#though i have a feeling that vriska would just let her have him at this point if she's really changed as much as it seems

[calware]

headcanons on who would have kids

june: i don't think she'd have kids, she feels more like an aunt to me that lets her nieces and nephews stay up past their bedtimes. that said i am so intrigued by the concept of everyone being gods that are centuries-old and virtually detached from their humanity and she snatches a random kid. and everyone is like june you can't. you can't do that. put it back

rose: i don't think she would have kids 😔 she feels SOOOOO GUILTY about it too because she feels like she's Supposed to have a kid and is Supposed to be a good mother to like, prove something, or make up for her own childhood, but she just can't. i think if she did have kids she would be one of those moms who loves their kid and takes care of them and provides for them but still regrets it and hates herself for regretting it. she likes helping with kids though

dave: depends on the scenario honestly there are so many ways this could go

jade: i think she would have kids, i imagine she ends up like a grandmother with 100 grandkids lol. they all get together for big family reunions with lots of food and warm rooms and laughter and music

jane: LOL no

roxy: i also don't think she would want kids, i think this is something she would realize later in life, maybe even after having a kid

dirk: allergic to the idea of having a kid so so bad. despite this he cannot help but unwillingly end up as some kid's mentor/guardian/pseudo father-figure because he's cursed. with a support group he's okay though once he chills out for 2 seconds

jake: take a wild guess

karkat: doesn't decide to have kids but he somehow ends up taking care of like 5 random ones. where did they come from? maybe they were adopted. maybe they all started following him around and never left. maybe they were all left at his front door in a milk crate. either way, they're his responsibility now. he's not the stepfather, he's the father that Stepped Up

kanaya: i also don't think she would have kids but i do think she would be very involved with kids. i like the idea of her working with grubs in the brooding caverns before they find families/communities/lusii/etc to take them in. or a short-term foster parent. again i'd like to think rose helps her with this

terezi: realistically i cannot see her raising a child by herself unless it's in a very comical context like the paradox space comics, which i imagine would be VERY entertaining from an outsider's perspective. terezi teaching a baby legal jargon. terezi wearing those baby carriers that you strap to your chest while careening down the interstate. terezi fingerpainting with a baby, but she's picking up the baby and using it like a baby-shaped paintbrush

vriska: 😬

gamzee: he's already kind of calliope's dad? in a way

[thewertsearch]

We're got a couple of assorted asks about quadrant dynamics here. Since they're all related, I'll answer them as a single post.

@galaxa-13 asked: I personally never saw Feferi being annoyed by Eridan talking about feelings with Karkat because he was only supposed to talk about them with her, but rather because he ONLY talked about them with Karkat. She had to do all the heavy lifting in their relationship by making sure he didn't commit genocide, and then didn't get to unwind with some romantic gossip. If my platonic boyfriend never talked to me, but did with others, I'd question him too. @lilietsblog asked: I never read Feferi as being jealous of Karkat in a violating relationship exclusivity / cheating on her way. I read it as a playful "why aren't you talking about stuff with me? is it because you've already talked it all out?" where Eridan was very much supposed to read between the lines and undersatnd that she just wanted him to tell her about his red crushes (awkward, that…) While I'm sure there are specific rituals trolls /only/ do with their moirails, my overall impression is that trolls normally just… don't form relationships close and trusting enough for emotional support like that. The quadrants help by making it semi-mandatory to find SOMEONE. (Also I'm actually sure that a healthy moirallegiance would be reciprocal with both partners pacifying each other, it's just the hemospectrum version of gender roles)

You may have a point. Eridan was clearly a poor moirail from the start - probably because he never actually wanted to be Feferi's moirail. To him, the quadrant was clearly just a stepping stone to matespritship, so he wasn't invested in its dynamics. Feferi's not really angry about Karkat, here - she's just a little frustrated about how one-sided their moirallegence has turned out to be.

That said, I do still believe that quadrants would work better if they were polyamorous - even if this particular scenario doesn't illustrate my point as well as I thought it did.

@morganwick asked: I mean, some would argue that placing undue emphasis on monogamy beyond what's actually healthy or natural is true of human romance as well. But part of what might be going on here is that on Alternia, it's not a good idea to let knowledge of your fears, doubts, and weaknesses spread too far, lest it mark you for culling. Best to vent to a single person who won't tell another soul. (See also how Vriska is saying things to John she wouldn't tell any other troll.) @bladekindeyewear asked: "At the end of the day, I do think moirallegiance is a good idea. I just don’t think it really works if moirails can’t be poly." What if they CAN be? People with naturally polyamorous inclinations are few and marginalized on present-day Earth, and Alternian society seems set up to STOMP OUT the marginalized. Quadrants certainly exist, but how much of their rigidity and the pervasive troll view that you only have "one true fated partner(s)" for each quadrant might just be cultural?

I think a monogamous system of moirallegence is probably all that Alternia could handle. Sustaining a polyamorous quadrant system would require a level of emotional maturity that the average troll simply isn't going to have - and, like you said, it might be dangerous to widen your circle more than is actually necessary.

I still think the trolls would benefit from such a system, though. On Alternia, it simply wasn't to be - but the Alternian Players now have the chance to build an entirely new culture. Who knows what new dynamics they might discover?

@lilietsblog asked: I don't think Hussie "jumped the gun". I think Hussie was messing around with the very idea of "what romance should be like". Trolls don't care about what gender their partners are, and have a different system of confusing rigid rules that no two people understand quite the same and that don't work out in practice that way anyway, instead. The quadrant system was never intended to be a serious worldbuilding project any more than Troll Will Smith

See, I get what you're saying - but the difference, in my opinion, is that that Troll Will Smith was a one-panel joke, whereas the quadrant system has informed our understanding of troll relationships for the entirety of Act 5. Unlike Will, quadrants have stayed relevant, and they've been critical to understanding many of the Alternians' key character moments.

That's not to say that quadrants aren't partially a joke. Frankly, I don't think any of Homestuck is entirely serious - but I do think quadrants are 'real' in the context of the story, and should be analyzed as a legitimate part of its world.

@bladekindeyewear asked: One last bout moirails-- Andrew in his asks has said that the idea behind each of the Quadrants IS supposed to match up with real human relationship and friend dynamics we already understand, making them relatable but w/ a romantic drive that isn't quite human-analogous. Trolls biologically compelled to enter them before understanding them, a challenge "particularly tortuous for young trolls" (p2393), plus the 600 hour session makes sense of Eq/Nep's relationship's drastic evolution to me.

I've always been a little skeptical about this whole 'biological drive' angle for the quadrants - mostly because there are plenty of human biological drives that are either overstated, misinterpreted, or outright fabricated.

That's not to say that the trolls don't have some sort of compulsion to seek out quadrants. If it does exist, though, I hope it slowly fades, now that the trolls have left their planet and its expectations behind.

[cherrirui-official]

Friendlocke Violet Gijinkas (Part 4/7)

Hell yeah we're over halfway done! Isn't that crazy? I don't have too much to say here sooooooo onto the usual stuff

I plan on posting them in order by groups of three, so there's gonna be seven parts in total, all of which I'll be linking here when done vvv

(Part One) (Part Two) (Part Three) (Part Five) (Part Six) (Part Seven)

!! These will contain personal headcanons I have for the cast, little fun facts, and also spoilers for Friendlocke Violet (for both the edited vids and the streams) !!

@saltydkart-reblogs

Designs under the cut!

VRISKA:

Vriska has an extra set of arms that they can retract and extract whenever they please. However, they usually keep those arms hidden.

The long needle she's holding is her trusty sword that she's used since her pirate days. She doesn't use it as much as she used too, but it's good to keep it on her for self defense in case of an emergency.

The marks on thier neck and shoulders aren't tattoos, they're birthmarks.

Good at sewing, as she often would have to fix her coat after getting into epic pirate sword fights. Sara and Vriska are sewing buddies!

It is unknown why they're unable to sleep, but while the rest of the team sleeps they often find themselves wandering around and doing whatever they want.

Artist's note: I based Vriska's design off the fact that I wanted to make her look like a bootleg version of the og Vriska. As in "Hey that's Vriska" but also "That's not VRISKA" if you get what I mean

MALL BINGO:

Trained herself to become resistant to poison (and by "trained" I mean she just ate a bunch of poison until her body became almost immune to it... please don't try this at home.)

Often goes scavenging for items when she's doesn't feel like robbing someone. If she's lucky enough she'll find some good items scattered around because "stupid trainers often leave good shit on the ground for some reason" (due to all the items you can pick up from the ground ingame lmao)

Mal lost her leg in one of her first heists, after she and another pawmi tried stealing from the wrong person at the worst possible time.

The gun she keeps with her wasn't originally hers, it belongs to someone else.

On a more positive note, Mal has plenty of stories and tall tales to share. She learned them from the eldest in her little pawmi group, as they would often tell her stories before going to sleep. Mal will often share those same stories with Peppy Jr and Mykyie Jr.

Can and will bite you. You won't be expecting it. Be warned.

GRUNPILO:

Due to his abundantly long hair, Grunpilo often lets Mal play around with it and style it however she wants.

It is unknown how or why he picked up on puppetry specifically, but it makes him happy so who are we to judge?

Speaking of which, he creates his own puppets by hand, from simple sock puppets to marionettes on strings. The two hand puppets shown are his favorite ones though.

Sometimes he'll be found speaking to them as if they're real.

Not good in social situations or confrontation, so Mal will sometimes have to speak for him. ("EXCUSE ME! He asked for no pickles!" /ref)

EXTREMELY light, very easy to pick up.

And that's all! Only three more batches left woo, hopefully I can finish them by the end of the year lol.

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon Up8 for July 25 (?) 2024

Well that was fast!

I have to admit I started seeing spoilers to this alerting me it was up first, but I was one of the people that got bit by the bug where it wasn't updating. But I switched browsers and it seems to be working now.

Though we don't have a time update, this is obviously wearing on Vriska. I wonder just how long she's been doing this for.

"i, wANT,,,, tO PLAY A GAME"

We could argue Vriska was already doing that. In fact from the way the proceedings have been described that's exactly what she's been doing. But of course, we know what game Tavros wants to play.

Wait . . . does Vriska not even know that much about Tavros? Like, I knew given the chance he'd want to play fiduspawn. Does she really understand him that poorly? Wow.

Huh! It looks like they actually FLARPed. I would have thought for sure Tavros would have wanted to play fiduspawn instead. Maybe he was worried Vriska would rag on him for it? He also could have chosen FLARP because he knows Vriska likes it.

Oh wow! Is she going to realize it? Winning was never the point! Tavros had fun this time! It's obvious that she was so worried about beating him and the "session" making her do everything again, that she pulled her punches enough for him to enjoy himself. He got to actually enjoy the game he was so excited about!

And can I say, it's always nice to see Tavros happy.

By accident, Vriska ran the game in a way they could both enjoy. They could both have fun! Will she realize that's why things are going well though?

She's not grasping it. As Sally "thewertsearch" realized in her ongoing liveblog, winning is life or death to Vriska. It's impossible to be fine with losing, let alone happy about it. That's been beaten into her so badly, is she even capable of realizing there's another way?

"That is quite possi8ly the gayest thing I have ever heard someone say, Nitram." Wow! Is she using gay as a slur? Been hanging around Dave too long!

Yep! We can blame Dave for that one!

Hah! You catch on fast, Nitram! And just like that, Tavros has turned it against her.

Yeah, she's not getting it. Yes, Alternia is stacked hard against Tavros. And he can't seem to do anything about it. And nothing Vriska did ever helped him. And if it weren't for SGRUB, he'd probably be dead. So what? He's just supposed to mope and be angry and miserable all the time? He's not allowed to find joy or pleasure in things? And as we saw, he does feel down and depressed a lot. But that doesn't mean he's always going to be that way, especially if he just did something he enjoys doing.

Wow! There's a deep cut. That was like all of one panel where it showed Tavros struggling with getting into his recuperacoon and mentioned how he always had trouble sleeping. I don't think it ever got brought up again before now.

Yeah, this Tavros may be pretty accurate, but he's apparently still a construct. Of what, I'm still not sure. But again, the machine holding The Plot Point was created by Caliope and Roxy. I mentioned how strong that could be previously. So Tavros can tell Vriska the point, and still be unaware of what any of it means.

"I think if a certain uppity human was here, she'd call it 'projecting.'"

She did spend a lot of time around Rose. Man. There's some real potential for verbal sparring that we missed with the Retcon's time skip.

The Rufioh comparison is actually pretty apt. The "Tavros" Vriska is expecting or demands doesn't exist. She's never thought of him as anything but another goal, another game to win.

Man, that probably would have helped Tavros quite a bit to know she's always been a mess. Vriska has never had the positive self image she projects. It would have likely been quite a relief for him to understand just how fake her bravado often was.

I think Vriska might be starting to realize Tavros is right. Not only is he right, but what he's suggesting might actually be what this "scenario" demands of her.

And now Tavros is ribbing her about playing a blue blood. I've always guessed that Vriska bought into the hemospectrum more than she let on. If only because so much of her world view was shaped by Alternia's demands.

Vriska's turning this around again. Potentially quite viciously. But Tavros isn't rejecting it completely either.

Bam! There it is! Now I'd note I still don't think she's fully listening to him, but she actually did try this time. And yeah, her realization is true. But then Alternia is a crazy place.

Fucking Aradiabot jumpscare!

That legitimately threw me! I was not expecting that! Also, more God Tier art! Look how absolutely menacing and ominous she is!

Well Vriska should know this place well, but she's probably more surprised than I am.

"m0re accurately this is the b0ss fight t0 drive the p0int home"

And she's one hell of a boss!

Vriska really did get everything she wanted when Aradia killed her, or at least what she thought she wanted.

This feels familiar of some other, Homestuck adjacent media.

"y0ure n0t here t0 be redeemed vriska y0ure here to gr0w up"

That's a double slap to the face! Also appropriate and needed.

Everything has to have a purpose, a justification. Every tool has a use and every person a role. Vriska cannot conceive of a world where anyone is enough. And because of that, she can't conceive of a world where she is enough. She has to be saving everyone's butts, even if they hate her for it, because that's why she's here. If she's not doing that, then there's no reason for anyone to care about her.

Somewhat reminiscent of a certain Narrator and his goals . . .

"light players define themselves by their direct acti0ns and understanding"

Yes! More information on aspects! Someone knows there's still a bunch of us lore and theory nerds around!

Fucking. God. TIER!

And now we're in the Quest Cocoon, sans a traumatized Tavros.

We never really got much of seeing Team Charge together and happy. I absolutely love it.

Hah! Look at that fucking echeladder! "DANTE 8ASCO'S INFERNO" XD

And that's the end of that part of the VN!

That was so fucking good! I'm so excited and spun up now! And I have to go to bed! Settlers of Kalguur starts tomorrow and I still haven't settled on a build!

But who cares! I'm loving this so much! I hope you're all enjoying this too!

[autisticaradiamegido]

*falls dramatically onto the floor of your askbox* kc dyou think aradia ever feels guilty for starting the apocalypse on her planet and getting a bunch of people killed or dyou think she even considered it her fault since she was urged by voices of the dead

nah i dont really think so. with her understanding of Timeline Stuff i think she probably gets that like, if she hadn't introduced the game to her friends, all that would have happened was that they would have been killed with the rest of their planet, creating a doomed timeline. I get the sense that the mere presence of the frog ruins on alternia indicates that the game was already there and already prepped to send the meteors, whether the game was actually played in a given timeline or not.

that said i think there are a few things she did in service of that end that she might feel guilty about, even if they were required to keep the timeline on course. biggest example off the top of my head is putting sollux to sleep, causing him to lose time, accidentally killing his lusus by falling in mind honey which gets in his mouth, and putting him in range of the vast glub, which eventually kills him.

like, in this convo with vriska, she seems kind of snappy and maybe genuinely hurt by the insinuation that she's trying to trick him or lie to him,

(even though that's like, sort of literally what she did in coaxing him to come to the window and not telling him that the game would cause the apocalypse, even though she knew that before they started playing.)

which, imo, speaks to a degree of internal guilt coming out as denial. not to mention that even though it obviously pushes sollux away from wanting to participate, in the end she can't help but be honest with him here anyway.

tl;dr: i think at the end of the day she'd realize that there wasn't any other way she could have done things without dooming the timeline, but that doesn't mean she doesnt feel bad about it AT ALL, or have ANY regrets. i just think she doesn't let them get in the way of doing whatever she needs to do to keep the timeline on track.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

I don't even CARE about Karkat but after seeing your endgame ships I absolutely need to hear your opinion on Karezi since..Kalliope (???) is so far out there. (We don't talk about Davekat)

LOL ok good i also don't want to talk about davekat

but yeah karezi... interesting! I don't mind it, i think it could work, but I kind of can't help but feel like they deserve better, y'know? (which is incidentally how i feel about davekat too, to a greater extent).

Like, i don't think they're BAD for each other, and before Terezi met Dave, she and karkat definitely had mutual crushes - karkat's most obviously, but eridan's "whoa, did she really say that, can you copy exactly what she said" about feferi is actually an echo of terezi's line about karkat. so, mutual flushed crushes: confirmed.

i guess what i mean by deserving better is just that, like... terezi deserves someone who thinks she's fucking hilarious, and is willing to play along with her little games. as much as she likes karkat's overblown reactions, he's not exactly a good sport, and that's not even getting into his mixed signals. Despite the two having interest in each other since at least the beginning of sgrub, by the time they're talking to the kids, Terezi's surprise when John jokes that Karkat said he was in love with her indicates that he's managed to send such mixed messages that she genuinely isn't sure how he feels about her, and he later berates his own past self on the meteor for the exact same, and of wanting her in every quadrant, his "spirited platonic contention" objectively construable as pitch flirting.

Meanwhile, on Karkat's end, he fucking loves romance. Cheesy, corny, sappy romance. Soul mates and destiny. If you want to understand Karkat, watch Serendipity, one of his favorite movies. My god. If he showed that to terezi she would never let him live it down.

He laments to Vriska that nobody listens to him talk about quadrant shit, even though it's incredibly fascinating to him. This is a lie; ERIDAN listens to him. But this means that Terezi doesn't, and neither have we ever seen them discussing it, so that's kind of what i mean by both of them deserving better? Terezi deserves someone who can play along with her jokes and mind games and karkat deserves someone who is interested in his quadrant discussions; she deserves someone who can put their whole ass into saying they dig her and he deserves someone who doesn't mind his vacillatory mixed signal nonsense. idk. i dont think they're bad for each other, i just think they can do better, lmao. again these opinions are just opinions and idfc what you (general you) ship

[valle-de-sombra-de-muerte]

Nepeta's agency shouldn't be overlooked either. Even if there is little of HER in the comic, because Hussie considered her to be unimportant, she still has presence. Others in the friendgroup, like Karkat consider them to be a weird pair, because they are polar opposites. She is aware that Equius is an asshole, but still chooses to stick around with the horse.

Why do I say 'choose'? Because she still gets just enough exposure from the comic to let her speak about Vriska and Eridan, later on in the comic. And she thinks that Vriska is scary and dangerous, and thinks that Eridan's advances are insincere and creepy. So Nepeta is not stupid or gullible. She has awareness of her situation, even her crush for Karkat, she seems aware that he doesnt really feel anything for her. 'Alpha' Karkat that is, but still. And she's also not an outsider like Equius and Eridan to their friendgroup. Nepeta's been shown to get along with Aradia, Tavros and Terezi, and most likely she's on good terms with everyone, so she definitely has other options if she wants to socialize. Equius can't actually make her do anything. If she wanted to, she could say no, cuss him out, and never talk with him again. Or just give him an order to stay away forever. He WILL take that very seriously. He will be heartbroken, but an order is an order, so he would see it through. None of this stuff is really apparent now though. At this point, Hussie just wants to creep and confuse the eff out of the readers with horse antics.

(Hi anon, you seem to have sent me the same ask twice but formatted slightly differently. I'm going to address this one since it's the more recent of the two.)

I want to thank you for bringing this up. I didn't properly explain how Nepeta's agency factors into her relationship with Equius in my main post. Kind of a stupid omission because it's very important, but sometimes these things get lost when I'm trying to talk about multiple subjects at once. I might just append this to that post because there's a lot I should've said but didn't.

I did comment on this in my post, but didn't emphasize enough that being Equius's moirail is something Nepeta herself chose to do. It may be dysfunctional and other characters comment how weird it is, but in the end, it's Nepeta's choice. It's something she considers an "important job" and one she seems to take pride in doing.

I also neglected to mention the reasoning why she decides to put herself in this situation. It's because she's kind to a fault and sees the goodness in most everyone. It kind of comes with the territory of being the aspect of Heart, I figure. She has a crush on Karkat, a total grouch, and even tries to roleplay with Vriska until the latter insists on playing "mean" characters. I think in regards to Eridan (whose interactions with her were truly insincere and motivated by a desire to rebound after Feferi left him), she could see the goodness in him too if he had dropped the act and talked to her more bluntly. She'd probably recognize a lot of similarities between him and Equius, even.

There's also the duty aspect of it. She might be the only troll other than Karkat to truly care about troll romance. She recognizes the importance of moirallegiance and chooses to pacify the one person nobody else likes. Nobody is willing to stick around someone who is not only unpleasant to talk to, but has a hair trigger temper and is strong enough to shatter glass just from a touch.

But Nepeta can and will because it's the job nobody else is willing to take. She's built different.

As stated by multiple characters and even Nepeta herself, Equius has no real physical power over her. He can't actually enforce his commands and he's not going to beat her or anything if she refuses to listen to him. Nepeta can easily say no at any time, which would be more than justified considering he's always getting in the way between her and her other friends. So why doesn't she? Well for one reason, she's just too darn nice. But there's another reason too.

She's scared. Not for herself, because at no point is she ever in danger. She's scared of the damage Equius can cause to others and himself if he's left to his own devices. Hell, we see him cause an avalanche that would've killed him and Vriska had Aradia not intervened. He did this because he got mad that one of his robots was facing in his direction. His own rage nearly cost him his life. It's pretty clear why he needs someone to look out for him.

So that's what Nepeta does. She heeds his demands and doesn't provoke him because she doesn't want him to throw a potentially life-threatening fit. Of course, we see instances where she disobeys him anyway (talking to her lowblood friends and the humans), but these only ever happen if she's sure there's no danger of him finding out.

With all that said, I still maintain the power imbalance in this relationship is in Equius's favor. Nepeta may be a consenting party to this relationship and theoretically has the power to pull out at any time, but she's still 13 and naive about the world. I'm not saying that she's stupid, but she's a hopeless optimist. She often assumes everything will turn out okay, assumptions that almost always turn out wrong. She believes that Equius will let her join the Red Team if she's careful about telling him (he doesn't), she holds out hope that Karkat will reciprocate her feelings (he doesn't), and assumes that Equius will return to her after confronting Gamzee on the meteor (he doesn't).

Equius, by contrast, is more worldly and more adept at manipulation (a trait he exhibits in his conversation with Vriska, and one that is implied he utilizes regularly when dealing with other blue bloods).

He also exhibits this with Nepeta by speaking to her in a condescending manner, trying to put up barricades between her and her lower blooded friends (calling them hooligans and telling her not to play with them), and snubbing her blood color. This is all under the guise of asserting himself as a guiding figure, someone to look out for her and to "reform" her (i.e. making her into a casteist just like himself).

While Nepeta actively rebels against Equius's bigotry and his attempts at changing her behavior aren't entirely effective, it still reads as subtle manipulation tactic. The implicit threat is still there whenever he makes a demand of her. "Do what I say, or else I'll get angry and possibly hurt myself/someone else." Nepeta, with little worldly knowledge or any other means to stop Equius from doing such a thing, has no choice to comply to keep him pacified.

This is why I say while Nepeta "theoretically" has the power to end her moirallegiance, she doesn't because 1) she believes the consequences of doing such a thing are too large to risk, and 2) she's too nice a person and does actually care about Equius, regardless of whether he deserves her affection or not.

Nepeta does so much for Equius and all he does is put her down and try to isolate her from her friends. At the end of the day, that's why I don't fuck with this pairing. I know this is the fandom's pet ship and I'm fighting against a tidal wave with my stance, but no amount of fluffy fanart is going to change my mind about this.

Thank you again for the ask!

[thewebcomicsreview]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, I do not care for this talksprite.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[davekat-sucks]

(Found this image on Twitter)

I really don't like the Omega kids. I take them as seriously as I take the alphasprites, they don't exist to me. Hearing you guys talk about these little mistakes feels like watching everyone talk about a hypothetical scenario or dream some guy had once... which is the Homestuck experience now.

I dislike them, but it's not just because their stories stem from terrible couples, it's because they're so over designed but there is no meaning to anything.

It's cute Tavros has a bow tie and that Harry has a bandana but those feel like little trinkets that should have been added on later after we get used to seeing them. Show me their personalities first before you overload a character with this much clothing. Yiffy is the worst of these. It's too much. For some reason Eridan feels like a simpler design than this avril lavigne clone. There is something less cohesive and more busy about these designs than the original cast. Maybe it's because it has too many different grays and blacks. She looks more like a vast error character than a Homestuck one.

Look at how simple the character designs start out as, and then they purposely make their own outfits that fit their interests and personalities. Dirk may be a bit of an exception here actually, he changes his clothes right after he is introduced. Which introduces him as anal.

There is meaning here. There is a purpose that the story shares throughout it's run. Look at Rose's dress it was made from the velvet pillow introduced when her mom one-upped her and Roxy's outfit here clearly being a reference to her mom's love of knitting. There is a reason Jade wears blue and John wears green even though that isn't their colors. Dave's shades are a gift from John. John is wearing a bootlegged slimer shirt. I'm not saying the Omega kids need every article of clothing to have a backstory, but if they wear this much clothing it doesn't tell me much.

Why does Yiffy wear cleats if she was hidden away from the world? Did she run around in a backyard like a dog or something? I don't even remember if that is her story or not, I forgot so much about her because I was more focused on how she was a child that Rose had behind her wife's back. They're overloaded with drama too.

To add to that. I haven't placed much thought in it but I don't know what the Omega kids color scheme is supposed to be. I assume the Beta kids colors come from basic web colors. If you invert the beta kid's colors you get the Alpha kids color scheme.

The Omega kids just feel scattered and unorganized. It makes them feel even more meaningless because they don't fit in. If that is the point then why not have five kids to really fuck with the system here? The writers should have really ran with the whole "we're flipping the script and subverting expectations" thing.

I also don't give a shit if this is nitpicky, I'm sure you guys can all see there is something off about the omega kids.

I agree about the accessories doesn't really show they are connected with the Beta Kid adults. If the bandana is suppose to be like a replacement to how Roxy wears a scarf, then let the boy wear a scarf and not a stupid gay bandana. You think that Kanaya, who is a fashionista herself, would be critical of what her daughter, Vrissy wears. And if you are saying she would never reprimand her daughter because she looks like her crush, then that brings up a worse implication that she really is grooming her to be like Vriska by enabling her bad habits. What confuses me is Tavvy's overshirt has the matching color of Gamzee, the one who MOLESTED HIM. You think after his death, he would never wear that color and be disgusted by any shade of purple that's within his sight. Unless him still wearing that purple vest now is still symbolizing he is still bound by Gamzee or can't move on after what he did to him.

But yeah, nothing about the Omega Kids designs makes sense. And I still am on the side that laughs at Yiffany looking more like Nostalgia Critic.

[applestorms]

FUCK IT. DEATH NOTE CLASSPECTING. GO:

LIGHT: prince of light. both class and aspect are non-negotiable here. moon-wise i’m actually inclined to assign him derse, if only cause of the whole “accessing the powers of dark gods” thing (guess that makes ryuk a horrorterror? hmm), though prospit would probably fit better personality-wise.

L: prince of void. i’m quite confident in the aspect for this one, though the class is a little more iffy. having them both be princes feels oddly fitting though so let’s run with it. moon-wise i’d actually like to give him prospit, mostly just to be complementary to light, but also cuz it’s funny to imagine him cloud-watching in the piss pjs.

MISA: page of doom. i’m quite proud of this assignment actually, i think it fits quite well w/ her whole thing in canon about being loved by death (though here the terminology would be more like “served by doom”). prospit dreamer for sure probably maybe, to be honest i have no fucking idea how dream moon assignment works? fuck it, i’m giving up on that from here onward.

MATSUDA: knight of hope. again, less certain on class, but i think it’s very sweet if he’s a hope player <33 esp since his Belief in light lasts (almost) the whole series…

MELLO: thief of light. making him & light both light players is fucking hilarious to me so we’re rolling with that. also assigning him thief is making me think of vriska parallels now which is vaguely horrifying to consider but he did kidnap sayu and kiyomi so let’s move on quickly now.

NEAR: heir of void. take a wild guess who he’s inheriting that void from, fellas. this one kind of breaks my heart to think about, which i think is a good sign that it fits well. not much else to say, i’ve had this one pretty cemented since one of my earlier astronaut rambles on near, so…

MATT: knight of breath. as we all know, this bitch only shows up for like 2 seconds so there’s probably a lot of room to consider other options here. i just kinda like how this reflects his role in helping mello + being a pretty chill, laid back dude most times we see him, but i’m certainly open to other takes for this one in particular.

NAOMI: sylph of mind. this is incredibly vibes-based. she’s got that interesting mix of brutality paired with loving motherhood-esque associations that feels very sylphy/kanaya to me, plus an analytical approach that feels fitting of a mind player.

BEYOND: heir of heart. there’s a lot of aspects that could fit beyond, honestly— blood, rage, doom, and time are all other considerations that could easily work as well. i just like heart for how he mimics L, and heir makes an interesting connection between him and near, though i considered mage too. also heart to match naomi’s mind etc. etc. (you may notice i’m quite partial to good connections/pairings like that, even if it doesn’t fit the individual perfectly— classpecting is just as much a social thing as a personality test, in my mind. but i digress.)

KIYOMI: maid of life. i haven’t essay posted about kiyomi much but this one seems kinda fitting, though she perhaps interprets this title in a slightly different way than jane. someone go angst about kiyomi a little more so i can get a clearer read on her. life is also to match misa’s doom, as well as…

MIKAMI: knight of doom. i’m kinda hesitant to have two doom players on this list since they’re supposedly somewhat rare, but really, what else would fit for mikami? serving light his doom is basically his most notable action in the story, ultimately. guess it makes sense that DN would have a lot of doom about it, or at least it seems more like a doom series than, like, a rage series. in my humble correct opinion.

SOICHIRO: knight of blood. one final one where i’m more confident in the aspect than the class, but i think this one ultimately works— albeit in a very different way from karkat, ofc ahhakdjf. he serves his family, he works for the benefit of People. the tired dedication of blood just feels very soichiro all around.

[bard-of-beasts]

Favorite Earth Drinks of the Beta Trolls Headcanons (by bard-of-beasts)

—————————————

Authors note: First time listing and posting my headcanons! Will definately try to make more. You can also request me for head canons for characters of any fandoms I'm in. I hope you enjoy!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

𝙰𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚊 𝙼𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚘: 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎

No sugar, no milk, nothing.

Makes a pot every day.

Has it for whenever she needs it.

Isn't really caffeine addicted to it though, she's not crazy about it.

She will drink it pretty much any hour of the day though.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝚃𝚊𝚟𝚛𝚘𝚜 𝙽𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚖: 𝙷𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚊

I feel like him and his dancestor would love Mexican drinks and food.

Sometimes he has his own powder mixture, but also keeps some in the fridge that he's prepared beforehand.

Whenever he takes his first sip, he's smiling happily.

God, he's just as sweet as this drink, it's adorable ♥︎.

Vriska has stolen some though just to be a prick.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝚂𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚡 𝙲𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚘𝚛: 𝟽-𝚄𝙿

He drinks this shit so much that at times he just has a pile of the empty cans somewhere in his hive.

And oh my god, it's actually terrible.

He often drinks the original, but he likes other flavors too.

As long as it's 7-UP, he'll take it.

His hive reeks of it at times.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝙺𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚊𝚝 𝚅𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜: 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚞𝚕𝚕

He can be aggressive like a bull too when he's hooked on this-.

He has a bit of a caffeine addiction from this, but he can go through a day with just 1 normal sized can.

Even though the original isn't the most flavorful, he's fine with that, he doesn't even care really.

He has tried the other flavors though.

If he's feeling pretty generous, he'll let Dave have a sip.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝙽𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚊 𝙻𝚎𝚒𝚓𝚘𝚗: 𝙼𝚒𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚎𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚋𝚊

Loves every flavor of milk tea boba.

Really enjoys nibbling on the boba balls.

Sometimes Equius gets her a cup!

She has tried showing him how to get the straw into the cup to keep the film on top.

Alas, he broke the cup and it spilled everywhere, as expected.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝙺𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚢𝚊 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚊𝚖: 𝙿𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙻𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚍𝚎

Fancy drink for a rather fancy bitch, and rightfully so.

She always has it in a tall, clear glass with ice cubes and a little lemon slice on the rim.

Not sure if she would do this without realizing it or not, but whenever she is drinking this, she crosses her legs.

She usually makes some in a pig pitcher for herself and Rose.

She enjoys the flavor, as it's not overwhelmingly sweet, yet not bitter.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝚃𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚣𝚒 𝙿𝚢𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎: 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚃𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎

Loves it most with extra cherry syrup.

The redder, the tastier it is, especially for her tastebuds.

Gets as much of these as possible.

There are many cases even where Karkat has to physically stop her from drinking more than she can handle.

When this happens, she's pouting.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝚅𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔𝚊 𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚝: 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛

She just gives the vibe she would love this, change my mind.

Enjoys every flavor, no matter how much some of them taste like battery acid.

Whenever she finishes her can, she crushes it with her metal arm and chucks it at the back of Tavros' head.

Much more caffeine addicted than Karkat.

How much she drinks in a day can vary.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝙴𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚞𝚜 𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚑𝚊𝚔: 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚒𝚗 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜

CHUGGING. LIKE DAMN BRO NO ONE TRYNA TAKE IT-.

Because he's chugging so much, sometimes it dribbles down his chin.

When he's done, he chuckles the bottle into the trash, the bottle breaking every time.

He always gets some when Nepeta has her boba.

One time Nepeta even swiped (pun intended) a container of protein powder just for him.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚣𝚎𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚛𝚊: 𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚐𝚘 & 𝙼𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝙳𝚎𝚠

Mtn. Dew just because outside of Detroit, it's very hard to come across Faygo anywhere really.

So when he can't get his hands on Faygo, Mtn. Dew is his next choice.

Both are very sugary and sweet, after all!

His lips are always a bit sticky whenever he's drinking either of these.

Besides, the color of the original Mtn. Dew reminds him of his pies.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝙴𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊: 𝙱𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚢

Won't let ANY Troll even touch his drink, besides Feferi.

"Get your grubby land dwweller hands away"

Only drinks the original, never drink the flavored ones really.

He never drinks the flavored ones because he gives them to Feferi.

Always keeps the cans in a very clean acrylic drawer in the fridge.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

𝙵𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒 𝙿𝚎𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚜: 𝙻𝚊 𝙲𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚡

Unlike Eridan, she sometimes offers a can to a Troll friend.

No one really accepts them though, just because it's not really their thing, besides Kanaya and Eridan.

She especially loves the fruity hints in the sparkling water

She does enjoy the flavored bubbly drinks Eridan gives her too!

Fuck it, I guess many sea dwellers love fancy drinks in my book.

[blaperile]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon (reactions page 667 - 694)

Ok it's been a busy few weeks but I finally got around to writing this reaction, haha

So, I was correct that we'd be getting a perspective switch to someone other than Vriska. The question is how long it will take before we see her again.

In a meta way I think page 888 would make the most sense. I suppose that means Vriska wouldn't play a role in the huge upcoming confrontation flash? Unless Vriska does escape 'hell' WITHIN the flash? Maybe we just get to see a silly montage of Vriska refusing to hug her other self, as a comic relief betweeen some other intense scenes, until she eventually does and then still plays a role in the confrontation.

We'll have to see!

But anyway, dang this was an intense update.

Jade made a shield to protect the ship in the upcoming battle. Does it mean Jade, Vrissy, Yiffy and Harry won't play much of a role in the confrontation then? I could see Yiffy and maybe Vrissy sneaking out like Tavros did but we'll see.

After reading this interaction between Rose and Jade I had to briefly reread the previous conversation between them and Kanaya again to fully understand what they were talking about (I mean wow it's already been 8 months since that update, time flies).

I love how they referenced the "hamster guy" again, which Jade talked about in that previous update as someone who cooked their hamster and apologized about it to Jade.

I'm very worried about where this is going with Rose. Her internal rambling about there being no truth reminds me of the early conversation with John about where the Candy timeline would be headed if John didn't face Lord English.

Rose claims she sees the future; that both Vriska and Jane will fail and "just about everyone" is going to fail. Calliope will sacrifice herself fruitlessly, Rose will be shot in the head…

That all sounds bad. Really, really bad. "[S] Game Over" type of bad.

But, the fact that it's stated out loud right now makes me think… it won't happen? Maybe Rose has it completely wrong and it's just impossible to get a definite look into the future of the Candy timeline. Or maybe Vriska will be able to change the tide here, to have things go completely differently.

If Rose does get in a comatose state however, that sounds eerily similar to the state of her physical body in the Meat timeline.

This does explain why Rose is not making a true effort to salvage her marriage with Kanaya though, because she wants Kanaya to move on from her if Rose is comatose.

I just hope it all doesn't go down that road.

Unless the plan of the creative team is to utterly decimate the Candy timeline and leaving only the ones who don't have a "duplicate" in the Meat timeline? I hope it doesn't come to that.

For one thing, let's not forget that the last time we saw Jade we saw she still had a captchalogue card of a corpse, implied to be Dave, which I assume will still play an important role in some way.

This update makes all of them look like Ancestors/Guardians again, especially the shot of Kanaya, Karkat and Meenah together. So epic. And also Jake coming from the shadows with only his glasses visible, feels like a classic Grandpa moment.

That scene though, holy shit… My thoughts went all over the place.

First I thought Jake successfully killed Jane when he shot her in the head. Then I thought Jane killed Jake when she started bashing him with his gun. And then I was so relieved to see Jake was still alive.

Poor, poor Jake. Just when you think he finally gets to do something incredibly important and stand up, destiny fails him.

But after Rose implied that a lot of people are going to get killed in the upcoming conflict, and Jake didn't die here yet, makes me hopeful that things will turn out differently than Rose expects them to.

I suppose there's nothing left to do but anxiously wait and see where the next update will go!

James Roach said in his news post an old, existing Homestuck song will be used in the flash. That makes me very excited.

But I wonder what unused song could be appropriate here? Is it Penumbra Phantasm? Something from Volume 10, or something way older? I have no clue, but I'm excited to find out.

[thewertsearch]

GG: you said you are asking me permission first and i appreciate that GG: but if you are asking im afraid my answer is no! AT: oKAY, i RESPECT THAT, AT: bUT, i WONDER, GG: what? AT: i WONDER IF A TRULY SELF CONFIDENT GUY, wITH THE BEST SELF ESTEEM THERE IS, wOULD EVEN NEED TO ASK, AT: mAYBE THE BEST GUY WOULD JUST KNOW HE WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL, aND WOULD DO IT ANYWAY BECAUSE IT IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, aND EVERYONE ELSE'S,

I don't think Tavros is just emulating Vriska here. This is a very Alternian mindset, and it's one we've seen before.

Alternia is, after all, an empire. It's a society whose idea of success is inexorably tied to violence and domination - so if you're trying to be a better troll, you'll probably gravitate to both, even if you don't realize it.

It's not really about your personality, either. Karkat is, by all accounts, one of the more moral trolls in the party - but as we've seen above, even he's got those imperial instincts. This sort of thing is insidious, and once it worms its way into your brain, it can be hard to shake.

Tavros is a very straightforward example. He's finally gained some 'confidence' - and what's his first impulse?

To seize a useful resource from an alien, and use it against her will.

GG: that would be smug and arrogant and would make you a bully!!! [...] AT: yOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT ALL THAT, i'LL RESPECT YOUR WISHES, AT: oR, AT: wILL i? };) GG: nooooooooo dont dont dont dont dont GG: im serious GG: uuuuggghh i think my headache is coming back AT: i WAS jUST, AT: mAKING A JOKE, AT: sORRY, }:(

This dude cannot read a room. Truly, the anti-Terezi.

Oh, leave off.

AG: Next time you decide to open your heart to an alien girl…….. AG: Make sure her chat client isn't 8eing holographically projected for all to see, ok?

This exploit should apply to chat clients of any size, provided the screen is visible. Maybe John's Pesterchum Glasses were a better investment than I thought.

AG: Jade let you down too easy. She's too nice! Someone's got to tear into you for that appalling display, and once again, guess who's shoulders that falls on? AG: That's right. Vriska's, as usual.

Tavros probably does need someone to explain what he did wrong, but it should be anyone but Vriska. This is obviously just going to be more bullying, and no actual advice.

AT: i THINK SHE HAS THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF NICENESS, pERSONALLY, AT: aN AMOUNT THAT IS SOME, iNSTEAD OF, AT: nONE,

Showing backbone against Vriska, eh? Finally, a constructive use for all that confidence.

Progress is progress, even when it's just a minor clapback.

AG: Hey, I'm nice when it matters, [...]

Nope, I'm calling Vriska's bluff. What nice things has she done so far, exactly?

Sure, she made Tavros the rocket chair, but only after mercilessly tormenting him for his physical condition, which she caused.

Plus, this wasn't even a real apology gift. She kept bullying him after that, and is literally doing so as we speak.

I guess she also made Aradia's soulbot, as an 'apology' for murdering her with her own boyfriend. To be precise, she had Equius make it, with horrific results that she should probably have seen coming.

She also thought that it would be 'nice' to tell Terezi that her blindness 'wasn't that bad'. This conversation was kind of complicated, though, and I'm not sure what her actual intention was.

Anyway, it's pretty clear that Vriska doesn't really grok what 'nice' means. She gives Tavros a rocket chair, continues to torment him, and doesn't understand the contradiction, because she doesn't think his feelings actually matter.

[...] and where it doesn't strangul8te the critical development of people I give a shit a8out, ok?

"After all, no one was ever nice to ME, and look how gr8 I turned out! When you think about it, it's actually a GOOD thing that no one ever showed me kindness! It made me strong! Don't you want to 8e stroooooooong, Pupa? ::::D"

I'm reminded of this exchange from Hivebent. Kanaya recommends that Vriska practice some basic self-care, and Vriska completely flies off the handle, furious at the mere suggestion that she should be kind to herself.

Vriska thinks kindness will harm her. She refuses to accept it, and avoids showing it to anyone, which makes her remarkably consistent in her cruelty. I'm willing to bet that there's nothing she's said to Tavros that she hasn't already said to herself.

[kayforpay]

oh man. would love to see ur take on Karkat arguing that Gamzee should even be allowed to _live_ on Earth C....

It was always awkward to have to ask someone to speak on your behalf. If not for Karkat's wary first approach, Gamzee simply wouldn't have asked at all; what he had done, even if it wasn't entirely under his control, wasn't something he would forgive.

He had liked Nepeta, appreciated Terezi, and tolerated Equius. He wouldn't forgive someone else, even if they didn't have foggy memories of monsters that sounded like his friends, that looked like eels moving under their skin, and the desperate need to eradicate them.

But Karkat was, like usual, better than he was.

Waking up in control of his body was a shock. He had spent days curled on his side, struggling to keep even liquids down and in more pain than he could recognize. How had he detoxed without feeling it? Every nerve in his body was burning for a wipe, and he didn't even try to contact anyone. The fact that he had come through the end of the game wasn't even on his mind until he realized that the hive he was in had windows that didn't have automated shades.

Before that, he had hoped that the entire ordeal was a dayterror.

Then, almost immediately after he was aware enough to realize what had happened, Karkat let himself in. Reddish tears streamed down his face as he collapsed next to Gamzee's pathetic pile, his voice hushed as he gripped Gamzee's horns almost painfully to force him to look up.

"You're alive. Thank the stupid fucking human god. You're alive." He had pressed his forehead to Gamzee's own, had cupped his cheeks, and shook with emotion. "I'm so glad. I was so worried, Gamzee. I was so scared, I thought you were-- I thought you didn't win with us."

Gamzee had put a hand on Karkat's cheek (no way he could have known how warm his skin was in real life, how different it would feel when his body was his own again, how soft) and finally let himself cry.

The next month, since the humans insisted on taking over calendars and the world was more human than troll, consisted of everyone getting their footing again. The ones who had reached god-tier were still there, but he didn't actually know if that counted him or not. He wasn't privy to what he did, in the long gaps when Aranea had smothered his consciousness under a sickening blue blanket. For all he knew, he was faking the entire time, just for her amusement.

After that, once everyone found each other again, since the game had seen fit to mix sessions and revive everyone for, presumably, some kind of fucked-up bonus prize, Gamzee was immediately on the outside. He didn't blame them. Nepeta and Terezi were terrified of him; Equius was disgusted with both Gamzee and himself, and seemed more ashamed than anything when their eyes would meet.

Karkat told him, clearly, that they would start over. That he needed to "get to know the real Gamzee", that they couldn't just step back in now that they weren't wrigglers. It made sense, and Gamzee did his best not to act like they were close (though it was hard, when Karkat would come over and end up in his lap to cuddle). Even so, Karkat tried to defend him.

"The problem wasn't Gamzee. The problem didn't-- He didn't fucking kill anyone until the mind control got to him. Before that, he wasn't hurting people." He said, standing up from the awkward meal they were sharing with Kanaya, her human wife, Vriska and Terezi. "If we're going to punish him for having been mind controlled, are we gonna punish Terezi? Or Vriska, for doing it?"

Gamzee looked at the plate in front of him and swallowed. It was silent, awkward, but Kanaya had brought up the fact that she couldn't blame anyone for being uncomfortable. "Kar, you don't gotta do this. It's okay." He tried to speak more softly than before, not just for privacy, but because he made people flinch when he was too loud.

"It isn't! It isn't fucking okay, Gamzee! I-- I know you! I knew you, and you wouldn't do that. You won't do it again." He turned his entire body, and tried to hold back more tears as he continued. "It isn't fair for just you to be punished. I fucked up too. We all fucked up. Kanaya has a fucking hole in her stomach, Sollux is blind... I don't know what to do about the Beforans."

He moved slowly, putting a hand on Karkat's shoulder. "I'll be okay, bro. I'm okay. I'm just so motherfuckin' happy I got to be in my body again at all." It was a lie, but he was better at lying than Karkat was, and he didn't think anyone noticed.

"I won't." Karkat said, glancing to the table and then back. "I won't be okay without you. I can't do it again. You're not allowed to go before me, so don't be fucking stupid and try it. I'm the mutant, I die first."

Carefully, Kanaya cleared her throat. "I... Don't want to interrupt. But I don't think anything can be decided immediately. Maybe some ground rules?" Her eyes settled on Rose, apparently looking for support.

"I think that would help." Rose said, much more cocksure than most of the humans Gamzee had seen. She seemed like she meant it. "As long as Gamzee can remain sober, and can meet with... Someone, maybe Vriska?" She met Vriska's eyes, and they both nodded. "To make sure that you do, and that Aranea isn't influencing you again, well... That's somewhere to start, isn't it?"

He nodded, and Terezi fake-coughed, loud enough to make Karkat jump. "I mean, I think that's fine. Like Karkat said, we all fucked up. It isn't like we can just let one weird fucking clown go around but not the other. And Gamzee isn't trying to sew anything shut." She cackled, but Gamzee remembered, though it was brief, how she sounded when sincere, and it seemed to match.

Nothing set in stone. Someone probing his mind all the time, but not controlling it, at least. And the chance to be alive, in control, again. That wasn't nothing. That was more than he let himself hope for.

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon Upd8 for 612 2024

This is long overdue, but it's been a bit of a rough week. Most of my activity on Tumblr this week has been from doctor's offices. Nothing really new or important to report there, just lots of doctor stuff.

While long overdue, I've mostly somehow been able to avoid spoilers. The only thing I've been spoiled on is what I kind of new was coming. Oh! And the plush! I know about the plush. Somehow in all the chaos though, my brain kinda didn't connect celebrating 612 with the idea there would be an upd8. Tells you how scatterbrained I've been.

So let's start with that news post.

Oh! James is going to be doing a stream? Cool! I hadn't heard of this. I wonder who with. I'll have to look that up next. James also goes into detail about revenue from the plush. From what I understand, this kind of deal is pretty common for when you supply a design/book/print but someone else does all the production work. Some never go beyond 10% unless you're doing a lot of business.

Looks like we've got apparel coming too! I bought a ton of shirts for 612 from one of the old retailers back in 2015. They are very beat up now. It would be nice to get some new ones.

It doesn't sound like the comic is self sustaining for this size team. I'm pretty sure James wouldn't carry through with his threat to actually put adds in Homestuck, but people deserve to be paid for the work they do.

Finally, this will be the first of two upd8s. Let's see what they have for us!

I think this is the first time we've seen the wings actually poof like that. Before, it was just outfit switches from God Robes to teen duds. We get a little reminder here of the increased age gap, as John has to stretch out the dad bod a bit.

Apparently, Immortals do still have to worry about aging and body degradation. Pretty lousy immortality . . .

Vriska ain't got time for that.

And I'm pretty sure Sollux doesn't have time for it either.

Nope! XD

Things still a bit awkward between John and Roxy. Can't expect things to be stable there yet. They may have had their heart to heart, but the war isn't giving them any time to reconnect. John is also trying to bury what he's feeling by just involving himself in another adventure. Hopefully Roxy will keep him from just getting caught up too much in Vriska's orbit. But I'm pretty sure Vriska won't be satisfied until all of the Candy Timeline revolves around her.

Suitably awesome with a frame break and everything.

So there's no chance this doesn't cross some kind of Universal barrier. The question is, what? The hour glass shape has a lot of people speculating that it's a time machine of some kind. But anything that allows you to cross from one Universe to another would inherently have built in time travel, since from your frame of reference one point in time is much the same as any. The question is, can this escape Calliope's black hole? I can't help but feel like that looks like a singularity there too.

Let me try and compile what I know about this thing.

It's called The Plot Point. Since Homestuck has always been about narrative manipulation, a device that directly impacts the narrative isn't just possible but already has precedence. In a story a Plot Point is something that greatly impacts the narrative. In a normal three act structure, plot points can be used to start or end acts, or in the middle of acts to mix things up or increase tension. They can even be used to change how the intended audience sees the story and its characters. There's basically no limit to what this thing might be intended to do and possibly no limit to what it can do.

This is supposedly the reason why everything got so extreme in the Candy Timeline, the reason why John and Vriska both feel this version of the Universe is fake, why a near full cast has congregated here, why Jane went from being a typical rich neo liberal to being an outright fascist, why Dave ended up fully ascending under such hilariously crazy circumstances. Whatever this thing can do, it's supposedly already doing something just sitting there.

3. While obviously this isn't the same device, it shares some traits with the device from Hiveswap. But they're obviously not the same. The previous device looks a little more ramshackle, more steam punk, where as this one looks more streamlined. In Hiveswap's device, the colors on the serpents are clear references to Calliope and Caliborn, who have dominion over the four Universes in Homestuck.

The colors on these serpents are different. They don't even share a color between their spirals. What they remind me of more are God Robes. Specifically, Roxy and Jade's robes. I think these represent . . .

Oh hell! I think a fan theory might have just been proven right!

Follow me here . . .

I think both of these serpent represent Calliope. The Black and White serpent represents Dead Tier Calliope. As Muse of Space, they have black and white for their God Robes. Additionally, they have been influencing the Meat Timeline through Jade's body. While Dirk may be trying to take full control of that narrative, it's technically Calliope's jurisdiction as now both Muse and Lord of the Alpha Timeline.

But why does the other serpent have Roxy's colors? Because our Calliope, our dear, sweet, fanfic writing Calliope, has been creating the stories of the Candy Timeline from Void. Somehow, through their deep connection with Roxy, Calliope has been manifesting their own narrative in the Candy Timeline. It may not even be this Calliope! It might actually be the Calliope in the Meat Timeline who stayed together with Roxy and grew closer to them. That Calliope is the one that was described as writing and drawing stories on their walls!

So what does this thing do? I think it can create any narrative Plot Point you want it to. I think it can steal the Void attribute of any idea, any character, any McGuffin you need it to! Need Gamzee back in the narrative? Bam! Gamzee's back! Want to bring Jane's dad back? Bam! Done! Need another life ring for dead trolls, or just a story that will eventually result in all the Homestuck trolls coming back to life in full? You got it! Want to write a peaceful resolution and dénouement to the war? Easy peasy!

Who the fuck's idea was it to put Vriska in the same room as that thing!

[april13th2009]

Every day is just.

Thinks about Meenah as a character who doesn't want to feel as though she's hurting her friends and cares more about that than actually not hurting her friends. Thinks about "you know how it is someones gotta take care of the guy anyways" and the equation of dehumanization with care and the Beforean blood hierarchy as a systemic ableism analogy. Thinks about the perception of disabled people as burdens and Meenah's abdication being about not wanting to be chained down to anything. Thinks about Meenah as a character desperate to feel like she has autonomy/control in her life, but not necessarily wanting power, as more responsibility feels like less control. Thinks about social differences in Alternia vs Beforus leading to Meenah choosing to abdicate on one world but not the other. Thinks about Porrim's musings on fate where she references the life decisions of Mindfang and the Dolorosa (separately) and about the potential effect of that knowledge on her relationship with Aranea. Thinks about Aranea's fate vs free will talk with Terezi. Thinks about how similar Kankri's insecurities are to Meenah's and Aranea's, and how much more like them he probably would've ended up being if the Signless had been as shit a person as Mindfang or the Condesce. Thinks about the insidiousness of "I'd address my involvement with that, 8ut you seem to 8e tapping your foot so I think I'll just skip over that part of the story" and wonders if Aranea like Meenah felt guilt over actions never taken by her but by someone she spoke of in first person. Thinks about how I love Meenah when she's well-written and hate half the writing choices made with her. Thinks about how I [said through gritted teeth] like the vast majority of the writing choices made for Aranea, even if I'm screaming and crying about how they gave me the most autistic girl ever and then made her a Mindfang fan.

Thinks about Latula Pyrope's internalized sexism and how her personality revolves around "yeah I'm a girl BUT I still have value and deserve respect because I'm so good at [things that one can't easily or safely do while blind] let me prove myself please" and her influence on Terezi's mental state during the timeskip. Thinks about Latula's black lipstick and apparent eyeliner despite always wearing sunglasses, and how on her sprite it looks like her shoes have heels despite her constant skateboarding, and how cool it would've been if Terezi was butch. Thinks about how we see Terezi rping with Nepeta and flarping with Vriska and Team Charge and playfully flirting with Dave and Karkat and how over time every one of those people she was closest to was either killed and/or someone she distanced herself from until she had no one. And then until she had Vriska again. Thinks about how the moment I heard Terezi's "luck doesn't actually matter" line I was convinced she would kill Vriska and cheered aloud at being proven right. Thinks about Vriska killing Tavros and Tavros refusing to kill Vriska and Tavrisprite killing themself. Thinks about how the Vriska godtier scene was my favorite thus far in the entire comic and Tavros could be such a good character if Hussie also gave a shit about his characterization when Vriska wasn't there. Thinks about Vriska kissing Tavros as another way of challenging him, meaning that she knew he didn't want it. Thinks about Vriska kissing Tavros because she wanted to make him more like herself and SHE wanted to be given affection but could only conceptualize it through adversity. Thinks about the Summoner loving and killing Mindfang and Tavros doing neither for Vriska- “Too l8 to kiss me, too l8 to kill me”. Thinks about how Vriska grew up with a primary source stating that the person she idolized, who she had survived through emulating, was a rapist, and the effects that had on Vriska’s conceptualization of consent. Thinks about Mindfang brainwashing the Dolorosa to love her vs Vriska not being able to bear doing the same to Tavros. Thinks about Mindfang making the Dolorosa question her free will vs Vriska trying to force Tavros to take more initiative. Thinks about Vriska's Captain Hook parallels (pirate missing an arm and an eye, waiting for a character representing time to come kill her) and her fairy dress. Thinks about Kanaya making that for her, and the kiss acting as a power play against Kanaya too; Tavros was her friend. Thinks about how annoying it is when moirallegiance gets reduced to being wholesome besties by fans, when in canon no troll social dynamic on Alternia can be separated from their larger social norms facilitating abuse. Thinks about how trolls also had quadrants prescratch and wonders how Beforean social norms impacted that. Thinks about how annoying it was of the romance explanation to go "oh yeah being in a matespritship is just like normal human romance, moving on" instead of giving us anything new/more interesting. Thinks about "she keeps 8ugging me. 8ugging and fussing and meddling… I guess it's flattering that she wants to talk to me so much though. I guess I don't mind. It's cool". Thinks about how Vriska, having methodically destroyed her relationship with Kanaya, cries for her attention in Alterniabound by mockingly implying that it was Tavros Kanaya liked. Thinks about how glad I am that Kanaya got out of that relationship. Thinks about how, at Rose's "strive to pacify me as I scuffle down this black corridor" comment, Kanaya immediately asserts that she doesn't want to do that, and thinks about how HAPPY I am for her to be setting healthy boundaries. Thinks about how my favorite character Terezi will never beat the Vriskaliking allegations ever in her life.

Thinks about my stupid little webcomic thinks about my stupid little webcomic thinks about my stupid little webcomic