Work Text:
at last. things have been set into motion. two teams are diverging on the prince. and he will be Undone.
bUt there is mUch time before the fight ensUes. i have time to spare.
observers from beyond the veil, i speak to thee now.
[Writer's note: Ok, so a few clarifications on what this is:
First of all, don't expect anything more to come of this. This is NOT a part of Mirage Unto Herself. My idea for this project would be a fancomic. But I do not have any of the skills to make a fancomic, nor do I have the ambition to try and obtain those skills. Really, I'm just publishing this so that there's recorded proof that at this time (April 20th, 2025) I was having these ideas before HSBC pokes holes in any of my interpretations.
Secondly, due to the very meta nature of this introduction, I feel the need to clarify that I am not alt Calliope. Their views do not necessarily reflect on my own. In fact, there are a lot of views that we very heavily clash on!
Third and finally, it's been a hot minute since I've read the epilogues. So I might get some timeline details wrong.]
...
self proclaimed "writer," may i continUe now? do i have yoUr permission?
[Writer's note: Yep!]
wonderfUl.
Understand that i am not oblivioUs to the UnpopUlarity of my story. i have orchestrated it oUt of necessity. there is a villain to best. Unpleasant choices mUst be made.
granted, many of yoU are being Unfair to my story. it's not bad. i enjoyed the direction i took it, and i do not always appreciate its reception. bUt there's one thing many of yoU have right:
i can do better. and so i will.
perhaps it is Unwise of me to risk being ill prepared for when the prince reqUires smiting. i shoUld stand vigil, and await the day of reckoning.
bUt i am fond of these people, and i am Unsatisfied with the abrUpt abandonment of the candy timeline's earth c. i do not regret my actions, bUt i feel gUilty for them even so.
with many of my obligations fUffiled for now, i am free to observe a story that does not end in some spitefUl and bUrnt oUt former friends going throUgh a portal after their kids. a happier story is called for. i woUld like to see a version of events where my helots see some joy, for i know there will be very little in the conclUsion of their conflict with the prince.
and i sUppose yoU observers deserve a more enjoyable story. i will not give yoU exactly what yoU want. frankly, yoU people do not know what yoU trUly want. mUch of yoUr sUggestions woUld make for a horrid story. bUt i will take some of yoUr concerns and preferences in mind.
it will still be a story steeped in tragedy. there will still be pain and conflict. there will still be severed bonds. there will still be blood. you will still see yoUr beloved characters do horrid things. bUt this tale shall have less hate, and it will not end prematUrely.
and there is one particUlar observer that i feel the need to address. yoU are already acqUainted with her.
[Writer's note: ^.^]
...i am speaking, of coUrse, of the observer with serioUs delUsions of grandeUr, who thinks herself to be the trUe aUthor of my story. the one that insists Upon me, over and over, that i bring together the soon to be heiress of breath, and the seer of light's feline coUnterpart.
[Writer's note: THEY'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER.]
...i am Utterly baffled and offpUt by yoUr commitment and convictions, and i make no promises. bUt, if, somehow, the oppUrtUnity arrises for sUch a relationship to blossom within this particUlar story... i will consider taking it.
[Writer's note: Yaaaay <3]
...with that endeavor addressed, i will move on.
this story will be a conseqUence of the choices i made for the candy timeline. if it were not for candy, i woUld not create this tale. thUs, it is only fitting that i name this, "the cavity timeline."
...
...
becaUse it is a conseqUence of candy. and hUmans get cavities if they eat too mUch candy.
please, hold yoUr applaUse.
so what will i change? how will this series of events differ from candy? hmm... well, i know where to begin.
many of yoU hold strong feelings on yiffy. strong and UnfoUnded feelings. her precise Upbringing is necessary for her to fUffil her role, as she will play a very pivotal part in the toppling of the prince. bUt that need is absent here, and her importance has resUlted in her getting mUch of the spotlight, while her peers fall to the wayside. and so, yiffy will be renamed to rUby, and the act of her conceivement will be devoid of infidelity. initially, the three involved parties would plan a well commUnicated sUrrogacy, with kanaya's informed consent given before the process begins. rose will then have to call the prospect off for a time, as she finds herself incapable of going aboUt the process of hUman reprodUction in a way that is "pUrely physical," devoid of any romantic desires. jade feels dejected at first. being abandoned in the bedroom with little explanation leaves yoU with a lot of Unfavorable conclUsions to jUmp to. she feels significantly less dejected in the coming days, where she notices both rose and kanaya flirting with her. eventUally, they form a polyamoroUs relationship, and rUby is born some nine months later.
yes, nine months. i will admit that i was making an absUrd stretch to jUstify rose being able to hide her pregnancy with the whole "dog genes two months gestation" bUllshit.
another matter: dUe to rUby's importance, i allowed her peers to fall to the wayside. to make Up for this, a different child will be oUr focal point instead. the seer of rage shall take her place in the spotlight.
which of the three remaining children is the seer of rage, yoU may ask?
patience, friends. patience. it will be revealed in dUe time.
i also know that some of yoU have serioUs reservations with the romantic entanglement between harry-anderson egbert and vriska "vrissy" maryam-lalonde, even thoUgh that relationship is only incestUoUs by technicality, and-
[WRITER'S NOTE: ALT CALLIOPE'S VIEWS DO NOT REFLECT MY OWN.]
[WRITER'S NOTE: ALT CALLIOPE'S VIEWS DO NOT REFLECT MY OWN.]
[WRITER'S NOTE: ALT CAL-]
oh, pipe down! let me finish jUstifying-
[WRITER'S NOTE: DO NOT FUCKING TRY TO "JUSTIFY" ANYTHING OH MY GOD]
ok, fine! they will not be romantically entangled in cavity. and apparently i am not allowed to explain my relUnctance to cUt that relationship, so that is the end of that thread of "discUssion." bloody hell.
[Writer's note: Sorry if I'm writing Calliope out of character here, I never really had a good grasp of their character.]
yoU are not writing me! yoU are only speaking to me becaUse i am allowing yoU to speak to me. now, if we are throUgh with the interrUptions, i will continUe.
there will not be any detoUrs to take on the prince in this story, meaning that there will not be another sbUrb session, and the heir shall not become the heiress Unless there are alterations to her arc. instead, she will transition off-screen, dUring the years in which she is absent from harry's life, after her failed attempt at rescUing tavros. it will take some coaxing to bring this aboUt, and the arc will not be as satisfying. bUt jUne mUst be, even if it reqUires rUshing. perhaps i can employ vriska serket's help in expediting jUne's realization. yoU coUld say that she will be a toUgh egg to crack.
please, hold yoUr apllaUse.
and speaking of vriska serket, the "plot point" will be absent in cavity. she will not go helltier, and she will not spend 8 of her years reckoning with her traUma, and she will not be 8 years older than the rest of the children. at the point at which oUr story will begin, she will be 16, while harry, tavros, and her namesake will be aboUt 15. rUby will be closer to 14, jUst by natUre of the changes in rose and jade's dynamic.
with that, i believe we have covered all the necessary bases. those are the changes that woUld be, from an oUtside perspective, "retcons." the rest of the changes can be revealed to yoU natUrally. yes, i think i can work with this!
now, do not expect progress on this project to be swift, if it progresses mUch at all. i still have some things to micromanage in other timelines. i have, as my coUnterpart woUld say, "many irons in the fire."
we have nothing more to discUss for now.
observers, retUrn to yoUr Unknowable planes of existence.
thank yoU for yoUr time.