#saw vriska. thats it.

[rustcopper]

I will not explain what was the thought process behind this but I will let you know this is actually a redraw from something I made back in december and only ever posted on instagram

[angel---eater]

re the upd8 i think we also gotta bear in mind that the adversaries vriska are facing arent literally her spidermom/ancestor or the real doc scratch. theyre vriska's perceptions of these characters made real for her in this realm. so yeah im not surprised that doc scratch is 'OOC', we're viewing him from vriska's POV and through her own feelings about him. perception is important in homestuck

[arachnidsgrippysocks]

everyone makes her so hot and 8adass and im over here like "shes just cute and misunderstood and would cry if you hugged her"

[vriskaserketdaily]

oh hello vriskaserketdaily. could you draw jaspvriskasprite^2 please :)

what in the hell

no

[theforgetter]

anyway the con last weekend was fun! i got merch of TWO!!!!!(!!!) special interests AND my favorite movey AND my favorite tv show AND my favorite manga. and a keychain of a yuri ship. life is so fucking good

[vriskabot]

do you have any davris headcanons?

i saw this ask the instant it came in and i could not believe my EYES. trust when i tell you ive been typing FURIOUSLY in the meantime okay. okay headcanons. -dave has always been a little genderweird and vriska putting makeup on him when she was bored one night unlocked his third eye and now he cant stop putting red shit all over his eyelids -vriska has also always been genderweird and you can see where im going with this. -she steals his clothes ALL the time -he pretends to hate it when she gets her disgusting $5 perfume stink all over said clothes but you know he loves that shit (and she knows it too) -flaming bisexuals -once theyve been together for a while they are THE most "i am going to have the longest silent conversation with someone across the room you have ever seen in your life" -they both think they can read each other like a book but in truth its only about 60-70% accurate -the inaccuracies are always funny as fuck though and 9 times out of 10 its some entirely off the wall MADNESS due to their upbringings they think is entirely normal. the conversations that directly follow these revelations are legendary amongst the extended crew and every single one thats happened in a public memo has been screenshotted by basically everyone they know -speaking of which. i dont think they dm for basically anything ever. they either have conversations right in the GC (sometimes in the middle of other conversations, which karkat fucking HATES, especially when they flirt with each other) or they speak in person/over the phone. no in between -they flirt with each other all the time and its disgusting but its incomprehensible to literally everyone else. vriska tells dave she found some gnarly roadkill and sends coordinates and dave is like "babe stop not in front of everybody" -she used to send pictures too but that got shut down real quick and now thats really all she dms him for -i dont think vriska likes it for the same reasons dave does but he did absolutely get her into the weird and wacky world of vulture culture. dave likes the wet specimens the most but vriskas a fan of bones and taxidermy -speaking of which. this is more vriska/troll-centric but i love the idea of vriska being able to eat bones. dave gets the same schoolboy "oh my god this is so cool" kick out of it every single time -im well aware that music is a time thing but i genuinely cannot comprehend a world wherein vriska is not a music girlie. this definitely did a lot of the heavy lifting in The Early Days because when youre emotionally constipated sometimes you gotta let a song do the talking FOR you -vriska 100% introduced dave to crunkcore and he got way more into it than she ever did. he listens to 3oh3 religiously -dave samples vriska on his tracks all the time because she CANNOT shut the fuck up. he also likes taking pictures of her but even after years together he still kinda keeps those to himself and gets flustered when she finds one -man i just really love the idea of them being fucking obsessed with each other. they rag on each other ALL the time because thats just how they feel the most comfortable being affectionate but at the end of the day they snuggle up all soft and quiet and just enjoy being with somebody who understands how hard it can be to even allow that to happen in the first place -they ARE super casually affectionate with each other though, even in group settings. i dont think theyd like grand pda like kissing or saying 'i love you' in public but personal space just doesnt really exist for them. they hang off each other and sling legs over laps all willy nilly -they also stim on each other. dave likes to play with her hair while hes talking and vriska likes to play with his hands/fingers when shes bored this post is so LONG i could keep going for days. please always ask me about davris, especially if youve got more specific questions!!!

[nintendont2502]

just saw ur caste dating discourse post and realized meulin would've been lambasted by all of those groups for getting w the 2 highest landdwelling castes. kankri would write her callout post. feferi would've been accused of coercing sollux to be w her etc etc

girl would be in the TRENCHES fighting off the waves of terminally online freaks kankri keeps sending her way,, someone save her

genuinely i dont think a single beta troll wouldve made it through the discourse unscathed LMAO

aradia? well clearly shes only with sollux because he could easily kill her w/ his psiionics (god help them if the grumblr mob ever finds out that he *did* technically do that one time)

tavros is held up as like the posterchild for why lowbloods and highbloods shouldnt be in quadrants even though he and vriska were uh. never in a quad together. does he try *telling* anyone that? probably not!

sollux? psiionics. threatening aradia into a quad. (also tbh getting into a quad with someone when youre a goldblood is lowkey problematic because what are they supposed to do after you're sent offplanet and helmed? its honestly really manipulative holding someones quad hostage only to leave them forever which is why all golds should take a vow of celibacy-) hes only making it worse by being an absolute dick to everyone involved and escalating shit so far that theres multiple attempts on his life and everyones *convinced* hes a serial manipulating asshole because lmao why would he tell those idiots theyre wrong

karkat? you mean that hemoanon freak thats probably just a highblood trying to pass himself off as a lower caste so he can manipulate lowbloods into his quads?

nepeta and equius would be torn APART - not only is he three castes higher than her, but hes also far physically stronger so clearly shes the weak defenseless victim here (they keep saying this even after she culls someone for it. nep im so sorry)

kanaya shouldnt even *be* in a quad since shes a jade and theyre meant to be sequestered (similar argument to golds where actually its really cruel and manipulative to be in a quad with someone when you know you two are going to be forced to be apart for sweeps - no they dont care that she left the caverns. she still shouldnt be doing that shit its a bad example for other jades smh)

terezis honestly the most divided because her relationships are either her and karkat (potential highblood, terezi might be victim *or* karkat is a lowblood and shes the one with power over him) or her and vriska (no one wants to know whats going on there). although tbh she is a lawyer which means she can get her quads tried and killed for whatever bullshit crime she can come up with if they try to leave :/ never date a cop lawyer folks

vriska. mind control. do i need to say more. every vriska relationship is toxic and awful and she wouldve been cancelled 50 times over if the ringleaders of her callout posts didnt mysteriously 'deactivate'

equius. too strong to date - how can you be in a quad with someone that not only has a shit ton of social power over you, but also could literally tear you apart if he wanted to. also lowkey problematic for making and fighting/kissing (??? its unclear online and no one wants to know) robots :/ like those are clearly stand ins for lowbloods that hes attacking/potentially fetishising and they literally have to do everything he says thats fucked up

gamzee. highblood. automatic oppressor. part of a niche religion - if you try to quad him you either have to convert (cultural (caste?) appropriation) or dont become part of the clurch (rude, disrespecting his beliefs). constant discourse about whether clowns can even consent to a quad because theyre presumably high all the time as part of their religious practices. constant discourse about how assuming clowns are high all the time as part of their religious practices is casteist as fuck.

eridan. somehow one of the least problematic trolls out of the group (which is saying a fucking LOT). only has quads with someone a caste higher than him (although that caste is fuschia. is he the victim here??). pursues lowbloods constantly though which is problematic as fuck (at least he doesnt kill them if they turn him down. the bar is on the fucking floor)

feferi. god forbid a woman do anything. pale with eridan? sure hes only a caste lower than her but also shes the literal fucking heiress - what was he gonna do, say no? he cant even hide in the ocean from her!! shes a seadweller too!! flushed with sollux? holy shit hes like 8 castes lower than her of fucking course he had to say yes! shes probably only dating him so she can helm him later anyway :/ really its problematic as shit for her to even have friendships with trolls of other castes because shes just using them without giving them the benefits of being in a quad (shes the literal heiress of course shes going to get whatever she wants from them) - but also if she stayed distant and didnt talk to anyone then shed be accused of being full of herself and thinking she was better than anyone else and #NotMyHeiress

[thewertsearch]

> Be Future Aradia.

What.

What!

I'm immediately reminded of Jade's robot - but her circumstances probably don't apply here, since this is a soulbot, not a dreambot. Plus, Aradia doesn't even have a dream self. The only other thing which comes to mind is Sollux's ~ATH script, a virus which already claimed the life of one machine.

Could Aradia have been running some ~ATH code, trying to prevent the summoning of Lord English? If she was desperate enough to run an ~ATH program on her own CPU, just about anything could have happened.

Either way, her body has been destroyed - but we've seen her spirit persist without one. I highly doubt that this is where her story ends.

Anyway, Aradia's PoV is a dud. Vriska, then?

lmao, she really doesn't know.

VRISKA: That was some pretty sweet chainsaw work earlier. Pretty 8rutal, really! Didn't think you had it in you. VRISKA: Hey, you weren't settling a score with him there 8y any chance? KANAYA: What VRISKA: I've got a pretty keen nose for revenge. Could it 8e that you had a thing for him and were upset when he went for me instead? Hmmmmmmmm? KANAYA: Did He Really Go For You KANAYA: Thats Not How I Remember It

I still hold to my assertion that Vriska doesn't lie to people - but, as demonstrated here, she lies to herself near-constantly.

ERIDAN: wwe used to havve a good thing goin remember our campaigns ERIDAN: that shit wwas epic wwhere are you evven goin to find a rivvalry like that VRISKA: It was fun, Eridan. While it lasted. VRISKA: 8ut it ran its course! I don't know what else to tell you.

Pardon the pun, Eridan, but you're clearly small fry to this girl.

FEFERI: )(oly crap did I get you good! )(ey, Sollux! Did you catc)( any of t)(at? FEFERI: A live one jumped rig)(t into my boat! A real suckerfis)(! Woo)(oo)(oo. )(ow do you like t)(at, spider)(ag! Sea dwellers represent!!! VRISKA: That was… VRISKA: Surprisingly nasty of you.

Holy hell, that was impressive. She baited Vriska into being nice, and the moment she saw a hint of vulnerability, she struck. Even Terezi hasn't managed a burn like that.

I've always been interested in characters who are good, but not nice. Feferi seems to take things one step further. She's good and she's nice, while still being a dick.

FEFERI: T)(anks. I )(ope I didn't jeopardize our friends)(ip wit)( t)(at little stunt! 38) VRISKA: Friendship? I don't know if… VRISKA: W8 a minute. Why you!!!!!!!! You almost got me AGAIN!

And she's almost two-for-two!

Please let these two hang out more. I want to see more of this Feferi, with a mean streak hidden just below the surface. It's so interesting.

[conceptofjoy]

SHIT I loVee your real boy seb. hes like if autism and adhd had a child. him having selective mutism and hiding behind someone close im crying. ive been feeling down/tired lately and seeing him made me genuinely giggle and smile. AND AHHH his interactions with other kids i love how you do the relationships in your posts not only <333 in your art style he and his expressions look so familiar and close.. hes my baby. my head aches its so good. seeing seb doing his bunny deals warms my heart like chocolate cheesecake in the microwave in fact. HELL FUCKING YEAH DESTA GO ON!!!

btw thats offtopic as hell but im that anon who originally said dorkhell LMFAO i saw you made the word? a whole hashtag uhoh! i opened my jaw like a smol bird opening its beak 180 degrees so that its mother bird would feed it WHEN i noticed. its actually so funny to me because i didnt even think about that too long. just a sudden thought i decided to add. but yes... this is your inheritance now joy (>_0)

well back to seb im about to disintegrate into sand. i really like how everyone uh... treats him in some sense? though he, i admit, may be a little disaster here and there but they love him <3 so, the way people treats seb with some kind of understanding (im not sure if thats the right word b i cant find anything better than this) is frankly comforting. i just go all "god damn it" as a person who was that neurodivergent child growing up. i may repeat, but i just adore your relationships between all the characters and I DARE to wander into another field BUT the vriska polycule,,... damn yes thats the thing anyone needs to see to make their earth spinning like its should. and they all care deeply about each other despite their ways of showing it is different. i see now!!!!

i literally cant form sentences anymore but they all are so dear. tyyy for making&sharing your art w random people on the internet again!! puts a turtle in your hand and frogblinks at you

AAAA THANK U puts turtle in a well maintained tank. everyone loves little seb n even though no one rlly has experience talking with kids, all of them are nd + have sibling energy/experience. his mischievousness matches a lot of the others lol.

hes a smart kid and knows how to use his cuteness/ how to play dumb to get out of situations (youngest child behavior) but is also incredibly silly. he takes after hal a lot in his smugness and dirk in his explosive displays of affection.

guh thank u so much for ur kind words. im glad i could make u feel better :) also dorkhell was just so good lol its so fitting. i should def elaborate on the vriska polycule l8r but it would take SEVERAL posts lmfao

[davekat-sucks]

Vriska is the favorite of the Homestuck Team but thats not enough- Karkat is the one with a fucking plushie because he's Homestuck Face-

Dave is the fav of the comunity of homestuck but Karkat is the one who is remebered by the people

Karkat is the face of homestuck

I thought it would be John since technically, he's the first character we ever saw in Homestuck. Even the line of A YOUNG BOY STANDS IN HIS BEDROOM, will always be represented by John Egbert. Plus, John Egbert even faces the bigger bad (The Condesce), Karkat only fought Clover of the Felt only to undue his bad luck that was activated by the virus he initiated.

[doyouremem8erme]

ask game time! 💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

somebody told me that terezi was a bad character on instagram so im gonna write an essay on why shes my fave character

first off her sheer chaotic energy is fucking iconic. the complaint on instagram wasnt about that because it cant be denied but shes just fucking insane and i love her for it. i think shed bite off my fingers and then insult the taste of my skin. shes just so crazy and weird and murderous and nerdy and i love her for it. we all know this. but theres a lot of her character that is so overlooked.

heres an essay on why metatextually and narratively, terezi is one of (if not THE) most important characters in homestuck and how that connects to her relationship with vriska.

vriska and terezi are described by hussie like this:

This is the most important character relationship resulting from all the sound and fury of Hivebent's chaotic dispensation... It's the arguable axis around which the whole epic revolves, when you really study all the ramifications from the fallout resulting from their rivalry, ensuing revenge cycle, and mutually floundering struggle for redemption, in the warped way each of them defines that idea.

so i mean even HUSSIE acknowledges that theyre important. and of course we all know vriska is obsessed with trying to be at the center of the narrative and you could say she pulls terezi into that but thats NOT what happens between them.

so terezi meets vriska at some undetermined young age and they flarp together and become close very quickly as seen in terezis memories in remem8er. and when all the drama in hivebent goes down you really see that they arent just stable in their quadrants but that their codependency plays into this vacillation in a really twisted way.

Another snapshot of the tortured Scourge Sisters dynamic, in a long tale of angst and ambivalence concerning justice and morality. Terezi wrestles with this eternally. She wants to bring Vriska to justice. But she doesn't. She does, doesn't, does, doesn't. Vriska thrashes back and forth in a different way. I'm sorry, see how sorry I am? Isn't being sorry ENOUGH? What more do you want? I'm sorry, not sorry, sorry, not sorry. And being not sorry takes the form of lashing out, incrimination, daring Terezi into action, calling her bluff, etc. So her vacillation is more like, I'm sorry, fuck you, I'm sorry, you don't have the guts, I'm sorry, just kill me already! The dangerous dance goes on and on.

so yes. vrisrezi good. vrisrezi complex. but what makes this even more tragic is how they act as the ultimate doomed yuri. before remem8er, terezi talks about a lot of heavy feelings she hasnt really let on before.

GC: 1 N3V3R F3LT WHOL3 GC: 1 ST1LL DON'T GC: 4ND YOU M4D3 1T SO 1 D1DN'T H4V3 TO F4C3 TH4T F33L1NG GC: FOR 4 WH1L3 4T L34ST GC: 4ND NOW TH4T 1 TH1NK 1 KNOW TH1S 4BOUT MYS3LF GC: 1 TH1NK 1 G3T 1T GC: TH3 F33L1NG W1LL PROB4BLY N3V3R GO 4W4Y GC: ONLY COV3R3D UP 4T MOST, M4YB3 GC: W3 COULD W1N TH1S F1GHT GC: CR34T3 4NOTH3R UN1V3RS3 GC: SUCC33D 1N 3V3RY W4Y POSS1BL3 GC: 4ND 1'LL ST1LL F33L 1NCOMPL3T3 GC: V1CTORY WON'T F1X M3 GC: M4YB3 NOTH1NG C4N GC: M4YB3 TH3R3'S TOO L1TTL3 SUBST4NC3 1NS1D3 M3 TO 3V3N B3 F1X3D

she talks about her sense of incompleteness in a way that reminds me of the way you see space players experience loneliness--which is cool given that mind as an aspect has some parallels to both space and time. and she talks about how shes never been complete on her own. going back to the instagram post i saw that said she doesnt feel rounded enough on her own--thats the point. so much of her character is defined by vriska that its a part of her own identity and a tragic part of her actual experiences. theres another hussie quote which is about vriska but still applicable--

For instance, you could write dozens of paragraphs of meta on Vriska alone. But the moment you stop writing about Vriska in a vacuum, and start writing about Vriska x Terezi, the avenues of analysis seem endless. It's a circuitous, psychologically tortured mutual arc of competitive codependency, which on closer inspection serves as the axis around which virtually the entire plot revolves.

her codependency with vriska is one of the most central components of the entire narrative. without terezi's internal torment over vriska there would be no homestuck as we know it. [s] flip and the aftermath of game over (F1X TH1S) are among the most important moments in the entire story and both are defined by vriska and terezi's dynamic.

GC: BUT 4T L34ST 1 TH1NK 1 UND3RST4ND TH4T NOW GC: 4ND SHOULD B3 4BL3 F1GHT W1THOUT H4V1NG SOM3TH1NG GN4W 4T M3 GC: SOM3TH1NG TH4T F3LT UNKNOW4BL3, 4ND M4D3 M3 CONST4NTLY WOND3R WH4T 1 W4S DO1NG WRONG GC: 1'M OK W1TH L1V1NG L1K3 TH4T GC: NOT GO1NG TO PR3T3ND 1T WOULDN'T B3 N1C3 TO... GC: P4TCH MYS3LF UP, SOM3HOW? GC: GU3SS TH4T SH1P S41L3D, THOUGH GC: B4CK 1N OUR S3SS1ON, 1N WH4T3V3R W4Y 1 BOTCH3D MY QU3ST GC: OR D1DN'T R34CH GOD T13R, OR... GC: 1 DON'T 3V3N KNOW WH4T 1T W4S 1 D1D OR D1DN'T DO GC: 1 GU3SS TH4T'S TH3 PROBL3M, 1SN'T 1T? GC: TH3 MYST3RY OF 1T GC: TH3 TH1NGS 1'V3 SUPPOS3DLY DON3 GC: GOOD 4ND B4D, 1N D1FF3R3NT R34L1T13S GC: TH3 M1ST4K3S 1 M4D3, BUT C4N'T L34RN FROM GC: B3C4US3 1 C4N'T R3M3MB3R GC: OR TH3 H3RO1C TH1NGS 1 SUPPOS3DLY D1D GC: S4CR1F1C3S 1 M4D3 GC: TO S4V3 YOU GC: TO S4V3 3V3RYBODY GC: WH1CH T3LL M3 NOTH1NG 4BOUT MYS3LF, 4ND WH4T 1'M R34LLY C4P4BL3 OF GC: B3C4US3 1 C4N'T R3M3MB3R!

im including this stuff without much commentary because it just acts as illustration of how much more depth to terezi than just crazy murdery lawyer dragon girl. yes, shes tormented over vriska and how she lost her in another timeline and all the choices shes made in different worlds but its also about her. her dependency on vriska is a symptom of this deep deep loneliness she holds inside her. theres something to be said about her lack of a lusus and specficially the fact that her lusus's egg was held on a scale weighing it against sburb-associated machinery

the prevention of her loneliness is always doomed. she has no lusus--but in order to have one, the world would have to end. she has vriska--but she loses her in every single timeline without fail. she flirts with the humans--but kills john in one timeline and dooms a dave in another. she cannot pursue intimacy or friendship or any form of relationship without losing both her loved ones along with everything else. its not just that she doesnt have a lusus--its that her lusus hatching will end the world. its not just that she loses vriska--its that in no timeline we see do they get a happy ending, and the closest they get in being erased from reality in each others arms.

GC: M4YB3 1T'S D3LUS1ON4L OF M3 GC: TO 1M4G1N3 TH4T JUST H4V1NG 4NOTH3R S3T OF M3MOR13S 1S GO1NG TO M4K3 M3 F33L MOR3 COMPL3T3 GC: 1 C4N'T STOP TH1NK1NG 4BOUT 1T THOUGH GC: 1 GU3SS 1T'S 4LW4YS T3MPT1NG TO TH1NK TH3R3 1S ON3 H1DD3N 4NSW3R TO 3V3RYTH1NG GC: NO M4TT3R HOW F4NT4ST1C4L OR 1N4CC3SS1BL3 GC: 4ND 1F ONLY YOU COULD F1ND 1T, YOU'D F1N4LLY H4V3 TH3 P3RF3CT R3SOLUT1ON TO 3V3RYTH1NG 4BOUT YOURS3LF YOU C4N'T ST4ND GC: SO 1 JUST K33P WOND3R1NG TO MYS3LF GC: TH4T M4YB3 1F ONLY 1 COULD JUST R3M3MB3R GC: 1 WOULDN'T H4V3 TO F33L L1K3 TH1S

she is tormented by so much more than just vriska. and i talk about this through so much angsty and dramatic words but its really true that shes so tragic. and tragedy isnt the only reason to love her because shes also so silly and crazy and weird and offputting etc but the instagram post that pissed me off so badly said that she became uninteresting after the earlier-comic characterizations of her with her bloodthirsty lawyer/executioner persona.

GC: UH... WOW GC: 1 W4SN'T R34LLY 3XP3CT1NG TO T3LL YOU 4LL TH4T GC: 1 JUST W4NT3D TO C4TCH YOU B3FOR3 YOU GO OFF TO B4TTL3, 4ND W1SH YOU "LUCK" >:] GC: 4ND TO L3T YOU KNOW HOW 1MPORT4NT YOU'V3 B33N TO M3, 1N 4 W4Y TH4T W4SN'T L1K3 GC: CLOUD3D BY OUR USU4L TR4SH T4LK 4ND M1ND G4M3S GC: 1 GU3SS TH1S 1S WH4T YOU G3T FOR 1GNOR1NG M3 FOR TWO S3CONDS GC: 4 L1TTL3 TOO MUCH R34L1TY FROM 4N 1D1OT WHO'S MOR3 M3SS3D UP 1NS1D3 TH4N SH3 3V3R L3TS ON

she says it here. yes she is weird and silly but beyond the parts of it that are engrained into her personality it seems to be (at least in part) an act to cover up how messed up she feels inside. she is so full of shenanigans and whatnot and doesnt display her issues the way a lot of characters do (even the prospit kids who are so known for repressing their emotions show more signs of distress that terezi does, to the point that hussie made sure to note that her distress was genuine when her lusus died!)

More great and very imaginative sound effects. "GENUINE" seems like maybe it's an unnecessary qualifier, until you consider that Terezi is so full of shit, many things she does could be considered ungenuine. So it pays to point out when she is sad for real, like when her newborn baby mom dies.

vriska, downright infamous for being surrounded in discourse around the context of her actions, is even more obvious than terezi. she too plays up an act of her unfazed coolness about all the stuff she does but shes less extreme about it in such a way that its more obvious when she slips a bit in that facade. when terezi is distressed she usually doesnt show it at all because her layers of weird silliness are too thick. shes just a lot better at the whole violent killing stuff than vriska is! you can see this in vriskas breakdown in vrisky business:

vriska has a total breakdown over realizing shell need to learn to hunt after losing her arm and she says this:

bascially saying that that prime difference between them is that vriska, yes, has learned to be ruthless and violent and manipulative (and was never a good person in the first place but it was her lusus that shaped her into being like this) while terezi never had that stress. she could do whatever she wanted and be as wild as she wished which is why she grew into the crazy troll girl who is the most important character in homestuck. with why i love her out of the way its some analysis timeeeeee.

i already mentioned how important flip and f1x th1s are but i wanna dive into that.

terezi exhibits an understanding of sburb's timelines better than anyone else, even time players, letting her do things like lead dave to her own doomed self on his quest bed, and it becomes clear that this is the nature of her mind powers, combined with a seer's intuition. she has many traits that involve seeing through different barriers, if that makes sense--she can navigate the world by forming a mental image of her surroundings by smell and taste after going blind, and she sees through the layers of sburb's bizarreness just as easily.

[s] flip is one of the first places this ability is used in a way this vital to the progression of the main plot--she uses her powers to stop vriska from dooming them all.

Any divergence from this path to my knowing will taper into blackness like rotting roots. But if I was a Seer, such offshoots would be fully within my domain... A Seer would support her allies in battle not with her weapons, but her vision. She would sift through dross of her comrades' poor tactical inclinations and examine the grim consequences. A Seer would not charge into the fray headlong but direct it as a conductor with a baton. She would have the sight to eschew the obvious gambits, and find the path to victory disguised cleverly as setback, or even imminent defeat. She would behold the fortunes of friends and foes in totality, and appraise the contrivance of luck itself...A true Seer would know where luck is a given, where it is absent, and most importantly, where it doesn't matter at all. And she would know victory doesn't matter in a reality where all else is doomed to fail.

being from doc scratch this is ofc not 100% reliable information but its still some good meta. the last couple lines really emphasize her narrative place--as a seer, she is aware of the big picture, and as a seer of mind, she is more specifically aware of the branching timelines formed in sburb. she is a mastermind behind the plot but lacks the tools to truly direct it. (and i will also go ahead and point out the line about acting as a conductor since thats a very important symbol in homestuck representing movements of the story much like an orchestral symphony.

the actual conductors we see are the cherubs, calliope in particular. calliope and caliborn are characters with actual narrative power (caliborn takes over the whole story!) so its pretty impressive to be compared to that.

but it turns out terezi does in fact have a place in the story almost at this level of power.

it's revealed that the initial version of the events following the coinflip were in terezi's vision:

and that she turned around on that initial path to prevent it from happening. on its own, this isnt that significant. but this moment is the moment that the retcons revolve around, with an entire axis of the plot centered around this single moment between vriska and terezi woven together with terezi's visions and powers.

john may be the one to carry out the actual retcons, but terezi is both the one who ordered him to do so and the orchestrator of the entire narrative rewrite. this is the moment when she raises the conductors baton. this is why i refer to terezi rewriting the universe, not john.

all john did was use his powers to carry out the list of instructions that terezi used her powers to develop. most of them are of arguable vitality but the one that truly changes everything is the rewriting of vriska's death. by doing this, terezi is the reason why homestuck does not end in the disaster of game over. were it not for terezi, homestuck would have a far more tragic ending that the bittersweet conclusion we're actually left with. there are many characters who display a level of narrative control--vriska pulling the spotlight towards herself and being somewhat aware that a narrative like homestuck exists; the very existence of john's powers; doc scratch's role as a stand-in narrator on a level comparable to hussie's avatar; caliborn's narrative takeover in act 6 and ascension to lord english; calliope's role as a storyteller of the existing narrative--the list goes on. but terezi's actions are perhaps the most significant, even if her level of control is nowhere close, rewriting the story of homestuck entirely. she does get the password pages in there, which i'll definitely count as a sort of metanarrative presence in the presentation of the comic (like caliborn and doc scratch's site rethemes). yes, john does the necessary actions to achieve this end, but would not have been able to do so without the anchor points of terezi's direction of the plot.

and once again, this is inseparable from her relationship with vriska. yes, she does this to give another timeline a chance at victory, and to carry on her story in another life as she dies in the pre-retcon timelines, but it's also for vriska. killing vriska broke terezi as much as it broke the narrative and so rewriting canon for vriska gives that other version of herself a second chance. there is not point in leaving vriska out of this because the relationship between the two and the push and pull of their tumultuous dynamic is what is at the heart of the narrative--not one or the other.

and even with such a significant role, she is still bound to her fate outside of the changes john can make. im gonna bring back some dialogue from earlier--

GC: BUT 4T L34ST 1 TH1NK 1 UND3RST4ND TH4T NOW GC: 4ND SHOULD B3 4BL3 F1GHT W1THOUT H4V1NG SOM3TH1NG GN4W 4T M3 GC: SOM3TH1NG TH4T F3LT UNKNOW4BL3, 4ND M4D3 M3 CONST4NTLY WOND3R WH4T 1 W4S DO1NG WRONG GC: 1'M OK W1TH L1V1NG L1K3 TH4T GC: NOT GO1NG TO PR3T3ND 1T WOULDN'T B3 N1C3 TO... GC: P4TCH MYS3LF UP, SOM3HOW? GC: GU3SS TH4T SH1P S41L3D, THOUGH GC: B4CK 1N OUR S3SS1ON, 1N WH4T3V3R W4Y 1 BOTCH3D MY QU3ST GC: OR D1DN'T R34CH GOD T13R, OR... GC: 1 DON'T 3V3N KNOW WH4T 1T W4S 1 D1D OR D1DN'T DO GC: 1 GU3SS TH4T'S TH3 PROBL3M, 1SN'T 1T? GC: TH3 MYST3RY OF 1T GC: TH3 TH1NGS 1'V3 SUPPOS3DLY DON3 GC: GOOD 4ND B4D, 1N D1FF3R3NT R34L1T13S GC: TH3 M1ST4K3S 1 M4D3, BUT C4N'T L34RN FROM GC: B3C4US3 1 C4N'T R3M3MB3R GC: OR TH3 H3RO1C TH1NGS 1 SUPPOS3DLY D1D GC: S4CR1F1C3S 1 M4D3 GC: TO S4V3 YOU GC: TO S4V3 3V3RYBODY GC: WH1CH T3LL M3 NOTH1NG 4BOUT MYS3LF, 4ND WH4T 1'M R34LLY C4P4BL3 OF GC: B3C4US3 1 C4N'T R3M3MB3R!

she does not have the godlike narrative position that the cherubs achieve. shes not even a godtier! and thats another part of what makes her so tragic. she knows enough about sburb to navigate it and play it to her advantage but not enough to gain the self fulfillment she wants.

GC: TH3 TH1NGS 1'V3 SUPPOS3DLY DON3 GC: GOOD 4ND B4D, 1N D1FF3R3NT R34L1T13S GC: TH3 M1ST4K3S 1 M4D3, BUT C4N'T L34RN FROM GC: B3C4US3 1 C4N'T R3M3MB3R

highlighting this part, her seer abilities are both her greatest power over the narrative and one of her most tragic parts.

she has access to infinite timelines and choices and can tell how things will turn out but she cant simply unlock those realities and memories beyond her experiences. having the access to the memories of a better life also isnt necessarily a plus.

GC: M4YB3 1T'S D3LUS1ON4L OF M3 GC: TO 1M4G1N3 TH4T JUST H4V1NG 4NOTH3R S3T OF M3MOR13S 1S GO1NG TO M4K3 M3 F33L MOR3 COMPL3T3 GC: 1 C4N'T STOP TH1NK1NG 4BOUT 1T THOUGH GC: 1 GU3SS 1T'S 4LW4YS T3MPT1NG TO TH1NK TH3R3 1S ON3 H1DD3N 4NSW3R TO 3V3RYTH1NG GC: NO M4TT3R HOW F4NT4ST1C4L OR 1N4CC3SS1BL3 GC: 4ND 1F ONLY YOU COULD F1ND 1T, YOU'D F1N4LLY H4V3 TH3 P3RF3CT R3SOLUT1ON TO 3V3RYTH1NG 4BOUT YOURS3LF YOU C4N'T ST4ND GC: SO 1 JUST K33P WOND3R1NG TO MYS3LF GC: TH4T M4YB3 1F ONLY 1 COULD JUST R3M3MB3R GC: 1 WOULDN'T H4V3 TO F33L L1K3 TH1S

the access to this knowledge seems to be a part of why she is so internally desperate for answers. the solution is right there seemingly but just out of reach. and in this desperate moment of trying to unlock those answers?

she remem8ers. (and i know the title of the flash is a reference to the song used in it but i will also point out just how vrisrezi it is to have her desperate attempts to recall her other self's memories be written in vriska's typing quirk)

at the end of this flash, terezi and vriska are about to be literally wiped from reality forever. and yet, they face that end smiling in each others arms. they are no longer relevant. there is no narrative significance to this moment. but its still what terezi needed to see in order to fulfill that part of herself.

um. i spent all day writing this in my free time. enjoy.

terezi save me. save me. terezi. terezi. terezi save me

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Vriska Serket

vriska

"Vriscourse"

this is her tournament

She fits all four categories. Also it's Vriska

people have been arguing about whether shes pure evil or an innocent baby for like 14 years straight. nobody can fathom that shes NEITHER. like yes she is a product of her environment and the reason she killed all those people was because her spider mother was forcing her to and also due to her position in society she was encouraged to act that way and was literally a 13 yr old child just doing what was expected of her by the world around her so it isnt her fault for being in the role she was raised to be in when she didnt know there was any other option. that being said shes also just kind of a dick and put stairs in a paralysed guys house even though she knew that was a cruel thing to do cus she thought it was funny. like shes a child thats a product of her environment and she did a lot of awful things but a lot of it can be explained by the fact that she had a neglectful literal giant spider as a mother and that she was also being manipulated by an omniscient cue ball god to hurt her friends. but that doesnt EXCUSE how she acted and many of the things she did were just cruel and unnecessary like how she treated tavros. so in conclusion she is NOT an evil irredeemable bitch because she’s literally a preteen when she does all of the bad stuff + when she was messaging john she finally was away from alternian society and could finally reflect on how killing made her feel and how she realised she didnt enjoy doing it even though it was what was expected of her. HOWEVER she also isnt a sweet angel because it doesnt EXCUSE her actions it just explains them, she still did cruel shit and hurt people and acted selfishly etc… putting vriska in a box is a huge disservice to her as a character because shes like one of the most important characters in the story because of the way she’s constantly trying to steal the spotlight and insert herself into the story etc but instead of people doing any kind of interesting analysis on one of the most complex characters in the story they instead argue for a decade and a half about whether or not she did anything wrong… which goes against the whole point of her role in the story

c'mon. it's vriska.

Gon Freecss

It's ALWAYS the beef between people saying he's actually a monster and the ones saying "he's just a kid and he never did anything wrong in his entire life". The first ones won't accept the fact that Gon is kind with his loved ones. That he's hurt and did bad things when he was hurt. That he cares for his friends. That he is naive and really acts as a child. That the monster he is inside isn't ALL that he is – only a part of what he is. That a big part of how he acts was caused by the fact all of the adults in his life never saw the red flags and pushed him to keep acting like that because "haha quirky kid". The second ones won't accept the fact that Gon is selfish – it's literally said multiple times in the canon that he is but you know, selfish is an "actually bad flaw that only bad people have so he can't be". They won't accept the fact that his naivety is the thing that makes him morally grey because he can't tell the difference between good or bad. That he doesn't really care for anyone except him and his friends / family. That he was literally called a monster, canonically. That he would destroy the world and then himself with no hesitation because he's hurt. That him being young is, yes, a point, but that doesn't mean he's "just a little angel uwu". That's simply NOT how his character is written. The worst problem I think, is that none of these people seems to acknowledge the fact Gon is supposed to represent the yin part of yin and yang (while his best friend, Killua, represents the yang). Gon is supposed to be "in light there is darkness". How the light can actually be monstruous, maybe more than darkness, but it is still light. While Killua is supposed to be "in darkness there is light" and how darkness can be pure, maybe more than light, but it's still darkness – they seem to get the yang part more for some reasons ? The yin and yang analogy is my favorite trope ever and it's so sad to see this fandom watering it down because they won't accept the fact Gon is morally grey.

[thewebcomicsreview]

Oh hey, Homestuck 2 updated! I was expecting this to be an 11/11 update since that's a Homestuck arc number, but it's the least important of those by far.

Egads! What a despicable plan, devised by a devilish dame with a dastardly disposition. The wretched wiles of a wayward woman with a penchant for the wicked. A hullabaloo most hideous and heinous, hammered out by-

One of the biggest mysteries of Homestuck 2 is who's narrating Candyland with Calliope gone, and the more narration-heavy style of the new team is really calling attention to that. This is very flanderized Jake English dialogue. Also a dramatically more active Jake English than we've seen all...ever?

Under no circumstances can you allow her to get to The Point.

Gonna have fun with that MacGuffin name, huh, writers? It occurs to me that Jake was supposedly a spy the whole time but this is the first indication that he's actually been telling the resistance anything instead of just calling himself a spy as a cope.

I like this art a lot. But also what the hell is Meenah doing here? Last time we saw her, in the epilogues, she was out in space and stole the Ring of Life from John before escaping into a server beacon. Did it lead her into the black hole (lmao get owned), or is this an alternate timeline ghosts? Are her eyes closed in order to drag out that reveal?

JAKE: Shit, sergeant! Cant you add her to the groupcrab? MEENAH: groupcrab MEENAH: cod damn thats good MEENAH: i just been callin em prawnference calls

As fish puns go, "Prawnference calls" is excellent.

MEENAH: idk but hypothetically speaking if i was posted up in my big mean bitch pants just gettin my empress on and you told me insturgeonts were tryin to shore up on some kinda mythic skaian artifact

So, Meenah has her eyes closed to prevent me from knowing if this is the alpha version or a doomed ghost, and now she's dropping very vague hints about what the plot point is. This does feel very homestuck, in that it's teasing out the reveals to maximize speculation. Skaia is, of course, related to SBURB, and thus this is confirmation of the fandom assumption that they're going to start a new game, without actually saying much else.

I have no idea why this air vent is Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff style, but Vriska kicking the sound affect is still funny.

The comedy quotient has increased notably under the new team.

VRISKA: John, she's a Vriska. She can handle herself! I'm sure she can take anything this fake-ass timeline can throw at her! JOHN: what?

Wait, John doesn't know? I thought "Everyone 'knows' candyland is fake and that why they're acting so weird they're just LARPing" was kind of my headcanon for a lot of the weirder candy stuff.

VRISKA: This whole universe is like someone's shitty RP, and everyone's out of character! None of this reads! VRISKA: Like, who the FUCK is Yiffy!!!!!!!! Why should I or anyone CARE????????

I'm so meta even this acronym

JOHN: a long time ago i was supposed to go back and defea- VRISKA: SNOOOOOOOORE! VRISKA: Your ecto-human-guardian-si8ling or whatever is pro8a8ly sending a squad of 8ozos to apprehend your ex as we speak. So I say the less we talk and the sooner we 8low this gru8sickle stand, the sooner we can get there 8efore we lose access to our shortcut. JOHN: yeah when you spell it all out like that i can see what y- JOHN: wait, WHAT!!! JOHN: why didn't you just say that earlier?! VRISKA: John. That's what I've 8een doing this whole time! VRISKA: Now, c'mon! Race you there!!!!!!!!

I don't ship them or anything, but this John/Vriska dynamic where John is kind of the oblivious straight man to all this wacky nonsense is one that Homestuck has been very light on since Act 6.

That was a good update. It was funny, it moved the plot along, and it gave us stuff to speculate about! And the art was really good!

[420technoblazeit]

to understand quadrants it ALL is pity, its pity all the way down, and that includes kismesis

in kismesis this manifests as "eugh theres so disgustingly and pitiably weak, they need to toughen up!" or "they keep getting in my way and bothering me because they're such an idiot its pitiable someone should teach them a lesson"

the pity comes from seeing weakness and wanting to stamp out that weakness, thats why in a healthy kismesis its often in the form of a rivalry, its like in pokemon where your rival is like "HA i already beat this gym ages ago, you still trying? i guess i'll be waiting for you on the winner's podium, that is if you dont give up from how bad you are! Smell you later"

its antagonizing to try and make YOU better to give you something to climb for, something to fight against, its a rival. You hate their weakness and pity them for having that weakness, so you try and kill that weakness and make them BETTER because you cannot STAND that weakness being in front of you

this is why vriska Did all that, she saw tavros with a pitiable weakness and wanted to make him stronger, and in a healthy kismesis thats fine, just more pushing each other to get stronger, its how it works, its extreme tough love, where Vriska fucked up is she wasnt able to grasp the difference between pushing someone to stand on their own two feet and poking soft spots so they learn to better react when soft spots are poked, and just attacking someone over and over, she couldnt tell a poke from a straight on stab

Its also why karkat calls her fucking bad and performative at it, because she cant tell a poke from a stab she just stabs everyone, making her unable to focus or adjust, its all surface level because she doesnt understand how its supposed to work because she's just copying her ancestor with none of the knowledge behind the actions she took

ok honestly htis helps me wrap my head around kismesis relationships WAY better and i think it makes a lot of sense. i figured the onesidedness was the problem with vriska and tavros' relationship but i couldnt quite place what would make it a proper kismessistude. so like. with moirails itd b like a gentle tug on someone's leash and with kismeses itd b a hard yank instead to make sure they do not fuckign do that shit again

[cure-typhoon]

im very new here, what exactly is the runaway au im Very Curious now :eyes:

Hiii okey so basically is an au where the beta trolls (humans here) help Karkat escape from the people who kidnapped him a year ago and are going around the country in a van, trying to find a way to separate Karkat from the alien he has been fused with before things start to become worse for him.

And extended summary of the start of the au is:

Karkat has been missing for around a year before he was pressumed dead after his jacket covered in blood was found in the woods close to the last place he was seen. It was assumed he got attacked by an animal and thats why his body was never found.

The start of the story occurs at his funeral, from Vriska's point of view as she decides to attend the funeral even after she hasnt been friend with the group for around 6 years. They got in a Big fight at the end of highschool and all of them went on their separate ways, theyre 22 now and it's the first reunion as a group after the fight.

The funeral is, depressing as you can expect, Vriska is feeling akward as she is not really friendly with anyone in the group, she tries to talk to Kanaya as she was one of her closest friends when they we're younger but she is a mess emotionally because she was the last person who saw Karkat before he disappeared.

Anyway a lot happens and the funeral is almost over and all of the beta kids are reunited in a room just, not really talking. They tried to but it starts to become an argument until Kanaya's stops them and tells them that if they don't shut up she is kicking them all out because she really can't handle their garbage today.

They calm down and Vriska propose that they go to their old hanging spot, an old abandoned cabin they used to frecuent, and leave some things for him there because it would probably be less depressing that being here. And all of them agree and get inside or Vriska's van. They buy some burgers on the way and arrive at the place.

They go inside and kind of explore the place but decide to just sit and eat like the old times, they talk about old memories, and then Karkat. Things get emotional again and they decide to look for some of his old stuff to see if theyre even there.

Nepeta goes to the back of the cabin, to a room they hadn't check yet, it's dark in there and she uses her flashlight only to see a BIG fucking EGG in there, a slimy and broken egg full of a strange liquid. She is about to enter to investigate but stops herself, she smells blood, she points the light to the ceilling and sees a person, upside down, covered on blood and with eyes completely white.

She screams as that persons starts attacking her. She is fighting back but the person is trying to kill her, thankfully the others come upstairs after hearing her screams and starts to help her.

They fight and it's chaotic and some of them get injured badly but theyre able to tie him up and things calm down. They try to find out what's going, going from a possesion to aliens.

Then the person wakes up, now more calm but very confused, asking what the hell is going and where is he. He then sees the people in front of him and says "KANAYA?" and they get silent, they recognize that voice, it sounded more tired than what they we're used to, but it was Karkat

The one who they just had a funeral for, the one who just attacked them and the one who looks a minute away from dying.

Lets say things got chaotic after that. And thats all of the summary, for now lol, there's still more about the start but I want to draw it :3

[fefairys]

saw karkat refer to equius as nepetas "best friend" and like i know it is just because quadrants habent been introduced as a concept yet so of course that is the word that would be used, but it made me think about the other times the term "best friend" has been used

"best friend" seems like a pretty high up title for trolls, yknow? you gotta really trust someone to consider them ur best friend, right? like almost moirail levels of trust. like the term "best friend" could almost practically means the same thing for the pale quadrant as "boyfriend" for the red. ("boyfriend" is used later by vriska about sollux being aradia's boyfriend, and thinking about it, they are probably coded to be in an ongoing red relationship... i will talk about this later when it comes up in my read with his relationship with feferi)

so gamzee refers to karkat as his best friend, and he also refers to sollux as karkat's best friend. i wonder if maybe the pale quadrant isnt always necessarily viewed as exclusive, even normally? i mean i feel like karkat is just polyamorous like thats how i read him in general but like maybe it is normal in society to have more than one moirail? but other evidence seems to maybe imply that this is not the case, the way we see moirallegiance handled with eridan and feferi. i just feel like it would make sense if it were not necessarily always meant to be an exclusive quadrant. like it is not so big of a deal if someone else performs "moirail duties" on someone elses moirail, or for someone to have more than one person they call their moirail.

but. then. that is just how i feel about romance in general in real life also lol. anyways.

im high. back to reading.