#something about vriska thinking that if she has to live the way she does then tavros should have to as well. idk

[teals33r]

The fact that she wanted it to be tavros' decision makes me think it might be possible that she's being genuine about the whole "I am treating him this way because I think it will help him" thing

[lime-bloods]

I honestly didn't ever expect that I'd be in the position where I'd be using this blog not just to analyse what has come before in Homestuck, but to look toward the comic's future and do some real old-fashioned theorycrafting. but the time has come. so here goes; lime-bloods' Beyond Canon theories as of the July 6th 2024 update:

Vriska's Going to Hell

were all gonna help you! / whether you like it or not

a select few eagle-eyed readers already noticed that the sound used in last month's (Vriska: Figure shit out yourself.) is called "hell_tierwav". while it was easy to dismiss this as irrelevant composer shenanigans at the time, it's now become clear exactly what this was foreshadowing. whether it would be more apt to call this "Hell" or "Purrgatory" is probably up for debate - but whatever you call it, Vriska's been placed in a dimension seemingly tailored specifically for her personal torment.

while Vriska characteristically interprets the recreation of her childhood home as a symbol of how badass she was, the ghosts of her past - both literal, as the shades of the trolls she killed as Mindfang, and figurative, in the form of sprites wearing the faces of her dead friends - show us in no uncertain terms that Vriska's childhood home is the stage where traumas play out.

Erisolsprite puts it succinctly with his welcome to hell, but pay close attention to what exactly we're being welcomed to: this update ends on page 665. so as of this next update, we'll be starting on page 666.

Does Homestuck Have Hell?

the exact bubble of reality Vriska's currently found herself in seems to be an entirely new construction of the likes we've not yet seen in Homestuck - but that doesn't mean this kind of cosmic torment is without precedent. because while 666 is a number with Satanic connotations in the broader cultural context, it also has a very particular meaning of its own within the world of Homestuck. indeed, the latter half of the comic almost revolves around it, culminating in a climax in Act 6 Act 6 Act 6.

specifically, this repetition of a single digit is emblematic of recursive storytelling. to summarise what you can already read about in detail in my essay The World / The Wheel: when Caliborn is 'gifted' the Act 6 Act 6 supercartridge, which he is told is an "expansion" of Homestuck, it's a trick. there is no "expansion"; he's going to be trapped in a story that never ends because it keeps dividing into smaller and smaller versions of itself forever. the only way to truly beat the devil who trapped the heroes within a story is to trap him in his own story.

that's what Caliborn's "Hell" is, and that's also exactly what the Alternate Calliope achieved in Act 7 by creating the black hole which Vriska knocked Lord English into, ending Homestuck's story - something that Calliope even hints at in this very update, when she refers to the black hole as "containment"; not an accident, but a deliberately crafted prison. black holes are a symbol of recursion and regression; being sucked into one means being forced to live out your whole life over and over again, forever. so really, this is all we ever could have expected to happen when Vriska stepped into a black hole within a black hole! the presentation of the narrative even subtly hints at this; events in Beyond Canon that take place in the black hole are enclosed (in brackets), and now events that take place in a black hole-within-a-black-hole are contained within {curly brackets}, because you should always use a different kind of brackets to differentiate nested parenthesis from each other!

it is absolutely no coincidence that when Caliborn closes the curtains on his appearances in Homestuck, thinking he's won when really he's been condemned to a hell of his own making forever more, it's with a tribute to this exact same Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff strip.

IF YOU REMEMBER JUST ONE THING I SAY, OF SO MANY GREAT THINGS SAID BY ME, THEN PLEASE REMEMBER THIS. I WANTED TO PLAY A GAME.

So What Does That Mean?

one of Beyond Canon's central missions is expanding upon Homestuck's exploration of the relationships between author, text, and audience. as discussed above, a large part of Homestuck's thesis is the evil of forcing characters to live the same lives and the same stories over and over without the chance to grow or move on, and Beyond Canon picks up on this by placing Dirk in the position of trying to keep Homestuck going forever purely to appease its fans, while the Alternate Calliope continues to oppose this ideology. and while the alpha Calliope outwardly seems not to have taken a hard position on where she stands in this cosmic battle, the question posed by her device seems to be an entirely new one: can it actually be a good thing to regress, to return to ground that the story has already covered? can this path lead to something new, rather than merely stagnation?

it's so relevant that Vriska is being confronted with the crimes of her past, not only in the form of all the trolls she was personally responsible for killing but also in the form of the exact same punishment she condemned Lord English to with her heroism - complete with the herd of horses that are always present at Caliborn's demise! but where being condemned to an eternal cycle was fitting punishment for Caliborn, someone who refuses to break free of cycles of abuse and instead chooses to enact that same abuse on the world around him... if Vriska is someone who can break free of these cycles, who can change and become a better person despite what happened to her, will this punishment have the same effect? or, as Davepeta seems to believe, is forcing Vriska to reckon with her own past and traumas exactly what will allow her to break free of that cycle?

DAVE: [...] ill just be over here in the hyper gravity chamber training to beat lord english KARKAT: WE HAVE A HYPER GRAVITY CHAMBER???

it's hard not to be struck by the parallels in design and purpose between the Plot Point and Dragon Ball's Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and not just because of the Dragon Ball enthusiasts present on Beyond Canon's writing and art teams: albeit in typically Strider-bastardised form, the Time Chamber got a shoutout in Andrew Hussie's own Homestuck (see quote above), in a reference that was even picked up on by prolific theorist bladekindeyewear at the time. for the uninitiated: the Hyperbolic Time Chamber allowed its users to train for extended stretches of time, sometimes even spanning years, while a significantly smaller time period passed in the world outside - something that is actually true of real-life black holes! and with the Plot Point's own emphasis on time, represented by the hourglass included among its mechanisms, it seems to me that an essential part of making the 16-year-old Vriska ready for the trials ahead will be giving her the time to undergo the same growth her adult friends have experienced.

considering that Beyond Canon is already playing in the Ultimate Self space, where there are levels of power beyond merely the "god tiers", it also doesn't seem too farfetched to speculate that Vriska, forced to reckon with the fact that becoming a powerful Thief of Light isn't the be-all and end-all of personal growth, will take another leaf out of Dragon Ball's book here and ascend "beyond Super Saiyan". perhaps this is even the "hell tier" so cheekily alluded to in the Plot Point flash? certainly this kind of evolution would be the perfect way to challenge Dirk's belief that the Ultimate Self is the only logical final step for a character's development.

whatever the case, I believe we can take Davepeta at their word here. I don't think it's just a joke that by the end of this ordeal Vriska Serket is going to be fucking RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPED!

[thewertsearch]

Resolution to the summoner's mutiny is foggy, as I only understand what has 8een rel8ed to me through the 8rief answers I thought to solicit. Ultim8ely, the ire of the Condesce would 8e such that in the settling dust of the conflict, she would 8anish all from the homeworld, except the young. […] I cannot imagine how she would come to enforce such an upheaval in our civiliz8tion. Though I suppose she will have on her side the advantage of an unparalleled lifespan, and the leverage extended 8y the hideous psychic prongs of her deep undul8ing monstrosity.

Attention is drawn to the prodigiously long lifespan of the Condesce - the empress of Mindfang's time, and Feferi's probable ancestor. I used to think that the modern Empress was a different troll, but now that we're aware of fuchsiablood longevity, I'm pretty sure the two are one and the same.

Based on a line from Feferi's introduction, I was assuming that she was the only fuchsiablood in the universe - but let's take another look at the way that line's phrased.

You are 'the only of your kind' known to possess this blood.

That doesn't necessarily mean she's the only fuchsia troll, does it? For example, it might just mean she's the only Alternian with fuchsia blood, because the Empress doesn't actually live on the planet.

I really want this to be Mama Peixes, because the existence of a living Ancestor has so much story potential. Just how much does she know, and what's her agenda?

Nevertheless, I take the prediction as truth, and find it amusing that a homeworld domin8ed 8y children will 8e the gr8 summoner's legacy. One of them, at least.

Anyway, the Summoner - the boy who could fly - is the reason Alternia is a planetary Neverland, making it clear that he was the original inspiration for Pupa Pan.

It's also notable that we've only just started delving into Alternian history, and we've already learned about two massive rebellions against the social order. Contrary to what Alternians have been led to believe, this oppressive culture clearly isn't natural to them, and they've been fighting it every step of the way.

They don't want to be a murderous empire - they're forced to be, again and again and again.

More importantly, and less amusingly, his legacy will 8e my demise. You see, I first learned his name when I asked who would 8e the one to kill me.

And here's yet another layer to the Quest Cocoon Incident. Vriska wasn't content with living like Mindfang - she wanted to die like her, too.

Given that Vriska knew about the Summoner, one can only imagine how weird she must have been around Tavros. Not only was she constantly berating him, she was also putting him on this bizarre pedestal, comparing him to someone I'm damn sure he never knew existed.

And she'd never tell Tavros about the Summoner, either, because that would allow him to derive confidence from something other than her tutelage. No - she just silently compared him to a legendary hero, and he constantly failed a test he didn't know he was taking.

Seems like something's going very wrong in the Veil.

This seems like a sign that the session is on its last legs, and we're running out of time before it completely turns to static. We're entering the endgame.

The oracle I will resolve to part with. I will conceal it in a crypt 8earing the sign of the expatr8, with a map to its loc8tion hidden in this journal.

The cueball was sequestered in an Expatriate chest, which makes me speculate about whether Equius ever got his hands on it.

He can't see inside it himself - but like Mindfang said, it shouldn't be too hard to find a technological workaround, and Equius is a roboticist. I wonder if either Zahhak ever used it for themselves?

To whomever finds it, 8e wary, for the truth it tells may leave its new keeper 8lind as I was. Though no more.

She warned you, Vriska.

She told you it would leave you as blind as she was.

And it did.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Wanted to ask, is Eridan's relationship with his dad ok? Like when Eridan was learning how to use his harpoon gun he seemed very much distressed and not enjoying any of it

The only real canon characterization we have of seahorsedad is that the version of him that's Cronus's lusus is "stern, fatherly" and that he ditches Cronus for Hussie, although that last one is mostly just a Bit so I don't really count it as characterization. He's also willing to go along with Eridan "doing something ridiculous," though, again, that's kind of a Bit and it's unclear how canon that is.

((cw for abuse and stuff beneath the readmore))

As such, pretty much anything I say is going to be pure extrapolation that serves my characterization of Eridan, and I can't really back it up with hard textual evidence. But, personally, I think Eridan believes his relationship with his lusus is "good" in the way that many children growing up beneath strict, emotionally neglectful, and even outright abusive parents do.

We know that Eridan has very few friends. He doesn't even really talk to half the people in their group chat, and according to Feferi, he's never spent more than a few days underwater, total, in his whole life. Add onto that that lusus murder (and, by extension, the culling of the orphaned troll) has been his duty long enough that he describes it is "the only thing i evver did," I think it's a reasonable assumption to make that he also has no IRL friends, aside from Feferi.

And to give an idea of how old Eridan was when he started having to murder lusii, here's how old Vriska was when she was expected to start feeding spidermom:

This, and the fact that Dualscar was called "Orphaner" because the job of feeding Gl'bgolyb was his even into adulthood (as he lived before the Summoner's rebellion and the removal of adult trolls from Alternia), and the fact that no one, including Feferi, ever shows any gratitude towards Eridan for performing the job, supports the idea that feeding Gl'bgolyb has always been a violet blood's responsibility. After all, Feferi makes overtures about not being better than other trolls, but she sure does revel in being royalty when she can get away with it. It'd be in character for her to not be particularly grateful to Eridan because she sees lusus murder as fundamentally being his responsibility, especially if he started when they were both REALLY young.

In other words, Eridan was expected to start murdering lusii (and by extension, other trolls) from the moment he was old enough to do so, which, judging by how old Vriska was when she started killing trolls for Spidermom, is not very old at all.

Also, given the lifespan of violet bloods, it's entirely possible - and my personal belief - that Seahorsedad was Dualscar's lusus as well as Eridan's. Even without that being the case, since it was always Eridan's job to hunt and kill lusii, the biggest possible culprit for inducting him into his role would be his lusus.

And let's be clear, I think the fact that having to murder lusii/trolls is the biggest culprit for what's fucked Eridan up the most. The pressure of having the safety of the entire race on his shoulders, the fear of Gl'bgolyb and what happens if he ever fails, and the guilt of taking lives (which we do know Eridan thinks about) have left him with genuine struggles caring about other people, a nasty martyr complex (which isn't unjustified), extremely unstable and negative emotions, shattered interpersonal relationships, and a deep, nihilistic sense of resignation towards his place in society. The latter has directly led to him attempting to embrace that place by tricking himself into thinking he believes in hemocasteist, sea dweller supremacy rhetoric - which his actions contradict - because, without the game's intervention, he had no other options available for him but to become a key figure in the imperial army, continue murdering other sapient creatures until he died, and watch all his few friends die before him, either when they got culled, killed on the battlefield, or purely dropped dead of old age.

And, like... a parent who does that to their child, even if we assume the absolute best (that Seahorsedad does genuinely care about Eridan), can't possibly have a fully healthy relationship with said child. And I think it's not unreasonable to assume that the best is not what's happening between Eridan and Seahorsedad, because Eridan's psychological profile is so fucked up that I highly doubt he was receiving much, if any, actual affection or support from his lusus. Personally, I think his lusus was "stern and fatherly" in the worst possible way - high expectations, no emotional warmth, and complete disregard for Eridan's psychological well-being, as long as he was producing adequate results.

Because Eridan craves attention, and has very little distinction between good and bad attention. He's naive and trusting to a fault, hardly ever suspects anybody of lying to him, and has basically no social skills. These all say to me that Seahorsedad is just, like... not giving him any emotional attention at ALL.

And poor Eridan is just 13 years old - still too young to fully realize how poorly he's being treated by people who are supposed to care about him. Like, yeah, he's completely obnoxious and exhausting to talk to, and you can't really blame Feferi or Kanaya for being sick of listening to him, but at the same time, some of the shit they do to him as a result is honestly just mean. Like Kanaya is just actually bullying him- training him up to be a wizard as a joke, shitting on him behind his back with Rose, making fun of him to his face - and yet:

He's just that fucking desperate for people to care about him and support him; I can't help but think he's just not getting that at home, you know?

So I think if you asked Eridan, he'd say that his relationship with his lusus was good, and that his lusus was proud and noble and stoic, and absolutely a great custodian, and there were no problems at all.

But I think if you were to dig deeper into their relationship, you'd start to hear worrying things like that Eridan never got to celebrate Twelfth Perigrees, and was instead dragged out to go lusus hunting because it was particularly easy to do so on that day. Or that his lusus had to pull the trigger FOR him the first time they ever went hunting, because his own hands were shaking too hard. Or that he'd be locked out of the hive every time he cried, until he stopped crying altogether. Or that he thinks he's never been sick a day in his life because he was never allowed to have an off day and not go hunting and now he's just used to ignoring any and all symptoms. So on and so forth.

He reacts EXTREMELY POORLY to Feferi saying she feels like she needed to look after him - more poorly than to the initial news that she was trying to break up with him:

And I think that's because weakness was punished in his household growing up. He wasn't allowed to be weak - he was nobility, royalty. He had duties, responsibilities. If he faltered, their whole race died. And when you consider the fact that "you have to kill things for the good of everyone you care about, all the time, constantly," is the abject lesson that's been hammered into him since he was old enough to walk and talk, the fact that he's so incredibly fucking adamant about murdering angels starts to be a little... sad. He's just stuck in that mindset. He doesn't know how to escape it.

So... yeah. In summary: his relationship with his dad is great!

[rogue-of-heart-classpecting]

Mayhaps an explanation on how each class can effect the session? I know kights usally means there's a lack of its aspect but what about the others?

Maids’ sessions are controlled by something. Aradia’s session had doc scratch orchestrating all this bullshit event-wise. Jane’s session has the condesce who had all the power in their universe.

Pages’ aspects are kind of what the players hope their futures will bring post-sburb. The trolls lived in a very unpleasant, highly controlled dictatorship. The kids were kind of thinking they would win without any problems.

Mages’ sessions are full of their aspect. There was so much doom in the beta trolls’ session. People kept dying for no reason. There was basically no way they would be able to get along and play cooperatively. Also karkat creating Jack noir basically fucked everything from the start.

Knights’ sessions have very little of their aspect, so the knight is assigned to protect what little is there. Dave had to haul ass to get rose in the session. There was also just a time crunch to finish in general. All the trolls had different ideas of what they wanted, and their conflicting ideas were hard to keep working together.

Rogues have sort of an unaddressed problem waiting to come up. Rufioh grew up to lead a revolution. Roxy’s session had a lot of unaddressed stuff in general. Lots of misplaced confidence, lack of communication, hidden feelings, etc. There are a lot of times in the trolls session where they have the little heart or spade or clubs symbol in their eyes or over their heads and nothing ever comes of it. Nepeta never god tiered.

Sylphs sessions have a dire lack of their aspect in their session and are charged with nursing it back to health. Kanaya was the lone tender of the matriorb that would ensure the troll race keeps being born. Aradias session I guess is full of meaningless nonsense and plot irrelevant shit. She kind of builds it up for thousands of years or however long and then unleashes it all at once. But… she brings information and plot relevance to her session members and to the combined session.

Seers’ aspects are a resource their team hasn’t tapped into yet. They know nothing about it. Even Dave, who seems to be the most cynical and down to earth member of the gang (besides rose) still does not see his brothers actions for what they are (bad) and clouds himself in a shame induced misidentification of who he is and who he is allowed to be. Terezis team has never considered the consequences of their actions. They never set their sights on a goal and plot a course from here to there. They set one foot forward and then the entropy guides them forward with no brakes.

Thieves... I think the session actually needs a leader in that aspect! The thief's job is to find a hidden resource (and looking at the trolls' session, light seems really unavailable lol.) and draw it out, creating a hub of aspect where it can exert itself. For some reason, Vriska also liked pushing Tavros to be stronger and the best him he can be. Actually, that might be a pitch thing... The Sn0wman told her to "steal his will" because "that's what a thief does" or whatever. But Vriska thought he was capable or wanted him to be capable of mercy killing her.

Heirs have plenty of their aspect all around them to work with. I guess they have to kind of bring that to the session themselves, actually! But they have no trouble doing it. John successfully retrieved his presents, fought his dad, started the game, and just began slaying like a beast and rocketing ahead no problem. The world John was born into set him up with a good place to stretch out. Sburb was created without John doing anything at all. The ultimate escape from earth, right? Equius was set up with a world with arbitrary rules and little independent thought. His hemospectrum placement is high enough to give him a superiority AND inferiority complex. For some reason, he has incredible roboti% skills SO THAT he always has something intelligent and logical to destroy.

Bards seem to have an aspect that is like... I don't want to say an abscess because that's gross... It's like their aspect is under a lot of pressure from being suppressed by the world and their team. Just about every member of the team has rage that isn't fully expressed. Gamzee definitely brings out rage and disgust in Terezi. He also makes the rest of his team very aware that just because it doesn't look like it, his aspect is definitely there. It's just waiting to come out. Gamzee himself is the first thing to express its rage... That no one expected him to have. I read somewhere that Gamzee became an agent of his aspect after he "calmed down." He brought chaos and anger and pain to everyone. He's the one who threw all the bodies of people who hated each other (and fefeta) into the sprites to make them useless. I guess Equius was a sprite by himself but. Equius is pretty fucking useless anyway. He's the heir of useless. Gamzee was taken out of mind control and saw that Terezi was stabbing him, and he decided to trick her by acting like his old self to manipulate her emotions. And as soon as she let her guard down, he went apeshit and beat her crazy clown style. He is like a harbinger of confusion and pain.

Princes. Princes' aspects are overgrown. They're clouding the session's ability to function. Dirk basically successfully exploded the romantic tension between all 4 of his team members. In a very destructive and painful way. If they didn't have a prince, they would have been too distracted by their crushes to finish the game. Eridan is a much suckier person, but he does have the same job. Dirk has a more precise excision style like a surgeon, but Eridan prefers mowing down "enemies" with abandon, which makes it harder for his team. In one fell swoop, Eridan killed the future ruler of the Troll race AND the ability for more trolls to be born. And the only troll babysitter. I don't know why the trolls thought this would be a fun game they could easily win, but Eridan completely took care of that.

Witches have an aspect that needs to be understood in a new way. Like gender. You guys know what I mean by that right. I think this is clearer with Feferi-- wait! No, except Jade has a new way for planets to be created! She's not the first one to PLAY sburb, but she's the one to INTRODUCE us to it as a character. Remember, these roles are about your purpose in the story, not in a watsonian way. Jade finds new ways of creating things. Feferi finds new ways of leading that creates beforus which still sucks but is much better than alternia.

[fefairys]

I just read up to the breakup with Meenah and Vriska and fuck, i really dislike that whole situation. Got any thoughts you wanna ramble about regarding that?

OKAY I FINALLY GOT HERE IN MY REREAD.

god yes everything involving meenah and (vriska) and the vriska (vriska) confrontation is extremely fascinating to me. mostly because i resonate with a lot of it so hard it hurts. long ass post below. i got very personal lol what can i say. i vriska.

(vriska) goes into people-pleasing mode when she and meenah are alone. it actually reminds me of how she would sometimes act with kanaya. the vulnerability, mainly. but like. its a little different. with kanaya it was more like 'youre the only bitch around here i respect, but im still better than everyone else. i want you to like me but i dont NEED you to! (<-lie)' but with meenah its like 'you are the only person i have and so i have to be good for you so you dont leave me.'

she backs down super easily with meenah. sometimes she does argue for herself, but ultimately she always ends up deferring to meenah. she wants to agree with everything she says. wants her to like her:

^ she doesnt want to say the carnival looks fun until she's gotten meenah's approval. she has to be cool for meenah.

her suggestion gets shot down and she immediately sides with meenah. oh yeah i didnt want to do that anyway in fact i hate horses!

it's tricky, because of some of it seems like actual Character Development, and her getting over some shit. and i definitely think these thinks dont have to be mutually exclusive. she can be realizing things about herself and moving on from them while at the same time falling into habits that are equally unhealthy for a person.

she realizes she used to care way too much about stuff and tries to counter it by not caring at all. she realizes she used to push people around to much and counters it by becoming a pushover herself. this is sickeningly relatable to me.

the scene where meenah convinces her to get a tattoo is a good example of this.

she realizes that a long-held opinion she had is actually kind of bullshit, and that she cared way too much about it for no reason. good job, vriska!

but then she pretty much leaves the actual decision of it up to meenah! she asks meenah to tell her what to do instead of thinking for herself. she justifies it by agreeing that she loves pirate stuff anyway! shes trying to make up for a lifetime of bossing people around by asking someone else to boss her around. and she convinces herself that this is making her happy! and i mean it definitely is, in a way. it feels good to feel liked by someone. to have the approval of someone you look up to. it is making her happy. but is that... good for her? i dont know! it doesn't feel good to me.

this stuff is hitting me extremely close to home on this reread because i like JUST came upon the revolution that i kinda did this? not to this extreme polarity, but it still resonates.

i was (kind of am still, it's in my nature) a very bossy and controlling person, and i lost an entire circle of friends because they were rightfully tired of me telling them what to do and being so self-righteous all the time. so when trying to make new friends after that, i turned on people-pleaser mode. and i'm kind of still stuck there and trying to strike a balance between being a doormat people-pleaser and being a huge bitch that wants everyone to behave how *i* want them to. it is a hard balance to strike. its hard knowing when i should stand up and say something and when i should let something go, so most often i let things go. and OFTENTIMES i live to regret it. "i should have said something" is something i've been finding myself thinking A LOT in recent months...

and its tricky, because it feels good when people i respect say they approve of me. i feel happy that someone likes me. but sometimes that has come at the cost of sacrificing parts of myself. and it can feel good in the moment, to feel connected to someone like that, but then one day you wake up full of dread because you dont know who the fuck you are anymore. (vriska) didn't really ever get to that point, or, she never voiced it. vriska points out that shes become an entirely different person, but she does it in a way that uhhh fucking sucks lol! and is not helpful, because vriska's not exactly doing great, herself! she shows off her hypocrisy DELICIOUSLY in this scene.

she calls (vriska) selfish for.... being dead, essentially. and she justifies all her own selfish actions with it being "for the greater good," just as she always has. this is par for the course with vriska

^ i looooove this part right here where she sidesteps the fact that she did in fact plan to go fight jack but john punched her in the face to stop her. "different shit happened!" (i actually made the exact same decisions as you, but an outside force changed things and now i feel superior to you because i got a serendipitous opportunity that you didnt)

this whole conversation hits hard with me. it literally sounds similar to conversations ive had with myself! it's hard to not want to side with (vriska) i mean she does feel like the more reasonable one in this conversation and has had more time to think and reflect on herself, and vriska is being a fucking asshole about it, but like, i don't think either of them is exactly Right?

like, vriska has a bit of a point that (vriska) doesnt seem to notice that she's gone people-pleaser mode. but (vriska) thinks this is what happiness is. she despises her old self who was obsessed with inserting herself into everything and feeling the need to be The Best and prove herself as such, to catastrophic outcomes. so of course she wants to separate herself from that as much as possible and strive to become the opposite of it. someone who doesnt care about shit, and who lets other people make decisions for her instead of her making the decisions for everyone against their will. i think (vriska) was on the right track, but just couldn't really... Get There without the right support. and meenah was definitely not the right support.

but anyways like. vriska yelling at (vriska) at how disgusted she is with her is so sickeningly similar to me, looking back and realizing that i used to like.. stand up for myself more. if someone said some shit i didnt like i TOLD them i had a problem. i didn't let people push me around. and i think god, what happened to me? i became a weak loser that bends to peoples idea of what i should be instead of being myself. am i really happy?

but its not like i was better off before, either. vriska still isn't right. yeah i didnt let people boss me around, because i bossed THEM around. when i told people i had a problem with them i was MEAN about it. i said rude shit unnecessarily. i made everything about me and didn't care about what other people thought.

my past self and my "current" self (maybe like, my 'a few months ago self' i like to think im working through it but im still having trouble lol) are disgusted with each other. im disgusted that i used to straight up bully people all the time, and past me is disgusted that i seemed to have stopped having convictions, that i let other people decide who i should be, etc.

neither of them are really happy, but (vriska) sure seems a lot kinder, at least. she's made progress, but in a way that benefits other people more than it does herself.

also i love vriska saying "what happened to not letting shit get to you because you always knew you were better than the one slinging it" that is such utter bullshit. she is ALWAYS letting stuff get to her. all of her god damn actions are because she lets stuff get to her. everything she does is to prove herself. the cycle of revenge shit?? yeah totally didn't let it get to you. thats why you killed aradia and blinded terezi. because you were just so totally better than them and not letting it get to you. this stuff:

yeah. letting it roll off your back. lol

anyways back to meenah and (vriska)

meenah recognizes this vulnerability in (vriska) and it scares her. she does the whole "im abandoning you... for your own good..." thing, which... sucks! as you said, this whole situation just fucken sucks, man.

(vriska) basically admits that at this point, without meenah, she's lost. she let meenah mold her into what she wanted, and to lose her would be to lose herself.

but i mean i don't think there was another way this could've gone. (vriska) was essentially meenah's rebound after aranea (and vriska is her rebound after (vriska) lol) and it's just.. ALL bad. its just... everyone here has such deep personal issues that they cant help but let effect each other, yknow? meenah realizes that her issues are effecting (vriska) and thinks that removing herself from the situation is best. maybe it is? it turns out okay for (vriska) in the end, at least. as "okay" as she can possibly get, i guess.

i don't know. there's a lot here! it all just hurts and sucks. teens, man. how it is.

this is just my (very personal, frankly) interpretation of the events, idk. i think i said a lot here without actually saying anything all that substantial, as i feel like i tend to do. i just resonate with vriska really hard, what and you gave me an opportunity to ramble about it lol

[sadevergreen]

as a camp counselor (technically not currently bc i went home for Illness) and homestuck fan (also technically not currently bc I'm too busy being a camp counselor) i love camp skaia. which homestuck characters are most likely to be the "we're ALL sick there's no reason you can't do the hike up the hill" (has mild cold and vague heatsickness at worst) counselor x "actual lung infection but thinks it's a really normal cold" (very easily gaslit) counselor program group pair? i feel like eridan and kanaya are hot contenders here

ooo ok this is so good- apologies for the ever loving hell that you are about to see but i sought assistance from my dear dear pale friend @marv3l-drag0ns !!!!!!!! MUAH PLATONICALLLY <> ILY they were a huge help in putting this together

BOY DO I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ON THIS, THIS WAS EXTREMELY FUN :D

so let’s begin: my immediate instinct was kanaya and tavros are the most easily gaslit, or adhere most to given direction (we’re not going to talk about HIM). but then who to pair them with? they are both wet cats that won’t work. we decided that YES kanaya and eridan definitely make sense! but in which role? it may seem obvious but NO! eridan too sick? whiny fussy pitiful sopping kitty he’s just a beanbag full of milk! so we decided barely sick eridan, otherwise he’d be throwing a fit. instead he’s referring to his Superior Genes! and kanaya is. strugglin. but fuck man here we are 🤷‍♂️

But we’re not done yet!

the next we considered was karkat and terezi!! especially aided through the lens of karkat’s old crush on terezi; he’s too whipped and in denial to deny a girl a hand!

this led to possibly the funniest thing ever: THE INNER KANKRI THAT EVERYONE HAS AND HE SITS ON YOUR SHOULDER AND REMINDS YOU TO BE DECENT AND LEAVE ROOM FOR KANKRI

for the bigger drawings i capped it off with a good ol favorite of mine; erifef. why did i like them? man idek anymore but it worked really well with the idea of eridan being the sicker one, but being ok such thin ice over his constant whining that he just has to go along with it we just though it was funny hehe. it can be viewed through any lens! snippy or non, s’all good here! it’s all canon.

what is he was sick and he couldn’t whine 🥺 what is he was sick and he wasn’t allowed even a snivle about it 🥺 not a snort 🥺 or a sob 🥺 he’s so pathetic !!!! besides, he can’t be out paced by some fuckin kids!!!! HES A GROWN ADULT 16-18 Y/O CAMP COUNSELOR GODDAMNIT!!

MARVEL: “Feferi: ah yes your sickness you have a functioning immune system and are the most dramatic guy on planet earth (only one of those statements is true)” which statement? :) yeah

she doesn’t believe him anymore <333

Ok and that is it for full line art doodles, but!!! i couldn’t resist drawing some more pairs we pondered

ERIDAN AND KARKAT: omfg so good!! but they would 100% either both be tooooo sick and dead, or they would both be mostly fine

VRISKA AND TAVROS: no. and you know why we’re not doing this one :,( we all instantly knew this one would be here but we are choosing to ignore it im favor of…

TAVROS AND KARKAT: Marvel proposed it and it was very interesting!! i think similar to eridan and karkat, where they’re both dead or both barely sick. no i’m between. aggressive yet positive motivation (?) for the win!!! they further proposed that karkat “eats dirt for a living and doesn’t get sick very often”

Overall this was really fun to put together and answer, and i had a blast getting to colab with a mutual along the way :3 so thank you anon and thank you marvel!! this does bring me to something i’ve been meaning to say,,.,,,

@marv3l-drag0ns ,,? we’ve been friends forever, you know my dogs middle name, we complete each other in a way no one else can! you stop me from eating bones i find on the road, and i stop you from ascending to godtier to avoid going to exams…,…

would you be my

Moirail? <>

anyways! that’s all for now <3 this was so fun :) please send in more asks/ requests like this if you ever think of any more! i definitely feel for the camp counselor piece cause that was me earlier this summer PFF and all the counselors got sick and passed something around (but hey! it was an excuse to sit away from 7 y/olds for a few minutes while i got tea for my sore throat)

[lesboygamzee]

beta troll headcanons but i have headcanons on how alternian gender works ( its not that complex dw )

aradia - fully agender . seperate from everything . didnt really care until it godtiered and then was like ohhh i dont have to do anything anymore im free now ok ^_^ and was pretty chill with it forever tavros - Fairy Girl and transfem . i imagine that Fairy Genders are like completely caste nonconforming I HAVE LORE I HAVE LORE LISTEN TO ME NOW BOY anyway . has known for like .. Awhile but shes in proximity to vriska and vriska is like your average reddit transfem and tavros is like ok maybe i should just repress this and pretend its not something i think and dream about extensively . and it works for awhile and then she lives as a girl on her own on earth c but it still takes forever for her to actually Come Out but it happens .. eventually ... ok im getting sad my girl has problems SHES ALSO BUTCH sollux - gold bigender what the fuck else . very repressed transfem who fits all the gamer trasnfem stereotypes hes kind of real . again Very Repressed and like halfway an egg halfway Aware ( haha duality ) . starts being herself after prolongued proximity to godtier aradia she stole its fucking girl ness #thetransagenda . doesnt really like the association he has with her caste but accepts it as part of his identity nontheless karkat - agender cis guy no assigned caste but identifies with his assigned gender on the technical level . he has a weird relationship with it but like its chill overall nepeta - olive trans guy . nondysphoric and is fine being a girl but one day he was like hey somethings off and he ripped his tits clean off and started living as a he and went about his life as normal <- joke but probably not far off . i dont think he was unhappy as a girl hes just chill with whatever feels right in the moment i think and right now its Boy kanaya - jade trans girl but in a gnc way because female jadebloods are meant to be very cold i think people forget that but kanaya genuinely cares about motherhood and wants to nurture the matriorb because she cares about the next generation of her race and like thats a significant part of her character guys you know that right . i think her both being badass AND having a desire for motherhood is good writing actually guys .g . anyway . has known since she was very young and would be relatively normal about it if it wasnt for her Proximity To Vriska ( see Reddit Transfem ) terezi - teal trans guy whos also nonbinary whos also a dyke . ill be honest i dont have anything super in depth for this one sorry terezi fans vriska - cerulean trans girl . i think nows the time to clarify what i mean by reddit transfem umm . she will not shut the fuck up about how horrible and mannish she looks and acts forever and like its not her fault she feels like this but shes saying this in direct proximity of other transfems namely kanaya and tavros . i also think shes a transmed . umm has known from a young age but only becomes fully comfortable in her identity like .. a loooong time from canon equius - indigo transfem . i dont have a lot of thoughts on this but i think shes very repressed for a long time but Nepeta Proximity helps her a little . doesnt really transition shes just A Girl Now gamzee - Dyke . incredibly strange relationship with everything but like .. i think hes identifying as a trans guy at 13 if only because he thinks its the easiest to explain i dont think hed care . Until It Does . has a crisis about it for exactly a week before getting normal . hard to explain more for multiple reasons rips arm off eridan - violet cis guy but like theres gender fuckery going on . thought he was transfem for awhile and went on e and was like this is awesome but i think im a guy still . does drag as a fuschia woman feferi - fuschia multigender . another one that is hard to explain sigh but i think hes an egg at 13 but he doesnt have a whole thing about it hes like oh im more than just Girl cool ^_^

[chronologicalhomestuck]

karkat pov liveblog: hivebent, part 2

and im back! in the present, apparently.

But not too far into the present. Right around this moment, with Karkat and the toilet, during a conversation we have already read...

which was in my previous post. since im doing this in a LOGICAL and REASONABLE order.

AG: Hey 8rave leader. CG: OH MY GOD, WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME. AG: Can I join your team? CG: YES I'M GLAD YOU ASKED, BECAUSE THERE IS A WIDE OPEN SLOT FOR THE MOST VILE BACKSTABBING SOCIOPATH WHO EVER LIVED.

hello, vriska.

CG: I'VE GOT THE BETTER SCOURGE SISTER ON MY TEAM AND IF YOU BREAK YOUR TRUCE YOU'LL HAVE TO ANSWER TO HER. CG: THE FUNNY THING IS SHE WAS ALWAYS WAY BETTER THAN YOU EVEN WITHOUT ANY POWERS. CG: YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, I KNOW YOUR WHOLE STORY.

i suppose i might as well play dumb about this. terezi and vriska have history, now do they? what might this entail?

CG: HEY LOOK AT ME BEING THE ONE TO TALK SHIT AT WARP SPEED THEN LOG OFF BEFORE YOU CAN REPLY. CG: BYE, IDIOT. carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] AG: Oh, 8ack so soon! Did your thum8 slip on the 8utton???????? AG: I guess you can't get enough of me. AG: ::::) CG: YOU MADE ME DO THAT. CG: AND YOU KNOW IT. AG: You 8n't got nothing on me and you can't prove shit!!!!!!!!

and then this bit that is WAY funnier than it has any right to be. hey this isnt relevant but look at this animation of this scene. onto nepeta!

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling arsenicCatnip arsenicCatnip [AC] CG: HEY. AC: :33 < *ac perks up curiously* AC: :33 < *she wiggles her rear end a bit and then chases something she s33s bounce into one of karkats shoes* CG: KARKAT CAN'T BELIEVE HE HAS TO SINK THIS LOW. CG: KARKAT CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S ASKING AN AUTISTIC GIRL IN A CAVE TO JOIN HIS TEAM.

the drama of attempting to build the team continues. oh karkat i know youre trying to be ableist but she probably doesnt notice its supposed to be insulting. on account of the autism. that she has. and wonders why hes stating this fact. (#relatable)

CG: OK, BRIEFING: CG: ME, TEREZI, GAMZEE AND TAVROS ARE ALL PLAYING NOW. CG: THE CONNECTION ORDER IS AT -> TC -> GC -> CG.

not bad progress on planning this! i feel like the pacing is more obvious from this perspective. like we rlly gotta get all these guys into the medium asap! karkat is already in there though and i think all these team member shenanigans have been distracting him...

jack has come across this little shouty troll kid. naturally, being jack, he wants to stab him...

stab him he does.

karkat is pretty unconcerned with this injury and is just being a pretty miserable mess about the possibility of his blood being discovered.

poor kid. apparently jack thinks that this is the saddest thing hes ever heard. yeah, karkat is such a pathetic crybaby that this fuckin guy who loves stabbing people feels bad for him.

pretty interesting how much it resembles the blood symbol, huh

this alone makes karkat immediately imprint on him like a baby chicken since hes apparently a very weird kid.

THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!

ok the actual extension puts something else after this but im skipping it for now. to maintain the best chronology im skipping to this conversation with vriska. he rants to her about quadrants, then tells her about jack.

CG: I MEAN HE'S JUST STANDING HERE NOW. CG: WAITING FOR ME I GUESS. CG: BUT IT'S OK, I THINK HE'S PRETTY MUCH SETTLED DOWN. AG: Settled down? CG: WELL, HE STABBED ME ONCE. AG: Oh, only once! AG: Are you sure you should trust him? I don't know if I would, 8ut hey I'm not the leader. CG: NO, NO, IT'S COOL. CG: HE'S COOL, IT'S FINE I DON'T REALLY MIND THE STABBING, IT WAS ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING. CG: WELL OK I'M PRETTY SURE HE MEANT TO STAB ME. CG: BUT I KIND OF THINK THAT'S LIKE CG: THE WAY HE GREETS PEOPLE?

honestly i always read vriska's "only once" there as sarcasm but then i met someone who read it as a genuine reaction and thats just as funny. whether vriska is being like oh a little stabbing is fineeeeeeee or shes being like what do you MEAN only once dude. both are funny.

AG: Doesn't Trollian have some kind of viewport feature? CG: YEAH BUT I'M PRETTY SURE ONLY SOLLUX KNOWS HOW TO SET THAT UP, AND HE'S BEEN INCOMMUNICADO FOR HOURS FOR SOME REASON.

sollux isnt answering (dead and going on dream adventures) so they dont get to set up their trollian viewports until they get to the veil. whoops im getting ahead of myself. and of the timeline.

CG: JUST GET YOUR ASS IN HERE SO WE CAN DETHRONE THIS GODDAMN QUEEN. CG: IT'LL MEAN ONE LESS GOD BOSS WE HAVE TO FIGHT. AG: Fine, I'll be right there.

and we are planning to take down the queen!

just so this doesnt get too long im gonna continue this in another post.

[shhisp]

BG3 Companions: How Do They Feel About Homestuck?

Astarion: Has already read it. Can't read the epilogues and beyond because Ultimate Dirk is just as cringe as he is in the exact same way. Firsthand embarrassment, in that regard. "I've read finer literature, darling." Scoffs, crosses his arms, and upturns his chin. "Even so, I do appreciate the vampire representation. I should have been born a rainbow-drinking virgin. It's my calling—you know, the whole 'being enslaved' bit aside."

Gale: Has not heard of it, but wants to read it from the moment he realizes how long and complicated it is. He loves Act 6 and doesn't understand the majority of the criticism. Asks if you'll read it with him. Of course you will. You will, won't you? You can't say no to that face.

Lae'zel: Does not know what it is. It's of no interest to her really. Would probably threaten you if you asked her to read something so mindless.

Shadowheart: LOVES Homestuck. Apologetically, sort of. Shar probably wouldn't approve. You know that part where she gaslights you into telling you that Raphael was kind of cool and worth trusting, actually, before going into her knowledge of psychological torture? She does that with you about Vriska, Dirk, Jane, etc.

Wyll: I think he enjoys it for what it is, a dated masterpiece with many issues. He's not one to analyze like Gale, but I imagine he recognizes its flaws while also indulging himself fully. The art is beautiful and the fight scenes are what really make it for him. Probably kins John Egbert.

Karlach: Does not like it. She's tried to read it, obviously, but... Lesbians are simply not enough to get her through all of those boring words with boring, boring pictures for quite a while. She likes the lesbians, though. She'll stick to books that are worth their time, and are not written by total pricks, if she can help it.

Halsin: He likes the exploration of gender and sexuality in the epilogues, but the majority isn't really his cup of tea. He probably only knows secondhand information, but besides that, he really likes Jade. I think he'd probably call Dirk out as being a stereotype but then he looks over at Astarion, sighs, and goes "well... I suppose even stereotypes are rooted in reality, at times."

Minthara: Has read Act 5 for Vriska, as recommended by the wizard. Ended up heavily disliking her for overreacting about her past, and the actions she took because of that past. "Is she stupid?" Often self-inserts herself into the life Vriska lived just to imagine how much better she would have handled it, even as a child of such a young age. With that being said, she thinks pushing Tavros off a cliff was not enough. Admires Aranea, and sees herself in the relationship she has with Meenah, seeing as she's had to kill a past lover.

[davekat-sucks]

I realized that in order for postcanon Rose to stay “in character” between the end of the Candy epilogues and the most recent Homestuck: Beyond Canon upd8, Rose would have to be lying to John about how happy she is at the end of the Candy epilogue as a way to manipulate John into something… maybe just being content with his life in this narrative irrelevant timeline or maybe to make John think everything is a-ok in RoseMary central and don’t snoop around.

Either way this headcanon retcons Candy Rose from housewife of a sapphic couple living her golden years to a husk of a woman who has had her life destroyed yet weaved by her seer powers, to be someone who only does actions out of inevitability or to her best advantage, like a white woman version of Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen.

Of course it’s not inherently wrong to explore or analyze Rose’s god powers and how they both advantage and reconstruct her, especially after the retcon when Rose’s powers weren’t inhibited by alcohol. However, like most things in postcanon this exploration of the concept is hardly explored and rather focus goes to the consequences of the new motivations from the post-timeskip characters. Of course fans can do the heavy lifting and cherrypick from canon what Rose did post retcon and conclude that yes, it is in character for her to do this and the writers have been working hard writing deep, complex, and human characters. Just like they did for Jade and Jane.

It’s also once again a means to flanderize Rose as this super serious cunning thinker who is always 3 steps ahead and always grim and cryptic and rebellious because some voice(s) that commune to her speak of the true route for her to take.

Rose was being very serious when she talked with John about the incoming meteors and definitely did not play along with any wordplay or inside jokes among her friendgroup, she was being very serious when she made a moustache from a w magnet, she was being very serious in every conversation with Dave and all that banter was actually super cereal planning and coordination to enter her sburb session and Dave’s tendency to trail off or act cool absolutely did not invite any irony to the conversation that enticed Rose to tease Dave about his façade of being cool. Rose was being VERY VERY serious when she adopted Casey and renamed her to Viceroy Von Bubbles, very serious business indeed,

I’m sorry for going off the rails, I miss the old Rose.

It's alright. But you got good points here. Guess it isn't enough for Vriska to knock the alcohol out of her hands. Fanon had really seen Rose as this serious but cool calm goth girl, just like how Kanaya had imagined her to be when she read her walkthrough. But in reality, she was just as silly as the rest of her friends. It's a different kind of silly compared to Jade's genki personality. Sucks that characters like them can't be silly for silly sake.

[terraco-07]

I'm gonna start this off by being self aware. Vriscourse in 2024 is so funny and kind of silly in a way so take as little or as much of this as you want. I think I should lead in with Vriska is divisive on purpose. Her entire story is rife with places where you can either hate her, love her, or find shades of grey. I love Vriska as a character, but I want to be perfectly clear. Vriska Serket is NOT a good person, but imo very few people are. Narratively speaking Vriska grows up on a hostile planet where she's forced to kill for her Lusus. She also has the influence of Mindfang's journal to contend with. Vriska never knows who she is, she's always living in someone else's shadow and constantly hating it. Yet at the same time she's trying to live her life by some grand formula. Let's take Tavros for example. By virtue of Karkat and the descriptions we get of Alternia we see the word pity used several times when describing Flushed feelings. Can we take it with a grain of salt and assume that Karkat a known romance over enjoyer is being an unreliable narrator? Sure, we can. That said I think that wording is relevant here. In Vriska's head she feels bad for this guy and thinks that she's the only one who can fix him. On top of that you add in that her hero was flush with a powerful bronzeblood and you've put massive blinders on yourself. She becomes so self absorbed with this idea that she ends up going way too far in her efforts to bring him around and pushes heavily past his consent and boundaries. (Looking at that kiss scene). Even after his death she says maybe 2-3 things about ahh man maybe I shouldn't say bad things about that guy anymore or am I bad for killing (another) friend. She's young but I think the lack of remorse is something that matters here when looking at her in adulthood which is what we're really trying to get to here. As for the previous murder it's barely even touched. There's an air of well Aradia killed me back so we're all good. Even though she ascended to God tier and initially Aradia was just a ghost who had to deal with it while Sollux had to cope with the fact that physically it was his body that killed his matesprit. General other beats are the arrogance, easy to anger, and lack of empathy. Which we actually get to see some development on those from pre retcon Vriska! More on that here in a second.

Holy shit Gil, you're rambling so God Damn much why do we care? I don't know, don't ask me, but here's why all that foundation matters. If we're thinking about the theoretical for any Homestuck character as a whole I feel like we have to consider who they are in adulthood. Tons of discussion and debate all circles around "well they were kids!" Okay, well lets talk about what they could be as adults. So with everything we've already brought up about Vriska, how does she act in her 20s? Personally I think she struggles post game. She has no mental purpose for a while and she's in a place where she doesn't have to fight just to live so that means tons of time to sit around and think. We've seen from pre retcon Vriska that when the stress is off she does actually consider what she's done to a degree. Do I think she thinks about Tavros or Alternian sins all that much? No. I think she doesn't like her younger self (like most people) and does what she can to avoid being like that anymore. That comes with painfully slow growth and still a lot of bridges in need of mending. Those same traits of being self centered and needing attention are there but they're a little more tempered. She can at least listen now and has the emotional intelligence to realize when she's hurt someone and actually care about that. In summary: Vriska is a complicated and flawed character and saying that she did nothing wrong but also saying she did everything wrong are both incorrect. There is nothing defensible about her acts (She fucked up bad) but we can understand why she may have done them without condoning them. As an adult she is still kind of an asshole but she's not to that same level and she gets to grow into a somewhat reasonable adult that is still a dick at times. Also if you got this far then enjoy my shameless Vrisrose propaganda. They get in fights all the time and want to beat the shit out of each other nonstop. Both of them suck and it's so funny.

[dave2olkat]

I love the ideas you have going on in your gold pilot au! Do you think you be fully writing the way a couple different time loops go or focusing on the main two you've talked about? Do any other characters learn about sollux's time loop? Oh! Do the other solluxes (solluxi?) keep existing after the time loop is sent through or its it like a universe mini-reset? I'm so excited to hear your thoughts

Hello, I'm glad someone else is interested in the Gold Pilot AU! My idea for the main fic is to have everything written from Dave's perspective, so sadly yes, we'll mostly just be focusing on the first two time loops. We get to see what happened in the other iterations as Dave learns about them, mostly by going through the Mage database himself but also from Sollux summarizing what happened in "the more doomed tiimeliine2".

On the other characters learning about the timeloop, many do! It's not actually Sollux who's stuck on one, they all are, Sollux's just the guy who found a way to sort of communicate with himself through the iterations (or at least as far as he knows). Mostly all the HS main characters (the kids and the beta trolls) are somewhat aware that Something Is Definitely Off about their lives but very few of them learn about the loop without Sollux telling them abou it first. In the story, he calls it "beiing awake" and besides him (who always gets awakened by himself) I imagine it's the light players, Vriska and Rose, Dirk and Terezi who have the most general awareness of the loop. Dave has been having weird dreams since he was 13 (when the time loop starts) as well as a general sense of deja-vu when he meets certain people like Karkat for the first time, but that's about it until he basically confronts Sollux about all the weird spooky shit that happens around him like he already knows it's going to happen.

As for the other doomed Solluxes (lol) I do think they reset! But how long the timeloop lasts before it does is anyone's guess, honestly. Rose speculates that the one a actually stuck on a timeloop is the Condesce herself and she's just dragging everyone else in their universe along with her for the ride. What Sollux DOES know is that he's never able to return further back than Karkat's Sixth Wriggling Day, so sadly, he's never able to save Aradia, who's stil present and acting as a sort of ghost guardian angel for everyone, and who sort of guides Dave throughout the story because she knows Sollux will keep isolating himself otherwise and yeah, she's kind of trying to set up her old boyfriend with a New cool boyfriend is that adorable.

If anyone would like to send more asks or share some of their own ideas that could be incorporated into the AU, just hmu!

[thewertsearch]

FCG: I CAN'T SHAKE THE FEELING SOMEONE ELSE MUST BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS. FCG: IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN IN OUR SESSION. FCG: SOLLUX HAS THE SAME INTUITION ABOUT IT AS ME, HE THINKS THERE'S SOMETHING FII2HY ABOUT IT.

If Sollux is the one who smells a rat, then maybe the mechanism of the Mistake relates to one of his interests, such as coding. Sollux would surely notice the telltale signs of a botched ~ATH script, or other supernatural programming error. 

Sburb’s source code doesn’t control the Medium - but it did transport the kids there. Maybe they’ll try to reverse this process, opening a gateway out of the Incipisphere to escape their failed session - but since none of them can code properly, the program actually tears holes in unrelated sessions, such as the trolls’. 

FCG: HE SAYS HE'S WORKING ON TRACING THE ORIGIN OF THIS DISASTER.

I love how Kanaya’s sitting right behind the origin of this disaster. 

FCG: IN A WEIRD WAY I'M SORT OF LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING SOMETHING NEW TO BE PISSED OFF ABOUT. FCG: IT'S NOT LIKE THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE TO LIVE FOR NOW ANYWAY.

I totally get it. The whole team must be...

Actually, let’s think about this. Now that I’m familiar with all the trolls, how do I think each of them is reacting to their failure? 

Aradia saw this coming, of course. Before the session, she was completely 0k with their inevitable failure - but now that she’s partially alive again, that might be about to change. We do know that she’s going to be uncomfortable with Project Trolling - but why? 

Tavros misses Prospit. That aside, he’s probably just happy to get to relax after their month-long campaign. 

Sollux is suspicious. Something has gone very wrong, and he suspects that the cause lies outside the session. Plus, he’s apparently been spending a lot of time with Feferi... 

Nepeta probably misses the outdoors. We don’t know much about her role in the session, so I can’t tell if she’s going to be heavily involved in the current crisis. What’s a Rogue to do? 

Kanaya is surrounded by her scared, confused teammates, and her level-headedness is surely being tested. She’s probably working closely with more reasonable trolls like Karkat, and desperately scanning Rose’s guide for any clues about their situation. Once she realizes the truth, she’s going to be livid. 

Terezi’s skills lie with people. She’s keeping a close eye on her peers, trying to figure out how they’re responding to this disaster, and who might become a problem. She also finds the whole thing kind of funny. 

Isn’t it awful, Vriska, to be forced into a loss through no fault of your own?

Equius probably blames the session’s failure on its lowblood leader. He might try to take command, but I think he’ll be distracted by relationship drama with Aradia. That one ain’t gonna last.

Gamzee hasn’t been paying attention, and still thinks the session is in full swing. He’s just chillin’. 

Eridan doesn’t understand what went wrong, and doesn’t care - he’s still struggling with the fallout of Alternian societal collapse. Unlike Equius, he has no relationships to distract him, and I’m expecting an actual coup attempt. 

Feferi has grown closer to Sollux, who is about to locate the humans. She’s probably involved in this search, since she’s going to unite the two races. 

FCG: LAST SWEEP'S EVE WAS PROBABLY THE LAST HAPPY MEMORY I HAVE IN FACT. FCG: WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO FOR THE LAST HOLIDAY? FCG: ANYONE? FCG: I REMEMBER MY LUSUS HAD BEEN GONE FOR DAYS AND I WAS STARTING TO GET WORRIED. FCG: BUT THEN HE FINALLY RETURNED, TRIUMPHANT. FCG: HE BROUGHT THE FRESH BEHEMOTH LEAVING INTO OUR HIVE, AND TOGETHER WE DECORATED IT. FCG: AND FCG: I DUNNO FCG: THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY, I'M GETTING A LUMP IN MY SQUAWK BLISTER.

Alternia hates its young.

It hates them. It really does. They’re forced to prove their worth in the brooding caverns before they can even speak - and even if they survive, many of them will be murdered by the state for arbitrary reasons. They’re killed for being single, for being mutants, and for standing too close to a body of water, for fuck’s sake. This planet hates the children who call it home.

But they still have holidays. 

If that isn’t the most bittersweet thing I’ve ever heard. Alternia scoffs at art, fashion, peace and family, but in a strange twist of fate, it does not scoff at Sweep’s Eve - presumably, the troll equivalent of New Year’s Eve. On this brutal, pragmatic planet, these kids celebrate the simple joy of a new beginning - just like us. 

There’s a crumb of warmth baked into Alternian society, despite everything its leaders have done to stamp it out. 

FCG: I GUESS I'M DONE. FCG: I'M GOING TO LIE DOWN NOW FCG: ON THE STEEL FLOOR OF THIS FRIGID METEOR DRIFTING THROUGH THE BLACK UNCARING VOID OF OUR NULL SESSION. FCG: NULL, KIND OF LIKE THIS MEMO I GUESS

For its inhabitants, this warmth can be rather hard to find... 

But it’s there. 

[timecryptid]

South Park as Homestuck Trolls

(Like what they would be on Alternia)

Stan is probably a blue blood more in terms of Vriska. He only has small hints about his ancestor but he ignores them because his ancestor sounds like a shitty guy and not in a good way. He was the troll version of an alcoholic and also just a general nuisance. His lusus is actually pretty nice being maybe some sort of dog or wolf and while he’s she does require troll meat to live or else she’ll go fucking bad shit she also doesn’t try to get Stan to do it all the time. I also feel like his god teir would be something Heir but I don’t know what. He has some kind of mind control but he doesn’t use it much. He only uses it when he has to. And he only feeds assholes to his lusus. Usually people being assholes to his friends.

Kenny is a brown blood (I don’t remember what it’s officially called but Tavros) and he has no indication about who his ancestor is but also doesn’t care. His lusus would be some weird raccoon thing that sneaks in and eats his soper slime and as such is high constantly.

Kyle is a lime blood but he has to hide it because all the lime bloods were culled and somehow his ancestors blood got in their before they were all killed off. As far as he knows he doesn’t have any powers but he also doesn’t know much about himself and his blood. The only thing about his ancestor he knows is that he was killed off by hunters for his blood. His lusus is pretty protective of him and weirdly knew Kyles ancestor. I do not know what animal his lusus is though. While it is weird and unheard of his lusus also took in another young grub who was small and weak. He was bound for no lusus having bright candy red blood and as such Kyle and his lusus took the young male grub in.

Cartman I think would be a violet blood although higher then Eridan was. He definalty talks about killing off all the low bloods but he doesn’t actually try to or anything. He is very suspicious of Kyle although as far as he knows Kyle is just an olive blood. His lusus is a catfish who is very casual and is weirdly gone a lot. But when she is around she spoils the shit out of Eric. As much as a lusus can of course. He does not know a single thing about his ancestor which is odd for a violet blood. His friends joke that he doesn’t have one.

So then their relationships would be Stan and Kyle are morails along with Kenny and Cartman. Another obvious is that Cartman and Kyle are kismesis although they do fluctuate between kismesis and matesprites. When they are more ksimesis Stan acts as their auspicious. Wendy (a purple blood) and Stan are of course matesprites. Kenny doesn’t let himself be tied down. Accept for Cartman of course.

[rogue-of-heart-classpecting]

Hellooooo you seem like someone who understands things well, I’m stuck between thief of time and sylph of space for classpecting myself and I was wondering if you could explain those a bit?? No worries if not!! 💖💖

Sure!

THIEF OF TIME

Now the thief… I have been reading the homestuck book 4 with andrews notes in it and vriska’s entire life since day 1 was spent in pursuit of attention. And she’ll get it from anyone she can. A thief of time would be trying to steal as much leisure time for their own purposes as possible from anyone around them. “Can you do my chore for me? Thanks!” “Cover me?” Or they would be stealing with time. And stealing can really mean anything. Sending someone on a goose chase to ransack their house, or monopolizing someone’s time to get information out of them. Just whatever the thief needs at the moment. Later in the game, they would be able to suck years off of others’ lives. And keep those years for themselves. They might be able to freeze people in place and speed themselves up by stealing the person’s normal passage of time and adding it to their own. Thinking up powers is fun because if you can think it and justify it it is yours. A lot of players got their powers by just wondering if they could do it, whether that’s in the parameters of their classpect, and trying it out. And then they can just do that and continue using it forever. This part is particular to the individual. I don’t know what you would want out of time or your powers, but you could think of a way of stealing something that would get you to that goal. The thief is manipulative maybe on a sliding scale, like meenah to vriska. Meenah encourages or prods others into doing her bidding. Vriska manipul8s people by controlling their fucking brain and makes them jump off cliffs or kill their girlfriends etc. This class is well suited to leadership in a boss-like way. Dictatorially (literally, in case of meenah). They are also girlboss. You know what I mean? They’re like… I don’t want to say sassy bc meenah is such a racist depiction already… but you know, they’re charismatic and con man-esque. They’re persuasive. And good orators.

SYLPH OF SPACE

We have a represented classpect here! Let’s take a look at kanaya and then we can talk about universal traits and possible differences. As you know, I share my classpect with nepeta, and I do have a core connection with her behavior and outlook, but I am. Very different from her. But she does help demonstrate what the classpect Can look like. Sylphs are generally backstage of the show. Ignore aranea. She spent like 1000 years being a side character before flipping out. Kanaya usually pulls the strings on more “important” characters, those who act more. She is constantly called meddlesome. However she isn’t really an orchestrator of anything the way a puppet master might be. She’s more like everyone’s conscience. “Are you sure you should be doing this?” “It’s okay to turn back.” That sort of thing. As she progresses through the story she starts taking more and more action. Out of nowhere she comes back from the dead to be the plot point that kills eridan. She gets more serious about her relationship with rose. She eventually makes rose stop drinking when before she could be considered an enabler (not encouraging bad behavior, but allowing it or not stopping it). Sylphs are calm controlled people who encourage growth and healing of their aspect or through their aspect. Now about space. Kanaya designs her own clothes and fashion, but she has a much stronger connection to the idea of a virgin mother. I kind of hate the christ metaphors in homestuck, not because I am Christian, but because I hate Christianity. But she literally has a virgin mother grub as her mother. And her chastity modus… and porrim her ancestor raised the signless like a mother. And he’s. The Jesus guy. Anyway kanaya needs to get the matriorb so she can hatch a new mother grub so trolls can keep being born. And jade bloods are supposed to tend to the mother grub in this parental sort of role with the baby grubs. Like an oldest sister. Kanaya also has this intense desire to auspitice other people to keep them from killing each other, also like an oldest sister. She has this extremely caretaker role in everything she does. And she ends up breeding the frog. Space players don’t necessarily have to be parental or feminine; jade wasn’t really like that, nor calliope. Those are some examples of other space things. Jade actual space and calliope storytelling and creativity. If you are laid back and accepting and likely a passive player (oh god, this is a big concept so ask in the notes if you don’t understand.) and you care about the journey more than the destination, that is what a space player is like.

It sounds like you have the right theme idea with the aspect since you picked out a dichotomy! The important part is asking yourself how you interact with that aspect and which one is more important to you or dictates your life more. Is your life spent in pursuit of “time” or are you someone who cultivates “space”? Are you nurturing or abrasive? Are you goal-oriented or meditative? And most importantly which one do you just straight up like more.