Fanfic writers have paired up virtually everyone in the Harry Potter universe at one point or another. Harry often gets coupled with Hermione, Dumbledore, Snape or Draco. Hermione also popularly ends up with Draco and Snape.
For more bizarre fanfic, there's one about the Giant Squid and the Hogwarts castle (NSFW, and very strange), as well as one with Dobby, the house elf, and Hagrid, the half-giant gameskeeper. Why? We...we just don't know.
When Breaking Bad ended, critics hailed it as one of the most satisfying series finales of all time. That doesn't stop fanfic writers from reimagining things. In multiple alternate realities, Breaking Bad main characters Jesse and Walt are a couple, rather than a pair of feuding drug dealers with a slight father-son relationship.
It doesn't end there; here are a couple of other strange relationships: Jesse and Mike, Skyler (Walt's wife) and Gus Fring (Walt's drug lord boss-turned-nemesis). For a rarer twist, there are also fics about Fring with naive scientist Gale Boetticher.
It's not the strangest fanfic in the world, but it's certainly one that would make its stars a bit squeamish. The playful kings of political satire are good friends, but, naturally, the Internet had to take things one step further.
Mrs. Cartman from South Park and Wario from Nintendo's Mario series have never met. However, there's a crossover fanfic that imagines the two meeting at a party, then swiftly getting married and having a baby.
In another world, Sally Draper, the troublesome teen from Mad Men, would grow up and meet shrewd businessman Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock. In an odd way, this one could make a lot of sense, if it weren't ultimately just too creepy.
Oh, what's that? You've never thought about what it would be like if Dorothy and Blanche from Golden Girls became a couple? Well, it turns out you're very alone in that, because there are tons of Dorothy-Blanche devotees.
Perhaps, if you can ignore the fact that M is the closest thing to a maternal figure that British spy James Bond has, this fanfic storyline is...bearable. But if you can't, this is a line that should not be crossed.
In the real Marvel universe, Iron Man is a party boy superhero and Loki is an evil villain. In the fanfic universe, they're two smarmy, star-crossed lovers. It also helps that the actors who play them (Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Hiddleston) are Internet sensations, wildly beloved for their charm and talent.
“What if?” can be a dangerous question, especially when it comes to fanfiction.
Fanfic is a type of story in which aficionados of a fictional world write alternate endings and storylines. People who loved the Harry Potter series or Doctor Who, for example, take to the Internet to pen their own versions of what should happen — but sometimes, they go a bit too far.
See also: Amazon's Latest Venture: Fan Fiction
In the fanfic world, the term “shipping” applies to relationships between characters that fans would like to see happen. For example, some Harry Potter fans might prefer a storyline in which Hermione ends up with Harry instead of Ron. If they're feeling daring, some writers will ship characters who don't even belong in the same universe, such as Khan from Star Trek and Loki from Thor.
We plumbed the darkest corners of fanfic and picked eight of the most uncomfortably shipped relationships. Instead of "What if?" you'll find yourself asking a different question: Why, Internet?
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.