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Well. That’s it.
Pathways is over.
Damn.
Normally, I wouldn’t go on a long ramble/rant, but Pathways is the first multi-chapter fiction I’ve ever finished. Like, ever. Even when writing my own stories, even when writing fanfiction, even on Wattpad, I’ve never finished anything before. Nothing’s ever had a clear end.
Pathways my beloved. Where Tommy got daddy issues without my permission, Wilbur met Ted Nivison and didn’t like his milk, George Memeulous is ACTUALLY a landlord, Mumza isn’t dead, and Philza Minecraft fights off landlords when they show up to his house looking like the FBI.
I wrote Pathways after the loss of my grandmother and hairdresser (who was a very close friend to me and my mum) and hey, it’s the first fic anyone’s ever asked to be pinged for. I’ve never had readers genuinely so interested.
Basically, thanks. I appreciate it.
Time for: !FUN FIC FACTS!
Fact 1:
- This was supposed to be a oneshot: At first, I was going to leave Pathways as just Arsonist’s Lullabye. This entire fic was going to be called ‘Arsonist’s Lullabye’ but I’d been reading some Merthur Time Travel fics at the time, and decided that my characters deserved better. Phil and Wilbur’s first meeting (Chap 3) was the first drafted chapter!
Fact 2:
- This fic has an alternate ending: Sometime during the writing of chapters 11-13, I came up with this one line that wouldn’t leave me alone, and I ended up writing a much darker, angstier ending than the one you guys got. It’s in no way related to Pathways canon, but I’m happy to post it if you’d like it!
Fact 3:
- Some chapter songs were changed: Chapter 12 (Particles) was originally the acoustic version of ‘Sorry’ by the same artist, but after several save errors and an accidental upload while out with my friends (god knows how I did that) I ended up changing the chapter’s song. I think that honestly, it’s a lot better having done so.
Fact 4:
- I lost a LOT of save data while writing Arsonist’s Lullabye: During Tommy’s segment of Arsonist’s Lullabye, I lost the save data for the first paragraph three times due to save errors and my I-Pad dying, and so the segment was rewritten a LOT, and the original data is somewhere in AO3’s endless storebanks. Despite this, Pathways is the only fanfiction that doesn’t have a OneNote variant somewhere on my I-Pad.
Fact 5:
- Chapter 13 got me past the Saffron Gym in Pokemon Fire Red: I was struggling with Saffron Gym, so instead I wrote Chapter 13, and popped my pokémon in the daycare, before riding in circles with my bike until the chapter was done. I then successfully beat Saffron Gym. Shocking what a few words can do.
Fact 6:
- I never get to mention it in the fic, but Tommy is the one who gives Tubbo his nickname. Tubbo’s the mute kid who helped Phil sort out the houses. Tommy’s seen him help out around the farm, he goes up behind T when he’s getting the washing off of the line, and spooks him, which makes him fall into the gorilla tub. Hence Tub-boo = Tubbo
Pathways is dedicated to my mods, Shie, Bass (as in the guitar) and Te. That isn’t their names, but I doubt they’d be happy if I posted their names on AO3.
They don’t read fics, and Shie is the only one who knows about DSMP, but they’ve hyped me up and kept me going all the way through, and to the end.
I’d also like to thank TWB for being awesome, providing inspiration, and giving me the confidence to write the final chapter.
Bye Pathways, you’ve had a good run.