#hs epilogue mention

[r0semultiverse]

The implication that Terezi is stronger/immune/indifferent to Dirk's narrative writing/reality-warping powers is interesting. 👀

I am so excited for the new writers to explore her character more.

Hopefully this also means we'll be seeing more classpect & god tier power exploration as well!

[chessb0r3d]

Ultimate asshole John my beloved. Ult Dirk is there I guess.

[insufferable-talkstuck]

Xenophobia

a post regarding xenophobia within The epilogues and HS^²

let me just preface this by saying, if xenophobia makes you uncomfortable you probably shouldn't read the epilogues, there's a long list of content warnings the epilogues have already but i cannot advocate for this enough do NOT underestimate how immensely fucked up the epilogues get when it comes to this.

Dubiously canon homestuck decides, for whatever reason, that xenophobia should be a plotpoint and that characters should go to fucking war. they use Jane as the major xenophobic douche politician

the way xenophobia exists on earth C, starts of as a belief, held by Jane crocker; that there should be reproductive laws for trolls and mothergrub. Jane expresses that the birth rate of trolls and their long lifespans in some cases, will result in the wipe-out of the human race, she says she's attempting to STOP xenophobia from happening.. by trolls to humans. because if they dominate the planet how could human reproduction ever catch up?

This logic in itself is fucked up enough, Jane wants to control how an entire species reproduces just because humans will be less in the outcome. there is no proper civil way to control this! and about the long lifespans, what would she do? kill the high blooded grubs as soon as they come out? i think you get why this is flawed.

but of course it doesn't stop here, tho at first Jane tries to be polite about this entire thing, more of her racism is revealed via comments that she makes on trolls. She is outright rude to karkat, which is made worse by the fact everyone else is actively ignoring how what she says to him is racist, and even telling karkat he's overreacting.

example one; Jade needed comfort at a funeral and Kanaya comforted her, Jane eyed karkat and exclaimed more of trollkind should be like kanaya.

example two; we can very clearly see she drops the nice act when she's actually mad at a troll, she calls gamzee an insect insultingly on multiple occasions

example three; various comments she makes that are sprinkled throughout interaction such as " im not xenophobic some of my best friends are trolls! " and "what's NOT xenophobic anymore??"

*WORTHY MENTION*

i really should have found a better way to include this because it is IMPORTANT. along with what is mentioned above, and how Jane's polite act falls if she's angered, her racist beliefs don't even stop here! she doesn't JUST want to control troll reproduction but believes trolls should be stripped of many of their rights, and not even be allowed to VOTE

I'm planning to make a list of all the chapters you can avoid in order to not be looking at xenophobia for hours if it's a sensitive topic, but as of now just know, the actual xenophobia spewed here, and the added offensiveness of everyone but karkat ignoring it's an issue can make the reading experience really hard if this is a trigger for you. Proceed with caution

[applestorms]

maybe i just need to reread homestuck properly but am i entirely off in saying that calliope almost feels like the closest we get to a late game apology for feferi and nepeta

[shoegazingmonad]

Interesting that Dirk's suicide and Jake getting raped are two events that happen around the same time considering both scenarios involve someone being forced to do something whilst not in the right state of mind

[weirdmageddon]

THIS IS SO SCARY AFTER I MENTION THE IREEPARABLE DAMAGE THE EPILOGUES HAVE CAUSED 2 MINUTES LATER HS^2 UPDATES AFTER THREE YEARS

[borzoilover69]

Dirkjake fic recs?

THE GRAND FIC LIST:

calvariae - tony artreactor cw for talks of suicide, average toxic yaoi, epilogues-ish. starts off with a spectacular rant from dirk strider abt how platos a little bitch and ends in a way that had me sitting on the sidewalk on an afternoon remnicising like an old war veteran

empty nester - conejita cw for grooming mention, toxic yaoi, alchohol, so on so forth. literally the brograndpa fic of all time hands down, this fic is one of the best dirkjake fics this year. literally could not recommend more.

integuement -drew lifevoid jake eats a deer. dirk likes breaking into houses. somehow, this started a rather heated debate between me and my friends about how to get blood out of a cableknit sweater. what else do you need to know to get to read this? please read this. 10/10 fic.

head over heels - space gays that arent in space cw for lobotomy and suicide attempt, unhealthy relationships also nsfw. also onesided dirkjake. Dirkcentric. i really do NOT recommend reading this if you arent in the right headspace. otherwise its great.

bones of black marrow - aka that one insane html dirkjake fic CW for a lot of things including cannibalism gore nsfw weaponry seizures just a whole handful of stuff. heed the tags. interesting story story though i read this during work because im not a pussy. Really long.

upgrade - hotelroomservice & rykitty cw for suicide attempt grievous injury err death and fucked up ness. will have you sitting back in your chair by the end staring up at your ceiling. based on the movie of the same name. really really really awesome.

lunar calendar - tony artreactor cw for mentions of sex as selfharm, selfharm, alchohol consumption, REALLY unhealthy relationships, post-epilogue stuff, so on so forth. this fic was genuinely my fucking 9/11 dirkjake wise. like everything was different after reading that fic. literally everything. It probably made me insane.

and last but not least... shag, emotionally devastate - tony artreactor this is up there in the hs fanfiction bible for shit youve just GOT to read. it deals with post-canon in the most ripsnortingly funny way ever and is what made me genuinely love the idea of dirk and jake absolutely taking the mic out of each other both physically and verbally. it had me snickering and sending this to my friends like "OH MY GOD" and served as inspo for some of the facade and points i want to eventually make with LE jake when i get around to it. im so serious i cannot recommend it more.

New additions!

Its not enough to love the unreal - sloan twistedglossographer.

CW for attempted murder. Jake thinks dirks going to leave him and does something about it. Most BPD jake thoughts ever that latched in my brain like parasites

one of us was supposed to kill the other- sloan twistedGlossographer

CW For cannibalism and outright murder and gore.

Jake actually kills dirk and delivers a stunning brain process on how cannibalism links around to love and other shit dirkjake genuinely is like babies first spoonful of canmibalism love metaphor inspired by some posts i made. It really builds off of cannibalism as love its so awesome.

godspeed and happy readings.

[drone-season]

Drone Season Rules Update

ATTENTION, CITIZEN. The Drone Season rules are being revised and updated. NONCOMPLIANCE will result in your SWIFT AND GRIZZLY DEMISE, so READ, MEMORIZE, AND PREPARE TO OBEY. UPDATED RULES BELOW THE CUT:

REQUIREMENTS

You Must Be 18 Or Older: Because this challenge involves explicit sexual content, and the primary country of origin for the event is the United States, all participants must be 18+ at the time of sign up. If mods learn that anyone who has signed up is underage, their signup will be removed, and if assignments have gone out, their gifter will be contacted to provide a substitute assignment.

Read and Follow the Rules: Read the rules in full before signing up. (Even if you have participated before.) Failure to do so may result in the rejection of your signup. Gift Parameters: • You are committing to produce one (1) fanwork for your recipient, which matches one (1) of their requests. You MAY do more than one if you want to, but one full-assed gift is preferable to two half-assed ones. • One-shot fanfic must be at least 1000 words long, and must be complete. • Chaptered fic must have at least the first chapter completed, that chapter must be at least 1000 words, and it should ideally contain smut. • Art must be at least 400 x 600 pixels, full color. • Comics must be at least one page. It does not need to be full color. • Fills may not include images of real people. • We haven't yet had a submission that wasn't either art or fic, but if you have a unique idea for a fill, please contact the mods; we'd love to hear it, and will help establish guidelines as to what counts as a completed work. • If your fill idea includes potentially squicky or triggering content and your giftee did not specifically request that in their prompts, it is best to contact a mod and have it clarified if this is something your giftee would be cool with. We don’t want an otherwise great swap experience unexpectedly soured with surprise squick. • Your fill must be your own work. Plagiarism or AI-generated art/writing is not allowed.

SIGNUPS PROMPTS (what you want to receive): You will receive a gift (fic or art) based on one of your prompts. • Please be aware that all prompts are made public on the AO3 Drone Season page later in the exchange.

• Your signup must include at least 3 and up to 6 prompts for gifts you would like to receive. • You have to request at least 3 Homestuck prompts. Additional prompts can include Hiveswap, Friendsim, Pesterquest, Epilogues and HS^2. If you definitely do (or do not!) want to get involved with post-canon content, say so in your offer. • Only submit your signup once you have at least 3 complete prompts which fulfill all the requirements as stated in the rules. Do not submit empty/placeholder prompts. Failure to comply with this rule will result in rejection of your signup. • If you want to mention specific headcanons (such as appearance, sexuality, gender, etc.), that’s totally fine, but they're suggestions only. Demanding that someone depict a character a certain way is not allowed. This is a gift exchange, not a commission post. • No identity-policing. Requesting that your gifter belong to certain gender / sexual / ethnic / other identities in order to write certain prompts is not allowed. • Since this is a smut exchange, there must be some sexual or erotic element to each prompt. • If necessary, include a list of triggers or squicks for each prompt, or for all prompts. • If you find the explanation of things you do/don't want in a certain prompt getting overly long, you may want to reconsider whether that prompt is a good fit for this exchange. (Again, this is a gift exchange, not a commission post. Prompts should leave participants the freedom to be creative.) • Feel free to include a list of favorite kinks/tropes/etc. as well! • No Self-Inserts, OCs, Or MSPAR. We do not allow self-insert characters or OCs as part of main pairings. Asking our participants to create works that may feature explicit personal details of other people is beyond what we’re willing to ask, and it takes the focus away from the reason we’re all here: seeing Homestuck characters getting their pail on. OCs may still feature as background characters, but the focus should be on canon characters. MSPA Reader is structured to be both a character and a self-insert. We won't accept requests or offers featuring MSPA Reader as a main character, but as above, you may still feature them as a side or background character.

YOUR OFFER (what you want to create): You will receive a list of prompts based on what you offer to create. To the best of the mods' ability, you will be matched 1st to avoid triggers, and 2nd to accommodate your other preferences. (Safety first!) Your offer is visible only to the mods, not to other participants.

• Be clear about what you will not create. Mods will prioritize this over other preferences for safety's sake. (No need to include the reasons for said preferences.)

• Feel free to include your favorite kinks, tropes, pairings, etc. After mods have narrowed down options based on definite NOs, we will attempt, if possible, to hook people up with prompts in their wheelhouse. In order to make sure no one receives triggering prompts, not everyone can match on their top choice of pairing/kink/etc. Be flexible, and remember that this is a gift!

• Tag as many characters as you are comfortable creating for (at least 10 characters). If you are not comfortable with all combinations thereof, please state that in your offer. If you are willing to create for over 20 characters, you can add additional characters in the offer field.

• If you would be willing to receive a set of prompts where some, but not all prompts include your triggers/squicks, please specify that in your offer. (If you do, and the mods spot a prompt they think would be perfect for you, they may assign it to you, even if other prompts in that batch would qualify for your No list.)

CODE OF CONDUCT No Kinkshaming: We strictly follow YKINMKATO (Your Kink Is Not My Kink And That’s Okay, AKA Kink Tomato). The swap and its servers are sex-, kink-, and character-positive spaces; we don't allow judgemental language about things other people enjoy. (This includes the language used in your signup.)

Don't Be A Dick: • Do not sign up and default in an attempt to get free fic or art. You will be banned from participating in future Drone Season exchanges if you do this. • Don't complain publicly about your gifter's writing or art skills, headcanons, choice of kinks, or anything else. This swap welcomes all skill levels, and the participants are putting in their time and effort to make you content for free.

Check Your Email: AO3 will send your swap assignment to the email linked with your AO3 account. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH AN AO3 ACCOUNT LINKED TO A JUNK/SPAM EMAIL; YOUR ASSIGNMENT WILL NEVER REACH YOU. There may be certain instances during the event where the mod team will need to contact you urgently, and email may be the only point of contact you've provided. Please check your email often during the course of the swap, as delays in response time can lead to even bigger hiccups that affect you and the rest of the swap.

Stay Anonymous: This is an anonymous exchange. Do not contact your giftee before authors are revealed. If you need clarification on a request, contact a mod and we will communicate with your giftee on your behalf. Please don't talk publicly about the specifics of your assignment while you're working on it! You can still share with a beta and talk with non-participant friends, but keep your work a surprise to Drone Season members!

And Now: If you have read and understood, and agree to all the rules, please include the word or emoji "magnet" in your offer when you sign up.

[weaselandfriends]

I just binge'd your Hymnstoke series. Now that HS^2 (HS^BC) is back up and running with James Roach at the helm, I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on the direction that HS^2 and Homestuck Beyond Canon are taking with the new updates?

Before I begin, I'll point you to a previous post I made on the topic of HS^2, back when it was under the previous management.

Truthfully, I still haven't read HS^2, either the old version or the new. I remain uninterested in it conceptually. For me, the Epilogues were the perfect finale to Homestuck and I no longer have any desire to see its story continued or its characters expanded upon.

I think I'm somewhat mismatched with the typical fans of Homestuck. From talking to fans, it seems many of them started reading as teenagers, who found in its something relatable and became invested in the journey of its characters. I wasn't like that. I began reading Homestuck in college. I was not introduced to it via fandom osmosis or seeing art of it or cosplays or so on. I didn't even learn of it from word-of-mouth from one of my friends. I was reading a post someone had made about so-called ergodic literature, which cited House of Leaves and Homestuck as examples. Having read House of Leaves only a few weeks prior, I was intrigued and looked up Homestuck, going into it almost as blind as possible.

As Hymnstoke probably indicates, my interest in Homestuck was literary from the start, and what impressed me most about it was always its boundary-pushing approach to medium and narrative. Even late into Act 6, past the point where most fans might say the story "gets bad" or whatever, Hussie was always, always concerned with that, and that is why I actually prefer Act 6 to Act 5 despite this being a fairly controversial take. I think in Act 6 Hussie is far more experimental, far more willing to take artistic risks and pursue innovative formal exercises. So, even as more traditional markers of narrative quality like character and plot stagnant, meander, or suffer altogether, Homestuck to me always felt like it was still growing in new and exciting directions.

At least until the series of super long pauses that ended with the whimpering and frankly pathetic Collide + Act 7 combo, two tragically substanceless flashes that really add nothing new or unexpected whatsoever.

The Epilogues, however, were a return to form on the formal front. The competing Meat and Candy narratives, though told in arguably Homestuck's most traditional format yet (prose narrative), are intertwined in ways that push even this ancient medium to new, unseen limits. In that sense, even ignoring all the plot/character stuff I mentioned in my previous HS^2 post, the Epilogues were a culmination of all Homestuck meant for me. A thematic capstone: A return to a traditional format that is then enlivened through daring experimentation. My Hymnstoke series often mentioned the theme of the meteors wiping out Earth so that a new society could be created out of recycled detritus from the old and stagnant world. The Epilogues are that simply in how they are made, and to me that is peak Homestuck, the chief thing that matters most about it.

HS^2 has not seemed interested in formal experimentation at all. The pre-Roach group was mindbogglingly retrograde in eschewing flashes altogether and even, really, art, preferring instead long script-style dialogues. Long pesterlogs were part of Homestuck before, but far from the only part. But there simply seemed to be zero interest in innovation, in doing anything new, in even trying anything new. To me, that's not Homestuck.

I'm not super keyed into the fandom drama, but my understanding is that the old HS^2 group was nasty and combative with the fans, while Roach has attempted to establish goodwill in the fans and repair some of the burned bridges from yesteryear. To that end, his approach seems to be succeeding. But there's a part of me that sees it as being similar to the Star Wars prequels and sequels. The prequels were an unmitigated trainwreck that the fans despised; the sequels, by contrast, began with a soft remake of New Hope that seemed tailored to tell fans "Look! Star Wars is Star Wars again! We're back! It's real! We have practical effects, and on-location filming instead of green screens, and the plot is straightforward instead of trade dispute politics!" It was like JJ Abrams watched the infamous Plinkett review of the prequels and decided to address everything directly, all to reestablish goodwill with fans.

For Episode VII, it worked. Perhaps if the rest of the trilogy were 1-to-1 soft remakes of the original trilogy, it would have continued to work. But the instant the new creators attempted any kind of innovation in the criminally underrated and over-hated Episode VIII, they were raked over the coals, and in the process of backtracking furiously wound up creating something on the same level as the prequels with Episode IX. And nobody was happy in the end.

In the position Roach is in, he can at best muster the kind of nostalgia-baiting soft remake that is so popular and common in Hollywood today, a Homestuck 2.0 rather than a Homestuck^2, something that is not in fact Beyond Canon but enslaved by it. By appealing to the goodwill of fans that's what you have to do, because what the fans love is the ghost of the story they remember, and the reason they come to Homestuck^2 over any of the endless amount of content online is because it has the name Homestuck in it, and they remember Homestuck. Waiter, I'm the critic from Ratatouille, bring me the thing I remember.

But that is conceptually antithetical to the thing I remember. And so, it'll be difficult for it to engender much interest in me. I think there are a lot of exciting, talented creators making amazing original content online today, new boundary-pushing content, a new avant garde, and that's where my interest will lie. I think the members of the Homestuck fandom who had the talent to create content like that, like Toby Fox and perhaps Tamsyn Muir (who I have not read but Gideon the Ninth is certainly popular so it must have some spark to it), have gone ahead and done it for their own original works outside the Homestuck label.

Anyway, those are my rambling thoughts on the matter, again without having actually read either the old or new HS^2, so take them with a grain of salt.

[yanderes-galore]

Hello!! I'd like to request for homestuck please! Do you have any headcanons for the type of yandere Dirk Strider would be? And how he may treat or act around his darling?

(If you need a time frame at all in the comic timeline, I can suggest post-game (before the epilogues so no worry to know those or hs^2) - it might work out easier to write for!! Otherwise if you don't, disregard this paragraph hehe)

Sure! Sorry it took so long (It's been MONTHS 😥😭), I needed to shove the entirety of Homestuck in my brain and have coherent thoughts about it. I'm actually not entirely done with Act 6 yet (I wanna say halfway through-ish?) so if he's very OOC my bad.... I can make an updated version at a later date maybe? Take this as an AU of Act 6 just in case, I just wanted to explore his yandere type.

Here's what I got! Now that I think about it I want to write more for Homestuck... it's really good and I'm happy I finally experienced it. Thanks Tumblr 💜 I tried to keep this general as the first concept for a character I write typically is :)

Writers who gave me motivation and inspiration to start this work; @yandere--stuck and @bunnyjam-imagines . Your work is incredible and keep doing what you're doing ^^ 💜Your Dirk fics really helped me with this so I dedicate this to you, too. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE TAGGED LET ME KNOW, THANKS.

Possible Spoilers For Homestuck Act 6

Yandere! Dirk Strider Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Manipulation, Overprotective behavior, Hidden cameras, Secret recording, Dirk struggles expressing feelings, Invasion of privacy, Brief violence mention, Swearing, Kidnapping, Dubious relationship, Isolation, Controlling behavior, Implied jealousy, Angst, I like this version of yandere Dirk where he just feels conflicted.

Dirk is a very interesting character and I've noticed there has been a pattern in the way people write him as a yandere.

Dirk seems like a yandere whose lucid in his behavior.

He has tendencies to know what he's doing is wrong, or at least this is a pattern I've seen in the way others write him.

I can agree with this as Dirk seems like he takes on the role as guardian for the other people in his group at times (Jake, Jane, Roxy).

Dirk would be very caring towards his darling despite the emotional baggage he has behind the scenes.

He most likely met you through a chat client like the rest.

Since he was young he's always had an interest in puppets, robots, and horses...

He could've met you through one of these interests or by one of his other friends introducing you.

Either way, Dirk finds himself talking to you more and more when he adds your handle.

Dirk's yandere behavior isn't overly romantic even when his feelings are that way.

He doesn't really like expressing it all that much.

Dirk's behavior comes off as just him looking out for you.

He's like a guardian who's willing to do anything for those he cares about.

Based on the fact Dirk has made robots for Jake and Jane in the past, usually for special occasions or requests, he probably would make one for you eventually.

Dirk is very skilled with robotics and wouldn't mind creating some sort of bot for you no matter the size or purpose.

Dirk does try to keep one goal constant when making you a robot gift...

It has to protect you.

He's responsible and wants nothing more than those he cares about out of harm's way.

If they reciprocate his feelings or not doesn't matter....

When he does make that robot gift he puts a lot of his time into it.

AR has to spend a lot of time responding to his friends as all of his time is spent multi-tasking on a ton of tasks.

Building your gift... talking to you... watching his dreamself...

He's kind of worn thin.

Once it's finished he sends it to you with a brief message.

It's his way of showing his care even if he seems very closed off with feelings.

This robot is the first camera he manages to sneak in your home.

Dirk even has secret folders on his PC of just footage.

Part of him feels guilty for recording you... but he tries to reassure himself this is what a robotic guardian needs.

The robot is the biggest part leading into his obsession.

It can act on its own to protect you or like a drone he can control and see through.

He feels guilty that he's using it to interact with you like he's actually there....

Dirk's feelings could swap over the more he sneaks electronics into your house and the more he cyberstalks you.

There's a certain threshold he passes when he eventually has to admit he's got feelings for you if he has them.

Clearly he doesn't just want to protect you like a friend, right?

Why else would he watch you sleep with that robot you thought of as a cute gift from him?

He can't help but search through files upon files containing pictures and video feed of you being... you.

He feels he could never admit it fully but he does like you.

One way or another....

Dirk's obsession is very... what's the word... quiet?

He seems like the yandere who would just hover in your shadow... just to keep you out of harm.

He isn't a very violent yandere and is more just like a guardian to you due to his fear of revealing his feelings, which makes him work well as a platonic or romantic yandere.

Dirk probably could use violence to protect you but doesn't always tend to.

His robot guardian he made for you is indeed armed, though.

The robot he gave you isn't as merciful and may even get bloody if it has to for you.

He doesn't mind if you feel the same for him or not... he would like you to but you don't have to....

He seems like the yandere who'd sigh and regret saying anything if you rejected his feelings... but respect the decision somewhat.

That doesn't stop his overbearing behavior.

The comic does say when he puts his heart to something he won't give up until he accomplishes it.

Friend or lover, Dirk tends to act controlling.

Be it him talking to you through your robot, in the chat client, or in person if he ever meets you... Dirk seems to act like he knows more than you.

He has a bit of an ego and can come off as obnoxious in conversation at times.

He always acts like he knows what's best for you.

He looks back on the times he has acted like this with regret later... as I said, lucid yandere.

In fact a lot of his obsession makes Dirk regret it at times.

This could be because he harbors self-hatred for himself already and his obsession over you doesn't help.

He doesn't really want to give you up, though.

Dirk would manipulate you like a puppet at times.

For some reason when others are close to you, he hates it.

They could just be close friends, or potential partners...

He just can't handle it... he feels he has to prevent it or he may just lose the chance to have you.

Sometimes the darkness of his obsession kicks in and he... gives in to acts he shouldn't.

Such as using your robot to invade your privacy...

Maybe even manipulating your friends Jane, Roxy, and even Jake away from you...

That and the countless times he's considered kidnapping you to keep you alone with him just to soothe his aching thoughts.

Dirk seems like he'd struggle a lot with his obsession.

He hates the idea of hurting you.

He knows there's a good chance his obsession will hurt you, which hurts him...

All of this just causes him hurt.

Yet the more he speaks to you about interests and learns more and more about you...

He knows he can't let you go.

There's no doubt Dirk vents the frustrations his feelings cause him to Lil Cal his puppet pal.

Who else is he supposed to tell?

It's not like these feelings, regardless of the intention, are normal?

'Yeah, I stalk my friend through a robot and manipulate their life like some sort of puppet stage. What do I do to make them reciprocate?'

It's batshit and he knows it....

Roxy will just use it as gossip later... she may even tell you with some subtle hint or something.

Jane's a very sweet woman but he just feels... uncomfortable admitting he has such dark feelings about you?

You'd think Jake would be a good fit to talk to, being bros and all, but Dirk decides he'd rather just vent his feelings to himself and keep it like that.

Until he eventually acts....

Soon Dirk is going to just wing it.

It seems like a very Strider thing to do.

Your robotic companion he gifted is going to act against you in the end.

While he once used it to make you feel like je was always there with you... soon he's going to use it to abduct you.

Somehow.

Dirk's obsession feels like a constant battle with himself.

Even more so than his fights with AR.

He begins to wonder what is truly right.

Is isolating you beside him the right thing to do?

What will his friends say?

That shouldn't matter, should it?

You can all talk together when you're safely with him... if he hasn't scared them off by then-

Yet, how would YOU feel towards what he's doing?

You'll hate him... and he can't blame you.

He'd hate him too. He probably already does.

But... what he doesn't hate is you.

Surely he can make you understand once he has you.

Dirk has always tried to be caring for you.

Even when your robot companion drags you into his home, you clinging to it with fear, Dirk greets you warmly.

Oh he feels so sick when he locks you in his home.

He feels he doesn't deserve you when you cower... no longer willing to converse with him like you used to.

You don't deserve him, he deserves only to suffer under the weight of his obsession.

He's always beating himself up about it the whole time, yet won't change any of it.

Even if you do somehow forgive him.

Even if you try to say you do care for him?

He isn't sure if he can believe you after he's kidnapped you.

Don't bother lying, he sees through it.

You can hate him... you're allowed to as any other sensible human would.

There's truly nothing he can do to salvage what he once had for you after he goes off the deep end.

He's made you all alone... now there's only him.

He knows he should let you go...

But wouldn't it be cruel to abandon you after he made your life hell?

He continues his behavior with this new form of reassurance.

He'll continue to look after you, he'll prove to you he can give you so much better.

He tries to show affection.

He gives you hugs, he tries to express his obsession in a loving way.

Perhaps even kisses, some on your cheeks or lips depending on his feelings?

Lucid yanderes tend to be self-destructive.

They know this isn't how they should feel.

Dirk knows he should do what's best for you.

His mind has been clouded in darkness, however...

Far as he knows now, HE'S what's best for you.

He promises to care for you like he's always done since you mean so much to him... ironically to help heal the pain he's caused... and is probably still causing.

Dirk still helps you when you cry and comforts you when you act out.

He emphasizes with your pain and feels sick that he knows why you feel this way.

Every touch he feels from you his heaven, while you may think he's hell.

Every apology from his lips doesn't feel truthful... they're empty.

He could always let you go...

He could always try to make things right...

Those options require giving you up.

Deep down... he knows he can't.

He feels he can finally say it,

He loves you too much to let you go.

He may be his own worst enemy but he wants to be selfish when it comes to you.

He's always at a constant war with himself, resulting in him seeming distant with affection.

You quickly become his everything... thoughts of you destroy his psyche...

Soon... he gives up... he surrenders... he begins to accept it.

He loves you...

and this is how he's going to show it.

[israbelle]

A Conspiracy theory about the Epilogues

Alternatively titled; "Isn't it fun to take the stupid plot holes seriously sometimes, just to see what happens?"

So - The hemospectrum. I have often been taken out of the story by how little they mention it in the Epilogues and HS^2, just sort of... handwaving it away as a solved, purely cultural issue. Doylistically, they seem to be endorsing the popular "caste differences were just an enforced social norm by the Condesce and Lord English so trolls hate each other more" theory. It's been a glaring hole in the worldbuilding for a while now, and I never had a satisfying answer to it.

First off, psychics and psionics. I will talk about those more later, but... *gestures* Yeah. Second, and more relevant to the idea that the caste system is a, how do you say, natural state of troll society that has to be actively worked against to avoid falling down the pit of oppression; lifespans.

That sentence sucked because it's 4AM and it's quite difficult to think straight while listening to Mouth Moods. But anyway.

There is a popular headcanon that the Condesce, puppeteered by Lord English to create a tougher landscape, and using her Thief of Life powers, artificially shortened the lifespans of lowbloods (or maybe lengthened the lifespans of highbloods?) and had they not been under her control, they would all live to the same age and have no physical differences. This is explicitly non-canon:

Everybody say "Thank you, Kankri Vantas!" Aren't you so glad he's right about everything he says all the time and everyone always listens?!

There would be seadwellers - no, there would be ceruleans who remember the dawn of history. Can they live normal lives? Do you think that one violetblood grub Karkat holds in the credits remembers his touch? Did they hang the snapchat photo on their hive wall as one of their baby pictures? Do they brag about it?

This world would be quite different from the one shown to us today. Screw "trolls' birthrate is higher than humans" being the crux of the population issue, what about how half these trolls literally never die?! Highbloods would naturally have trouble relating to or empathizing with the lower castes they outlive dozens of times, a natural "immortal being loses touch with its humanity as it sees the cycle of life repeat evermore without ever truly experiencing it" trope, and the hemospectrum would reinvent itself and simply slot humans in at the bottom.

Which leads to the big question: why isn't this what happened? Why are humans the dominant force, while trolls seem to have been metaphorically (so far, thanks Jane) neutered? And why are they losing the war so hard when they have all those dang psychics?

You know, the psychic powers that let you shoot killer lasers and throw things around from afar and commune with beasts and fly-

...And fly?

As far as I'm aware - with the exception of Vrissy, who is a clone of an Alternian troll - there have never been any mentions of psychics on Earth C. Even when she talks about them, her information is wrong, almost as if it was only ever a historical afterthought in class instead of a reality of her life. Isn't that curious?

Apologies in advance for the hats. Tinfoil really is an awful material for garments, you know. But with all the evidence laid out as it is, there's really only one* reasonable† explanation: they did something to trolls. They flattened them all out into one homogenous mass, stripped them of nearly everything interesting and alien about them, neutered them into the Grey Humans we've all tried to fight against this whole time! And they did it with slime!!

*There are most likely many other possible explanations, and there is not a shot in Hell that this is what was intended in the text. †This is a completely unreasonable claim.

It could've been an accident, it could've been a well-intentioned impulse enacted by a bunch of teens who don't understand what eugenics are, but it happened in the ectobiology room, and I think the "how" of it is that they mixed together the troll and human slime. This flattened the curve of lifespans to be about human average, and either highly reduced the chance or outright deleted the ability for psychic powers to form. Reproduction stays the same, because that involves way too many complicated biological changes rather than just flipping a handful of proteins.

The great Alternian trolls of yore are but a distant memory, replaced by these tragic, broken copies, failed by their masters; chained to the ground with their wings torn off long before Candy Jane ever entered the scene.

[meraki-sunset]

Okay, this two questions are conected so i’ll answer them together. I had multiple reasosns not to save dad crocker

1.       Acording to the postcredits, he never replaced dad egbert in john’s life (even tho they show us how they hug eachother in homestuck when they meet) and John eventually got (aparently) depressed about not having his dad around, but someone who looks like him 

2.       In the prologe, the epilogue and homestuck2 Jane reestablishes Crockercorp, the evil baking corporation, with the epilog and HS2 covering her coruption into the condesce’s true heiress even wearing full red, the empire’s signature color instead and the oposite of cyan, her true color (it might not be 100% canon but it’s canon enough for me) and like they said in the comic, csau Jane could end up the same if she has Dad Crocker as her guardian enableling her to become like hs2 Jane

3.       Also, i really think losing your guardian is a rite of passage in the game, and players are suposed to lose them in order to become true gods

4.       A reason i can’t just exclude is the fact neither one of the dad’s have a face and one of the ways i tell the story is through facial exprecions. I tried to give him a face so i could work with the character but it wasn’t working for me and people didn’t like him.

5.       Nanna is also another reason for dad crocker’s death, through the story nanna became John and Jade’s new guardian, her arc culminating on her getting back her youth and now simbolicaly (and actually for real) taking the role of John and Jade’s mother. On top of that, in the future epilogue, the Harley-egbert’s basically become a big assembled family and dad crocker playing basically the pathernal rol when nanna already was fullfiling the mathernal rol would have been weird as fuck since, Dad Crocker is sort of a clone of Nanna’s son 

In short all the reasons listed below meant i had to delete him from the story 

When it comes to Dad Egbert and Mom Lalonde, John never saved them in canon with the power of retcon probably because he didn’t wanted to change any events terezi didn’t specify on her list and risk dooming the new timeline. And while on csau he DID changed things beyond terezi’s plan (stealing the troll’s bodies and slab beds) taking dad and mom’s bodies may have had unintended consecuenced down the line.

Dad Egbert would have also been a problem to integrate to the story like Dad Crocker for all the same reasons, artstyle, losing your guardian being nescesary, being weird having him a round in the new integrated harley egbert family, not to mention he would also take nanna’s guardian role that she gained during all the comic. It would undo the whole story.

I do regret not being able to save Rose’s mom, i feel like she could have had a lot of growth and i wouldn’t have had any problems integrating her to the story. She could have had really interesting interactions with everybody and be Good Friends with nanna, mirroring Jane and Roxy’s friendship.

But if i saved her with retcon i would have had to save Dad Egbert and that was a big no, so mom had to stay dead.

I’m still playing around with the idea of her coming back but don’t count on it

Another person i wish i couls have saved is Alt!Calliope, but due to the nature of CSAU, it’s explicit that the Alt!Callie we see is the canon one, from canon homestuck, and we only encounter her twice before she causes the blackhole and flies to the HS Epilogue. I can’t change her fate, because she’s just a borrowed character. (another borrowed characters from canon are Ghost!Vriska and Ghost!terezi who end up in the blackwhole with the dancestors, since canonically we don’t know what happened to them, just that they found eachother and got probably sucked by the blackhole eventually)

Aside from that, i found a way to everyone i needed/wanted to save in csau (not to mention whatever happens in the epilogue)

[xx-slug-xx]

Really happy that there’s more people complaining about the people who interpret Dirk and Rose’s relationship in BC as incest and gross.

Imo, if you ship them then cool! I’m not talking about y’all and you’re good to go!

But if you interpret their relationship as incest and are discussed to read BC because of it, that’s just a YOU issue. I never saw their bond as incest. It was never meant to be incest. There’s a one off joke-ish thing that Dave mentions about incest, but incest jokes and remarks are everywhere in HS and BC. It’s not meant to be taken seriously. “Why would Rose leave her loving wife behind?” “Must be incest”. Is kinda how the conversation read in the Epilogues imo. It’s just a dysfunctional familial dynamic as they both struggle to find someone who understands them in their ascended state. Do y’all forget that Dirk is exclusively gay in canon and Rose is all but confirmed in the text itself to be exclusively lesbian in canon? I’m all for headcanons that diverge from the canon material, I don’t have a problem if people ship either with the opposite gender. But if you are specifically talking about the canon material, you cannot ignore how they are ment to be portrayed and what their characters canonically are.

I’m happy that other people have some critical thinking skills and are able to deal the relationship how it was meant to be. I remember that it wasn’t all that long ago when the majority of folks just thought it was incest and hated the comic because of it. Honestly, I’m glad people can understand dysfunctional family dynamics and codependency in a non romantic context and I’m not alone in this interpretation anymore lol.

[shoegazingmonad]

So assuming Arquius hasn't disappeared under mysterious circumstances permanently and is still in the Medium. Will we get to see him again when the new Sburb / Sgrub game starts???? Has the whole Caliborn fight happened already at this point in time??? The linearity of Homestuck is confusing enough and considering all the other sprites besides Jasprose are gone as of now.where is he. I miss him

[aaeds]

I've had it with HS^2

I don't make fanart or content for this fandom anymore, but after putting on "Let's Read Homestuck" in the background while I've been working I've returned to having a few Alpha kid WIPs. I have also returned to scouring the tags for cool fanart and opinions.

This is not the fandom I remember back when I was reading the comic partway through Act 2.

I cannot say I'm inspired by Homestuck^2, and to roughly quote another user - I don't know who the audience for this comic is for. The epilogues themselves were a disaster and the Candy/Meat timeline idea appears to exist to create even more drama with lackluster stakes.

There's no real clear 'goal' or core to the story besides...the fact there are two universes. And we have Ultimate-self villains.

It reads like bad fanfiction, that's nothing new - the problem is I don't think the authors are writing with irony. The series has turned into a ship-heavy metal bat beating older fans to death with teen drama and character assassination.

The current team clearly has no interest or plans for Jade for example, and in the recent update with Aradia and Robo-Dave discussing time travel - it really seemed like her body being on the floor was an excellent time to rehash several existential conversation points we ALREADY had in the original Homestuck about stable timeloops, dead Daves and how he uses his Godtier powers.

Outside of several unnecessary pages of dialogue, it was disturbing that no part of Ultimate Dave would help move Jade off the fucking floor while he and Aradia sleep in lawn chairs watching her until she became 'The Muse' It is so out of character. Pre-retcon Dave died protecting her body, Davesprite destroyed his relationship with both John and Jade knowing they would be reunited with the 'real' Dave. He was a true knight when he felt it was appropriate and mattered. But now we have a Dave who is back to having an existential crisis about his powers, life and death - and his sexuality. By bringing up dead Dave's Marriage from the epilogues. He didn't even mention Jade by name, presuming the reader read at least the wiki article on the disastrous self indulgent mess.

But that was all he had to say on that dead Dave. Just about not loving Jade. No one else, doesn't even bring up Karkat or Terezi, let alone any of his friends. Talking about Sollux for half a second I'm convinced was just to bring up a failed marriage and apparently 'not wanting to be gay'? This isn't Dave anymore, and if that's the point I want to know why we as readers should care because I promise you coming fresh off Act 6 for the third time these are not the same characters. Davepeta had a better outlook on what it means to experience doomed selves, whether they were chipper about it because of Nepeta's influence is neither here nor there. No matter what Davesprite did, it was in character for what Dave would have done because he knows himself. When it meant self sabotage so his friends could go back to the Alpha timeline Dave, that was a circumstance, and an act any Dave would have made because of the way he thought at 13 years old. That doesn't mean he didn't change, or would never change.

I don't think the furthest ring has rattled the kids in a glass jar hard enough to give them critical brain damage through every doomed timeline that they're different people. At least not in the way Robo-Dave is, or frankly anything in the Epilogue.

I'm done with the writers treating Jade as a dead animal to stuff Calliope into for a milquetoast attempt at a plot device without treating that as a joke in itself.

No Homestuck isn't a serious comic, but there's a reason Cascade broke several websites while Beyond Canon can barely drudge a handful of tagged UPD8 replies. Its audience is small and unchallenged. We don't need to bring back the use of the hard R to be invested in a storyline, but if all you're interested in in a piece of media is gender identity and sexuality well you've got it. That said, neither are a genre on their own.

HS^2 lacks one and direction and it's just going to keep dragging its carcass through the dirt until every unseen pairing in panel is churned through the fanfic machine.

[gendertrickster]

You mentioned it awhile ago, but I'm kinda with you on thinking HS^2 isn't as bad as some people act. I mean, I kinda wish some things were done better((I personally would've found it much more interesting if Rose actually cheated on Kanaya rather than it just being helping out a friend) also I prefer transfem Roxy over transmasc, but that's personal preference and I'm overall cool with him)

I'm glad it is updating again! Leaving it on a cliffhanger kinda sucked so that's cool

i think the way the rosejade plot played out is actually way more interesting than just. cheating on her wife? i find it a lot more intriguing of a thing that kanaya is only mad at having had it kept from her and not the act in and of itself. like this is literally what she says

and i contend that this is very deeply in-character compared to some other matters like rose and jade naming their child. that. and also sending her to boarding school, which that DOES feel like something kanaya would be rightly mad about, and i feel like that could easily come up later and stir this development in a more meaningful direction

i do think transmasc roxy is an unforgivable sin of the epilogues, but so is so much other stuff about HS^2, so i can't really bring myself to be mad about it anymore. that ship has passed already