Twibrary Quest: Solstice

I could just give her a happy ending. But, from where I'm sitting, it isn't just about her. It's about her and all of you. Tumblrpon, for me, has always been a shared, participatory journey, even when it was all one-off jokes like this Twilight's blog once was.

Twilight only knows one thing about her "Medium of Delivery," but it's the most important. She doesn't know about the sapient being or the electronic infrastructure. She doesn't know how it works or why. But she knows it's a connection to others outside of her world. That, through MODs, you and she can be in this together. And that goes both ways.

That's what this Quest is. There is an ending ahead of one kind or another, and you have a chance to help shape it. "Anon magic" is a powerful tool for doing so, but one I'm still not certain I should permit. But even that is part of the journey. Will you try to convince me? I don't know. What are you going to do with this chance?

You only have one shot.

...

The idea that the end needn't come yet -- that it could be forestalled and there might be value in what is had by so doing -- makes a certain amount of sense to me. That stories yet to be finished (or even to be begun) still have a place.

But this Twilight, of all Twilights, never really had a story to share. She was, from her first appearance as a Tumblrpon, fundamentally reactionary. Reacting to the show, reacting to Trixie, and -- yes -- reacting to the fandom.

But now I'm told she brings hope? That the return of the Twibrary -- to the extent that any of this, with none of the Twibrary's old trappings or even its original purpose, can be called the Twibrary's return -- is a hopeful thing rather than a bleak reminder of all that has already been lost and all that still will be in time?

Cute idea.

Should I really have it work, though?

What stands to be gained by it?

The show is over, Tumblrpon is all but dead, and both the Twibrary and her home blog were already past their glory days well before then.

Even if you believe that there’s anything worth saving here, what’s the benefit of having me show her the world she’s lost?

I know she asked if you could contact her world, and one of you eventually did, but why torment her with such things?

Why even torment her with this quest?

I’m only giving you this one shot because some of you seem to want to try. But you could just stop asking. You could just walk away. You could let it -- and her -- end.

You have it in your collective hands.

Mea culpa.

Still, even with all the delays, it’s still like I said when this started: You have one shot.

No matter the interruptions, you have one shot.

“Now there’s a blast from the past. I was on that cruise, and that experience actually figured into the Twibrary’s study of the multiverse and the relationships between a world, a Medium Of Delivery and (to a less clear extent), a Follower.”“Still, I think we’re talking about different things.”

“Might be the light bulb. I haven’t been able to get it back on. But that isn’t my primary worry, and that’s saying something.”

“As far as I’m aware,” she muses sadly, “There’s no way for me to-”

“Wait.”

“As followers, would it be possible for you to make contact with their universes?”

A fraction of a second passes as the possible implications dawn on her.