#paired with a dichotomy of her and her friend as their paths diverge and she follows a darker one

[thy-valhallen]

Jason Todd, man of culture, could tell you everything about Ray Bradbury, sure, but don't you dare tell me he doesn't avidly follow everything about Ursula K. Le Guin, that he doesn't have a signed copy of "The Dispossessed" on his bookshelf. Like he hasn't written scores of papers on Toni Morrison, from "Sula" to "The Bluest Eye" and about the femme marginalized experience. This is a man who would keep "Giovanni's Room" on his phone because James Baldwin's writing makes him cry and he refuses to damage the pages. Octavia Bulter was his middle school crush after he read "The Parable of the Sower" and her crushing analysis of social inequality

My strength isn't international lit, but fuck if Jason doesn't know it well. "A Man Called Ove," "A Thousand Splendid Suns," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Purple Hibiscus," and "House of the Spirits" are for sure on a shelf in his safehouses. He learned Portuguese to read Fernando Pessoa's poetry in it's native tongue, because "Mensagem" was a masterpiece and he wanted to feel the full scope.

... anyway. Jason Todd is a well-read man, and not just in Classical Western lit, and I won't be accepting criticism at this time or any other, thanks

I have a request for batfam/Jason Todd fanfic writers:

I love the "Jason Todd is a bookworm/theatre nerd" fics as much as the next person, don't get me wrong, but can we please diversify his interests?

90% of the time when I open a fic with that tag, we see Jason reading Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice or quoting Shakespeare. And not to say that there's anything wrong with any of those being his favourite but even if he loves to read "classical" books, come on!

You're telling me Jason raised-in-crime-alley-spent-his-formative-years-between-an-eccentric-billionaire-and-an-assassin-cult Todd only reads books by dead white people?!

I refuse! Give me a man who takes to books more than ever after his return to Gotham. Jason, who reads books like I am Woman, A Really Good Brown Girl and White Tears/Brown Scars, then recommends them to the working girls as he establishes his territory. Who reads in multiple languages, and who loves Arabic poetry.

Give me a little "Robin is Magic!" Jason scouring Bruce's library and picking up a copy of The Mahabharata after he's done The Iliad, and spends weeks obsessed with Journey to the West.

Give me a Jason who's read Things Fall Apart, and One Hundred Years of Solitude! The number of quotes and references he could pull that would further support his dramatic tendencies? It would make him so happy!

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

The Master List of the Fall 2k19 Chopped: The 100 Fanfic Challenge!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in this second run of our Chopped Challenge! We are so excited that this fun little idea that we got from @chants-de-lune took off and was such a success (TWICE)! We had someone write their first ever fic for us this time, which is just insane, and we had so many creative and exciting fics that were a thrill to read. We hope you guys had as much fun writing and reading these fics as we did, and we hope you’ll join us if we decide to give this another go in the future! Enjoy these fics, and a big thanks again from both of us! @thelittlefanpire @dylanobrienisbatman

The Master List of the Spring 2k19 Challenge can be found here!

Round 1: Canon Divergence Fics

Tropes:

1. Somebody lives...or somebody dies

2. Sunsets

3. Protectiveness

4. A dichotomy

small dot among infinite stars (Rated T) [Bellamy/Clarke] @kindclaws

Dante is painting in his office when they enter, his movements carrying the gentle tremble of old age. Doesn’t even look up when the door shuts behind them, just says hello in that wispy, scratchy old man voice and keeps staring at his canvas.

“We’ve got some bad news,” Clarke says, steeling herself.

“You are bad news,” Dante says. Underneath the agreeable tone there is something bitter and curdling. Dante may have pulled the trigger that stopped Cage Wallace, but Clarke isn’t surprised that he blames them for it.

“The world is ending again,” Bellamy says.

“Unfortunate that it likes to do that,” Dante says. When he keeps painting, Clarke fantasizes about taking the paintbrush and stabbing him with it.

- or, Dante Wallace shoots his son. Clarke doesn’t irradiate Mount Weather. Months later, ALIE warns her a nuclear winter is coming, and suddenly, that act of mercy means everything.

1st Place Best Overall, 1st Place Canon Divergence Theme, 1st Place Somebody Lives/Dies Trope, 1st Place Protectiveness Trope, 3rd Place Sunsets Trope, 1st Place Dichotomy Trope Winner

can we pretend? (Rated T) [Clarke/Murphy] @probably-voldemort

Murphy’s not exactly sure how he went from laying low to fake dating Clarke so they have an excuse for sneaking around Mount Weather, but that seems to be where his life is at right now.

3rd Place Best Overall, 2nd Place Tie Dichotomy Trope, 3rd Place Most Unique Pairing Winner

your voice is like a ghost inside my head (Rated T) [Bellamy & Octavia] @loveislarryislove

“I bear it so they don’t have to,” Clarke said when she left. But Bellamy has to.

~*~*~

“How do you bear it?” Bellamy asks.

“What?”

“You were there too,” Bellamy says. “You helped us. We pulled the trigger, but you put the weapon in our hands. Don’t you feel…” He doesn’t know how to finish that sentence. He doesn’t know how Monty feels. Only that it doesn’t seem to be a fraction of what he’s feeling. Or if it is, he hides it better.

Monty is quiet for a long time. “I guess,” he says at last, “I just figure… we do what we have to. And then… we have to keep moving. Keep living. Because otherwise, what was it all for?” He shrugs, though it feels like his shoulders are heavy with it. “I did what I did. You did what you did. Now we’re here.”

Here. Monty says it like it’s simple. We’re here. But Bellamy has never felt more lost.

3rd Place Somebody Lives/Dies Trope, 2nd Place Proctectiveness Trope Winner

Survival Instinct (Rated T)  [Clarke & Murphy] @justbecauseyoubelievesomething

The sunset was a deeper red than she remembered, as if Praimfaya had reached out into space and curled its fiery fingers around the sun itself. Clarke shivered despite herself and realized that it was cold. The sun was going down and she was alone on a radiation-soaked planet. Alone and alive.

“Murphy.” The name left her lips involuntarily. And then she was running away from the lab before her brain caught up. If the nightblood worked and she survived, Murphy survived too.

Not alone.

2nd Place Best Overall, 2nd Place Sunsets Trope, 2nd Place Tie Dichotomy Trope, 3rd Place Best Platonic Relationship Winner

the brave not broken girl (Rated T) [Raven & Anya] @dylanobrienisbatman

Raven wakes up dazed and incoherent, and then she wakes up again, and finds herself in Mt. Weather. But an extremely ill man, a little detective work… and some vomit.. put her on the path to trying to save the grounders trapped in the mountain. All she has to do is get Anya to Lexa.

3rd Place Tie Protectiveness Trope, 2nd Place Tie Most Unique Pairing Winner

Turning of the Tides (Rated G) [Clarke & Anya] @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold

So much of Clarke’s life since landing on Earth has not gone according to plan. Most recently? Being captured by the Mountain and not being able to rescue her friends to escape with her. Least planned of all though is the unlikely partnership she forms with Anya kom Trikru. Grounder Princess versus Sky People Princess. They form a tentative alliance after proving themselves to each other, but then that’s when things continue to derail. When Anya is shot, Clarke has to scramble to keep their tentative truce alive (as well as Anya), so that they can take on the mountain.

Baptism//Resurrection (Rated T) [Echo & Roan] @kuklash

If the last moments of the final conclave had gone differently.

This is the first fic I’ve ever written, so any notes, comments, etc. would be appreciated!

3rd Place Dichotomy Trope, 2nd Place Best Platonic Relationship Winner

The Last Living Tree (Rated T) [Jasper/Monty] @kinetic-elaboration

He rubs at his eyes with the back of his fist, stifles a yawn, and forces himself to focus on the blurry object above, until the last scrim of sleep has been blinked away and he sees it, at least, clear. A little drone, hovering in the air over their bed.

3rd Place Canon Divergence Theme, 2nd Place Somebody Lives/Dies Trope, 1st Place Sunsets Trope Winner

tangerine skies and cherry earth (Rated T) [Murphy & Luna] @ hopskipaway

Survival has always been the word John Murphy lives his life by. He thought that this would have given him an advantage when the end of the world came and flipped their lives upside down.

Turns out, like with most things, he was wrong.

1st Place Most Unique Pairing Winner

Just say you love me (Rated G) [Jasper & Monty] @raven-reyes-of-sunshine

Monty finds Jasper when he's only drunk half the tea.

3rd Place Tie Protectiveness Trope, 1st Place Best Platonic Relationship Winner

Bunker Down (Rated G) [Monty/Harper] @hostagetakerandhistraitor

Monty, Harper, Murphy, Emori, and Miller set out to Polis in hopes of finding a bunker to shelter humanity from Praimfaya. Takes place midseason 4.

a civil twilight (Rated T) [Clarke/Bellamy/Josephine/Gabriel] @thelittlefanpire

“It’s funny how your deepest fears can be your deepest desires, too,” the words fall from Clarke’s lips, but it’s not Clarke who speaks them. The voice is airy and lighter than Clarke’s normal cadence.

“Josephine?” Clarke asks aloud. Her throat feels scratchy, but her voice works. Everything comes rushing forward as her body heals and her mind snaps back into focus.

“Ah, just in time for a Sanctum sunset, my love,” Josephine croons towards Gabriel. The hand Clarke wanted to use to comfort Bellamy, reaches out for Gabriel’s arm instead. Her body pulls away from where she was sitting between Bellamy’s legs.

“Jo—,” Gabriel’s voice breaks as he reaches for her face. He cradles Clarke’s head between his large brown hands. He’s soft and gentle, holding her like she might dissolve into smoke.

“How the hell is this possible?” Bellamy’s voice is loud in her ear, right behind her. Clarke pulls away easily from the other man to look back at him.

final journey to the ground (Rated T) [Lincoln & Bellamy] @shen-gong-oops

Bellamy Blake is sent to Earth a little over a year before one hundred delinquents who inadvertently start a war.

2nd Place Canon Divergence Theme, 2nd Place Tie Most Unique Pairing Winner

oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do (Rated G) [Linctavia, Octavia & Bellamy] @queen--sansastark

“You shot him?”

“Not fatally, but it was a good distraction.”

“You’re developing quite the habit.”

“I guess I have."

What if Bellamy had made the right choice back in season 3?

———

Round 2: Canon Speculation Fics

Tropes:

1. One character is a ghost

2. Joke kiss turns serious

3. A character is eavesdropping, and their presence is revealed 

4. Characters struggling to talk because they’re crying or laughing

i will take your pain (and put it on my heart) (Rated T) [Clarke/Murphy] @probably-voldemort

Clarke didn't completely know how comas worked, but she was pretty Murphy's ghost showing up in her living room wasn't normal.

4th Place Tie Best Overall, 1st Place Most Unique Speculation Winner

no one calls you honey (when you're sitting on a throne) (Rated T) [Clarke/Raven] @kindclaws

“It would have been easier if you died in Praimfaya,” Raven confesses, when it is dark and no one is supposed to awake.

Clarke hears.

2nd Place Best Overall, 2nd Place Canon Speculation Theme, 3rd Place Ghost Trope, 1st Place Eavesdropping Trope, 2nd Place Struggling to Talk Trope, 3rd Place Most Unique Pairing, 2nd Place Tie Most Unique Speculation Winner

Why Can't I Get Just One Kiss? (Rated T) [Raven/Wick, Jasper/Raven] @kuklash

Jasper tumbled through the shelf behind Raven with as much grace as one could expect of an alcoholic three bottles deep.

“Oh, shit,” Jasper slurred. “You guys continue on with your extremely private conversation. I’ll just keep looking for booze.”

Raven, face red with anger and embarrassment, turned to face Jasper.

“Jasper! You idiot! Why didn’t you say something to let me know you were here?!” Raven shouted.

Wick, exacerbated, rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath.

Raven turned towards him, enraged.

“Do you want to repeat that?”

“Oh, that’s a trap, dude,” Jasper murmured.

5th Place Best Overall, 3rd Place Kiss Trope, 3rd Place Eavesdropping Trope, 2nd Place Tie Most Unique Speculation Winner

snow faintly falling through the universe (Rated T) [Echo/Roan, Bellamy/Raven, Bellamy/Echo] @justbecauseyoubelievesomething

The floor under her bare toes suddenly feels too cold. Once, after her cover was blown, she was forced to run three miles in the utter blackness of a winter night, without the chance to grab her boots and cloak first. It took many hours for the feeling to come back to her iced over feet by the time she was able to find safe shelter. Now the cold seeps up through the soles of her feet in the same way, chill spreading through every bone in her body.

“My king, forgive me…”

“Echo kom Azgeda. Will you die for your king?”

She trembles, swaying back and forth just enough so that her forehead bumps the window with each movement. “If you would give me more time… a chance to die fighting again…”

He is gone almost before the words have left her mouth. She wishes with all her heart that she could cry again, but the tears simply won’t fall. The pain merely coils into a knot low in her stomach and waits.

1st Place Best Overall, 1st Place Canon Speculation Theme, 1st Place Ghost Trope, 1st Place Kiss Trope, 2nd Place Eavesdropping Trope, 1st Place Struggling to Talk Trope Winner

When the Map Runs Out (Rated T) [Clarke/Echo] @kinetic-elaboration

In a cabin on the edge of a small Azgedan village, on the shortest day of the year, Clarke and Echo play a game of truth or dare.

3rd Place Best Overall, 3rd Place Struggling to Talk Trope, 1st Place Most Unique Pairing Winner

the hundred (Rated T) [the delinquents & hope, s7 spec] @thelittlefanpire

One hundred juvenile delinquents were sent to Earth to see if it was survivable. The fate of humanity depended on their success.

As the green smoke of the Anomaly settled, Bellamy Blake had a feeling that he was a long way away from where he was supposed to be. But the Universe had a way to set him back on the right path.

All Bellamy had to do was gather up the hundred.

3rd Place Canon Speculation Theme Winner

An ode to the last child on earth (Rated T) [madi & madi’s parents, pre-canon] @shen-gong-oops

“They spent so long trying to prevent losing Madi that they never anticipated Madi losing them.”

A brief take on Madi’s life prior to Pramfiya

4th Place Tie Best Overall, 2nd Place Most Unique Pairing Winner

stop staring straight through me (Rated G) [bellamy/murphy, s7 spec] hopskipaway 

Bellamy Blake had been through enough in his life that he thought a fresh start sounded like exactly what he needed.

What he didn’t expect was his fresh start requiring a great deal of ghosts from his past. Figuratively and literally.

3rd Place Most Unique Speculation Winner

Confetti (Rated G) [costia/lexa, pre-canon] @dylanobrienisbatman

The cold of a blade… and darkness. That’s the last thing she remembers before she wakes to find herself, 5 years old, running into her mother’s arms… and then herself on the day she met lexa… and then… and then…

So… this must be what happens when you die.

2nd Place Ghost Trope, 2nd Place Kiss Trope Winner

———

Round 3: Modernised Canon Fics

Tropes:

1. Magic AU

2. character being all “you expect me to do X?” And then immediately hard cut to character doing X

3. Secret places

4. Sex Pollen/Love Potion/Magical Obession

time cast a spell on you but you won't forget me (Rated M) [Bellamy/Clarke] - @captaindaddykru​

Miss Pramheda’s Orphanage for Extraordinary Girls once flourished, a home to a hundred girls with mysterious gifts. A hundred girls and Bellamy.

That was all before Clarke left. Before Josephine Lightbourne decided she was a better fit to be the Supreme, and Octavia decided to runaway with her warlock boyfriend.

Bellamy decided to stay, take care of remaining girls who had nowhere else to go. They were all orphans after all, like him. It was hard, on his own. Especially considering the coven had no real leadership now. He had no powers. He was no one. Just somebody willing to take care of these girls. On his worst days, he’d remind himself that’s more than they’ve ever had before.

Nowadays, the place is a wasteland. The hallways empty, rooms untouched, furniture collecting dust. A ghost of what it used to be.

Nowadays, there’s less than two dozen girls around. Most of them dead, gone in hiding, or worse.

The last person he expected to show back up at their door was Clarke.

Written for Chopped: The 100 Fanfic Challenge - Round 3: Modernized Canon. A take on Hakeldama.

5th Place Best Overall, 3rd Place Halloween Trope, 2nd Place Best Smut Winner

If It Takes You, Will It Break You? (Rated M) [Bellamy/Clarke] - @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold​ 

Bellamy and Clarke, past classmates who distanced themselves from each other, are two stubborn witches in need of an escape from their homes. They hadn't planned on running into each other, but it seems like fate had other ideas. Their night takes a turn though when after consuming some of Monty and Jasper's jobi nut brownies, they run into an old enemy of Bellamy's. In between hallucinations and fights, they'll discover that old feelings do die hard.

A modernized, magical take on Day Trip for Chopped: The 100 Round 3.

6th Place Best Overall, 1st Place Modernised Canon Theme, 3rd Place Magic Trope, 3rd Place Sex Pollen/Love Potion Trope Winner

the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine) (Rated T) [Murphy/Emori] - @probably-voldemort

John Murphy was going to bring about the apocalypse if it was the last thing he did. And, really, with the apocalypse and all, there was a high chance it would be.

But what a glorious way to go out, with fire and chaos and probably zombies.

That’d teach Bellamy to stop telling him what to do.

3rd Place Best Overall, 2nd Place Magic Trope, 3rd Place Hard Cuts Trope, 3rd Place Secret Places Trope, 1st Place Sex Pollen/Love Potion Trope, 1st Place Tie Halloween Trope Winner

when nothing's right, you shine a light (Rated T) [Murphy/Raven] - hopskipaway

He has seen enough horror movies to know this trip will be nothing but trouble; it's a group of friends travelling to stay in a remote house in the woods for Halloween weekend, what could go wrong?

Or; maybe he might find that it is, in fact, possible for something good to happen to John Murphy.

4th Place Best Overall, 3rd Place Tie Modernised Canon Theme, 1st Place Hard Cuts Trope, 2nd Place Secret Places Trope, 2nd Place Halloween Trope, 3rd Place Most Unique Pairing Winner

pulled by the tide (and falling for you) (Rated M) [Bellamy/Clarke] - @thelittlefanpire

After a huge storm, two unlikely companions set out to uncover the lost treasure of a legendary shipwreck. They both have secret motives for the hunt, but the day trip will bring them closer together in unexpected ways.

2nd Place Hard Cuts Trope Winner

Bellamy Blake's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (Rated E) [Bellamy/Clarke] - @shen-gong-oops

He wasn't saying Becca Franco started the zombie apocalypse, but Becca Franco started the zombie apocalypse.

Or the one where Bellamy tries to keep himself and six other people alive during a zombie outbreak. And grumbles about magic.

1st Place Best Overall, 3rd Place Tie Modernised Canon Theme, 1st Place Magic Trope, 1st Place Secret Places Trope, 1st Place Tie Halloween Trope, 3rd Place Best Smut Winner

Exiles (Rated M) [Murphy/Raven] - @kinetic-elaboration

John Murphy didn't kill the girl himself, but he's the reason she's dead. Raven’s heard the story often enough: Arcadia’s only murder, only suicide, only banishment. So when she finds Murphy sitting outside the gate, coughing up fire, she doesn’t feel bad for him at all.

2nd Place Best Overall, 2nd Place Modernised Canon Theme, 2nd Place Most Unique Pairing Winner

munuð (Rated E) [Emori/Echo] - @dylanobrienisbatman

When Echo and Emori finally find a group of Hedges willing to offer them a place after the Library takes control, to say they were a little sceptical would be an understatement. They play the roll, but something feels off. When Emori discovers a dark secret, it takes every bit of their wits to get out of it with their lives.

2nd Place Sex Pollen/Love Potion Trope, 1st Place Most Unique Pairing, 1st Place Best Smut Winner

———

Round 4: Championship Fics

Tropes:

1. Reincarnation

2. Soulmates

3. Forehead Touches

4. Free Space

snow white stitching up the circuit boards (Rated T) [Bellamy/Clarke] @kindclaws

"Where have you been? Your soulmate filed a missing person's report."

"I don't really remember anything," Clarke says, and it scares her that it doesn't feel like a lie.

{WAKE UP}

3rd Place Best Overall, 1st Place Most Unique Time Periods, 3rd Place Reincarnation Trope, 3rd Place Soulmates Trope, 2nd Place Free Space Trope Winner

what we feel (started way before we ever touched) (Rated M) [Murphy/Clarke] @probably-voldemort

In every life, they're drawn to the ocean. Again and again, over and over. And in every life, one way or another, the ocean brings them together.

Most Unique Pairing, 2nd Place Tie Most Unique Time Periods, 1st Place Reincarnation Trope, 2nd Place Tie Soulmates Trope Winner

Eons With You (Rated G) [Bellamy/Clarke] @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold

A simple touch can change someone’s path. Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake circle each other throughout history, their lives intertwined by fate. In some lives they come together easily, in others societal taboos hold them back. And in others, the blame falls on themselves. No matter the obstacles though, destiny has its own plan for them no matter where they are or what era they belong to.

A collection of soulmate vignettes and tales of two people unable to stay apart.

2nd Place Best Overall, 2nd Place Tie Most Unique Time Periods, 2nd Place Tie Soulmates Trope, 2nd Place Forehead Touches Trope Winner

Vera Lynn sang it best (Rated T) [Bellamy/Clarke] @shen-gong-oops

Don’t know when, don’t know where, but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day - We'll Meet Again, Vera Lynn.

Legend says that if you were lucky enough to be born with a soulmate, you’ll never truly die. You and your other half will be reborn countless times. But a person never truly knows if someone was their soulmate. At least, not until the heartbeat on their wrist flat lines.

Guess who is such a mess this week that they deleted their fic because they thought they did it wrong?

1st Place Tie Forehead Touches Trope Winner

light of uncreated fires (Rated T) [Bellamy/Clarke] @justbecauseyoubelievesomething

“How?”

“How what?” he stuttered.

“How do we recognize each other? In every life? In every new body? You said it’s impossible.”

Bellamy stared at her, her eyes still wet and cheeks flushed. “I don’t know.”

3rd Place Most Unique Soulmate Idea, 3rd Place Most Unique Time Periods, 3rd Place Forehead Touches Trope, 3rd Place Free Space Trope Winner

 Compost in Training, Graves Left to Fill (Rated T) [Murphy/Emori] @kuklash

As he unlocked his car, he heard the familiar click of a gun cocking.

“Hi there, stud.” A woman’s voice. “You know, you’re not the person I was planning on robbing tonight, but I guess cash is cash.”

“You aren’t gonna shoot me,” Murphy insisted, as he started to turn around.

It was difficult for Murphy to know which came first; the sound or the pain. The last thing he saw was the girl’s face, unflinching in her brutality, as she leaned over his body to reach his wallet. The last thought Murphy had was of how strikingly beautiful her face tattoo was.

1st Place Most Unique Soulmate Idea, 1st Place Free Space Trope Winner

you open the door to another door to another door to another door to another door and i'm running through to you (Rated T) (Bellamy/Clarke] @captaindaddykru

Murphy is dead-set on causing the apocalypse that finally destroys planet earth once and for all.

If only Clarke Griffin and her fucking soulmate wouldn't throw a wrench in his plans every goddamn time, thank you very much.

1st Place Best Overall, 2nd Place Most Unique Soulmate Idea, 2nd Place Tie Most Unique Time Periods, 2nd Place Reincarnation Trope, 1st Place Soulmates Trope, 1st Place Tie Forehead Touches Trope Winner

The Butterflies (Rated T) [Octavia/Lincoln] @queen--sansastark

It was as though the universe kept trying to tell her something. Every time she felt the butterflies, it was because of him, and him only.

Take a read! Leave a kudos/comment! These fics are so unique and fun and the authors worked so hard on them. Thanks so much!

[bladekindeyewear]

Boots Reads Homestuck Epilogue(s) Part 2 - Pre-next-chapter-drop asks

Alright, going over some asks under the readmore before I read whatever’s about to drop Epilogue-ways.

Anonymous said: have a deliciously meta thing that like most people have already realized but that's worth pointing out to everyone anyway--it's AO3-style right now because we're, in Rose's words, outside canon, but once John heads back into canon? we'll probably get panels again

Hm? Maybe, but...  there’s something about this format that seems like it could be a whole lot more descriptive when it comes to our leftover doubts and loopholes.

That, or I already heard that “over 100k words” business from my friend and my expectations are biased.

Anonymous said: I notice you didn't comment on the John/Roxy/Calliope mess.

Yeah, things seem just as open as before.  John isn’t a part of it and doesn’t know where any of it stands, but it’s intentionally left malleable, too.  Seems like Andrew to leave things so that we can imagine a whole bunch of endgame pairings easily possible from here, however it turns out.  And complex social arrangements that make the word “pairings” seem restrictive, too!

Anonymous said: So... John is probably going to punch ARANEA, right? This would be the perfect way for Hussie to please all the people who hated the retcon: give us a candy ending where John stays and a meat ending where he goes back and stops Game Over, then goes to fight the final boss with that group.

That sounds more plausible than other suggestions I’ve heard for a girl to punch!  It’s not going to be Vriska again, from the phrasing, and Aranea’s thus a prime target.

Anonymous said: 'not gonna start theorizing' yeah right man. It's gonna be 2 epilogues, diverging from this point on, and the two choices of meal symbolise the two types of story we'll get: one will fill our hunger for plot and closing threads, but is invariably going to fuck us up emotionally (hard to chew, harder to swallow), and one will be a lighthearted character-focused romp in the style of the snapchat updates. Hussie has referred to this dichotomy in his book commentaries under '[S] Jack: Ascend'

Diverging epilogues that cover both and legitimize both are quite possible, like the “mind split” I mentioned earlier except we’d be tracking both branches.  Some of you probably already know the answer, because the new epilogue part already dropped as I was writing this paragraph, I just haven’t read it yet. :p

Anonymous said: Hello! A lot of people think the reason Rose was so cagey when John talked about coming back and talking to her think that means she is going to die. Honestly, either, or, or both present a clean narrative parallel to the Terezi list. With that situation, John not only left the doomed timeline and never returned, but the messenger died after giving him the note. Adding on with Rose being sick and the implications that her powers are causing problems for her physically...

JESUS CHRIST FUCK YOU FOR THAT BEING PLAUSIBLE, ROSE DYING BEFORE JOHN GETS BACK

BECAUSE IT IS

AAAAA no calm the fuck down boots JOHN is going to die in an alternate timeline or something it’s FINE.  Andrew ain’t angsty enough to just have Rose die offscreen at a young age in the alpha timeline due to weird Seer illness bullshit for no reason.  (There’s not going to be some conflict that kills her so soon or..? D: )  And there’s Heroic/Just to consider too, so.

Anonymous said: Someone pointed out that if John's showdown with Typheus is any indication, both meat and candy are the wrong answers and he should either combine both to make candied bacon, or warp somewhere else and eat some vegetables.

Eh; while a third choice is a known theme here with him, I think the split itself is more of a fit for this (or both branching paths followed) than anything, unless the “third path” he takes is somehow going off to address the giant black hole instead.  (Which reminds me, it’s possible in the Meat of this epilogue that John pulls someone out of said black hole.)

Anonymous said: have you read all the skaianet systems files? thoughts?

The who??

mudklp said: Rose mentioned “holes in canon” that need to be plugged. How many plot threads do you think will be sewn up?

Less than there are but more than we hope?  I dunno.

Okay lemme start reading this.  Posting this and moving on to the next post....