Gardens Fic

Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)	Gardensverse, Gelel-hopping mechanic
Related tropes/genres	The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime
See also	Dreaming of Sunshine (fandom)
Related articles on Fanlore.

Gardens fic are recursive Dreaming of Sunshine fics following the basic premise of wafflelate's The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime, wherein Nara Shikako travels across alternate universes trying to get home. This version of Shikako is commonly referred to as Gardens!Shikako. The use of this trope is very widespread within the DoS fandom because it allows people to create AUs, to have Shikako time travel, or to get her otherwise engage impossible interactions without having to put in much work into explaining the mechanics of the situation.

History

The trope began in late September 2017 when wafflelate posted the first example to the Recursive Thread on the fanfiction.net Dreaming of Sunshine forum. Stating plainly that she meant for other people to be able to use the same mechanics to write their own alternate universe fic, wafflelate established several rules for the Gardens universe:

The mechanics of her getting from universe to universe, if anyone's wondering, is like so:

1) Appear in Yugakure, because this is where all of these universes are the weakest to this sort of intrusion.

2) Check for Jashinists, because screw those guys. Found 'em? Let someone know, then move one, it's none of Shikako's business.

3) Check the date and/or proceed directly to Konoha to check if it's the right Konoha.

4) When it's not the right Konoha, go to the Dead Wastes. A lingering resonance with Gelel makes traveling to the next dimension easier and cost-effective, chakra-wise.

5) Repeat until #3 reveals she's home.

wafflelate also suggested that gardens!Shikako would never run into a version of herself because the native Shikako in every AU she visits is dead or never existed, or is otherwise not present (doing sage training in the summons realm would count, for instance) and this is sometimes referred to as the "One Kako Rule" but admits that it's mainly a Doylist excuse to not have to write Shikako interacting with herself, and she frequently encourages others to subvert the One Kako Rule.

Terminology

Individual Gardens stories usually focus on one alternate universe at a time, so each new verse is usually named after the title of the fic it appears in. For example, the first gardens verse appears in the dark fire will not avail you, and that verse is usually called "Dark Fire".

The characters in each verse are usually referred to using the verse name or an abbreviation. DarkFire!Sasuke is the Uchiha Sasuke from the Dark Fire verse; he might also be called DF!Sasuke.

The Shikako who's traveling through various universes is called "Gardens!Shikako", while the Shikako of whichever particular universe Gardens!Shikako is visiting is usually referred to as "native Shikako".

The Split and "post-Split"

In gardens fic, "the Split" is the term for the event at the end of Shikako's multidimensional journey where she decides that she's never going to get home going one verse at a time and instead sends a version of herself to every universe without a Nara Shikako already present. Post-Split fics are therefore about Shikako after her journey is over, and usually involve her settling permanently into some AU.

Example Fanworks

By wafflelate

• The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime
  • the dark fire will not avail you — Shikako's first alternate universe; she teams up with Sai and Sasuke.
  • Lone Wolf — the first verse actually written; Shikako runs into a version of Kakashi who's a missing nin.
• Art of Losing [1] — A post-Split fic where Shikako lands in a soulmate AU and bonds with Kakashi.

By others

• Marigolds — Shikako arrives while the Yondaime is in power.
  • Shikako arrives and meets Minato by Juno-nine
  • Minato POV by Juno-nine
  • Agent Sloth by donahermurphy
  • Marigolds v2.0 by Juno-nine
• Untitled Wing!AU' — Shikako ends up in a verse where everyone has wings.
  • By Juno-nine: part 1, part 2, part 3, & part 4
  • Wing!AU headcanons by The-Real-Chys-Latte
  • grounded fight training by lovebound111
  • Tsunade POV between parts 1 and 2 by bearden2000
• Desert Lily by Juno-nine — Shikako saves Hatake Sakumo
• The Original World by Juno-nine — Shikako comes home.
• Lotus by Juno-nine — Shikako saves Uchiha Shisui.
• If you came by day not knowing what you came for by Pepperdoken — Shikako runs into an AU version of Senju Tobirama
• feelings and places you once brought to life by VagabondDawn — Shikako returns home.
• read the book (turn the page) by VagabondDawn — Shikako talks to Konan.
• Shikako Nara's Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection by jacksgreysays — Various Gardens one-shots.

External links

• Alternate Universe - Gardens on AO3.
• Alternate dimensions and other time/space shenanigans on dosindex, where a list of Gardens fic from the fanfiction.net forums can be found.