#canon divergence.

[snpshots-a]

CANON DIVERGENCE. #ONE. re. jonathan's injuries after the attack in the hospital.

we all know how stupidly unrealistic stranger things became, (even for a show about inter-dimensional monsters and worlds…) but ever since the flayed aired in 2019, i remember thinking… what the fuck… when jonathan was just fine after what happened to him in the hospital. there is no way he would have been physically okay after what he went through. so… here's my canon divergences regarding that incident. 🖤

after being attacked by a flayed tom and bruce, and in his desperate attempt to get to nancy— jonathan's body works on pure adrenaline, sheer fight or flight mode. his destroyed back, his achy limbs, his now crooked spine is pushed to the wayside momentarily as the only thing that matters is surviving, and making sure his friends, his girlfriend, are okay. adrenaline is a very powerful thing. jonathan has felt it before: in the times he defended his mother against a drunken father; during altercations that left his knuckles bloody and bruised… but never to this extent. alongside pumping adrenaline, he's left in shock over what's physically happened to him, and does not have time to process it; alarming symptoms also do not properly display themselves until later.

over the next few days, jonathan experiences some odd tingling in his hands and feet which he just puts up to nerves, and fear, regarding everything going on. the same goes for a constant numbness in the back of his neck— that, too, he pushes away. he's still working on that adrenaline and does not have a moment to stop, to think about how much pain he's actually in. season three continues normally, and nothing changes insofar as jonathan's contributions to the group.

he suffers from a delayed onset, which is when "symptoms may not appear until minutes, hours, or even days later as bleeding or inflammation increases around the spinal cord." as well as adrenaline masking: "immediately after an accident, shock and adrenaline can temporarily block pain, making it difficult to realise you've been injured."

it's not until three days later, july the seventh, that his injuries fully reveal themselves. it's a simple enough incident, almost in keeping with jonathan's entire persona. it's soft, quiet— no fuss is made. he's in the kitchen, making lunch for himself and joyce, something he's done a thousand times, when all of a sudden his legs fall out from beneath him. the pressure in his neck comes to the foreground again; for a few minutes he just sits there, slumped on the floor, leaning against the kitchen cabinets. when he realises something is seriously wrong, when he realises he can't get up, he calls out for his mother. when she arrives, he quietly says, i think something is wrong. panic hasn't set in yet.

when joyce realises the severity of what's going on, she calls for an ambulance. at the hospital, after scans and tests, it's discovered jonathan is suffering from a central cord syndrome incomplete spinal cord injury, and a grade one concussion. (doctor sam owens is notified of jonathan's situation almost immediately, set to be flagged when any byers' or hopper's are admitted.)

jonathan spends three nights in hawkins memorial, where his doctor's (led by owens) assess the best route of recovery and how to tackle these severe injuries. already, jonathan grows irritated by the fact that he's not home, that his mother and brother have to make do without him. he's never been away from them this long.

hawkins memorial doesn't have the equipment or facilities required to deal with jonathan's needs, nor the staff. but without wanting to cause an uproot to the byers' already turbulent life, sam manages to pull some strings, and pay people off in order to accommodate for the space, as well as trained specialists. it takes just over a week to get everything in order. (he's paying the hospital handsomely to accommodate for just one boy, as well as a new team of doctors. it's a little sketchy but hey... sam owens is the goat.)

jonathan spends ten days in the public ward while his doctor's work to stabilise his spine, manage swelling, and address any more immediate medical complications. surgery is contemplated, but ultimately dismissed in favour for ongoing rehabilitation. he is then moved to a private room, which becomes his home for the next five months. all medical bills are covered by sam.

in the meantime, (and following light's canon of the byers not moving away) joyce still sells her house. but she moves up, rather than out. like the ives, owens' sets the byers' family up in a house in loch nora, one equipped to deal with jonathan's new needs, and one that will hopefully allow them a kind of fresh start. away from the lab being right next door, away from the quarry, away from monsters in their walls. joyce is given stability to take care of her boys, though being a prideful woman, doesn't accept anything further from sam. jonathan's medical bills are another story— she would never have been able to afford it, and that would have killed her. she accepts his help towards jonathan, and towards their new house, but nothing more. (he offers to pay for school fees, college fees... she declines, but is grateful. with the money from selling her house, and still working, she's financially comfortable for the first time in her life.)

jonathan spends five months in the hospital, forced to learn basic functions all over again. rehabilitation is extremely tough on him, and his attitude in the beginning doesn't help matters. he's angry at what's happened; frustrated he wasn't strong enough to fight back, to prevent this; sad that he's missing so much time with his family. while they visit every day, it's not the same. after the first month, he realises being so miserable is only going to keep him in longer, so he commits himself to getting better. it's a difficult road, but by the end of the fifth month, mobility has severely improved. he's able to go home, so long as he returns once a week for continued rehabilitation.

in december of 1985, he's officially back home, and finds himself relying on crutches for the first three weeks. walking down pathways is not the same as the streamlined hospital tiles. walking up hills proves too difficult. crutches are soon traded in for a cane, which he is rarely seen without. his entire lifestyle changes. it's not until october of 1986 that he can walk without any kind of mobility aid, and even then, he's not as fast or stable as he once was.

[icemde]

GRAY FULLBUSTER, BUT BETTER ( CANON DIV. MASTER POST )

STRIPPING HABIT.

I have always had... mixed feelings about how Mashi.ma handled this quirk of Grays. It's not something I'm removing from him, but it's not just something he does randomly. Gray stripping was a habit he picked up when he was learning from Ur, and with how much emotions Gray has tied to both Ur and his magic, it would make much more sense that stripping is a TRAUMA RESPONSE for Gray more than anything.

When Gray was younger and still fresh off of Ur & his parent's death, Gray would typically strip down to his underwear, but as he grew older the severity of it declined a lot. At most, Gray will take off his shirt and honestly prefers to be shirtless around the guild and during jobs. Gray has NEVER stripped down to nude, especially in any public setting.

ICED SHELL SIDE EFFECTS

Iced Shell is heavily implied to be a very dangerous and damaging spell to cast. The fact that the spell requires the caster to be in full consciousness and willingness to cast the spell alone and the cost of it is their life, it would make sense for any failed or incomplete attempts of the spell to have lasting damages on the caster. Considering Gray has attempted to cast this spell at least FOUR TIMES CANONICALLY, one of them being a modified version of the spell he created himself, it would make absolute sense that Gray didn't come out of any of this scotch free.

Gray's entire being is littered with scars looking identical to cracks. The most obvious ones are on his arms, originating from his palms and climbing up his entire forearm before dissipating around his elbows. While the cracks were present after his first attempt on Galuna Island, they became more prominent after his attempt to cast Lost Iced Shell, considering this was the closest he had gotten to successfully casting the spell.

Gray's body temperature has also dropped dramatically. While before Gray would have always been considered cold due to his magic, he was never at a point where it would be concerning to those unknowing. After his two attempts on Galuna, Gray became frigid to the touch, his body feeling colder with every continued attempt. Following his final attempt, touching any part of Gray would be similar to sticking your hand in a bucket of ice, with his hands being the coldest part of his body.

ECLIPSE GATE / GRAY'S DEATH

It's absolutely wild to me how little the source material addressed this after the fact, considering Gray had literally just WATCHED HIMSELF DIE. Like?? Really?? Nothing??

Anyways, Gray has lasting PTSD from this event, even if he refuses to acknowledge it. While never elaborated in canon, Gray still felt the damage of the dragonling's attacks, and knows exactly where they hit on his body and the pain each shot caused. Gray had suffered from phantom pains almost constantly the first few months after the games, namely the one first shot in his chest and the shot in his head. While not as bad as they were, lasers typically are a trigger for Gray, bringing back all the phantom pains at once. He hasn't told anyone about these.

In terms of who know's about Gray's death, he wasn't very vocal about it with anyone. The only people who know of it being Lyon, Juvia, Meredy and Cana, as they were the only people to see it. After the battle was over, he had asked the three not to share it with anyone else, his logic being that because it never actually happened, there was no reason to worry others about it.

SILVER & TARTAROUS ARC

I'll be honest, I've had so many mixed feelings about Silver being Gray's father. While I understand the emotional implications of it all, I feel like it does more harm than good. Gray is probably at a point in his life where he has at least somewhat excepted both of his parent's death ( hell he's made some damn good progress about Ur's death ) then to suddenly have the reanimated corpse of your father show up and give you a mission to kill a demon just seems... wrong.

Unless I am writing with a Silver who does keep Gray as his son, GRAY IS NOT SILVER'S SON. The Silver he fights in Tartarous is not related to him, but is still from the same village as him and probably knew Gray's parents when they were alive. He would still be the one to gift Gray the Ice Devil Slayers Magic, as a fellow victim of Deliora and seeing that there was a survivor who is still fighting against the demons. I'll have another segment on the magic itself ( and honestly it might get it's own post ) but the magic itself is almost like an heirloom of the village itself, so Gray inheriting it still has some connection to his past.

Gray going after E.N.D is still something that happens, although not a request from his father, instead a conclusion he comes to on his own, realizing most if not all the issues they have been encountering are all stemming from this one book and one problem.

ICE DEVIL SLAYER MAGIC & DEMONIFICATION

I love the fact that Devil Slayer Magic has consequences of its use. It's a magic inherently linked to dark magic so it would make sense it would come with a toll for its casting, especially if the caster wasn't properly trained in it. Considering Gray inherited the magic and the only teacher he could have for it died, Gray definitely falls on the more dangerous side of using the magic.

The magic itself originated in his home village of Aneria, where stories of soliders who fought demons was common place. It was standard practice for the magic to be passed down to the villages youth to continue its legacy, but after Deliora's attack, no one had been able to pass along the magic until Gray met Silver.

The darkness that taints his skin upon casting it is directly connected to two things. 1) the strength of the magic itself, and 2) the level of control he has over the magic. Because Gray is still fairly new to the magic, the more darkness is concerning, meaning he has less control over his magic and mental state. While not instantaneous, the magic is known to corrupt untrained users, which is the main reason Gray doesn't resort to using the magic unless absolutely necessary.

Honestly, this section is getting its own post in the future, but for now it's important to know that the cure Porlyusica gave Gray when the markings first started appearing were magic suppressants, to prevent the Devil Slayers Magic from overrunning him if continuous use was needed.

ONE YEAR TIME SKIP

I still have it that Gray and Juvia went off together to train during the time skip, but I will make it clear that GRAY TOLD JUVIA he was leaving. I honestly hate the idea of Gray, someone who has some level of abandonment issues, up and abandoning someone he cares about with little to no warning is absolutely messed up and not him. She knew he was leaving, but neither of them knew how long he was going to be gone, and he knew that reaching out to contact anyone would put the mission at risk, which is why he vanished off the map after joining Avatar.

MORE TO BE ADDED.

[theta-scenario]

I guess if they seized all of Shepherd's assets, I have no home now.

Roman Briggs, Torture Without You, chapter 99

FanFiction.net

AO3

[trgareyn]

                        A TOUR THROUGH VALYRIA.

valyria   ( or,    as   some   call,    ‘old valyria’ )   is   the   ancestral   home   of   the   house   targaryen.    it   is   a   ruined   city   located   in   essos,    more   precisely   in   the   valyrian   peninsula,    and   it   was   destroyed   on   114   BC   —   a   century   prior   to   aegon’s landing   —,    during   a   cataclysmic   event   called   ‘ the  doom   of   valyria ‘.    the   city   had   prospered   by   five   thousand   years,    before   the   occurred.

the   doom   of   valyria   transformed   the   peninsula   and   destroyed   every   living   thing,    including   the   dragons.    all   hills   exploded   ( and   filled   the   air   with   smoke   and   ashes ),    earthquakes   made   palaces / cities   fall   into   the   ground,    and   the   lakes   boiled.    the   event   made   the   valyrian   peninsula   break   into   small   pieces,    turning   it   into   petite   islands   and   creating   the   smoking   sea.    before   such   cataclysm,    valyria   had   3   main   regions,    apparently   disconnected   from   each   other,    but   tied   together   by   its   people.

IMPORTANT :    as   i   have   stated   multiple   times   before,    this   blog   is   heavily   inspired   by   brazil   and   its   people.    i   tried   my   best   to   disintegrate   valyria   into   3   pieces,    keeping   in   mind   its   geographic   locations   ( and   the   locations   nearest   to   them,    since   the   city’s   book   description   is   quite   scarce   —   mostly   because   george r. r. martin   tend   to   focus   on   post - doom   rather   than  on  the  idea   of   how   the   targaryens,    the   celtigars   and   the   velaryons   lived ).     with   that   said,   i’ll   be   developing   more   and   more   this   canon   divergence   taking   into   consideration   the   brazilian   cities   and   regions.

apart   from   that,    it   is   important   to   keep   in   mind   that   the   smaller   cities   surrounding   valyria   ( and   that,    later   on,    turned   into   little   ruined   islands )    are   not   taken   into   consideration   on   my   canon,    since   no   information   about   them   or   their   population   is   given   by   canon.    instead   of   that,    most   of   the   valyrian   peninsula   is   occupied   by   the   city   of   old   valyria.

WEST   ——   FOREST.

inspired   by :    amazon   rainforest   ( only   the   brazilian   amazon,    or   the   legal   amazon ),    taking   into   consideration   the   amazon   biome,    an   area   of   tropical   rainforest.

the   least   likely   area   to   find   the   dragons,    the   west   of   valyria   was   surrounded   by   the   humidity   of   the   summer   sea   and   the   heat   of   valyrian's   centre;    which   occasionally,    over   the   years,    provided   a   conducive   environment   and   a   rainforest   was   formed.

NORTH / CENTRE   —   LAVA  &  RUINS.

inspired   by :    the   state   of   sao   paulo.    the   ruins   representing   the   big   buildings   of   avenues   like   paulista   and   the   volcanos   as   a   mirror / result   of   society’s   paved   streets   and   urban   heat   islands.

surrounded   by   the   cities   of   tyria   and   oros,    this   is   the   main   region   where   the   targaryens   were   originated.    they   had   big   castles,    made   with   forged   rocks   and   liquefied   stones   much   like   the   ones   found   at   dragonstone.    many   volcanos   were   found   here   and,    because   of   that,    the   water   near   this   region   ( mostly   from   lakes )   was   warmer   than   normal.    like   moqorro   correctly   stated   once,    the   sky   was   red   upon   this   region   ( but   only   sometimes ).

SOUTH / EAST   —   BEACHES.

inspired   by :    the   brazilian   coast.    i’m   not   gonna   limit   myself   into   saying   that   i’ll   be   only   trying   to   show   certain   states / cities   on   this   one,   because   i   wish   i   could   bring   them   all   together   and   represent   all   particularities   ( starting   on   states   like   maranhão   and   going   all   the   way   down   to   rio   grande   do   sul )   since   representation   is   hella   important.    either   way,    this   is   going   to   be   highly   influenced   by   the   brazilian’s   northeast   and   south   regions.

bathed   by   the   summer   sea   at   south,    this   area   is   where   the   houses   celtigar   and   velaryon   were   originated   once :    while   they   conquered   the   seas   with   their   gigantic   ships,    the   targaryens   ruled   the   skies.    it   had   the   most   beautiful   beaches;    the   water   was   translucent   and   the   weather   was   always   clear   and   windy.

[earthymmn]

𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 minor canon divergence note - cole physically dies in yang's temple to follow way of the departed canon " It is cold and I am freezing. I shouldn't be, because I am not alive. " " I look alive again and it doesn't quite make sense. " " he still has many questions about his own existence, having been touched by death in several ways himself. " cole is caught in the in between of life and death and is still haunted by it once his curse is lifted . his body remains in yang's temple, preserved by the temple's curse, until the events of day of the departed. his soul returns to his physical body when the curse has been lifted.

[triheirs]

REGARDING CANON DIVERGENCE.

LEGACIES: i have many personal gripes with l.egacies that i don't feel like getting into ( most are just preferences and not even a big deal ). point of the matter is, i do not acknowledge most of the storylines that occur, especially involving malivore & triad. consider the mud pit defunct. however, i have always liked the idea that there are other supernatural factions out there in hiding or nearly extinct due to the passage of time, and that they're drawn to hope's power like a magnet --- for better or worse. and i love a lot of the dynamics among hope's peers as well, i just struggle on what to do with everything else the show introduced. i am always friendly to au's, divergences, etc -- not only for l.egacies but especially in the case of s5 of or.iginals ( killing off both her parents was cruel and unnecessary imo. LMAO. ) there are still many opportunities for drama, danger, and the like in a supernatural highschool and all of the family ties there. ( for storylines that don't involve malivore, i'm still open to exploring! any of the filler episode hijinks i quite enjoyed ) as for the inevitability of hope activating her vampire side ... i haven't yet set on a concrete fate & cause, which is something i look forward to finding through storylines. in the meantime i am more than open to exploring au's and storylines that have her as a full tribrid ( no humanity au's also pending ), though her main verse still centers her as a werewitch, usually in her senior year if not already graduated.

MIKAELSON FAMILY: this goes hand-in-hand with some of my legacies gripes tbh, but i hate the idea that the mikaelsons just left hope alone after losing both her parents and family friends, after vowing to look after her in the light of klaus' death. now, i do believe hope has alienated herself to some extent and still grapples with the feeling of being a burden on her family after they fought and sacrificed so much in her name, and of course they trust her to take care of herself and give her the room to grow --- but i don't believe they'd let her become so distant. my girl is still going home on school breaks, being forced to celebrate birthdays, etc. fight me about it !

ALARIC AND HOPE'S RELATIONSHIP: while i understand what the show was going for, their execution of it made me less than fond of the strained father-daughter dynamic and alaric's character overall. in my canon, hope does not see alaric as a father figure. she respects him, sometimes, as the twin's father and an authority figure within the school, but his distrust of her regarding her power and familial relations never settled well with her. whenever they're getting on well, it's usually ruined by alaric overstepping boundaries, and hope putting him back in his place: a teacher, not a parental figure, or someone with the right to tell her what to do in her personal life. she accompanies him to find potential students and guide them to the school because it's convenient, but that is really the extent of their relationship. ( a human is a less - than subpar sparring partner for a tribrid. )

[ps1onicblast]

━━━━ THIS EVIL, IT'S LIKE A VIRUS: they've failed. though henry is gravely wounded and has snaked back into the depths to nurse his wounds, max's heart stops for a minute and the rifts open, allowing the upside down to leak into hawkins. with it comes a rot, a sickness crawling through their land and sapping the life out of all it touches. with it comes unpredictable storms, record-breaking winds and blood-red lightning and rain that is like acid to the skin. with it comes the creatures, the demos that crawl out perodically when they crave a new hunt. the population cuts by a quarter before the spores two days after the 'earthquake,' when people flee the town. the military sets a quarantine, not allowing anyone in or out while they assess the situation. they still have a hunt for ELEVEN but it proves difficult to follow when the world is ending before their very eyes. the population cuts in half. the army men are not helpful, but they learn the same thing that jane and her people already know: fire keeps the rot at bay. there are monthly burns to keep the tendrils from seeping too far into the suburban areas of town, or other places deemed safe. monthly becomes weekly, then bi-weekly. there is no rhyme or reason to this world reaching into theirs, other than that it wants to consume. or is led by something that does. living becomes surviving, which is something jane is intimately familiar with ― but it's an adjustment for all of them, an ongoing period of mourning. BUT IF THEY GIVE UP, THEN THE SHADOW WILL TRULY HAVE WON.

consider this a rewrite of s5. the upside down and its influence growing into hawkins is a gradual thing, so it's very era flexible, though it becomes more and more dangerous over time -- especially by the period of the original timeskip. i may add more details to this eventually but i also aim to keep it open to flexibility with others' canons !!