Dear OC/ Self Shippers,
Do not listen to the voices, external and internal, that tell you your f/os would never love you/your OC, especially when the argument is the canon story.
This may sound weird, as canon is the basis of the characters but hear me out. Canon is what happens in a very specific set of circumstances with the characters making a certain set of choices based on who they are prior to it.
But what happens when you add another factor? Be it information not known before, resources not previously available or say, a whole new person, everything changes.
No one is quite the same. Canon shifts sideways, it leans into the change. And you, the creator of the AU, determine this shift and what sort of changes it creates. This is why fanfiction is considered transformative. Even if you set the fic/lore firmly in canon, it will still be an AU, one where change will ripple out from that one origin point.
That point is you/your OC.
And to address the on-going issue I see of people trying to hammer home that your f/o would never actually love you or your OC, there’s a very scientific term for that.
Bullshit.
We get small snippets of these characters at any given time, depending on how in-depth the original creator goes into them. Side characters especially are given the briefest of snapshots into their lives. AUs, even canonically driven ones give an opportunity to expound upon what little we get, so aside from the original creator weighing in, no one can say you got it wholly wrong.
Especially because attraction is a weird, messy thing. Someone can have what they think is their type and then someone entirely not that sweeps them off their feet. Because so many stories have a specific focus other than a person’s inner romantic life, for lack of a better term, we have to make our best guesses. No one’s guesses will be the same because their personal lore is different.
Do not let this get you down. Do not let this be a weapon against you, wielded by myopic fans so wedded to their AUs that they are blind to other interpretations.
So enjoy your shipping AUs. They are valid and precious. If you ever feel down about them, come talk to me and we can explore just how great you and your f/os are for each other.
- LunaMusings, the Shipping Cheerleader
