History Literature / TheHomestuckEpilogues

* ForWantOfANail: Some aspects differ significantly between Candy and Meat, such as Roxy's gender identity[[note]]as the Meat version settles on male while the Candy version decides that it's irrelevant and a female presentation is fine after becoming pregnant[[/note]] and the status of the Dave/Karkat/Jade LoveTriangle [[note]]In Candy, Jade's insistence on a polyamorous relationship and Dave's feelings of obligation to her end up driving all three apart, whereas in Meat Dave and Karkat are finally able to admit their love after Dirk does his best to force them to be honest.[[/note]]

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: In Meat, Jane is patronizing towards Jake and has a few xenophobic views against trolls while she ignores the [[MoralMyopia faults of humans across history]]. In Candy, [[spoiler:she morally deteriorates enough that she ends abusing both Jake and their son, and her xenophobia grows enough that she eventually decides to wipe out the trolls after her father was killed by trolls fighting against her bigoted policies.]]

* ShipSinking:
** Both major Jake pairings take huge damage. [[spoiler:In Candy, Jane rapes him and abuses him after manipulating him into a relationship, leading to him leaving her and the wreck of Jake/Jane. In Meat, Dirk repeatedly expresses his scorn for Jake, messes with his mind to humiliate him and keep him compliant, and eventually breaks his heart and abandons him, spelling an awful end for Dirk/Jake.]]
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Right in the middle. The Epilogues make it clear that there are no true happy endings, some of your childhood friends will grow up into terrible people, and sometimes you'll fail and be miserable no matter what you do. However, strong and healthy communities can stop people from going down dark paths, and your story isn't over until you say it is. Things end on a low point for pretty much everyone, but there is both a hope and a plan for a better tomorrow.

* EskimosArentReal: Jade didn't realize that UsefulNotes/BarackObama, Music/SnoopDogg, and Creator/NicolasCage were real people.

* FreudianExcuse: When Gamzee returns and declares himself redeemed, he alternates between actually apologizing and blaming his absent Goat-dad and Highblood culture for his many crimes. Calliope immediately buys into this; John...not so much.

* LoveChart: In a CallBack to Karkat's repeated attempts to make a [[LoveChart Shipping Chart]] for Dave in the main comic, Jade recreates Karkat's relationship chart to argue that Dave (and Karkat) need to get together with her in order to fill out the pairings and avoid incest.

* SkywardScream: John bellows his frustration at the sky when [[spoiler:he finds his dad's car, with what he assumes is Terezi's blood smeared inside it, and assumes she's dead]].

* AuthorAppeal: Played with in a meta way, as part of the epilogue's general parodying of fanfic tropes. The sexiness and grimdarkness of Meat, as well as its greater focus on gay relationships and male characters reflects the preferences of the author [[spoiler: or narrator, who is revealed to be Dirk, who's been previously shown to have such interests.]] Meanwhile Candy, [[spoiler: which may be written by some version of Calliope, previously established as a parody of fanfic authors]], contains a lot of the unusual sexual arrangements (polyamory, [[spoiler: milking]]) one might expect in the classic "fanfic author casually inserts their personal kink" setup.

* AuthorAppeal: Played with in a meta way, as part of the epilogue's general parodying of fanfic tropes. The sexiness and grimdarkness of Meat, as well as its greater focus on gay relationships and male characters reflects the preferences of the author [[spoiler: or narrator, who is revealed to be Dirk, who's been previously shown to have such interests.]] Meanwhile Candy, [[spoiler: which may be written by some version of Calliope, previously established as a parody of fanfic authors]], contains a lot of the unusual sexual arrangements (polyamory, [[spoiler: milking]]) one might expect in the classic "fanfic author casually inserts their favorite fetish" setup.

Something worth noting about ''The Homestuck Epilogues'' is that Hussie and the other authors have stated that they should be seen as a completely different work than ''Homestuck'' proper, and even describe the two paths of the story as non-canon relative to its parent work, with the story itself being presented in a format derived from {{Fanfic}}. In fact, they have outright ''encouraged'' fans to make use of DeathOfTheAuthor or to treat the official ending to ''Homestuck'' as the true conclusion. For Hussie's personal notes on the epilogues and what they mean to represent, see [[Analysis/TheHomestuckEpilogues the Analysis page]]. (Spoilers included, obviously.)

On [[ArcNumber April 13]], 2016, ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'' seemingly came to an end after seven years. However, with that conclusion, Creator/AndrewHussie promised his audience an epilogue to tie up all other loose ends. And three years later on April 13, 2019, starting with the Prologue and releasing the rest a week later... The time arrived, and with the assistance of Cephied_Variable, and ctset, he was able to come up with a text-only epilogue showing two self-described "tales of dubious authenticity".

Something worth noting about ''The Homestuck Epilogues'' is that Hussie and the other authors have stated that they should be seen as a completely different work than ''Homestuck'' proper, and even describe the two paths of the story as non-canon relative to its parent work, with the story itself being presented in a format derived from {{Fanfic}}. In fact, they have outright ''encouraged'' fans to make use of DeathOfTheAuthor or to treat the official ending to ''Homestuck'' as the true conclusion. For Hussie's personal notes on the epilogues and what they mean to represent, see [[Analysis/TheHomestuckEpilogues the Analysis page]].

Something worth noting about ''The Homestuck Epilogues'' is that Hussie and the other authors have stated that they should be seen as a completely different work than ''Homestuck'' proper, and even describe the two paths of the story as non-canon relative to its parent work. In fact, they have outright ''encouraged'' fans to make use of DeathOfTheAuthor or to treat the official ending to ''Homestuck'' as the true conclusion. For Hussie's personal notes on the epilogues and what they mean to represent, see [[Analysis/TheHomestuckEpilogues the Analysis page]].

On [[ArcNumber April 13]], 2016, ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'' seemingly came to an end after seven years. However, with that conclusion, Creator/AndrewHussie promised his audience an epilogue to tie up all other loose ends. And three years later on April 13, 2019, starting with the Prologue and releasing the rest a week later...the time has come.

* {{WAFF}}: Subverted. The beginning starts off as a jarringly happy story devoted to CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds from the main storyline. However, darkness and complexity quickly creeps into the narrative.

** Jake is entirely subservient to stand up to his friends, [[spoiler:which traps him in a sixteen-year abusive relationship in Candy, and makes him Dirk's helpless puppet in Meat]].

* RobotMe: [[spoiler: As part of ascending to the Ultimate Self, Rose and Dave]] both get their consciousnesses transferred into robot bodies by the end.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Barack Obama turns out to have [[spoiler:played Sburb, been a personal friend of many characters, and time traveled through multiple universes.]]

* HappyEndingOverride: '''Good Lord yes!''' By the end of each path, [[spoiler:many major characters are depressed, evil, and/or dead.]]

** Jade apparently makes jokes about "tying the knot" with Dave and Karkat, referring both to the prospect of marriage and her implied dog penis. [[TooMuchInformation Karkat is not amused.]]
** When Karkat asks how Kanaya and Rose tolerate each other, Kanaya smugly replies "Quite Thoroughly Enthusiastically And Often".

** Jade apparently makes jokes about "tying the knot" with Dave and Karkat, referring both to the prospect of marriage and her implied dog penis.

** Roxy and Calliope's unwillingness to confront Jane about her toxic politics [[spoiler:leads to Jane becoming ANaziByAnyOtherName in Candy, or "just" a UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump expy in Meat]]. Similarly, everyone else's refusal to tell Roxy and Calliope that their support of Jane is unacceptable [[spoiler:leads to the carapacians following Roxy to join Jade against Karkat's rebellion]].

* AbsenteeActor:
** Apart from Davepetasprite^2, the sprites are nowhere to be seen.
** Nepeta (aside from Davepetasprite^2) and Equius are not involved in either path at all, to the point where they are excluded from the tags. Unlike Eridan and Feferi, they do not even get cameos as ghosts.

** [[spoiler:Rose and Kanaya]]'s adoptive child is named [[spoiler:Vriska, because the original (whom they think is dead) is her ancestor]].

* MoodWhiplash: In Meat, the scene where [[spoiler: Jake gives his endorsement of Karkat]] is filled with a mix of tones. Dave decides to go on a long tangent with Roxy about his sexual orientation, a speech that is alternately touching and hilarious, but really not very appropriate considering Dave is needed elsewhere for more important things. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Dirk and Muse Calliope]] battle [[spoiler: for control of the narrative while Dirk]] threatens to kill a character, which is filled with dramatic tension, and the resolution to the conflict provides a twist. The immediate aftermath of how the scene went down, as narrated by Dave, is hilarious and filled with slapstick and ToiletHumor.

* LaserGuidedKarma: After all the morally ambiguous actions Vriska did in the story as part of (what was at least partially) an arrogant desire to be central to the plot, her ultimate fate is finally revealed: [[spoiler:she gets impaled by a shard of reality and sucked into the black hole before the final battle against Lord English truly begins, meaning she completely misses out on it; she then dumped into the Candy Timeline, where she discovers that she's essentially been replaced with Vriska Lalonde (a near-clone of her being raised by Rose and Kanaya) and is rebranded as "(Vriska)" to highlight her almost complete irrelevance to everything going on]].

* IronicDeath: Lord English is finally killed in a manner that echoes his past crimes. [[spoiler: After trying to eat John and Dave during their fight, he is ultimately defeated when Muse Calliope eats him. She's also an alternate universe version of the sister he spitefully killed, an action which jumpstarted his rise to power.]]

* FreudianExcuse: When Gamzee returns and declares himself redeemed, he alternates between actually apologizing and blaming his absent Goat-dad and Highblood culture for his many crimes.

* TakeThat: Gamzee's "redemption" in Candy is a mock of poorly-written cases of EasilyForgiven, and a parody of what happens in fanworks that make use of DracoInLeatherPants. [[spoiler:The moment John brings him in to Earth C, he goes on a half-assed excuse about his lusus abandoning him and Alternian society made him the way he was, and then says that anyone criticising him is just as bad as he is. Calliope is moved, but John is not. While he is not outright seen trying to kill anyone after, he's generally portayed as unsettling and disgusting (and John even has a feeling that he sexually abused Tavros Crocker), to the point where his eventual death at the hands of Vriska Serket/(Vriska) is hardly seen as anything tragic.]]

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When [[spoiler:Dirk]] expresses fascination that Roxy thinks Calliope is beautiful, [[spoiler:Calliope's alternate self]] expands on this by [[spoiler:narratively giving Roxy a wish to [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism remind Calliope they're beautiful every single day]]]]. Despite their antagonism, [[spoiler:Dirk]] laughs at this.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Of all people, [[spoiler:''President UsefulNotes/BarackObama'']]. He mentions to [[spoiler:Dave]] that he used to occasionally meet [[spoiler:Dirk]], who taught him about "combat, philosophy, life, love..."
* AmicableExes: In Candy, this is how [[spoiler:John and Roxy]] end up: [[spoiler: they talk about their issues honestly and openly for the first time, and it's implied they'll stay in contact and continue to heal together. Whether that will translate into [[DivorceIsTemporary getting back together]] is left [[MaybeEverAfter up in the air]].]]
* AndTheAdventureContinues: Deliberately invoked in Meat. [[spoiler:Dirk reasons that without continued conflict and a goal for the protagonists to chase, the story will end, and therefore (in his view) stop mattering. So he makes himself the new villain, brainwashes Rose and manipulates Terezi to join him, and runs off into space to set up the "most important Sburb session ever played," with the other main characters in hot pursuit. Possibly unbeknownst to him, Muse Calliope is also chasing him down, accompanied by Aradia and Davebot.]]
* AnythingThatMoves: In Candy, Jade is mentioned to have slept with people of all different species, including the carapacians/chess guys, whose anatomy or ability to have sex is never specified.

* AuthorAppeal: Played with in a meta way, as part of the epilogue's general parodying of fanfic tropes. The sexiness and grimdarkness of Meat, as well as its greater focus on gay relationships and male characters reflects the preferences of the author [[spoiler: or narrator, who is revealed to be Dirk, who's been previously shown to have such interests.]] Meanwhile Candy, [[spoiler: which is written by some version of Calliope, previously established as a parody of fanfic authors]], contains a lot of the unusual sexual arrangements (polyamory, [[spoiler: milking]]) one might expect in the classic "fanfic author casually inserts their favorite fetish" setup.
* AutoErotica: [[spoiler:John and Terezi]] hook up in a car in Meat.
* BabiesEverAfter: Played with. Several different couples all have babies early on in Candy, as a nod to the story's nominal status as a FixFic involving the character's happy ending. The story continues, however, and the babies don't make everything happy.
* BathroomStallOfAngst: Facetiously referenced when Dave says "brb gonna hit the toilet for a quick power sob" when Karkat doesn't listen to his suggestion.
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Barack Obama turns out to have [[spoiler:played Sburb, been a personal friend of many characters, and time traveled through multiple universes.]]

* ChildByRape: In Candy, [[spoiler:Tavros Crocker, the son of Jane and Jake after Jane coerced Jake into sleeping with her using various subtances]].
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: In both Candy and Meat, [[spoiler: Jane]] builds a corporate empire that becomes increasingly oppressive and all-powerful.

* DeadGuyJunior: In the Candy timeline, [[spoiler: Rose and Kanaya adopt a troll who happens to be an exact clone of Vriska, and so they name her Vriska, assuming that their Vriska is dead.]] [[spoiler: Jane and Jake's son is named Tavros; presumably it was Gamzee's idea, but since they knew Tavros as a sprite in the post-retcon timeline, they most likely agreed to it, though it's unknown if Sprite!Tavros is still alive or not.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: In Meat, [[spoiler:John, in Terezi's arms.]]
* DomesticAbuse: In Candy, Jane clearly mistreats Jake from the second they share a page.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Past!Rose and Vriska]] are taken out early into the Lord English fight. In the case of the latter, [[spoiler:this is because Dirk was tired of Vriska hogging the spotlight and wanted to permanently remove her from the narrative. She ends up being taken to the Candy timeline]].
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: In Meat, [[spoiler:John dies halfway through confessing his love for Terezi]].
* EasilyForgiven: In Candy, Gamzee claims that all his sins have been absolved and can't be held against him because he's had a redemption arc. Despite him acting like a more obscene and lecherous version of his pre-sober self, Jane, Roxy, Calliope, and society as a whole agree, much to John's confusion.
* EatingTheEnemy: A favored combat tactic of Lord English, who tries to eat both Dave and John when they fight him. [[spoiler: He bites off Dave's head, and attempts to swallow John whole, though John escapes. This is also how his is ultimately defeated, as the dead cherub]] eats him, finally defeating him.
* EskimosArentReal: Jade didn't realize that UsefulNotes/BarackObama, Music/SnoopDogg, and Creator/NicolasCage were real people.

* ExpendableClone: Well, expendable alternate-timeline double. [[spoiler:Teenage Rose, Dave, and Jade die in the battle with Lord English. Teenage Jane, Jake, Dirk, and Roxy are stuck on Caliborn's planet with no way home.]]

** Internally within the epilogues themselves, this can happen if you read the Candy path first. [[spoiler:Muse!Calliope, possessing a dead instance of Jade - who is from the Meat route - discusses with Aradia the nature of narrative voices, and how the nature of a narrative can be retroactively altered when the narration is revealed to be a character in themselves. In the Meat narrative, it's revealed that the narrator is Dirk and he is actively controlling the narrative to force his friends along the path of his own design, until Muse!Calliope arrives and overrides his control for a time.]]

* FourthDateMarriage: In Candy, John and Roxy know each other, but haven't hung out in years. After one date and several weeks of being casually interested in each other, they decide to get married. [[spoiler:It's because Roxy is struggling with gender dysphoria and is overcompensating.]]
* FreudianExcuse: In Candy, when Gamzee returns and declares himself redeemed, he alternates between actually apologizing and blaming his absent Goat-dad and Highblood culture for his many crimes.
* {{Gaslighting}}: In Meat, [[spoiler:Dirk]] does this to several characters using [[spoiler:his power over the narrative]] to warp people's thoughts and gradually change their perceptions and feelings about other characters.[[spoiler:He subtly manipulates Kanaya, making her doubt whether Rose ever really loved her, and does the same to Jake to gradually make Jake obsessively in love with him]].
* GayOption: Candy and Meat are set up like two alternate routes in a visual novel. At the beginning, a number of characters have both heterosexual and non-heterosexual romance options. In Meat, all of these characters end up paired with the non-straight option, while the opposite is true in Candy.
* {{Gayngst}}: As conveyed by [[spoiler:Dave]] to [[spoiler:Obama]] near the end of Candy. [[spoiler:He's married to Jade and loves her, but realized too late that he might be gay.]]
* GenderBender: In Candy, [[spoiler: Jade mentions that if she, Dave and Karkat had a baby, neither of the latter would be the father, implying that she's also inherited Bec's maleness as well.]]
* GrewASpine: Toward the end of Candy, [[spoiler:Jake]] finally stops taking [[spoiler:Jane]]'s abuse, and [[spoiler:absconds with their son Tavros]].

* HenpeckedHusband: In Candy, [[spoiler:Jake becomes one after Jane uses alcohol and the Trickster lollipop to rape him, causing Jake to feel obligated to father the resulting ChildByRape]]. In Meat, [[spoiler:Jane tries to do the same, but fails, since she accidentally picked a drink that Jake hates, which causes him to spit it back up and ruin the mood]].
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: In Candy, Roxy and Calliope continue to support Jane even as she becomes a genocidal fascist tyrant, and refuse to entertain the notion that what she's doing is wrong. [[spoiler:Even ''after'' Roxy quietly distances herself from Jane near the end, she still thinks the idea of Jane being evil is laughable.]]
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Even without [[spoiler:narrative control]] to help him, Dirk is skilled enough with a sniper rifle that he can ''immediately'' [[spoiler:turn it one hundred eighty degrees, zoom in on a distant apartment, and hit the jugular vein of one of its inhabitants]] in one fluid motion.
* IncestSubtext: In Meat, [[spoiler: Dirk's kidnapping of]] his biological daughter [[spoiler: Rose]] may just be case of him seeing her as a {{Platonic Life Partner|s}} and not necessarily romantic or sexual, but it certainly has creepy, incestuous undertones. This is Lampshaded by Dave, who straight up asks everyone if the two of them are now in an incestuous relationship, though it's quashed by others who point out the [[spoiler: IncompatibleOrientation]] between the two.
* InsistentTerminology: In Candy, Gamzee insists that nobody can treat him like he's a murderer anymore because he's been through his "redemption arc".

* IronicDeath: Lord English is finally killed in a manner that echoes his past crimes. [[spoiler: After trying to eat John and Dave during their fight, he is ultimately defeated when the dead cherub eats him. She's also an alternate universe version of the sister he spitefully killed, an action which jumpstarted his rise to power.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: When Jane learns that [[spoiler:her father [[TakingTheBullet jumped in front of a rocket]] to save the human president]], she's ''furious'' at him for an incredibly selfish reason:
--> '''Jane:''' [[spoiler:The human president]] could be anyone! [[spoiler:My dad]] can't be anyone but him!

* KickTheDog: Dirk does this all over the place in Meat. He's manipulative and abusive towards Rose, Jake, and Kanaya, and condescending and dismissive towards John, Jade, Roxy, and just about everybody else (except maybe [[MoralityPet Dave]]). [[spoiler:This is quite possibly a deliberate gambit to make himself hated by the audience, as part of his desire to see himself become the new villain so the story won't end, as well as his self-admitted subconscious sabotage of his own plans.]]

* LastMinuteHookup: Several in Meat.
** After having UnresolvedSexualTension for the entire story, [[spoiler: Dave and Karkat]] finally admit their feelings and hook up right near the end.
** Similarly, [[spoiler: John and Terezi]] end up having sex and realizing their feelings for each other right near the end. [[spoiler: John dies shortly afterward.]]
** Inverted in Candy, where all the hookups happen pretty early on and all the romance subplots peter out over time.
* LoveChart: In Candy, in a CallBack to Karkat's repeated attempts to make a Shipping Chart for Dave in the main comic, Jade recreates Karkat's relationship chart to argue that Dave (and Karkat) need to get together with her in order to fill out the pairings and avoid incest.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Karkat, who pairs up with [[spoiler:Meenah, who has the Ring of Life]] in Candy and [[spoiler:Dave, who's a God Tier]] in Meat, and Terezi, who [[spoiler:hooks up with John in Meat... not that he has long to live anyway]]. This does not apply to Kanaya, who is immortal on account of being a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Rainbow Drinker]] and can thus live forever with Rose.

* MoodWhiplash: In Meat, the scene where [[spoiler: Jake gives his endorsement of Karkat]] is filled with a mix of tones. Dave decides to go on a long tangent with Roxy about his sexual orientation, a speech that is alternately touching and hilarious, but really not very appropriate considering Dave is needed elsewhere for more important things. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Dirk and the cherub]] battle [[spoiler: for control of the narrative while Dirk]] threatens to kill a character, which is filled with dramatic tension, and the resolution to the conflict provides a twist. The immediate aftermath of how the scene went down, as narrated by Dave, is hilarious and filled with slapstick and ToiletHumor.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Kanaya is horrified when she realizes how easily [[spoiler:she let Dirk take Rose from her. It's only after other characters point out that she would ''never'' blindly trust anyone with her sick wife's well-being that it hits her that either she's gone crazy, or Dirk has been manipulating her mind]].

* NoEnding: [[spoiler:By the time Candy ends, the pillars of canon have been so thoroughly warped that the story no longer follows a narrative arc at all, and [[RealityEnsues there are no true endings outside of narratives]]. We never get to see how the war is resolved, how Jade reacts to Dave's sudden disappearance, whether Roxy and Calliope leave Jane, whether Terezi will ever see (Vriska)'s texts, or anything else, and it's implied that [[{{Fanon}} fans will have to finish the story themselves]].]]
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Virtually everything eventful in the Candy timeline happens off-camera, with the actual story being solely about how those events affect the characters' relationships.

** Alternate Calliope's example of narrative manipulation shows her changing her color ''and font'' to [[spoiler:that of the narration, strongly hinting at her status as the narrator -- or, at least, ''one'' of the narrators.]] Aradia points out that she sounds different somehow, but cannot place what's different about the way she speaks.

* RealityWarper: This is how [[spoiler:control of the narrative]] works: anyone with this power (that is, [[spoiler:Dirk or Alternate Calliope]]) gains the ability to [[spoiler:shape other characters' thoughts and, to some extent, cause physical events to happen]].

* RebelLeader: In Candy, Karkat finally realizes his destiny and becomes the leader of a rebellion against [[spoiler: the genocidal, Crocker-controlled government]].
* RewatchBonus: The Prologue and the first few chapters of Meat take on a new meaning once you know that [[spoiler:Dirk is narrating them, and subtly influencing what occurs]].

** [[spoiler:Alternate Calliope]] approves of [[spoiler:John and Terezi]] getting together in Meat, [[spoiler:but takes a more passive approach than Dirk, only suggesting that John stop repressing his true feelings]].

* SkywardScream: In Candy, John bellows his frustration at the sky when [[spoiler:he finds his dad's car, with what he assumes is Terezi's blood smeared inside it, and assumes she's dead]].

* SplitTimelinesPlot: [[spoiler:As the Candy and Meat routes progress, the epilogue is revealed to be this. The dead trolls sucked into the blackhole in Meat find themselves in the world of Candy. Muse!Calliope is explicitly the same in both routes simultaneously, as the body she's possessing in Candy is the Jade in the timeline created by John in Meat, acting in Meat to wrest control of the narrative back from Dirk, and in Candy to head him off and punish him for throwing things OffTheRails as he heads towards that world with Rose. Candy!John exchanges a series of text messages with Terezi, which stop when Terezi encounters Meat!John.]]

* TakeThat: Gamzee's "redemption" in Candy is a mock of poorly-written cases of EasilyForgiven, and a parody of what happens in fanworks that make use of DracoInLeatherPants. [[spoiler:The moment John brings him in to Earth C, he goes on a half-assed excuse about his lusus abandoning him and Alternian society made him the way he was, and then says that anyone criticising him is just as bad as he is. Calliope is moved, but John is not. While he is not outright seen trying to kill anyone after, he's generally portayed as unsettling and disgusting (and John even has a feeling that he sexually abused Tavros Crocker), to the point where his eventual death at the hands of Vriska Serket/(Vriska) is hardly seen as anything tragic.]]

** It's never made explicit whether [[spoiler:Davepetasprite^2]] survives [[spoiler:dragging Lord English into the Candy timeline]], but [[spoiler:Alternate Calliope finding a burnt orange-and-green feather]] implies that it's pretty unlikely.

* UnreliableNarrator: A major theme. Halfway through Meat, [[spoiler:the narrator is revealed to be Dirk soon after his FaceHeelTurn, with all of the biases that entails]]. At the end of Candy, [[spoiler:Muse!Calliope]] has an [[DiscussedTrope extended conversation]] about this trope, [[spoiler:telling Aradia to always be mindful of the speaker of any particular story]].

* VisitByDivorcedDad: Near the end of Candy, [[spoiler:John goes on a drive with his son Harry Anderson. It's the first time they've seen each other in years, but it's implied that this will be the first of many subsequent meetups.]]
* XanatosSpeedChess: In Meat, [[spoiler:Dirk]]'s initial plan is upended by [[spoiler:Muse Calliope assuming control of the narrative, preventing him from using it]]. He quickly devises a backup plan to get things back on track. [[spoiler:To prevent Calliope obstructing him, he obscures his motives by pretending he's going to assassinate Jake. While he's doing this, he "innocuously" advises Roxy to give the Muse-possessed Jade some sun... giving him a line of sight to shoot ''her'' instead. Instead of using a bullet (from which she would [[ResurrectiveImmortality revive within minutes]]), he shoots her with a powerful tranquilizer, putting her into a coma and cutting off Calliope's connection.]]
* {{WAFF}}: Subverted. The beginning of Candy starts off as a jarringly happy story devoted to CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds from the main storyline. However, darkness and complexity quickly creeps into the narrative.

* YouAreACreditToYourRace: Jane says this to Kanaya, who is not amused.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When [[spoiler:Dirk]] expresses fascination that Roxy thinks Calliope is beautiful, [[spoiler:Calliope's alternate self]] expands on this by [[spoiler:narratively giving Roxy a wish to [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism remind Calliope she's beautiful every single day]]]]. Despite their antagonism, [[spoiler:Dirk]] laughs at this.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Jane's character in the Epilogues was based on then-current United States president UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, whom the authors find abhorrent, as part of AnAesop that sometimes your childhood friends will grow up into terrible people. She's a famous businessperson whose success is (as theorized by Dave) due entirely to her inherited position, and is actually pretty awful at business. She makes a run for the presidency despite having no prior political experience, [[spoiler:which is successful due to the intervention of an exterior power]]. She harbors openly xenophobic views and relies on tasteless populism to garner votes. And she has latent fascistic tendencies, which come to the forefront in the Candy timeline. The accuracy of these parallels to Trump [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment is best discussed elsewhere]], but they are true to the authors' conception of him.

-> '''Rose:''' You will need to travel back into canon and defeat Lord English.\\

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