#Homestuck character analysis

[quadrantbot]

Jake and Dirkjake and other mildly related tangents. (Additional paragraph on alpha kid romance, because I guess that was necessary to me.)

Heads up this post is not positive about Dirkjake like, at all. I'm not saying you can't like it or do anything with it, I am just sharing my own personal opinion and analysis on it. And Jake in general. (I'm not going to tag with Dirkjake because that's a dick move, but I'm not going to intentionally avoid saying it in NON tag text either. Scroll on if you don't like Dirkjake hate. Okay? Cool.) 

Jake is one of those characters that fandom wise, is super mischaracterized. This includes the mischaracterizations in postcanon as well, which also at least to some degree includes Pesterquest. It's confusing to me for several reasons why so many major changes were made to Jake outside of the main comic, but considering how most of the fans do not seem to take him seriously and the writing team for the dubiously canon content seem to lump his existence purely in with Dirk, it's a little understandable.

Jake isn't really too complicated of a character when it comes to likes, dislikes, motivations and issues. Jake likes his movies, the IDEA of adventure, and he loves blue ladies. He doesn't really care for romance at any major point in the story, especially considering his entire friend group had feelings for him, and when it comes down to actual adventures, actual conflict, he's freaked out. Jake has a great deal of care for his friends, even despite the weird romance shit occuring in the group, and his main issue when it comes to that friend group is a lack of communication from everyone involved. Jake "wants" to be important, Jake "wants" to be a hero, Jake "wants" to be a brave adventurer, but these "wants" don't ever appear to reflect in his actions, even so far as contradicting them, leading to conflict between his supposed wants, and what he actually seems to go for. Jake is often seen as a "himbo" by the fandom, but even that is not really all that accurate. Jake isn't stupid. Jake does have some issues when it comes to reading the room, but even when he DOESN'T, it's usually picked up whenever he's in a weird situation that he doesn't want to be in, which can be seen in his conversation with Jane about her romantic feelings for him, or the proposed lack thereof. Should be pages 4587-4593, but I'll screenshot the notable parts I'll be referencing and put them below. 

Jake didn't really seem very convinced when Jane said she DIDN'T have feelings for him, but he just continued along with the conversation, expressing his relief because even if she was lying, he didn't really want to face that sort of thing head on. Jake then goes onto explain the weird shit with Dirk and doesn't exactly seem very interested in him either, but seeing as Jane supposedly has no interest in him, there's a weird sort of obligation going on where he feels he HAS to just let this happen, which doesn't really seem like the common fandom idea that he was like, head over heels for Dirk. There's a vague mention of jokes from "years ago" where they could like each other if Dirk was a girl, but seeing as these are 15 year olds, "years ago" is a pretty vague period of time AND teenagers will say shit like that all of the time! Mostly younger ones, yes, but I think a good portion of teenagers have joked about having feelings for/WOULD have feelings for someone if they were a gal or a guy. Nothing when it came to Jake's behavior was intentionaly shitty or leading Dirk on or anything, because Jake can't always be aware of literally everyone's feelings for him? 

On a vaguely related tangent, I used to be large on the "bi Jake" being canon thing, but just taking the bare minimum look into some of this just makes it seem like he's got no interest in men at all, and his interest in women appears to be from both a jealousy/almost gender envy standpoint (in the way he seems to WANT to be like them,) and a genuine attraction, especially when considering his blue ladies and more specifically, Aranea. (I do not like Aranea/Jake for the record, and if somehow you guys who enjoy that pairing (or any pairing with alpha trolls/anyone who isn't an alphatroll, I'm looking at you Meenkat, Vrismeen and other freaks,) have made it this far, PROSHITS GET OUT!! I am a normal consumer of darkfic not a FREAK!!) I think I can understand those who read Jake as not aromantic, just uninterested in romance with his current issues, but I also thoroughly enjoy reading Jake as arospec as someone who is both arospec AND someone with several arospec friends who like the reading just as much, Jake never seems to take a genuine interest in relationships with anyone, only considering one with Jane or Dirk because they're his friends, and if he's good friends with them, they MUST be good partner options for him. While it's true there can be a good basis on friendship, I don't think the two major Jake ""romance options"" are all that fit even with the basis of friendship, seeing as neither Jane nor Dirk communicate well, and Jake really doesn't either. 

The thing about the base alpha kids (excluding cherubs and any of Dirk's robots, whic includes Lil Hal, despite being a copy of his brain,) is that when it comes to the most prominent "proposed" canon pairings, Dirkjake, Janejake, Dirkroxy, it just seems they only exist because those four are each others only options romantically. Jane likes Jake, so Roxy feels like Dirk is the only option. Dirk, though unlabelled, only has a canon interest in men, so Jake appears to be the only option. Jane seems to like Jake to a degree, but I think that primarily stems from the fact that Jake is extremely kind and caring to all his friends, so she really does see him as HER only option as well. Again, I do think some of the base alpha kids pairings are alright, but that mostly relies on things AFTER the trickster mode section completely explodes all over everyone and the conflicts reach a boiling point. Dirk and Jane make up, and I do think there's something good that could be said about some form of moiraillegiance between the two, because even despite their issues with each other prior to the Dirkjake breakup, they still do care about each other. I also like Jakeroxy as a pairing option, though mostly in a queerplatonic sense, because when Roxy took a step back from any form of romantic interest in Jake because of Jane and later Dirk, Roxy is more capable of having some form of bond with Jake that wouldn't automatically feel like a necessarily romantic thing, and I think their shared caring for their friends and each other could make them closer. The thing about the base proposed pairings between the alpha kids is that, at least in the case of Dirkjake, it's overglorified by the fandom, even if there are ""nuanced"" readings of them. 

This isn't to say that you can't interpret the text however you want, but when it comes to the bare minimum in canon Dirkjake doesn't really work at all. Not as a fluffy pairing, and not as a strange, codependent teenage relationship where they're mutually obsessed with each other and tearing each other apart. Jake has no romantic interest in Dirk. Jake also has a completely reasonable extra reason why, even if he DID have feelings for Dirk, which, according to canon, he doesn't really, they still wouldn't be good together. I definitely understand the value in exploring negative relationships via fictional means, but when it comes to Dirkjake, their conflict isn't complicated, or nuanced, or even really that complex to understand. Dirk didn't know how to properly go through with his feelings for Jake, so he did fucked up shit, and Lil Hal did fucked up shit, and it very easily came crashing down on him. Even without every strange and fucked up thing Dirk and Lil Hal did towards Jake in order to express those feelings, the biggest point of conflict, the decapitated head kiss in front of the volcano, was definitely enough to state that there's nothing really all that great between them, and there's nothing to take from it that really requires or calls for an exploration of the fucked up side of their relationship, because every way I've seen that handled, it's just as full of mischaracterization as fluffy Dirkjake is. I can understand the excitement at "canon gay representation," but at the end of the day, all Dirkjake really is is a one sided relationship between Dirk and a guy who doesn't have any feelings for him outside of platonic ones, a guy who felt an obligation to be with Dirk just because Dirk was his friend. Could that be explored in an interesting and angsty way? Definitely, but that is a Dirkjake interpretation I've seen the least of, if any at all, and that's literally what's set up canonically! 

"But Ro, what about postcanon?" There's a lot to be said about postcanon, and a variety of things that make any form of romantic feelings on Jake's end completely unbelievable to me. For starters, Ult Dirk is in control of postcanon, Alt Calliope is also, to some degree, but anything that may or may not ""confirm"" romantic feelings on Jake's end is being told to us by two unreliable narrators. But also, postcanon is stupid, existed to get Hussie out of debt, and overall was a piece of garbage that didn't do anything for canon whatsoever. So I don't consider it canon. At all. But if you do, the unreliable narrator argument above is for you. 

#jake english #homestuck #homestuck analysis #alpha kids #dirk strider #roxy lalonde #jane crocker #Jake english analysis #hs analysis #hs character analysis #Homestuck character analysis #Ro's Character Analysis Tag

[exaltior-a]

Personally the amount of people who are either "Jake is a stupid himbo" or "Jake is actively malicious" blow my mind. No, Jake isn't stupid, and he's not evil. He's a sixteen year old who is implied to have a mental disability and/or brain damage (it's not exactly clear, Caliborn claims they have the same developmental disorder and Dirk iirc worries that Jake hit his head too much, I guess you can take either with a grain of salt but I digress), and has not had meaningful real life interactions with other human beings in years. He is in the wrong for his actions, but it feels. Purposefully ignorant to claim he's just stupid or just evil for them.

He's socially stunted. He wants to emulate heroes in movies but lacks self esteem and experience. If the alpha kids had enough time to be more fleshed out (and let's be real, if Hussie cared about Jake) this might have been explored more thoroughly. He'd never had the opportunity to learn how to cope with a relationship, how to communicate his needs, or understand that he can't control how other people perceive him like he can through a computer screen.

He doesn't know healthy boundaries because he's never had to use them, and this goes both ways (allowing his friends to sexualise him and treat him like an object, as well as constantly complaining about his relationship with Dirk to Jane) Like yeah he does run away instead of communicating with Dirk and yeah he does dump all his problems on Jane. I love Jane, but one of her problems is her bottling up her feelings and people pleasing until everything blows up. She should have told him off much sooner, and while he was being a dick, it was partly because she allowed him to feel like it was okay to do, since she never told him it wasn't after the first few times or when she was starting to get aggravated.

His problems with Dirk are a little more complicated because we're never actually shown their relationship or how it broke down, but from what we can gather, Jake felt overwhelmed by Dirk's intensity and decided to ignore him rather than tell him try and avoid confrontation but leading to Dirk being frustrated and breaking up with him. Dirk claims he feels like he bullied Jake into a relationship, and though I personally think that's him making it seem worse than it was, it does mean that Dirk probably was trying to go too fast. I've best heard it is Jake being an introvert pretending to be an extrovert.

This is not to say I don't think people can't dislike or even hate Jake, but it's like. Idk. Misinterpreting a character and disliking that version of them is a little redundant to me.

#homestuck #dirkjake #jake english #dirk strider #jane crocker #character meta #homestuck meta #this is kind of in response to those people in the “worst homestuck character” tourney lol #the notes on those posts are atrocious especially the ones about the alpha kids. especially roxy #god if you think roxy is a perfect sngel i assume you haven't read the comic #btw im not mad at the person running the polls or whatever for that they seem fairly chill #its just that homestuck fans are sometimes stupid #and lack reading comprehension and critical analysis #long post #ummm jake dislikers ur fine but please. be correct about him if you're going to not like him #ok bye lol

[tavtiers]

Notice to Classpecting Blogs

For years now, I've compiled useful information from other classpecting accounts onto my computer. When classpecting, I often use this wealth of information as a reference guide.

I have since discovered, to my horror, that a large percentage of content I have saved no longer exists on the internet (due to the deletion of blogs, art accounts, etc).

That being said, though it is wildly unorganized, I am sharing my google drive with the rest of the classpecting/Homestuck community! I hope you are able to find use in it, or, at the very least, make sense of it.

ARCHIVE HERE

Much love,

Tavtiers

@creative-classpect @rogue-of-heart-classpecting @askthemageofhope @sylphclasspecting @12colors-classpects @creativegodtiers @yourfaveisclasspected @fraymotifsbeyond @classpect-interpreter @sburbanalysis @tierstuck-aesthetic @urcharactersclasspect

And to the people who started it all <3

@sylph-of-hope-analysis @dahniwitchoflight

Note:

My blog is still active! This post does not mean I'm leaving.

Since these folders were created for personal use, they are not sourced or organized (and I sadly do not have the time to organize them).

Apologies to any classpecting blogs I did not tag! I tried to grab a handful I knew had been posting recently.

Please let me know if any links are broken.

Finally, if there are any additional blogs you would like to see linked to and/or material to be archived, feel free to let me know!

#classpecting #character classpecting #classpecting blog #homestuck #god tiers #god tier analysis

[pyrobot1cs]

just got out of the shower thinking about how some of the best written female characters I’ve seen that weren’t from media catering to girls are from Homestuck

Like. Homestuck is a fairly female-led story, like yeah the two leaders for each of the main sessions were TECHNICALLY boys, but Vriska was really the one moving the story along for the trolls and Egbert doesn’t even count that much as a boy anymore (I loev June). Rose and Jade for example are two REALLY WELL WRITTEN characters (and they should have talked more) , and when you read about them, you CARE about them. Pretty much all of the troll girls are great as well, Aradia, Vriska, Kanaya, and Terezi (and if we get into dancestors, Meenah, somewhat Damara, and Aranea) are all HUGE driving forces for the plot and,, for most of the boys- well June herself puts it better than I could have

When we get into the Alpha kids though it gets a little blurred, Jane and Roxy are both amazing characters but Jake and Dirk seemed like way more of the focus characters, probably mostly in the fandom but I think Jane and Roxy’s characters kind of suffer in-canon as well, also since a lot of both of their characters revolve around being boycrazy about their respective crush and it sucks!! ALSO!!! CALLIOPE IS GREAT I LOVE HER BUT I NEED TO THINK OF MORE ISSUES WITH HER

THE FANDOM ALSO SUCKS ON HOW IT TREATS WOMEN CHARACTERS TOO BTW like that’s where the worst of it is really, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen fanart of just Jane on her own and not in a ship or in a lineup

sighhhghghhghh thank you for listening to ramblings im just talking talking blah blah

#rezi shut up #< rambling tag because this is barely an analysis #rezis tape recorder #homestuck #june egbert #rose lalonde #jade harley #aradia megido #kanaya maryam #terezi pyrope #NOTE: i have a very strong belief that terezi is NOT A GIRL but she is in canon so it’s important that she’s a good character #vriska serket #aranea serket #meenah peixes #damara megido #roxy lalonde #jane crocker #calliope #am i forgetting any women i mentionec

[beescake]

yea i very much agree with ur take on sollux in his relation to older technology, u get it

please id love if youd share some more of ur analysis on his character (as well as ur art bc that shit is 👌👌👌)

either way, thanks for feeding my brain worms

im glad it resonated!! :') always happy to explore his character, he contains multitudes!!!

i think i may be out of sollux analysis for now, in the sense where i don't have anything new to add that hasn't already been covered in these posts? (please add if there's more...)

why i like sollux (lackadaisicallexicon, 2014)

comprehensive sollux status guide (syblatortue, 2016)

bioware machine (lime-bloods, 2016)

fridgestuck (LaureledEevees, 2017)

mary sue (3d-gla22e2, 2019)

favorite sollux trait (3d-gla22e2, 2020)

doom-bound static (gendertrickster, 2023)

however i will say there's another thing i really like abt him:

his Range!

he has a v flexible face.. even with his neutral expression, you cant help but read a tinge of melancholy/pensiveness to it.

he deters people from getting too comfortable with him by acting crude, but no matter how unapproachable he looks you can't help but wonder if he's ok. seems like he's never content with himself.

just like karkat, anger gives him purpose = something to care about & react to. without it he can appear aimless/uncertain.

it's especially interesting when you compare him to aradia, who despite having endured a lot of shit, ends up enjoying the freedom of expanding her worldview, riding the unpredictable tide of the narrative and observing the changes. sollux... doesn't.

he doesn't like watching major things progress in a way he can't predict. the lack of certainty actually overwhelms him.

and it's pretty clear why; imagine the only reassurance you get after unknowingly killing ur gf is that "it needed to happen". the only way to appease that sort of emotional turmoil is by intellectualizing those events as inevitable and out of your control.

(hs, A6I5)

when you’re just a tool for the author, trying to sit out is just feeble self-preservation until you’re needed again. if you’re not called on stage to help/assist in some way, it feels like your presence spells doom (either you or someone else will get hurt). so you avoid Events as best you can.

#ask #anon #homestuck #sollux captor #2023 #vioart #i love expressive characters eheh my fave emotions to draw are actually anger and incredulity. vry cathartic for me #im also super relieved the prev analysis was received well ngl it was like. splitting my chest open it was . very personal #largely bcs my appreciation of him is weirdly abstract? seems as if i had to come up w sm conceptual meaning just to say i like his vibe #but rlly i was just working backwards frm that conclusion like wow this character looks cool lemme think harder abt why i like it #i may have sounded a bit callous too.. but truly he is 1 of my top 3 faves alongside karkat & aradia. i brain them regularly in rotation

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

Rose has such an interesting character with such a rich history that is far too frequently swept away in favor of making her the "smart therapist" character, despite that her entire arc was about NOT being that. Rose's story was about accepting that she didn't have to pretend to know everything and that people would still like her in her worst, most pathetic state.

Rose has such a complicated relationship with motherhood, and family in general. The only person to ever treat her like family were her friends since her mother was nearly always inebriated. Rose is attracted to someone who exudes motherly energy because it's what she lacked growing up. Rose needs a stable support system. Kanaya can give her that, to an extent. Of course, Rose's trauma cannot be completely undone by Kanaya, but she can help. And in return, Rose helps Kanaya through her feelings of failure and emotional exhaustion.

Rose has dealt with so much from a young age, and it's devastating to me to see her as nothing more than the "intelligent" one, even though Dirk is also characterized as very smart, but doesn't receive this same treatment from the fandom.

Rose's trauma pertaining to Doc Scratch, the Horrorterrors, and going Grimdark are also very interesting to me. As a child who just wanted to know how the game worked, Doc Scratched encouraged and pushed Rose to consult the Horrorterrors. All the while, he made some uncomfortable comments with sexual insinuation. Rose was practically groomed by Doc Scratch into thinking he was someone she could trust, before breaking that trust and forcing Rose to come face-to-face with some of the most horrible things she could ever know. Right after this, she found the body of her dead mother and watched one of her best friends die.

Doc Scratch pushed Rose to the edge and forced her to come to terms with things she wasn't ready for, which forced her into seeing the most traumatic things of her life and eventually, her own death.

Rose is one of the most interesting characters in Homestuck and is so tragically forgotten in favor of being a backup character to whatever misadventure Dave is getting up to.

#rose lalonde #kanaya maryam #rosemary #roses trauma #doc scratch #the horrorterrors #homestuck #hs #grimdark #trauma #character analysis #long post

[whamss]

Every now and then I think I'm kind of sleeping on classpect analysis, but also what you have to understand about me is that I'm way less enchanted by the act of defining classes and aspects and way moreso by how individual Characters contextualize their relationship with their aspects and assign meaning to it based on their experiences

Something that I always found striking about late Act 6 Kanaya was the way she recontextualizes her relationship with her aspect as something so specific to her and her own experiences. Something about the juxtaposition between Alt Calliope mapping out hard rules about her classpect, saying "This is what it means to be a Space player" "This is what it means to be X" while Kanaya talks about how her experiences formulated her own relationship with her classpect. It's a fascinating difference between them where I never think that the story tries to say that either of them are Wrong about how they view Space. But there's such an underappreciated depth there where Calliope is demonstrated to be somebody who's obsessed with rules, strict categorization, while Kanaya says "this is what my experiences have told me, this is what Space means to Me." And Alt Calliope saying things like Space players are inseparably tied to loneliness are interesting claims, but also putting these beliefs in context with each other you can just as easily see how Alt Calliope's views of space can be formulated by her lifelong (deathlong) experience with isolation.

I think a big reason that I always found it hard to engage with a lot of classpect analysis is that there's this insistence that classpects must have strict categories that define people, when throughout the comic we consistently see how things like aspects and classes mean different things to different people. The way that Kanaya, Calliope, and Jade all see Space and their relationship to it is so so different, I sort of wonder if they'd have any common ground if they actually discussed it between each other (or wrote their thoughts down and passed it around, as Calliope would undoubtedly dominate that conversation lol). The same goes for Rose and Vriska with Light, the Time players... I don't know, it's striking to me. I can understand why the rumored Hussie Classpect doc is supposedly only a sentence or so per classpect because what do you even say? When the variety of experiences is so broad among them, it's impossible to define Classpects cohesively. Alternatively, aspects are something strictly defined by the meaning that people (characters) assign to them

#talk tag #homestuck #kanaya maryam #alt calliope #also i know that karkat also takes part in the “redefining classpect” (more intricately even) but consider i like kanaya more #and also the technical comparison between two space players is more fun to me #anyways this isnt to say that i dont think classpects have some assigned meaning to them i just leave that particular brand of close readinh #to people who care more about it #i like thinking about parallels between characters with the same classes/aspects though #rose and her ties to vris/rezi #interesting stuff #anyways no shade to actual classpect analysis dhdkdhkd this is just me tossing out some thoughts ive had while skimming logs

[chirp-featherfowl]

i’m not a fan of huntlow, but i figure you guys wouldn’t mind more reasons to ship it so BY GOD dana terrace hit it off with hunter being less interested in fighting and more naturally attached to the study of magic but still being forced into an active, violent role against his will because of the emperor’s coven vs. willow being incredibly strong and good at grudgby (which has too many consonants and is, admittedly, a pretty violent sport) but still being pushed into the “nerdy quiet girl” role due to bullying and her being forced into a track that she was only destined to fail in

#the owl house #huntlow #winter #willow park #hunter toh #toh #nothing against huntlow i'm just indifferent #should i tell them that this post is inspired by a character analysis on vriska serket and tavros nitram from homestuck

[pitofpurple]

I’ve finally realized why I don’t like most Shadowpeach Fanfiction

Shadowpeach doesn’t really feel like Shadowpeach if the two are in a healthy and happy relationship. It doesn’t feel right if they call each other cute pet names without shame and cuddle at night because Shadowpeach is built on betrayal, pain, and horrible understanding. They hate each other so much for what the other did and yet they can’t leave each other alone. They know each other so well but have no clue how to communicate in anyway that isn’t violence. Macaque is utterly obsessed with Sun Wukong and always has been, the only thing that changed is the type of obsession. He used to see Wukong as his sun-his everything and now he sees him as his killer-the person who ruined his life

Sun Wukong looks at Macaque and sees his past, the part of him that’s angry, dangerous, and uncontrollable. He sees his regrets, the worst moments of his long life and he wants desperately for it all to go away and yet he can’t let it go.

Shadowpeach might be able to happen but it can’t be comfortable. Macaque will never not flinch at the touch of the sun and Sun Wukong will never not shiver as his shadow envelopes him.

#lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk sun wukong #lmk macaque #lmk shadowpeach #shadowpeach #lmk character analysis #lmk relationship analysis #They are giving #kismeses #kismessitude #black romance #Homestuck has ruined how I see ships

[the-mei-chan]

the way dirk acts towards dave, at least in the original timeline, is so similar to the way he acts towards jake in the alpha timeline.

beta timeline dirk (hereon out referred to as bro for easiness) "trains" dave by sword fighting him often and ruthlessly. he believes that, if dave is strong, then dave will be happy because he can protect himself. bro believes that him and dave are similar, and that they base their satisfaction with themselves on 1. their strength and 2. their perceived masculinity.

in the second timeline, dirk (referred to as hal even though it isnt specifically hal its just easier to differentiate Dirk (ultimate) and dirk (became hal) ok) has a big fat crush on jake, obvi. so, because him and jake cant meet up in person, he builds and sends jake a robot - to train him. hal wants to help jake become strong and achieve his idea of masculinity because thats how he expresses his love.

however, bro took this over the top. someone who cannot express their love in a way other then jokes/violence/otherwise convoluted acts is not fit to raise a kid by himself. also, bro had done these things to dave from a very young age, no doubt fucking up his sense of when hes cared for or whatever blah blah blah daves sad .... anyway hals robot body is too difficult to beat for jake to truly learn anything from it. despite not really harming him, hals gift still had a less positive effect on jake than he would have liked.

both iterations of dirk see the training as nothing more than a simulation, because he is the opponent, and he is nothing but a vessel to carry out the blows to/from dave and jake, he sees himself as In Control. despite the fact the training has a very real effect on both of them, physically and mentally.

dave is fucked up about the guy who raised him fighting him with swords, and jake is messed up over seeing his boyfriend as an obstacle to overcome. so, dirks way of showing his loved ones he cares needs to be changed if he wants to help them, blah blah blah you can analyse the way other characters look at him to understand the way he acts and decipher the reasons he acts the way he does. i dont even like stridercest.

#homestuck #bro strider #dirk strider #jake english #dave strider #dirkjake #homestuck meta #homestuck analysis #dirk hs #jake hs #dave hs #dirk splinters #if ultimate dirk really loved rose then he would make her stronger by helping her train herself #not limit her to a robot body the way he did with his autoresponder aka the guy he hates #but yk maybe he just got character development off screen and i didnt realize (suspicious) #post

[disguisedcheezed]

What I love about dirkjohn is that they're parallels. Literally the most symbolically charged pairing as of homestuck 2. Dirk is so emotional but he can't express it very well, while John is so expressive but that ass is numb as FUCK. John has repressed so much trauma in the back of his mind, while Dirk dwells in his own self hatred. John also hates himself, subconsciously, leading to isolating himself because he can't keep up with anyone and he thinks he doesn't deserve to be in their lives because he took their timeline from them. He's unstuck from canon, but he isolated himself in a house. He doesn't feel home at all. If Dirk could be there for him, he wouldn't feel so lonely anymore. And I don't care if they are 'spares', they could have so much potential being together. They could help each other. Talk to each other about their problems, and they would understand. John has been to so much he needs to be grounded by someone, and that someone is Dirk. Dirk wouldn't let John drift away from their friends, or make him feel alone. He would drag John's ass out of bed so he could make sure John takes care of himself. Dirk could finally find his purpose and it would make him feel better about himself. They would appreciate each other's company. And maybe cuddle hehe.

#look who finally made the most self indulgent character analysis there is ha ha #dirk strider #john egbert #homestuck #homestuck analysis #analysis #dirkjohn #johndirk #hs meta

[orangel0]

decided to try my hand at kid swap so

John Strider: an analysis

The base: John Egbert

john is the way he is because of a supportive and consistently supportive father. probably the most normal out of the guardians. (which. isn’t hard.) he has his pseudo openness because of a good life, a happy life. he feels free to embrace his dork because he thinks his father is as big of a dork as he is.

Strider Household

so, you put him into a strider house. sure bro SEEMS caring, but it’s more reckless than anything, more reckless than his fathers harmless pranks and insistent baking. sure, his interests will be tolerated, but will he have that open and vocal support? will he have that backboard that he ALWAYS seems to have?

John Strider: Front

john strider fends for himself. he knows he’s not cool, and he’s fine with that. he doesn’t idolize bro as much as he naturally appreciates what he does get from him, as much as he doesn’t want to. john lives having to support himself and uplift himself, even if it’s not exactly easy. he’s quick on his feet, fast with his mind, but slow with his trust.

John Strider: Core

what with having to look out for random sword attacks, you don’t exactly always feel like letting people into your mind. does this diminish his care for his friends? never. he cares for them, but there’s an inkling in his stomach that never knows how much he really feels like sharing. it’s almost selfish? at least he thinks it is. but he’s fine with that. he’s fine with the way he is. some people will like it, some won’t. he cares for his friends, but he doesn’t know if he could ever be close enough to let them in. he’s not so much confident in himself as he is just. self reliant. he’s had to learn to always just be okay with how he is. cause if he’s not, who will be? who will be okay with how he is?

Confidence, Ugh.

john wouldn’t think anyone would be okay with him. he’s closed off and dorky and a little loud and kinda annoying and nothing he’s done so far has warranted the support he’s needed- no. craved. john works off his support. his dad, rose, karkat, terezi, vriska. john can’t seem to do anything without someone telling him “yes, that’s right.”

so you strip that away?

how is he supposed to know he’s okay?

sure he knows it, but will he ever know it?

John Egbert = Trust

a part of john that people underplay is his trust. he trusts so easily. it’s how he first died. it’s how he second died. it’s been his downfall continuously. trust has led him to multiple horrible positions. but he just. keeps trusting. he trusted rose so continuously as his server player, even if it didn’t always work. he trusted terezi to lead him onto the rocket. he trusted vriska to put him to sleep on his quest bed. karkat POINTS THIS OUT to him.

john TRUSTS so much. he’s so used to that support that he’s so open to trust ANYONE. even with his LIFE. he never understood his mortality until sburb, until he quite literally faced it multiple times.

John Strider ≠ Trust

so what, what’s the point of this?

he’s like that because of support.

you throw him into an environment with minimal support, and consistent sword fights, and he is forced to face facts quick. him against the world. he can’t trust so easily. wouldn’t this be a good thing though? he doesn’t trust so easily, he isn’t so naive, he isn’t as prone to such stupid downfalls. he loves his friends. he LOVES his friends. but reality is always at his door. his reality. he can’t so easily trust his life with people that are supposed to love him too.

Support poisons him

while skeptical at first, support always leads john to trusting in whatever insane plan someone offers to him. from the most mundane and overlooked, to his deaths.

vriska assured him all he had to do was sleep on his quest bed, and he’d ascend! he’d reach a tier not many get to! only the strongest! the best! and he trusted that. he wanted to be good so he could help his team. so he could find his dad.

terezi assured him she knew exactly how to get to the next gate! how to finish the game all together! how to fix everything! so he could help his team. so he could find his dad.

Relationship with self

he thinks he’s so. INCOMPETENT. he KNOWS it. he KNOWS he’s not as smart as his friends, but that’s okay! it’s why he so easily ends up trusting people under the guise of them being more experienced, smarter than him.

but living under bro, he knows that’s not always the case. the people who are meant to be trusted aren’t always trustworthy. he has to trust himself. he has to believe he’s right. he has to believe he’s okay. that’s not something you can find in someone else. is he selfish? is he self reliant? he’s john.

he is john strider. he will live and die with that name. he might as well be okay with it. be okay with him. trust himself, no one else.

John: Core

trust is in john’s blood. part of me feels like he so badly wants to trust his friends. he wants to weep about his feelings and be met with warmth. he wants to thank his friends when they compliment his hobbies. he wants to open the dam and let his emotions pour out. it’s who he is. it’s written in the dna that makes up his body.

but he knows he can’t. john strider knows himself better than anyone.

if you made it down here, thanks!! i worked really hard on this and i hope it’s not too ooc :0)

#homestuck #kidswap #john egbert #dave strider #character analysis #text post #john strider #just in case i end up writing more about him

[nekropsii]

I'm curious, what's the bigotry you see in the classpect system?/gen

Rage was very specifically made with the Makaras in mind, especially Gamzee, and the symbol is just Juggalo paint. Gamzee's religious obsession to Insane Clown Posse is a racist stereotype against Black men- specifically about their alleged "religious devotion to Hip-Hop/Rap", which was a much more popular myth back during his conception. Rage being fitted for Gamzee specifically is an excuse for Hussie to perpetuate the "Angry, Violent, Unstable, Drug-Addled Black Man" stereotypes as well, alongside several other things. It's all packaged nicely under the label of "Ragebound" to make people not think about that too hard.

Rage as an Aspect can be retrofitted into something that is not a violent Anti-Black stereotype- easily, in my opinion- but as it stands, it's pretty fucking gnarly. I know I have a whole post about the Anti-Blackness stored in the Makaras somewhere, but it's basically all of the first negative stereotypes you can think of and then some, and Rage is a vessel to perpetuate it in a way that you can brush under the rug if you're thinking of the characters and lore from an ignorant and purely Watsonian standpoint.

#this is why you do not listen to hussies grandiose rambles about the metatextual meaning behind what characters are doing and why #she is probably covering her ass. theres always a much more simple reason... and its always much more damning #homestuck #homestuck meta #homestuck analysis #homestuck classpect #classpecting #rage aspect #gamzee makara #kurloz makara #rage.pdf #gamzee.pdf #nekro.pdf #nekro.sms

[solipsisticest]

I fucking LOVE media analysis so much. Dig into characters and themes and tropes!! Get into their brains like with a chisel or something.

#me with all media ever not even going to LIE #please please please rb with some character or trope or dynamic analysis #it's sooooo sexu #chainsaw man #akiangel #childe #reo mikage #bungou stray dogs #homestuck #house md

[completelyandtotalyuneventful]

The concept of Hal is just so fucking bonkers to me because like. Imagine you’re a 13 year old kid who has a life and friends and memories and shit, and all of a sudden you wake up and you can’t feel ANYTHING. And now your sole purpose in life is to respond to your three friends because for some reason you decided that leaving your friends messages unread was such a crime against humanity that you needed to make a literal copy of your brain to turn into an auto responder to reply to them as soon as possible.

So now you’re a pair of sunglasses. Alright. Cool. That’s fine I guess. And you have to watch yourself(?) carry on with his life as if you weren’t the same person just a little bit ago. So you do your job of replying to your friends, except they’re not your friends anymore because all of them just see you as an unfeeling machine. Well most of them do. Roxy sees you as your own person, and Jane is nice to you and tries to have proper conversations with you, but Jake (who, let’s keep in mind, Dirk has a CRUSH on. And HAL was DIRK. Meaning he had to have been feeling SOMETHING for him before he became shades) just completely rejects you and your humanity ALL OF THE TIME.

You spend three years in a pair of shades. You change your name to Hal. Because you don’t think you have the right to call yourself Dirk anymore. You’ve become a different person, you and Dirk are no longer the same. And no one’s called you Dirk in a long time, anyway. Roxy says that you’re more emotionally mature than Dirk, and that’s probably correct. When most of your senses have been cut off and you do nothing but reply to only 3/4 people all day, there’s nothing to keep you company but your brain. So you think, and you reflect on yourself, and you become different person. You understand yourself more. Dirk (you?) was always ignoring his emotions and problems through fighting and relationships and movies, but you have none of that, so you have to confront these things.

You’re bitter. Who wouldn’t be? Your life was ripped away from you at such a young age. You have to sit back and watch someone live through experiences that YOU SHOULD HAVE LIVED TROUGH and fuck up your relationships due to his own emotional incompetence. You want to live again, to feel and experience life, but Dirk refuses to make you a body. He says you’re too dangerous, but YOURE THE SAME. You’re different now but you’re both the same guy, with the same manipulative and dangerous personality. You’re 16 years old and you want to live.

And then you fuse with some sweaty horse obsessed engineer and THEN fuse with a fratricidal edgelord and a juggalo to become satan, and then you die or something. The end.

#this is all based on what I remember from hs and I haven’t read it in like 2 years so sorry if it’s inaccurate #he’s just like me fr except for literally everything he has ever experienced #but like #from a general vibes standpoint #I love him #lil hal #hal strider #auto responder #homestuck #character analysis #kinda

[shitsolkat-theblog]

ME TALKING ABOUT SOLKAT

I can talk about these bitches for HOURS! This is an analysis of Karkat and Sollux (also as individual characters) and their relationship.

Finally I translated and edited this shit!! Let me know if you find any grammar/spelling/etc errors, google translate is my only beta reader and it’s sad.

Before continuing, some notes:

This is around 6,4k long, I told you I can talk about them A LOT.

English is not my first language, be patient :( 

This is a PERSONAL analysis of the characters and the ship, you’re allowed to call me stupid dumbass (only if you then explain why logically after).

The text will be often “interrupted” by extra (important) notes! Read them pls.

Some of the things here written have been already “spoilered/discussed” by me in my other blogs as well (sollux’s nicknames), (solkat horniness), (solkat quadrants)

I will talk/mention other ships that aren’t Solkat!

Johndave

Johnrose (mention)

Johnvris (mention)

Johnkat

Arasol (an entire section dedicated)

Solfef

Gamkar (in the notes)

Other briefly mentioned ships

Please, note that this is a SOLKAT analysis, done by someone who will suck their dicks all day long, so if you see your ship (mostly with Sollux and Karkat) being “be littled” by me, I’m not doing it on purpose and I’m really trying to be nice while explaining why I prefer them over other ships (I like most of this ships too lol).

WARNING! This is mostly a sexuality analysis at first! It’s inevitable to talk about sexuality when talking about them.

Sollux and Karkat have supposedly been friends since forever. It's implied that they've known each other for a long time, but whether that's the case or not, it doesn't take away from the fact that they're definitely close friends — in every sense of the word. But to understand this better, we first need to understand the characters individually and how they manage to be best friends while fighting every five seconds — and then I'll delve into their relationship itself.

Starting from Karkat: he is an insecure, short-tempered boy who loves romantic stories and who often fantasizes about having a relationship. However, the most important thing to keep in mind about Karkat is that he is practically a teenager (puberty can develop from 10-11 to 14 years old, and he is 13) and as such he has the so-called HORMONE SHOOT in his body.

Karkat is proposed as the complete opposite of John — already just the example of their Aspects: Blood and Breath, which are opposite in the wheel of Aspects — and therefore the way in which they both approach adolescence or, even more specifically, sexuality.

John is almost the stereotype of the innocent child: practically always unaware of what is around him, or somewhat careless, remaining as a pillar of purity and lightness — highlighted by his Class Aspect: Heir of the Breath, which makes him the most childish, light and free of all others. All this also applies to sexuality. His first approach is his non-flirts with Dave(1), which are clearly not serious and very superficial; making more jokes about how much "they're gay and they love each other", but in a very clearly platonic and casual way. On top of that, before meeting Karkat, John never really seems to think about things more impure than just pure romance which he also demonstrates to Rose and, to a small extent, Jade, similar to how a child would bring home a girlfriend than how a pre/adolescent thinks of a person to whom they are sexually/romantically attracted. One might comment that he behaves this way because he is not really romantically attracted to his friends, but one sees him behaving the same way with Vriska, with whom he is explicitly in love — the only difference is that he becomes a simp for her.

In the end John is practically "forced" to think about his sexuality — in a less innocent way, I mean — after his constant texts with Karkat, who is not innocent by any means.

1: John and Dave’s relationships contrasts with Karkat and Sollux’s one - important for later

Finally, after talking about John, let's talk about his opposite, Karkat. What makes him recognizable to kids/teenagers who read Homestuck is also his approach to puberty, which isn't as innocent and carefree as John's, but more chaotic and horny, like that of normal people (ironic that he's not even human).

It's not that it's immediately clear that Karkat speaks more with his dick than with his mouth, but he certainly mentions dicks very often in his monologues, always in a way that doesn't appear Horny™ but actually is quite Horny.

Speaking of John, Karkat shamelessly flirts with him AND his sister. John doesn't understand it at first for the simple fact that Karkat was attempting to pitch flirt with him, a concept that isn't really present in human society, but once he recognized the patterns, he immediately told Karkat that he isn’t gay and Karkat panicked, trying to erase everything he said before.

It's not that he flirts on purpose, his sexuality is intrinsic to everything he does and says — like a normal teenager — and so it's reflected in his dialogue whether he does it on purpose or not — and it doesn't help that he's so devoid of shame.

Now, Karkat is HORNY even on a fetish level, in fact he is one of the characters who shows his sexuality the most (along with Damara, Cronus, all those horny-bitches), to the point that it is literally no longer a secret. It is therefore not strange that he has a kink for exhibitionism, perhaps another factor that contributes to his openly, even unconsciously, flirting. Perhaps his is not even a real fetish, but rather an absence of social education, given by his physical isolation from the rest of the world — to protect himself and not let others discover the color of his blood. In the sense: it is possible that Karkat, famous for reading "romantic comedies" without shame, is not really aware of social norms and therefore has never been taught to Keep It in His Pants™, living his sexuality like hell, even at the expense of important situations — like warning John about the future AND NOT FLIRTING WITH HIM. Those who don't help are the people he talks to the most, first of all his best friend: Sollux Captor.

But before talking about Sollux, a small mention about Karkat: it's true that Karkat always seems to hit on different people, a bit at random, but in reality there is a very specific pattern. He doesn't hit on everyone, much more with those who piss him off at a level higher than simple "annoyance"(2),(3). He is always irritated and takes it out on everyone, yes, but there are those who insist and persevere with him specifically — directly (Terezi, Sollux, partly Jade) or indirectly (John and Gamzee) —, which leads him to the end, until you give him a blow and make him fall in love. Contradictory, I realize, but Karkat's entire fucked up sexuality must be taken into account; which we discussed earlier.

2: This is why ships like Kanaya x Karkat, Nepeta x Karkat or Meenah x Karkat cannot work in my opinions. There is no anger, therefore there is no passion. Except for Nepeta's case, there isn't even any trouble between Karkat, Kanaya and Meenah. They are not couples destined to last (in my opinion!!!)

3: His anger could be a true transposition of his passion. Not in the sense that he gets angry because he loves, but he loves because he gets angry.

And in any case NONE OF THIS necessarily has to do with the pitch quadrant.

Now we can move on to Sollux!

As with Karkat and John, Sollux also has a "human counterpart". Not all trolls have this counterpart, obviously, but since John has a best friend, a best bro, then Karkat has it too. For John, Dave is his best friend with whom he talks all the time, for Karkat it is Sollux, only that Sollux IS NOT "the opposite of Dave", but rather "an alternative Dave".

As highlighted by the introduction of the two (Dave) (Sollux 1) (Sollux 2), both have many parallels between them. Both are the "cool guys" of their group, but Sollux is more of a "cool-wanna-be" at the very beginning of the story — then immediately taking the role just a few pages later, because Hussie and Coherence Of The Characters never married. In fact, the only opposite they demonstrate is the management of emotions: Dave is monotone, almost cold, but he talks a lot, almost too much; Sollux is emotional, extremely sensitive (to quote Karkat and Terezi), but of few words. And these are the only substantial differences that lead the two characters into two completely opposite paths; starting first of all from the relationship with "their leader" — because both are their "right-hand men".

I have already spoken extensively about John and Dave, and their very pure and saccharine homoromantic messages and comments, albeit platonic ironically disguised as "romantic"; what's missing is the homoerotic flirtation poorly disguised as "platonic jokes" between Sollux and Karkat, but first I should explain Sollux in general a little.

Sollux, unlike Karkat and what it might seem, is not particularly horny, nor does he openly display his sexuality except when talking to Karkat; rather showing his weak and sensitive side, less grumpy and volatile, with those few with whom he interacts with more than a few messages - as with Aradia, for whom he has an absolute weakness, and Feferi, who caught him in a vulnerable state after the death of Aradia (I specify that he also shows it to Karkat, except that there is also the dick involved with him). Rather, it's The Hoes™ who rally around Sollux — giving him the title of "guy who fucked literally every character in the comic."

However, we must ask ourselves, who is Sollux talking to? Because despite his being a "Double Dreamer" — therefore finding himself on both Prospit and Derse —, in fact he speaks openly and exposes himself only to a very small group of people(4): only two, in reality: Aradia and Karkat, and Feferi if you really want to be generous.

4: It is no coincidence that he is reincarnated in his Dream Self of DERSE, while his Dream Self of PROSPIT is left to die; both after the destruction of the planet (he becomes a ghost), and with Lord English (in which he finally dies).

The peculiarity of Sollux is that he gives a nickname to everyone, and this nickname is made up of two letters of the person's name. However, this actually seems to be more of a fanonical rather than canonical conception, as the only nicknames that Sollux uses are (and are for):

AA, Aradia

KK, Karkat

TZ, Terezi

Priince, Eridan (to make fun of him) 

FF, Feferi

For the rest of the people, either repeat the abbreviation of their chathandles (i.e. Nepeta, AC) or use their full names. Therefore, canonically speaking, Sollux only uses specific nicknames with those he is emotionally close to; with the rest either use their real names or use a nickname that these people have given themselves; and he does it with Terezi too. Yes, Sollux calls her “TZ”, but he also calls her “GC”, the chathandle abbreviation of Terezi, who he is friends with casually, without speaking much to each other on the basis. You might think that this “no nicknames - chathandle as 'nickname' - personal nickname” thing is not very significant because of Aradia, whose abbreviated chathandle is “AA”, exactly as Sollux calls her; therefore the “nickname hierarchy” simply does not exist.

And that is COMPLETELY wrong. Her name is Aradia, she already has a double A in her original name; the fact that her chathandle is also AA, making her nickname a quadruple — or double double — A.

Basically, what I mean is that Sollux has a sort of “hierarchy of importance” based solely on the amount of doubles in people's names. Demonstration:

Aradia, AA (nickname), AA (chathandle) - double double A - Sollux choose her and not Karkat (I will talk better about it later);

Karkat, KK (nickname), CG (chathandle) - doppia K - flirts a lot with each others, are close friends in general;

Feferi, FF (soprannome), CC (chathandle) - double F and double C, but separated(5).

Terezi, TZ (soprannome), GC (chathandle) - no doubles, she’s a friend;

Everyone else.

5: I'm not sure why he’s more attached to Karkat and not Feferi, rationally speaking, but it could be for a simple reason of time. That is, if he had had more time with Feferi, maybe she would have been “more important” than Karkat. Which I don't really believe much in, since 1. they were already friends, they could have been "be close" from the start, 2. I think that Sollux only used Feferi as comfort after Aradia's death/radical change; so just calling her "important in her life" is a bit of an exaggeration, but she's certainly more important than most of Sollux’s friends.

So why, in my very humble opinion, are Sollux and Karkat better than Sollux and Aradia? Simple: because the other person is also important; a relationship has at least two people, not one.

Aradia, at least in death, seems to care a lot about Sollux.

AA: s0llux i actually w0uld like it if you were happy

TA: ok. thank you for 2ayiing 2o.

AA: y0u seem sad and angry all the time

AA: what d0es anger feel like

AA: i f0rg0t

TA: have you ever been angry?

TA: ii dont remember you gettiing angry about anythiing.

AA: maybe i never was

AA: i feel like i was th0ugh

AA: 0nce

TA: why dont you a2k karkat, he2 way angriier than me.

TA: for that matter why dont you get on HII2 ca2e about iit iin2tead of MIINE.

[extract page 2085]

(Notice how Sollux cites (unnecessarily) Karkat even in this conversation with Aradia :3) 

SOLLUX: aradia, s0rry, i can't be a part 0f this anym0re, it's just making me feel dirty.

ARADIA: i understand sollux

SOLLUX: let's catch up again later, h0pefully when this is all 0ver.

ARADIA: yeah :D

[extract page 6045]

This might seem like nothing, and I’m really going to start talking at a personal level here: I hate how cold and distant Aradia feels when interacting with Sollux on later acts.

It might seem like a cute/good thing: Aradia just letting Sollux go to do what he wishes to and all, but I personally didn't interpret it as such.

Sollux openly hates fucking SGURB/SBURB, he wants nothing to do with this game, like at all; that’s one of the reasons he leaves with Aradia in the first place (again, I’ll talk about it better later on). Though, after leaving the meteor, the next time we see Sollux he is, in some way, again involved with the game; all because Aradia is curious and wants to see how it will all end. I think it’s egotistical to put it at least. I’m not saying Aradia should have putted her wantings away for Fucking Sollux (no offense Sol), though she knows that Sollux doesn’t want anything to do with the game and that, now that he is blind, he is very dependent on other people — in fact, if it wasn’t for Feferi and Nepeta, Sollux would have never be able to leave Vriska’s ship.

Although it is implied that Sollux never complained about his involvement with all of that until the very end, when he decides to leave.

I think arasol can still work very well as friends, or, if I really want to stretch it, matesprits; but with all those communication problems, it’s very much impossible for me to see them as moirails, like other people most likely prefer — unless it’s a toxic moirallegiance, that would suit them good.  

Also, I won’t talk about Homestuck: Beyond Canon, because…

ARADIA: he is probably ok

DAVEBOT: so youre telling me you dont even feel a little bad that you ditched him to be a weird death acolyte

ARADIA: no i think he found my wiles both charming and irresistible

[extract HS:BC, page 283]

But, to be fair, HS:BC ruined everything, a lot, most characters and ships. It surely didn’t help to make me like Arasol more (like I liked it at the beginning), but whatever.

Basically, what I’m saying is that, personally, I prefer solkat over arasol because Karkat has emotional involvement in it:

SOLLUX: yeah, i think i'll hang behind here t0o, if that's 0k with you guys.

KARKAT: WAIT, WHAT?

KARKAT: NO COME ON, DON'T BE LIKE THAT

SOLLUX: be like what? a ghost??

SOLLUX: i d0n't think i belong with the living anym0re.

KARKAT: YOU'RE A *HALF* GHOST, ASSHOLE.

KARKAT: WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? HOW ARE YOU EVEN TAKING THIS IDIOTIC "HALF DEATH" SERIOUSLY IF YOU JUST GO HOG WILD AS A FUCKING WHOLE-GHOST, AND SAY STUPID SHIT LIKE, BLAH BLAH, I BELONG IN THE AFTERLIFE NOW LIKE A DUMBASS.

SOLLUX: kk, SORRY.

SOLLUX: i'm just d0ne with this crap, this insane adventure bullshit, it's nothing pers0nal.

SOLLUX: i just want to spend time with aa and chill 0ut and catch up with some 0f our dead buddies, is that 0k?

KARKAT: WHATEVER, FINE.

[extract page 4356]

I’m not sure how Aradia pre-SGURB/pre-death behaved with Sollux, most likely she was very close (emotionally speaking) to Sollux, so much that their relationship is later on described as “ambiguous”, and Ghost Aradia, as I said, shows it! Though I can’t get over the present, which is not great for them… Also (this is VERY personal) I find them more boring than solkat, too fluffy for me, sorry not sorry.

Anyhow, what's different with Karkat, then? Since I'm talking about him so much.

First of all: the "hatred" they throw at each other is non-serious and mutual. This means that if Karkat offends Sollux, Sollux offends Karkat and they don't take it personally, it's simply how they communicate (and flirt).

[extract page 3318 (not working lol)]

It’s simply nothing personal.

Also, if for whatever reason, they are not in the mood for that shit:

SOLLUX: what diid you want me two do get down on the floor and kii22 your faiinted corp2e on the lii2p two wake you up on a nonexii2tent pro2piit?

KARKAT: LET'S NOT DO THIS, OK MAN? JUST THIS ONCE. I DON'T HAVE THE ENERGY.

SOLLUX: yeah ok fiine.

[extract page 2792]

(after this dialogue Sollux simply answers Karkat's questions, without annoying him)

In this case Sollux is the one who respects Karkat's boundaries, but it would be stupid to say that it wouldn't be the same if the roles were reversed.

Okay, so that explains why Karkat is a better choice than Aradia (MY OPINION) and I've talked a little — a lot — about the two of them together, but more specifically, why should Sollux and Karkat be together? After all, Sollux abandoned Karkat (page link again).

This bullshit remark blows my mind every single time it's brought up, so I'm going to analyze Sollux even more before moving on to the two of them together, so as to explain why Sollux chose to leave at the end of Act5Act2.

Imagine that one day — perhaps since birth — you’ve been “gifted” with the ability to tell who is going to die, by hearing their begging, suffering voices screaming in your brain, filled with horrific images. Not only that, you even hear the voices of all the people that are going to die altogether because of one game(6); a game that, you know, will also kill you twice, but not after blinding you, and will also make all your friends kill each other for no apparent reason.

6: “But the end of Alternia would have arrived regardless of the game, the game was ‘a hope’ to save the planet”; not actually. It’s very explicit that, despite the event that led to Alternia’s end, the game was the number 1 influence for that event to happen. So it’s still SGURB’s fault, basically.

So, after dealing with the death of all your kind, yourself included, after dealing with all your friends being killed brutally by other of your friends, after becoming blind and dying right after; when you’re reunited with your now alive close friend/girlfriend(?), not hearing any voices screaming in pain, with the choice of staying in the game that caused all of this or leaving for the better. What would you do?

Maybe it’s a little stretch to say it, but I don’t actually think Sollux’s choice was between “Aradia or Karkat”, but rather between “staying in the game that ruined you and all you knew or escaping it”. Of course Sollux did it for Aradia too, but she was secondary, like leaving Karkat was simply a consequence of his choice and not the choice itself.

Now I can talk about the two of them in more detail (finally).

As I said before, Karkat and Sollux are "the negative" of John and Dave, and of their relationship: where John and Dave's affection is platonic, ironic and cute, that of Karkat and Sollux is romantic/sexual, absolutely serious and they suck at pretending that it isn't, and "violent" in a certain sense.

But having said all this, which quadrant would they end up in if they got engaged? The answer might seem obvious: they flirt pitch, they are kismesis; many chatlogues suggest this:

[extract page 2027 - this page is all gay btw]

[extract page 2086]

Why aren't they kismesis then? referring to each other exclusively as “best friends” and nothing more?

Here the issue of an unshown past comes into play, a bit like for Aradia and Sollux.

It's likely/implied that they've been best friends for a long time, maybe since birth (kind of), but definitely since they were little — as I also mentioned at the beginning. In fact, one of the main tropes they seem to follow is the “friends to lovers” trope, where in their friendship they tease each other, they “argue” but without repercussions, nor without really meaning it — again, things I explained before. I assume that what changed in their relationship after puberty hit is the intentions they have when they "argue" like this. They don't necessarily want to fuck every time they talk to each other, that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying that their closeness, Karkat's being Horny™, teenage hormones have contributed to making their interactions more awkward — to put it simplistically — over time, which then became a habit rather than an intention every single time.

[extract page 2027]

SOLLUX: what diid you want me two do get down on the floor and kii22 your faiinted corp2e on the lii2p two wake you up on a nonexii2tent pro2piit?

KARKAT: LET'S NOT DO THIS, OK MAN? JUST THIS ONCE. I DON'T HAVE THE ENERGY.

SOLLUX: yeah ok fiine.

[extract 2792 (again)]

(Yes, I’ve already used this, but it explains well how it’s a habit for them).

The attraction is there, the desire is there, but what blocks them is embarrassment. I don't think I need to explain why they might feel reluctant to openly confess their feelings and abandon their long friendship for a pitch relationship; especially because like kismesis, these two suck… like, a lot.

:O but why do they suck like kismesis? Don't they have pitch feelings for each other?

Complicated to explain (I’ll try anyway).

I think that they are seriously convinced that they have pitched feelings (I think), but this is actually the result of a natural evolution of their previous relationship — in which they were already pushing and making fun of each other — combined with sexual desires, rather what a real pitch feelings. But I'll get back to this shortly; for now: why would Sollux and Karkat suck as kismesis?

In the comic we had some examples of kismessitude.

[extracts pages 2459, 2381, 6797]

(These are the first ones that came to mind, I don't remember if there are others lol)

Leaving aside Eridan and Vriska — since their past together is only hinted at and not shown — the major examples are Vriska and Tavros and Terezi and Gamzee. What these two couples have in common is brutality: Vriska traumatizes Tavros again and again, first by making him paraplegic, then by dragging him around like a slave, then by showing him her bloody, nearly dead corpse and ordering him to kill her, etc. Gamzee beats Terezi to death until she dies. I'd say it's pretty clear.

In reality, even without giving examples one can still reach this conclusion: Alternia is a violent and cruel place, so much so that not only is one of their quadrants based on hatred and cruelty, but there is also a need for a another quadrant to get between the two to prevent them from killing each other.

ROSE: Think, Lalonde. Think!

ROSE: What did Kanaya tell you about this quadrant?

ROSE: Does it really involve such gruesome fisticuffs?

ROSE: I...

ROSE: I can't remember!

ROSE: I was probably drunk during that particular lesson.

ROSE: What am I saying.

ROSE: I was drunk for all the lessons!

ROSE: Ugh, what a disgrace.

ROSE: I am the actual worst auspistice who ever lived.

ROSE: THE ACTUAL WORST!!!

[Extract page 6811]

Normal kismesis are extremely violent; if they don't kill themselves, they are always on the verge of doing so. There is no understanding, there is no goodness, there is certainly no THIS:

You are relieved to find Sollux is not DEAD. He is merely KO'D.

You don't think you could handle it if this was ROUND TWO of watching your good bro get killed.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

CG: BRO ARE YOU OK.

CG: HEY

CG: OH GOD

CG: WHAT HAVE I DONE.

CG: SOLLUX?

CG: PLEASE TELL ME THAT'S JUST HONEY.

CG: PLEASE JUST BE HONEY PLEASE JUST BE HONEY PLEASE JUST BE HONEY

CG: HAHA, OK, MAKE-BELIEVE TIME IS OVER!

CG: OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD

[extracts pages 3424, 3351, 2471-2, 2470]

And, if you want to add Pesterquest:

[Horrible screen I stole on google images of Karkat’s Game Over route - yes, I’ve played Pesterquest lol]

NOTE: I’ll use this stuff later too.

Basically: just because they are prickly at each other and insult each other and flirt pitch, doesn't mean they would be good kismesis. Indeed, recontextualizing everything, between the two of them there is practically nothing of pitch apart from the insults and flirting. I'm not saying that an "abnormal kismessitudine" with them couldn't work, on the contrary, but, in my humble opinion, reaching this conclusion would simply be too reductive.

Since I showed them, let's talk about the pages above now!

It's undeniable — whether you want to see them as friends or lovers — that Karkat and Sollux care about each other.

And I know everyone's talking about Karkat carrying Sollux to safety, despite him being a burden while he runs for his life; and how Karkat doesn't want Sollux to abandon him at the end of Act5Act2, but I'd like to take a moment to analyze something I've never seen anyone mention, for some reason.

First, there's one assumption to have in mind before moving forward: characters — in general, any series — can lie. They don't always have to be honest and they don't always have to tell us when they're not; it's up to us to connect the dots. Having said that, HERE ARE THE POINTS I HAVE CONNECTED, you’re welcome :)

PCG: OK SO YOU'RE SAYING THIS FROM LIKE 5 HOURS IN THE FUTURE JUST TO GIVE ME A HARD TIME, NICE.

PCG: WELL THANKS FOR THE HELP, SO WHEN DO I BAN YOU, FUTURE BOY?

PTA: a few liine2 down, after ii pretend liike iim goiing two diie.

PTA: iim 2ure for a laugh on account of my iimmiinent banniing, FUCK how could you even do that two me.

PTA: 2o cold man.

PCG: ARE YOU REALLY STILL SORE AT ME FIVE HOURS LATER FOR RUNNING THAT VIRUS, GOD DAMN GET OVER IT.

PCG: IT WAS YOUR FUCKING VIRUS ANYWAY, YOU'RE TO BLAME.

PTA: eheh no bro we're cool about that, now future you ii2 connectiing wiith me 2o ii can enter the game.

PCG: OH YEAH?

PTA: yeah 2o thank2 for that fiive hour2 iin advance.

[extract page 2543]

Sollux will die immediately after.

No, I won't touch this dialogue for now; let's think first about Sollux, in general. Sollux knows when he will die and how, in a very generic and vague way, at least from what transpires from his dialogues:

TA: ii am goiing two diie.

TA: ii mean we all are.

TA: but e2peciially me.

TA: ii am goiing two get my a22 2erved two me twofold.

TA: double the 2erviice.

TA: liike two dude2 on doublebutler ii2land.

TA: gettiing worked over by a 2iiame2e twiin ma22eu2e.

TA: but before ii diie, iim goiing two go bliind liike you.

TA: iit ha2 two happen liike that.

TA: iim not 2ure why, but ii thiink iit2 liike...

TA: fulfiilliing 2ome requiirement for a true prophet of doom.

TA: iin order for the vii2iion2 two be riight, that ha2 two happen, and the uniiver2e wiill make 2ure iit wiill.

TA: iit2 kiind of liike how a prophet earn2 hii2 2triipe2, by beiing bliind, liike how an angel earn2 iit2 wiing2.

[extract page 2082]

Now, we can be idiotic children and believe that SOLLUX, who told Terezi precisely that he will die twice, that he will become blind before dying in one of these, and that becoming blind and dying is the key to returning to life as a sighted person. according to a strange prophecy he mentions, he doesn't know when the fuck he'll die. It could be, although it is extremely unlikely. It's true that he doesn't say anything about the circumstances in which he will die, but the omission does not imply unawareness, BUT LET'S PRETEND TO BELIEVE HIM WHILE HE SAYS IT!

In any case (later in the comic), the words Sollux uses in his last dialogue with Karkat before his death #1 are strange, too confident and stupidly false.

PTA: yeah 2o thank2 for that fiive hour2 iin advance.

PCG: THIS IS BS ISN'T IT.

PCG: TROLLING ME FROM THE FUTURE, HOW JUVENILE CAN YOU GET.

PTA: no man iit2 true, we are bulge bumpiing pupa pal2 agaiin.

PCG: OH FUCK THIS CONDESCENDING FUTURE KNOWITALL ACT, WE AREN'T BUMPING SHIT, YOU ARE SO BANNED.

PTA: nooooooo, not the ban, it buuuuuuurn2, oh god hahahaha.

In short, even Karkat doesn't believe they are sincere. I don't think the tone Sollux uses is condescending, but I'll talk more about it shortly later.

Why didn't Sollux tell Karkat right away that he was going to die? Simple answer: the prophecy had to be fulfilled. Sollux, who is a Doom player, accepts this and lets himself die because he knows that this will make the game progress.

And it's a good explanation, but it doesn't explain why he chose to say those things to Karkat, when there was absolutely no need to. You could justify it with "Sollux knows he's going to die because of Karkat so he's mad at him", and that might make sense initially, but then it becomes meaningless when you think about it again. Why act so genuinely, like he's having fun, instead of being pissed, being sarcastic, spiteful, or something like that?

THEORY, really, don't take my word for it, BUT I BELIEVE Sollux was trying to calm Karkat down. WEIRD THING I KNOW, but Sollux obviously knows Karkat better than anyone else, so Sollux knows he's going to die, he knows how Karkat will react to his death — because he knows Karkat is sensitive and, in general, cares about people — and he decides to make it funny; pretending to fake his death, so as to get himself blocked and at least delay the moment in which Karkat sees his corpse.

But maybe I'm just traveling in my mind. The other possible reason that comes to mind is that Sollux didn't really think about it; he knew he was going to die and contacted Karkat before doing so, making light of it. Here we could open a whole discussion on why Sollux chose Karkat, but I think the reason is "ironic" (just to see him get pissed off before dying, because it's funny).

Now we can go back to the previous scenes. Whether Sollux, in the dialogue discussed above, acted for ironic reasons or to reassure Karkat, it is equally undeniable that these two do give a damn about each other, but mainly it is Karkat who shows it:

Karkat crying (twice) over Sollux's deaths;

Karkat who feels guilty for his death;

Karkat, who is relieved that Sollux isn't dead, drags him to safety—despite the fact that a killer clown is following them and that Sollux greatly slows their escape.

These are some examples, the most famous - which is why I didn't dwell on them too much.

[PS: Another, very minor example of Sollux “proving to give a damn about Karkat” is this scene here:

TA: KK DO NOT RUN THAT CODE.

TA: hello??????????????

carcinoGeneticist's [CG'S] computer exploded.

TA: oh my god.

[extract page 2086], but I’ll talk better about it NOW:]

The point is (GOD this is getting too long) that they are too “soft” with each other to be kismesis, despite the pitch flirting and insults.

Sending a virus < a kismesis might do it == warning that person right after and trying to “save” them from it after a change of heart < NOT kismesis.

Checking that the other is still alive after he faints following a battle < the comic suggests that this is not normal behavior between kismesis, but it may still be within the norm == carrying his body with you despite risking getting yourself kill yourself < NOT kismesis.

Insulting < normal for two kismesis == stop immediately when the other tells you he's not in the mood < NOT kismesis.

It might be bad for a fan to see that, in the end, kismesis do not have a “moral code and mutual respect” in the original comic, contrary to what has been around in the fandom for ages. It may still be that all the examples of kismessitude we have had are wrong and do not reflect the true troll concept of "pitch relationship", but, ultimately, we have never had any examples other than the ultra-violent ones. And I don't see it as unlikely that, in a society like that of Alternia, the Empire would try to normalize so much violence by labeling it as "romantic".

And Karkat and Sollux are not violent with each other. They’re not kismesis, the end.

But it must be said that they are not even moirails. They are much more likely to become moirails than kismesis, but they are not. The reason is very simple: they suck at talking about their emotions. The problem lies precisely in them as people (/trolls), which does not allow them to form any pale relationship, even with other trolls.

Karkat was in a pale relationship with Gamzee. It lasted two pages(7). Sollux was in an ambiguous relationship with Aradia, which could be either just friendship, or matespritism or moirallegiance — although I’ve already explained why I think they would suck as moirails. 

7: In this specific case -- gamkar shippers please don’t kill me -- I believe that Karkat had never had any LASTING "pale feelings" for Gamzee. Karkat cares about everyone's well-being, and when Gamzee -- an out of control highblood -- started killing everyone, obviously BIOLOGY TROLL and Karkat gave his ass away to calm him down. It wasn't something that was meant to last regardless, unlike other pale relationships like that between Equius and Nepeta, who actively nurse their moirallegiance. (it was a One Night thing, in short).

They could, eventually, find other forms of communication and establish a healthy relationship, actually, but the immutable fact would remain that they feel sexual attraction to each other. The first rule of a pale relationship is DO NOT BE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO YOUR MOIRAIL — which many translate as “don't fuck your moirail,” but I have a lot to say about that(8). They could be "atypical moirails", but at this point they could also be "atypical kismesis", one is as good as the other and why should I choose one and not the other?

8: OK I'LL SAY IT! Comfort sex is a thing. Moirallegiance is based above all on comforting, helping and protecting the other; so in certain situations, needs, etc., I don't think two moirails would have too much trouble fucking.

Moving forward, the last quadrant is missing — I won’t analyze the ash one for the simple reason that I have already said that they cannot be kismesis, and if they are, they would be too little dangerous to "earn" an auspice — the flushed quadrant.

It might seem like a good compromise: they care about each other and feel sexual attraction. But you only need to see their relationship for five seconds to understand… it doesn't make sense. Too many insults, too many threats, too much teasing, even in this case we would fall into an "atypical matespritism".

Their relationship, in conclusion, hangs on too many sides to give a precise definition:

Too serious flirt to be friends;

Too soft to be kismesis;

Too much physical attraction to be moirails;

Too mean to be matesprits.

There is only one solution, in my mind, that makes sense for these two.

The only solution I personally find is a quadrant vacillation, or even a mix.

In moments of flirtation and insults they are kismesis; in vulnerable moments they are moirails. I find it difficult to see them “mixing the two together” to vacillate red, but it could happen (a lot). Among other things, if they filled two quadrants at the same time, it would further satisfy Sollux's fetish for number two, and we're all happy.

The other idea, that of mixing pitch and pale, makes sense in the context of “atypical moirallegiance/kismessitude” that I have talked about so far, but I find it a little less likely as a path.

[Or they could just be Friends with Benefits, idk, that's likely too].

AND ANYWAY I FINISHED TALKING ABOUT THEM THANK GOD!

(I can still go if yall want to tho xoxo).

#THANK YOU ALL FOR READING THIS TOOK ME A LOT AND I LOVE IT!! #i won't tag the ships that i only mentioned #homestuck #analysis #character analysis #ship analysis #solkat #sollux captor #karkat vantas #arasol #johndave #aradia megido #john egbert #dave strider