#hopy shit I love this design

[grumpyoldsnake]

@beefstatic @nurgletwh @spectralan0maly

sketch page comm fr @/arachnine on twitter!

[musashden]

Gargoyle OC: Nicolas ‘Nico’ Valentina

Yes after 20+ years I finally made an OC for one of my all time favorite cartoons. He came out way too cute. Like just... I wanted him to look rougher but alas I can only make cute things. Meet Nico! A man in way over his head when it comes to the crazy shit that happens in the world of Gargoyles. He just wants to mix drinks but somehow finds himself involved with Owen and from there it's just one thing after another before he finds out Owen is actually fae - what are you to do when you find out your man is a magic nymph with a stone hand? Legit, what do you do? As it turns out nothing can be done because Nico is all the way in love with Owen who just wants someone to share his life with. Its why Owen likes Nico because he's so far removed from anything magical. Nico's only ability is being an empath which he uses as a parlor trick to guess what drink people want. I'm worried that he looks too much like Indyira (my ATLA oc) what with the darker skin and freckles but I think his eye color and facial hair sets him aparet from Indyira (Indy can't grow facial hair) So why is Owen so taken with this knuckle head from Sunset Park? While observing humans he finds that a lot of people go for perfection - particularly how Xanatos calculated everything about Fox before decided she was good enough. Owen/Puck being a mischief maker loves how not perfect Nico is. His freckles, his slight gap, his slightly more squinty left eye, his odd love of timbs and cross colors. To Owen Nico is perfectly imperfect. He's so damn dramatic Owen loves his messy human. I know he looks like it but he is actually NOT related to Xanatos. Nico is straight-up Mexican - born in Mexico and his family migrated to New York when he was like seven. He still has his accent somewhat but it's blended with the standard New Yorker accent. Owen thinks it's cute when he casually rolls his 'R's. Nico is also good at cooking and Owen/Puck loves spicy food and y'know the old saying: A way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Man this was fun to do. For those that don't know I grew up in the 90's so designing characters for back then is like going home. Also Gargoyles is based in New York and I was born there - Gargoyles is the most accurate depiction of New York I've ever seen. Like bar none - Gargoyles has the most diverse cast of recurring characters. Not forced wokeness by guilty white writers. And not just poc 'coded' characters. Elisa is Hopi Native and black - as a little black girl with long straight hair she was legit my everything. No ham fisted feminist retoric - she did what was right and kept it real without singing a damn song about it. Xanatos and Chief Chavez are Hispanic and not only that they look completely different! Yes! Opposite ends of the Hispanic spectrum represented in one cartoon! Goliath is voiced by a black man and often talks about the injustice of being driven from his ancestrial home you have no idea what the cartoon meant to me. Nothing and I mean nothing on the air today can hold a candle to Gargoyles. 

More sketches

[keshetchai]

Hi @princessnijireiki THESE WERE MY THOUGHTS IN RESPONSE TO UR AMAZING THOUGHTS

  And I just sort of thought, if God is traditionally in all things, including us in terms of souls, etc., God cannot be separated from pain; God IS us & God IS healing & God is also suffering in and of itself… not that pain is divine or being in pain is a path TO God & understanding (though that is some OLD SCHOOL Christian meditative practices), but that God hurts, too.

 BUT that also reminds me of the explanation of Martin Buber's I-Thou philosophy. i’m putting this under a cut because it’s SUPER LONG but yeah. good stuff to think on imo.

Granted, I haven't read the book, I've only read summaries of his ideas, so I'll just briefly summarize what I understand. Buber proposes there are two types of 'relationships' the "I-It" and the "I-Thou." In the I-It relationship, it's sort of...between the self and another objective entity (so like self-object/objectified entity relationship). Like othering someone, or having an Other is an I-It relationship. But the I-Thou is a different kind of relationship: "By contrast, the word pair I-Thou describes the world of relations. This is the "I" that does not objectify any "It" but rather acknowledges a living relationship. I-Thou relationships are sustained in the spirit and mind of an "I" for however long the feeling or idea of relationship is the dominant mode of perception." So I-Thou is a relationship where a person relates to another entity as whole and complete (subject to subject relating as opposed to subject-object). 

Another website summarized: "In contrast to this the “I-It” relation is driven by categories of “same” and “different” and focuses on universal definition. An “I-It” relation experiences a detached thing, fixed in space and time, while an “I-Thou” relation participates in the dynamic, living process of an “other." Buber calls God the Eternal Thou - an I-Thou relationship being without barriers and in all people and all things. Or basically: "One who truly meets the world goes out also to God." 

 So yeah! It can be a suuuuuuuper Jewish idea to say that God IS us, in ALL things, without being divided or divisible, God just is in everything. God is the Eternal Thou. Buber (from what I understand) believes all I-Thou interactions ultimately brings us into the ultimate I-Thou relationship with God.

 > If we are to accept at face value that we are made in the image of God and act as stewards in a world which we not only interact with, but are not above— we’re still a PART of the world, ecosystem, etc.— God as sort of Itself AND this legion mass of the UNIVERSES, in each individual part & in whole, including us, then God is complicated & probably not always okay. 

 THERE'S ALSO LIKE the idea that not ONLY do we exist in God's image, and therefore we can "see" the image of God in all people - compelling us to (hopefully) treat other people with respect/dignity/compassion/etc -- but ALSO that we were given God's breath/spark/light to carry within us. There's like midrashic stories about God bringing light into each individual (since God is one and in everything), but also the fact that God "-formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul." So God's breath is given to the first human - the existence of God is also many, many things at once. Allll the time. 

 Plus like we (as humans) often try to ascribe morality to things that aren't necessarily going to have human morals anyways. Does the tsunami that murders millions of innocents really operate on a level of being good or evil? It's a force of nature. It doesn't respond in Good or Evil terms, it exists as a natural part of the universe. A volcano isn't good or evil, it just is, and it exists, and it has its own internal code of existence and purpose. God then, presents an interesting issue like -- God (at least in the Torah) outlines a code of ethics for humans and humanity. 

And it's when God proposes A.) going against God's own previous promise after the Flood and B.) suggests something against the principle of the Ethics God has been slowly giving to humanity -- THAT IS WHEN Abraham tells God something is wrong "Far be it from you!" Does God exist beyond human ethics UNTIL God created human ethics, which humans then expected God to also adhere to? (Hypothetically, If you assume God exists exactly as they appear in the Torah) Or did human ethics define the parameters of God's Ethics/Morality? Or is God just a force of nature which exists beyond our limits of morality -- but whose purpose is the creation of the world, the continued existence of the universe, and the formation of humanity and human ethics -- in the same way a volcano exists and is able to erupt or go dormant, but can also create magma and lava, can enrich soil, expand land masses, super heat the local land and make things like obsidian, etc. 

A LOT of the WHOLE IDEA of a covenant with God implies that with God's giving us commandments and moral laws....God must also uphold themselves/their end of the bargain which is....fascinating. IDK IDK God vs. Ethics vs. Humanity is FASCINATING and how it can even be approached is so wildly different for everyone's understanding of God and how God should or shouldn't "act."

 > And between that and then also different ideas on like— if that DOES matter, and why (in terms of a “design” or “fate” to everything, or bad things happening MUST serve a greater purpose, or even just “this will be tallied up to determine my afterlife” vs. the idea of divine judgement as sth possibly more complex or less “just” than that, or the afterlife as it’s commonly thought of as nonexistent), it indicates more of that same hierarchical view of theology & faith that non-Christian & non-diasporan/non-syncretic religions handle very differently? 

 YUP. It's like....well no, we don't NEED to suffer to achieve something better after death or to become "better" people. But in reverse we can become better people if we better the world, and the world is bettered when there is less suffering. (Aka Fuck off Mother Theresa).

Or like the idea that God or gods are static, vs. a force that evolves even with atrocities & pain… like there are New World exclusive orixas & loa in contrast with Yoruban sourceland practices, specifically created & responded to as a force in reaction to both fusion with/forced containment masquerading as Catholicism, and to the Middle Passage itself… or on a lighter note, how Hopi Sacred Clowns literally change to reflect the times, not in “spirit,” but in execution & appearance, in the same way as those comparison photos of people reading newspapers on a train and people on their smartphones. Which are admittedly examples from faith practices where “God” or a Godhead or spiritual holy entities are not necessarily or inherently all-good, all-powerful, and all-knowing by design; nor is that demonized. But New World vodou & santerx practices ARE often specifically linked with Catholicism, even when they seem at odds with each other. 

 BUT THAT ALSO HAPPENS IN TORAH!!!! Someone a little bit back made a post about decolonizing our Judaism and our relationships to Judaism and it's like....well, shit, yeah. Colonialism and Christianity go hand in hand in the modern world, and Judaism is often obscured by Colonialism's misuse and abuse of the "Old Testament." 

 ....But well, it's an indigenous religion of a tribal people who've always lived in/related to a specific land, used a specific language, and shared a base culture/customs with regional variations. (I love visiting the Ancient Israel/Canaan wing of the museum I work in for this reason it's so....awesome to see the objects that came out of this time period TBH). So you've got this religion which frankly really truly reflects the needs of its people and the existence of its people. It's why so much of Torah seems weird or outdated or what have you to people today! Like of COURSE we may not relate to the lives of a bunch of people living in Israel 3,000 years ago as a nomadic people. Of COURSE some of the laws seem bizarre - the first five books talk about the lives of people living outside of the very first cities, practicing a type of religion (monotheism) which really, didn't exist elsewhere.

 Judaism gave Israelites an ancestral God, but one that was shared amongst ALL the tribes. It was a God that existed before the nation (so not a national pantheon) and yet the tribes became the nation-kingdom of Ancient Israel, so the religion preceded the state. AND yet, ancient Jews could (and did) live in other states and maintained their ancestral religion. And despite the fact that so many of the holidays are tied to life in Eretz Yisrael, they were maintained in diaspora!!! (RELATED: It's Tu B'shevat next week i think, so happy Birthday to the Trees. It will be a time to plant trees in Israel. Or like, anywhere, you want, I guess.) Like we still celebrate the harvest season in Israel across the world - so parts of the religion are so directly tied to life in Israel, especially an agricultural life which has been on-going forEVER, and yet is has evolved so so so much to grow and expand and exist beyond that. 

The concepts of God grew and changed with Israel (both the people "Israel" and the land by the same name) just as much as religion itself did. And that's even seen in the growth/change/manifestations of God in the Torah - like God starts out in the garden and makes Adam and Chava (Eve) clothing before they leave the garden. God/Angels later visit Abraham as travelers to be met outside his tent. God wrestles Isaac. But then God shows up as a burning bush. God shows up as a voice. God becomes a pillar of WHIRLING FLAMES. God is a guiding pillar of light and then a huge cloud of shade for the wandering Israelites in the desert - which is very different from the God that, in Eden, made Adam and Chava clothing to wear. God evolves not only for the situation and context, but for human needs (light, shade, water, protection, as a friendly stranger, etc.) God was never static even in Torah, even in the Tanakh as a whole. I mean God literally for a long time becomes an entity which "rests" in the Ark amongst a nomadic people. It's a God box that goes with them in a literal, physical way. But then the Temple is built, and God's throne is there - but also God remains with the people still, simultaneously. 

It again, feels like God exists everywhere, but appears/materializes in ways that humans want and feel comfortable with and/or however they most need. Adam and Chava needed the God who would make them clothes before sending them out of Eden. When God needs to be a supernatural force of miracles and wonder - then God is a bush on fire speaking to Moses - THAT is a God that is not being anthropomorphic but instead otherworldly - a God that can and will bring about a massive change in the social order and make possible the "impossible" - liberation from slavery. Then again, the Israelites need something that will lead them through the desert - a pillar of light, a cloud for shade and resting that quite literally leads the way - a God that guides them but also is portable and goes with them places -- until they settle into a kingdom, where God can also "settle" on the Temple Mount. 

 But anyways yeah it's....definitely a God which can relate to humanity in many different contextual ways and isn't some huge authoritarian UNCHANGING being. God, for better or worse, also seems to be learning how to be God to humans (Justice requiring mercy, requiring empathy, and understanding, learning....patience, lmao...) as much as humans are defining what they need from God. And like, that, I feel is part of the issue of "well Jewish God is an indigenous concept/God figure to Israel (the people/land)" versus "Christian God, which layers on the lens of the 'Old Testament' vs 'New Testament' is a God that is explicitly, and (I would argue foundationally) a part of Western Colonialism." Christian God was utilized as an authoritarian figure in colonialism to create it, to perpetuate/sustain it, and to legitimize it. 

The Colonial Christian God exists with all these problems that really can't (in my mind) ever be fully or completely solved with a definitive answer. On the other hand, post-colonial, syncretic, and indigenous religions either create answers or ways to "mend" over them, or don't see it as a binary either/or issue. In Judaism, the way to "solve' the problem of All-perfect/all-good/all-knowing is usually "Let's keep asking these questions. It's okay to ask them, and we may have many possible answers. If God is not these things, then what do we demand of or expect from God?" BUT a religion which is being appropriated for Colonialism cannot really allow so much questioning to be asked or consideration of alternative routes or answers because then the Colonial power [here, the Church] loses its authority and control over the people it is subjugating.

 Like you said, "that structure is the “universal” norm which has survived & outlasted other “versions” of Christianity because those other interpretations were discouraged, removed from holy texts (the history of the Christian Bible & its translations through history is WILD), or persecuted (sometimes violently), on purpose." It NEEDED to remain as a structure in Christianity. Where Christianity survived and spread through this framework of a particular version of God, particular morals, "saving" or "damnation," etc -- Judaism survived (in many ways) on the exact opposite - to maintain itself it simultaneously became regimented/structured, and "set" in very specific rules, but ALSO it was fluid, adaptable, and changing. The legalistic mindset of Jewish law means that what is said to be "clear cut" in one place is actually debated over millennia, with rulings that can affect local communities differently, or with authorities being decentralized, and that questioning, debate, argument, AND tradition go hand in hand in a way that keeps it sustainable.

[blaperile]

Homestuck^2 - Reactions Chapter 11 “History's Most Notorious Haters” (Pages 277 - 290)

Hurray, finally an update again! :D

"CHAPTER 11. History's Most Notorious Haters"

...That kind of sounds like something Dirk would say. Except the previous chapter has only just focused on Terezi, Dirk and Rose so... probably not?

Let's find out.

Page 277:

...UMMM. That kind of looks like it could be a scribble mode drawing by... Caliborn?? What the shit?

It doesn't look like any of the ships of Dirk nor Meat Dave and his friends.

Page 278:

HOPY SHIT IT'S DAVEBOT AND ARADIA! :O

Oh man, I thought we'd actually see them arriving somewhere, but no. Looks like they might have arrived on Meat Earth, taken a rocket there, and started chasing Dirk as well?

Woah, that's a pretty cool design for him though. I love the cape.

Holy shit I'm getting so much Jade vibes here. Both with the "time and shades come on" reference and her adorable fruits being used here as practice targets for Dave (welp!)

abundantChewtoys got a good point that it's probably Alt Calliope who's narrating this bit. Actually, when I think about it, Dave and Aradia aren't being referred to by name but by their title, which is exactly what Calliope likes to do.

Looks like they're on a 3-year trip as well, just like the two other ships. Heh, now Aradia gets to experience as well what that's like.

And all 3 ships have someone controlling the narrative. Dirk, Alt Calliope and... err, Alt Calliope?

It's kind of weird how she's presumably on all 3 ships, within a Jade . xD

Well, okay, I guess that on the other ship Jade just kicked out Calliope out of her body, so presumably she won't be controlling the narrative over there anymore?

It's interesting how the Calliope on that ship and this one control the narrative in a different way though, conform how they were at the end of the Meat and Candy Epilogues. One in her own quirk and text colour, the other in a spearkless type of manner.

Page 279:

Oh my fucking god, Aradia's spent way too much time around Davebot. The way she's interacting and humoring him, it's kind of like how I'd expect Rose to behave around him, hahahaha.

I love all those references to how Aradia used to be a frog.

And welp, I was so caught up in Dave's radical rap that I completely missed when he was suddenly referring to leaving Jade behind. Welp. :(

And yeah, reference to how Aradia left Sollux behind!

Oh god I see a "months in the past" coming up.

Does that mean we're going back to the moment they left Candy Earth behind? Did Aradia talk to Sollux before ditching him?

I'd love to see Sollux again.

I doubt Dave talked to Jade before leaving though. :(

It's interesting how it's "months in the past" and not "years in the past" though.

And abundantChewtoys has a good point that the parentheses pretty much confirm we're now going back to Candy Earth!

Page 280:

SOLLUUUUUUUUUUUUUX! :O

Oh man, look at his sad face... :(

Yeah, this is probably the moment when Aradia, Calliope and Davebot just went through the vortex?

....Pfff, yeah, abundantChewtoys is right. He's still blind. What's he gonna do now?

Has he learned to smell his way around a bit from Terezi, like he said all those years ago he wanted to learn from her?

Or is he going to be picked up by someone here? Karkat and Meenah?

Page 281:

Yup, there Aradia went...

The brownish colors seem to suggest it's the infamous bell tower?

OH GOD

AN [S] PAGE

The question is... is this going to be another small one like the one with Jade's God Tier clock, or is it going to be (a bit) bigger?

And gaze... at WHAT exactly? HE'S BLIND REMEMBER? xD

But seriously, at what? The vortex closing? At the battlefield of humans fighting Trolls?

Very curious here...

Page 282:

Pfffff, yeah, it was the first option. The vortex closing up. xD

I love how at first the soudn was so serious, and then there was an incredibly silly POP, hahahahaha.

Page 283:

PFFFFFFFFF, MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY, SOLLUX.

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY.

Poor, poor Sollux.

Page 284:

Oh jesus fucking christ, Jade's dead body floating in the background there while covered in Lord English's blood.

That's just so creepy.

At least Calliope dressed up in Meat Jade in finer clothes. xD

Oh god Dave's totally trolling Calliope and I love every second of it.

It's interesting how all 3 people here are talking in a variation of red.

And alright, seems like they really have only been on this journey for a couple of months, and still got a couple of years ahead of them. Welp!

Page 285:

OH JEEZ. The ship's spinning out of control.

Just what sort of insane shenanigans have taken place over there?

And the better question is, has Calliope really taken on some new clothes now? :P

Page 286:

Hahaha, okay, it was just a silly drawing and not actually the ship spinning out of control.

Oh man, Calliope looks surprisingly NORMAL here.

And uh... ARADIA! 0_0

It's like a mixture of her own God Tier Outfit and Calliope's. Now she truly looks like a handmaid to her, woah.

What is that about Aradia having spent so much time in doomed timelines? When did that even happen? HOW did that even happen? 0_0

Oh boy, and Calliope's even acting kind of silly!  

It's interesting how on the other ship, she referred to the occupants as her "friends" and Jade complained that they weren't Calliope's friends but her own.

But here, she actually seems to be building somewhat of a friendship with Dave and Aradia, as herself!

Page 287:

Aradia is so, so proud. :P

Page 288:

Oh Dave. Hopefully you're regretting now that you left your dear wife behind, hahaha.

Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but what with how the palms of his hands are somewhat darker than the rest of his body or fingers, it reminds me of Dirk's fingerless gloves.

Page 289:

N'aww, it's actually kind of cute to see Calliope's finally having a bit of fun. :3

Pfff, that "best narrator" mug though.

Page 290:

OH SHIT

What's happening to Calliope? Is this simultaneously with when Meat Jade kicked her out of her body?

What kind of effect is it going to have on her though? Is she actually going to lose control of this Jade as well (for a while), or just going to have a bit of a headache?

[blaperile]

Hiveswap Episode 1 Reaction Part 18: Escape to the Attic + ARRIVAL ON ALTERNIA

Attic Key && Clock ==> Huh, that seems to be hinting we might need to do something with clocks later in this game? Maybe on Alternia?

Attic Key && Deer ==> Hehe, her best deer friend so far. Let's hope Dammek's deer lusus becomes an ever better friend to her!

Attic Key && Horus Statue ==> Oh man, too bad there's not some kind of sneaky reference to Horuss the Troll, haha.

...Aww, no funny combinations for the attic key with the stuff in the living room. Only here, or same for the rest of the house?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, SUDDEN STRIFE OUT OF NOWHERE.

Oh dear god, FOUR monsters at the same time! Holy shit, how is Joey going to get out of THIS?

And that big monster... does... does it have a closed EYE, unlike all the rest of the monsters? Or what is that?

...

Oh man, upon just trying to close the inventory for a second, JOEY GOT KNOCKED OUT BY A MONSTER.

WELP.

And a symbol for Jude appeared at the top.

Does that mean whatever we try to do here, it would just result in Joey getting knocked out and that we switch to Jude's perspective for the continuation?

Let's reload our game for a second and see if we get the same result trying something different...

...Nope! Getting knocked out was the only option we had here. Poor Joey. :(

Oh man, what is Jude going to do now? Did he notice anything of this? Normally he could only see Joey's room and the kitchen, right?

Maybe he heard noise and/or saw that one monster burst through the front door?

And what are the monsters going to do with Joey? Will Jude have to try and exit his tree house now after all, to try and save Joey?

...

Ah, okay, Jude did see what happened from his tree house.

And he wants to distract the monsters somehow. We're gonna use the gun and the flares now, I assume?

...

Oh shit, it worked! And Joey's awake again, haha, I didn't expect her to regain consciousness so soon.

Looks like this is her chance!

PET TREATS && MONSTERS ==> Oh shit, IT'S A SECOND MOUTH. God, this monster is a straight nightmare.

FLASHLIGHT && Monsters ==> Ahahaha, nice, one monster accidentally knocked out another! That's great, one down. Three more to go!

Ahhh, we need go back and forth between Jude and Joey, to keep turning this monster around so it knocks out the other monsters with its way too huge arms, hahaha.

Welp! On the third try Jude accidentally dropped it and started a fire! Oh man, what's going to happen with that fire? Don't tell me Jude will need to escape the tree and then jump away from a burning tree, like Rose?

Is that something for Hauntswitch?

...WHOOPS, we went away from the game for too long (to type the above) and accidentally caused a game over where Joey got eaten by monsters, WELP D:

Okay, LET'S HURRY TO THE ATTIC THEN

...

Welp, there goes the attic key!

Huh, Jude seems to know something more about the portal here... "I can't afford to lose you TOO"? Has anyone gone through this portal BEFORE?? :O

CHERUB KEY && GLOBE ==> Huh, that's kind of ominous. Is that implying this is also a globe of Alternia, and this key seems to fit with it because the key will open the portal that will lead her to Alternia?

HAND IN JAR > HIGH FIVE ==> Hehehehe, "you left him hanging long enough". Love that they put that reference in;

BYERS && HAND IN JAR ==> Pffff, so meta. Yes, you can bet your ass we're combining Byers with every single item in here. xD

SPICE && STRAW PILE ==> Oh come on Joey, when is napping in a pile of something ever NOT a good idea? :P

BATTERIES && STRAW PILE ==> Wait what, "what was in here"...?

OH!!!! It's a giant box! Does that mean the Cherub Portal came out of this box? Was it delivered from somewhere, by someone? Did Jude himself take it from this box?

CHERUB KEY && STRAW PILE ==> Yeah... it's DEFINITELY the portal that came from this box. But just who delivered it to Joey and Jude? Was it Grandpa himself? Those shadowy figures Jude has seen? The Condesce?

CHERUB KEY && SHIPPING NOTICE ==> "The KEY! Where is that dadblasted gadzooks KEY?!" Holy SHIT, that's DEFINITELY Grandpa who wrote that! So he sent the portal here, and knows that key was needed to open it, but had no idea it was in Joey's possession!

What was his idea?

Did he want to safely stock the portal here on the attic, search for the key, and once he found it try to open the portal and go to explore?

Sounds like at the very least he never did manage to do that. But he probably had NO idea the key was in Joey's possession and that he'd be putting her at risk this way.

POGS && SHOTGUN ==> Wait what???? Grandpa's SISTER gave him this shotgun??? What's THAT supposed to mean?

That could only be referring to Nanna, right?? But... she never saw him again after they parted ways as a children, right?

Did... Nanna get him this shotgun just before they parted ways?

Or did Nanna try to contact him, he never reached out to her anymore, but he did receive her stuff?

I assume it's not talking about Rose's Mom, their babysitter. She WAS referred to as "sister", but she's definitely not in any way Grandpa's sister.

...

Is that a christmas tree? And... a sleigh?

GRANDPA CONFIRMED FOR SANTA CLAUSE. XD

SPICE && MUMMY ==> So, Mom didn't really get them that much food, did she? God, that's awful.

CHERUB KEY && MASKS ==> The key... likes masks? What is that supposed to mean? I can't really think of anything Cherub or Troll related that is also related to masks?

BATTERIES && GLOBES ==> Huh, could Joey be onto something here? That the true reason why Grandpa collected so many globes is because he was looking for one that could help secure the attic? Or just because he was looking for a globe of Alternia?

BALLET SLIPPERS && GLOBES ==> So these globes ARE also depicting Alternia then, just like the one in the trophy room. Just where the heck did Grandpa get all these Alternia globes?

Oh man... we've examined everything there is to examine on this attic, except for the Cherub Portal itself...

WE'RE DOING THIS MAN. WE'RE MAKING IT HAPPEN.

abundantChewtoys raised a very good point, that when Joey gets transported to Alternia she might see Dammek during the transportation there, in a callback to when Roxy saw her dream self.

Walking over to the portal...

Oh boy, the music's stopped. Wind's just skimming the void now...

A broken mirror and scratches on that clock, huh...

BATTERIES && DRAPE ==> Yeah, is that wind coming straight from Alternia, or what?

PET TREATS && DRAPE ==> Heh, the description of the portal expecting to receive something reminds me of the Plot Hole expecting to be filled with John and the other Kids.

BALLET SLIPPERS && DRAPE ==> "You have a feeling it's going to be a hell of a show" HELL YES. REFERENCE SECURED.

CHERUB KEY && DRAPE ==> Huh, the way the Cherub Key is being drawn to the portal reminds me of how the sucker jujus were drawn to each other.

Alright, we've had all options now! Time to lift the drape!!! We're probably VERY near the end of this part of Hiveswap!

I wonder if we can still do any item combinations on the portal, or if it's just going to be one big cutscene now...

...

Oh man, that portal looks EPIC! I love the way it's drawn.

But huh, it is most definitely entirely closed. But where is that wind coming from then?

Holy shit, examining the portal gets REALLY creepy. It's entirely beckoning Joey to use the key, and she's definitely not thinking straight anymore.

I wonder what happens if we try to use other items on it now. Is it all just going to be creepy messages as well, trying to tell her to use the key?

POGS && CHERUB PORTAL ==> It's almost like there's some kind of narrative voice inside her head, like an Exile or something.

BALLET SLIPPERS && CHERUB PORTAL ==> Uh, holy shit? The portal's gonna make MUSIC? This is just getting more and more ominous every second.

What KIND of music is it going to play?

If it suddenly starts playing English I'm going to fucking shit my pants, I swear to GOD.

...

THERE'S NO GOING BACK NOW. GONNA USE THE CHERUB KEY!!!!

...

HOPY FUCKING SHIT. THAT WAS INDEED THE FUCKING ENGLISH MELODY.

THAT WAS EPIC.

JOEY GOT TRANSPORTED TO ALTERNIA. AND THE EPISODE IS NOT FINISHED YET.

HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

And indeed she crossed Dammek halfway there!

And Joey took all her items with her to this new place... including Byers, hahaha.

Except for her walkie-talkie! Did she drop that? Is Dammek going to pick that up to talk to Jude in Hauntswitch?

I love how the design of the inventory has even been updated to be more Troll-like.

Meanwhile, here on the floor is some kind of tablet device. Is that what Dammek was perhaps using to talk to Xefros? Looks like that will be how Joey will get in touch with him.

There's a timer above the Cherub Portal... on Earth it only contained zeroes, now it's all ones. Is that referring to the TIME they were transported to? Seeing as on Earth it was the 11th of November?

Or, like abundantChewtoys suggests, it's a timer suggesting how long it will take before Joey is able to go back to Earth? 11 days? :O

Or 11 hours?

And now there's a protective shield around the device, probably to prevent Joey from using it for now. Probably until that timer expires? And the same thing might be going on in Joey's attic right now?

Dammek will surely be facing some monsters once he exits the attic. I wonder how it will be for Joey though? Are there also similar monsters over here? Or what's bumping against that door over there? Is it Dammek's Lusus?

Okay, THIS is a really good place to stop for today.

WE MADE IT TO ALTERNIA! :D

[blaperile]

Homestuck^2 - Reactions Chapter 9 “How Goes The Eulogizing, Dear?” (Pages 236 - 262)

CHAPTER 9. How Goes The Eulogizing, Dear?

...Okay, I've got no predictions about this chapter based on the title, haha.

"Dear" sounds like something Candy Rose or Candy Kanaya would say to the other one, but we've only just focused on them?

So yeah, no idea.

Let's see!

Page 236:

Oh jeez.... NOPE, IT'S THE CROCKERSHIP.

Content warning for child abuse... oh no. I'm happy that we're probably going to see Yiffy but... what is Jane going to do to her? :'(

For a second I thought Jane was talking about Jake, but then I realized it's probably about Tavros' whereabouts.

Page 237:

PFFFFFFF, no, she was talking about Gamzee.

So, does she miss him after all? Does she regret having him thrown off her ship and leading him to his death?

I still wonder what's going to happen to Gamzee's body. He was left all alone in that closet. Is he going to be retrieved and revived by Jane?

Page 238:

Jesus GOD, she's writing an eulogy about Gamzee. Dammit.

Nope, she really still doesn't give a shit about him, she just wants to look good in front of Gamzee's worshippers.

Page 239:

Pff, of COURSE we needed to have Jake's ass right in front of the camera at one point. xD

Page 240:

If Jane would bother learning more about Alternian culture, she'd know true kismesises don't just hate each other's guts. They don't absolutely despise each other, there's still some sort of respect and seeing the good things in the partner. They're PARTNERS after all.

True kismesises would know what to say about the other.

And if Jane were like that, she'd know what to say about Gamzee.

Page 241:

There's Yiffy! :O

Wow... white hair like Rose, relatively short hair like Rose as well, a black tail, pink tie and pink shoes... interesting design!

And she's chained by her ankle like the Cherubs, oh my god.

Page 243:

Ooooh, so the others know Jake's on the ship! That's good, I was getting worried John and Tavros would be concerned for where Jake had gone.

That's really good, then John and Karkat can take that into account in their plan.

Hmm... I'm starting to wonder, what if it turns out that Yiffy can see Brain Ghost Dirk? Through heightened dog instincts or something.

Page 244:

Pffff, HERP A DERP.

Is Jane looking for images to broadcast during the eulogy for Gamzee or something?

Page 245:

OH SNAP. Yiffy's throwing the bowl right at the screen.

Oh man, Jane's not going to be happy about this. I... hope we're not going to get Doc Scratch - Handmaid vibes here. I swear to god, if Jane gets a broom now...

Page 247:

WOOOOOOOOOOOW, look at her... It's like she came straight out of a Japanese manga, oh my god.

And she's got a red text colour! Interesting! I wonder, is it the exact same colour as Dave?

*checks*

Nope, it's different.

Oh no, Yiffy's wearing a collar... I hope Jane isn't going to hurt her through that...

Page 248:

Here we go, I was hoping I'd be wrong. :(

Page 249:

Jane, dammit. What have you become... where's the time when you were sweet and innocent? Can't we have that Jane back? :'(

Page 252:

Eeesh, so Jane KNEW about Yiffy for a long time. Even got her into academy... and then she does this to her.

Goddammit Jane, she isn't even a Troll. She's definitely got twisted ideas about Trolls, but Yiffy isn't even one. Heck, she's as innocent as can be... WHY JANE. WHY.

Page 253:

What? Why would Jane want to use Yiffy during the ceremony for Gamzee? Does she want to use Yiffy to make a statement and try to have the rebellion surrender?

Page 255:

I... I'm basically speechless. Jane, you've gone totally off the deep end.

Page 256:

HOPY SHIT THE THEME OF THE SITE HAS CHANGED.

This is ominous... are we going to see into Yiffy's dream??

Oh man, I'm INSANELY curious right now. Like I mentioned in my previous post, with how much focus these four teenagers have been getting, you'd almost start to think they're going to play a SBURB session.

And now this... is she going to wake up as her dream self???

Is she going to be a Hero of Space like Jade? They do tend to wake up early on Prospit compared to the other players, so it could be....

Oh boy.

Page 257:

Ahahaha, that was clever. Now that the lights have turned off, we see how these kids are doing in the middle of the night.

I love how Harry "became an idle chum". Reference to those early days of Homestuck again!

And hey, now we know Tavros's chum handle has GG for initials! =D

I wonder what Yiffy's hypothetical chum handle would be. For both Harry and Tavros it's the same initials as their mother, so perhaps TT?

That would be pretty funny, then we'd have the initials of 3 of the original B1 Kids (Rose, Dave and Jade), and it's fitting that John would be the only not represented because his chum handle was always a special case.

...I'd laugh if at some point Vrissy changes her chum handle to GT. Maybe if she's feeling in a particular mood to distantiate herself further from Vriska she decides on a whim to change her chum handle too. :P

Page 258:

Ahahaha, I didn't think we'd be actually seeing Vrissy's conversation with Tavros. We found out much sooner what GG meant than I thought we would. xD

Crack theory, soon Vrissy, Harry and Tavros all fall asleep and somehow, for some reason, they all dream the same dream together with Yiffy.

Page 259:

Ha, looks like we'll be switching between the two conversations for a little while.

And now we've got confirmation which of the two options Vrissy had been feeling earlier in the bell tower, whether she was emotional or just gagging. Turns out it was the latter, if we can believe what she says here. xD

I like how she censured the "u" in bucketload.

Page 261:

Oh boy, sounds like John, Rose, Jade and Kanaya were talking about Dave... I wonder just how much they know. DOES Jade know Dave's dead or...?

I'm curious to find out about that.

Wait what? What's going on with Vrissy at the end? Is abundantChewtoys right that Vriska was texting this and Vrissy's getting her phone back??

Page 262:

Ha, that could also be true, that Vrissy just fell asleep right now. It reminds me of that time Dream Rose yarnbonked Dream Dave and it caused Dave to fall asleep on his keyboard and it caused him to keep sending weird keysmashes to John who thought Dave was just being a jackass. xD

....

OH GOD THAT'S THE END.

LITERALLY.

WE'RE CAUGHT UP AGAIN! :D

Hallelujah! Praise the lords! It's been a while since I got to be in this position again, I've been trailing behind ever since the Epilogues came out.

WOOHOO

Alright, time to go out and explore the rest of the website and see what else is going on. 8)