No. Well, probably not. But I think I have a pretty decent guess?
My Jude post is going to take a little while longer, and once I put these pieces together it didn’t take much to make things fall into place, and turned out to be pretty quick to put together.
I don’t usually do outright speculation, I tend to dislike doing so. But this feels solid enough that I’m willing to at least mention it, and more than that its simply interesting to think about, so while we wait for Hiveswap: Act 2, I figure we may as well mull over this possibility.
So, humor me.
A. Claire is a pretty mysterious figure. She seems to come out of nowhere to shake up Homestuck’s core cast, and she seems to know more about the game than we ever confirmed for any other Guardian, barring Pa himself. Why does she seem so connected to the Cherub Key? How on earth did she paint a mural of the green sun??? What’s her deal!
There’s no precedent for a character quite like the mysterious actress, and seemingly no background profile that would explain how she knows what she knows. Except, of course, for the obvious one. The one we’ve overlooked.
File this under “super obvious yet I always seem to forget it.”
I don’t write romance (I totally respect people who do, though!) but this is also great writing advice in general! What is preventing the protagonist from achieving their goal?
Why can’t these two people be together now?
Why can’t the mystery be solved now?
Why can’t they overthrow the evil overlord now?
If you don’t have a solid answer for these questions, that’s a good indicator that the plot could use some more work.
Also test your answer a little bit. If it’s as thin as they’re just refusing to sit down and have a simple conversation, you might want to re-think how things are going.
As a beta reader/editor, I tend to ask this question a lot: “Why are they doing it this way when there’s a much easier path available?” That’s not to say that they should take the easier path, because that would usually be boring. Instead, the point is that the question needs an answer–either eliminate the easier path or give them a very clear reason for not taking it. (And if I’m asking the question, that reason isn’t as clear as you think it might be.)
I find it very difficult to root for characters who have a sensible option available and just don’t take it. If the only reason is “Because there wouldn’t be a story otherwise,” you haven’t actually found the story yet.
