homestuckreplay

[homestuckreplay]

:33 < *ac tacklepounces your dash!*

[homestuckreplay]

September 8, 2010

Homestuck Day 411

New Pages: 2578

% Completion (Pages): 31.71

% Completion (Time): 20.10

Notes: [S] Make her pay.

[homestuckreplay]

Tick Tock On The Clock, But The Rainbow Rumpus Partytown Don’t Stop

(page 2567-2577)

Starting today there will be a brief hiatus while Hussie works on what everyone’s calling the Trollflash, as short of a couple frames in ‘[S] John: Reunite with your loving wife and daughter’, it’ll be the first Flash animation to feature the trolls! There’s still a couple of lands and titles to be revealed as well as information on Terezi’s blindness and how the trolls eventually find the kids and figure out what’s gone wrong with their session, so this feels like 30 pages too early to be the actual end of Hivebent, but I guess we’ll see. Something as fast paced as ‘[S] Descend’ could definitely answer all those questions.

This update gives a lot of characterization to Karkat towards the end of his session, and since he was the first troll introduced, it feels good to circle back to him as the arc comes to a close. Late-session Karkat has a long conversation with early-session Kanaya via a memo, and then, Karkat and Terezi have a long private conversation, seemingly both late in their session. I think both these conversations have some really strong character writing, and hit some powerful emotional moments.

Homestuck has SO many great chatlogs but one that always sticks out to me is Dave’s late night ramblings to Jade, which she doesn’t read until the next morning (p.829). It’s pretty short compared to the lengthy chatlogs the trolls have, but back in October 344 words was still a relatively long Pesterlog, and it’s just Dave bouncing off himself, alternating between doing bits and openly wishing Jade was there to talk to. It’s a big moment of vulnerability for him but back then, I’m not sure the emotional response was the intent. I think these new troll chatlogs are more purposefully crafted to hit those emotional beats, like Hussie learning to lean into a strength they already had.

That Dave chatlog is also an interesting comparison because Dave and Karkat are the two characters most likely to have a long conversation with themselves in a single moment in time, but they’re also the two characters who most often come into contact with their past/future selves. And, they share the Knight title. There’s gotta be something about Skaia magnifying these characters’ existing relationships with themselves – Dave and Karkat care a lot about constructing an image, hiding certain parts of themselves, and being perceived well by others, and by being confronted with themselves they’re forced to see themselves as others do (and don’t always like what they see). Post-Hivebent I’d really like to see these two interact with each other.

Anyway, these Karkat chatlogs are too long to analyze every word of, but I’ll pick out a few favorite moments to comment on.

FCG: IT TURNS OUT YOU CAN'T ALTER THE OUTCOME OF DECISIONS MADE BY MORONS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU YELL AT THEM. FCG: ALL YOU CAN REALLY DO IS GIVE THEM A HARD TIME AND TRY TO MAKE THEIR LIVES JUST A LITTLE MORE MISERABLE. FCG: WHICH SOUNDS LIKE A MORE NOBLE PURSUIT THAN CHANGING DESTINY FOR THE BETTER ANYWAY, FRANKLY. (p.2567)

This is such a sad, bitter, cynical perspective that it kind of breaks my heart. It reminds me of how some parents and teachers talk about their experiences with kids – not actually trying to help them or lift up their futures or shape them into good people, but just to make their lives hard to teach them that the world is hard. Karkat is leading a group of people his own age but is definitely parroting those same perspectives, and it’s tragic to see him so beaten down by the world that he already doesn’t have any hope, and sees hurting people as not just his only option, but actually more valuable than helping them. And it’s very clearly the perspective that guides his early trolling efforts with the kids – although I like to think that John softens him a little by refusing to share in that cynicism and lack of joy.

FCG: NOBODY'S EVEN TROLLING ME ANYMORE. FCG: AND I'M LEAVING MYSELF WIDE OPEN TOO, SAYING SOME PRETTY DUMB THINGS HERE.

Karkat wanted people to shut up and not reply to his memos, but when it actually happens, he’s upset. As a leader, all he knows how to do is (try to) beat a bunch of unruly people into submission, and try to prove himself against the odds. He needs the adversity. If Karkat was faced with a group of people who wanted to listen to his orders and be obedient, I think he’d fall apart. see also: his equating something new to be angry about as giving him a reason to live.

FCG: IT WILL BE LIKE FUCKING 12TH PERIGEE'S EVE UP IN HERE. FCG: LAST SWEEP'S EVE WAS PROBABLY THE LAST HAPPY MEMORY I HAVE IN FACT. FCG: WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO FOR THE LAST HOLIDAY? FCG: ANYONE? […] CGA: I Dont Think We Did Anything Special

From a worldbuilding perspective I don’t love the trolls having an exact Christmas analog, but the way it’s deployed is effective, showing a very different side of Karkat’s relationship with his lusus than has been seen before. Finally I understand why Karkat drew a picture of his lusus and his lusus taped it to the fridge (p.2070) which was not a payoff I expected to get. The timing of Kanaya’s entry at the moment Karkat was about to close the memo is spot on too. I also really like the recurring phrase ‘shithive maggots’ in this memo – it’s silly in itself, but it’s used to show the passage of time and the fact that Karkat has picked up new turns of phrase along his adventure, and that works well.

FCG: WE LOST AS HARD AS FAT GUYS FALL.

So making fun of fat people happens on Alternia too? Tell me why?? I really do think this stuff is the biggest flaw in Alternia’s worldbuilding. I might have said this before but some questionable things Dave has said can be justified by saying that it’s a realistic, unsanitized way for a 13 year old irony bro to talk in 2009 (which doesn’t make it beyond criticism, but at least has logic to it) but you CANNOT make that justification with Karkat calling things fat or autistic or whatever. It genuinely saddens me to see a writer who can’t imagine a world where people don’t have the same biases that they do.

CGA: I Think We Are Given Roles To Challenge Us CGA: That Dont Necessarily Suit Our Strengths

Kanaya is speculating here but I’m inclined to agree with her. For example, I expected Jade to be the Seer of Light because that made sense with her existing character traits, but I was proven wrong. Karkat is the Knight of Blood and later in this same memo he passes out at the sight of Tavros’ legs being chainsawed off. And as of his later conversation with Terezi, he still hasn’t woken up on Prospit despite being late in the game. So the trolls may have won, but I don’t think all of them succeeded in their individual roles, which might be part of their ultimate downfall.

Also, I love the parallel where Kanaya immediately understands Karkat’s explanations of time where the other trolls didn’t, and Rose later/earlier immediately understands Kanaya’s explanations where the other kids didn’t.

FCG: HONESTLY I DON'T THINK I WAS CUT OUT TO HAVE A KISMESIS, I THINK MY STANDARDS ARE WAY TOO HIGH. FCG: DID YOU KNOW THAT... FCG: THIS FEELS SO INSANE TO ADMIT, BUT FCG: OVER THE COURSE OF THIS ADVENTURE, AT TIMES I ACTUALLY BEGAN TO SUSPECT I WAS MY OWN KISMESIS.

REALLY FUCKING GOOD. The first major troll romance loredump was in a Karkat-Vriska chatlog (p.2296) where Karkat stresses the importance of balance between the emotional hemispheres to fill all the quadrants, and thinks he’s got it spot on. Here, he’s admitting that actually, he doesn’t have all this romance stuff figured out! He might be as broken as he accuses everyone else of being! Which honestly makes me question the quadrant system itself. If none of these twelve trolls are emotionally fit for filling all quadrants, then maybe these are different forms of relationships that work for different trolls, instead of all being necessary for everyone. Moirallegiance is already about balancing each other out – so what’s with this need for everyone to be a perfectly balanced individual? Can we let trolls just have different emotional needs?

That said, if Karkat does want a kismesis, I think an alien whose actions sabotaged Karkat’s session and by extension the future of his whole species has got to meet his high standards, right??

FCG: WHAT ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGE COULD MAGIC OFFER? ALL THIS SHIT IS PRACTICALLY MAGIC ANYWAY.

All the examples Karkat lists are powered by Skaia, while Rose’s magic – which Kanaya is referencing – comes from the gods of the Furthest Ring. So, a Sburb session is about the interactions between technology and magic, and the ways they resist each other. That’s interesting from a genre perspective. While I definitely don’t think stories need to stick to a single genre, if I had to categorize Homestuck, I’d say it’s primarily science fiction (with some features of fantasy and YA dystopia). In bookstores and other places where genres are categorized, science fiction and fantasy are often grouped together. Homestuck/Sburb being about the ways these genres conflict, instead of mesh, could be an interesting way to read it.

Hey. That flashing glitch at the top of the trolls’ timeline doesn’t look very good!!!! A lot of people are speculating that the kids’ and trolls’ sessions are going to combine somehow, which fries their individual session timelines. That’s possible, but I also wonder if this is an interference in spacetime itself. The Intermission shows the interference on Lord English’s Cairo Overcoat when the timelines are messed with (p.1253) so perhaps this glitch is similar. If the kids and/or trolls find a way to get around predestined events, that could be great for them as individuals, but have far reaching consequences for paradox space itself.

CG: WE'RE NOT EXILING JACK, HE'S COOL. GC: K4RK4T, H3 1S NOT TH4T COOL! CG: YES HE IS, HE'S A TOTAL BADASS WITH A FUCK TON OF BLADES AND SHIT, AND HE'S HELPING US OUT. GC: OK, 1 TH1NK 1TS PR3TTY CUT3 TH4T YOU SORT OF LOOK UP TO H1M L1K3 TH4T (p.2574)

^ 100% with Terezi on this one, Karkat going heart eyes over how cool Jack is might be his most adorable moment yet. If Karkat was human he’d be reading the Midnight Crew webcomic and making avatars and fanart of Spades Slick and quoting him in his forum signature and priding himself on being able to list off every one of his many knives. this is basically canon.

CG: THE BOTTOM LINE IS I AM NOT GOING TO EXILE JACK BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN SMELL MALICE OFF AN INTERPRETIVE DANCE.

^ and this time I’m with Karkat. have yall seen that post that’s like a screenshot of a comment saying ‘being autistic with a special interest in justice makes me unstoppable at debating. and on top of that I’m an aries’ well every time I see that post I think about Terezi I am sorry

GC: PL34S3 K4RK4T, DO NOT PR3T3ND TH4T YOU FORGOT 4BOUT OUR L1TTL3 MOM3NT […] CG: WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT IN PERSON. GC: HOW "1N P3RSON" DO YOU M34N? GC: UH OH LOOK 4T MY 3Y3BROWS G3TT1NG C4RR13D 4W4Y H3R3 GC: >;] GC: > ;] (p.2575)

Karkat and Terezi have been teased as a possible ship throughout this arc, and even back in Act 4 – Karkat mentioned their possible ‘CANDLE LIGHT HATE DATE’ to John (p.1603). A lot of people ship them, but most commonly as kismeses, while this combined with Karkat’s discussion of romance with Kanaya suggest that he and Terezi are matesprits. I guess Karkat doesn’t really have a non-antagonistic mode, so what looks like redrom to him might look like blackrom for a ‘softer’ troll. So even though they’re on different sides, with Karkat spearheading Operation Regisurp to exile the Queen while Terezi is following instructions to take out Jack, their relationship doesn’t reflect how they’re basically adversaries in-game.

It’s interesting that the other three troll kisses – Aradia/Equius, Vriska/Tavros and Feferi/Sollux – have all represented dynamics where consent is highly questionable, and all of those have been ‘on screen’ for both the audience and a server player. When Karkat and Terezi kiss, it’s private. Nobody sees, in or out of universe, and it appears to be genuinely consensual and positive for both of them.

Everything Terezi shares re: her feelings about her blindness, her relationship with her lusus, and how being okay with it all makes Vriska angry but that isn’t Terezi’s primary reason behind it, has already been heavily implied. Her bringing it up here says more about her relationship with Karkat than anything else – in figuring out his blood color she’s learned something very personal about him, but instead of holding that over his head, she’s willing to equalize and open up to him too. (although I gotta say, Terezi continues to legitimately terrify me by smelling people’s blood through their skin. she should be a horror movie villain)

I hate the mention of the 48 horoscope signs so much. I understand the joke – as well as having four times as many types of romance to introduce complexity, trolls have four times as many horoscope signs – but I’m just an astrology hater so this made me mad. Homestuck’s use of astrology has worked for me BECAUSE it doesn’t explicitly link to horoscopes and personality traits and using it as a form of fortune telling that exists on Earth, it just borrows aesthetics and symbology, and now, ruined by a dumb joke (for me at least).

CG: WHAT DID SHE DO TO YOU, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE SO CAGEY ABOUT THAT. CG: I STILL DON'T SEE HOW SHE COULD BLIND YOU WITHOUT BEING ANYWHERE NEAR YOU. (p.2576)

ok, I get where this is going now. Vriska killed Aradia without being anywhere near her via mind control, so her mechanism of blinding Terezi must have been similar. AND Terezi took her revenge on Vriska without being anywhere near her. So this is an example of the things Vriska achieves through psychic powers that Terezi achieves just with interpersonal manipulation, and, it’s also an example of the things we do online having consequences in the actual world, which has been a running theme since Act 1.

CG: WAIT

CG: TEREZI CG: PLEASE DON'T TELL THEM ABOUT MY BLOOD. CG: I WANT TO TELL THEM, I MEAN I WILL TELL THEM. CG: LATER CG: ONCE THEY RESPECT ME AS A LEADER. GC: OK GC: 1 W1LL K33P TH4T S3CR3T 1F YOU K33P TH1S ON3 1 T3LL YOU GC: WH1CH 1S TH4T GC: B3TW33N YOU 4ND M3 K4RK4T GC: 1 TH1NK TH3Y 4LR34DY DO GC: BY3! GC: <3 CG: BYE gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC] carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC] CG: <3 carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

OKAY FINE. Sorry for huge quote but even though I don’t necessarily ship them, this section hit pretty hard and is exactly what I meant earlier about hitting the emotional beats on purpose!! Whether it’s true that the other trolls respect Karkat as a leader is sort of irrelevant, though I think Terezi believes it as I don’t see her as someone who lies intentionally. It’s just a really sweet thing for her to say, and something she knows will be meaningful to him. And Karkat logging back on just to send a heart? A symbol of care and love, when he’s usually so angry at everyone? He takes it the way she meant it, and in return he’s much softer towards her than he is towards anyone else.

A few things worth mentioning outside the big chatlogs:

- ‘psswooop’ is no ‘pshoooes’ as far as great captcha codes go, but it’s still pretty good, and Terezi needed a rocket-powered item for the Terezi-Vriska parallels.

- I like how the Dragonsprite is so clearly just a baby and not the Wise Guardian that Terezi has portrayed her as in other sections.

- HOW HUGE IS TEREZI’S HOUSE?? It’s pretty impressive to capture something of that scale in a panel that's not especially tall – it looks like Terezi's sitting a mile off the ground. Not structurally sound at all of course and again shows why there’s so many rocket items in Sgrub. Players need flight just to get around their houses because imagine taking all those. wait. fuck. imagine falling down all those stairs. it really would keep happening.

- Terezi gets her very own Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff?! Absolutely unprecedented though I think she of all trolls would appreciate its humor.

- Jailbreak and Problem Sleuth both featured the game ‘pausing’ at defined moments. Game mechanics have been less overt in Homestuck recently, so I wasn’t expecting it to show up here, but it does! ok, this is a PUASE instead, but same deal. In Problem Sleuth, the pause also indicated a real life break of a few days before a big dramatic update. can’t wait to unpuase for the flash!

[homestuckreplay]

September 3, 2010

Homestuck Day 410

New Pages: 2577

% Completion (Pages): 31.70

% Completion (Time): 19.91

[homestuckreplay]

September 2, 2010

Homestuck Day 409

New Pages: 2574 - 2576

% Completion (Pages): 31.69

% Completion (Time): 19.87

[homestuckreplay]

September 1, 2010

Homestuck Day 408

New Pages: 2569 - 2573

% Completion (Pages): 31.65

% Completion (Time): 19.83

[homestuckreplay]

‘are you heariing that 2pooky me22age from the grave? iit ii2 from my abiiliity two giive a 2hiit’ who ii2 2ollux captor??

EB: oh man, you have a hacker?? EB: i bet he is THE BEST!!!! EB: hackers are always the best. (p.1633)

First mentioned in Act 4 as the trolls’ resident hacker, and presumably the character who put the trolls in contact with the kids in the first place, Sollux is arguably the most important troll of all. Without him there’d be no Sgrub to play in the first place, no teams fighting for success at the game. Sollux was a prominent character in early Hivebent, but during his long pre-entry nap the story cut away from him for some time, before circling back to round out the arc.

Using Sollux’s list of interests on page 2076 as well as information from most of Hivebent (p.1989-2519), here’s why Sollux is one of my favorite trolls despite his absence from a good chunk of the arc. About 5k words below the cut.

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1. You are apeshit bananas at computers, and you know ALL THE CODES. All of them.

Sollux codes in ~ATH, a language known to be extremely difficult. Coding in ~ATH is ‘all about finding ways to trick it into doing what you want’ (p.2025), and Sollux gets pretty weird with it, using colored text, loops that open inside each other and close outside, and possibly code that’s meant to be viewed in 3D. To succeed in this language, he has to be creative and look for unexpected solutions, as well as highly technical. Sollux spreads his expertise around, coding viruses, at least one video game, tracing Doc Scratch’s message signal back to his moon typewriter, and maybe more. It’s possible he was involved in Trollian’s creation because he felt he could make something better than the previous chat client his friends used, or that he’s worked on other games prior to Sgrub. Many of Sollux’s codes also affect the physical world, such as the Mobius Double Reacharound virus that causes Karkat’s computer to explode.

It’s unclear how Sollux got into computers, but it’s definitely both his strongest skill and biggest interest, and something he ties his identity to. Even Doc Scratch, someone who generally has a low opinion of mortals, thinks Sollux is ‘clever’ (p.2256). Computing might help Sollux regulate his emotional issues, as it’s something concrete he can point to at his low moments where it’s fairly difficult to argue his skill level. Sollux’s brain responds in unpredictable ways, haunted by voices of the imminently deceased, but computers are the opposite. Sollux can be sure his codes will work in logical and reliable ways independent of his ‘mutant mind’.

Gordon (2010) claims that in popular culture, ‘hacking’ refers to circumventing digital security, while in computing communities it refers to people who enjoy understanding the inner workings of a system. Sollux straddles the line between these definitions. He’s the one who teaches his friends to operate advanced but ‘official’ Trollian features like the viewport and transtimeline bulletin boards, but he also tries to hack into Lord English’s pool ball virus to see what the program does. Incidentally, this is his one failure, which says more about that program’s strength than about Sollux’s skills. Sollux is capable of growing new game grubs from scratch, but is also willing to circumvent that process through piracy.

Sollux codes viruses as a hobby, but has no intention to use them to hurt others. Although he sends the Mobius Double Reacharound virus to Karkat, he tries to stop Karkat from actually running it and feels a lot of remorse when he does, going so far as to delete the other viruses he’s written to avoid similar events. Sollux likely codes as an intellectual exercise to challenge himself, believing that blowing up someone’s computer with a virus is cool in theory, but there’s no suggestion that he uses these codes to take over people’s computers or seriously impact the world. His technology stays on his computer and is rarely released to the wider world. In short, his ethics don’t govern what he makes, but they do govern how he uses the things he makes, which is an interesting line to draw.

Given his experience and openness to unorthodox practices, it’s believable that Sollux altered some Sgrub code to make the game more winnable for his friends. It’s unlikely that Sollux would see ‘adapting’ a game as a passive process or that he’d place all his trust in code from the ruins, plus the stakes of the game – survival of the troll species – are so important that it’s not worth taking risks. Sollux could have given himself two dream selves, nudged the Black Queen to remove her ring, or simply delayed meteor arrivals to give his friends time to enter. In addition, given that Sollux predicts his own death, he may have set some ~ATH programs to execute upon his death that give advantages to his friends outside the Sgrub code itself.

Alternian technology is biological and insectoid. Sollux owns several beehouse mainframes composed of silicomb through which he engages in apiculture networking, keeping several hives’ worth of living bees inside his computer. Many of his video games are played via literal grubs that he grows from scratch and connects to wires, which make Sollux an amateur entomologist, and a zookeeper to a much greater extent than other trolls with their singular lusi. The use of biological lifeforms, with their high complexity, processing power, and ability to reproduce and heal themselves, might be behind Alternia being a more technologically advanced society than Earth.

In fiction, insects are often conflated with robots, surveillance devices, programming errors and security failures. Many people view insects as more mechanical and ‘less alive’ than other creatures, and studies of swarm intelligence find many similarities between insects, robots and algorithms (Haynes, 2019). As such, the idea that insects have ‘rights’ is much more controversial than the rights of pets, livestock and other mammals. For $200, anyone can purchase a RoboRoach from Backyard Brains, a kit that lets you implant living roaches with electrodes and remote control their movements. If operated correctly, roaches can fully recover from being implanted in this way, though there’s no oversight to guarantee correct use.

On Alternia these ideas are taken to extremes. Insects are grown and bred specifically to operate technology, more analogous to Earth animals being raised specifically for food and kept in poor conditions. Alternia is as callous with its similarly-insectoid troll lives as it is with its technology, so it’s not surprising that bug rights activism isn’t popular. Sollux, however, cares deeply about the lives of his friends and the future of the species as well as the wider impact of his computer programs on the world around him, but doesn’t extend that care to the smaller lifeforms he raises and uses for his own ends.

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2. ...you SORT OF BEAT YOURSELF UP ABOUT [things] for NO VERY GOOD REASON during sporadic and debilitating BIPOLAR MOOD SWINGS.

Sollux’s mood swings are shown to cycle extremely rapidly, as he moves from mania to depression in a matter of minutes. This is a wild exaggeration of bipolar disorder on Earth, where diagnostic criteria and real people’s experiences both show that the ‘poles’ of mood can last for weeks or months at a time. Rarely, ‘ultraradian’ bipolar disorder features mood swings that occur in a single day, often on a predictable schedule. However, it doesn’t appear that Sollux’s mood swings are based in actual research – and even if they were, bipolar disorder is a term created by humans to describe some people’s experiences that fall outside of what’s seen as ‘normal’ functioning, not a natural truth of the universe. It’s highly unlikely that Alternia would categorize mental health in the same way. As such, I don’t think the term ‘bipolar’ is appropriate for Sollux specifically or Alternia generally, though if removed from that label, I do find Sollux’s rapid mood swings to be an interesting character trait.

Sollux’s emotions overtake him powerfully, and as such, he could be seen as an inverse counterpart to Aradia, whose emotions have vanished following her death, or Gamzee, whose emotions are dulled through his use of sopor slime. He gets furious with Aradia for withholding information about Sgrub and clearly has a strong emotional investment in the game (p.2085). Sollux’s mood swings primarily refer to his opinion of himself, seeing himself as ‘magnaniimou2 and chariitable’ (p.2027) and ‘dynamite lit in a box of hot shit’ (p.2073) while also regularly saying that he hates or despises himself. Even when he sees himself very positively, he doesn’t seem like he’s happy, enjoying his life, or feeling positive about the future, which is best explained by his chronic pain and knowledge of the planet’s doom.

Sollux’s friends know to expect this highly emotional behavior from him, and with Karkat especially, ‘out-hating’ each other appears to be a core part of their relationship. Sollux finds it near-impossible to control his emotional reactions, but is aware of his behavior, willing to acknowledge and apologize when he’s gotten angry. When Terezi accuses him of conflating the voices he hears with his emotional issues, Sollux says he’s ‘dealiing wiith that’ (p.2082) and although his reference to having a ‘breakthrough’ (p.2085) is sarcastic, his self-analysis suggests that he’s familiar with what passes for therapy speak on Alternia. After apologizing to Aradia and trying to reconcile, he almost immediately flies off the handle again, so it’s clear that these issues are genuinely debilitating for him, and are not him willfully not caring about others. Aradia being his ex-partner likely heightens his emotionality in this conversation, too.

As well as taking responsibility for how his issues affect other people, Sollux knows how to draw a line between friendly trash talking with Terezi and mutual trading of insults with Karkat versus saying things he regrets and later apologizes for after calming down. He has an edgy exterior, making jokes about sex offenders and other people’s religions, something often associated with online and gamer culture. While this is as much a part of him as anything else, I don’t think his humor reflects his moral beliefs or his behavior in personal relationships, and like with his insults and viruses he’s careful not to take things too far. That can’t be easy, given the probable lack of support for emotional issues on Alternia, so I think Sollux deserves a lot of credit for the work he puts into his relationships with others.

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3. You have a penchant for BIFURCATION, in logic and in life.

Sollux’s bifurcation manifests in various ways, one of which is colors. His favorites are red and blue, though his shoes are black and white, and he posits to Terezi that he could switch to aubergine and turquoise – changing colors he can comprehend, but getting rid of the bifurcation is unthinkable. This shows up in his biology with his red and blue eyes and two sets of horns, and in his choices, like his recuperacoon, curtains, computer wires, glasses, shoes, typing quirk, and use of binary code. So this is something he was born with to an extent and has no choice about, but he chooses to lean hard into it, which lets him take some ownership of this trait.

Sollux’s mind itself appears to be bifurcated. If Prospit or Derse alignment comes from certain personality traits or ways of looking at the world, then Sollux’s rare dual dreamer glitch shows that he contains both of them. His experiences on the planets, with Derse being a lonely, quiet place while Prospit is full of life and friends, might give some insights as to how the planets are assigned. Vriska can only mind control Sollux ‘about half the time’ (p.2245), so it’s possible that half of Sollux’s mind is psychically protected while the other half is psychically susceptible. However, it’s also possible that Vriska’s ability to control Sollux depends more on his emotional state at the time she exerts that power.

Sollux’s bifurcation extends beyond himself to other things he’s close to. His lusus is a bicyclops with two heads, one of which has a red eye, the other a blue. Sollux’s lusus appears to be in similar pain to Sollux himself, as he can only be placated with mind honey. Instead of finding common ground and mutual compassion with a lusus who he shares some important traits with, Sollux keeps his bicyclops chained to the roof, only cultivating the honey to make his own life easier. This is another example of Sollux’s lack of care for non-troll life forms. If Sollux had no choice but to live in a communal hive stem with little space for his lusus, this would make his treatment of his lusus more understandable, but if Sollux chose to life here for his own convenience, that suggests he’s not holding up his end of that relationship.

Sollux takes part in a rare bifurcated Sburb session, where the players consist of two separate server/client chains and there are two frog temples seeded on the players’ home planet, but everything eventually links into a single session. Sollux’s role in developing the game likely led to this as he was the one who decided to set up two competing teams. It’s likely that he prefers competitive games in general, specifically two-person or two-team games, to fit with his bifurcation. The session on a large scale represents Sollux on an individual scale, especially a Sollux who is doing emotional work to bring the two sides of himself into greater alignment. As computing is his main interest, it feels appropriate that a computer game is the thing that best represents Sollux himself. It suggests that while bifurcation is extremely important to Sollux now, in time he might lose this trait and become a more unified individual.

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4. Your mutant mind is hounded by the psychic screams of the IMMINENTLY DECEASED.

...unlike the typical sightless prophet of doom, you are gifted with VISION TWOFOLD. For now.

Sollux’s ‘mutant mind’, like his emotional issues, is common knowledge among his friends. He’s not the type of person to put on a brave face and hide his struggles, and is generally up front about having a difficult time of it. His pain is also literalized in his Sgrub planet, the Land of Brains and Fire – as his brain has always felt like it’s on fire – which again makes it both visible to outsiders and inescapable to Sollux himself. It’s fairly common for graphic fiction to depict mental illness as something ‘external’ to the character, like a shadow or monster, to suggest that it’s something preying on them instead of something truly a part of them (Kerckhaert 2024). That’s not the case with Sollux’s emotional issues, which aren’t visually depicted in Homestuck, but it is the case with how his psychic pain is externalized to his land.

Among other things, Sollux’s powers let him put creatures to sleep and to emit dangerous blasts when under the influence of mind honey. As a powerful psionic, he is exempt from having to allocate his strife specibus, unique among characters so far. This is one of many traits that position Sollux as the ultimate gamer or hacker with mastery over technology. It’s possible that Sollux’s ‘vision twofold’ allows him to see gaming abstractions and beyond the fourth wall, as he also knows when he’s being introduced to the audience and gets to decide when it happens. He’s not completely unique with these things, but when they happen – like with Bro slashing Dave’s Strife option menu (p.836) or Jade writing a message to the player introducing her (p.765) it’s used to indicate that a character has potentially gamebreaking powers.

Although Sollux’s powers give him information and there are moments where they appear beneficial, it seems that they make his life worse overall. His conversations with Aradia suggest he’d prefer to be free of the voices, and while all trolls suffer from night terrors, Sollux’s psionic abilities mean his are significantly magnified. He’s susceptible to mind honey and to Gl’bgolyb’s Vast Glub, and his powers are inextricably linked to pain. His head is in a ‘cacophony of phy2iical paiin’ every day (p.2085), and other people are able to take advantage of him and use him to terrible ends – if Sollux knew he was used as the weapon of Aradia’s death he’d certainly be in a comparable amount of emotional pain. Sollux doesn’t need to allocate a weapon to his own specibus, but he can also be used as a weapon without being allocated to someone else’s – for every benefit of his powers there’s an even stronger drawback. In this case, he has no control over his actions and no memory of them, which could link back to his motivations to design computer programs (controllable things that exist outside his unreliable mind) and to gain more control over his emotional state (which may help him resist psychic influences).

Sollux may also be a puppet for forces greater than Vriska. He’s linked to the sightless prophets of doom, despite not yet being blind, and talks about angels and demons, mythical beings that ‘paradox 2pace u2e2 [...] two u2her iin the end’ (p.2082). He’s also a guardian of the virus used to summon Lord English, and it’s possible that his proximity to this virus and his efforts to hack both this and Scratch’s typewriter have heightened the psionic abilities that his brain is almost unable to contain. Sollux being overcome with his own powers when contacted by his exile visually resembles Doc Scratch being overcome when he learns that Vriska is using his orb, so Sollux may have inherited a small amount of First Guardian power which a regular mortal was never meant to have.

Sollux knows in advance that his planet will be destroyed, and has seen visions of his own and all his friends’ deaths. While he’s unhappy about many future developments, he sees things like his blindness as cosmically necessary, and takes a middle ground between passive acceptance of fate and belief that he can personally alter it. He accepts the inevitability of things, but refuses to be complicit in certain actions, shown by him attempting to call off the Sgrub session when Aradia reveals that it is the instrument of their species’ destruction – Sollux knows this won’t avert the apocalypse, he just refuses to be the one who causes it.

This could be seen as an act that makes Sollux feel better about himself while not actually changing anything, or as cowardice and refusal to get his hands dirty while he pushes responsibility onto others. However, given Sollux’s complete powerlessness over the situation, I prefer to see it as Sollux exerting a tiny amount of agency over otherwise unstoppable forces. He can’t stop the apocalypse, but he can make his opinion known, sending a message to paradox space that he won’t be controlled without putting up a fight – the same message he sends by frying Clubs Deuce’s command terminal. I see this as an act of bravery, because those are powerful forces to resist. With his near constant pain and voices of doom, Sollux has been dealt a rough hand, but he chooses to take a stand on principle even knowing that he’ll lose. If necessary, he’d probably try to take on the Black King himself after all his friends were dead, because he’s someone who refuses to give up no matter the odds.

--

5. You have developed a new game, adapted via CODE PARSED FROM THE RUNES AND GLYPHS IN AN ANCIENT UNDERGROUND TEMPLE. You believe this game to be THE SALVATION OF YOUR RACE, though you are not sure how yet.

Elite coder that he is, Sollux has singlehandedly developed a game that would take a huge team at a major studio sweeps to create. Although the name ‘Sgrub’ isn’t great, the game itself is completely functional, and actually appears to have fewer glitches than the kids’ game, which did have a full team behind it. Sollux chose to share the game as a digital download instead of a physical grub, so that his friends could begin playing as soon as the game was ready and maximize their chances of success. He also chose to keep it between his close friends instead of releasing it to everyone on Alternia, suggesting that he either has complete faith in his friends to win the game and save the species, or he already has some suspicions that the game itself is dangerous and thinks that letting other people to play might be the riskier choice.

Aradia ‘convinced’ or ‘tricked’ Sollux to adapt Sgrub (p.2134), which suggests he was originally unwilling to do so. Aradia controls some of Sollux’s information about Sgrub and purposefully withholds more, while Skaia likely controls even more by determining what Sollux sees in his visions. Once again, he’s being used as a puppet and a facilitator for something much bigger, and his wariness of this is probably why he was reluctant to work on Sgrub in the first place. His choice to make Sgrub a competitive game and his selection of himself and Terezi as the team leaders are some ways – potentially among many – that he tries to exert a small amount of control over the game, and even those things are taken from him, as Aradia puts him to sleep so he can’t lead the game.

Assigning Terezi as red team leader, Sollux allows her to choose her own teammates. At this point, Sollux wants to play Sgrub and believes the game is important, but he doesn’t mind who he plays with and is willing to take the ‘leftovers’. Right before the session begins, Sollux claims that ‘toniight2 not about fun, thii2 ii2 2eriiou2’ (p.2082). Part of this might be Sollux’s attitude towards gaming in general, as it’s very important to him and something he does take seriously. He also engages in some brief trash talking with Terezi, so his regular gamer persona is still in action. However, as he’s so aware of the stakes of this game, his Sgrub gameplay style is likely very different than when he plays games for fun.

As the developer of the game and the final player to enter in the 12-player chain, I see Sollux as the ultimate server player. Although he originally planned to lead the charge as the first client player to enter for the blue team, Sollux is put to sleep before entering and has dreams that ‘would prove essential in support of [his] teammates’ (p.2150). He’s instrumental to the game, but his whole job is facilitating his friends’ adventures instead of having his own. Despite it being a close call, he’s successful in his ‘standard’ server player role, getting Feferi into the Medium just in time even while he’s in extreme pain bleeding out as he does so. Clearly, he falls into the server player role naturally and easily succeeds in it. In contrast, as a client player he fails to enter before the Vast Glub, meaning that his waking self never actually gets to take on that role and his dream self has to take over. Living in a communal hive stem, a young Sollux must not have had the hive customization opportunities that all his friends had, which mirrors him not having the same opportunities as a Sgrub client that the other players have. Even once he enters, his land is inhospitable and unpleasant to adventure in. The game is sending a clear signal that being a client is not the role he’s meant for, and is one the game will make difficult for him. Being a server player, on both a small and large scale, is the role he was born to play.

--

6. Your trolltag is twinArmageddons and you tend two 2peak wiith a biit of a lii2p.

‘twinArmageddons’ literally means ‘the end of two worlds’, and obviously relates to his bifurcation gimmick and to his knowledge of the impending apocalypse. This could refer to his ~ATH coding style, where he bifurcates the universe for the purpose of executing programs, creating two ends of the world from what should be one. Other possible references include the war within Sgrub as well as outside of it, the extinction of trolls galaxywide via the Glub as well as the end of life on Alternia via meteors, or the destruction of the kids’ world as well as the trolls’. However, Sollux would have no reason to know about these things unless he was compelled by greater forces to pick this username. It’s also possible that Sollux isn’t linking these concepts, but sees his bifurcation gimmick and his voices foretelling the end of the world as the two things that define him above all others and chose a username that blends them. Either way, it’s very sad that he’s forced to think about the eventual destruction of his society even while just talking to his friends.

During Hivebent, Sollux talks to Karkat, Terezi and Aradia. Gamzee refers to Sollux as Karkat’s best friend and Vriska refers to him as Aradia’s boyfriend, while his rapport with Terezi feels very natural, so I see these three as Sollux’s good friends among the group who he’s known to be close with. He’s not a central member of the friend group, and the conversations he initiates are mostly about setting up the Sgrub teams. In all his conversations, he snaps at people, gets easily offended and riled up, and comes across as though he doesn’t enjoy talking and only does it when it’s absolutely necessary.

It’s possible that Sollux’s frequent emotional outbursts make him careful when socializing. He knows he’s likely to say hurtful things by mistake that he’ll later have to walk back, so he might avoid hanging out with people like Tavros, Eridan and Feferi who are more likely to be upset by this, and chooses thicker-skinned friends who are tolerant of his problems – he and Karkat have similar emotional outbursts so can understand each other. But Sollux also doesn’t reach out to people like Kanaya or Gamzee, whose demeanors might help regulate his own. Working on his emotional issues is a private matter for him, and like with his ethics, he sets boundaries between the parts of his life he wants to involve his friends in and the parts he doesn’t. He wants them to know about his issues, but it’s his job to overcome them alone. However, Sollux also mentions a need for privacy in some cases like having private discussions with Aradia about Sgrub development. So, even with improved emotional regulation, I think Sollux has a quieter and more reclusive nature which would be part of him under any circumstances.

I’d guess that even pre-Sgrub, Sollux’s role in the group is focused around gaming. He grows games, knows how to pirate, reads Game Grub, and can provide hookups and recommendations for all the latest games. He might prefer socializing by doing a shared activity instead of just talking, and playing goal-oriented games that demand attention and don’t allow for distractions probably helps him focus on something outside of the pain in his mind. Even if he doesn’t get along with all the other trolls as people, gaming allows them to have mutually beneficial relationships: he gives them access to games and they give him somebody to play those games with. Even among players who don’t know that Sgrub is linked to the end of the world, such as Gamzee, the game’s release is highly anticipated. I think that when everyone heard Sollux was developing his own game, they were immediately excited to play just based on his existing reputation as a games expert. Opinion of him tends positive, despite his prickly exterior.

On Nepeta’s shipping wall, Sollux is only paired with pre-death Aradia, first as moirails and later as matesprits. Despite their closeness it’s hard to imagine Karkat and Sollux as moirails, because they seem to anger instead of pacify each other, although they reconcile eventually. I can see Sollux attempting to auspisticize between Karkat and one of the many people Karkat hates. An auspistice can probably be compared to a server player, facilitating a relationship for others instead of having their own, and Sollux’s care for the people around him means he’d work hard at the role even if it didn’t come naturally to him.

Sollux defers to Aradia and allows her to manage his progress with Sgrub to some extent, and even after their breakup, he retains a lot of respect for her. He agrees with Terezi that Aradia is difficult to talk to since her accident, but still works to maintain that friendship and appreciates it when she says she wants him to be happy. Like most of the trolls he appears unaware that Aradia is dead, meaning that someone Sollux was very close to suddenly began acting extremely different for no apparent reason. So on top of Sollux’s everyday struggles with chronic pain and mood swings, he’s had to cope with losing a relationship. His decision to maintain a friendship with this new version of Aradia instead of trying to force her to be her old self or cutting her out entirely shows a fair bit of emotional maturity. Clearly, he’s willing to extend the same grace to others that they give to him, and once he’s close to somebody he wants to keep them in his life even if it means putting his own desires aside to meet their needs.

--

Final thoughts

In his introduction, Sollux has some surface-level parallels with Dave – they’re both cool dudes with cool names that they probably wouldn’t just tell you, they both wear glasses, both have rooms filled with technology and wires trailing across their floors, and are both associated with the phrase ‘flying off the handle’. However, I don’t see them as having much in common beyond the surface parallels. Sollux is much more self-aware than Dave – really, more so than any of the kids – with a good understanding of his own strengths and weaknesses despite the factors working against him. He’s also an example of how self-awareness and recognizing problems is only one step towards fixing them, not a solution in itself.

To me, Sollux is a fascinating character because he’s already done the most important thing he’ll ever do, which is to develop Sburb and set up the trolls’ session. Having accomplished this, he could be left adrift without a clear goal to pursue next. Once he goes blind, as prophesized, he’ll also lose a key part of the bifurcation that he defines himself with. Assuming he survives whatever fate awaits the trolls soon, it’ll be interesting to see what new identity and purpose Sollux fashions for himself.

[homestuckreplay]

August 31, 2010

Homestuck Day 407

New Pages: 2567 - 2568

% Completion (Pages): 31.59

% Completion (Time): 19.79

[homestuckreplay]

what if the trolls are bug sized in relation to the kids????

(page 2548-2566)

In this update, Vriska and Tavros are both still reeling from their kiss and the miscommunication over their relationship, and both being contacted by their exiles in the aftermath. Snowman reveals her grand plan to exile the Midnight Crew via both Vriska and Terezi, then we zoom out to Kanaya’s frog temple in the future desert wasteland, and get a glimpse of her Sburb land.

Hearts Boxcars is the angriest exile yet. The Wayward Vagabond did a lot of shouting at first – ‘BOY, QUIT ALL THIS SCURRYING AROUND’ and the like – but Boxcars is making active threats on Tavros’ life here. And yet Tavros, who seems on the surface like he’d be someone who’s easily influenced by confident commands and mind control, resists. Tavros is able to crawl around his own hive (see p.2115) so it’s not only the physical inability, he just doesn’t want to.

Terezi’s exile voice is ‘MOR3 LOUD 4ND CL34R TH4N FOR TH3 OTH3RS’ (p.1524), something she shares with Rose. We now know that Terezi and Rose are both the ‘Seer’ in their session, which could be why they’re both able to ‘see’ these voices more clearly. Similarly, John was resistant to commands he didn’t want to follow, which often made him freeze in place shaking his head, almost like his sprite is glitching out (for example, p.269-70). John and Tavros are both players of breath. So MAYBE there’s something about the Breath domain that makes its players more resistant to commands?

Although arguably Boxcars’ insults are no worse than things Tavros hears from Vriska every day, and possibly from himself too, so that’s another possible explanation.

I am a huge fan of page 2555, which features Snowman’s cool galaxy coat and some great narration about how she uses Terezi and Vriska as pawns to exile the Midnight Crew. Galaxy patterns have also shown up in Sollux’s glasses (p.2072) so this is now a recurring motif. Snowman and Sollux both have a link to Lord English – Snowman has recently become an agent of his, while Sollux harbors the virus for English’s summoning on his computer – and Lord English’s coat contains the fabric of spacetime, so possibly he’s the source of this motif?

Terezi is referred to as Vriska’s ‘partner and rival’ in this page about Snowman orchestrating Jack’s exile. Jack and the Black Queen are given as the textbook blackrom example, so this feels like it’s setting up the Terezi and Vriska kismeses arc, which is very exciting to me. The ‘make him pay’ phrase Snowman uses here has come up twice before in reference to the FLARP team’s cycle of revenge (p.2241, 2245) so revenge plots within FLARP and within Sgrub are linked. And there’s another axis of symmetry with the Black Queen destroying Derse with ‘red miles’ in the troll session, while Jack Noir destroyed Prospit with a red lightning-based attack in the kids’ session (p.1940).

Snowman wants the Midnight Crew to ‘answer for their treason’ meaning that after personally being exiled, her number one allegiance is to her kingdom. At this point, she’s already spoken to Scratch and had her lifespan linked to the universe itself and the summoning of Lord English. It’s clear from the Intermission that she never forgives the Midnight Crew, but is that because they once had her exiled, or because in the future they oppose Lord English? Do Snowman’s allegiances to Derse and to English conflict with one another at all? Is there a link between Skaia (an entity that destroys planets and writes itself into their entire timelines) and Lord English (an entity that does the same thing with the destruction of universes)? Is the real difference between the trolls’ and kids’ sessions the fact that one is guided by Lord English and one isn’t?

Terezi using chalk to decorate the statues on her land, then slipping nooses around their necks and hanging them is SO ominous to me. The way her whimsical exterior covers this capacity for efficient brutality and this desire to inflict it even on inanimate objects makes her genuinely scary, and the sudden appearance of this page (p.2557-8) works just like the sudden cut to all the Scalemates dangling from her hive (p.2048-9). If any troll is truly going to turn against the rest of the group my money’s on Terezi for sure.

On page 2559, I really like how Snowman’s text fades in at the same pace as the ring starts to glow brighter. It really feels like she’s in sync with that ring and like it’s a part of her even though she’s taken it off. Zooming out on her exile station in the wasteland and finding out she’s conducting all these plans from inside a giant skull feels appropriate too – I’m guessing this was Terezi’s entry item. We haven’t seen any of the trolls’ entry items, which says to me that entry items aren’t really an important part of the story, while anything that’s focused on in Hivebent like lands, titles and dream selves will probably be a long term focus.

Kanaya has the Space domain for the trolls’ session, like Jade in the kids’. This could be related to the similar landscapes around their house, with both of them living in the same hive, near a frog temple and a volcano. We know from WV’s drawings (p.703) that Jade, like Kanaya, will bring the volcano along when she enters her land. And Kanaya’s volcano is referred to as a ‘forge’ (p.2565), which is a hearth used for heating metals, often to then shape them into weapons and tools. So in Sgrub terms, the forge could be seen as a power source for players’ alchemizing, or even for Skaian technology as a whole. I have spent thousands of pages assuming Jade’s technology came from her proximity to the frog temple and I am REELING thinking that it might have come from the volcano all along.

Kanaya’s planet is the Land of Rays and [REDACTED], with the second word purposefully blurred out. Karkat’s blood was similarly hidden at first and saved for a later reveal (p.2299) and it ended up being bright red, the most obvious color possible. So if this is similar, what would be the most obvious word? Probably a key element of Sgrub that we already know about? Land of Rays and Homes? Rays and Grist? Rays and Codes? I can see it being something that confirms that captchalogue and strife systems originate from Sburb/Sgrub instead of just being built on similar technology. Land of Rays and Cards could be fun because it would refer to both captcha cards and playing cards. Or in a different direction, Rays and Fate could work, making this land part of the engine of Skaia’s predestination.

also I love how small Kanaya is in that last panel (p.2566). I know trolls have some bug theming but I didn’t realize they were also bug sized!!!! :o

okay this post is pretty short as they go, although an important one I think, because it felt good to close some loops and draw some parallels back with the kids’ session. so hey, how about that Hivebent amirite?? what a summer it’s been! in some ways, it feels like it’s flown past. but also so much has happened in the story and I haven’t seen John in months (I MISS HIM). here’s a couple notes from my Hivebent doc that probably won’t end up fitting anywhere else if this arc is ending soon

wtf is up with Aurthour’s name. he is not the author figure here

all three kisses so far have pulled back to somebody else watching. could be interesting to discuss Hivebent as reality television

acts 1-4 are driven by the medium (flash/interactive pages, reader commands, etc) but act 5 is potentially driven by Lord English himself (see p.2092)??

LANDS AND TITLES 8/30/10

Aradia – Land of Quartz and Melody – Maid of Time

Tavros – Land of Sand and Zephyr – Page of Breath

Sollux – Land of Brains and Fire – Mage of Doom

Karkat – Land of Pulse and Haze – Knight of Blood

Nepeta – Land of Little Cubes and Tea – Rogue of Heart Kanaya – Land of Rays and ?????? – Sylph of Space

Terezi – Land of Thought and Flow – Seer of Mind

Vriska – Land of Maps and Treasure – Thief of Light

Equius – Land of Caves and Silence – Heir of Void

Gamzee – Land of Tents and Mirth - ??

Eridan - ?? - ??

Feferi – Land of Dew and Glass – Witch of Life

[homestuckreplay]

August 30, 2010

Homestuck Day 406

New Pages: 2560 - 2566

% Completion (Pages): 31.56

% Completion (Time): 19.75

[homestuckreplay]

August 29, 2010

Homestuck Day 405

New Pages: 2548 - 2559

% Completion (Pages): 31.48

% Completion (Time): 19.71

[homestuckreplay]

sharing next year’s memes in the transtemporal group chat to look like the funniest guy alive

(page 2532-2547)

There is a brand new Squiddles album!! It’s actually a really fun listen – it strikes a good balance between the squeaks and squeals and toy noises that make it feel like a kids’ cartoon, while still having a lot of pretty instrumental music surrounding it. Some people are suggesting that Homestuck will never return to the kids, but instead we’ll go from the trolls to a 64-player Squiddle session with 16 different types of romance who are now contacting the trolls, and we’ll meet all the Squiddles one by one. I would not stop reading if this happened. I would simply watch in awe at the INCREDIBLE commitment to the bit something like this would display, and eagerly await the 256-player Manthro Chaps session that came after.

Back to current Homestuck – Nepeta’s land is the first to have six words instead of five, which is surely important and significant in some way-- (checks acronym) ah. I see. I gotta say I love lolcats a lot but it’s a shame to see them become essentially the first for-profit meme, that’s gone from being a silly free website with user submitted cat pictures (2007) to a hypercommercialized one-stop content farm used mostly to make money (2010). But OG lolcat fans like Nepeta and me will always remember. <3 she’s so cool and powerful with those claws too!!

Equius arrives in Nepeta’s land, and I think these pages are intentionally drawn to make Equius look threatening at first with Nepeta appeasing him with her ‘saccharine disposition’ (p.2537), but then call this into question with her tackling him and making fun of his kissing Aradia. Because a lot of people have interpreted Equius and Nepeta as possible emotional abuse, I think Hussie likes to mess with fans’ expectations and this update is a good example! I do think it’s fun that proven hunter Nepeta is strong enough to knock Equius over, even if she probably caught him off guard. Equius has previously criticized Nepeta for ‘e%terminat[ing] beautiful, innocent creatures’ (p.2162) so it’s hard to see her initial saccharine disposition as anything other than her pretending she wasn’t just killing underlings, although if the little cubes of her land are sugar cubes, there could be a link there.

I’m surprised by both Equius and Nepeta’s titles. Nepeta is the Rogue of Heart, which reminds me of a charlatan-type character, someone who plays with the hearts of others and manipulates people through their attraction. Nepeta seems more about understanding people’s romantic intentions and privately speculating about them, not manipulating, but maybe she’ll take a more active role later. Equius is the Heir of Void, and I’m not sure how he relates to inheritance. On Earth this could relate to his blood color and love of the caste system, but on Alternia these things aren’t passed through a family line, so that doesn’t work for me. These titles mean something but either it relates to the trolls’ later development or these words are being given different associations. Once the troll arc is over I will probably try to figure something out.

I really enjoy Terezi’s one-sided conversation with the Black Queen, and it’s interesting to see this sandwiched between the two most multi-sided chatlogs in the story so far. More than anyone else it feels like Terezi and her exile are actually getting to know each other instead of just giving/following instructions. ‘D4RK T3XT L4DY’ is interesting too – even though it’s inside her head, Terezi is still able to smell or taste the color of her exile’s text. ‘Terezi has no special powers’ my ass.

But the highlight of the update is definitely the transtimeline bulletin boards. Lots of people, me included, have been asking for a troll group chat for weeks, and this goes one step further by allowing past and future versions of the same character to interact. This has happened before with Dave and Davesprite, but this magnifies the possibilities 12x over – where past and future selves were a special case for the kids, they’re the norm for the trolls. This, along with Vriska’s earlier mention of the Trollian viewport feature (p.2297), also sets up the trolls exploring the chat client functions they’ll eventually use to interact with the kids, slowly linking Hivebent with what we’ve seen of the trolls in Acts 3 and 4.

PCG: DO NOT REPLY TO MY MEMOS!!! THIS IS NOT A FUCKING CHATROOM, ASSHOLES. (p.2543)

Karkat, you dumbass. You absolute buffoon. You are poking the bear with this one and you know it. Though now that I think about it, Karkat’s memos – which are led and ostensibly written by a single person, but feature a bunch of other people constantly derailing it with their unwanted responses – do work as a metaphor for Homestuck in general. Although it’s kind of flipped, because Karkat is pushing for the plot to move forwards by getting people to focus on Operation Regisurp while everyone is derailing with their ships and character drama, while fan spaces I’ve seen are the opposite. Karkat’s ‘MORE LOONEYBLOCK THEATER, AND HERE I AM DRAWING THE CURTAINS FOR YOU GUYS LIKE A DOPE’ (p.2547) is more evidence for this if you consider the double meaning of ‘drawing curtains’ (see p.247 among others).

But while checking the update, you can't help but skim through the first memo in the long sequence, which was written hours ago from your present perspective. (p.2542)

If I’m pushing this idea further, this line is directed at the (real time) readers more than it is to Equius.

PCG: ACTUALLY NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT READING THIS IN THE FUTURE? PCG: IT'S LIKE ANY BULLETIN BOARD, YOU POST STUFF AND IT SITS THERE FOR A WHILE AND PEOPLE IN "THE FUTURE" READ IT. PCG: HUH. BIG FUCKING DEAL I GUESS. (p.2543)

...and this one is a callout for me specifically????

But all metafictional bullshit aside, the memos are a treasure trove of great character moments. Karkat is able to direct his self-hatred externally, and by encountering his future self he sees himself the way other people see him. He’s critical of other people who get too emotional and derail his thread, and then he sees himself do the exact same thing and is filled with so much rage that he has to direct inwards and outwards at the same time.

In real life, it makes me really sad when I see people be overly critical of their past selves, making fun of their interests or calling their decisions stupid. I don’t think being embarrassed by yourself is really a sign of change and growth, I think understanding that while you might disagree with them now, your past self was doing the best they could in the situation they were in is a much bigger sign of it. So even if I hadn’t seen future Karkat trolling the kids, his coming into to shut down his own memo and call it ‘NAUSEATING IN RETROSPECT’ (p.2547) would to me be a clear sign that he hasn’t developed all that much during the Sgrub session. And someone who is that critical of their own past self will probably be critical of others with similar traits, so even though he’s technically led the team to victory, I can’t see post-Sgrub Karkat as a good leader either.

In fact, he’s really more of a Jack figure. Red blood, always angry, sharp weapon that he likes using, forcibly assumes leadership despite not necessarily being the best person for the job, hates time travel, calls other people whiny crybabies. Where Jack stabs first and asks questions later, Karkat yells first and asks questions later. It is possible that through their blood pact and Operation Regisurp, Karkat came to see Jack as a role model of sorts, which reinforced his existing traits instead of allowing him to grow.

And if I’m gonna compare Jack’s stabbing to Karkat’s yelling… Spades Slick has an incredible assortment of blades seen throughout the Intermission, such as the Butterfly Effect Knife, Rapier Wit, Double-Edged Sword, etc. Stabbing is straightforward in theory but Slick gets creative with it, employing different blades for different purposes. Karkat is the same with words! His insults get so creative and his language is deeply evocative! ‘SEE IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANY SHIT THEY WANT TO SCRAPE OFF THEIR BULGE ON TO MY CLEAN NUTRITION PLATEAU’ (p.2547) stood out to me particularly, but in general, insults are an art form to Karkat.

CCG: HEY CAN FUTURE YOU MIND-PREVENT ME FROM HITTING THE BAN BUTTON? CCG: I'M GENUINELY CURIOUS! GO AHEAD, TRY TO STOP ME I DARE YOU. (p.2547)

I will be honest I am also genuinely curious about this. Especially since some powers – such as Sollux’s – have been shown to work across time. I think Vriska only doesn’t try because she’s scared that she couldn’t. Or maybe she does try, and fails?

Also, Vriska calling Karkat ‘a little angry general’ and him calling her ‘SUPERFUTURE VRISKA’ is extremely good. Great names for them.

Tavros and Vriska’s interaction at the end of this memo actually made me really emotional. Tavros apologizing for not having feelings for Vriska even though that’s beyond his control AND she’s been terrible to him always. Vriska actually being nice and understanding about Tavros not returning her feelings and still wanting to go adventurin’ with him just as friends. Although, given that this is a group chat and people often behave differently in group settings compared to one on one, maybe she’s just putting on a front for the group? Either way, she still leaves him on the floor unable to move for HALF AN HOUR until her present self catches up to him, so she hasn’t gone completely soft. But it’s an emotionally real moment, and I’m happy to see it instead of having it skimmed over entirely.

The other moment that made me emotional was Sollux hearing the glub, suddenly being surrounded with the entire troll species’ voices at once as they’re all imminently deceased, bleeding and being in so much pain, and his first instinct being to save Feferi’s life. Sollux does NOT get enough credit for being a genuinely good guy, I swear.

And finally.

PCG: [...] I SERIOUSLY CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MANY FUCKING NERDS ARE ON THIS TEAM. (p.2543)

...you can’t believe how many nerds are on a team playing. an immersive simulation roleplaying game. Karkat what the fuck is wrong with you

Future Karkat is 612 hours ahead of a newly-entered Equius, which is about 25 days. Future Vriska is 609 hours ahead, and is referring to their adventure in the past tense as though they succeeded – so I would guess this is right after they fought the Black King, but before whatever the kids do to interfere with their session. So, a ‘normal’ Sgrub session is about a month (a month of straight gaming!!) which really puts into perspective how early the kids’ Reckoning happened.

Karkat’s Trollian screen also shows exactly when everyone entered the Medium in relation to each other, which is information I didn’t know I wanted until I had it. It is probably not relevant, but here. I’ll set Karkat’s entry to t = 0 hours and Sollux’s entry to t = 6:12 hours, which is roughly correct according to this memo, and measure out a quick timeline.

Karkat 0:00

Terezi 0:30

Gamzee 1:02

Equius 1:47

Aradia 1:38 (Equius and Aradia’s bars should probably be switched, since in story he entered first)

Nepeta 2:25

Tavros 2:50

Vriska 3:06

Kanaya 3:57

Eridan 5:05

Feferi 6:11

Sollux 6:12

[homestuckreplay]

I feel like you like Vriska so much because she's a well-written, interesting character.

I have been thinking about this some more, and you are right that’s definitely part of it, but I think there is another element to it as well!

I’ve been thinking about narrative transportation theory, which is basically the experience of getting lost in a story and invested in its world/characters on an in-universe level. it’s believed to correlate negatively with critical engagement in a story, ie. the more we get lost in a story the less likely we are to question what it’s telling us and think about how its messages relate to the real world. in extreme cases this can change people’s political beliefs in the long term (for example, people developing a more positive opinion of the police or military after watching TV and movies that present these professions as heroic), but in less extreme cases it can allow people to temporarily suspend their beliefs for the sake of enjoying a story (for example, being against royalty in the real world but still caring about the line of succession in a fantasy novel about aristocracy).

in my opinion there is a middle ground between narrative transportation and critical engagement, and it is something I have seen with Homestuck fans a fair bit! personally, every time there’s a new update, I read it at least twice. the first time, I only care about enjoying it, being surprised by plot developments, excited to see my favorite characters, impressed by the art and entertained by the jokes. or the reverse – it’s less common, but I can also be disappointed by any of those things. the second time, I’m taking notes and trying to think through why I enjoy or don’t enjoy what’s happening, how it fits into the bigger picture, and if there’s any of my initial responses that I want to question. the first read where I just enjoy the story is both fun in itself, but also really informs the analysis I do in the second.

and a lot of the time when reading Homestuck forums, I see people acknowledge some more analytical points, but still make the active choice to lose themselves in the story and lean into their emotional reactions. not because they’re stupid or don’t know how to read critically or because the story is Just So Powerful, but because we are all reading Homestuck for fun and for many people it’s simply a better experience to let it take them on a journey.

one example I’ve seen multiple times is people’s reactions to Bro, a character who is for some reason really popular among the 2009-10 fanbase. sometimes, people will be talking about Bro’s coolness and irony, and someone else will respond saying that Bro isn’t actually ironic, he’s actually a weird guy who doesn’t know how to control his very sincere puppet fetish and exposes a kid to it, and hey, when you think about it, isn’t it kind of questionable to put these adult themes in a webcomic about kids anyway? and the original poster might respond with something along the lines of ‘sure, not denying all that, but wasn’t it fucking AWESOME when he held his own in a sword fight with Jack Noir on a spinning record platform?’

for me, Vriska is the character that makes me understand how people feel about Bro! with most characters, while I do have baseline emotional reactions, I get way more out of the story when I try to analyze them in a little more depth. but with Vriska my baseline reaction to her is SO fun and SO compelling that I can’t help but lean into it!! she’s a pirate, she’s a LARPer, she uses dice and luck as weapons, she spins webs in her room somehow, she has rocket pshoooes, she used to have eight eyes, she has incredibly fun and quotable turns of phrase like ‘irons in the fire’ and ‘all the levels. Yeah!!!!!!!!’ and all those things are sick as hell!! even though I know it isn’t true, even though I can and have thought about Vriska on a deeper level, I find it so easy to get swept away in the surface image that Vriska presents of herself. I’ve had a similar experience with Rose a little bit, but it’s much stronger with Vriska.

I’m still a little uncertain why I feel that way about Vriska and not about, say, Dave or Terezi (who are also very popular) but hey maybe it is as simple as I wish I had spiderlike traits and was better at games. maybe this is confusing to me because the answer is actually very simple. I guess we all have a character type we feel very drawn to, and Vriska successfully hits mine.

[homestuckreplay]

CCG: I AM NOT POSTING THESE MEMOS TO COUNSEL YOU ON YOUR PAST AND FUTURE DATING PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (p.2547)

this line from today's update gave me an idea for a homestuck fanfiction.... karkat is a transtemporal relationship counselor who talks to various pairings (vriska/tavros/kanaya, feferi/eridan, aradia/sollux/equius, maybe more?) at different points in their timelines so he can help them with their past and future misunderstandings, and he has to keep the timeline straight and not cause a paradox by telling them which quadrants they're all gonna end up in. and maybe. perhaps. he even finds love himself....?

[homestuckreplay]

August 28, 2010

Homestuck Day 404

New Pages: 2543 - 2547

% Completion (Pages): 31.33

% Completion (Time): 19.67

Notes: First memo.

[homestuckreplay]

August 27, 2010

Homestuck Day 403

New Pages: 2534 - 2542

% Completion (Pages): 31.27

% Completion (Time): 19.63

[homestuckreplay]

august 2010 deviantart offerings in this trying time