind once becomes the 'proof' he's actually awful #almost as if people felt threatened by the depictions of truly kind people because they feel called out on their constantly rude a behaviou #so they have to find a justification to tear down even just a kind character #in order not to feel bad for how awful they are #and I'm not claiming this is case here obviously since I don't personally know the people who made such claims about canada #still on a bigger level (not only canada but in general) it does make me wonder if the're some truth in this

[moonlarked]

Me: ok ok so they’re running away from the gala now, makes sense, trudy probably wants to kill them

Me: oh shit, their apartment is under police investigation. forgot about that whole murder thing.

Me: oh good, they got away and found a safe space.

Me: awww this is sweet

*flips page*

oh shit ben is gone. why is ben gone.

*looks at next page*

#im sobbing there’s only a little bit left #I know how this is going to end I hate it #I mean of course I always knew how it was going to end #and I’m a dumbass for thinking otherwise #but enough things have been canon divergent so far #that I guess I hoped #things might be different??? #but nope #we ain’t getting a happy ending here #the king of infinite space

[bluedalahorse]

The YR canon divergence fic I am perhaps most interested in reading is one where August never ends up filming the video in the first place. On the night when Everything Is Fake But Wilhelm’s Love For Simon Is Real, Sara has sneaked off to campus to go look for Simon when he doesn’t answer her texts, and she and August run into each other and have a strange and unexpected conversation-slash-encounter in the middle of the night. August never ends up at Wilhelm’s window to film the video, so it never happens. And now August’s life is butterfly effected in a different direction, and he ends up making a different (not always perfect, still sometimes messy) series of decisions that lands him in a very different place than he is in season 2.

Everyone else’s decisions are slightly different too, because again—no video. (Wilmon and Sargust both still happen and happen dramatically but happen differently.) And there’s still a lot of stuff for characters to overcome, because they are all young people in a messed up system trying to define themselves and overcome their pasts.

Yes yes I know, if I like this idea so much, I should write it. I have given thought to it, but I have to finish Heart and Homeland first. After Heart and Homeland wraps up we will see what our options are.

#young royals #august young royals #canon divergence thoughts? #I just feel like there is stuff to explore there #I would really like to read the fic that exists in my head without having to write it #but of course one must write what one wishes to read

[epersonae]

9, 17, 20! ❤️

9. Biggest pet peeve while writing?

Honestly, at the moment it's the fact that my FUCKING CAT insists on sitting on my lap almost any time I'm on the couch, which is where I like to write. And sometimes he bites my arm, too.

(for anyone who doesn't know, I have a cat who is probably at least 18 years old and kind of a dick)

17. Favorite AU to write?

In general, I am a canon divergence girlie: what if X had happened earlier or later or not at all or twice as much? What if Julia had lived or Magnus had come in earlier or Ed had died or Izzy had been mutinied successfully?

(altho I suppose by sheer volume it has to be the actor AU/not-not-RPF of the series the loneliest time, there's something about it that compelled me in ways I'm still working through, and also one of those stories is itself a little puzzle of canon divergence too)

20 - already answered, altho as I said in the tags, Taako is my runner-up for hardest character to write.

[fanfiction author ask game]

#I love creamsicle but also jfc #no of course my draw towards canon divergence doesn't say anything about me as a person and my relationship to the question of what-if #(emi shut up) #ask games #my writing #my fic

[dastardlydaemon]

Daemon needs to be needed.

Daemon wants to be wanted.

Daemon needs to feel like he's irreplaceable.

#about. #also why him and rhea didn't work because she didn't get this #of course we're excluding my canon divergent plotline of them where they did the work and got there eventually but yeah #she was super independant and didn't need him to do anything for her #so he naturally hated that ergo hated her #queue are lovely.

[burntheupholstery]

bestie tell me about your fave Naruto ships and how they’ve changed over the years!!

emi!!! darling, i thought so long and hard about this, and i am now forced to conclude that my inability to be normal about Naruto ships is terminal, sorry. one day it will kill me.

i am incapable of being normal about these 2d people. nowadays i either put them in QPRs - QPR ftw! - or they're single, bereaved, and grieving.

long and rambly thoughts under the cut, but here's the tl;dr: my shippy focus used to be solely m|m, but then i learned about QPRs and now that's everything and everyone. there usually isn't sex involved (there used to be) because i personally amn't interested, but probably it happens off-screen. i think almost exclusively in KakaObiRin and the Sannin, and apart from those two units i mostly mix up characters with OCs - Konan/F!OC, Terumi/F!OC, etc., or explore grief and living through disaster by writing character studies.

of course, nobody is straight. :)))

i used to ship the cast monogamously! my preferences were KakaYama, JiraOro, and time-travel!NaruKaka. ...that last one still appeals to me. the tragedy of time! the despair of fate! the struggle against predestination! tall, blond, and haunted? hello. and then a while later i was into NaruGaa, NejiHina, and HashiTobi (yeah, as in the senju founders). to some extent i still ship the last one, because the connecting factor of all these ships was unconditional devotion through life's vicissitudes. but you can already see the hints of QPR and the patterns of being left behind.

and then i went to college and got depressed from the pandemic and i read a lot of Big Books about the tragedies and joys of the Human Condition (and i kept reading them, they're good, happy to share recs!) and i stopped being able to isolate these sad little ink figures to just one other point of connection. it's like that adage about leading a healthy life: your romantic partner can't be your everything - it's unfair both parties. friendships outside of romantic monogamy is good and healthy! and i applied that theory to fic and realized one partner cannot possibly soothe and contain all that fictional trauma. so. QPR it is.

i've never felt drawn to the canon version of KakaObi- to me, their magnetism comes from their entanglements with others and the world: Minato, Rin, their clan legacies or lackthereof, and war and love and hate and grief. Yamato was too flat for me to build on, so i kicked him and put Kakashi with Obito and Rin and now the plot bunnies never cease.

Then there's JiraOro, the unpleasant offshoot of my BL-obsessed days. the hurt!! the betrayal!! i realized with glee i can have all that and more if i hooked Tsunade into the mix - after all, Jiraiya isn't the most reliable moral crutch and compass in the world, and his lascivious ego needs to be taken down a peg or five, none of which Orochimaru is inclined to do. we also never got to see Orochi and Tsuna get along on screen, and i just know in my heart of hearts they are the world's most gossipy mad science best friends. together they keep each other grounded. together they can be their best and worse selves. apart, the fallout is spectacular. probably the sex is specular too, but i don't really care about that.

and that's it for the active ships i still rotate in my head, really. hashirama is a can of worms i regretted opening, because that man is stuffed so full of idealism he's gone sour. if anything, it's the people he left behind that i'm interested in now: mito, tobirama, his kids, tsunade. the isolation, the devastation, the rage at being left behind. the crushing weight of expectation, the looming spectre of war. heady stuff!!

finally we come to Obito. ah... Obito. what isn't wrong with you. what hasn't the world done to you. in his canon state he is non-functioning, inoperable. every time i pick him up i give him a good hard shake to get rid of all that canon taint, and then i plop him in interesting AUs where he confronts his problems head on. namely: Rin. i love Rin.

surprising everyone, i actually don't have a lot of complaints about the Ōotsutsuki as characters - i used to hate their existence, but the sci-fi fan in me reared its head insistently so now i have a bunch of plot bunnies about them. i don't ship them, tho. they seem almost too alien for human connections...

you'll notice i've conspicuously left out discussion of the Konoha 11. this is because while i love them with all my heart i've lost touch with their characterization... and Boruto's existence is just so disheartening that I prefer to play in my own sand-box.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ !!!

#nowadays naruto's cast and world is more interesting to me as fuel for AUs and canon divergence fics tbh #naruto #burn talks #of course there's the undeniable and clearly intentional parallel with jujutsu kaisen #but those thoughts are for another post

[haldanare]

currently infected with FMA brainworms, which usually means entertaining myself with fic ideas, but MAN is it difficult to come up with stuff for a story thats esentially perfect

#especially canon divergence or like near to that #i mean its a fun challenge #but its very difficult #i could make it easier and set it post canon af course hmmmm #lau posts #the nolo track tag