Okay, now that I've read (and loved) your drabbles, I find that I glossed over something I found fascinating yesterday, but didn't have time to address: deep down I can't help but assume that, for John at least, this is the best of all possible worlds. I... don't have that. I think of John in canon as our starting place, the benchmark, definitely, but I think there are a lot of places out there where John would be better off, happier, more successful, more peaceful, whatever. I think John in Atlantis is interesting (and perhaps one of the *most* interesting Johns), but I wouldn't say, for me, he's the best. Actually, I'd probably say there isn't a best, for me; each life is different, but also valuable and interesting and brings something to the table about him, even the fluffy, innocuous AU I'm contemplating. There's something more about this that I'm missing. I think perhaps a contemplation of why certain people are drawn more to fanon or AUs (or both) and why some canons (and characters) are really suited to AUs and some are not (I'm writing my first AU for Alexander fandom, and I've made it canon, instead of just writing an AU (long story). It just doesn't seem like they're good for AUs, the history is so much a part of who they are). I know someone posted an essay about this once; I'm going to have to see if I can track it down.