#aradia moment

[beescake]

PLEASE PLEASE MEGADUMP THE ARASOL!!! PLEAAASEE MR BEESCAKE I AM ON MY KNEES BEGGING YOU

HFHGHD GLADLY aaa i’ve been adding notes to it here and there for months but just hesitant to post it bcs im 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂

also this is just my own takeaway of the events, it doesn’t necessarily comply to the Ultimate Truth of Canon-Alignment or represent the actual facts of what hussie intended! v sentimental smh but hopefully its still interesting to read

i love when characters inform each other by proximity, it's one of my fave things to see in media :') it feels even more significant when two characters deliberately choose to stick together, so that when one operates, you can tell the other is similarly aligned in associative solidarity.

sollux is a keystone of this trope — whoever he aligns with is a wordless statement, a nod of approval. this stood out to me bcs the main four humans were alr friends by default, but once you reach hivebent you realize the trolls can actively choose who they want to hang out with.

and as we all know, after assessing every troll's biases/loyalties, sollux is the only one who maintains his selective preference for innately Good 👍 people.

aradia is such a beautiful character honestly, she evokes such incredible feelings in me. she might not have been consistently written with care but the best parts of her character are truly stunning. i think it's easy to remember sollux as the self-sacrificing one bc he's so open about it (and his friends frequently react to his Moments) but when you compare him to aradia, it's always struck me

how much more. raw it is

to be so alone as an agent of time, having to orchestrate immeasurably harrowing events nobody understands or gives a fuck about

with your role painted in the story as one who must tend to the needs of the narrative, responsible to match every next note

because when you're given the capabilities, it becomes your duty to carry it out.

it becomes expected of you to keep experimenting and arranging the machinations to work for everyone, dusting off hundreds of necessary failures to keep going

and having to be so unwavering in your drive knowing miserably that there's no one who can help you but yourself.

or alternatively: to make things fun! so other people won't think twice about letting you go off on your own.

sure she's had some very good buds, notably thanks to Team Charge v Team Scourge antics.

and yet, at the end of the day, the one friend that kept choosing her time and time again was the friend with the highest standards.

i can see why people like to define arasol as moirails/matesprits but surprisingly i find the nondescript, unlabeled aspect of their relationship more straightforward to understand.

there's no shortage of people who would accommodate sollux. most of the surviving trolls are his oldest friends bcs he’d chosen them well. his transparency with his feelings had built him strong friendships that won’t falter or break, regardless of how much of a dick he can be. they’ve already seen and accepted him at his worst, and they still like him for who he is.

contrast that with aradia, who'd been so approachable, friendly and reliable in her exchanges it was super fun to talk to her. but the moment she became depressed, all her connections broke down.

her friends became hesitant to interact with her (until she became god tier, “happy” and amicable again) because her gloom and resignation didn’t serve them. she dealt with it alone.

there’s def something of note here abt the disparity between the way male & female characters are written+perceived in homestuck (esp parallel arasol with davejade) but i won’t go into that lmaoo

with this in mind i like to think of sollux as a gift to her, a loyal companion given to complement and commend her resolve. she's capable of doing so much alone but hussie took the time to build her and sollux's relationship as one of a unit; a set.

the ambiguity of their status does complicate things, but i do believe it makes sense with their characters. aradia's relationship with romance is a rocky one, the dubious stringalong equius had with her is a pointed reminder that her feelings of attraction are ultimately controlled by the author writing her.

unlike the other trolls who can openly address and own up to their crushes, aradia had romantic emotions forced upon her (especially when hussie implies 'she kissed equius back on her own volition'). and it seems like her character is so intrinsically neutral abt attraction that even when forced by the almighty powers above, she's unable to retain it wholly.

however, looking back to pre-game when she could actually "choose" her own feelings, she did have a crush on sollux.

their soft spots for each other were so obvious to the point where other people could see it.

taunting aside, when vriska comments on their unit as bf/gf it actually informs the audience that arasol's relationship is romantic in nature despite not aligning with the quadrant system.

even while dead, aradia could still describe her care for sollux, expressing that she would like to see him happy. if they had more time to explore their relationship on alternia, it's possible they could've settled in a quadrant once they grew older.

but going back to the lack of labels, their dynamic was affected once more when aradia became god tier.

to me, her ascension was both the perfect culmination and possible closure of her character. it's the light at the end of her journey toiling through countless of timelines where she had to actively assess and participate. that's why it's cool to see her being silly and having fun giving guidance, passively exploring and watching other people do their parts.

and yet the joy of her freedom makes it hard to explore further introspection. if we take her by her word, she'd already come to terms with the hurt she's been through and forgiven those involved.

i can't help feeling attuned to how impersonal and detached it can be, to devote and meld your identity so completely with your designated position as Maid of Time until you've become hard for your old friends (and even some readers!) to personally connect to.

idk post-canon but i assume there’s some degree of similarity to be bridged here with aradia's god tier and how the hs2 humans' Ultimate forms was described as a consolidation of all their possibilities. since aradia's classpect is inherently of service to Time, going god-tier may have elevated her beyond personhood with the "game construct" possessing her entirely. sollux doesn't realize the extent of it bcs he's still mortal, but a part of him may have subconsciously understood this.

i think there is a core aspect to aradia that was lost to the dehumanizing glory of god tier — a core aspect that may have contained an element of why sollux enjoyed talking to her in the first place.

to him, aradia hadn't just been a nice girl, she was a cool girl. despite not having much in common, he's still willing to chill next to her so she's not alone while she does what needs to get done.

back on alternia, they held a mutual and equal-level regard for each other that could've definitely settled into something permanent. but now, he's placed himself in a position where he can be kept around or left behind at will. the parameters of the relationship are largely in aradia's court, so any label she suggests to identify their relationship with he's likely to accept.

but that's why it's so difficult to label it. because god tier aradia may not necessarily Want quadrants or relationship labels. rather than the initial romantic attachment, their commitment to each other had evolved into one fundamentally of companionship.

no label? ok fine. no matter what, he still thinks she's a good soul worth latching on to. the best, actually. aradia > everyone else.

even if it gets stilted at times. there's an unexpected struggle to connect when sollux's go-to default for talking points is his feelings about things, and aradia may not want to talk about emotions all the time.

not to mention god tier aradia became an observer, especially of chaos. but sollux's avoidance of involvement comes partially from his innate pressure to get involved if something goes wrong. and he can't always tell when something goes wrong, because aradia doesn't mind if things go wrong anymore.

it's a non-negotiable preference that causes them to take the occasional time apart, a new boundary that wouldn't have existed before the game and aradia's god tier.

but just like how his friends tolerated his moods, sollux accepts aradia as she is. with no quadrants, their connection doesn't break down because there's no implicit romantic expectations to be disappointed by or resentful over.

sometimes when i see hs content that deliberately distances sollux from aradia, i assume this is the dissonance people might have felt. people might find it "easier" to be cynical about them bcs of this strange tension.

but idc lmao. grab that shit by the neck

lack of easy resolutions and cleanly tied ribbons is pretty standard of homestuck and imo it doesn't make arasol's dynamic any less incredible. with the right affection and consideration, there's still so much potential to develop the nuance of their relationship outside of the popular quadrant-based depictions.

hs has a lot of really great character compatibilities but the way aradia and sollux are in their own special orbit is why i can write this much about them in the first place. it's that frail innocence between first loves that makes it so sweet to me, two kids who grew up too fast playing guesswork without being clear where they're going.

ultimately i do think you're meant to feel a little tragedy for just how much they care for each other, even if they can't quite establish it in simple terms.

maybe they keep taking breaks to progress their own paths. maybe they remain as anchor partners while seeing other people. but even if you decide to separate them, they're still (awkwardly) texting each other updates all the while. and when they reunite it feels like coming home.

and well. more than anything, i like to believe that they do want to be exclusive.

they're just afraid. after all, they're still learning how to love, beyond the projections of the foursquare quadrant system they had inadvertently distanced themselves from since young.

they might not have everything figured out, but they'll get there eventually if you just hold them together and write them there.

optional post-canon segment:

one of the limitations of main hs is that (monogamous) relationships are often written as the go-to solution to wrap up character growth; it's an easy "patch" to imagine characters getting their happy ending because they have a partner, and those who don't end up with someone don't get that closure (most notably jade).

hs2 reaffirms this by suggesting that aradia's character cannot progress without letting sollux go, because happily settling in a relationship automatically locks your potential.

that pathetic panel of sollux staring emptily into the sky is still my fave hs2 spoiler ngl i find the impact of their parting so emotionally provoking precisely bcs they were written in original hs to be each other's forever, coming back together again and again

but now, they're subject to the decisions of the post-canon authors who might choose to deviate from that.

it's not new for them to part, but now there's an underlying worry that her dropping him off this time might be the last time. while i think the prospect of shattering their stability to make them grow separately sounds fun on paper, no amount of me desperately hoping for a good execution is gonna guarantee it

idk. i guess prediction-wise im expecting sollux in classic dramatic-hs2 fashion to tell dave to back off aradia LMAO. otherwise it's just gon be sollux and karkat pathetically watching aradia and dave from a distance swimming in their unresolved feelings for narratively-powerful time players smh obvs it sounds corny as hell but who knows its still plausible

srsly tho i hope they take the opportunity to develop arasol's relationship in a fresh direction that doesn't hurt me too badly...... and i hope they force sollux out of his comfort zone. i like watching him struggle :-)

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

VRISKA: You ever had a racist experience 8ut it was funny tho?

ARADIA: campus p0lice caught my asian ass stealing chairs fr0m the starbucks and i said "we need these f0r the math meet" and they just let me g0 and i finally had chairs f0r my balc0ny 0u0

JADE: im kanaka maoli (native hawaiian) and in high school i was put in some kind of group for native kids?? it was run by a white woman who told us that if we were ever in class and feeling overwhelmed, we had permission to just up and leave class to go wander around outside and reconnect with nature. we all took advantage of this regularly :)

ARADIA: the implicati0n she th0ught y0u were like f0rest fairies that had t0 peri0dically c0nnect with nature t0 regain y0ur strength is the m0st... racist but als0 kinda funny thing ive ever heard???

DAVE: ok wait ive got one so i wouldnt call this racism but my white ass grew up in a vastly predominantly hispanic area and one time in high school one of my classmates stuck a cold can of coke to the back of my neck and i was so tired from lack of sleep that i didnt flinch or acknowledge it

DAVE: and in a perfect impression of steve irwin he said "tHERE ARE SUBTLE DIFFERENCES IN THE SOUR CREAM FOLK, aMAZINGLY THEY SEEM TO HAVE NO CONCEPT OF COLD, tHIS ADAPTATION COMES AT THE COST OF BURSTING INTO FLAMES WHEN THEY SEE THE SUN, sAD,"

VRISKA: LMFAO????????

[autisticaradiamegido]

day 169

this is it, the dynamic

[kabutoden]

Hear me out. Bug robot aradia.

your brain is so big and you are so right machine that kills highbloods and beats them up and beats them up and throws them and

[insufferablemod]

thinking about the differences and similarities between aradia and dave and their doomed selves.......................... dave walking on a constant tightrope to keep himself and his friends on the alpha timeline, doing everything he can, giving up his personhood, walking over his own corpse time and time again, aware that one wrong move dooms them all meanwhile i know aradia was also aware of this but doesn't seem to care, partially cus of being a dead robot sure but also maybe because their doomed selves function in different ways. dave's act as a warning and safety net for the alpha timeline, they show him what he has to do to keep the alpha timeline safe aradia's are a tool, a weapon, the more of them there are the stronger she is which makes me think its likely that unlike dave, during the trolls session aradia didn't try and stop any doomed timeline offshoots. i don't think shes the type to have Encouraged them, actively dooming timelines, but it was a necessary part of her role. for them to win, they needed an army both aradia and dave also view the end result as the only important factor, the end justifies the means aradia talking to dead dave about how dave needs to be prepared to die a thousand deaths to complete their quest dave not telling jade that shes about to pump him full of lead both use it as an excuse/justification to do what they want in a way, ghost aradia wrecking random shit, but its fine, there's probably a reason for it, and if there's not, one more doomed timeline is just another doomed self to join the final battle dave's thing about being mad that no one else seems mad n how this way he at least gets to try n go for jack, even knowing hell die, he saw it happen so hes allowed to be reckless, hes allowed to let go the freedom and captivity of time you both have no control over anything, forced to follow the whims of The Alpha timeline if you want to survive, but it also absolves you of responsibility, it Had to happen this way we'd all have been doomed if it hadn't.

[alterniansexfiend]

Upd8 so good I’ll kill myself

[terepi]

Do you think, over the metor trip, Terezi would re-read her roleplays with Nepeta? Does she read through her messages with her other fallen friends? Does she feel guilty about her relationship with Vriska, because of all she'd done?

Do you think that, although she doesn't regret what she'd done, Kanaya mourns for Eridan? When she goes to sew with colourful fabrics, does she think of Feferi, and how much she would've loved to see the new world they made?

Do you wonder if, as she went to claw Gamzee's face, Nepeta wondered what happened to her friend she once knew? During their kismesis, does Terezi lay awake at night and realize she doesnt even recognize the person Gamzee once was?

On earth C, when all is said and done, do you think Aradia looks to the stars and thinks about Vriska. Does she wish she could talk to Tavros again?

Does Sollux make a grave for Feferi? And mayhaps even one for Eridan, because even though he was a douche, he was just a kid who didn't get to grow up.

When Karkat thinks of Nepeta, does he think of Equius, and wishes he'd could've been better friends with him. With everyone.

Do the gods mourn their fallen?

[d-meg]

make aradia and damara fat in your homestuck fan art. ok?

[i-have-read-homestuck]

Gamzee killed people because he was in a silly mood. Eridan killed people because he was having a rough day. Vriska killed people for a trillion reasons that would take thousands of words to explain

[thewertsearch]

These kids are absolutely cleaning house. Half of them are doing it barehanded!

At this point, I’m pretty sure there’s only one thing left in the Medium that can truly threaten a troll. 

Another troll. 

Aradia has her time machines. We’re about to see some serious shit. 

That’s the snarl of a girl whose emotions are well and truly back online.

You wanted her to h8 you, Vriska.

Wish granted. 

I’m n0t 0k with this anym0re

Place your bets, everyone! Vriska is incredibly resourceful, and probably the more experienced fighter - but Aradia has telekinesis, immunity to mind control and fucking time travel.   

Conclusion: Aradia wins - but Vriska will make her work for it. 

ARADIA, HOLY FUCK!

I know I gave her the edge, but I didn’t think things would be this one-sided. 

This is a fucking slaughter. Vriska hasn’t had a spare second to counterattack - or even to breathe. Aradia’s weaponized all the emotions that were stolen from her, and channeled them into a white-hot beam of pure rage. 

She hasn’t drawn a weapon, she’s not using necromancy, and she isn’t using time travel. This is personal, and her weapons of choice are lowblood telekinesis and bare metal fists. 

Don’t fuck with Aradia. 

But she died avenging Tavros. 

And Tavros wouldn’t want this. 

Aradia’s metal heart still has room for some Team Charge solidarity. 

What goes around, comes around. Maybe, this time, you’ll understand how pointless this is - that you’ll always be the one who pays in the end. 

I wouldn’t bet on it. 

HAH!

[circesoasis]

Immortal She, Return To Me

[potatobugz]

SPEAKING MY TRUTH ‼️‼️ I got carried away when scribbling the trolls and drew some of my headcanons (giggle) + some eriroxy things <|:)

[autisticaradiamegido]

day 92

the absolute state of my notifications rn...

[fefnepz]

Day 23

Favorite character, well characters for me! I love them all too much!! For the countdown to 4/13! 1 more day babey!!!

[tangoknight]

HOMESTUCKS

NEW ANIMATIC (from urs truly :3) JUST DROPPED

I'd very much appreciate any feedback or anything like that, but this is just a WIP that ill finish Eventually™️

[sshoujo-ais]

aradia megido 🤝 nico robin

archaeologist who wants to live