her name: › canonly complicated. 'mary sue poots' (orphan for jane doe), 'skye' (hacker rename token), 'daisy johnson' (birth name) › au'd straightforward. 'daisy elizabeth johnson', named by the nuns after drop-off. daisy for the gold flower necklace worn in exactly one scene in s1, elizabeth for the saint, johnson as a traditional last name that wouldn't stand out.
her youth™: › mostly the same as canon. six foster families in six years, high school dropout, plenty of time in the orphanage to feel sad and develop angst. › left the orphanage in her early teens to fend for herself, survived off the streets with petty theft and low-level hacking exploits until she could scrape up the money to buy her van, lived in that until she was in her early twenties › instead of being betrayed by miles while working for shield, she was betrayed by miles while working on an app to sell for enough money to get herself somewhere stable. still mad about it. some things never change.
the saving point: › in canon: shield gave her a purpose › in an alternate universe: her contact that was going to buy the app points out that she could do better for herself with the right education. daisy is resistant at first, but eventually agrees to try, not thinking anything would come of it. gets her ged, enrolls in undergrad thanks to pell grants and plenty of finaid, and finds a niche for herself in the compsci major.
canon & twists.