I'm a bit of a romanticist, so when I learned that my fave RK character had a wife I was all over the net looking for fanfics but was disappointed to see only two or three happy ones that made sense or appealed. The other ones that did move me turned out to be very angsty fics that involved separation, while the others I absolutely did not like made fun, harassed or just plain made wolfie-kun's life miserable. The problem was there was no established "trait" of this usually considered canon wife of RK Saitou and I'm sorry but history doesn't really mean it's right for the RK world either, simply because RK and real Saitou are different. But anyway, I got upset at the lack of "moving" canon fics and plain disregard to a real RK character during the time (with the exception of Angrybee, Barb and Stealiana). So I started my rather raw attempts at writing alt-pair fics that tried to make Saitou's life better (IMHO), I must admit that I also fell prey in wanting to write something different for the sake of it. Like I wrote Saitou x Toki (from the movie), because I found Toki's story sad for having have lost Shigure and she was an Aizu woman. It was a very shaky attempt and had a lot of flaws but I love it anyway as it was my first fanfic ever. Then I tried an OC... Then a few friends introduced me to Saitou x Misao and I fell in love. LOL... Never looked back. Now I love Saitou x Kaoru, dabbling a bit in Yumi and a cross-over character named Yagi Hide from NHK Shinsengumi. But I guess what I'm trying to say is, my love of alt-pair came from a distaste of a favorite character being treated less than he should be and finding what I want in an "unlikely" pairing. Was that long? Gomene, I tend to ramble.

As I continued, I realized there was no way I could make Kaoru end up alone, so I thought of suitable pairs. Sano had to end up with Megumi, of course, so she couldn't be with /him./ Then Soujiro arrived and I thought "well, if Kaoru likes wanderers so much..."

But after mulling it over, I realized I just didn't /like/ the idea of Soujiro and Kaoru. He was much better suited to Misao, and Kaoru to Aoshi. So I began living and breathing Kaoru/Aoshi fanfics (and still do to this day). I've experimented with other pairings since then, too. Misao/Kenshin, for instance, I used to obsess over. Misao/Soujiro, of course, and Aoshi/Megumi (though I never wrote anything for them.) Sano/Kaoru I had looked at before, but it just didn't sit well in my mind. Now I'm getting more into Enishi and Saitou pairings (er, not Enishi and Saitou TOGETHER, see...) when I have time, anyway.

But Aoshi/Kaoru and Soujiro/Misao will always be my loves. *g*

Also, since de-Mary-suing all those years ago, I've begun to enjoy the possibilities of OCs paired with RK characters. One of my favorites being kei-san's OC Mei-mei and Enishi. (And of course my very own Naruku/Kenshin.)

Kaoru is too sweet to be alone. Your choice of Aoshi I think is also good. I've seen a lot of doujinshi that promotes Aoshi and Kaoru together :) I don't collect them though as I'm just really stuck on wolfie-kun and would give the guy all possible good mates that can possibly make him "nicer". *kicks him* As for Soujirou and Misao, I'm too in love with Saitou and Misao although I know it's an "acquired" taste. But if Saitou and Misao didn't end up together, and I wanted alt pairs... I would go for Soujirou... Coz Soujirou was inspired from Souji... And I love Okita Souji! *hugs him*

Unfortunately although I do like Enishi between him and Kenshin, I might go Kenshin x Kaoru. I guess I don't feel too close to Enishi, I don't know why... But do write an alt-pair Saitou fic! Send me a link and I'll read too! At times I feel a little guilty about pairing up with Saitou other than Tokio because the guy is married but I've obssessed enough to find reasonable "reasons" to alt-pair Saito regardless of his status or what history says.

OC's I think are fun. Mostly nowadays I use them for plot purposes and tend to recycle. I've not yet gone back to having a "pure main role" OC after the one I mentioned above. The closest I've come to OC right now is taking a crossover character named Yagi Hide (from a Shinsengumi drama, who's now much older and was an old flame of Okita) and pairing her up with Saitou... But that's not really OC. I am writing Yaso (Saitou's first wife) though, not much is known about her personality wise, I'm still not sure if she can be characterized as an original character.

What do you think makes for a good OC? Sorry I ask but I'm still trying to get a handle on my writing and would like some suggestions. Still can't over the fact that my first fic ever was shot down by a good friend (who used to be an editor), she said, "Sorry I tried but I can't read past the first paragraph. Your tenses are horrible." Ehehehe...We're still friends though. :)

But generally, they have to NOT be a Mary-Sue, they need to be able to fit in well with the RK universe and cast and they need to ADD to the story. If they aren't bringing in anything new, scrap them.

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