Q&A - TCR, State of Grace, Grieving

[ptahrrific]

C&P'd from an "ask people questions about their fanworks" open thread at fakenews_fanfic.

If any of you reading here have other things to ask, about my TDS/TCR fics or any others, feel free!



From kribban:

This is a general question, but specifically regarding State of Grace:

How much of this world's TDS!Stephen do you count as canon!"Stephen"?

State of Grace specifics:

For instance, does Stephen remember discussing Embryonic Stem Cell Research with Steve? Considering the fact that he seems genuinely undecided on it here, how does he turn 90 degrees in just a few years?

You've incorporated the smoking pot and sleeping with Steve and Nancy, although that was all Tyrone's and Ceasar's work.

On a related note: Considering how anti-illegal-drugs Stephen has become; if he were to overhear Jon saying to Tracey that man, they should really smoke pot for old times' sake the next time the Colberts have the kids - how would Stephen react?

Reference: Jon would never get high with his kids in the house

In general, I assume TDS!Stephen abides by the same flexible canon as TCR!Stephen, just to a greater degree. So for any given story I use what fits and ignore or handwave the rest. (Always, always ignored: the 2004 interview with Nader XD)

State of Grace actually makes it easier, in that extreme identity confusion is a textbook feature of DID. So the notion that at one point "Stephen" had a different opinion on stem cell research - or, for that matter, that he discussed a complex and emotional issue in a calm and fact-based way - can fit with his characterization even if he's different the next year, or the next day.

Present-day Stephen would probably accuse Jon of trying to turn George into a toddler junkie. And then Tyrone would take over and ask who his dealer was ^_^;

I can see what you mean. I handwave too. Like the Formula 401 thing? Doesn't exist. Or at least hasn't generated any babies because Jon has had his interns itercept the shipments before they could reach the customers. (Boy, isn't it great fun being a TDS intern?)

Stephen would never kill and eat anyone, and Bobby just faked his death so he could escape the job.

Why is that interview off limits - because Stephen would never be able to tolerate Nader's opinions? :D

So, was that one of Stephen's alters, or was it himself but he just changed his position?

Present-day Stephen would probably accuse Jon of trying to turn George into a toddler junkie. And then Tyrone would take over and ask who his dealer was

XD And then Charlene tries to talk to Stephen about her experiences in Europe and how he shouldn't overreact. Then Stevie pipes up that he has read that in California you can get a prescription for it if you have asthma and Jon has asthma and it would be perfectly legal if they were in California, and it would be okay with Stephen if it was legal, wouldn't it? And then Stephen says that's it, they can never, ever visit Steve and Nancy again. And then Tyrone punches him in their face.

The Nader interview is off-limits because it's not in-character in any way. Stephen was filling in as host (it was right after one of Jon's kids was born). So he talks about how much he supports liberal positions, and ends by saying he hopes Kerry wins =3

SoG!Stephen's system has had a lot of soft-switching and rearranging over the years. For a lot of things that happened in the TDS era, I'm not comfortable saying "it was Stephen" or "it was not Stephen." Although the person speaking probably would have called himself Stephen if you asked.

___


From gaudy_night:

If you were to write a sequel to Grieving, what kind of story would it be? Where do you see Jon/"Stephen" a year after the original story ended?

Now that you mention it, I think I'd write large parts of it (if not all of it) in the form of Jon's conversations with his therapist. Trying to keep track of his feelings for Stephen, and make sure his own issues aren't overwhelming or distorting their relationship.

That, and/or something about their mutual parallel freakouts when same-sex marriage became legal in NY. (More like two years later, that.) They're still a couple, still not living together, and Stephen's still not ready to deal with being in a certified same-sex partnership. But when the news breaks, he starts wondering if that's what Jon wants -- so he shuts down, as has become his habit when dealing with a topic he knows will make Jon upset. For his part, Jon wonders if the shutdown is because Stephen's sulking that Jon hasn't proposed -- and wonders if he should propose, or at least suggest that they quit dancing between two places and get an apartment in the city together, all with a hefty dose of "what's best for the kids?"

Not sure how it ends. They do finally realize that neither one wants to get married. Maybe they move in together, or maybe Jon just moves back to the city (in an apartment that's nearby) once the kids are out of school for the summer, and starts volunteering with the Story Pirates.

(I imagine Jon gets back into standup eventually. In the form of charity tours on behalf of his various pet causes, during which Stephen watches his kids. Around Stephen's birthday he always does one on behalf of DonorsChoose.)