#t; gamzee

[hsrmtbrm]

(how can we talk when i have no voice and you have no ears?) (not that youd be listening either way)

its hard to connect with your ectoson-brother when youre not allowed able to speak :(

secret under cut

the background

[rqnotfound]

I fUcKiNg LoVe YoU - tRaNsTrOlLs AnD tRoLlKiNs ThAt ArE hEaViLy DeTaChEd FrOm CaNoN!!

[astronomicaltaxon]

earth, see?

[potatobugz]

hitting a little too close to home,

[mightylifepop]

wip of the girlss from the olden days (before i. forhot how to render).

[masiy-blooms]

LOOK OUT!! ITS GAMZEEZILLA!!

I’ll redraw this if I have to-

[ceabu]

It’s as though your body is on autopilot when you lean forward, slowly wrapping your arms around Gamzee’s shoulders despite the somewhat awkward angle. You know doing something like this so suddenly is stupid and dangerous, that you’re just asking for a reflexive or even lethal reaction, but you honestly don’t give a single shit. You also don’t care about getting your sweater wet.

Of course, he doesn’t retaliate. His speech trails off, and he flinches at the sudden contact, but aside from that he just passively lets you hold onto him.

ive been re-reading (っ˘ω˘ς )

i just want to keep you around (you make me feel alright)  by @blushcove

[ghoulietbat]

duude stop getting silly with the weed let me have a hit

[lesboygamzee]

gamzee transitions and ends up looking like he works on cars and he is so chill with it

[hsrmtbrm]

did i put way too much effort into this? absolutely. do i regret it? no, this is beautiful.

original image below cut

[8aeddel-vriska]

I think people who say Vriska isn’t trans because “pesterquest isn’t canon and uhhhhh postcanon bad!!!!!!!!” should have rocks thrown at them and be forced to give me their money to stop.

[dodgerjammies]

phemic song came on shuffle and i was reminded of the infinate burden that homestuck is in fact a good story with extremly compelling characters

[nintendont2502]

Okay after one (1) time listening to Life After Football I've already homestucked like half of the album

Change My Name + I Don't Wanna Do Nothing Forever - June Egbert (specifically epilogues)

Black T-Shirt - Gamzee

Life After Football - Beta + Alpha kids entry into the Medium/the Reckoning

I Deserve Love - Dirk?

Nightmare - Karkat (and/or Vrisrezi)

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

what do you think is the line between friends and moirails for trolls? I was never sure how to feel about it, it seems so nebulous. also any idea what's with feferi trying to invite kanaya and karkat into the horn pile with her and sollux? like based on the description of moirallegiance that sounds like... infidelity. but it didn't seem like the trolls reacted that way.

What it ultimately comes down to is the fact that Homestuck is a story, and furthermore, one pervaded by things like fate and destiny, which are real and exist within its universe, and therefore, the moirails for each of our trolls has already been decided by destiny (the author).

But also, in a less meta way, the confusion you're feeling likely stems from the fandom misconception that a moirallegiance is just an extra best-friendship, which it is NOT. The stated function of a moirallegiance is to calm each other the fuck down, in order to prevent them from hurting themselves or others. It's this pacifying effect, and not whether or not they hop into piles and talk about feelings, that defines a moirallegiance.

Trolls are a very angry and violent race. Some are more hot-tempered and dangerous than others, to the extent that if left to their own devices, they would present a serious threat to society, or even to themselves. Such trolls will have an instinctive pale attraction to a more even-tempered troll, who may become their MOIRAIL. The moirail is obliged to pacify the other, to function as the better half. The two partners in a strong pale relationship will serve to balance and complement each other's emotional profiles, and thus allow their other relationships to be more successful.

Piles of stuff and feelings jams in them are associated with moirallegiance, but are not "something you only do with your moirail" - like getting coffee or holding hands are associated with dating your matesprit/human romance partner, but not exclusive to them, and, in many cases, not a form of infidelity (although they can be). For what it's worth, Eridan does call Gamzee's horn pile in the middle of the room a "vvulgar display," like Gamzee's chucked porno mags everywhere:

ERIDAN: wwhat a fuckin vvulgar display this is ERIDAN: airin out all his dirty laundry like that puttin a big fuckin pile a horns in the middle of the room ERIDAN: at least i got the upright basic decency to hide my shitty wand pile somewwhere in the lab you wwont find it dont evven bother lookin KARKAT: WHY DO YOU ASSHOLES HAVE PILES OF THINGS, JUST STOP.

So what Feferi's doing with Sollux is less "hey, come cheat with me on Sollux," and more "hey, wanna third wheel our date?"

Moirallegiance is about the "instinctive pull" and the pacification of both partners. Also, moirallegiance is very much romantic. The comic uses the word "platonic," but I think what it means is "chaste" - moirallegiance is not involved in reproduction, so there is no requirement or social expectation for physical intimacy; however, if it weren't a form of romance, it wouldn't exactly be a type of troll romance, would it?

Failed moirallegiances do not have this calming effect: Kanaya doesn't stop (or even really attempt to stop) Vriska from doing her Vriska bullshit at all, and in fact Vriska gets MORE agitated when talking to her:

AG: Ok, so you're spying on me. Kind of creepy! Man, m8y8e you should get a l8fe. AG: Or you know, if you're so h8gh 8nd might8 an8 th8nk you're so gr8at, m8y88 you c8uld oh I d8n't kn8w........ AG: TRY AND ST8P ME FROM DO8NG B8D THINGS????????

The same can be seen with Feferi and Eridan:

CC: Is t)(ere a lucky lady you are waxing scarlet for? CC: OR LUCKY F-ELLOW??? 38O CA: uh CC: Tell me! CC: Don't pretend you're all -EMBARRASS-ED SUDD-ENLY!!! CA: ok fef CA: this is NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS

And with Karkat and Gamzee:

KARKAT: DON'T YOU START WITH ME KARKAT: DO. NOT. START WITH ME. KARKAT: I WILL GET YOU IN A HEADLOCK SO TIGHT IT WILL BE A MIRACLE IF PEOPLE DON'T MISTAKE OUR TUSSLE FOR AN ILL CONCEIVED VENTRILOQUIST ACT. KARKAT: I WILL SHOOSH YOU AGAIN, SO HELP ME GOD. I WILL SHOOSH YOUR CLOWN ASS TO SHANGRI-BULLSHIT-LA AND BACK, AND FILL YOUR EAR WITH MY WHITE HOT PALEBRO SPITTLE. KARKAT: I AM FULL AND FUCKING WELL PREPARED TO GET CONCILIATORY WITH YOU AGAIN IF YOU SO MUCH AS PASS GAS MURDEROUSLY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND? KARKAT: IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT??? DO I NEED TO CALM YOUR FAYGO-STICKY TENTSQUATTING SHIT DOWN AGAIN???? GAMZEE: naw brother, i was just about to all say for you to try and get your settle down on, maybe. GAMZEE: :o(

And what makes Equius and Nepeta so successful is that Nepeta keeps Equius's tendency towards fury in check, while Equius keeps Nepeta out of harmful situations (although he's maybe doing a bit too much of that and could afford to step back):

EQUIUS: D --> As such, he is prone to being more violent and unpredictable than any of us EQUIUS: D --> Not everyone has been as lucky as I in the domain of moirallegiance

AT: iT'S PROBABLY FOR THE BEST, AT: tHAT YOU LISTEN TO HIM, AC: :33 < i dont know AC: :33 < you think so? AT: wELL, AT: iF YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO HIM BEFORE, AT: yOU MIGHT HAVE PLAYED GAMES WITH US BEFORE, AT: aND SOMETHING BAD MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU,

And Feferi and Sollux work because Sollux is prone to excessive self-loathing, which, mixed with his mage powers of prophesying/invoking the future, make for a cocktail of potential harm to himself and others. Talking with her keeps his head above the water (heh) and forcibly prevents him from wallowing in self-loathing:

SOLLUX: anyway, yeah, now that aa ii2 gone forever ii feel more depre22ed and u2ele22 than u2ual, and ii wa2 already pretty cod damn u2ele22 two begiin wiith, let'2 face iit. FEFERI: But I )(ave it on good aut)(ority t)(at s)(e is fine! FEFERI: Everyt)(ing is going to go swimmingly, YOU'LL S-E-E. 38) SOLLUX: you are 2o riidiiculou2ly optiimii2tiic iit'2 kiind of 2iickeniing, why do you even put up wiith me? SOLLUX: iif you weren't 2o great ii would thiink you were a fuckiing iidiiot for liikiing me. SOLLUX: 2o, ii gue22 thank2 for liikiing me?

But even though these moirallegiances are ultimately doomed, there is some amount of pacification going on, making it difficult for the trolls to tell in the moment whether or not their pale relationship is true (Karkat does manage to stop Gamzee from murdering people, for example, but fails to address his religious beliefs and underlying trauma, whereas Gamzee can't calm Karkat down at all, so they end up drifting apart after the initial Major Problem has been settled).

The fact that it's a blurry line even for trolls is explicitly stated:

It's often ambiguous especially among young trolls whether a bond formed between an acquaintance is true moirallegence, or the usual variety of platonic involvement. Furthermore, romantic intentions of a more flushed nature can often be mistaken for paler leanings, much to the frustration of the suitor.

So this is kind of by design - part of adolescence, keeping in line with Homestuck's coming-of-age themes, is the messy romance. If it were easy to piece together, it wouldn't be true to life.

HOWEVER, that all being said, special notice does have to be taken of the way moirallegiance - moreso than even the other three quadrants - has an air of DESTINY about it. Trolls believe that every troll has one destined partner for every quadrant:

But if there was one theme to be hammered through his thick skull, it would be the trolls' cultural preoccupation with romantic destiny. Yes, the romantic landscape is rife with false starts and miscues and infidelities, red and black. But every troll believes strongly that each quadrant holds one and only one true pairing for them, and it is just a matter of time before the grid is filled with auspicious matchups through the mysterious channels of TROLL SERENDIPITY. In short, their belief is that for each quadrant there exists a pair or triad of trolls somewhere in the cosmos that were…

MADE FOR EACH OTHER.

So there's already a setup in this comic, which is so rife with prophecy and foreshadowing, that every troll is eventually going to end up with their true love/true hate - but even out of the four quadrants, moirallegiance is given special weight: first of all, it is the only quadrant that is literally translated as "soul mates":

This quadrant presides over MOIRALLEGIENCE, the other conciliatory relationship. A reasonable human translation would be the concept of a soul mate, but in a more platonic sense, and with a more specific social purpose.

And second, it's called "mysterious" or "magical," even in direct comparison to black/red:

CG: AND ALL THE NUANCES OF PITY MANIFEST AS VARIOUS OTHER KINDS OF FEELINGS LIKE WHATEVER CHEMICAL REACTIONS TRIGGER MATING FONDESS OR THE MYSTERIOUS FORCES THAT ARE BEHIND MOIRALLEGIANCE.

You then proceed to have the rest of this conversation we already read, bugging and fussing and meddling through the special and magical union one can only describe as being in moirallegiance with another. At least, you guess that's how you would describe it. Maybe. Troll romance sure is confusing!

And we can't forget:

Such trolls will have an instinctive pale attraction to a more even-tempered troll

Which lends to the idea that there's a biological compulsion towards needing a moirail, same as how there's a biological draw towards finding reproductive partner(s).

But this is why I always tend to use "destined for" when discussing moirail pairs, and also why I focus specifically on which individuals calm other individuals the fuck down - like how Gamzee says he "feel[s] so at chill with" Tavros, or how Karkat goes from completely losing his shit to "yeah, so that's it i guess" after talking to Eridan.

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

DIRK: Let's test something. Describe your gender in a way that'll baffle cis people, but other trans and enby people will get. I'll start.

DIRK: I prefer not to be perceived by others.

ROXY: ooohhh a void w thigh high socks and a beanie

KARKAT: I DUNNO. PICK A SLUR

KANAYA: I Drank Too Much Gender Juice

SOLLUX: ii wii2h ii wa2 an ab2tract concept.

JADE: oobleck!!!! my gender is oobleck

ROSE: I am a grand, old piano. I am painted black, shining and somewhat glossy. Covered in vines holding beautiful, golden flowers, I sit in the middle of a forest; forgotten, yet not lost. A cat sits atop me, staring into the distance with a glare in its tiny, marble eyes. The sun lays itself on top of my base in streaks, like looking through swaying, almost open blinds. I am a grand, old piano.

DAVEPETA: B33 < seven goblins in a trench coat, each with a diffurent hypurrfixation

HAL: David Bowie, as played by Tilda Swinton.

NEPETA: :33 < none gender with left boygirl X33

FEFERI: A s)(apes)(ifting tentacle monster t)(at takes t)(e form of your gay aunt's wife!! 38)

CALLIOPE: if gender is a performance, then mine is the cUrtains which are drawn in to block stagehands switching props and the backdrop.

JANE: I'm a girl in a man way...

DAVE: i dont know what im doing leave me alone

CALIBORN: BOOBY MCBEARDY FACE.

DAVESPRITE: rooster

ERIDAN: im all the genders but also none of the genders and evverything i wwear is drag and evvery crush i havve is gay

EQUIUS: D --> If Gerard Way was a sport bike

TAVROS: wHEN YOU ORDER A MAN FROM wISH,

VRISKA: I'm genderfluid 8ut not in a "sometimes a girl, sometimes a 8oy" way. Sometimes my gender is Wesley from Princess 8ride, a sexy cow8oy, pir8 temptress, greasy gamer entity.

GAMZEE: An OlD vEnDiNg MaChInE tHaT oNlY gIvEs YoU nIcKeLoDeOn SlImE aNd GrApE sOdA :o)

JAKE: I want to be able to see my gender in the forest after weeks of camping and get scared away. Then the next night wander into the forest searching for it again but disappear without a trace. Like those horror movies you watch sometimes you know?

JOHN: i'm a person?

ERISOL: ii think of gender a2 iicky 2tuff that ii dont wwant on me, attached twwo me. that2 another wway of 2ayiin i dont wwant gendered terms twwo define me. iim agender

JASPROSE: No matter who you are, if you have sex with me, it's gay!!

ARADIA: i d0 n0t exist 0u0

TEREZI: BOWL1NG 4LL3Y C4RP3T

[masiy-blooms]

Kraken Gamzee