#hiveswap act two

[do-you-know-this-adhd-character]

Do you know this (noncanon) ADHD character?

Evidence below the cut!

He’s a yapper, he has a need to explain each thought in extensive detail. He’s extremely creative and needs to have support, praise and approval from his older brother (Rejection Sensitivity) He does really shitty comics and has an immense interest and hobby in music and rapping. He hides his extensive emotions behind a mask due to trying to be like his brother and be liked by him.

[snowwoofxd]

(individual ones under the cut)

[probablyaparadox]

Fiamet And Cridea’s Signs

Ok so like. I feel like it’s inevitable that Fiamet is a limeblood. It’d be weirder to me considering the evidence if she wasn’t rather than if she was. Her horns literally looks identical to one of the limeblood signs. So I wanna talk about something other than the obvious. I wanna talk about Sign names. Idk how accurate these are to most of the characters I.E. Konyyl has the sign of ‘the synthesizer’ which you could not ask me to interpret for a million monies, but hey, people talk about it when they do their “marvus is a limeblood theory” and ykw good for them, so I will too. So. Let’s talk about the surface level interpretation here. Fiamet has this sign: 

A doom sign, prospit, and with my limited knowledge of “never read homestuck but still likes hiveswap” I can say with slight confidence it’s common for doom characters to kick the bucket (no.) This is the sign of the tilted, which ig makes sense because Fiamet is a rebel leader.  Now Cridea, she’s interesting: 

THE PUPPETEER? As in. Maniuplator. Now on it’s own I don’t think this is inherently malicious. She’s an influencer after all! But. Um. Remember the Fiamet/axoltl lookin sign? Ya wanna know what it’s called? 

Yea. For those of you who don’t wanna look it up, constrained means forced or manipulated. Which when you take into account that Dammek, Xefros, Fiamet, and Cridea are the most important four trolls in the game. Hm... It would also make an interesting pairing for the two characters because it’s mind and heart (common parallels iirc), and Blood and rage (motivators for rebellion), but that’s just a random thought. I’m not saying I’m positive that Cridea is a traitor manipulating or blackmailing Fiamet in some way (which is an idea I think I’ll dive into further on my thoughts on the why and how later, because those are more flexible and focus on the what for now), but it does concern me, and the concern isn’t helped by “the green button isn’t working”. 

[capnaptain]

hiveswap canon signs

as a little personal project tonight i decided to comb through hiveswap act 2 and figure out all of the signs taken by trolls on the train during joey's visit (background characters included) (sprites taken from the masterpost by riphiveswap :] )

first, the table with all used signs removed:

next, the table with only used signs:

i will note that taursces is marked as used despite not being entirely confirmed, as there is a half-covered sign on one of the background trolls that could be taursces

also, arpio is the only sign clearly taken by two trolls at the same time ("dock gal" and one of the two rustbloods with sunglasses) which has very interesting implications imo

and lastly, some trolls with signs absent from the extended zodiac (and my interpretations of said signs):

[sometipsygnostalgic]

i'm losing my mind how are there STILL ACTIVE CATRA HATE BLOGS it's been FOUR YEARS how are you still this mad about a female abuse victim!!!!!! how do you STILL not get it!!!!!!!!!!

I have been in enough fandoms to understand that some of the people who stick around the longest are those who act the most scarred after watching the media. It's like stockholme syndrome. Or it's like hating the thing is what gives them drive in the world.

I have also been on the other side of this. I remained a Homestuck blog for a whole four years after the ending made me depressed about Terezi Pyrope, even lasting an additional year and a half after the dogshit epilogues released, through to the demise of Hiveswap and Homestuck^2, before I realised enough was enough and let Adventure Time give me sanctuary again.

But Homestuck had its Gamzee fans who hated the comic and fandom, Adventure Time had its Lemongrab fans who hated the show and fandom, and it seems She-ra has its fair share of antis.

The She-ra antis consist of the following groups, from my observation:

Former fans who got obsessed with some other show and have to bash She-ra because it ain't cool anymore. Usually Owl House fans but can be from anywhere. Their hate is universally connected to propping something else up, and is never done in isolation.

Hordak fans who hate Catra and maybe every other character and crew member and the show. There are a lot of the reverse, Catra fans who hate Hordak, which is part of why this group is so persistent, as a "counter" to this Hordak hate. However, the Catra fans who are Hordak antis MOSTLY do not hate the show (they are just... out of touch with it and generally have bad takes). I've seen one or two extreme cases of Catra apologists accusing Adora, Scorpia, and even Entrapta of abuse, but they were completely alone in their feelings. The Hordak fans who hate Catra tend to also hate Glimmer, Mermista, Adora, Bow, and say that the show is ableist or whatever, but they do not actually harbor much love for Entrapta. Her victimisation is an excuse for their behaviour and they have no understanding of her chaotic character. Do not interact.

Glimmadora fans (the ones who purely seem to exist to make 'Spop Is Abusive' posts). Why the fuck Glimmadora fans hate the show so much, I do not understand. But these are probably the most In-Your-Face of these three groups. While the Hordak fans mentioned above have a lot of similarity to Homestuck Gamzee fans or Adventure Time Lemongrab fans in the weird way they'll hate on the show for doing their blorbo wrong, Glimmadora fans don't have that evidence because they don't really care about Glimmer or Adora. They have absolutely nothing to say about the show, other than that it is Bad. My theory on these Glimmadora fans is that they really liked the Glimmer and Adora ship on a superficial level, and then the show decided to have its Deeper Themes and give Catra and Adora a messy, complicated relationship. There was a lot happening after season 3 where people went "CATRADORA IS REALLY ABUSIVE AND CATRA IS HORRIBLE AND YOU SHOULDNT SHIP HER WITH ANYONE". This period was SO fucking harmful to the fandom that it never recovered, so much work was lost and deleted from AO3. People would say "Glimmadora is a much better ship anyway". But then when season 4 rolled around and, uhh, Glimmer was acting like a little shit all season (for good reason but she really fucked things up with Adora), and Glimmadora crumbled into ash? Well the Glimmadora truthists felt like the show was working against them and that Season 5 was a grand conspiracy to make the Abusive ship Catradora canon!!! The funniest part of this is I sympathise a lot with these feelings. I used to be a Glimmadora truther myself when I watched the show in fall 2021. I was like, "wow, look how nice this ship is. And they go with catradora in the end?? Fucking HOW???". But then seasons 4 and 5 happened and.... yeah, I was disappointed with how Glimmer and Adora's friendship ended up, but I was ENAMORED by the messiness of Catra's character and how raw her and Adora felt about each other even in spite of all the bullshit. I never made excuses about the show being abuse apologising. I analysed it purely in how believable the relationships were and what the intentions of the characters are.

Of these groups, the ones responsible for the most actual SPOP Anti blogs are undoubtedly the Glimmadoras. The only time I've seen something similar, so many antis appearing, was because of Steven Universe ship wars. You have NO IDEA how petty people feel about Lapidot, Amedot, all the dots, all the amethysts. A crew member was chased off the internet over it, or left the internet over the show's own decisions, depending on whether you believe the """screenshots""" that were taken of Zuke's ""private blog""".

[davekat-sucks]

Three new characters for Hiveswap Act 3. Two are from Hatched 2 Dance (K-pop troll band) and a sea dweller party guest. As well as some questions being answered. Hiveswap Act 3 is said to be The Big Plot. There will be more adventure and puzzle elements. They have to finish Hiveswap first before Hauntswitch. And how they make their characters.

[girlbowser]

Pesterquest Rewritten - ACT 1 COMPLETE!

Finally, after three months of work, Act 1 (meaning, the prologue, the 4 beta kid routes, and the first half of the intermission) are all COMPLETE! Check out the Damara sprites made by @damarassanctuary in game -- alongside Spades Slick sprites by Binx and a background or two by @flaringk!!!

ON TOP OF ALL THAT, the bonus route by @hydro-city-zone has EVERY SPRITE COMPLETED, PLUS THE END CARDS... It's all working!!!! It's so GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

God im so fucking unbeLIEVABLY happy to see this all in game. PQR is a dream come true for me -- it's a deeply personal work and I'm so glad it's getting the love I've been seeing.

See you all with a trailer at SAHCON on the first! :333333333

(we're currently working on finishing Volume 6 (the hiveswap crossover chapter) -- download the game to see our progress on it in real-time)

[yanderes-galore]

Fandom: Hiveswap

Characters: Joey Claire + Xefros Titroh

Pairing: Platonic

Description: Hear me out, Xefros and Joey with a big sibling troll darling, that is like, doing their every needs, helping them, giving them gifts, and anything! Really.

- Eridan Anon

Alright, sure! I haven't seen Act 2 so this is just me doing a general take.

"Soft Yandere!" Platonic! Joey Claire + Xefros Tritoh with Sibling Troll! Darling

Pairing: Platonic - Sharing

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Clingy behavior, You're just looking after them, Soft yanderes, Dubious companionship.

There's no doubt on a planet like Alternia the two are going to need help from others.

Especially since Joey is vulnerable as an alien.

Sibling relationships are not a common thing in troll culture.

You yourself have no real clue about it.

Let's say you're an older troll who is also secretly working with Dammek for a rebellion.

As a result you are considered an ally, Xefros most likely even knows you and sees you as safe.

You could be a Lowblood, Midcaste, or Highblood it doesn't entirely matter.

Either way you obviously hide your favoritism towards rebellion against the current Fuchsia Blood and Alternian society.

It surprises you when Xefros meets up with you and brings an alien.

An alien is already bad news and could bring a lot of attention so you certainly try your hardest to conceal Joey for Xefros.

After listening to the situation you agree to hide/aid the two.

You even make an effort to know more about Joey as you already know Dammek's Moirail, Xefros.

You learn that she's a human and goes by Joey Claire.

She seems nervous around you at first but you try your best to treat her kindly.

As an older troll you do end up taking on a "sibling" role.

You learn of such a concept through Joey who ended up calling you such a thing by accident.

She says she has a younger brother at home... not that you know what that means.

The two certainly become attached to you, after all you're putting your own life on the line to keep them safe.

You do your best to get them whatever they need.

You learn of human customs from Joey and try to build Xefros' confidence due to his lost Moirail.

Joey definitely tries to educate both you and Xefros on the concept of siblings.

You don't hate the concept, honestly.

You allow the two to use your Hive as a hideout and give tips on how not to get caught.

You even give them items and gifts to defend themselves and stay hidden.

You are very concerned about Joey and Xefros.

Not only is Xefros a Rust Blood but Joey is an alien.

The two could easily be culled if you don't help.

This isn't a very intense yandere concept, I'm going to be honest.

The two are mostly just clingy and overprotective of their new troll guide.

If other trolls gave you trouble both Joey and Xefros want to stand up to them for you.

You are quick to convince them otherwise for the sake of cover.

Taking care of them in general is considered odd to other trolls so you even try to hide that.

Xefros begins to see you as something he can't quite describe, he has a Moirail but he guesses he can see you as a friend or guardian?

Joey just simply sees you as a sibling, even if you don't know the concept.

You are a form of comfort to them.

You've done so much for them.

Joey even has a more convincing troll costume due to you.

You give the both of them weapons to use, even if Joey hesitates at first.

You have to remind them that this is Alternia, you have to do whatever you can to survive.

At your Hive you make them comfortable.

You find it odd how they both sleep without a recuperacoon but let it slide. (Joey you get... but Xefros? Was that Dammek's idea?)

If anything you are the most protective of them.

Their yandere behavior just makes them clingy, while Xefros is also eager to please, but you are the main protector.

The dynamic you have is more like you looking after two younger kids, like a parent/Lusus.

You want to keep them alive in happy.

In return the two want to do the same.

Soon they'll find a way to repay the favor.

After all, you're in danger too, aren't you?

So why don't you all stick together?

They don't want to leave you alone... plus isn't there safety in numbers?

[trigonometrydescent]

What

Hi guys, soooo, the new chapter is out AND OMG WHAT IS THAT. I noticed some kind of similarity between two machines, one from Hiveswap and one from the recent update which could mean one of a two options 1. The similarity is just strictly cause one was inspired by the other (Homestuck 2 was inspired by Hiveswap). It has no connection between the game world and the homestuck 2 world, I am just crazy theorist who is in love with Cirava Hermod from hit game ,,Hiveswap act 2" 2. CIRAVA HERMOD IN HOMESTUCK2 WILL BE REAL LETS GO BABEYYYYYY But in all seriousness! I doubt it is connected anyhow to Hiveswap, and I CANNOT WAIT to find out what the deal is with this whole thing! The update was pretty small so I think we might get another one this month if we're lucky.

[kusukixcrystal]

MM Classpecting: Saeran Part 2

Zen Classpect

Yoosung Classpect

Jaehee Classpect

Jumin Classpect

707 Classpect

V Classpect

Saeran Classpect Part 1

This is part 2 of my Saeran classpecting post. In the first part is the Page of Heart interpretation, which I don't believe is his actual classpect. Now, I will cover what I think suits his character considering the events of the main story (Deep Story, 707 route and Secret Endings)

Classpect Interpretation 2:

Classpect - Muse of Rage (+): One who commands Rage, or commands through Rage, for others.

How this applies Saeran: Holy. Shit. Where do I even start? The world is out for Saeran: his father is trying to kill him and his mother abused him. Rika then indoctrinated him into a fucking cult. Saeran blames his own weak constitution for why his brother left him. In Mint Eye he accepts that the world is a cruel place, and dwells in self-deprecation, hatred and negativity.

In Another Story we see what would happen if Saeran breaks out of this cycle of self-deprecation, gaining strength in order to protect MC and his brother. In order to mature, in both Another Story and the Secret Endings Saeran must learn to trust Saeyoung and the RFA in order to escape Mint Eye and lead a better life. At his worst as Unknown he is pessimistic, isolates himself and suppresses any emotions that would deem him ‘weak’. Saeran in his After Story works with Jumin and Jaehee to stop his father, using his hacker skills. He has the ability to exert force on his environment when provided backing from people he cares about. We see the world tug him in every which way; V trying to show Saeran positive sides to the world with gardening and photography. Rika with Mint Eye. Another Story makes this more explicit, with the divide between Ray and Saeran. At that point he was still not Unknown yet, still malleable with Rika and V trying to shape him.

Unknown Commands over many people in Mint Eye and is in a high position. He orchestrates getting MC into the RFA and yadda yadda. 

We have to talk about why I think he is a Muse in the context of the main story. In Homestuck, Muse/Lord are considered to be Master Classes. They are classes given to only 2 characters in the entire comic: Calliope and Caliborn respectively. We see that with these classes these two play the role of influencing the other characters to act. They are given to people who influence the events of the entire story to a great degree. As one of Mystic Messenger's main antagonists, Saeran's role can not be understated. His actions literally lead to all the stories/routes happening. He is the one to lead MC to Rika's apartment. He is the one to hack the RFA chatroom and put everyone on high alert. He is the one to break into Rika's apartment and threatens to blow it up with the bomb. He is a Conductor, Commanding the RFA to act through using his Aspect... Speaking of his Aspect, let's discuss that.

This is what the Extended Hiveswap Zodiac has to say about the Rage Aspect:

“Those bound to the aspect of Rage are bringers of chaos. They possess great contempt for lies or false ideas, including the stability that false ideas can impart. To them, the true is far more important than the good; they would tear down a system just to destabilize it if, by their reckoning, it is built on faulty premises. Often the Rage-bound prefer anarchy to any of the alternate forms of civilization, which they believe to be riddled with lies and foolishness and obedient masses. They are bringers of confusion and doubt, and they can be frustratingly difficult to convince otherwise when they have attached themselves to an idea. If they sound dangerous, they are. The Rage-bound tend to be most volatile and unpredictable of the aspects. At their best they are original, revolutionary, and fearless. At their worst they are cruel, uncompromising, and vicious.”

How this applies to Saeran:

As previously stated, as a Muse of Rage Saeran Commands with Rage, utilizing his Aspect, his Rage, against the RFA to sew chaos and disorder within the narrative. Destroying the RFA's once peaceful lives.

He does this because he believes in Mint Eye's ideology, that outside institutions are feeding everyone lies and that they are a paradise in this world. He believed Rika, thinking that Saeyoung lied about saving him. These 'lies' and 'false ideas' from both his brother and society makes Saeran very angry, using it to destabilize the RFA. This brings doubt to the members of the RFA, where once everyone (excluding Yoosung) believed in V wholeheartedly, began to doubt him when they learn that there is a bomb in Rika's apartment and his constant absence.

When a Muse Commands with their Aspect, they are shaped by it too. His Aspect of Rage shapes him into Unknown, blinded by betrayal and Rage against Saeyoung, turning him into a violent bundle of anger and sorrow. He embodies the forces of his Aspect through violence and utilizing the bomb in Rika’s apartment and the gun he uses to shoot V. He also presumably tortures Yoosung with stuff as well (Yoosung Bad Ending 3). Unknown’s presence haunts the RFA in the game, the hacker threat a prominent story thread hanging over them. This influences the RFA to be careful and take precautions. The martyrdom part applies more to After Story Saeran, who sacrifices himself by directly confronting his father for his brother.

In Saeyoung's route, when he confronts Saeran in Rika's apartment and even at Mint Eye, he has difficulty getting his brother to believe that he thought he was living a good life. Saeran's belief can not be swayed easily, a prominent trait seen in the Rage-bound.

Saeran is unpredictable and volatile, seen in all Casual and Deep Stories in this game. He can strike a hacker attack at any time. In bad endings he appears almost randomly, catching the characters off guard.

In the beginning of his route, he uses his Rage to hurt and Command the MC, having control over her. It is only after the route progresses and MC gets through to him, somehow managing to persuade him away from his false ideals, that Saeran redirects his Rage in a different direction: towards Rika and his father.

Just to clarify, the reason I bring up Another Story so much in this analysis when I said I’d only focus on the main story in previous posts is because we just never had the opportunity to see much of Saeran in the og game. These traits of his character do apply to who he is as a person, its just that we only get to see it in Another Story more. Its the same thing as looking at other character routes to build a characterization of the other RFA members. His main role in the narrative still takes precedent and it all still fits well with Unknown/Saeran.

Now that we discussed his Class and Aspect separately, let's summarize. A Muse of Rage would be one who Commands Rage for Others. A Muse could be subjected to anger and violence themselves (his abuse and neglect), he later goes on to have Command over Rage and violence himself as Unknown. He inspires Rage within others (The RFA), and Commands them through Rage and have them pit against each other. In Saeyoung’s route Yoosung voices his grievances about V after the bomb was revealved. Saeyoung begins to doubt too, and is frustrated that V is hiding information from him, losing all trust and incensed after seeing Saeran. Even Jumin begins to confront V about his absence and behavior. By doing all of this, the narrative progresses forward, Saeyoung and MC finally deciding to go to Mint Eye, where all truths are revealed.

[lime-bloods]

How do the Helmstrolls fall into your analysis of Alternia biological Vs flesh dichotomy?

The Helms-trolls are Trolls forced to power Alternian war machines the Psionic/Helmsman is the most famous Helmstrolls.

They are a pretty obvious metaphor for how the mechanical exploit the biological

even moreso than flesh being suppressed by machines, Alternia's lowbloods ARE the machines. as part of its veil of superficial matriarchy, Alternia has no true computers or robotics, and instead uses living organisms for those roles. drones and battleships are ultimately the same in this respect, which is why they're both depicted in the same colour schemes in act 6 (with dronegorg as a crossover between the two) and why Trizza's battleship in Hiveswap is depicted as a giant crustacean; it is itself an immense drone.

[marvus-xoloto]

idk if you've talked about this but what do you think it would take to get marvus real and truly angry? like the kind of anger that turns his eyes the same color as the base of his horns. that pure rage. how would he react to that situation? what would it take to bring him down afterward? sorry this is such a specific prompt but im curious about your thoughts on it.

I may have spoken about this before, idk! I don't mind repeating hcs because it's fun to revisit old opinions and see how they've changed :o) PLUS i am like DESPERATE for hiveswap meta/analysis content and I'm happy to make more with people <3

Anyway. I had to sit on this one for a while; really had to think about it. (Frankly, my mind is feeling unorganized so it took a little longer than I wanted haha.) My opinion isn't super formed yet, so I'm open to discussion about this one (and. everything. i like to discuss).

My gut instinct says: nothing that he'll likely experience, but let's dive deep, shall we ;o)

First off, let's talk about Marvus and emotions in general to get a baseline.

Marvus is ice cool COLD. He's very easy going, only lashing out when things that are important to him are going to shit (and even then its's not a terribly strong reaction, see: his bad end when all the clowns are fighting. "Man wtf is going on" or something like that. Marvus enjoys performing for his crowd; more on that in some other post). That being said, he recovers quickly and will generally just Not Get His Hands Dirty (come on troll nostradamus letz skeet skoot).

He is in control of himself. He has to be.

In my opinion, this indicates that he has a very high emotional IQ. He has to have a high emotional IQ as both an artist and a manipulator (some might say these two things are one and the same for him). Not much shocks him, nothing can really get to him.

This does mean that while he is generally friendly, it's not easy to actually get close to him unless it's his idea. That's not relevant here, though, haha.

Here's another part of Marvus that explains his anger response: he always has a plan. The gears in his head are always turning; he's very intelligent. For him, anger doesn't solve any of his problems or bring him closer to his goals: he needs to be approachable (see: with Joey, how he manipulates her [don't get me started on their clown and kid friendship it fucks me up sooo bad]), and he needs to appear only as threatening as he needs to. He's quick to improvise (see how he protects Joey in the purple car at the end of act 3).

So. What gets to him!

In my opinion, the only two things that have the potential to get him this angry are:

-> Lack of privacy

Marvus needs to keep his secrets in order to, well, do what he does. This leads him to the instinct to keep his personal life and secrets VERY well hidden. Even if it's not a big deal on the surface, something like the name of his matesprit dropping or tracks leaking (that he didn't stategically leak himself) might frustrate him more than the average person. Something like explicit pictures of him, or something that someone could use as a metaphorical thread to follow towards his motivations or his ego; these might make him actually pissed.

That being said, though, I genuinely can't see him getting red-eyed angry about this. Generally, I do see him as someone who enjoys getting out of trouble, even if he's not thrilled about it at first. Like playing a puzzle! I'll leave it open as a possibility, however. What I really think could get to him is...

-> Knowing that he is, for whatever reason, not free or otherwise helpless

This is more esoteric and, frankly, extremely rare in his life.

Marvus really does not like the idea of having no freedom. We can infer from his general dislike of seadwellers combined with his ideas to "shake up" the hemospectrum (emphais on "shake up," notice that he never mentions improving it) that it's less about inequality and more about inconvenience. He dislikes that anyone might have percieved power over him (notice during his diatribe that he does view purple blooded trolls as unquestionably stronger and more influential than the caste above, and how he doesn't do this for say, bluebloods, who are a caste below but still in a position of relative power).

But having a plan is pretty much the core of Marvus's id. Not having that? Losing that sense of himself? Failing? I can see this genuinely making him rage-y angry.

Calming him down is simple: find him a solution. He's timeboud, thus goal based. He needs to have a focus point, something to reach for.

Anyway! Hope that made sense!

[serfuzzypushover]

ppl that have played hiveswap i wanna ask: iv seen some screenshots of the game that include discussion of b*es and similar insects and i just so happen to have a terrible phobia of them 😭 is there any point where the insect shows up visually or there's stuff like buzzing audio, or is it only speaking about it? i would love to play the first two acts but iv been holding back buying them bc of this 😔

[lepiosprites]

It’s pretty wild to me that there are two arpio trolls in hiveswap act 2

[triptychgardener]

I think the reason why Hiveswap's managed to... in a manner of speaking, narratively succeed for me where most other parts of postcanon often partially fail or fail entirely, is because its contributions to canon are A. Largely subtle and B. Inform parts of canon previously seen by adding nearly unseen, yet tastefully added, backstory.

I keep coming back, emotionally, to Beta Roxy. In the pictures we see of her, we see, well, just Roxy. Probably not older than 19. She's not the best babysitter in the world (and clearly still has a drinking problem) but she's trying, and seems to be pretty earnest with the lot she's been dealt. She's essentially been forced into a solitary caretaker position for these sweet kids by her surrogate father at a shockingly young age, all while dealing with Skaianet stuff behind the scenes.

It, then, informs Mom Lalonde's apparent emotional distance from Rose, when one thinks about the implications of what Hiveswap's story may end with. Obviously Joey's been given a doomsday imperative to return to Earth... but given that we don't see a trace of the kids in HS proper, I think it's probable to assume they've... gone missing to some extent (the tiny insane speculative part of my brain wonders if they were going to tie it into HS^2 and that's one of the reasons among many others for the significant delay.) And the idea of losing these two kids she clearly cares about, and then once again having motherhood forced upon her by needing to care for Rose... well it gives some context as to why she's like that.

And obviously, the contributions to Jake Harley are both subtle and utterly bonkers: there are implications that he travelled to (or at least knew about) Alternia. His wild, jetsetting, child-abandoning ways are given a very personal touch. And one wonders if he sequestered Jade on an island so she wouldn't fall prey to the fate that befell two of his other children. But, as I think it best is, information on him is partially speculative. Doubtless more will be added to the story as time goes on, but hell, even in the span of two (and let's be honest, mostly the first) Acts, it's managed to add some much to the humanity and backstory of the mysterious guardians.

I think this stands in direct contrast to other parts of postcanon. While it also functions by backfilling, the Skaianet Files gives very little actual character to work with, functioning as mostly a series of offensive jokes and dull attempts at alt-history. Learning that Jake Harley is actually Barack Obama's grandfather tells us nothing. Learning that Jane Egbert was horribly in love with Stan Laurel and had a one-night stand with him creating Dad Egbert (sorry for polluting your minds people who haven't read the SN Files. My recommendation is do not.) Even setting aside the horrid antisemitism, what it gives us is... nothing. The characters in these stories don't meaningfully represent the echoes that the guardians had on the story. Pesterquest also tries to backfill, and it gets some things right, but ultimately the quality of the whole thing is fairly inconsistent just due to the variety of writers brought on, so it'd be pointless here to discuss the project's success on it as a whole (though I personally find a lot of the chapters weak in that regard.)

I don't know if I have any conclusion to take from this, besides saying that Homestuck's always given characters like the Guardians a lot of space, which functioned both thematically and emotionally. It's partially a story about not really knowing who you parents are, of finding out later bits and pieces through their kid selves, but never getting the whole picture. It keeps you guessing, speculating about what Could have been, leaves ambiguity for things like Bro's abuse to be brought into full light later on. I think a subtle touch is the key, and a lot of postcanon has been anything but subtle.

[dingodad]

oh yeah and the cueballanon olive lives in a garden somehow. i think thats just a weird hive design since it says you walk straight off the street into it

i'm not really talking about friendsim i barely remember what happened in that i'm just talking about how hiveswap act 2 had a train car full of cat people. and one or two of them wearing non cat hats doesnt really make it any less weird tht the olive blood gimmick is "plays cat stimulation games on their ipad"