#keep seeing homestuck posts and it's making think about when i first started reading homestuck‚ and my fave character

[squid--inc]

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[thewebcomicsreview]

Hate to tell you this, but the HSBC update just got updated.

I get that they wanted to keep the Hell Arc confined to page 666, and it'll make the archival experience pretty cool, but hard refreshing the site didn't let me see the update to the page due to cache bullshit, I had to use a different browser. So let's liveblog now before it breaks again:

Looks like we're back to Tavros. I guess it makes sense that the first path to update would the one where they could reuse the talksprites.

So, as directly stated by Davepeta, Vriska is trapped in a time loop, where Tavros doesn't remember anything that happened the previous day, just like in the movie Groundhog Day. That Davepeta called out the movie explicitly in-universe as the reference makes me wonder if events will follow the rough plot of that movie. It's clearly what Davepeta wants to happen, but...Vriska....

Anyway, Vriska offers to let Tavros decide what to do today, for the first time. It took two whole years for her to try that, but she is the Thief of Light and not letting anyone else decide what to do is literally her cosmic role and stuff, so I guess that tracks. And what Tavros wants to do is....play a game.

Last update I said that Vriska saying she's done some things wrong while shrugging and laughing is the ultimate distillation of Vriska, but her having won everything and being miserable about it is also the ultimate distillation of Vriska. She's a woman of contrasts, that Vriskers.

The use of the phrase "session" here outs this line as having Deeper Meanings. Having SBURB sessions over and over so we can play forever is literally Dirk's plan, and most of the fandom is assuming a Candy session is coming.

So, even though they're talking about playing FLARP (the troll DnD game, which is apparently PvP), this is also an argument over whether or not Homestuck should continue. You can't really "win" if the game keeps going, but that doesn't mean you're stuck doing the same thing over and over.

I know Vriska is Problematique, but I'm still taken aback by her 2000s kid usage of "gay" as a general-purpose insult, and not just because trolls don't have a concept of "straight" or "gay". Apparently she doesn't even know what it means and learned the word from Da-

Oh, it was just to set up this line for people to screenshot. Alright. Fine.

brb, gotta go post this in the hard to use reaction images channel on the discord and have someone complain it's easy to use.

Tavros accuses Vriska of projecting her own fears onto him, and then gets into a tangent about being a "soft" female fairy and Vriska takes him up on playing this new "game for girls" and he panics and changes the subject. There's a...lot....going on there.

Vriska starts to have an actual breakthrough, when suddenly Aradiabot appears. Wait, is this where Aradia and Ult!Dave went?

We fade to black and I thought that was it, but apparently not. This being a visual novel makes it feel like a much bigger update than it is, and also kind of makes you read each line a bit more carefully. It's a good way of having multiple meaty (or, um, candy-y) updates in a short stretch of time, and that's kind of an important part of the "feel" of Homestuck that no one can really replicate.

Oh, I do not care for this talksprite.

The downside of this format is that it's harder to liveblog, I think, but basically Aradia is complaining about the Vriska Cycle of "Do bad thing, self-flagellate to be redeemed, repeat".

Vriska justifies it because she has to take action and set people straight and stuff, and if this conversation/game isn't leading to the return of "(Vriska)", the OG timeline Vriska who died and got a ton of character growth before post-retcon Vriska stole her girlfriend, then what is it building towards?

A lot of these lines make good single-panel memes. Yes, Vriska, you are the problem in nearly every situation, even (especially) when you're also the solution.

Aradia sa- oh for fuck's sake this is unreadable, guys. Anyway she says that getting into a routine leads to stagnation and slow death, which, mood, but also is about Homestuck itself as much as it is about Vriska.

Jesus Christ, how long is this update? This page is a full on Pesterquest game when the other five routes are finished.

Oh, okay. That's it. Vriska levels and we get a bunch of fire-themed pun ranks for her, of which Skinner's Bane is the best

[davekat-sucks]

Found this on Reddit and I wanted to share it here because it's a really good read and it actually isn't bias.

OP: Not to sound racist, but why are so many people headcannoning Jade as black?

Like with every other character in different artists interpretations we get a wide variety of skin tones, from lightest beige to the darkest brown. But with Jade I literally never saw her drawn with light skin (unless she is drawn as accurately to the comic as possible). Why is that? Is it related to the official material somehow, or it's just a headcannon, that happened to be really popular for no particular reason?

Reply: This is a perfectly valid question to ask, and I think I know the answer!

Homestuck was most popular between 2012 and 2014, and tumblr was the main platform where the fandom discussed and shared things related to Homestuck (or any fandom for that matter). Around this time, young people also started becoming more aware of media's bias towards portraying race. There was an increased awareness that white was seen as the "default" race for fictional characters, and that characters in books and podcasts with no official artwork attached to them tended to be imagined as white for no reason other than this bias.

The result of this awareness was that brown and black people felt increasingly comfortable drawing "blank" characters (what they look like is entirely up to the fans) with dark skin colours, or re-imagining existing light skinned characters as having dark skin. The latter was done either to make an active contribution to undoing decades of racial bias in media, or simply because the artist wanted to see a particular character as being part of an underrepresented culture. Dark skinned characters were also regularly drawn with more darker skin than what was canon, because of bias related to colourism, which is the idea that even non-white (real life!) people are viewed as more beautiful when they're less dark.

Back then, tumblr was a lot less chill about things, and anything that could be remotely interpreted as problematic was met with intense vitriol and villification. This behaviour is now mostly present on twitter, but back then it was unique to mid 2010-s tumblr. Words like "tumbr-ification" and "tumblrina" came from this time. Anyone who was accused of having drawn a dark skinned character with a slightly less dark colour than canon was deemed racist. Anyone who drew a blank character as white was racist if the dominant view ("fanon" vs canon) was them having dark skin. Which was often the case. These people who cried racist were a loud, EXTREMELY loud minority, and with call out posts and dogpiling easily convinced others that everyone agreed with them. So not everyone was like that, far from it, but if your post gained traction and it was found you made a transgression, the harassment you would experience could make you feel like everyone hated you. So even for people who did their best to ignore this "side" of tumblr, there was a lot of pressure to not cross a line with this vocal minority if you wanted to keep sharing your art online, or wanted to stay part of the online fandom community.

Now, how this affected Homestuck. The fan art for Homestuck existed in this cultural bubble that I just described. First, you had these characters with very identifiable features (glasses, accessoiries, T-shirt prints) that lended themselves well to being drawn with all sorts of different colours and hair styles while still being recognisable. Second, their skin colour was left up to interpretation, after the original author recognised that his view of his characters as being white came from personal bias and there was no reason why they would or wouldn't be a particular skin colour. So, this was seen as an extra approval to go wild with fan interpretations and why there is such a wide range of dark skinned Homestuck characters. Jade and Jake in particular are being drawn with dark skin more often than the other kids, because in-universe there is a logical argument for them being non-white: they're islanders! Their dark skinned interpretations are more readily adopted by others as head canon for this reason. As a result, their counterparts John and Jane were also often drawn with tan skin. For obvious reasons, Homestuck 2 made a dark skinned interpretation of Jane significantly less popular.

Last part of the puzzle: why do dark skinned interpretations of Homestuck characters often appear to outweigh light skinned interpretations? It is a direct result of the intense pushback from both white and non-white fans to white interpretations, which I explained two paragraphs earlier. Depictions of Jade and Jake as white in particular were, without exception, met with either blunt criticism or straight up harassment. Sometimes overwhelmingly so, though most of the time only some comments fell into these categories. But it would always be pointed out publicly, and rarely with a friendly tone. Even to this day, on reddit, you'll see that half the comments on any artwork featuring four Homestuck kids all having light skin (or human versions of trolls) simply say "whitestuck" "why they all mayonnaise 💀" or something like that. This heavily discourages people from drawing their light skinned interpretations. People who have posted their light skinned interpretations of the entire group of kids are not likely to do so again, as it will be perceived as willfully ignorant at best and an active statement against dark skinned interpretations at worst.

I hope I was able to explain this without adding a value judgment on what is right or wrong. I have my own opinions and I'm happy to share my own feelings about fandom from a decade ago if anyone wants to know more about what it was like.

[audioeidolon]

Out of curiosity, do you think you will ever go back and continue the Scraps of Wisdom ROTTMNT stories? Also, I really enjoy your works, they are super well-made and interesting!

I think I definitely will! Maybe not this year necessarily, but I never LEAVE a fandom. I still have Psychonauts fanfiction in my WIP folder, His Dark Materials, Assassins Creed, Homestuck- I've returned to plenty of fics, even if I never get anything necessarily publishable done. I absolutely have some half finished fics in the LSoW series that if I sat down and hammered out maybe 5k words, they'd be all done and ready to go, and I've been circling them like a dog with a bone for about a month now.

My Raph-centric fic is definitely the first I'll probably have done (if any), IE "The Part Where 8 Year OId Raph Sees his Dad Straight Up Almost Kill a Dude". I DEFINITELY have been flirting with the idea of writing more fic for friends AU's that I still keep up with and read, because I am obsessed and it's a fun way to do short form fic.

None of this is a guarantee though! I can have 4.9k out of 5k written, and if I never get that last bit done then it won't be posted. I have PLENTY of ideas for fic, but the question is time and effort. I have probably thirty different fic ideas turning over in my head at a time, and having the energy or time to write it is VERY difficult.

Fic Ideas/WIP's I have at the moment (All Fandom Inclusive): -MCYT Borrowers Fic -ROTTMNT Avengers crossover (Portal Panic) -DND campaign Short Story 1 -DND campaign Short Story 2 -Game of Thrones/Hannibal Crossover -House of the Dragon/MCYT crossover -MCYT Superhero AU1 -MCYT Superhero AU2 -MCC Fic -ROTTMNT Raph Centric Fic -ROTTMNT Donnie Centric fic (Hospital Stay) -Court Case LSoW fic -Friend AU fic 1 -Friend AU fic 2 -Psychonauts longform Post Game adventure fic -Dragon Age/Witcher Crossover -OH I just remembered my Witcher/Game of Thrones Crossover -Rewrite of my most popular fic, from like a decade ago. An Assassins Creed/Avengers fic, that I cringe to reread but some people really enjoy, so if I want to continue I'm gonna have to overhaul the whole thing.

As you can see, that's a lot. And that's stuff I have actually actively written for, anywhere from 500 words, to like, 3k or 20k. I have PLENTY of stuff like that in my folders. I am unmedicated with what I would call is pretty severe focus problems, and it results in (for example) this past month where I wrote 30k of a fic over the course of half a year, realized I didn't like it, and started completely over.

When I wrote LSoW originally, it was actually on PURPOSE to try and get better at managing my focus problems, and I am immensely proud I did as much as I did. If a year or two break is what I need to get back in it, I'm fine with that and won't beat myself up too hard, because this is already such a huge W for me.

Thanks for this ask though! I really do enjoy rereading my own fics and seeing how much I've improved, and seeing all the comments I still get and people reread it an enjoy it makes me so happy. It feels bad to post an incomplete work, but I've come to terms with the fact if I don't post them incompletely, I'll never post at all, and having them out there to come back to actually ensures I'll come back.

And also, hey! Anyone is more than welcome to write based on/in this AU. :P I absolutely don't have a monopoly on celebrity!Lou Jitsu family fic- LSoW was originally based on a tweet I saw! In fact I would LOVE if someone wrote for this AU, because then I don't have to write it to get read it.

[lovova]

I see artists doing little showcasings of what they've accomplished creatively in the last year, decided that looks fun, and decided I'd do for myself an little inventory of what I've written in the last year as well, based on archive posts and what I can recall (I specify 'what I can recall', because I was not keeping track of when I did or did not update my main fanfic "Video Game Cruelty Potential" so...guestimates for that fic! I have 36 chapters, I can probably guess it was updated at least every other month) ~ So! For 2023: January: Did a fan-fanfic for my friend Lex called "The Other Rooms" where I explored off-scene implications of his cool-ass fic Room No.5 February: Created an alternate version of VGCP called "VGCP: Characters at their best" where I tried to explore some of the chars in the same setting being more well adjusted. I haven't gotten very far in it, but I am determined to get back to it this year! Also probably updated VGCP March: Did two short Kaito stories, an Oumota called "Playing with Phobias" where Kokichi messes with Kaito and a Saimota called "Luminary Hero of the Track Field" where Shuichi worries over Kaito's enthusiasm to sports while sick. April: Started what was MEANT to be a multi-chaptered Homestuck!V3 Kaito fic called "The Devotion of the Luminary of Skaia", but I haven't gone back yet to figure out what happens next yet. Thinking about it now, I think I was to make it a three chapter fic, but I just need to save some space to go back and outline it someday. VGCP? Maybe? May: A short Oumota piece called "Carnation: Please Handle Gently" that I got some awesome art commissioned for by the incredibly talented Ere. This short story inspired me so much that I'm actually basing a new original novel on the same concept~

June: I (believe) this was the month I finished Kaiden! An omegaverse original story I was writing and posting to Kindlevella. I am super proud of finishing that piece, and while I want to go back and create a more refined second draft before selling it as an Amazon book, I still LOVE this version as well. Very proud~ And VGCP!

July: Two Oumota short stories, "Touring Mortality" and "Execution Failed". Touring Mortality was especially fun to write, though I was amazed at the positive feedback Execution Failed got. It was very uplifting XD This was also the month I (re)started my original story "Pearls and Shackles". Also probably VGCP August: More Pearls and Shackles, more VGCP. September: Pearls and Shackles! Probably more VGCP! Can't remember! October: Can you guess? PEARLS AND SHACKLES! VIDEO GAME CRUELTY POTENTIAL!! November: This was a purely Pearls and Shackles month, and that was because I dedicated NANO (National Novel Writing Month) to finishing it. AND I DID! It super needs a second draft, its not ready to show off, but it EXISTS! So hell yeah!

December: A funny short V3 story called "Soulmate Goose of Enforcement!" I had a lot of fun collaborating with this one with Lex, and am hoping to do a chapter 2 with another great writer added to the mix too, Andromebaa. I also started the first two chapters of a new novel manuscript, a Hanahaki story about a pair of lesbians struggling with love in their own ways, but both trying their best! And, also, I updated "Video Game Cruelty Potential"

Did I overestimate how often I updated VGCP this year? Underestimate? I have no idea, that fic is almost 300,000 words long by this point, let's call an update every other month a generous average of how often I add to it. Other then VGCP, I did 8 Short Fanfics, finished a book, started and finished another book, and started a third book. And I'm not counting stories I had to write for my school year. Just ones I did out of the passion in my damn heart.

So, yeah! I'm pretty proud of this year, it was a good one. I hope anyone reading this had just as good a year! Writers, steal this idea, go looking back the year and brag about what you accomplished! You deserve it!

Have a good 2024 everyone!

[grassbreads]

Writer Interview Game

I was tagged for this by @torterrachampion . Thank you!!

Since this is my fandom-specific account, I'm going to keep these answers mostly limited to fanfiction.

When did you start writing?

I have been writing my entire life. I was one of those kids that was convinced I was going to write a novel at age 10 (although I never got further than a couple of chapters). For fanfiction specifically, the first fic I ever wrote was a halloween story project for middle school that I turned into D.Gray-man fanfiction. I started writing and publishing fic for real the following summer, when I was 14. (Much like the novels in elementary school, I never actually finished one of the longfics I started in high school).

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Big time lmao. A *lot* of the original fiction I read is horror, and although I've played around with the idea of writing a horror fic, I'm yet to find a good concept for one. I'm also a huge lover of long multi-chapter fics and elaborate AUs, but I publish mostly oneshots.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I honestly cannot remember ever having my work compared to specific other writers?

But as I said, I love elaborate longfic AUs yet really struggle to write them myself (long projects are my enemy), so I would sell my soul to be able to emulate the works of travelingneuritis or oxfordroulette, both of whom I really admire. I've written whole long posts before about how much oxfordroulette's Homestuck fics impressed and impacted me when I first read them like 6 years ago.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

My writing space is anywhere in my apartment :). Sometimes I write at my desk, but more often I'm curled up or crosslegged on my couch or futon. Gotta be cozy and comfy.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Since fic is a pretty casual hobby for me these days, I mostly just kinda write when inspiration strikes (hence why I publish roughly one fic per year). That said, rereading canon scenes featuring the characters I'm writing always helps me get their voice into my head.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

I don't know if I write enough to have big recurring themes? I like writing about characters that aren't doing well mentally, but that's both broad and not always applicable.

I suppose it does always make me laugh when I see "Christmas" listed among my most-used tags on Ao3. I'm not even a christian, but I've written two fics set during christmas bc gift exchanges make for good fluff, and with my output, two times puts it in my top 10.

What is your reason for writing?

Sometimes a story worms its way into my brain so deeply that canon just isn't enough. I need to live in that world to a degree beyond what I can get from canon content alone. And when there isn't enough existing fic by others to scratch that itch, or when there isn't enough of the right *type* of existing fic, I simply have to sit down and make my own.

Also, writing fanfiction is fun :).

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I'd like to think I'm good at characterization, at least most of the time. And I think I'm good at making sure things flow.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I really like a majority of the things I've written, or at least the stuff I've written as an adult. My really old writing makes me cringe a little sometimes, but I look back on it fondly, and I still reread newer stuff like An Act of Trust and Idle God, Idol Gossip for my own amusement.

The brief answer is that overall, I'm quite proud.

If either of you are interested in joining, I'll tag @cinammonelles and @azapofinspiration :)

[cyvonix]

Cyv Reads Homestuck - Act 2 Wrapup

Now, let's talk about act 2.

HOLY FUCK.

I thought act 1 moved quickly. I thought it dumped a lot of info on you at once. But that shit was nothing compared to this. All of a sudden, not only does the main cast open up, taking us to multiple locations in quick succession, but it also introduces different points on the timeline??? The wayward vagabond guy remains a complete mystery to me. He appears to be someone living on a far future version of earth, presumably after the meteors took everything out. But that still leaves so many questions. Why does he have a contraption that allows him to directly communicate with John? How is that even possible if he's in the future? Is he actually in the future? What are those little buttons on the console for? What species is he? So many questions and so little answers.

Then we have our new characters in Dave and Rose, which are both an absolute delight. Rose is really interesting to me as she seems to be the one to give the least of her deeper personality away, opting to write in knowingly pedantic ways that sometimes make it harder to decipher what her true emotions even were at the time. The horror nerd with a preference for solitude is certainly an archetype I can relate to, which was fun, and the purple color scheme is just really nice looking honestly.

Dave Strider is a bastard. I fucking love him. He's the exact kind of "kid who thinks he's so much cooler than he actually is" that, similar to what I said about the comic's writing in general, could get obnoxious really easily, but is instead written in such a brilliant way that makes his antics constantly entertaining. And the puppets just everywhere??? Help????

All three of these characters share some things in common. One being their unique typing styles, which I think really characterizes them so well and makes their interactions through Pesterchum so endearing to read. The second is that they're clearly all internet friends purely. They make reference to being in different locations and even timezones, and it's awesome to see the switching perspectives yet still have all of them feed back into the overall narrative.

Other than that, this act continues to be really funny and really interesting. Actually, much more interesting than the first. While act 1 kept me hooked for the intriguing structure of the story and way it was written, act 2 is giving me so many threads to latch onto and see where the hell they're possibly going to go (if anywhere, that is). In addition to the vagabond - which gets even more interesting when you consider the final, and may I say phenomenally done, animation wherein you see other parts of this strange and desolate version of our world - I also wonder about these strange little imps and what their deal could be. Where the two halves of the kernelsprite actually ended up and if they'll come into play. How these seemingly disparate worlds and times are connected and even communicating with each other. What in the fuck Sburb even is and where it came from. So, so many questions. And I don't know how many will be answered but god damn now I need to find out. I'm starting to understand how this thing captured such a massive group of people.

So yeah. I am into this shit. I'll keep updating as I read on in the next act. Probably just short posts for the most part, but I may still do post-act wrapups like this one just to compartmentalize it all.

[charliesinfern0]

SO SO SO SUPER COOL. i first saw your artwork back in 2022 [i think…!?]?? your ososan stuff! and i thought your artstyle was so super cute and unique that when you started posting it again in 2023 i recognized it off the bat haha. i look at everything outside of ososan too now and i find it all very fun! we have a lot of overlap in other interests but its also been so cool to see things i have only thought of getting into without ever taking the leap LIKE CATS!!! I REALLY LIKE SEEING POSTS ABOUT CATS!! its all very interesting to me!! i like seeing you indulge so much. its fun seeing blogs that are so obviously and beautifully collections of things that person is passionate about!! i would like to see even more of that. i VERY MUCH get being held back by a sense of being cringe/too much but i bet if you doubled down on everything without caring things would only become doubly cool! its also very fun to see someone who has a lot of continual passion for their fankids for homestuck?! admittedly my hs days were primarily like..4-3 years ago but back then it was really common for people to start msfpas or make ocs and then run out of steam really fast [its a strong time commitment and VERY OBVIOUSLY AS I WOULD KNOW interests change!!] but seeing how much youve stuck with page and the development of your art since making them is CRAZYYYYYYYYY and so inspirational!!! truly very awesome to see. LASTLY LASTLY LASTLY though i could ramble for a very long time I REALLY REALLY LIKE YOUR CAT CAFE FIC IDEA…and this is no like easy feat when it comes to ososan stuff to me im pretty picky lol. even if it never gets off the ground the stuff you laid out in that one ask w all the chapter titles and musical tie ins was so fun to read + A VERY GOOD MUSIC REC and im glad to have been able to peek into your head about it!! i was just thinking about it the other day :) anyway have a good one forever benrey infern0

OH MY GOSH THANK YOU?!?? THIS IS SO SWEET YOU'VE MADE MY DAY LIKE TEN TIMES BETTER NOW T_T im so happy that you enjoy my blog so much and im so happy you like my art and writing and ocs!!! ^_^ i have been nervous about being seen as annoying or too much for posting abt stuff i enjoy and ive been wanting to post about stuff that im worried people might find cringey,,, but your message is inspiring me to just go for it!!!! hehehe ^_^ i do have some new interests (and some new f/os!!!) that i want to share soon, and im also planning to just do a bunch of self ship and oc ask games and make a bunch of oc x canon art!! im super excited to do all that now :D

also its actually the 1 year anniversary of the official beginning of citrus!!! (though ive been working on it for a lot longer lololol) i'm planning on posting some art to celebrate in just a little bit, so keep an eye out for that! >_o

thank you again for all of your kind words!! knowing that there are people out there that enjoy me and my art makes it all worth it (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ) i hope you have a good one forever too anon!!!!!

and i hope you like the little collage of some of my fave things right now hehe ^_^

[anomaletix]

mspfa recs [week of 6/29]

Oh hell yeah we back!! what yall been reading/writing/intriguing last week :pencil:

two trolls that hate each other very much is one of those adventures that I was super surprised with when it came to how much effort was present in it. there's some super cool flashes (such as the one on 95 which was lit asf and had dat like no-mic walkthrough vibe), act intro panels, some cool concepts and on top of dat I think there's a nice little story going on that's finally getting started. i was a big fan of the writing especially as the chemistry between both the 2 trolls that hate eachother (holy title drop) and the other 2 trolls in the story is just extremely fun to read and i'm havin a good time. very clearly a labor of love and i can always fuck with adventures that do that.

Out The Front got absolute crazy vibes and I fuck with it heavy. it's a little hard to pin down what exactly about it feels "ethereal" but i mainly think it's how it's written. i can always fw first person perspective and in combination with the vn style it's got going on and the cool mix of photography and the two-color palette panels it's a very unique read that I think will be going Daemon mode soon.

this last one might be a bit of a stretch but i think HOMESTUCK +NOVA has something under it's kinda candy-coated exterior that's gonna go genuinely kino peak fiction once it gets there. even besides that, I think it's a fun read: nova's written pretty obnoxiously and mary-sue esque perfect in a lot of aspects (they got individually letter colored rainbow gradient text, they built everything they own etc) but it's at that barely-crossing-the-line level where it doesn't feel annoying to read. alongsite dat there's been bits where nova's character hints at further development, and it's super exciting to see how much potential depth can be pulled in this story that i wanna see supa bad. potential kino peak. in other news i wanna make a separate pinned post sometime that has some of my overall recommendations: there's some cool stuff that i've been keeping up with that I haven't been able to post here (mainly due to a rule i have, no repeats; i wanna keep sending new stuff here) and I think having a lil document for that as well as archives of all the old stuff would be nice to have. so stay tuned for dat fr

[annotatedamblings]

annotatedAmblings's Homestuck Reread Liveblog: Act 3 (part 1, pages 759-891)

Although liveblog posts will contain analysis due to how we like to engage with media, liveblogs are primarily a collection of whatever thoughts came to mind during our reading. Liveblog posts are constructed with each mod drafting their own live reactions separately before combining them, so some sentiments may be repeated due to both mods noting it down. Any analysis within a liveblog post should not be assumed to be our complete thoughts on the subject.

Blue = Mod Aluria Pink = Mod Jasper Arrows (>>>) are used to indicate commentary on each other's commentary.

Page 759: The whole Egbert family tree kinda fucks me up. Nanna and Dad are objectively the best guardians in Homestuck, and yet their affection comes with an immense pressure to conform to certain societial expectations, especially regarding gender. I know I keep fucking saying it but the whole Crockerbert line is really a potent commentary on suburban culture. Oof ouch my absolute head.

Ah so this is where Dadbert got it from. On another note: first mention of the Beta kids' classpects!

Page 760: WOOOOO Jade time! OMG HI JADE :D

Page 761: Sorry, my bad, I meant WOOOOO Farmstink time!

Page 765:

Jade's handwriting is so 13-year-old girl. I've done this.

Page 768: I only just noticed that her shirt switches symbols even before it's directly acknowledged. "You have quite a number of INTERESTS. So many in fact, you have trouble keeping track of them all, even with an assortment of COLORFUL REMINDERS on your fingers to help you sort out everything on your mind." On my first reading when I got to this, the forgetfulness and many interests resulted in me pogging like :0 I now declare thee ADHD lol (I have ADHD). >One of us, one of us, one of us-

Page 769: Even her loading screen is personalized. I think Jade's direct interaction with Homestuck as a comic is such a great way to communicate how aware she is of certain things. Anyway, I'm making such beautiful music. Trust. >Truly a symphony fit for a king. (A solo player cannot be a symphony.) Silly flute refrain ily

Page 772: I love Jade's weird moduses and I love all the fan speculation on how they'd work. I bet I could find my way around the battleship modus alright.

Page 773: A lot of these goofy game-themed modi logically would suit someone with Jade's level of prescience.

Page 781:

Had a reaction in my bones to seeing this apple. Like that meme of the annoying orange with the face removed where it has an evil presence about it.

Page 788:

Aww, check out the defaced SBaHJ poster Dave sent Jade. Their friendship is so important to me holy shit. Also, the poster for the bootleg Ghostbusters movie the symbol on John's shirt came from!

Page 789: I would have killed for a room like this in like 5th grade. >I would kill for a room like this now.

Page 790:

Hey Jade? I don't wanna tell you how to live your life but that's kind of a lot of uranium to have right by where you sleep.

Page 795:

Tangle buddies!

Page 797:

Let Jade be a furry. Stop trying to take her swagger. First instance of the bit where a character adoringly looks up with their hands clasped while thinking about something. >This always makes me think of Tejuri now I won't lie. >>...Same hat. What getting really into a fanventure does to an mf.

Page 798:

The Manthro Chaps are delightfully uncomfortable to look at. Ew. I think it's rather interesting how lighthearted the tone of Jade's early pages is compared to the other beta kids.

Page 802: "It would still just be a silly girl draped in a raggedy synthetic tufty piece of crap, and seriously who are you trying to kid with that sort of baloney!" God help the trans Jade truthers she would NOT be nice to herself about it. >Homestuck questionably-temperatured take: None of the beta kids would, from the perspective of evaluating the text of the comic, be trans in a way that implies transition before the comic starts. >>Oh for sure. Especially considering John, Dave, and Jade all have mindsets that would cause severe dissonance with them being trans. >>>Transfem Rose is the most likely, but I don't know if it would happen.

Page 803: 1. Seeing a cue ball among her gadgets and knickknacks is one of the many things that hits differently on a reread. 2. Her cookalizer and refridgerator must be so useful... 3. Fun fact the "refridgifyificator" bit is part of what got me into Homestuck. A friend of mine started reading and referenced it in her status so I attempted. Our respective attempts didn't go very far, but then ~9 months later we both picked it back up and finished the comic.

Page 804: "You might consider smashing it, but you are a little superstitious about whatever ominous consequences that might have" new theory for why Vriska is unlucky (kidding). "This is its reply when you ask if it is your friend John's birthday today." Jade. What time is it. And what is your time zone.

Page 805: "The MAGIC CUE BALL on the other hand is said to make predictions with alarming precision and specificity. Unfortunately it lacks a portal on its surface that allows you to view the prediction." Frowns.

Page 807: Girl the uranium. Her ass is NOT following proper lab safety procedures. Idk maybe being a paradox clone makes you built different.

Page 808: This may not be a real flash, but it does roughly illustrate how it would go for me if it was a real flash. I'm not good at memory. >I don't know how good I'd be at it but it would annoy the shit out of me.

Page 812:

I love Jade's >:\ face.

Page 819: Irradiating steak is NOT! proper lab safety.

Page 822: Continuing the trend of at least one mod fanboying over every single song, I really like Gardener. It's so mellow, and it's got a really unique vibe that sets it apart from a lot of the other Beta kids' music, the same way that Jade herself is set apart. >In this blog, we love the OST! "Gardener" is a nice track. Also: looking at her home, it's no wonder she uses transportalizers instead of stairs.

Page 825: Get on her fucking level.

Page 826: TROLLS. Her computer is so cool. Also:

Trolls spotted.

Page 827: Hm so this answers the time zone question. Yeah I think the 8-ball is just shit.

Page 829: Dave saying slurs again. Anyway this is quality Dave, I like seeing how he interacts differently with different people. I'd like to call back on what I said a few liveblogs ago about him seeming desperate to be liked. How he acts a little differently with different people seems to line up with that theory. >I'm not sure if him acting differently around different friends is a reflection of being desperate to be liked or just their dynamics being different. I do not act identically around every single one of my friends because no two friendships are identical. This doesn't disprove your point but it is something to keep in mind. >>Yeah, I get what you mean, and I did take that into account, but there's something about the way they're different, especially in how he talks to John. I can't articulate what I mean without this getting super long, it's a topic for later, I think. Very endearing Dave tangent. Your honor they're friends!!!

Page 830: These are cool. Aggrieve Remix in particular fucks hard. THEY ALL WORK ON MUSIC TOGETHER!!! YOUR HONOR THEY'RE FRIENDS!!! Notably, Jade and Dave are the biggest contributors by a large margin, the other two only have 1 track each, but Jade and Dave make a LOT of music. I would love to listen to all of these all the way but I'm typing this after midnight so it shall simply have to wait for some other time. >I didn't think about that. THEY'RE FRIENDS!

Page 831: "Looks like he was just finishing up some sort of weird tangential intermission here. Whatever it was, it clearly advanced the plot in no relevant way whatsoever." Heh. Foreshadowing.

Page 833: Yayyyy Midnight Crew! This flash fucks. Also, I love the implication both in the past when the Midnight Crew is mentioned and by the fact that this page is referred to as Midnight Crew Act 1031 that instead of writing Homestuck this universe's Hussie put out actual thousands of pages of Midnight Crew over the span of maybe a few months. You okay, man? Did you get possessed? >Possible meta commentary on Homestuck's nightmarish pace. "Dead Shuffle" slaps. Thank you Mark Hadley.

Page 836: This flash is a little difficult to stomach. Dave is absolutely getting wailed on. AND THE FUCKING MENU GETTING CUT IN HALF. He literally has no choice. God. First: The strife options are more numerous and aggressive. And then Bro just cuts through them. Dave gets his ass kicked in a way nobody else has in their guardian strifes. Even the fact that it's a fast-paced animation instead of letting you take time to select an option and see what it does. Fuck.

Page 836: "I require a font of frighteningly accurate yet infuriatingly nonspecific information." If I had a friend who acted like Jade I would also text them like this.

Page 839: Thank you Nanna for healing John.

Page 845: John seems a tad bit hopeless here. Also his text art is cool and he should stop being mean to himself about it. I like the punch card exposition dump but also dang John nice ASCII art.

Page 847: I love the glow of the laboratory light on Rose.

Page 849:

It all comes back to chess. Damn.

Page 851.

1. Is that a fucking griffon. And a sea-goat. 2. We talked about the potential meaning of taxidermy a bit in the past, but I think it's worthy of note that Jade is the only one to really dislike the taxidermy itself. Rose finds it a bit distasteful, but that's a her mom thing more than it's a taxidermy thing.

Page 855: Obviously I remembered the blue ladies, but I did not at all remember the fact that Jade was encouraged to look up to them. Maybe something about Jake's performative sexuality and relationship with gender roles in all this. >Possible topic to add to the list of potential essays. It's interesting to see the alpha kids' colors in these rooms.

Page 857:

First look at Echidna!

Page 859: HOLY SHIT IT'S KARKAT. Oh hi Karkat.

Page 860:

Hehe 413

Page 866:

I find it mystifying that there is no better way to get to these than walking on top of them. That seems like bad design. Also, 4/13 reference.

Page 868:

I think it's cool that the wire can do that. How the fuck can you do that. If I think about this too long my head's gonna hurt.

Page 871: "CAN'T ABSCOND, BRO". Cannot fucking abscond. There is no way out, it's do or die. I am calling CPS! GET HIM OUTTA THERE.

Page 876: Yeah, it's lucky that the biggest one lands in the ocean, but it's still gonna cause, like, extinction event type damage. Because that's how meteors work. Good thing the world is ending anyway! >I think meteors like that are exactly why the world is ending. That's kinda the whole point. :P >>True, but Rose doesn't know that. Or how meteors work.

Page 879: John's strifing skills have improved drastically in an incredibly short amount of time. Good for him! Hell yeah John and Nanna kicking ass!!!

Page 882:

All of this is gonna seem like chump change after the business adventures of one Dave Strider.

Page 883: "You can't wait to find out what amazing items this new supply of grist will be just barely insufficient to produce." lol

Page 885: Calling back to what I said earlier about the game not letting Rose take away John's agency and what that might mean. SBURB is in the business of creating heroes, perhaps by force, and it expects those heroes to do it through their own strength alone, which is interesting, considering Homestuck is fundamentally about friendship. >Except John doesn't do it through his strength alone. Nanna and Rose still help him even if Rose can't physically manipulate him. It wants to create a new universe and a pantheon that can cooperate while still being strong as individuals. Under SBURB's logic, John needs to go through the steps to become a god himself. But just because he needs to grow himself does not mean that he has to do it entirely alone. With SBURB as adolescence/growing up, you have the people around you to help, but you still need to become an adult yourself. Alternatively, one could view this as a way SBURB can be criticized - forcing children to grow up, take on the responsibility of parenthood, and complete quests representing their growth into functional adults well before they're emotionally or cognitively ready. >>This is true, and I love how interconnected everybody is, but I don't think SBURB is an inherently benevolent entity. I get what you're saying, though. Hmmm... Must put more thought into this at a later date.

If you've read all of this - happy 4/13 from annotatedAmblings!

[scoundrellyfeline]

great homestuck rereading discussion INTERFISHIN' 2 T+23 to T+28 (Mar 5-Mar 10)

first last next

cw: flashing, irl pet death, slight rant about the upcoming minecraft movie

3/05/10

SF 15:13 > honestly idk if ill read later but i might start to REFRANCE some stuff from this blog (@tenaciouschronicler) because i really like the insights! (imagine if i slowed down and stayed at the same pace as them). i highly recommend reading from the beginning, but ill only really reference things in step with my reading if i deem them relevant/funny :33

SF 15:13 > wait how did i forget to post the link https://tenaciouschronicler.tumblr.com/tagged/homestuck%20replay/chrono

SF 15:15 > does this count as an advert? hmm i wouldnt think so and instead consider it a STRONGLY recommended piece of extra reading :PP

SF 15:19 > discord server parchance?

SF 15:21 >

SF 23:32 > i was just counting the logs i have so far

SF 23:33 > John-Rose has the most with 19(1) and 7(2 so far) making a total of 26

SF 23:34 > John-TG then has the second most with 5(1) and 1(2 so far) so 6 total

SF 23:34 > John-GG have had 2 logs in act 1 and 1 log so far in act 2

SF 23:35 > and then we havent seen rose interact yet with TG or GG

SF 23:35 > (i was a little bit curious)

3/06/10

SF 07:07 > i was just thinking about retaking that extended zodiac quiz

SF 07:08 > ive had two animal deaths within 3 months and i think that would be considered a major life event

SF 3/06/25, 8:06 > { (forwarded from #announcements | 3/06/25) @/Makin:

}

SF 08:06 > but what did makin mean by this?

SF 09:43 > this isnt a part of my liveblog i just want to put my eridan horns here

SF 16:37 >

SF 16:37 > holy shit why is it doing that

(flashing lights)

why

SF 16:39 > also sometimes i think of this meme when thinking about cosplay

SF 16:39 > bleh this is def going to be a mini intermission isnt it

SF 16:40 > sorry i just cant bring myself to read

SF 16:40 >

SF 16:40 >

SF 16:41 > also sharing one of my fav gifs

SF 16:41 > i aspire to be this cosplayer when im dressed in my nep gettup

SF 16:41 >

SF 16:42 > i miss my cat

SF 16:43 >

SF 16:44 > just the horrible horrible sound of him in pain and having trouble breathing... i dont know if ill ever be able to forget that

SF 3/06/25, 18:29 > { (forwarded from #homosuck | 3/06/25) sburb has proved that children yearn for the appocalypse. bring them to the big red button!}

03/07/25

SF 3/07/25, 14:49 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) (#polls >) im honestly really on the fence about seeing [the minecraft movie] because i keep feeling super apprehensive about them turning it into another generic blockbuster (pun intended)}

SF 3/07/25, 14:49 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) id def want to see it more if with others tho}

SF 3/07/25, 14:49 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) i just really hope they dont mess it up that badly, by which i mean it at least has to be at least as good as the fallen kingdon series

}

SF 3/07/25, 14:49 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) im already worried about how they decided to go live action instead of going the 2011 minecraft animation/minecraft story mode art style}

SF 3/07/25, 14:49 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) i mean, i suppose i can understand about having difficulties with the real world actors navigating a 1x1x1 m world, but you wouldnt even have this issue if the characters were animated while ingame!}

SF 3/07/25, 14:49 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) my jumanji ripoff senses are tingling}

SF 3/07/25, 14:49 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) at least jumanji took place in a semi-realistic looking junglescape instead of Uncanny Valleyville, population: Steve?}

SF 3/07/25, 14:49 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) gah this was much more of a rant than expected

sorry}

SF 14:50 > definitely not homestuck but im putting my thoughts here because why not

SF 3/07/25, 14:52 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) wait let me link that one video if it wasnt taken down again}

SF 3/07/25, 14:52 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25)

}

SF 14:53 > this is required viewing for the liveblog i promise

SF 3/07/25, 14:52 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) dw its not too long, just repeated slightly faster each time to stretch it out to the length of an actual movie (around 16 min for the first round)

}

SF 3/07/25, 14:52 > { (forwarded from #general | 3/07/25) ... maybe the real heroes were the brian we made along the way <33}

SF 17:57 > bro whats even happening over there

03/08/25

SF 3/08/25, 14:04 > { (forwarded from #news | 3/07/25) @/Makin: scratch starts really messing with people

#homestuck @/2025_Homestuck_Reread}

SF 14:05 > is this why we have

? doc scratch altered her psycology enough to shape her into his own image?

03/10/25

SF 3/10/25, 11:18 > { (forwarded from #vent | 3/10/25)i have two moods: ill read/play this for a few minutes ==> plays/reads for 4 hours [OR] ill read/play this for a few minutes ==> doesnt even start}

SF 13:38 > i was trying the minestuck mod

SF 13:38 > this is what i mean when i say stuff like "the lag almost killed me"

SF 13:40 > heres the link if anybody wants to try it for themselves:

SF 3/10/25, 14:53 > { (forwarded from #homosuck | 3/10/25) "gah i wish this rave was even better" the humble strobe light:}

SF 3/10/25, 16:47 > { (forwarded from #minecraft | 3/09/25) @/gaudyTechnician_[GT]:

ok this mod needs way more recognition}

SF 3/10/25, 16:47 > { (forwarded from #minecraft | 3/09/25) @/gaudyTechnician_[GT]: it's not even done and it's already one of my favorites from how creative it is}

SF 16:47 > after watching the video im inclined to agree

SF 16:48 > i promise ill read more soon

SF 3/10/25, 16:47 > { (forwarded from #homosuck | 3/10/25) @/featherheadMetropolis: i like this review

}

[vilevileposting]

I am reading Homestuck for the first time (Weeks 8-10)

I'm too lazy and gay to make one single post a week. Anyway!

Andrew Jeremiah Hussie is eschewing the storytelling convention of cause and effect left and right and it's really testing my reading comprehension. I'm really really enjoying myself, even as I begin to compare other things in life to homestuck. My quality of life will never return to where it was pre-homestuck, but I feel more cultured. More alive. I really like Homestuck, I am a true believer, and that cannot be undone.

I am also 100% in the trolls now, they're here.

Week 8:

1579: musk slut

1582: Rose’s imps don’t seem shadowy at all, but it seems like that might just be what they’re made of. The other guys were tar, these guys are chalk and marble.

1592: Knight of Time! I had a feeling there might be an “of time” because of that linkedin post, but I wasn’t certain it’d apply to Dave. Obvious open question of what everyone else is “of.”

1595: I hope there wasn’t any lore in there because I didn’t read it

1599: Almost missed the ghost hand saving the bunny

1609: She looks a lot like the shadow queen and is being handed a crown. Sus!

1613: Ahhh but the light queen has a scar and missing arm.

1617: YOOOO

1621: I can see 12 pages into the future. mogs the camera

1626: Seer of Light! Interesting title for someone presumably asleep on the shadow planet.

1630: Scar, missing arm, much like Spades Slick AND the Light Queen!!! And, on double checking, the Shadow Queen. When the Light Queen un-prototyped herself, she lost the tentacles, jester hat, and scar, and gained an arm. It seems kinda like the scar+arm thing might be similar to whatever it is the kernelsprites do to their respective kingdoms, if not the same thing. Maybe Spades Slick jumps into a kernelsprite. Who knows! (Remembered later on that the harlequin doll that prototyped John’s sprite first had a fucked up eye and missing arm. Still weird that that happened to Spades Slick!)

1637: I’m remembering that ancient shot of the prototyped swordbird hovering over the remains of Cal. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!

1641: HEEEEELLL YEEAAAAAAAHHHHH

1651: That’s allowed!?

1655: 100% on the money, mwah

1663: Cutest shit ever

1669: I really like that Jasper’s secret was “Meow,” but also a genetic code? Aside from that I’m happy everyone’s +1 is still in play, chillin on everyone’s planet. No clue how John’s Dad got to the Land of Wind and Shade! It’s also interesting to see the genetic code on Rose’s walls, being coded as a MEOW, being the secret Jasper told her. Also interesting to pear with the fact everyone’s Pesterchum handles (with the exception of John’s current handle but not his old handle) is genetic code.

1674: I had a feeling reading this would clear up a few points I was stuck on, and I was right! Here, it’s clarified that Spades Slick is an alternate version of Jack Noir from the trolls’ session, who was exiled along the way. Same with Snowman being an alternate version of the Black Queen. It’s also pointed out to me that there’s a server/client relationship with the Exiles.

1736: Well I have an idea how that Sassacre time loop closes.

Q: Why might both the White King and Queen have abdicated just to aid PM in delivering Jade's package? Having seen its power in [S] Jack: Ascend, what do you think is inside the box?

A: They said from the start that light was fated to lose, so this might have been a “fuck it, let’s try it” moment.

Q: Why do you think gallowsCalibrator tricked John into getting killed by his denizen? Why do the trolls care so much about the kids?

A: It seems like at some point in some way the kids are going to fuck up the trolls’ game, but the trolls’ actions aren’t exactly completely revenge-oriented.

Q: What implications might Dave's future time powers have for their group? Why did Hussie refrain from showing us Dave's entry to the medium?

A: I’m sure Dave’s time powers will be used sparingly and keep the timeline very sane. Maybe Time Shit is the reason we didn’t see Dave enter the medium, but I mainly think it’ll be because something cool hatched from the egg.

Q: Why does Lil Cal have a dream self?

A: I’m not sure to what extent the dreams are dreams and you can manifest shit in them. Maybe Dave dreams of his brother’s puppet, maybe Cal is alive and is also asleep and dreaming.

Week 9:

1846: Homestuck predicted AI art, sad to discover Dave is an AI bro

1857: First mention of some outer gods type shit, hopefully not a consequence of those cool spooky needles.

1873: December 3rd is my birthday 😊

1884: BRO HE’S HUFFING THAT THING

1902: Man I’m curious about the relationship between everyone’s +1. It’s weird to me that John’s grandma was ectogooped and not his dad.

1905: Did Dave’s brother even make lil cal…

1915: COLONEL SASSACRE!?

1928: Halley has eyes and a smile and Bec has no eyes and a frown. I feel like we’re gonna see Bec get ecto-cloned in a manner similar to the mutant cat.

1929: Hehe, knew it was Jack

1939: So there’s a reason we don’t see it…

1943: Yooo john sheets

1961: YA LOST ME

1972: This is fucked lmao

1987: The Harley line are freaks FOR REAL

1988: This recap mentions the frog temple that would later root itself near Jade’s house, and I actually am thinking about that. The frog temple meteor is shown inside a crater on top of a flat, dark bottom. The frog temple on Earth is shown to be built on top of cooled lava flowing into a crater where a meteor landed. Further, the frog temple the exiles live in is right beside a huge hole where the volcano used to me. This might be another stable time loop thing. Maybe the meteor temple with bec and sburb crash lands beside the volcano, and then is sort of recreated? And then somehow that temple gets uprooted into being the meteor temple. This recap also seems to be the only way to know what happened on 1961 because on god there is no mention of a bunny and then the bunny just appears with no explanation

Q: How does the process of ectobiology work? Is Dave's bro really his brother, and are John and Jade's grandparents really their grandparents? Where does John's dad fit in with this?

A: Ectobioloy makes a clone of a thing using its paradoxified goop. I don’t think Dave’s bro is necessarily his dad though. In an even sampling, 50% mom and 50% bro, then Dave would have the same genetic relationship to his brother as one would with their dad. But the goop mixing wasn’t the same process of chromosome pairs doing their thing that guarantees a 50 50 split, it was just a mixture of goop. He could share 25% of his DNA with his brother, or any other percentage!

Q: How do all three bunnies that John receives relate to one another? Who do you think Jade's pen pal is?

First, Nicholas Cage returns the bunny to the props department of that movie, and from there it changes hands at various Hollywood auctions until somehow Dave is able to snatch it up. Dave sends it to John, who later fucks it up with oil and shit. John gives the fucked up bunny to baby rose, who repairs it later in life, and sends it to John. John gives the repaired bunny to baby Jade, who upgrades it with the help of her pen pal, none other than her own grandfather (going by how he talks and the time shenanigans in play). Jade then sends it back to John, but it’s intercepted by the plot.

Q: How was Bec created, and how might he become important to the plot?

He was made from the DNA of Halley and whatever genetic code was in Rose’s book. It’s probably fine! Probably doesn’t indicate anything that Jack Noir is most likely the one to have set it up.

Q: What are the implications of someone's dream self dying, as Jade's did in [S] Descend?

Probably means nothing happens when they dream, which means no more future vision. I hope Jade isn’t too upset about it, if I see her sad I WILL take it out on my surroundings.

Q: What does the reckoning do? What might it mean for the kids' session that theirs has started early? Do you think they're doomed to fail?

The reckoning seems to be what ends the game session by blowing up Skaia and the planets. The kids might be doomed to fail, cause anything goes in a webcomic, but I’d rather see them overcome.

Week 10:

1989: GREEN AND PINK MOONS!!! TROLL PLANET!!!

2011: Tentative favorite

2032: I wonder if the exiles mimic the tropes of the other planet. If this game is representative of typical entertainment, maybe the highly civic Earth exiles are based on Alternia’s entertainment, while Alternia’s exiles mimic a mafia webcomic on Earth.

2055: This is how I met Lexi

2062: Yo

2074: I feel the weight of millions of teenage brain chemistries forever altered.

2099: Shit I’d ban frogs too if they were always this cryptic.

2117: Can the paraplegic community please tell me if this is good representation so I know how to feel

2119: SAGITTARIUS BABYYYYYY!!!

2145: I know you, Vriska

2161: Competing for favorite. Also these fucking amateurs need a better roleplay format. All you need is third person and quotations!! Come on!!!

2164: TINKERBULL!!!!!!!

2178: Leo point

2179: Not feeling so hyped about Sagittarius anymore…..

2184: I meant to note earlier that the various roleplay accidents don’t seem to be the same accident, which I assumed they would be.

2188: Catgirl and Gamzee will be my co-favorites, no doubt putting me in line with virtually everybody else. These guys suck!

2190: Oh she’s *gotta* be dead

2191: dreamworks face at the camera

2195: dreamworks face at the camera

2222: Nightmare blunt rotation

2253: Oh yeah, it’s all comin together~

2280: My 9th ever note predicted how much of a freak Equius was going to be about this.

2282: He’s NICE with it!!!

2293: Man

2295: Why are they suits

2302: Man Troll Jack is just the realest

2311: Say…. This guy wasn’t ever a tumblr sexyman was he?

Q: Of the nine trolls introduced so far (plus one about to be introduced), who are your favorite? Who are your least favorite?

A: Gamzee and Nepeta are neck and neck. I identify strongly with Gamzee’s oppressively chill vibe and Nepeta’s animal autism. I would invite them both to my server. Conversely, I’ve been granted a powerful understanding of Vriska’s place in the culture. She’s done enough to be vehemently condemned, but there’s enough still there that I could see how some people latch on. Unlike Equius, who just sucks.

Q: What can you glean about Alternian society? Who is at the top of the hemospectrum, who is at the bottom, and where does Karkat fit into it?

A: Seems to be a spectrum with red at the bottom and purple at the top, and Karkat at the very rock bottom.

Q: ,,,wha+ wood 7our +7ping quirk be,,,?

A: Vile leans back on his throne, his eyes narrow, and his smirk wide. His answer occurred to him immediately, but he didn’t blurt it out. The windup before the punch. “A superior roleplay format,” he calls. “To show these amateurs how it’s done.”

Q: What catalyzed the cycle of revenge between Vriska and her former FLARP partners? What consequences has it had, and do you think it'll threaten the success of the trolls' Sgrub session?

A: Seems like Doc Scratch meddling is the catalyst, but I’d hesitate to say he’s the cause. He’s kinda right, he sort of just pointed Vriska in a direction. It’s gonna cause a lot of mistrust leading into the Sgrub game, which probably won’t have any consequences.

Q: Who is Doc Scratch, and who is his equivalent in the kids' universe? Why do you think he's meddling with the trolls?

The shit he’s doing to the trolls may be for the purpose of getting Lord English in play. It’s not lost on me that the space server that summons that demon is shaped like the last GameFAQs server sent by Rose. He seems equivalent to Bec, unless there’s more than one unique special genetic code lying around. And who’s the kids’ equivalent to Lord English? Ass pull: Jack Noir.

[erigold13261]

Yo! I got SUPER spoiled for JJK today at work lol! (so like, kinda spoiler-y post here! So read at your own discretion!)

Eh, decided to put it under a cut because there are a lot more spoilers for the later parts of season 2 and it's a longer post than my liveblogs so someone might see a glimpse of something they didn't want to read before watching themselves.

So first off, I kinda got spoiled for Kento's... end thanks to a tiktok. I only saw a screenshot before I paused the video (and then saved it for later), so all I saw was Kento's face after SOMETHING happened (if I remember then uh, he kinda looked a LOT like Eve at that point, which is kinda ironic considering the Eriverse lol).

I told my coworker about this (and how a youtube video showed the start of Hanami's death less than like 2 seconds into the video that I wanted to save for later). When we were both on our breaks he told me WHO killed Kento and I was like DUDE! COME ON!

I wasn't actually mad lol. It was actually super fucking funny seeing his reaction and like INSTANT regret at me repeating/asking "Wait? ______ killed Kento!?" Absolutely hilarious.

And then later on I was asking if we saw any more cool scenes between the Hidden arc and the end of Kento and Hanami, and this same coworker says "Yea!" And then immediately proceeds to start giving specific detail about Hanami's death instead of a fun scene BETWEEN the death and where I am now!

Lol! I'm not the biggest spoil sport for spoilers, I was kinda hoping to go into Hanami and Kento's deaths blind, but it's not the worst thing that could have happened (also can't wait to see Mahito do a hand puppet Junpei mockery! Make me hate that little bitch some more lol! For good reasons!)

Also, FUCK SATORU! Can't wait to see that fucker die! Blue stopped Hanami from using her domain, and if my coworker is right then we NEVER get to see it! I AM SO UPSET AT THAT! WE GET TO SEE ALL THE OTHER MAJOR CURSES' DOMAINS! WHY NOT HER'S!? FUCK YOU GOJO! YOU RUINED MY GIRL'S MOMENT!

Also also, I can't wait to see Dagon cry over Hanami! OMFG! I want to see more of that little cuttlefish (and his little digimon evolution as my coworker put it lol).

I have the next 2 days off so I'm gonna try and continue the series. Though I do want to draw as well as play a game with another coworker (and possibly the spoiler coworker if I stay on late).

I'll get back to Homestuck at some point. I just keep opening it to Vriskra's introduction scene and then clock back out. Like I don't know why I'm doing this? She seems like a fun character (though a bitch) so I should want to learn more about her.

Don't know why but I think her and Mahito would be buddies lol.

Anyway, little rant over. Major points to gather from this is fuck Satoru and Hanami is love Hanami is life! (and Dagon is babygirl!)

[maedaex2combo]

————————————

Warnings: Strong language(?)

Pairings: Karkat x Reader, Dave x Reader(?) (Gender-neutral!Reader)

Summary: You’re a little bored today, like most days, on this damn meteor. Everyone else is busy, so you have no choice but to hang out with Karkat. This probably won’t go well. Or will it?

A/N: Ahhh! This is my first fanfiction I’m ever posting. I’ve written fanfiction for a while, but I’ve never really wanted to post it. I suppose I’m starting today! I’ll definitely be writing for other characters in homestuck, but also different series/fandoms! I hope you enjoy this cute little wholesome piece I wrote while I was rereading the comic. Sorry if I’m not great at writing for certain characters, I try my best. If anyone wants me to make a follow up on this story, let me know! I wasn’t gonna make another part honestly, but I might if people want it, or if I just feel like it one day. :b (Disclaimer that I’m a huge DaveKat shipper and if I write a sequel or more about this timeline it will probably heavily include Dave lol sorry)

————————————

===> Be Y/N post-scratch (pre-retcon)

You are now [Your] and [Name], respectively.

You let out a deep sign. You’ve been staring down at this notebook you were doodling on for so long, you feel like your neck might just be stuck in a hunchback position permanently once you try to look up. You stopped doodling in the book a while ago, just blankly staring into space, thinking about random things. And by space you mean this book, which you were drawing galaxies and shit on.

Your mind wanders a lot these days. You cant even keep track of how long you’ve spent on this damn speedy ass meteor. It was interesting for the first week maybe, but it’s gotten a little boring. It feels like an eternity since you guys departed from the green sun.

Oh well, you’ve seem to come-to out of your imagination so you might as well take in your surroundings now. You hesitate for a moment at the very real, and totally not preposterous idea that your neck might actually be stuck in position. And that when you try to lift it up it’ll snap, and you’ll paralyze yourself, and then you’d just have to writhe embarrassingly on the floor in front of your friend.

Nah, just kidding. That wouldn’t happen. That’d be terrible though.

Anyways.

You lift your head up and take in your surroundings. You’re in, what you like to call the “library-living-room”, of the meteor. No one else calls it that, but you think you might be getting Rose in on it, since she referred to it as such during your last conversation a couple hours ago. Speaking of Rose, there she is, like probably 6 feet away from you, engulfed in some book as always. She looks really focused, but also happy! She always seems to have this slight smile whenever she’s reading, like she’s always happy to be gaining more knowledge. It’s really cute honestly. Rose and Kanaya are your best friends at this point, you practically spend all your time around them.

That, however, is starting to be more and more of a problem. It’s obvious to anyone around those two that they’re SO into each other, and it kinda makes anyone feel like the third wheel if there’s not a 4th person around. Most of the time anyways. I mean, they are still friends, but they have this like really subtle, mutual way of flirting with each other sometimes. It’s really cute x2. But, in short, you gotta give them their alone time from time to time. Time time time. You wonder where Dave is.

Speak of the devil, Kanaya just walked in!

….

What?

Did you think I was referring to Dave? No, I was just talking about Kanaya, that transition totally made sense!

“Hello, Rose. Hello, Y/N.”

You wave to her with a smile, leaning back on the wall behind you.

“Kanaya, I’m glad to see you.” Rose says to her “I wanted to show you something.”

“Show me something? What is it?” She replies, bending down to have a look at something rose is referring to.

You wonder why she didn’t want to show you, even though you’ve been sitting in the same room in silence for like a couple hours now. You decide not to say anything, you’d probably come off as jealous or bitter or something. Your words tend to come out the wrong way sometimes.

Kanaya sits down next to her and they begin to talk. You start drowning it now, zoning out again. You admire the two in front of you, they’d be so good together. You can’t wait for it to just finally happen already.

After a bit of your mind wandering, you come-to again. The ladies are giggling and having a moment now. One of THOSE moments. You decide you should take your leave at this point.

You stand up. “Hey y’all, I’m gonna go find Dave. Any idea where he is?”

They look up at you as you walk over. “I passed by him earlier, it looked like he was going to that chalk drawing room he, Terezi, and the mayor are always in.” Kanaya responds to you.

“Chalk drawing room?” You giggle “I like that name. Did you name it that?”

“Well… no, I called it that just now… because I’m not quite sure how to refer to rooms here. I suppose it’s hard to give directions. I’ve never realized this.” She says, now a little flustered.

“Should we start labeling the rooms?” Rose suggests. “We could always number them, in descending or ascending order from the roof or floor respectively. Hell, we could even label them with letters. Though, I am forewarning that the former system would probably be more confusing than the previous alternatives.”

This conversation kinda blows. You totally just interrupted whatever sweet moment they were just bonding over. You gotta go!

“Well, you guys let me know if you decide, but I’m just gonna keep calling them goofy names anyways! Thanks though, Kanaya! I’ll see you guys later.”

They can’t really say anything else, because you’re already leaving as you say your goodbye. They can only nod and wave in response before you disappear into the hallway.

You shudder as you quickly make your way to the chalk-drawing-room. Why is it always so cold only in the hallways specifically? Maybe it was your imagination, but you always moved pretty quickly from room to room anyways. It gives you the creeps to be out here alone. Honestly everywhere in the meteor-lab gives you the creeps, you always try to stay with someone as often as you can. And also to try and use the transportalizer as often as possible. But of course, the one to your destination just broke recently, due to DaveKat fighting shenanigans.

Chalk-drawing-room…. You think about whether you really like that name. You kinda wanted to call it mayor-town-room, since the whole room is covered in the mayors little town area that Dave and Terezi collaborated on. You guess you can call it chalk-drawing-room though, only because kanaya said it, and it was kinda adorable!

You finally make it to the chalk-drawing-room, and you peer inside to see if Strider really is in here. And there he is! Standing on a desk/table. What is he doing? You move in a little further to get a better look.

Oh my gosh, Terezi is on his shoulders! They’re drawing something way up on the wall. Honestly, this is a pretty impressive effort they’re making right now, even though you’re pretty sure Dave could just fly up there, right?? You kinda just stare at them for a while. Totally not in a creepy way or anything.

Then suddenly, they’re starting to lose balance! Oh god, they’re gonna fa- and down they go.

You gasp quietly and cover your mouth to silence it. You’re about to go see if they’re alright when- Oh. Actually it seems like Dave kinda caught Terezi. So she must not be hurt.

“dude are you okay? i told you this shit was not a good idea.”

“1M F1N3!!! YOU TOT4LLY BROK3 MY F4LL! SHOULDNT 1 BE 4SK1NG YOU TH4T??”

“oh yeah im fine. that definitely wouldve made me break a butt bone or something if I wasn’t like. this awesome god tier motherfucker. that can fly.”

You notice he’s hovering right above the table.

“Y34H, WH4T3V3R. BUT DONT S4Y TH4T. 1T R3M1NDS M3 OF H1M.”

“right. sorry. but look, bottom line, i totally just saved your ass. literally.”

“OH WOW D4VE, YOUR3 SO R1GHT. TH4NK YOU SO MUCH FOR S4V1NG M3. *ROLLS 3Y3S DR4M4T1C4LLY*.”

“dont start roleplaying with me out loud.”

“1M NOT ROL3PL4YING, 1 4M JUST D3SCR1B1NG TO YOU WH4T MY 3Y3S WOULD B3 DO1NG 1F TH3Y COULD! 3V3N 1F TH3Y COULD DO 4 ROLL, YOU WOULDNT B3 4BLE TO S33! 4ND 1 WOULDNT B3 4BL3 TO S33 1F YOU D1D 31TH3R B3C4US3 W3R3 BOTH TOT4LLY 4W3SOM3 SUNGL4SS W34R3RS!!! >:]]]]”

“oh damn i thought you wouldnt able to see for a totally different unrelated reason.”

“1 KNOW D4VE. 1 W4S JUST TRY1NG TO COMPL1M3NT US BOTH.”

“yeah, were pretty awesome.”

Yknow, you wonder why you’re still standing here, observing their conversation. You guess you would have walked in and asked if they needed help or something, if you didn’t get this like- weird vibe from what’s happening right now. It’s almost like…… oh man. Yeah it’s like what you feel when you’re around Rose and Kanaya. They’re not really flirting, but it just feels weird to interject. He’s holding her and they’re having a bonding moment, and- oh okay, she just licked him. You’re hoping she was like getting chalk off him or something. You decide to back out now.

That made you feel… weird. Definitely contradicting with some feelings you may or may not have had for Dave. For years. That’s okay though. We’re just not gonna think about it.

Now you’re getting a little anxious. You’ve been in the hall too long without someone else. What if he were to just show up and slaughter you right now???

“He” being Gamzee. Ever since you got to the meteor (via jades weird portal body) and the trolls told you guys what awful things Gamzee had done prior to arriving at the green sun, you have been a little scared shitless of him. It seems like no one else feels this way really, besides maybe Kartkat, but he’s the one who keeps the guy under control. Everyone else just doesn’t care, or wants to go kill him themselves (which honestly you wouldn’t be apposed to). You’re probably the weakest one out of everyone here, since you never ended up reaching god tier, and you’re not a troll who grew up being trained for this type of thing.

You just want to avoid him at all costs, which hasn’t been a problem since no one really sees him besides Karkat, as mentioned. But you always stick around Kanaya just in case, since you know he’s especially avoiding her.

But anyways, the hallway just makes you feel vulnerable. Every now and then, you’ll hear a slight honk while you’re walking, and it makes you pick up to a sprint. You just wanna get off this fuckin rock already.

Alright, think. Who else is there left to bother? Rose and Kanaya are busy, and so are Dave and Terezi. So then…. Ugh. Karkat. Well, it beats being alone!

You start to speed walk towards the grumpy trolls room. Hehe. What a funny name you just now came up with, that he totally wouldn’t understand, because it’s a highly complex human media reference that trolls definitely do not have. You make note to tease him about that later.

Your shoes clank quietly on the floor as you walk at a slowly-fast(?) pace.

Wait.

Did you hear that?

…..

honk

Oh..

honk

Fuck.

honk

NO.

HELL FUCKING NO. BOOK IT, YOUR NAME.

You are now running, like a god damn marathon Olympian. Is marathon running even a thing in the Olympics? WHO CARES. WERE JUST RUNNING REALLY FAST, OKAY?

Finally, you see Karkats big metal door in sight. You know it’s his door because he carved his damn symbol on it super big.

Once you reach the door, you knock. Politely, of course. No point in him being pissed at you more than he probably already will be.

…

…

…

honk.

OH GOD DAMN IT OPEN THE DOOR.

You knock again, this time definitely not in a polite manner.

honk.

YOURE KNOCKING QUITE A LOT NOW. GEE ITD BE NICE IF AN ASSHOLE TROLL OPENED HIS DOOR FOR YOU RIGHT ABOUT NOW.

“KARKAT ITS ME CAN YOU OPEN THE DAMN DOOR” You yell, still knocking obnoxiously.

AND HALLELUJAH, IT OPENS! And with a very pissed off Karkat behind it, no less.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU-“ You cut him off immediately by pushing him inside with you.

“CLOSE THE DOOR!! CLOSE IT CLOSE IT!” You shout.

“OKAY OKAY FUCK IM CLOSING THE FUCKING DOOR!” And he complies.

The door shuts, and you don’t think you’ve ever felt so relieved. Besides maybe when you found out that Rose and John weren’t dead that one time you found their bodies on the Skaia Battlefield. Dang, that feels like forever ago.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT?” Karkat yells, snapping you out of the thought you were just having.

“Oh. Sorry. It was like, a really long walk to your room. And you know I get paranoid being alone for too long.”

“YEAH I STILL DON’T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELL YOU’RE SO PARANOID ABOUT. GAMZEE HASN’T SHOWN HIS FACE TO YOU GUYS IN LIKE. ALMOST ONE OF YOUR HUMAN YEARS. I THINK.”

“Yeah, but you never know! I’ve made it a point to avoid him, so if I let my guard down, that’s when anything could happen!”

“THAT’S THE STUPIDEST FUCKING LOGIC IV’E EVER HEARD.”

“Yeah well, whatever. You just don’t get it.”

“WOW, OKAY. I’M GONNA IGNORE HOW TOTALLY IGNORANT AND UNTRUE THAT STATEMENT JUST WAS. JUST KIDDING! THAT WAS FUCKING IGNORANT AND UNTRUE. I KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE WHAT THE FUCK THAT’S LIKE.”

You don’t really say anything to this, you know he’s right. He had told you about how terrifying it was that day Gamzee went on a rampage. You cant even imagine… being around while he’s ACTIVELY rampaging. You shudder thinking about it.

“ANYWAYS, WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING HERE? DID ROSE AND KANAYA KICK YOU OUT SO THEY CAN SNOGGLE OR SOME SHIT?”

“No, I kinda just escorted myself out so they can do whatever. Snoggling could be something they’re doing right now, I dunno.” You walk further into his room and take a seat on the floor next to his computer.

“OKAY. THAT ONLY ANSWERED ONE OF MY QUESTIONS THOUGH.”

“Oh yeah. Well Dave and Terezi were busy too so I-“

“WHAT WERE THEY DOING?” He cuts you off. God he’s so easy to read.

You roll your eyes, an action which he can clearly see because you don’t wear sunglasses, and he’s not blind.

“They were drawing in the chalk-drawing-room, aka mayors-town-room.” you answer “and they seemed busy, so I didn’t wanna interrupt.”

“BUSY DOING WHAT?”

“Okay. Well. I just told you they were drawing. But I’m assuming you mean more specifically. So, honestly they were just having a moment when I walked in. I didn-“

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN A MOMENT???”

“Yknow, like, they seemed like they were getting all close and shit so I didn-“

“HOW CLOSE.”

This is getting comical. You kinda wanna tell him something obscene, just to see what he does. But you stay composed.

“I don’t know, Dave was helping her draw something up high, then they fell, he caught her, and then terezi was all licking his face so I was like ‘im out of here!’”

You can see him get a little red in the face, to your slight amusement.

“SHE LICKED HIM??? THEY DONT EVEN TRY TO HIDE IT ANYMORE”

“Haha neither do you!! Plus, she licks everything. I’m sure she was just trying to see something on his face or-”

“WHY WAS HE EVEN HELPING HER WHEN HE COULD JUST DO IT HIMSELF?! GOD THEY ARE JUST SO-“

Aaaand he’s ranting. And he totally ignored what you even said. You listen when he rants, but it’s hard to keep up sometimes. He just keeps at it for. so. long. And it’s usually just a lot of internalized rage for himself that he turns outwards. We know this.

“SO ANYWAYS,” you shout, cutting him off mid(?)-rant “like I was saying, I came here because I had nothing else to do. And I don’t want to be alone.”

“OH GEE THANKS. NICE TO KNOW I’M THE LAST RESORT. YOURE A REAL FUCKIN PAL.”

“Well excuse me, you don’t really like to make our interactions all that gleeful!! I always get a headache around you cus all you wanna do is rant about how obsessed you are with your ex-mate-whatever!!” You shout back. You weren’t really expecting that to come out, but there it is. “Everyone else is just way more inviting! Rose and Kanaya are always my go-tos. And then Dave.”

“WHAT ABOUT TEREZI?”

Youre surprised he didn’t have a comeback to what you just said before that. “Um, yeah, I dunno I guess she’s the next pick. I don’t think she likes me all that much, though.”

“WHAT? WHY WOULDNT SHE?”

Okay. Weirdly, you noted that that seemed like a compliment.

“I dunno! Maybe I smell bad.”

“YOU DONT FUCKING SMELL BAD.”

Noted, again.

“I know dumpass, I was kidding.”

“SHE’S PROBABLY JEALOUS SINCE YOU SPEND SO MUCH TIME AROUND DAVE.”

“pssssh. I doubt that. She doesn’t seem like the type to get petty about that stuff, unlike a certain troll I may or may not know.”

“OKAY I DIDNT INVITE YOU INTO MY ROOM TO MAKE JABS AT ME OKAY? IM TRYING TO BE FUCKING CIVIL.”

“I mean, technically you didn’t really invite me at all.”

Why. Why did you say that.

“OOOOOOHHHH. OH SHIT. YOURE SO RIGHT. I DIDN’T, DID I? YOU INVITED YOURSELF, HUH? WOW WHAT A REVELATION. ITS ALMOST LIKE I DIDN’T WANT YOU HERE IN THE FIRST FUCKIN PLACE.”

Goddamnit.

“Whatever! Can we just talk about literally anything else! Or even just not talk at all!”

“SURE. WHATEVER.”

You glance around the room a bit. There’s not much in here, but he’s made it his own with a little decorating. Pretty much everyone has their own rooms, besides you. Embarrassingly enough you convinced Rose to share a room with you. You feel bad, but you try to give her as much space as she needs. She doesn’t really like to spend much time alone either anyways, you think. She’s like your sister at this point, and you’re glad she’s so kind to you.

“Hey, Karkat do you have anything I can read?”

“WHAT? NO. WHY THE FUCK WOULD I?”

“I dunno. I see you reading sometimes. Also there’s literally a book sitting right there on your couch.” You point towards the trollian novel (as seen in comic) that’s sitting on the not-so-comfy looking vintage couch. Where did he even get that?

Karkat quickly retrieves the book and walks over to a chest to stuff it inside.

“I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING FOR YOU TO READ.”

“Come onnnnnnn. I’m so bored. Reading an alien novel would literally be so much better than anything else I could possibly do on this rock right now.”

“EVEN IF I DID HAVE BOOKS, WHICH I FUCKING DONT. YOU WOULDN’T EVEN BE ABLE TO READ THEM, THEY’RE IN OUR WRITING.”

“Oh, Kanaya actually taught me how to read it!”

“WHAT?! SHE DID?”

“Well, I mean, I still kinda struggle with it. It’s kinda confusing. But yeah, I think I mostly got the hang of it. Kinda.”

“HUH.”

“Karkat please, spare me of my boredom. If you don’t have books then, is there literally anything else we could do?”

It’s silent for a moment, and he’s just kinda staring at you with that scowl he always has, crossing his arms.

“I… OKAY I DO HAVE BOOKS, BUT YOU WOULDN’T LIKE THEM.”

“What?! You don’t know that.”

“YES I DO. YOU WOULD DEFINITELY MAKE FUN OF ME FOR IT.”

“Oh, no I promise I will be so tame about it! I won’t criticize your literature- well I mean I probably will, but in a good way!”

“NO WAY. NOT HAPPENING.”

“Cmon, it’s not like you wrote the books! Just let me see!”

Karkat sits on the couch and pulls out his computer, probably intending on ignoring you now. You will not stand for this. You take it upon yourself to retrieve the treasure yourself.

You get up and dart for the chest to your right.

“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING-” He quickly stands up to go after you.

But it’s too late! You’re getting that book! You’re opening the chest!

[You got: Erotic Trollian RomCom novel!]

Wait- what kind of novel?

You stare at the weirdly intimate and partially nude troll drawing on the cover. Huh.

But not for long before Karkat snatches it out of your hands. You forgot he was hot on your trail, kinda got mesmerized for a moment.

“DON’T GO FUCKING RUMMAGING THROUGH MY STUFF OR YOU CAN GET THE BIGGEST FUCKING ONE WAY TICKET OUT OF MY FUCKING ROOM.”

“Okay, okay! I just want a damn book to read!”

“I TOLD YOU!!! YOU WOULDNT LIKE ANY OF THE BOOKS I HAVE!”

“WHY NOT?!” Now you’re shouting. He always gets you like this.

“BECAUSE!”

“BECAUSE WHAT??”

“BECAUSE I FUCKING SAID SO.”

“THAT DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE!!!”

“ITS BECAUSE THEYRE ALL FUCKING ROMCOMS! OKAY?? THEYRE ALL SAPPY ASS TROLLIAN ROMANTIC COMEDIES WITH ALL OUR FUCKIN ALIEN QUADRANTS AND SHIT.”

You stare at him for a moment. And he stares at you, he’s basically heavy breathing at this point.

You start to snicker, and then that turns into a laugh.

He blushes a little, but he turns away so you don’t see.

“SEE?? THIS IS WHAT I MEAN. YOU’RE JUST FUCKING JUDGING ME.”

“NO IM NOT!!” you shout back, still giggling a little.

“THEN WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!”

“I don’t know!! It’s just funny! I didn’t think you’d be into that type of writing! But hey, I like romcoms too!”

“YEAH RIGHT. FUCKING BULLSHIT.”

You stop laughing.

“What do you mean “yeah right”?? It’s true!”

“LIKE FUCK IM GONNA BELIEVE YOU. YOURE JUST TRYING TO CONVINCE ME SO ILL GIVE YOU A BOOK AND THEN YOU CAN RAG ON ME ABOUT HOW AWFUL MY TASTE IN WRITING IS OR SOMETHING.”

“Ugh!! You are IMPOSSIBLE sometimes!!! Actually, I take that back! All the time! How do you know anything about what the hell I’m going to do?!”

“IT’S OBVIOUS.”

“Is it though?! You don’t even know me Karkat!! We’ve probably spent all of like three whole hours together as long as we’ve been on this damn meteor!! And we’ve been here for forever!!! You don’t know anything about me!!!”

“I WATCHED ALL FIVE OF YOU HUMAN FAILURES GROW UP.”

“SO WHAT?! That means you know everything about me? That doesn’t mean JACK SHIT! It just means you’re creepy! Here I was thinking maybe I could try to find SOMETHING to bond over with you! But no! You wanna be a crabby little jealous shut-in who just self deprecates all the time!! It’s getting old! Who even cares if I did think the book was stupid! If you like it then it shouldn’t matter what other people think!!”

“…”

“Whatever! If you’re just gonna refuse to have even a remotely nice interaction with me, then I’ll just leave!! That’s what you wanted right? Well here I fucking go! Thanks for nothing!!”

And thus, YOUR rant was over. And you start to make your way towards the door. Truthfully, you don’t want to leave. Even if it meant arguing with him, it just occurred to you how much you really don’t wanna go back into that hallway. Please stop me. Please stop me. Please-

“WAIT.”

Phew.

You turn around, crossing your arms and giving him a good glare.

Oh man. As soon as you turn around you almost lose your demeanor because you realize he’s pouting. He looks.. kinda… dare you say-

“ALRIGHT. I’LL… I’LL LET YOU READ A BOOK, OKAY? IM SORRY.”

You immediately light up. “Yay!!” You say as you make your way back over to him.

He looks at you for a moment.

“DO YOU REALLY LIKE ROMCOMS TOO?”

“Yeah, of course! That was like probably my second favorite genre.”

“YEAH WELL… IT’S FULL OF TROLLIAN CULTURE AND QUADRANTS AND STUFF LIKE I SAID. SO YOU’LL BE CONFUSED.”

“Maybe.. but can’t I just ask you about it? I mean, I think your quadrant romance is kinda interesting.”

This kinda shuts him up for the time being. He’s probably flustered, but you don’t really think too much of it.

Suddenly he just walks away from you, further into the room.

“Hey! Where are you going?” You call to him.

But he doesn’t answer, so you decide to take a seat on the couch. Oh wow. This was actually more comfy than you thought. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, you guess.

And then he’s back. And he’s holding a book, but it’s a different one from before. And when you look from the book, up to his face, the two of you make eye contact for a moment.

“HERE. READ THIS ONE.”

Your eyes light up a little. You take the book out of his hands and he watches you fan through the pages. It’s a pretty thick novel.

As you read the description on the back, Karkat goes and takes a seat on the other side of the couch, picking up a book on the floor under it.

“So, is this one like your favorite novel, or did you just pick one at random?” You ask.

“THAT ONE… IS MY FAVORITE.”

“Damn, okay! Starting off with the best then. Are you sure you don’t wanna give me a shitty one so my expectations aren’t so high after my first read?”

“NO. THATD BE STUPID.”

“Haha yeah. I’m kinda worried now though, what if I don’t like it? If it’s your favorite-“

“DIDN’T YOU JUST GO OFF ON ME ABOUT HOW I SHOULDN’T GIVE A FUCK WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK, DUMBASS?”

“Oh yeah, I did, didn’t I?” You facepalm yourself internally. How’d you forget that?

“BUT JUST.. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IT WHEN YOURE DONE.”

“Really? You WANT to know what I think?”

“I MEAN YEAH. I NEVER REALLY HAD ANYONE ELSE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS STUFF. ALL MY FRIENDS WOULD GRILL THE FUCK OUT OF ME IF I TALKED ABOUT IT WITH THEM. I’VE NEVER REALLY… KNOWN ANYONE WHO ALSO LIKED ROMCOMS.”

“What about-“

“JOHN DOESNT COUNT. HE HAS SHIT TASTE.”

You giggle at this, and really take in what he said about not having anyone to indulge in this stuff. It’s kinda sad. From what you know, troll culture seemed pretty lonely when quadrants weren’t involved.

“Alright then. Lets talk about the book as I go! It’ll probably take me a while to read though, im a little slow with your language.”

“OKAY. SURE.”

And then the two of you are reading, on opposite sides of the couch. Five feet apart cus you’re not gay. What a stupid fucking reference. Id stop writing right now if I could bring myself to. But I must continue.

Seriously though, it’s pretty peaceful. For the first time ever since meeting Karkat, being in his presence was actually helping you to relax. Everytime you finished two chapters you would stop and discuss it with him a little. You both had the same thoughts for the most part, so it was really chill.

After about 12 chapters, you figured you needed a break. You closed the book and took a big stretch with your arms. Karkat looked up from his own book to watch you curiously. Totally not in a creepy way or anything.

“Well. I think that’s enough for now” you say, satisfied.

“REALLY? YOURE NOT GOING TO READ IT ALL RIGHT NOW?”

You would almost think that was sarcasm, if he didn’t have such a seriously confused look on his face.

“I mean.. no. I don’t really read whole books in one day. Do you?”

“YES.”

“Oh wow. You’re committed then.”

It’s a silent for a moment. Kinda in a awkward way. Kinda.

“So, didn’t you say before that you had more than one copies of this book?” You asked.

“YEAH. WHY?”

“When was the last time you read it?”

“UHHH. I MEAN I GUESS ITS BEEN A WHILE NOW, I USED TO REREAD IT REALLY OFTEN SO I PRETTY MUCH HAVE THE WHOLE THING MEMORIZED. BUT ITS BEEN A PRETTY LONG TIME SINCE I READ IT LAST.”

“Thennn… would you wanna read it together?”

“WHAT? WHY?”

“Because! Then we could experience it at the same time and talk about it together!”

“THATS WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING.”

“Yeah but it’s not the same because you’re reading something else! You’d be more invested if we were both reading it”

“I JUST TOLD YOU I PRETTY MUCH MEMORIZED THE WHOLE THING.”

“I know I know. I just thought it’d be fun.”

You frown a little, disappointed. Theres another silence.

“ALRIGHT. FINE.”

You immediately light up again.

“WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS WITH ME SO BAD?”

You pause for a moment. Why DO you want to do this so bad?

“I don’t know! It just seems more fun than reading it alone. It’ll be like our own book club!”

“WHAT’S A BOOK CLUB?”

“Uhhh it’s pretty much what we’re doing right now. A group of people get together, read a book separately, and then discuss it with each other every few chapters or something like that.”

“THAT SOUNDS STUPID AS FUCK.”

“Haha yeah.”

“DID YOU HAVE A BOOK CLUB?”

“Oh no, that shits boring. It’s only fun in this context because im reading an alien book with an alien who’s actually interesting.”

Oops. Did you just compliment him?

Karkat: Compliment noted.

“OH. OKAY.”

The air is actually weirdly awkward now. Karkat doesn’t seem nearly as mean or angry as he usually is. You had a theory that was actually a big softie under the exterior, but you’re still kinda surprised he can be so tame.

For the next several hours the two of you read the novel separately, discussing every now and then about it. Once you finished the book, in one day, you had a pretty heated discussion about the ending.

Then, when you decided you were pretty tired, he walked you over to you/roses room. Rose was already asleep, so you had no problem parting from him and getting to sleep as well.

END OF DAY 1.

[ewingstan]

top 5 favourite characters in any piece of media ever?

Oh Christ*. I doubt I could do real justice to this, but lets see if I can at least list in no particular order some of the characters I most like that have at least an orthogonal connection to this blog.

Rachel Lindt: Look, getting through the early parts of Worm were rough for me. Everything seemed a bit too exaggerated and ham-fisted, WB hadn't really learned how to do prose, and the only thing keeping me going was remembering that my cousin recommended it a while back and that that some out-of-context posts I'd seen from blastweave made it sound like it had some interesting ideas. But one of the early inexplicable hooks the story got into me was introducing this character who'd seem from a distance like another stock bully character, and almost immediately making me think "wait, I wanna see what he does with her. There's something there." And then there was! There's just something so satisfying about all her interactions with Taylor throughout the whole story; to the extent that I basically divide the story by the different periods of their relationship. She's everything.

Also, my posting about her was some of my first interactions with wormblr. Which is also the first fandom I think I could say I'm actually a part of? Like, there's plenty of things I'm a pretty huge fan of, I even have another fandom sideblog I started before this, but Worm got me actually posting instead of just passively reblogging for pretty much the first time. And Rachel got me there! So I have her to thank for answering this question at all in the first place.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus: The first character I liked in a blorbo kind of way, if that makes sense. Like, there's plenty of characters who I love, or who make the stories I love shine, or who I always had a fun time thinking about. But Harrow as a character just cracks open my brain in a way nothing else does. The Necromancy. The goth space Catholicism. The theatricality. The general horribleness. The specific combination of overwhelming presence and sad shitsack vibes. The specific combination of genius and ingenuity coupled with the crushing stubbornness and lack of creativity. Its not even like a key sliding into the lock in my heart, its like a lockpick that's clicking through all the tumblers in my heart-lock and revealing it for the flimsily-built masterlock-ass shit it is. I never used to get people who talked about how a character inspired them to pick up a hobby or take up an interest in something. But I ended up reading Lolita because of how much I loved Harrow! I started getting into Nabokov as a whole and finding one of my favorite writers because of Harrow! Nothing else does that to me! Which itself leads to...

Rose Lalonde: Did Harrow have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Harrow at all had Muir not loved, one summer, a certain initial witch-teen. In a comic by Hussie. Oh when? About as many years before GtN was written as my my age was that year. You can always count on my favorite characters for a fancy prose style.

No but Rose's verbose prose style really did cement her as one of my favorite characters. Like Bitch, she's a character that got me into an overly-long work I wasn't sure I wanted to tackle. I had attempted to start Homestuck a few times before I actually got into it, and the early computer-game jokes and user-submitted prompts weren't really engaging me. I did not see myself enjoying reading about John futzing around in his room for a few thousand pages. But man oh man, when the narrative switched focus to the literally purple-prosed kid obsessed with Lovecraft, I was ready for whatever the story wanted to do. I related to her and idolized her instantly. When I reread Homestuck much later, I related to her for much less complementary reasons. I have a particular (read: grating as hell) speaking style that's a result of being a kid who both thought of himself as smarter than everyone and was completely unsocial to the point of barely being able to have a conversation. I sound like an analytic philosophy paper written by an undergrad who's not invested in the topic or the course but who really wants to sound like he knows what he's talking about. The unique and specific character voices in Homestuck are the best part of the work for me, and when I first read Rose, I was basically reading who I wanted to be. And reading her later and realizing all the ways she's just a dumb kid makes me think of all the ways I was just a dumb kid, and how I'm trying to get to a place where I can converse with someone and feel comfortable without being condescending.

Look, there's a reason that despite Dave and Karkat having all my favorite moments in the work, I ended up owning two pairs of Rose t-shirts. And its the same reason I have a Ninth House outfit.

Kaladin Stormblessed: What if there was a story about trauma giving you superpowers fueled by bonding to an alien intelligence, but instead of the bonded spirit driving you towards self-destructive behavior it tried to make you into the best version of yourself? I've already talked a bit about how the Stormlight Archives has a surprising number of similarities to Worm, and reading it when I was a young teen probably contributed to developing the sensibilities that made Worm click for me. Plus, the cosmere was my first real multi-property media I got into, so it probably preempted me getting into comics as well (which this blog is also theoretically about). Speaking of—

Roberto da Costa: Feel weird about this, because I'm not even very familiar with the original Claremont stories he originated from. But the Al Ewing stories I read with him were some of the first Marvel comics I read at all (USAvengers was a weird-place to start that journey, tell ya hwat), and he set the tone for what modern big-two comics could do well perfectly. There's a lot of obvious problems with the eccentric billionaire hero archetype, but he's the best of that type of character. And while Ewing has written much better comics than the New Avengers/USAvengers runs he first used Roberto in, those stories were the ones that got me interested in Ewing in the first place. And I initially made this blog as a comics subblog devoted to his work! So again, this blog wouldn't really exist without Sunspot.

Special mention to: The March Hare+Doormouse. Putting them together because my parents met while playing them in their college theater program. Owing my existence to these characters means they probably deserve at least a mention. Also Jessie Pinkman and Sylvester Lambsbridge and Clint Barton and Saint Perpetua and Celestina the Witch and Smurov from Nabokov's "The Eye" and Quentin Brooks from Eidolon Playtest and the fictionalized version of Al Swearengen from Deadwood and Sister Carpenter from "The Silt Verses" and—

*No, I'm not putting him on the list.

[nonbinarygamzee]

so if gamzee running out of slime didn't make him go crazy what did? (/gen, it's been a long time since i read the comic.)

so. im gonna start by being honest and say i dont really like or appreciate the descriptor used here. i think the hs fandom at large needs to take a step back and look at the implications going on with gamzee's character, both the unintentional and the on purpose. what are you (and hussie, obviously.) saying about addiction when you frame an addicts sobriety as the instigation for violence? to frame the substance as what keeps them 'in check'? addiction and sobriety both are morally neutral states to live in, and both are also a state of inherent vulnerability. even if homestuck itself placed gamzee's sobriety as the instigating Thing (which imo it actually doesnt, at least at the time myrderstuck takes place), i think it's the responsibility of the reader to take those things critically, and especially not compound upon them. especially so looking at gamzee, who is a highly racialized character, and coded to be mentally ill. notably the other characters to deal with substance abuse in canon are white coded, and get to be sympathetic in the eyes of the narrative.

for your actual question though, as i said before it's pretty likely gamzee was already sober before the events of murderstuck, for most of if not all of the time spent in the veil. they interact with others absolutely normally on the meteor, all the way up until the instigating trolling session with dave where he shows them the miracles video. Gamzee, feeling disrespected and unsure of their thus far lifelong withstanding (and likely highly escapist) faith, runs off to lick their wounds in solitude. they find lil cal, who as we know is a conduit for the will of lord english. theres been debate about how exacrly LE's manipulation works- is it flat out mind control, or is it more subtle?- theres basis for both ideas in the text, but i think people often forget about the other times this happens to characters and how strong of a hold it seems to get, whether the characters are technically coherent or not. See basically bro's whole... thing, the eyestab x2 combo, etc.

theres something more interesting going on with cal and gamzee than a lot of people give credit for, i think. obviously you have the more straightforward stuff going on where gamzee is questioning their faith, dealing with being essentially friendless after tavros' death, etc. and finds something that starts talking to them about it, and begins to believe that through Cal they will rediscover the truth to their religion.

looking into cal's eyes now gamzee not only has the burn of dave telling them their religion is basically fake bullshit, but they get a glimpse also at Lord English, which is to say they get a glimpse at themself, being a part of Lord English, and therefore a part of the figure that CREATED their religion in the first place.

more metatextually (but NOT less important or less canon because homestuck is a story about metanarrative and being a story. i can not stress this enough.) gamzee also gets a look at themself as a written character in a narrative and all that entails- the fact that they are a joke character, that they are a *character* at all, and that homestuck is a story where the lot of them are essentially stupid for being there in the first place. again i have to stress this is like, part of the point, homestuck is incredibly self referential.

and because im feeling evil and bold i guess i'll throw in some risque feelings on murderstuck as well; gamzee never actually outright attacks anybody. they threaten karkat, sure, but for a lot of reasons that could be its own post entirely i read that as largely gamzee asking for *help* from the guy who has thus far positioned himself as an authority figure- and is gamzee's only living friend. at the very least its a warning, which is more than we get from anyone else looking to kill their friends during this trip. when they kill equius, its because, at karkats behest, he comes after them (and well. its also a revenge narrative for equius using them nonconsensually for sexual gratification. sorry not sorry.). not to say there 100% explicitly isn't any intent there, because there is the argument of gamzee potentially killing equius specifically because of his own soul being needed for the creation of LE. but i just think its not as likely as equius died because he's the one who showed up. when they kill dear sweet nepeta, its because she, again, instigates when she witnesses equius' death. please note i am not making a moral judgement on nepeta here, just pointing it out. the tendency not to start the altercations they end up in is actually something that continues through their story during other pivitol fight scenes. and while this is a bit forward from murderstuck, i think its also relevent to point out that we actually see them interact with characters on the meteor pre-retcon with no intent to cause harm (rose), even feeling regretful and being openly self depreciating. it isn't like gamzee just continued trying to kill everyone.

im not sure how to close this one out for basically; i love them your honor. and so can you.