I haven't written in this thing in years. I was getting home from work today and I saw this thing lying under a stack of paperwork. I guess I used to like writing in it when I was a kid, so a figured I'd give it another try. Jesus, there's a lot of catching up to do. Where to start?
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: 25 Years Later (Also known as simply 25 Years Later) is a semi-serious Diary of a Wimpy Kid fanfic originally made by Reddit user u/jugdeggrogs for the subreddit r/LodedDiper, done as an L.L.B. (short for "Looks Like Books," how the subreddit describes posts mimicking the visual style of the books). As the name suggests, the story follows Greg Heffley as he comes to terms with his unresolved trauma and personal shortcomings in the year 2032. You can start reading it here
, or read all parts compiled here. There's also video adaptations of the entire story.
An alternate universe fic, titled Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rich and Famous, was later made.
A Distant Finale was later created, titled Diary of a Wimpy Kid: 75 Years Later (Beware that all spoilers from that work will be unmarked, so it's recommended that you view 25 Years Later and Rich And Famous first).
Tropes seen in 25 Years Later include:
- Adaptational Jerkass:
- The reveal of Frank being willing to beat Greg due to his bisexuality.
- Rowley ends his friendship with Greg after he comes out.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Greg is revealed as bisexual in this story.
- Ax-Crazy: Manny sets Frank's grave on fire. Even if the latter told him to "Get the FUCK out of here." and had been revealed as an abusive father, it's a drastic gesture that leaves Greg feeling sick.
- Big Applesauce: Manny moves to New York, seemingly as soon as he could get the money.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the end, Greg survives his suicide attempt. A one-year Time Skip reveals that Greg has taken huge steps in bettering himself (such as taking therapy and no longer writing all of his emotions in his diary) and deciding to take charge of his own life without his past shackling him down. However, Greg's relationship with his family and friends remains unknown (it's even implied that they have no idea that he's even still alive) and Greg is now bounded in a wheelchair due to his Bungled Suicide. Despite that, Greg remains hopeful of his future.
- Bungled Suicide: The final part of the story reveals that Greg's suicide attempt wasn't successful.
- Call-Back: Meemaw's diamond ring from Hard Luck makes a reappearance, and Greg finally decides to pawn it. If only he had remembered it before Frank passed.
- Cerebus Retcon:
- The reveal that Greg is bi puts Frank's treatment of him for not being "manly" enough in a much darker light.
- Fregley explains that his eccentric behaviour was his way to cope with an abusive father and his parents' divorce.
- Darker and Edgier: The original series has little in the way of serious misfortune. This story focuses on Greg as a washed up, self-hating never-was, as the last bits of his life fall apart around him.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Fregley's status as the Cloudcuckoolander is explained as the result of a physically abusive father and a divorce that left his mother low on income, since they couldn't afford to take Fregley to therapy to learn better coping skills.
- Deconstruction Fic: This story takes a grimmer, more realistic look on aspects Played for Laughs in the book, like Frank's strictness, Greg's dissatisfaction with life and his relationship with Rowley, and Fregley's mental instability.
- Distant Sequel: As the name states, the story's set two and half decades after its parent work. A considerable amount of things happened in the intervening time, including Manny ditching his family to move to New York and Rodrick getting married.
- Evolving Title Screen: Towards the end, the comic's title is changed to "26 Years Later", as it deals with the aftermath of Greg's Bungled Suicide and the apparent one-year Time Skip.
- Failed a Spot Check: Things could have ended differently for Greg had he remembered about Meemaw's ring earlier.
- Faking the Dead: Greg tries to kill himself, but ends up surviving and pretends that he's actually dead.
- Flash Forward Fic: If the "25 Years Later" in the title didn't tip you off. It follows an adult Greg coming to terms with his childhood trauma and sexuality. It also provides updates on the rest of Greg's family and friends, such as Rodrick becoming a stable adult with a happy marriage, Manny being a selfish jerk who walked out on his family, and Fregley living in a homeless shelter, but much more lucid than when he was a child.
- Former Teen Rebel: Rodrick. In the original series, he's a Big Brother Bully Emo Teen who wants to leave home and become a rock star. He ends up Happily Married and financially stable with his new wife. In addition, his quote in the newspaper article shows that he genuinely cared about Greg.
- Funny Background Event: Part 9 shows that Rowley has a Joshie poster on his house. Either he's kept an old one for years, or Joshie is still around and Rowley still likes his music.
- Get Out!: Frank does this to Manny when he's visiting him in the hospital.
- Happily Married: In stark contrast to Greg, Rodrick is happily married to a wife that he loves.
- Heel Realization:
- Rodrick appears to have had one prior to the events of the fic; he is a much better guy now.
- After sleeping with Bryce, Greg realizes that he's no better than Manny or his father — he's lied to and manipulated people to get his way all his life.
- The newspaper clip in part 19 reveals that Rowley is very remorseful after Greg jumped off of a building and expresses regret in completely shutting him off from his life.
- Incompatible Orientation: Deconstructed as being part of Greg and Rowley's falling out.
- Irony: Greg notes that Fregley of all people has given him the best advice in his life.
- Series Fauxnale: Part 18 seems to indicate that Greg dies and the story's over, but it's followed by a Time Skip that reveals that Greg actually survived.
- Time Skip: To 2032, to be exact. And an additional year in the finale.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Greg confesses to Rowley, his longtime childhood friend, and Rowley ends their friendship.
