#trying to get out ahead of hussie's commentary for a change

[betweengenesisfrogs]

The Triumph of the Marginalia

Marginalia, n.:

1 : notes or embellishments in the margins (as in a book)

2 : nonessential items

-Troll OED

Is it just me, or is Nepeta and Equius’s arc the most slept-upon piece of brilliance in all of Homestuck?

A brilliance, might I add, that culminates in possibly the most triumphant, fulfilling emotional moment in the entire work:

https://www.homestuck.com/story/7928

*stands back and beholds its majesty while from the background comes the sound of James Roach brutally murdering ska*

No, but actually, I mean this 100% unironically, and by the end of this post, I think you’ll agree with me.

By now, I think we all understand the Act 6 double metaphor: the series of temporal loops and universes that Lord English commands is paralleled with, and in fact totally identical to, the narrative of Homestuck. Our characters’ lives exist within this context. They struggle to escape it, and are defined both by it and by the rejection of it.

Enter Nepeta.

The metaphorical meaning of Nepeta in Homestuck is irrelevance, and that’s why she’s the most relevant character in any discussion.

Nepeta was one of the characters killed off during the Murderstuck arc. Hussie argued that she was perfect for this role. In fact, I believe he said something like “Nepeta is sweet, but if you look up the dictionary definition of ‘expendable character,’ you’ll see a picture of Nepeta playing with a ball of yarn and looking very cute.” She’s an endearing combination of shipper girl and apex predator, but not one of your Vriskas or Terezis in being a driver of the plot. Hussie, it seems, created her just to round out the troll cast. He described one of his purposes in Murderstuck as being to axe some of the less necessary trolls to reduce the scope of his character list.

Except that didn’t really happen, did it?

Like a cat with nine lives, Nepeta just keeps coming back.

Equius is another addition to the troll cast who gets pushed away from the main action. He was a character-writing challenge: how do you make someone who’s gross, uncomfortable, and racist kind of likable anyway? I’d argue Hussie succeeded, in large part because of Equius’s relationship with Nepeta. By the time you finish with Hivebent, you’ll probably have a little fondness for their moraillegiance. And if that doesn’t do it, the conversation that serves as their swansong in Equius: Seek the Highblood will tear your heartstrings to shreds.

Because Equius dies, tragically clownmurdered. There was, at the time, some stink over this from Equius fans. Would he have really let himself be killed so easily? Hussie countered: yes, and it was the most in-character thing he could have done. He died doing what he loved: being asphyxiated erotically and horrifically by a superior. Truly, there could be no more fitting end to his character than that.

And yet.

No sooner did Hussie complete his self-appointed story cleanup challenge than he immediately began to undo his own work. It’s almost as if, in declaring his intention to own those who preferred more characters to narrative economy, he immediately had to own himself??

By the time we get even a little way into Act 6, we’re deep in the dreambubble landscape, meeting dead characters left and right. And who should show up there but Equius and Nepeta? Equius attempting to get it on with a bunch of Aradias, who dump him. And Nepeta, living out her romantic dreams as a representative of a timeline where she got together with Karkat. They both appear as symbols of this deadness, this irrelevance. Except that that brings them back into the story, into the spotlight – the opposite of where they’re supposed to be!

Like many bits of commentary, Hussie continues to incorporate the metaphor Nepeta=Irrelevance into Homestuck. Karkat’s remark on their journey that he would love to meet “FIFTY FUCKING NEPETAS” and embark on “NEPETAQUEST” alludes to formspring remarks to the effect that, no, Homestuck was not going to have much time for the minor characters. Except it clearly did.

Why couldn’t the narrative let the meowrails go? Was it that despite the economy of Murderstuck, something was still incomplete? After all, one of Equius’s charms was that he appeared to be growing into a less repressed, kinder person. In Seek the Highblood, we see him letting his guard down enough to roleplay with Nepeta for a change. Their love for each other: wasn’t that ultimately what could redeem Equius in our eyes? So his dying and thus failing to protect her–isn’t that something that should be addressed?

You could imagine many a Nepeta and Equius fan saying this to Hussie back in 2011.

But Hussie was already saying it to himself.

The duo come roaring back into the story in the Trickster mode arc, mid Act 6, thanks to Gamzee’s ridiculous resurrections. True, Nepeta is still reduced as part of Fefeta, the character formed from killed-off girls who never speaks onscreen. But doesn’t using that fact as a running gag kind of draw our attention to it? Doesn’t the fact that Fefeta talks to Roxy constantly offscreen inform us that once we get outside the frame of the narrative, Nepeta has a rich inner life and countless stories to tell?

And it’s here that Equius gets something he never got in his original “arc:” the chance to apologize to Nepeta. You’d be forgiven for missing it since there’s so much else going on at the time, but he does, while fused with AR. Here’s what you’d miss, though: he’s grown as a person in the afterlife. He’s come to regret that moment of weakness, where his fetish kept him from protecting his moirail. Impossible as it seems, he’s continuing his character arc.

The scene ends with Fefeta exploding (she’s also, after all, dealing with Eridan), but it leaves us with a tantalizing question:

Will Nepeta forgive Equius? Is there even a plausible time and space in that story when she could respond to his words?

Do you see what’s happening here? Instead of being erased, Nepeta and Equius are starting to slip the bounds of the story that killed them. They leap in and out of the frame, half-mythical figures. Marginalized, they write their own stories in the margins. They exist in complete defiance of the original logic of Homestuck.

Lord English is an alt-Author figure, a dark, brutal reflection of narrative control and narrative necessity. His world, in which horrible choices are necessary, in which the alpha timeline is a ticking clock leading inexorably to his manifestation, is one that beats down people not deemed important enough by his narrative. Which makes it identical to the one we’re reading. Throw all the unnecessary characters in the trash. Kill them off, if it suits my purposes. The world doesn’t need Nepeta.

Which is precisely why it does. Because isn’t defying Lord English the entire point? Isn’t it what Homestuck reveals as truly heroic?

What might Nepeta be capable of?

Let’s talk about two other victims of English’s forces of marginalization. Davesprite might be the most quintessential example. He teaches us what the alpha timeline is and how it works, by going back to fix a doomed timeline and submitting to being doomed himself. Except he merges with a bird and avoids that fate. Okay, but he clearly gets killed off fighting Jack in Jade: Enter. Except he comes back and hangs out with Jadesprite. Okay, but he dies in the planetsplode in the Retcon. Nope, he comes back from that, too. Huh. He keeps slipping the fate decreed for him by – who else? Lord English.

But it’s a struggle, clearly. He’s caught up in various cycles of guilt and shame. Over being “not the real Dave.” Over his feeling that he has to be a hero in the sense Bro demanded he be. Hussie describes Davesprite as fitting the “way of the unbroken sword:” his experiences have led him to believe in being strong and capable at the expense of all else, in contrast with the other Dave, whose belief in Bros’ toxic ideas is beginning to slip – the “way of the broken sword.” And where did Bro get his toxic ideas from? At least in part, the whispering voice of the soul of Lord English.

Now we turn to Dirk. Like Dave, Dirk has a marginalized, “less important” splinter self but it’s more of a pressing concern. AR shows Dirk’s darker side: exhibiting manipulative tendencies that human Dirk is trying to move away from. He’s also a copy removed from humanity, who feels an understandable amount of disillusionment about being removed from physical existence and his own identity. But as much as Dirk may splinter, like his dumb anime sword, he never breaks. What this means in the symbolic language of Homestuck is that Dirk lives fully, instinctually, in the way of the sword. He believe in a world of hard choices, masculine heroism, and necessity. Ultimately, this, too, is part of what makes Bro so harmful to Dave. In AR and Davesprite, we have a strange parallel: two splinter selves, both of whom are enmeshed in the logic of LE.

Except AR, unlike Davesprite…kind of is LE.

What is Lord English composed of? Well, there’s Caliborn, the most unrepentant shithead of all time. There’s Gamzee, embodiment of horrifying clownery. And then there’s AR, a version of Dirk even more removed from the person he wants to be.

And…Equius?

Allow me a moment to get really indulgent and take a big puff on my Homestuck scholar’s pipe.

The metaphorical meaning of Equius in Homestuck is: sort of growing out of being a creepy racist.

Or maybe let’s say: the opportunity to do that. We said that Equius was on the verge of being redeemed (even had been, in the eyes of many readers). What does it mean to stick him in with Lord English’s souls? It means two things:

1) Equius is a product of his society, which was shaped by Doc Scratch, aka by Lord English, both of whom are kind of him, but Scratch picks up on his traits especially. This is a recognition of that fact: the part of him that sucks is, itself, Lord English in a dizzying loop.

2) Equius’s story is a tragedy. It is the story of a kid who started to escape his society’s tendencies, but was sucked back in by the evil force behind them.

Although…maybe that’s not the whole story.

Because both Equius and AR aren’t really that bad. AR’s pretty understandable, and by no means beyond the possibility of goodness. And the combination of the two? Honestly, pretty harmless. They counter each other’s worst tendencies by devolving into a weird goofball. In fact, AR even says he wants to do something heroic: to sacrifice himself for something really important. He does, kind of, mustering a last-ditch robohorse assault on Caliborn. But at the same time, this is the substance of his tragedy. A hero whose defeat of a great evil forces him to become the substance of that evil. Which could not be a more fitting summary of how these characters function in their story.

But maybe that’s still not the whole story.

Enter Davepeta.

At first glance, the creation of Davepeta seems like Hussie’s most batshit troll move yet. I feel pretty confident in saying that even those who predicted either of these characters returning didn’t see that one coming. However, a few pages of Davepeta’s presence reveals a fundamental truth:

Davepeta is fucking amazing.

In them, Davesprite’s depressive moods are buoyed up by Nepeta’s upbeat optimism. Nepeta’s reclusive shyness is balanced by Dave’s tendency toward brash banter. Both of them gain confidence from being the new person they are. They quickly let go of ideas inherited from the world that kept them from self-knowledge and happiness. Dave, his toxic masculinity; Nepeta, her fear.

A great point I’ve seen made is how much Jasprose and Davepeta resemble fantasy selves for Rose and Dave: indulgent, technicolor manifestations of people they could be if they let go of inhibitions and limitations. But I think Davepeta is the most unambiguously positive of the two.

The metaphorical meaning of Davepeta in Homestuck?

Growth.

Not giving a fuck about what the world thinks. The world, aka Lord English. Because Lord English could never have predicted that his machinations would also spawn a confident, powerful fusion of two beings he had discarded as totally irrelevant.

They’re also a multicolored non-binary furry, so that’s even more points in the pissing off shitheads column.

They are someone Lord English never conceived of, never could have conceived of, but which lay as potential within his domain all along.

And if Lord English is a reflection of the author, of what Hussie feels one has to destroy or sacrifice, than Davepeta is an indulgence existing in defiance of all that.

And this makes Davepeta the most powerful person of all.

They are the light at the end of the tunnel. They are the person you could be, if you could get past your mental shackles and just grow. It may not be possible to ever get there as a mortal human, may only be for a godlike sprite, but striving to be like them matters, is purpose and fulfilment enough.

And they love ARquius.

Nepeta believed in Equius, believed he could grow, and was growing. So as much as ARquius traps himself in a Lord English loop of his own making – grown, perhaps, out of Dirk’s belief that there should be a loop, that importance is admirable—Davepeta pulls from him, in his last scene, his finest qualities. His love.

Equius asks forgiveness again, and this time, Nepeta’s able to give it. Davepeta easily accepts ARquius’s apology, an apology which never could have existed within the confines of a normal narrative. A reconciliation that both of them fought for by defying their narrative, by existing outside it. By being not the trolls who lived and died, but their broader, conceptual selves, who exist beyond lifetimes. Beyond the comic page. And they consummate that reconciliation with that most cherished and loving of gestures:

A hug.

And even as this is Equius and Nepeta’s reconciliation, it’s also Dirk and Dave’s. Which, I should mention, is also taking place, simultaneously and circumstantially simultaneously, just below. It’s a more difficult one, certainly, especially as filtered through the splinters of Davesprite and AR. Here forgiveness is not quite the right word. But – knowledge, and recognition, and a kind of peace. It’s Davesprite’s chance to reunite with the part of his brother he loved, while also being a person who’s grown beyond him. And it’s AR’s chance to be loved.

Oh, sure, the art is ridiculous, the pose absurd. But that’s what makes it sublime.

I mean, what did you think that Sbahj comic was really about?

A boy distancing himself from his feelings through irony, never acknowledging that the story he’s telling is about two bros who desperately want to hug each other, but don’t know how.

Here’s the hug.

I want to dip into Epilogues territory for a moment, but it’s territory which is fairly well implied by Davepeta’s statements and role in Collide. The Meat Epilogue, I think, only illuminates what was already there.

Lord English is uniquely vulnerable to Davepeta.

And why shouldn’t he be? They, like so much else in Homestuck, are a consequence of his actions spiraling far beyond his control. But it’s more than that. Davepeta is finally able to lay the unbroken sword to rest by following the “prophecy” about Dave defeating Lord English. On the one hand, that’s kind of what happened. But it’s also completely different from what English intended, antithetical to his desires and goals. Which makes the victory all the sweeter. But at the end of the day, Davepeta doesn’t fight for the reasons Davesprite did. They’re free of that, now. Instead, they fight from a place of genuine compassion. Because Davesprite, like Dave, knows the true meaning of being a hero: caring about one’s friends.

But the most important thing about Davepeta is that they know Lord English, on a level that perhaps neither he nor they recognize. Both AR and Equius are in there, and both are capable of redemption. It’s only Gamzee and Caliborn who are truly beyond it.

How does Davepeta defeat Lord English?

With a hug.

They wrap their claws around him, and carry him into the sun like a piece of garbage. It’s an aggressive hold, but it’s also effectively an embrace.

And I have to wonder: in those final moments, did they sense a connection there? Did Equius and Dirk stir somewhere within Lord English? Did they give him a moment’s pause? Resist him? Make it just the tiniest bit easier for Davepeta to do their work?

If so, then that, too, is heroism.

At the very least, it’s circumstantially simultaneous with the hug we see in Act 6, and so it carries the same message:

Redemption.

Not for the shitheads, but for those who wanted to be better.

And if this isn’t enough, there’s a third reconciliation here, too: between author and reader, or to put it in other terms, author and character.

If Lord English is a shadow of the author, what part of the author can be redeemed? Maybe not the destructive, antagonistic urges. But the part that plans and designs and philosophizes as Dirk does. That part of Hussie wanted Davepeta to be there, to strike that final blow, and made it happen.

Because, when you get right down to it, as much as Hussie pretends to be antagonistic toward his readers and the characters they enjoy, it’s the fans, the shippers, the furries, those whose hearts go out to a cute, shy cat girl that he most celebrates.

Hussie fucking loves Nepeta.

Nepeta and Equius are, sneakily, the best characters in Homestuck, because they understand its fundamental message: that to succeed in Homestuck is to defy Homestuck. They defy everything it throws at them, and somehow, improbably, come out on top.

All of this is there on that page, a whole edifice of storytelling culminating in that singular, grand, supremely indulgent expression, a feast of looping leitmotif and color and imagery and meme and sound. It’s all there, if you know where to look.

Nepeta and Equius love each other, and that’s pretty fucking great.

See? I told you.

<> Ari

[journeysintowebcomics]

Homestuck Liveblog #169

UPDATE 169: Dialogue Jamboree

Last time Calliope talked with the doomed version of herself, getting told there’s nothing else for her to do. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean Calliope is going to float in the dream bubbles for all eternity, because she got revived. The fights against the antagonists of this long story is coming closer and closer, so let’s see what else happens.

Thankfully for my own sanity, Jasprosesprite leaves in the very first page of today’s update. Thanks, Hussie. Nevermind, the point of view is still following her. Dammit, Hussie. Since fusing with a cat seems to have completely disabled Rose’s brain-to-mouth filter and any qualms she may have about saying everything that crosses her mind, she immediately babbles, saying there was something she wanted to tell Kanaya. But first.

First she has to give in to cat impulses. How curious, Jade never felt the need of acting like a dog beyond a few circumstances involving chasing cats. Other than that it didn’t seem like she had acquired any other behaviors. That’s why I have to wonder why Jasprosesprite is so different on that regard. Maybe it’s related to Rose or Jasper’s personalities, Bec was a generally calmer animal, from what I remember of him. Either way, all Jasprosesprite did was nuzzle Kanaya and then left. Well that was...a moment.

Jasprosesprite decides this is a good time to bother Dave and Dirk, who are at Dirk’s planet. Got used yet to this version of your brother, Dave? I had hoped to see them crossing a few words, but I guess that’s not possible. It’s a shame, there was a lot of potential for some character development there.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: This is it? The big reunion comes down to this then. A lot of awkward sitting around while we all gaze at my father's pretty pretty legs? 

I’m sure it’s your presence here what’s making it awkward. Hussie, is this you making allusions to how you plan the big reunion to be like? Unseen and awkward? It wouldn’t be the first time he does something like that, really.

Honestly I have no comment on the next dozen or so pages, or at least commentary you haven’t heard from me already. Let’s just say I have this growing sense of annoyance directed at a certain character created recently. At least this all comes to a rather useful point: what are they all going to do with the last unused kernelsprite? There are four trolls currently dead, and since Vriska is away and unable to nag at them about using it for resurrection purposes in battle, may as well use it to revive one of the trolls. Of all the options Feferi and Nepeta are the ones I think anyone would prefer, because Sollux being revived again would make him really unhappy, and who’d want Eridan back into the group.

OH GOD DON’T DO THAT EVER AGAIN

Terezi knows what’s going to happen: the cat sprite is going to resurrect the cat troll. That’s not so bad, Nepeta was a likable troll. I wouldn’t mind having her around again. Of course, given that it’s a one-time prototyping, chances are there’ll be a second one in the future. Given that Tavrosprite and Nannasprite are the two sprites left...hm...tell me there isn’t going to be a bizarre mix of Nannasprite and a sprite of Nepeta, please.

There’s not much time to think the implications and potential trouble mixing more sprites together would bring, because the next page brings up a slightly overwhelming possibility.

That’s...a lot of options to choose – or not, because it’ll be done linearly, according to the narration here. Still, looks like there is going to be a lot of dialogue. Have we reached a standstill in the progression of the plot? Because...ten conversations isn’t a small amount. It’s true last time there were many options the conversations within were limited to three or four pages, but there was a lot of dialogue in all of them. It’s a bit of a momentum killer, having to read so many conversations in a row. I wonder how many of the seven hundred or so pages that are left will have to be spent reading this stuff.

The first dialogue is between Dave and Dirk. Looks like the big reunion is actually going to happen! Great! This marks the first time Dave is going to talk with his brother – or a version – and the first time Dirk even sees his brother – or a version. It’s the kind of thing that can be awkward, and since the Striders aren’t the paragon of emotional intelligence this is bound to be even more awkward. Let’s go ahead!

I’m having the impression neither of them knows very well what to say to the other. It may be that their personalities and cool guy behavior clash, not letting each other say what they feel, but they’re trying to connect with each other, for example by mentioning that when they get careless, shenanigans happen. It’s not a topic of conversation that lasts long.

DAVE: soooooo  DIRK: So.  DAVE: so indeed  DIRK: So is pretty much... the thing we're saying.  DAVE: ...  DAVE: thats uh  DAVE: our conjunction of choice it seems  DIRK: ...  DAVE: (fuck)

Behold! There’s so much they want to say, but not enough emotional strength to say it. I understand how that feels, honestly. Maybe in their case actions could speak louder than words, but then again, what could they do? Neither of them is the type to, hm, give hugs or anything like that.

Dirk seems to have finally gotten a topic of conversation: the plot of this long story. There are fights to come in the future, is Dave prepared to face their enemies? Dave doesn’t sound very confident, instead diverting the conversation to their swords instead of what’ll come. The conversation fizzles.

You know, Hussie is very good at writing dialogue. I can feel very well the awkwardness here, it’s almost palpable, and it makes me hope they’ll manage to connect at some point. That really is Hussie’s strength, most times he manages to make the reader want the best for the characters.

DIRK: So when are we supposed to fight?  DAVE: god i hope soon

See? Just that one response from Dave showcases how he’s feeling. The image above adds to it, too. I think it’s for things like this that I like Homestuck, besides the interesting events. Even though my level of interest on Homestuck has decreased considerably since the times of Act 4 or 5, sometimes moments like these still happen.

Sadly, there’s no further dialogue. There’s no reason to despair yet, though, the ninth conversation to be read is with Dave and Dirk again. Maybe in it they’ll manage to talk. For now there’s the large group – John, Rose, Calliope, Roxy, Terezi and Jane.

John wants to know who this new friend is, to which Roxy proudly introduces her. Everyone gushes that Calliope is cute – to which I kinda agree. Terezi isn’t willing to follow the example, as usual.

TEREZI: THOUGH 1F 1'M B31NG HON3ST, YOU SM3LL PR3TTY UGLY FROM WH3R3 1 4M ST4ND1NG  JOHN: oh my god.  JOHN: you are terrible!  TEREZI: PL34S3, JOHN  TEREZI: 1 D1D NOT M34N TH4T 1N 4N UNFL4TT3R1NG W4Y 

So classy of you, Terezi. Way to go. She truly didn’t mean it in an unflattering way, she honestly thinks having a skull for a head is badass, and that the effect is ruined when people say it’s cute. Well she’s not wrong, but I think Callie would like more to be called cute than anything else.

JOHN: (don't listen to her callie, she's a weirdo.) 

Everyone here is a weirdo, you dork.

John’s compliments lead to him saying that Calliope is nothing like her brother and that’s what makes her cute, which directs the conversation to Lord English just for enough time to say that Caliborn is garbage, and ask her what she’s going to do now. She’s not going to get involved in any fights, right? Not even against the Felt, I hope.

JOHN: that's kind of the point of life, right? to take a lot of time floundering around, figuring stuff out.  JOHN: the answer will come to you eventually. you should just try to have fun!

That’s a philosophy I like. Figuring out what to do in life isn’t easy, of course there’s going to be a lot of floundering around. I’m sure she’ll do great in whatever future she chooses for herself – supposing everything goes according to plan and they defeat all their foes, that is.

When Jane asks what happened in that winding path in the dream bubble, Calliope says she had encountered an alternate self.

CALLIOPE: she seems tremendoUsly powerfUl.  CALLIOPE: she is also...  CALLIOPE: qUite frightening.  ROXY: frightening????  CALLIOPE: not that i think she is dangeroUs or has ill intent.  CALLIOPE: my impression was very mUch to the contrary.  CALLIOPE: still, while speaking to her...  CALLIOPE: i can't remember ever feeling so nervoUs. 

It’s because that doomed Calliope is so different to the Calliope here, or at least that’s what she thinks. I agree that must be it. Triumphing over her brother must have changed her a lot, especially because she had no contact with anyone else. Rose wonders if Calliope reviving means she’s destined to do something important, but hers is the minority opinion. Calliope just wants to sit aside and let things happen, after all, the alternate Calliope is the one with a task to fulfill. Good luck to her.

Next is Vriska – Ghost Vriska – and Meenah. Uh, alright...not the combination I was most interested on, but fine. Ghost Vriska is near horses, saying that she used to consider them an omen of disaster, that always something bad happened when they were nearby, but now she’s fine with horses.

(VRISKA): 8ut we've 8een hanging around them a while now, and everything's 8een fine.  (VRISKA): More than fine, actually!

...does this mean something awful is going to happen? Because, knowing Hussie, this peaceful moment is going to shatter in a thousand pieces, especially because the Vriska who is alive is very frustrated with her ghost. I’m almost afraid of what may happen. Oh, and this ghost has the treasure chest with Lord English’s juju, that pretty much guarantees Vriska is going to come here.

Meenah seems a bit distracted. What’s going through her head? Not even when Ghost Vriska tries to come up with a fun plan for the day she reacts further than protest how boring it’d be to explore, because after a long time dead things start looking the same for her. I wonder how much time has passed since last time these two were on-screen? Time doesn’t pass linearly in the dream bubbles. It may have been less than a day in the rest of the place, but here in the dream bubbles it may have been millions of years.

Ghost Vriska tries to get Meenah to talk about her feelings, she doesn’t want to. It’s all fine until that person arrives.

VRISKA: *Cough.*

Please try not to be a major jerk, Vriska, thank you. She demands the treasure and...and that’s it? Well that’s disappointing. I felt this was all building up to something, but in the end it didn’t.

Back to Roxy and Calliope. Calliope isn’t used to talking with others in person, so she’s comfortable with Roxy taking her away to talk about the other Calliope and what her existence meant.

ROXY: you were the force in our lives that gave us hope that we could all get together some day 

Well Calliope did give a lot of hints about the game and what’d entail. I wonder how things would have gone if Calliope had been available to give advice and support during the session, back when they were all alone and waiting. Then again...they’d all be dead if Calliope had been available because, you know, it would have been against the alpha timeline’s designs.

ROXY: so whenever something stupid happens like some a-hole gets a bonehead idea to steal a ring and then everyone dies horribly and at the TIME u think ur just gonna curl up and cry yourself into weepy nonexistence  ROXY: maybe those arent even "bad" realities?  ROXY: maybe they are as important as any 

Unfortunately they aren’t, in terms of Homestuck. They may be important in their own lives and stories, but in this one most of those timelines are pretty much unimportant. Heck, even the timelines one would have thought would be more important are turning out not to be! Like for example everyone who died in the Game Over timeline. Their dead selves may be around, but they’re just...over there in the dream bubbles. I don’t think we’ll see them ever again.

I have no clue what the doomed Calliope is going to do, and this conversation isn’t hinting it. Whatever Hussie is planning is being hidden really well so far.

Since Calliope wants to be useful, Roxy wants her support so she can finally make the matriorb – without creating an abomination mixed with a generic cube, hopefully! Could Calliope help Roxy picture better that weird egg? Roxy seems to think that, at least, and Calliope is willing to give it a try. But, true to Hussie’s frustrating style of storytelling, the scene changes to the other side of the lotus platform, to John, Rose, Terezi and Jane. They’re all trying to relax in preparation of the tough fights ahead.

ROSE: I imagine it's a lot easier to relax when another version of yourself hasn't been hijacked by your dead cat. 

Somebody is still bitter about it! Haha, well, it’s not like Jasprosesprite is going to be around for long, there’s no time in the story for that.

ROSE: Come to think of it, you're the only one of us who hasn't. I mean, of our original group of friends.  ROSE: Dave had Bird Dave, Jade had Dog Jade, and now I have... *shudder*... Cat Rose.  ROSE: Why were you let off the hook? 

Because John wasn’t close to any kind of animal. The closest thing he had to an animal was his pogo thing on his backyard, and a protagonist that’s half John and half pogo ride isn’t the kind of protagonist most people want.

Nobody understands how Jasprosesprite is something they have to see – sentiment I happen to share? What do you mean I have said that like eleven times already? Nonsense.

ROSE: What's next? Is there a sprite cubed? Or a...  ROSE: Let's not even entertain this avenue of thought. 

The worst part is that it’s a completely possible scenario. There’s one sprite left to be made, which may or may not be Nepeta. Given Jasper’s fondness for Nepeta, I wouldn’t be surprised if the lack of restraint Jasprosesprite has showed will make her try to nuzzle a first-tier prototype Nepetasprite. I don’t want to think how that’d end like.

Rose is having existential doubts, starting to think that sprite has more rights to be called the real Rose. I object on grounds of that character being nothing like Rose. Now she feels the need to upstage the other Rose, surely by doing something great – like helping defeat the Condesce, perhaps? John is completely supportive of Rose despite seemingly not completely understanding how she feels. Thanks, John, you’re a pal.

JOHN: hey, how do you think kanaya and karkat are doing? 

Karkaroni is currently counting woolbeasts, and Kanaya is too busy not understanding what was up with that weird sprite that nuzzled her. Usual Homestuck stuff, you see.

Rose is completely sure those two trolls will be successful at doing whatever Echidna wanted them to do – which is true, they already did. That makes John give his blessing to the Kanaya/Rose pairing, which this time doesn’t involve getting drunk at all. Thank goodness for this being a better timeline in that regard!

Because Terezi jeers the heartfelt conversation, John goes to tell her to stop, to which Terezi acts coy as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. And then...there it comes! The reveal!

TEREZI: <3< 

Not a pairing I ever saw coming. Congratulations on your kismesistude, John.

The reason why Terezi is here instead of because she wanted to give enough space to the Striders so they had their own mushy reunion. Would it have gone better if Terezi had been there? No idea. Maybe it would have because at least Terezi would force them to talk. “H3Y, S3COND STR1D3R, D4V3 W4NTS TO H4V3 A WORD W1TH YOU” or something, which’d make Dave try to tone down the situation, and done! Conversation happens! At least it wouldn’t be two stressed kids sitting around not knowing what to say to each other.

That’s the end of the update. Well, alright. Until next time, everyone.

Next update: two updates