#karkat my religion

[baalran]

💀💀💀

[wip] i just hope i can finish this by karkat day

#si no lo acabo me mato #esto es culpa mia por procrastinar tanto #siento que se ve demasiado tierno para ser Karkat #pero ya nimodo #karkat my religion #karkat vantas #digital art #art #fan art #hs fanart

[felidaefatigue]

We find no rest for our weary bones unless we cling to the word of grace.

#tlt #the locked tomb #harrowhark nonagesimus #forgive me religion quoting its purely in the way that gideon is a karkat is a the sufferer is a jesus metaphor #i may hate my job for being low pay as shit and very boring but it does mean this happens #cat scratches #tlt scratches

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Hey I know this isn't on-topic for an Eridan blog but you're the best HS theorist I know <3 so do you happen to have any theories about WHY Gamzee faked god tier? I always see theories about how he could be a real god tier too, or about how he manages to be immortal even though he's not god tier, but I cannot find any discussion of WHY he bothered with that ruse in the first place!!! He didn't even fool anyone, unless we count Caliborn for like 2 secs before Hussie told him the truth, and all he got for his trouble was shot!

I think it's mostly a gag, but this is the Analyzing Homestuck blog, so: I think it's because Gamzee wants to look like an adult to impress Caliborn.

Gamzee's lusus is physically neglectful.

But you were never taught that on account of a lousy upbringing. Your custodian was always out to sea.

And several things stem from that neglect - the first, his indoctrination into the Clown Cult, the second, his extensive and all-encompassing drug usage, and the third, his poor social skills, which leave him ostracized by his teammates.

Let's first take a look at what, exactly, that religion entails:

You belong to a RATHER OBSCURE CULT, which foretells of a BAND OF ROWDY AND CAPRICIOUS MINSTRELS which will rise one day on a MYTHICAL PARADISE PLANET that does not exist yet. The beliefs of this cult are SOMEWHAT FROWNED UPON by those dwelling in more common lawnrings.

TC: I PeEpEd oN A PlAcE Of 6 tRiLlIoN HeMoS TC: AlL Up aT OnE RoCk, BlEeDiNg aS EqUaLs TC: It's eAsY To sEe iF YoU SeArCh aLl yOuR FeElInS TC: ThAt pEaCe hApPeNs fIrSt, AnD MuRdEr's tHe sEqUeL TC: It's tHe bEaUtY Of tHe cArNiVaL, tHe mAgIc's iN TeNtS

TC: all my life i believed at a fuckin paradise to come what held the most baller, darkest of carnivals to join. TC: AND A PROPHECY TC: to tell all about a band of rowdy and capricious minstrels steeped in the good harshwhimsy. TC: THE MIRTHFUL MESSIAHS WERE FORETOLD TO BE CRASHING THAT FUCKING PIE STAND AND BRING THE HOLY RUCKUS. TC: like a giddy fuckin ninja one wheeling head long at the hugest fuckin horn heap shangri la's got to see. TC: I'M TALKING ABOUT THE VAST HONK, YOU BLASPHEMOUS MOTHERFUCKER. TC: what i believed in it to be was so beautiful, us and them all mellowing in tents, bumpin sounds, tossing back the faygo and soaking the miracles up our faith sponges, while the special stardust rained down at our elixir sticky faces, like a bunch a fuckin fairy powder from religion space. TC: IT WAS GOING TO BE US AND MOTHER FUCKING THEM. TC: them and mother fuckin us. :o(

In essence: Gamzee's cult believes that there will be a Vast Honk, which will kill all trolls; however, "a band of rowdy and capricious minstrels" will usher in/create a new paradaisical planet of nothing but good vibes and chill times, where the "mirthful messiahs" will get to enjoy eternity.

There's pretty clear parallels here to the Christian concept of the Rapture, which fits in with the Garden of Eden/Original Sin themes of the Dancestors and the Second Coming thing Karkat's got going on. But, more importantly, it's also pretty directly just... what SGRUB/SBURB are all about. Their original population all dies, but a bunch of kids band together to create a new universe, with new planets, where theoretically live out the rest of their godhood in peace and happiness.

Were it not for the casteist influences as a result of being a cult largely followed by highbloods, there'd pretty much be nothing inherently objectionable about Gamzee's belief system - it's fundamentally hopeful, and, in fact, when he raps about it to Tavros, part of it is outright about "equalizing" the hemocaste (they all bleed as equals, see). Tavros agrees:

AT: tHE SLAMS WERE TRULY PRIME, aND, AT: yOUR RELIGIOUS VIEWS, tHOUGH i DON'T SHARE THEM, aRE, AT: rEASONABLY INSPIRATIONAL, AT: i THINK i'M IN THE PROCESS OF RELEASING AT LEAST ONE TEAR,

Next, we'll look at the sopor usage and ostracization together, because I think they're interlinked. People on Gamzee's team are friggin' mean to him.

CG: MIRACLES ARE LIKE POOP STAINS ON GOD'S UNDERWEAR. TA: eheheh makiing fun of people2 reliigiion2 i2 the be2t thiing two do.

GC: NO TH4T SHOULD BOTH3R YOU, TH4T R34SON GC: WHY DONT TH1NGS L1K3 TH4T BOTH3R YOU?? GC: NO WOND3R V4NT4S C4NT ST4ND YOU

CT: D --> What you do appear to know is e%actly how to ma%imize my livid contempt for you CT: D --> With your revolting language and your sense of decorum CT: D --> At such breathtaking odds with the richness and perfe%ion of your b100d CT: D --> I just hate you so much

CA: that is the wworst fuckin advvice CA: wwhat an awwful thing a you to say CA: MAGIC ISNT REAL STUPID STOP BELIEVVIN IN IT

On the whole, the team treats him as the party joke, if not outright worthy of derision. The one person on his team who IS nice to him, Tavros, ghosts him after Gamzee is too forward and asks to make out with him. He's deeply lonely, and what's more, his introductory narration is littered with pessimism.

You'll be doing one thing then something else hits you just like that and you roll with it. That's what you do when life hands you lemons. You sure as fuck don't make lemonade because who the fuck knows where that fuckin' shit comes from?

Someone is bugging you. This is exciting. You're always down for shooting the wicked shit with anyone that who'll put up with you.

That last one makes it clear that Gamzee is also aware of how much people on the team don't like him.

I'm also of the opinion that "Soft Gamzee" was always fake and never existed, which is outright stated by Hussie from the book:

The best explanation for why Gamzee says he's scared of Vriska, in my opinion, is this: he's flat-put lying. It's a good way for him to maintain his cover as 'Soft Gamzee.' It also provides some ammunition for those who, against all sense of good taste and judgment, want to continue to believe and assert that Gamzee is a decent guy with sensitive emotions and vulnerabilities before he undergoes his Muderstuck awakening. He was none of those things, ever.

But there's evidence for this - Gamzee has actually always been kind of casteist:

AT: i THINK i'M IN THE PROCESS OF RELEASING AT LEAST ONE TEAR, TC: Me tOo, BrO, yOu mOtHeR FuCkIn kNoW ThErE Be sOmE Of mY EyE's RoYaL JeLlY To gO WiTh yOuR EmOtIoNaL pEaNuT BuTtEr. AT: wHOA, aHA, hA,

He's trying to be affectionately so here, but given Tavros's "whoa, haha," reaction, it seems like it's still a pretty out-of-pocket thing to say. Especially in light of GamRezi, it's pretty easy to read him as making passive-aggressive digs to Terezi here:

TC: I'm OuTsIdE kEePiNg An EyE oUt HeRe FoR tHe OlD gOaT. TC: yOu KnOw HoW iT iS wItH fAmIlY. GC: NO, NOT R34LLY! GC: 4DURRRR DURR DURP TC: Oh YeAh...

TC: hAvE yOu EvEr EvEn SeEn ThE oCeAn? TC: oR i MeAn SmElLeD iT... TC: SoRrY. GC: >:[

His reaction to Eridan is also "indulge emotional theatrics," but depending on whether you believe Eridan killed his lusus, it's debatably justified. I'm just going to mention that that's also there.

His constant assertion that Karkat is his best friend, which isn't reciprocated until after murderstuck, also kind of reads as a palecrush to me. This is supported by the fact that Nepeta has always had pale GamKat on her shipping wall - which I believe is more representative of how people feel and what they want than whether a romantic pairing is viable, as part of her Heart (and NOT Blood) powers.

He won't stop referring to Karkat as his best friend, really awkwardly changes the topic when the conversation has led to him having to acknowledge that Karkat is closer to Sollux (whom Karkat calls his best friend):

TC: yEaH mAyBe BuT hE's YoUr BeSt FrIeNd ThOuGh So It'S aLl CoOl. TC: AnYwAy I tHoUgHt ThIs SoUnDeD lIkE a PrEtTy BiG mOtHeRfUcKiN dEaL mY mAn. TC: aAaUuUhHh... CG: WHAT. TC: Aw BrO nEvErMiNd, I jUsT fUcKiN dId LiKe To ScArE tHe ShIt OuTtA mYsElF hErE. TC: tHeSe DaMn HoRnS.

(Sidebar about the usage of "best friend," Karkat pretty much outright says he's unreliable when it comes to who his best friend is at any given moment LOL - he spends pre-murderstuck insisting Sollux is HIS best friend. King of mixed signals.)

EB: who is gamzee? CG: HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND. EB: really? i thought terezi was your best friend. ... CG: GAMZEE WAS MY VERY GOOD FRIEND, WHO WAS THIS GOOFY LOVEABLE BULLSHIT CLOWN UNTIL HE WENT PSYCHO AND KILLED SOME PEOPLE. I LIKED HIM A LOT. CG: I DON'T KNOW, I GUESS MY BEST FRIEND IS REALLY JUST THE GUY WHO I HAPPEN TO BE FEELING MOST SENTIMENTAL TO AT THE MOMENT, IS THAT A FUCKING CRIME.

If we take Hussie's statement that Gamzee lied when he chased Vriska (whom he doesn't like) away from his horn pile -

GAMZEE: VrIsKa hEy yOu wAnT To uH… VRISKA: What? GAMZEE: ShIt, I WaS AlL GoInG To aSk iF YoU WaNtEd tO HoP In tHe hOrN PiLe fOr a bIt oF MoThErFuCkIn sHuTeYe, BuT… GAMZEE: I DoN'T ThInK I WiLl cAuSe i'm pReTtY MuCh sCaReD Of yOu, SoyEaH. VRISKA: Aww. ::::)

Then it stands to reason he's also lying about being scared of Jack so he can prevent Eridan from providing Karkat with emotional support:

CA: this is a lot a pointless fuckin rubbish and isnt no emotional help to him or me either for that matter CA: put kar on TC: UuUuH, i cAn't rEaLlY ThInK AbOuT InTeRvEnInG, tHe bLaCk fRoWnInG MoThErFuCkEr kInDa sCaReS Me

So, personally, signs point to Gamzee always having been a lot shiftier and meaner than he let on.

Naturally, that begs the question of why he's pretending to be nicer and higher than he actually is (not that he isn't high, but he's definitely more cognizant of what's going on than people both in- and out-of-universe give him credit for). Well, the answer to that is pretty simple: it's because he loves his friends and wants to get along with them.

You like to chat a lot with your pal Karkat, who is usually pretty cranky, but he is your BEST FRIEND. You have a lot of OTHER GREAT FRIENDS who you also like a lot.

Gamzee's story pre-murderstuck is a pretty tragic one about a kid who never got to learn proper socialization and has whacked-out religious beliefs, whose neglect from his lusus has left him with deep loneliness, who desperately wants to fit in with his friends, especially the lowbloods, and therefore feels the need to hide how pessimistic and angry he actually is under the guise of drug usage and not retaliating against the constant digs they make at him.

I also feel like I have to specify that Gamzee was already a pretty angry, mean, troubled kid prior to Murderstuck, because it helps to clarify his actions after being influenced by Lil' Cal. The nonlinear nature of the story kind of confuses the sequence of events, but it seems to be as follows:

Dave blasphemes against Gamzee's religion so hard that Gamzee has a total crisis of faith.

Gamzee has a breakdown and gets so pissed off that he oopsie-daisy'd a jester puppet into John's room on Prospit.

Gamzee, with his faith lost ("and now i don't know what to think about the spiritual fantasies i had"), Tavros dead, and thus in a very emotionally fragile state, is contacted by Doc Scratch and given instructions (likely to kill his friends and paint his wicked pictures in their blood). At some point during this, he falls under Lil' Cal's influence, too. As every person we've seen under LE's sway has very compelling, natural reasons for acting the way they do, I think it's better to see Lil' Cal's influence as influence and not mind control. It brings out the worst in its victims, but only what was already there.

This seems to give Gamzee a new belief system to replace/supplement the old.

TC: i've been kicking the wicked ignorance on this shit. TC: BEEN MOTHERFUCKIN SLAUGHTERING THE WICKED IGNORANCE, BRO. TC: all up in lifelong denial about my calling. TC: AS A DESCENDANT OF THE HIGH MOTHERFUCKIN SUBJUGGLATORS. TC: we are higher than you, brother. TC: WE ARE HIGHER THAN MOTHERFUCKIN EVERYBODY. TC: honk. CG: GAMZEE CG: PLEASE NO TC: and now i'm the last one, so i finally motherfuckin understand. TC: I FINALLY GOT MY MOTHERFUCKING UNDERSTAND ON TO WHO THE MIRTHFUL MESSIAHS ARE. TC: they were always both me. :o) TC: AND ALSO MOTHERFUCKING ME. Do:

Remember, his original belief system actually emphasized equalizing the castes - in death, anyway. It also never specified that the Mirthful Messiahs would be specifically highbloods. The hint that Gamzee had internalized casteism was always there, but now that his belief system has been supplanted by this new one, delivered by Doc Scratch (the story's Devil figure), his casteism becomes full-blown:

GAMZEE: heheh. GAMZEE: CHECK IT THE MOTHERFUCK OUT. GAMZEE: it's the peasantblood. GAMZEE: HEH HEH. GAMZEE: fuckin heh. EQUIUS: D --> Peasantb100d EQUIUS: D --> Is that a joke GAMZEE: if your blood. GAMZEE: IS A RUNNING MOTHERFUCKING GAG. GAMZEE: then soon. GAMZEE: IT WILL BE RUNNING. GAMZEE: through my motherfucking fingers.

TC: shit was motherfuckin poison, didn't you know? CG: UH... CG: NO? I MEAN, I WOULD NEVER EAT IT, BUT TC: THEN GET MOTHERFUCKIN SCHOOLFED ALL ABOUT THE WICKED NEWS, PUNCHLINE BLOODED MOTHERFUCKER.

Basically, the religious boy had a crisis of faith and was tempted by the Devil into becoming his servant - into desiring utter oblivion for everyone except his own continued existence within the one doing the destroying, rather than a paradise of love, friendship, and hope. And this new faith is what carries Gamzee through to the end of the comic:

KARKAT: HE STARTED GETTING SO UNBELIEVABLY SELF SATISFIED AND PIOUS, LIKE WAY MORE THAN HE EVER WAS BEFORE. KARKAT: LIKE HE'S JUST SO COMPLETELY CONVINCED HE'S FOUND HIS CALLING, THAT THIS SESSION IS THE GATEWAY TO THE PROMISED LAND WHERE HE'LL FULFILL HIS DESTINY. KARKAT: HE'S SO CAUGHT UP IN HIS IDIOTIC SCHEMES HE COULDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ME ANYMORE. KARKAT: WHATEVER. AT LEAST HE STOPPED KILLING PEOPLE.

So where does that bring us WRT the fake god-tier ensemble? Well, god-tiering in general is kind of a metaphor for becoming an adult - SGRUB/SBURB sets out for its player a quest directly tied into their maturation into adults, and god-tiering is (normally) supposed to sit right at the end of that questline, a semi-permanent state achieved at the end of adolescence. Characters who DO manage to god-tier without having naturally reached that point in their questline, especially Vriska, Dave, and Rose, have struggles that deal directly with "growing up too fast" - Vriska with the expectation that she be a vicious murderer, Dave with having never addressed his trauma and abuse, and Rose with having missed out on a loving relationship with her mother because she insisted on being more mature than her.

Gamzee's relationship to Caliborn is that of a parent:

ARANEA: It is just as well that cheru8 parents a8andon their offspring. Raising such a child 8y the familial standards of any race would 8e a monumental challenge. ARANEA: Nevertheless, it would seem there were those who tried. ARANEA: Details in my research suggest our villain had a num8er of acolytes oper8ting in the shadows, preparing for his arrival.

Kurloz also directly states that Gamzee's role in their religion is to serve and mentor their young lord:

KURLOZ: I COME BEARING THEE FINAL JOLLY ACCOUTREMENT MY FAITHFUL INVERTEBROTHER KURLOZ: THY BARDLY REGALIA IS DONE AND FUCKING DUSTED BY THE SPECIAL STARS THEMSELVES KURLOZ: ON THIS DAY THE DARK CARNIVAL REJOICED AND SAID IT WAS MONEY KURLOZ: NOW BRING TO LIFE OUR WICKED RUSE WITH APLOMB MY NINJA KURLOZ: OUR LORD AWAITS YOUR SERVITUDE AND TUTELAGE AT ONCE

And even beyond the religion aspect, Gamzee would take this job mother fucking seriously...

... Because his own parent failed him. See, we tie it all back to the beginning! Gamzee putting together a shitty fake god tier outfit is because he wants to be a good parent to Caliborn, an adult figure he never had in his own life, and god tiering is symbolic of that. And I think the saddest part is, he still didn't really manage to do that... because, perpetuating the neglect he faced from his own lusus, he wound up locking the two in a room and leaving them alone - possibly out of exasperation.

ARANEA: We will pro8a8ly never know who these scurrilous conspir8tors were. 8ut it is evident that at some point the cheru8 was locked in a room, either out of exasper8tion, or for its own good, until it was old enough to enter the session.

Like, I feel kind of bad for Gamzee, y'know? Especially since, alongside Eridan, he's one of the trolls the fandom seems to understand the least, and his story is also one of being failed by his family, society, and friends. This winds up turning him towards the worst parts of himself - the religious fundamentalism, the casteism, the emotional isolation - and away from the good - the fact that he loved his mother fucking friends, enough to wish upon them eternal paradise.

#homestuck #gamzee makara #homestuck analysis #homestuck lore #idk what to tag this #also i give up on fixing the colors. sorry

[cringefail-clown]

considering how ult!dirk is vastly different from the dirk we know and love because of the influences of the splinters that merged to make him Him, including bro and therefore, through cal's meddling with bro, also equius, caliborn, hal and half of gamzee i fucking guess, its interesting to me to think about how merging with signless would change kankri if he went ultimate.

like yeah, thats troll jegus. maybe hed make kankri less insufferable, his whole thing was how you should love thy troll neighbour, he was a great dude. but also thats the guy who, with his dying breath, yelled out a fuck you so influential it rippled through paradox space so hard it gave karkat a major case of voice volume always set to Loud since basically his birth.

now imagine this guy, who spent his whole life trying to change the troll society for the better and died hoping his descendant will finish his work, somehow coming to earth c and witnessing this fucker with anime shades manipulating the narrative into the path of trolls living under the dictatorship again. i think no matter how much of a pacifist you are, that shit is gonna make you fucking livid. like the kankri part maybe would have some reserves and wanting to at least try and talk dirk out of his dumbass plans, but signless would sit on the backburner with his rifle ready to go full troll john wick on his ass.

tldr signless gave his last fuck and it was so influential trolls made a religion out of it, and now he has zero of them left, instead having a hold on about 300 different guns in his sylladex and a raging vendetta against dictatorships.

(also slight tangent but this part of meat epilogue made me burst out laughing on my reread:

"no i aint making troll bible part 2: electric boogaloo with this shit, im not a fucking idiot")

#ultkri au

[kabutoden]

Sorry if youve answered this before, but how do you chose the bugs to assign to each character ? Also they are all really cool and fun :3

Hi, I’ve explained this before but I’ll do it again! Last time I explained it was less specific to the character and more to the caste, so this’ll be a little different. I use the metaphors and associations of the insect to pick their species as well as their diet. I’m calling the species a troll mimics their ‘morph’.

Aradia: Fly. Associated with death. Detritivore. Tavros: Craneflies. Frailty, timidness, clumsiness. Thinking longhorn beetle might be a funnier pun though, so I might change it. Herbivore. Sollux: Bees. Construction, intelligence, connections to groupthink/hiveminds/psi. Herbivore. Nepeta: Caterpillar. It’s a pun. Herbivore. Karkat: Isopod. Highly social insect. Durable shell representing defensiveness/personal barriers, but also serving literal aspect of ‘thick skin.’ Detritivore. Kanaya: Hornet. Dangerous but caring parents, association with femininity. Omnivore. Terezi: Dragonfly. Good eyesight’s associated with clarity, though large eyes would also be easier to blind. Good at flying. Dragon pun. Carnivore. Vriska: Spider. Manipulative, association with femininity. Carnivore. Equius: Beetle. Strong. Omnivore. Gamzee: Praying mantis. Associations with religion due to unique praying pose. Carnivore. Eridan: Anolomacaris. Extinct skilled distance hunter. Carnivore. Feferi: Trilobite. Large curved spines, trident tongue, ‘ruler of precambrian seas.’ Detritvore.

All insects before Jade are herbivores or detritivores, and all insects jade and after are middle to highblood can hunt. This was to set up an intentionally antagonistic relationship between lowbloods and highbloods. It’s also a new way to play with themes in my personal work which are all about animal dynamics.

I mostly did the human kids as bugs as a joke, because they’re not aliens at all so its funny!! But I had a ton of fun with them so here we go again. I chose them off colors and gimmicks.

John: Spitbug. They’re bright green and gooey boys. Like ectoplasm. Rose: Rosy maple moth. Name association—also bright pink and yellow against their will. Rose wishes she was a cool goth all-black moth. Moths are associated with ‘seeking light.’ Dave: Assassin beetle/wheel bug. Have a gear shaped bump on back, large black eyes, efficient predators, some red coloration. Fits in with his expectations and pressures. Jade: Wooly aphid. They’re white, fuzzy, with rainbow wings. That’s so her.

Jane: Candy-striped leafhopper. Bright cyan with red highlights, food-themed name.Roxy: Pink-spotted cattleheart. Gorgeous pink and black coloring. Butterflies are nectar-drinkers, associated with celebration and inebriation. Kinda clumsy too. Dirk: Tiger beetle. They can move in bursts of motion faster than they can see. That’s flash stepping. Orange and black. Jake: Diving beetle. Dark green with orange highlights, explorers who go where other beetles cannot.

#long #ask #bugstuck #kabuto rambles #buggy trolls #homestuck #lore

[ask-turnedtechgodhead]

this thing on

fuck yes aight check this shit out-

DAVE, I'VE BEGRUDGINGLY COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT STANDING IN A CORNER ALONE SPEWING THE TYPE OF NONSENSICAL BABBLE ONE MIGHT EXPECT FROM A WRIGGLER IS WHAT PASSES FOR ENTERTAINMENT IN YOUR EMPTY THINK PAN.

I'VE EVEN BEGUN TO APPRECIATE IT, IF ONLY BECAUSE WE NEEDED *SOMETHING* TO FILL THE AGONISINGLY LONG SWEEP WE WERE STUCK ON THAT OTHERWISE SILENT AND YET SOMEHOW JUST AS MISERABLE FUCKING ROCK HURTLING THROUGH SPACE TOWARDS CERTAIN DEATH. BUT WHAT IN THE EVER-LOVING SHIT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH THAT BULBOUS FUCKING OVERGROWTH JAMMED AGAINST YOUR RIDICULOUS EYEWEAR?

damn man i thought we covered this in our human tech 101 lessons. its a camera- I KNOW ITS A CAMERA. I WAS TRYING TO LOWER MYSELF TO YOUR LEVEL SO THAT MAYBE YOU WOULD DECIDE TO GRACE ME WITH YOUR ATTENTION AND ACTUALLY LISTEN TO WHAT I HAD TO SAY. try harder SHUT UP. AND ANSWER THE QUESTION. how the hell am i supposed to answer the question if im shutting up? cant have it both ways bro. cant just have your cake and eat it too you either eat that bitch or shut your mouth forever and starve to death- HOLY SHIT WE BOTH KNOW YOU AREN'T GOING TO SHUT UP EITHER WAY. COULD YOU AT LEAST DO ME THE MERCY OF TELLING ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE DOING BEFORE I DROWN IN THE PUTRID STREAM OF BULLSHIT CASCADING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH?

documentary CARE TO EXPAND UPON THAT? OR AM I NOT WORTHY ENOUGH TO GET MORE THAN ONE WORD OUT OF YOU? SHOULD I BE PROSTRATING BEFORE YOU THANKING YOU FOR DEIGNING TO GRACE ME WITH ONE WORD FROM YOUR TIGHT ASS LIPS? 'DOCUMENTARY'. TRULY A HOLY WORD. RELIGIONS WILL FORM AROUND THIS ONE WORD, DAVE. HOLY BOOKS WILL BE WRITTEN ABOUT THOSE ELEVEN LETTERS. TODAY WILL BE CELEBRATED NOT AS THE DAY WE CREATED A NEW UNIVERSE, NO- TODAY WILL BE FOREVER MARKED AS THE DAY DAVE FUCKING STRIDER SAID 'DOCUMENTARY'-

AND GET THAT FUCKING THING OUT OF MY FACE YOU NOOKWHIFFER

holy shit check it out im being censored already

karkat do you support censorship

is this what this is karkat

is this where we find out that this entire session has been your master plan to create a new world for you to go stalin on its ass

because dude im so down to create some propaganda for supreme leader vantases glorious reign

just let me finish this shit first cmon man

HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO AGREE TO THAT WHEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT 'THIS SHIT' IS?

i told you man

IF YOU SAY DOCUMENTARY I SWEAR-

documentary

about the creation of the new universe

no big deal or nothing just thought it could be mildly interesting to get on camera

idk ill probably tape over it later for some shitty sitcom rerun

do you think theyll have the simpsons on the new planet

god i hope they do

AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THAT IS.

troll the simpsons

YOU CAN'T JUST PUT 'TROLL' IN FRONT OF SOME PANDEAD EARTH THING AND EXPECT ME TO KNOW WHAT IT IS AND HONESTLY, I'M DOWNRIGHT FUCKING INSULTED THAT YOU'D THINK THAT ALTERNIA HAD ANYTHING EVEN REMOTELY COMPARABLE TO YOUR EYEGOUGING EXCUSES FOR 'MEDIA'. MY PLANET ACTUALLY HAD STANDARDS, UNLIKE YOUR MISERABLE PILE OF DIRT.

says the guy that was responsible for that pile of dirt

and didnt even record its creation

imagine being an absent father to a whole universe karkat. what the fuck man

thank god im here to break the cycle of abuse

OH, I'M SORRY I COULDN'T RECORD YOUR WASTE OF SPACE PLANET BEING CREATED - I WAS TOO BUSY NEARLY GETTING MURDERED BY THE MURDERBEAST *YOU*-

oh shit idiot shuts up now

thats you youre the idiot

STRIDER I SWEAR TO FUCK

dude seriously shut up

hes doing it man

hes making it hapen

=>

#turntechgodhead #homestuck #dave strider

[thewertsearch]

See, these three make perfect sense for Dave. We've got the funny meme troll, the funny meme troll, and the funny meme troll who's flirting with him.

TC: ArE YoU ReAdY TC: To gEt tHe hOrNs yOu dOnT HaVe TC: CoNfIsCaTeD AlL LiKe tHe mOtHeRfUcKiN HoNkTrAbAnD ThEy aRe TC: BeInG AlL IlLiCiT As tHe vAsT JoKe iTsElF

Aradia just mentioned the 'Vast Joke', and now Gamzee is using it as part of his trolling efforts. I guess it's a part of Sburb's lore that the kids haven't yet encountered.

I doubt Gamzee will be enlightening us, though. He probably just thinks it's a juggalo thing.

TC: YoU GeTtInG YoUr hOrNs aLl hAnDeD To yOu, If yOu pEePs aNaToMiCaLlY WeRe sUcH To bE LiKe tHaT TC: DoInG ThAt's tO MeAn lIkE YoU GoT MoThErFuCkIn sAsSeD OuT TC: As iN TrOlLeD

It honestly takes a minute of painstakingly parsing his text to even realize that he's trolling - which means he's already succeeded.

TG: oh god thats right TG: you were the best troll

See, Dave gets it!

TG: it was months ago for me TG: you did your bizarrely oblivious juggalo thing TG: then bitched and moaned at me for ruining your religion or some horseshit TG: like i guess a weird crisis in faith i dunno TG: and then TG: you kinda got over that i guess

We haven't seen this conversation, but I could pretty much write it myself:

Gamzee raps at Dave.

Dave memes on Gamzee for being a juggalo.

Gamzee learns that he's worshipping a band from Earth, and realizes how bizarre his situation is.

Then he immediately gets over it. Because, y'know, he's stoned out of his mind.

TC: My mInD'S NoT ThAt sHaRp nOw tHoUgH, iT'S BeEn aGeS SiNcE I HaD A GoOd pIe

Or not - maybe he'll sober up soon.

It'd be funny if a straightedge, post-juggalo Gamzee ended up being one of the more competent trolls - although that would mean more conversations iN HiS qUiRk, which I wouldn't exactly relish.

TC: I WaSn't tHe dUdE Of tImE TC: I WaS ThE TC: ThE MoThErFuCkIn TC: BaRd oF TC: FuCk

Oh, he's a bard! Hell yeah!

Bards are my favorite D&D class. They're charismatic generalists, with a fun, musical flavor to their abilities. It's a good fit for Gamzee, too - bard isn't far from jester, which isn't far from clown.

In Sburb, I imagine that it's an oddball class for Players who don't dance to anyone's tune but their own.

Gamzee barely qualifies as a Player, and is hardly aware of the game going on around him - but I'm sure he'll have his moment to shine. It's worth noting that, if built correctly, a Bard can also be one of the most powerful classes in D&D.

TG: do you remember if you watched any videos TG: from earth [...] TG: youve got to check this out TG: trust me itll lift your spirits shit will all make sense to you finally TG: youll finally figure out who you are and why you worship all this ridiculous clown bullshit [...] TG: http://tinyurl.com/MoThErFuCkInMiRaClEs

Dave has decided he may as well kickstart Gamzee's crisis of faith...

...and accidentally kickstarts a kimessitude that will be written in the stars.

Eat your heart out, Karkat.

#2817 #s76 #homestuck liveblog #full liveblog #act 5.2

[ask-unstuck]

Are things different on alternia in this au? Because rose is just outwardly wearing her blood color and I think canon karkat would have a conniption at the thought

TG: I do take Precautions to avoid the Revelation of my True Hemocaste, of course. Sometimes hiding in Plain Sight has its Advantages.

TG: Persecution over Religion is an understood sort of Persecution, you see. I may be ostracized, but I won't be hunted like a Cholerbear like I would if my Mutation were to be known.

TG: As far as anyone else knows, I am nothing but a Particularly Heretical Rustblood.

#character answer #rose #john #jade

[borzoilover69]

I know that you've already kinda figured out why dirkjakers like LE jake but I want to offer a more mundane reason and that is the absolute power fantasy that this man offers. I hate epilogues with a passion that could burn universes but ult dirk? My bpd ass was in shambles (that's why I'll someday make an essay on why dirk strider homestuck has bpd and/or npd), having control over people, over narrative itself, and most importantly fucking desimating your ex who called you clingy that one time while simultaneously still being obsessed with him, I've never lived vicariously through a character so much in my life. He is a horrible person but I Get him. "What would you do with this power" he asked the audience, and I solemnly nodded bc I would do the same thing (probably). And I suspect power fantasy LE jake offers is the same for some people bc don't you want to go apeshit? Don't you want to stop (not very successfully) conforming and be weird and off-putting freely? Don't YOU want to desimate YOUR ex? Both ult dirk and ult jake are what audience wants them to be and I think the audience wants them to be powerful, insane and murderous bc we ourselves cannot be like that irl. Their relationship is cathartic, their actions are cathartic, it's like religion if you relate to the god from old testament. Or I'm projecting big time which is also a possibility

Everyone take notes because this anon is speaking cold true facts and this shit is getting carved into the walls. I agree with the Dirk Strider has BPD headcanon, I offer up to you the Jake has BPD too headcanon in return.

I like the idea of Jake going batshit insane. I think a lot of people do, after all if the ancestors were anything to go off of, Jake and Dirk are pretty nuts.

Also fun sort of related fact, really fond of Ultimate Jake, it's because it plays into the mythos of their Demiurges / Denizens and how important that is to their stories. (I'm getting autistic here). Yaldaboath (Dirks Denizen, Destroyer of Peace) is considered a false god, harbinger of chaos, and uses the light he inherits from his mother, Sophia (personification of light and wisdom) to try to rise above others, even if he is blind and is not as aware of the aeons as his mother is.

Jesus destroyed Yaldaboaths kingdom and thus, Yaldaboath had him crucified, made a martyr. But before his martyrdom could set in, Jesus ascended and returned to the world. In Gnosticism, they viewed Yaldaboath as evil, and that Jesus had to overcome him "by destroying the Jewish Temple with an Earthquake lifting the veil or Yaldabaoth’s curtain of illusion, by Jesus’ resurrection and rapture. "

Now, who do we have quite literally representing Jesus Christ himself? Okay, you're going to say Karkat, but do you know who *specifically* represents the place where Christ himself died and was made a martyr and the rapt- OK ITS JAKE ENGLISH OKAY ITS JAKE ENGLISH. And the sufferer BUT THATS NOT IMPORTANT.

There's quite a few parallels with Yaldaboath being one that wanted to be recognised as a god and in his jealous fury condemned a mortal god and Dirk Strider. There's quite a few parallels between Jesus Christ, Karkat, and Jake English, his rapture and ascension. There's an INSANE amount of parallels between Yaldaboath's mother, Sophia, and Rose Lalonde. Even down to Rose going grimdark, which Sophia DOES, after she loses her light, which is something i'll go on about in another ramble. Thematically, if we're following gnosticism, Jesus Christ, aka Jake English, is the one able to recognise and overcome Yaldaboaths illusion, aka Dirk Strider. It just makes SENSE.

#borzoi talks #borzoi meta #rose lalonde #dirk strider #jake english #ultimate dirk #ultimate jake #le jake #homestuck #homestuck meta #hom3stuck #karkat vantas

[starsnores]

Do you have a gamkar playlist that you listen to? Or even just a gamzee playlist? I'm looking for soft clown songs

i have a lot of playlists actually lmao. they are pretty short bc they're like. hyper curated 10-15 songs trying to catch a very specific mood but i'm proud of them. for gamzee i don't have a lot of soft music, for him the genre tends to be more intense and the lyrics pretty dark. my softest gamzee playlist is this one which is gamzee pining for karkat, and it's still got She by tyler the creator on it, so.

one of my favorite other soft gamzee songs is sucker's prayer by the decemberists tho that's off this one which is just a general gamzee playlist.

or you could listen to nicole dollanganger lmao. Observatory Mansions and Angels of Porn are very gamzee to me. those songs, to me, encapsulate some of gamzee's feelings about his religion.

#asks #i really like the 2nd versions of those last two songs but the originals are good too

[derseprinceoftbd]

Rewriting the Alpha Vantas

https://www.tumblr.com/derseprinceoftbd/747652362263527424/the-alpha-troll-rewrite-project?source=share

Damara

Rufioh

Mituna

Kankri is...

Very close to being good in my opinion, actually. I feel like if he were taken seriously in concept (a supposition of my little thought experiment), he would be in need of only a little tweaking. (IMO he has one of the better names, and his design only needs some sort of chest symbol or necklace to be really solid.) Specially, the fact that he comes off as a caricature of the *left*, and the very idea of sensitivity, draws my ire.

As such, I would have him more broadly *judgemental*; I would lean into the religious themes of the Vantases, having him be a fervent member of a religious group, and his general critical attitude be coded in language both rightist and leftist; he would criticize his friends, to the point of low-key alienation, for failing to abide by his extremely pacifist and rigid moral code, essentially embodying everyone in Fandom who wants to dictate the behavior of others.

The general moral would not be that he is wrong for holding his *positions*, but for attempting to force them onto his friends, and he needs to loosen his rigid ways. As for everything else about him...

Kankri Vantas, Seer of Blood, future Hero of the Consort-Civil-War-torn Land Of Ichor And Conflict, has always been treated weirdly; adult Trolls seem to fetishize his mutation, seeing him as the reincarnation of the Preacher, the fiercest advocate for psionic rights in history. The sect of psionic limebloods that followed his death basically raised him, by dint of happening to create a matching Lusus for him as a form of idolatry, and it was in the image of this sect that he was raised.

Kankri's visions don't help his issues; he has dreams of what he believes to be ancient history, many of the records of which were wiped out in the war the arrival of the Preacher and his compatriots ended. These visions are of a violent, brutal world, and specifically tend to involve a pair of Trolls Kankri suspects were the Ancestors of his and his friend Leijon's Ancestors. (As Karkat and Nepeta represented the shipping faction of the Fandom, Leijon and Vantas will represent the Troll(and particularly Ancestor)-focused sections.) These draw further adoration from his flock, whose attention grates on him.

Kankri's manner of speaking is, in some ways, an inverse of Karkat's; he tends to carefully conceal his disgust, only letting his rage out when pressed, mostly emanating an air of superiority. His Quirk would be a slightly toned-down version of Canon's; the quick 6rown fox jumps over the lazy do9, 9 for G instead of O, and he would speak in Caliborn's bright lime text.

Kankri's habits include strenuous exercise as his faith's commandments mandate, issuing of pointless edicts in an attempt to amuse himself with his venerators, and arguing about what movies have bad morals on the internet. He secretly harbors a love of photography, using camerakind, and desiring that be the one part of his life that *isn't* affected by the religion he may or may not be allowing to dominate it, occasionally even sneaking out to hang at scenic locations.

Sunday: Leijon.

#homestuck #the alpha trolls #alpha trolls #kankri vantas #karkat Vantas #the sufferer #the signless #beforus #meulin leijon #homestuck kankri #kankri #homestuck rewrite #rewriting homestuck #fantroll

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Karkat: FUCK YOU. YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT. YOU ABSOLUTE WASTE OF SPACE AND AIR. YOU UNEDUCATED, IGNORANT, IDIOTIC DUMB SWINE, YOU’RE AN ABSOLUTE EMBARRASSMENT TO HUMANITY AND ALL LIFE AS A WHOLE. THE MAGNITUDE OF YOUR FAILURE JUST NOW IS SO INDESCRIBABLY MASSIVE THAT ONE HUNDRED YEARS INTO THE FUTURE YOUR NAME WILL BE USED AS MONIKER OF EVIL FOR HERETICS. EVEN IF ALL OF HUMANITY PUT TOGETHER THEIR COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE THERE IS NO CONCEIVABLE WAY THEY COULD HAVE THOUGHT UP A WAY TO FUCK UP ON THE UNIMAGINABLE SCALE YOU JUST DID. WHEN JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS, HE MUST NOT HAVE SEEN THE SACRILEGIOUS ACT WE JUST WITNESSED YOU PERFORMING, BECAUSE IF HE DID HE WOULD HAVE FORSAKEN HUMANITY LONG AGO SO THAT YOUR BIRTH MAY HAVE NEVER BECOME REALITY. AFTER YOU DIE, YOUR SKELETON WILL BE DISPLAYED IN A MUSEUM AFTER BEING SCIENTIFICALLY RESEARCHED SO THAT ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS MAY LEARN NOT TO GENERATE YOUR BONE STRUCTURE, BECAUSE EVERY TINY DETAIL ANYONE MAY HAVE IN COMMON WITH YOU DEGRADES THEM TO A USELESS PIECE OF TRASH AND A BURDEN TO SOCIETY. NO WONDER YOUR FATHER QUESTIONED WHETHER OR NOT YOU WERE TRULY HIS SON, FOR YOU'D HAVE TO NOT BE A WASTE OF CARBON MATTER FOR ANYONE TO LOVE YOU LIKE A FAMILY MEMBER. YOUR BIRTH MADE IT SO THAT MANKIND IS WORSE OF IN EVERY WAY YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE, AND YOU HAVE MADE IT SO THAT SOCIETY CAN NEVER REALLY RECOVER INTO A STATE OF THE ORGANIZATION. EVERYTHING HAS FOREVER FALLEN INTO BEWILDERING CHAOS, THROUGH WHICH UNRECOGNIZABLE CORE, YOU CAN ONLY FIND MISFORTUNE. I WOULD SAY THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US BUT THIS IS MERELY THE CLOSEST WORD HUMANS HAVE FOR THE SHEER SCALE OF HORROR THAT IS NOW A REALITY. YOU HAVE FOREVER CONDEMNED EVERYONE YOU LOVE AND KNOW INTO AN ETERNAL STATE OF SUFFERING, WORSE THAN ANY HUMAN CONCEPT OF HELL. YOU ARE SUCH AN UNHOLY BEING, THAT IF YOU STEP WITHIN A ONE HUNDRED FOOT RADIUS OF A HOLY PLACE OR A PLACE THAT HAS EVER BEEN DEEMED IMPORTANT BY ANYONE, YOUR DISTORTED SAC RELIGIOUS SOUL WILL RUIN WHATEVER MEANING IT EVER HAD BEYOND REPAIR. YOU ARE AN IDIOTIC, SHIT-EATING, DUMBASS APE AND NO ONE HAS EVER LOVED YOU. RHODES ISLAND WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF IF YOU'D NEVER JOINED US. YOU ARE A LYING, BACKSTABBING, COWARDLY USELESS PIECE OF SHIT AND I HATE YOU WITH EVERY SINGLE PART OF MY BEING. EVEN THIS WORLD'S FINEST WRITERS AND POETS FROM THROUGHOUT THE AGES COULD NEVER HOPE TO ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THE SCALE ON WHICH YOU JUST FUCKED UP, AND HOW INCREDIBLY IDIOTIC YOU ARE. ANYONE THAT BELIEVES IN ANY RELIGION OUT THERE SHOULD NOW REALIZE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN WRONG THIS ENTIRE TIME, FOR IF DIVINE BEINGS WERE REAL, THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE ALLOWED A BEING SUCH AS YOU TO STAIN THE EARTH AND THIS UNIVERSE. IN THE FUTURE, THERE WILL BE HORROR STORIES MADE ABOUT YOU, WITH THE SCARIEST PART OF THEM BEING THAT THE READER HAS TO REALIZE THAT SUCH AN INDESCRIBABLE MONSTER ACTUALLY EXISTS AND THAT THE HORRIFIC EVENTS FROM THE MOVIE HAVE ACTUALLY TAKEN PLACE IN THE SAME WORLD THAT THEY LIVE IN RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE EMBODIMENT OF EVERYTHING THAT HAS EVER BEEN WRONG ON THIS EARTH, YET YOU MANAGE TO MAKE IT SO THAT THAT IS ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE EVIL THAT IS YOUR BEING. NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND HAS THERE BEEN ANYONE THAT COULD HAVE PREDICTED SUCH AN ELDRITCH ABOMINATION, BUT HERE YOU ARE. IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT I AM SEEING SUCH AN INCREDIBLE FAILURE WITH MY OWN EYES, BUT HERE I AM, SO UNFORTUNATELY I CANNOT DENY YOUR EXISTENCE. EVEN IF I DID MY VERY BEST, MY VOCABULARY IS NOT ABLE TO DESCRIBE THE SHEER MAGNITUDE OF THE IDIOTIC MISTAKE THAT IS YOU. EVEN IF TIME TRAVEL SOMEDAY WILL BE INVENTED, THERE STILL WOULD NOT BE A SINGLE SOUL WILLING TO GO BACK IN TIME TO BEFORE THIS MOMENT TO FIX HISTORY, BECAUSE HAVING TO WITNESS SUCH INCREDIBLE HORRORS IF THEY FAILED WOULD HAVE TOO MANY MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DRAWBACKS THAT NOT EVEN THE BRAVEST SOUL IN HISTORY WOULD BE WILLING TO RISK IT. I CANNOT IMAGINE THE PURE DREAD YOUR MOTHER MUST HAVE FELT WHEN SHE HAD TO CARRY A BABY FOR NINE MONTHS AND THEN GIVING BIRTH TO SUCH A WRETCHED MONSTER AS YOU

#submission #karkat #karkat vantas #the original text is longer but it wouldn’t fit so ✌️ #anyway you wanna see something fucking sick #‚‚ <- look at that haha #// #homestuck #incorrect homestuck quotes #mod terezi #ok full disclosure i only made it like six lines in before i started loosing track of what was going on #so if there's any slurs or anything in here i wouldn't know #please be nice and lemme know if this post needs a bar of soap

[askaniritual]

also i am still experiencing homestuck entirely through the homestuck made this world podcast. im like about halfway through the podcast and these are my thoughts about homestuck

karkat is my arbitrarily chosen fav but ao3 seems to back me up on that assessment?

im assuming hes gonna get some kind of sad backstory at some point. based on the number of fics abt him

please let me know if i need to choose a new favorite troll to protect my dignity

also even hearing it secondhand the concept of all clowns in human history being created because of gamsey's weird religion that worships the ICP as gods making the insane clown posse the ultimate form of all clowns was making me lose it

#allegory of the hive

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

How do you analyze so good I'm really impressed and honestly wonder if I can learn from you

It's a skill, so the good news is, you can practice and get better at it!

Read A Lot/Gain Context

Analysis often means making comparisons or drawing from external context - one of the best things you can do if you want to be better at analysis is to try to cram your head with as much knowledge as possible. The time period, culture of origin, and where the author slots into those are usually major influences on a work (in Homestuck's case, much of it is a direct commentary on the internet culture it emerged from, and missing that part of it can drastically influence how the story reads).

Also important are the works the author themselves are inspired by. You've likely heard some variation of "nothing is original." We're actually really lucky with Homestuck in that regard, as the work is highly referential, and you can glean a lot by looking at what it references (for example, if you watch Serendipity, one of Karkat's favorite movies, which is titledropped during the troll romance explanation, you will understand Karkat so much better). This applies to things like mythological allusions - you'll hardly know why it matters that Karkat is a Christ figure if you don't know what the general outline of the Christ story is, nor will you pick up on the Rapture elements of Gamzee's religion or the fact that Doc Scratch is The Devil, etc. The key to picking up a lot of symbolism is being aware that the symbols exist.

And last, it helps to read a lot of media and media analysis so you can get a better understanding of how media "works" - how tropes are used, what effect language has, what other entries into the genre/works with similar themes/etc. have already done to explore the same things as the piece being analyzed is doing - and what other people have already gleaned and interpreted. I've mentioned before that many people seem to find Homestuck's storytelling bizarre and unique when it's actually quite standard for postmodernism, the genre it belongs to. But you're not going to know that if you've never read anything postmodern, y'know? I also often prepare for long character essays by reading other peoples' character essays - sometimes people pick up on things I miss, and sometimes people have interpretations I vehemently disagree with; both of these help me to refine my take on the matter.

Try to Discard Biases/Meet the Work Where It Is

Many will carry into reading media an expectation of what they want to get out of it. For example, one generally goes into a standard hetero romance book expecting a female lead, a male love interest, romance (of course), and a happy ending for the happy couple. If the book fails to deliver these things, a reader will often walk away thinking it was a bad book, even if the story told instead is objectively good and interesting. We actually see this a lot with Wuthering Heights, which receives very polarizing reviews because people go into it expecting a gothic romance, when it's really more like a gossip Youtube video spilling the tea on some shitty rich people (and it's really good at being that).

There's nothing necessarily wrong with this when reading for pleasure and personal enjoyment, but it presents a problem when attempting to analyze something. There's a concept called the "Procrustean bed," named after a mythological bandit who used to stretch people or cut off their limbs to fit them to a bed, that describes "an arbitrary standard to which exact conformity is forced." Going into a media reading with expectations and biases often results in a very Procrustean reading - I'm sure we've all seen posts complaining about how fanfic often forces canon characters to fit certain archetypes while discarding their actual character traits, etc.

Therefore, when reading for analysis, it's generally a good idea to try and discard as much bias and expectation as possible (obviously, we are never fully free of bias, but the effort counts) - or, perhaps even better, to compartmentalize those biases for comparison while reading. For example, Hussie talks at length about what they INTENDED Homestuck to be, and, while reading, I like to keep Hussie's words to the side while I try to experience the comic fresh, seeing what choices were made in accordance with Hussie's intentions, or where I think Hussie may have fumbled the messaging. At the same time, I try to let the work stand on its own, set in its proper context.

I'd say this is the number-one problem in fandom analysis. For example, people hear from the fandom that Eridan is an incel or a nice guy, so they interpret everything he says and does to fit that belief, or ignore any contradictory evidence. Or they fall for the character's façade that's meant to be dismantled by the viewer. Some works are fairly shallow and accessible, wearing all their meaning on their sleeve (or are Not That Deep, if you prefer meme-talk), and problems arise when a work is, in fact, That Deep, because someone biased towards the former will discard evidence that a work is the latter. This isn't exclusive to HS - it's happened in basically all of my fandoms - which is a statement to how easy it is to fall into this way of thinking.

Even without knowing that Hussie had coming-of-age themes in mind, for example, characters will talk about being kids and growing up. Knowing that Hussie has explicitly said that that's one of HS's themes serves as extra evidence for that interpretation, but the work itself tells you what it's about - if you're willing to listen to it.

Even If the Curtains are Just Blue, That Still Means Something

This is the next biggest fandom stumbling block - thr insinuation that when things in a work are put into the work without more explicit symbolism, that that means they're a discardable detail. This one is more about making a mindset shift - details aren't discardable, even if they don't appear to have been made with the explicit intention to mean something. Everything kind of means something.

First of all, whether or not the curtains are Just Blue is often highly dependent on the work. For example, in something made in large quantities with little time, staff, and budget - say, for example, one of the entries into the MCU's TV shows - there likely isn't too much meaning behind a choice of blue curtains in a shot (although you'd be surprised how often choices in these constrained environments are still very deliberately made). In a work like Homestuck, however, so terribly dense with symbolism and allegory, chances are, the blue curtains DO hold some special meaning, even if it's not readily apparent.

However, even in cases where a choice is made arbitrarily, it still usually ends up revealing something about the work's creative process. Going back to our MCU example, perhaps the blue curtains were chosen because the shot is cool-toned and they fit the color grading. Perhaps they were chosen because the director really likes blue. Perhaps the shot was filmed at an actual location and the blue curtains were already there. Or, even, perhaps the blue curtains were just what they had on hand, and the show was made too quickly and cheaply to bother sourcing something that would fit the tone or lend extra meaning. These all, to varying degrees, say something about the work - maybe not anything so significant that it would come up in an analysis, but they still contribute to a greater understanding of what the work is, what it's trying to say, and how successful it is at saying it.

And this applies to things with much higher stakes. For example, Hussie being a white US citizen likely had an effect on the B1 kids being mostly US citizens, and there was discourse surrounding how, even though they were ostensibly aracial, references were made to Dave's pale skin. Do I think these were deliberate choices made to push some sort of US superiority; no, obviously not. But they still end up revealing things about the creation of the work - that Hussie had certain biases as a result of being who they were.

Your Brain is Designed to Recognize Patterns, So Put That to Use

So with "establish context" and "discard expectations" out of the way, we can start getting into the nitty-gritty of what should be jumping out at you when attempting to understand a work. One of the most prominent things that you should be looking for is PATTERNS.

Writing is a highly conscious effort, which draws from highly unconscious places. Naturally, whether these patterns are intentional or unintentional is dependent on the author (see again why reading up on a work's context is so important), but you can generally bet that anything that IS a pattern is something that holds significance.

For example, Karkat consistently shows that he's very distraught when any of his friends get hurt, that he misses his friends, even the murderous assholes, that he's willing to sit them down and intervene on their behalf, despite all his grandstanding to the contrary. We are supposed to notice that Karkat actually loves his friends, and that he's lying when he says he doesn't care about them.

Homestuck is very carefully and deliberately crafted; if something comes up more than once, it's a safe bet to assume that you're supposed to notice, or at least feel, it. Don't take my word for it:

Basically, [reusing elements is] about building an extremely dense interior vocabulary to tell a story with, and continue to build and expand that vocabulary by revisiting its components often, combining them, extending them and so on. A vocabulary can be (and usually is) simple, consisting of single words, but in this case it extends to entire sentences and paragraph structures and visual forms and even entire scenes like the one linked above. Sometimes the purpose for reiteration is clear, and sometimes there really is no purpose other than to hit a familiar note, and for me that's all that needs to happen for it to be worthwhile. Triggering recognition is a powerful tool for a storyteller to use. Recognition is a powerful experience for a reader. It promotes alertness, at the very least. And in a lot of cases here, I think it promotes levity (humor! this is mostly a work of comedy, remember.) Controlling a reader's recognition faculty is one way to manipulate the reader's reactions as desired to advance the creative agenda.

But this applies to less deliberately-crafted work, too; for example, if an author consistently writes women as shallow, cruel, and manipulative, then we can glean that the author probably has some sort of issue with women. Villains often being queer-coded suggests that the culture they come from has problems with the gays. Etc. etc.

This is how I reached my conclusion that Pale EriKar is heavily foreshadowed - the two are CONSTANTLY kind to each other, sharing secrets, providing emotional support, etc. etc. It's why that part of my Eridan essay is structured the way that it is - by showing you first how consistently the two interact in suspiciously pale-coded ways, the fact that a crab is shown in both Eridan's first appearance AND his appearance on the moirallegiance "hatched for each other" page becomes the cincher of a PATTERN of the two being set up to shoosh-pap each other.

A work will tell you about itself if you listen. If it tells you something over and over, then it's basically begging you to pay attention.

Contrast is Important, Too

Patterns are also significant when they're broken. For example, say a villain is constantly beating up the protagonist. Here's our pattern: the hero is physically weaker than the villain. In a straight fight, the hero will always lose.

And then, at the mid-season two-parter, the hero WINS. Since we've set up this long pattern of the hero always losing to this villain, the fact that this pattern was disrupted means that this moment is extremely important for the work. Let's say the hero wins using guile - in this case, we walk away with the message that the work is saying that insurmountable obstacles may have workarounds, and adaptability and flexibility are good, heroic traits. Now let's say the hero won using physical strength, after a whole season of training and practicing - in this case, we say that the work says hard work and effort are heroic, and will pay off in the end.

In Homestuck, as an example, we set up a long pattern of Vriska being an awful, manipulative bitch, and a fairly remorseless killer. And then, after killing Tavros, she talks to John and admits that she's freaking out because she feels really bad about it. This vulnerability is hinted at by some of her earlier actions/dialogue, which is itself a pattern to notice, but it's not really explicit until it's set up to be in direct contrast to the ultimate spider8itch move of killing Tavros. This contrast is intended to draw our attention, to point out something significant - hey, Vriska feels bad! She's a product of her terrible society and awful lusus! While it's shitty that she killed Tavros, she's also meant to be tragic and sympathetic herself!

Hussie even talks about how patterns and surprises are used in tandem:

Prior to Eridan's entrance into the room, and even during, the deaths were completely unguessable. After Feferi's death, Kanaya's becomes considerably more so, but still quite uncertain. After her death, all bets are off. Not only do all deaths thereafter become guessable, but in some cases, "predictable". That's because it was the line between a series of shocking events, and the establishment of an actual story pattern. The new pattern serves a purpose, as a sort of announcement that the story is shifting gears, that we're drifting into these mock-survival horror, mock-crime drama segments, driven by suspense more than usual. The suspense has more authority because of all the collateral of unpredictability built up over time, as well as all the typical stuff that helps like long term characterization. But now that the pattern is out in the open, following through with more deaths no longer qualifies as unpredictability. Just the opposite, it would now be playing into expectations, which as I said, can be important too. This gear we've switched to is the new normal, and any unpredictability to arise thereafter will necessarily be a departure from whatever current patterns would indicate.

Patterns are important because they tell you what baselines the work is setting - what's normal, what's standard, what this or that generally "means." Contrast is important because it means something has changed, or some significant point is being made. They work in tandem to provide the reader with points of focus in the story, things to keep in mind as they read, consciously or unconsciously.

Theme

I'm talking about this stuff in pretty broad and open terms because stories are so malleable, and so myriad, and can say so many things. There are stories where horrible cruelties are painted as good things - propoganda is the big one, but consider all the discourse around romance books that paint abusive/toxic relationships as ideal. There are stories where the protagonist is actually the villain, and their actions are not aspirational, and works where everyone sucks and nobody is aspirational, and works where everybody is essentially a good person, if sometimes misguided.

This is, again, why outside context is so important, and biases need to be left at the door. For example, generally speaking, one can assume that the protagonist of a children's cartoon is going to be an aspirational hero, or at least a conflicted character who must learn to do the right thing. However, there are even exceptions to this! Invader Zim, for example, features an outright villain protagonist - a proud servant of a fascist empire - and for a lower-stakes example, the Eds of Ed, Edd, n' Eddy are the neighborhood scammers, constantly causing problems for the other characters with their schemes.

Thus, how do we determine what any particular narrative's stance on a given topic is? It's a difficult question to answer because every narrative is different. If I say something like, "the things that bring the protagonists success in their goals are what the narrative says are good," then we run into the issue of villain/gray morality protagonists. To use moral terms like "hero" and "villain" instead runs into the problem of defining morality within a narrative in the first place. But you have to draw the line somewhere.

So that brings us to themes.

Now, as with a lot of artistic terms, "theme" isn't necessarily well-defined (this isn't helped by the way the word is used colloquially to mean things like aesthetic, moral of the story, or symbolism). Wikipedia says: "In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative," but this is still very broad and hard to work with, so I'll give it a shot.

A theme is what a work says, beyond the literal series of events. Sometimes a theme is obvious - the theme of Boy Who Cried Wolf is that if you become famous for lying, you won't be believed when you tell the truth. Sometimes a theme is one of many - for example, Disney's Cinderalla says that kindness and virtue will eventually be recognized and rewarded, and that cruelty is interlinked with ugliness. Sometimes a theme is unintentional - for example, how Disney's body of work tends to villainize queer-coded characters. Sometimes context and the passage of time changes the theme - for example, Snow White originally held a message of hope for wartime families that domestic normalcy would one day return, but is now seen as anti-feminist as it appears to insinuate that a woman's place is in the kitchen, and her happiness is in marriage to a man. And sometimes a theme is not something you agree with.

In any case, a theme is a meaning to be gleaned from the text, more broad and universally applicable than the text itself. After all, we humans have traditionally always used story to impart meaning; our oldest epic, The Epic of Gilgamesh, contains within it several themes, most famously that of accepting one's mortality. It's startling, really, how applicable the story is to this day, even if specific details have become obtuse or unsavory to a modern reader.

This is, again, why it's so important to engage with a text on its own terms, in its own context, with as little bias as possible. A story's themes are not necessarily apparent, and commonly implied rather than stated outright, and approaching the story with expectations can easily lead to a Procrustean twisting of the facts to fit those expectations. A theme should emerge to the analyzer out of the reading, not the other way around.

Identifying theme gets easier with practice, and largely comes down to identifying patterns within the narrative (alongside looking at context and symbolism, of course). What does the narrative consistently touch base on? Are there any references; is there any symbolism? What does the story deem "normal," "good," or "bad"? How are ideas developed, and why? Why did these events happen, and are those motivations echoed anywhere else?

Homestuck is very complex and tackles many topics at once, and explaining why it's a coming-of-age would basically require a whole second essay, so I'll use a simpler and more popular example (like I've been trying to do) - let's say, Shrek.

The most obvious theme of Shrek is that beauty does not equate goodness, that one mustn't judge a book by its cover. The opening sequence is LITERALLY Shrek ripping out pages of a fairy tale book to use as toilet paper, and the movie ends with Fiona finding that her happiest, truest self IS as an ugly ogre. Shrek's main character conflict is that people immediately judge him as cruel and evil because he's ugly, and the characters' lowest points occur because Fiona is similarly insecure about her ogre half, considering it unlovable.

But there's other stuff in there, too. For example, if you know that Dreamworks and Shrek were founded after a falling out with Disney, then the beautiful, sanitized city of Dulac, with its switchback queue and singing animatronics add to this theme of a direct refutation of traditional Disney fairytale values, mocking them as manufactured, inhuman, and even cruel in the way that they marginalize those who don't fit an ideal of beauty. Again we see the opening sequence - defacing a fairytale - as support for this, but also the way that Dulac is displacing fairytale creatures. There's a moment where Gepetto literally sells Pinocchio, which can easily be read as a commentary on the crass commercialization and exploitation of fairy tales Disney likes to do.

And then, of course, there are lesser, supplementary themes. Love being a powerful positive force is one - Donkey is able to rally Shrek after he truly reciprocates Dragon's love for him (which echoes the theme of not equating goodness with beauty, as Dragon is still big and scary), and it's true love's kiss that grants Fiona her happy ending.

And then there's stuff that's unintentional. There's all this work done about how beauty =/= goodness, but then they made the villain incredibly short, which is a traditionally unattractive physical feature. So, does that mean that ugly things can be beautiful unless that ugliness is specifically height?

Sometimes, authorial intent does not match up with result - but in those instances, I think the most is revealed about the author. Modern Disney products tend to be very cowardly about going anti-corporation and pro-weirdness, despite their usual feel-good tones and uplifting themes - and that says a lot about Disney, doesn't it. That's why I think it's still important to keep authorial intent in mind, if possible, even if they fumble what they say they've set out to do.

Obviously, Lord Fuckwad being short doesn't REALLY detract from the overall message - but it's still a weird hitch in the themes, which I think is interesting to talk about, so you can see where personal judgement and biases DO have to be applied. There are two options here, more or less - either one believes that Shrek is making an exception for short people, who are of the Devil, or one believes that the filmmakers did a bit of an oopsie. Barring an outright statement from the filmmakers, there's no way to know for sure.

We can say a work has very complex themes when it intentionally explores multiple ideas very deeply. We can say a work has shallow themes when it doesn't have much intentional meaning, and/or that meaning is explored very lightly. The labyrinthine storytelling of Homestuck, with its forays into mortality, morality, and growing up, chock full of symbolism and pastiche and allusions, is a work with complex themes - especially as compared to the average newspaper comic strip, although they ostensibly share a genre.

We can say a work has very unified themes when these themes serve to compliment each other - the refutation of Disney-esque values, and love as a positive driving force, compliment the main theme in Shrek of not judging books by their covers, of beauty not equating to goodness. Ugly things are worthy of love, and those who push standards of beauty are evil and suck.

Similarly, we can say a work has unfocused or messy themes when the themes it includes - intentionally or not - contradict, distract, and/or detract from each other. Beauty has no correlation to goodness... unless you're short, in which case, you are closer to Hell and therefore of evil blood. To get a little controversial, this is actually why I didn't like Last Wish very much - there are approximately three separate storylines, with three separate thematic arcs, going on in the same movie, none of which particularly compliment each other - so the experience was very messy to me, story-wise, even though it was pretty and the wolf was hot. This is why we feel weird about Disney pushing anti-corporate messages, when they're a big corporate machine, or why it's easy to assume Homestuck was written poorly if you don't like Hussie - we want themes to be coherent, we want context to be unified with output.

Tone

Tone is somehow even harder to define than theme. It's like, the "vibe" of a work. For example, you generally don't expect something lighthearted to deal with the realistic, brutal tragedies of war. Maybe it'll touch on them in light, optimistic ways, but it isn't about to go All Quiet on the Western Front on the reader. By the same token, you don't expect fully happy endings out of the melodrama of opera, or frivolous slice of life from something grimdark.

Tone, too, is something people often wind up Procrusteanizing, which makes discussion difficult if two people disagree. If I read Homestuck as unwaveringly optimistic, with its downer ending the result of an author fumble, I'm pretty much going to irreconcileably disagree with somebody who reads Homestuck as though it's always been a kind of tragedy where things don't work out for the characters. Since it's even more difficult to define than theme, I'm not even really going to bother; I just felt like I had to bring it up because, despite its nebulosity, it's vital to how one reads and interprets a text. Sometimes I don't have a better answer for why I dislike a certain interpretation other than that it doesn't suit the work's tone. I generally try to avoid saying that, though, because it winds up smacking of subjective preference.

In summary... analysis is about keeping everything in mind all the time! But i swear, it gets easier the more you do it. Happy reading!

#homestuck #literary analysis #critical thinking

[marisoft-paint-adventures]

Pgs. 385 - 445

TG: skepticism is the crutch of cinematic troglodytes TG: like hey mom dad theres a dinosaur or a ghost or whatever in my room. "yeah right junior go back to bed" TG: fuck you mom and dad how many times are we going to watch this trope unfold it wasnt goddamn funny the first time i saw it TG: just once id like to see dad crap his pants when a kid says theres a vampire in his closet TG: "OH SHIT EVERYONE IN THE MINIVAN" TG: be fuckin dad of the year right there

so fucking true Dave, keep spitting.

EB: that's fine, you are entitled to your opinion, i am just saying that being a white guy who is a rapper with a ventriloquist doll is not cool by any stretch of the imagination or by any definition of word cool, ironic or otherwise. that's all i'm saying.

ULTIMATE WHITE BOY BRO STRIDER.

oh hey it’s the page I used to showcase Hussie’s affinity for slurs.

uh

still bad.

me when I fucking sTAB MY MOTHER.

I’m having rough flashbacks to HS^2 and I don’t like it.

also I just gotta say that Mom is the coolest looking person in this entire comic I mean just look at this fucking POSE.

it just screams “hello daughter you are going to get fuckin served.”

yes. the pony. beloved Maplehoof.

I’ve always seen this idea that the process of creating Earth, and by extension Universe B, involved taking the attributes and interests of the 12 trolls and morphing them into brand new instances and ideas, like how Gamzee’s Juggalo religion manifested as ICP on Earth.

I like to think that the entirety of the For Assholes book series exists through a recycling of Karkat’s personality.

also that fucking Asshole Note is comedy gold.

aw yeah time to fucking beat the shit out of an imp let’s

shit.

W magnet.

alright for real this time let’s kick the shit out of this imp.

goddammit.

also another White John can be found in this flash, collect all 7 to turn Super White.

also the Egbert Centipede I guess.

Tip: I am so fucking mad.

OK 1 MORE TIME.

he did it. he destroyed the fucker. John man.

YES.

DO THE THING.

YEEEAAAAAAH.

yeah.

fuck you cat I am about to revive.

IT’S HER, CLOWN GRANDMA.

HI NANNA.

TG: i mean dont get me wrong i think its cool and all TG: the semi-ironic puppet thing or whatever TG: or semi-semi ironic TG: man i dont even know TG: im just starting to think some of this shit is going a little far and its kind of fucked up TT: I've seen his websites. TT: I like them.

what did she mean by this.

what did she mean by this?

what did she mean by this?!

TG: oh man i wish lil cal wouldnt look at me like that TG: with those dead eyes jesus TG: sometimes i dream that hes real and hes talking to me and i wake up in a cold sweat and basically flip the fuck out

not saying it.

Page 422, titled “[S] GO ON. ==>” completely underrated flash, just listen to this fuckin song.

it captures the feeling of a big expository RPG cutscene so damn well I love it, it’s like I’m a kid again.

this is also just one of my favorite Sburb mechanics, I love the concept of basically deciding the abilities and aesthetics of the NPCs via prototyping, it’s such a cool little thing and opens up a lot of possibility for any fan-sessions.

JOHN: ok, i think i get it now! JOHN: so i guess the battle against good and evil is sort of irrelevant? well, i don't know, that all sounds kind of weird, but in any case, we build the house to get to these gates, and then i can save my dad! NANNASPRITE: Yes, John! JOHN: and then after that, we solve this ultimate riddle thing and save earth from destruction!!! NANNASPRITE: Oh no, I'm afraid not!

NANNASPRITE: Your planet is done for, dear! There is nothing you can do about that! JOHN: oh...

I fucking love this sequence because John activates the Cheery Protagonist Mode ready to assemble a team of teens with attitude in order to save the world from Dark Chess and whatever only to hear that the entire world will end and his response is just “aw..... :(”

I went on this entire shpeel about the potential of writing an isolationist John based off of willy nilly prose narration at the beginning but MAN do the early versions of the kids not give a SHIT about what’s going on.

“John Egbert, the Earth is doomed, it is going to explode, all life will die, you and your friends will be the last living things remaining.”

“:(”

AND THEN HE JUST MOVES ON.

this is a very weird moment that sticks out when looking at the comic as a whole because the weight of literally all life dying at once is nonexistent, but at the same time, this is fucking hilarious.

it makes think about a lot of rewrites I’ve seen where they try, emphasis on try, to give the fact that world ends more emotional relevance, and they basically kinda force this by introducing random background characters who are obviously going to die immediately.

like “oh hi my name is Huma Nfriend I’ve been besties with John Egbert since childhood we’re very close and cool and we’re gonna play a game called Sburb!!!” and then they just

I understand y’all want to make the characters actually feel something in regards to the entire home blowing the fuck up but there’s gotta be better ways than inventing some characters just to fridge.

also John does this.

uh, yeah. I don’t know.

he’s having a moment.

just give him some space.

ok now that’s just rude.

god Rose’s house during the winter is so pretty.

holy shit a Jade and Rose conversation, I hope we get plenty of these! (we do not.)

Jade knows about Sburb??? and it could bring Jaspers back to life???? what could it me- ok this joke already fucking sucks.

ah yeah it’s time to beat the shit out of the local whiteboy.

this shit is so fucking cool oh my god.

also there are literally meteors falling as Dave looks out and I guess he does give a shit.

#homestuck liveblog #hs liveblog #hs reread #liveblog #reread #live read #liveread #homestuck #hs1 #hs #home22tuck #Act 2 #flash #john egbert #june egbert #Beta Kids

[notwhatyoucameherefor]

Family dynamics for my silly humanstuck au

Because having every family consist of two siblings and one parental figure felt really forced. All lussi are humanized.

Megido: Damara is the Handmaid's daughter, and Aradia is Ram Mom's daughter. The Handmaid is trapped in the clown cult and playes basically the same role she does in the comic. She gave Damara to Ram Mom because her position in the cult prohibits her from having kids at all and keeping her around was putting both her and her kid in danger. They were both raised by Ram Mom and told they were siblings, but Damara knows that's a lie because she was there for the cult stuff and Aradia knows because she has any level of observation skills.

Nitram: Nitram is in quotation marks because they are in no way related. Rufioh is a kid in the same neighborhood as Tavros who hangs out at the same places and shares a lot of interests and helps Tavros with his school work and personal issues. Their relationship is sibling like enough in nature that they just refer to each other as their older/younger brother when referring to them in conversation. Summoner is Tav's dad, Tinkerbull is Rufioh's dad who considers Tavros honorary family.

Captor: Captor is also in quotation marks bc they're not related either. The biclopse lussus has been split into two people for this au and Sollux and Mituna are honorary family by virtue of their dads hanging out a lot. Mituna calls Sollux his cousin for convenience. Sollux explains the situation once to new people and from there on refers to him with an extensive inventory of mean spirited nicknames.

Vantas: They actually are related so uhh here's a fun fact that is fun. The Signless (grandpa in this dynamic) was a pastor (and also the Dolorosa's adopted kid btw. This gives the Mariyams and the Vantases a really weird relationship) and bc of that Crabdad is super aggressively religious. Kankri will tell you he's Christian because "he believes in the message not the literal interpretation" and then explain to you why organized religion is evil in the same breath. Karkat is 100% atheist and pissed that it's even a thing he has to think about on a daily basis.

Leijon: They're also just regular ol siblings. Meulin has cut off contact with everyone but Nepeta and doesn't get invited to family stuff though, she had a really big falling out with everyone over her involvement with the clown cult. Nepeta was too young to get the full details of that and doesn't really care enough to ask questions. They talk daily and have a good cool relationship.

Mariyam: The Dolorosa adopted Grub Mom way late into her life which is why Porrim and Kanaya are the same ages as Kankri and Karkat. Kanaya and Porrim are both test tube babies. They actually have a healthy functional family dynamic so idk what else to say.

Pyrope: Once again not related. Don't even live close enough to physically meet up. They met online through epic gaming and Latula became kind of a sister figure for Terezi after they bonded over the shared experience of needing to raise yourself because your parents didn't. (Terezi's dragon mom is alive and loving and she gives the best advice ever but she's also too bedriddenly sick to do much actual work. And I'm thinking Latula grew up in foster care maybe.)

Serket: They're cousins who don't talk much but keep up with each other on social media and look up to each other in the way where they both go "wow she's so cool!!" online and then when they actually meet up they realize they annoy the hell out of each other. Vriska has Spider Mom (who is probably less murdery but still abusive) and Aranea has Mindfang (who is pretty absent and may or may not be deep in some really sketchy shit. Vriska and Aranea both idolize her way too much.)

Zahhak: I don't remember why I came to this decision so it may be subject to change, but I remember thinking it was clever as fuck when I did. They're blood related siblings, but they're both adopted. Into different households. They found out about each other because they went to the same school district all their lives and Equius's teachers kept being like "Equius Zahhak??? Is Horuss your brother" and after years of being like "Whomst" he eventually looked him up and realized that yeah I guess he is my brother actually. Equius stopped talking to him or mentioning him to anyone after like 3 Facebook messages but Horuss tells literally everyone he knows about it as if they actually has a sibling bond. Also the plotline of him deciding to get closer to Meulin because he saw what Eq and Nep have and went "I want that" remains the same.

Makara: I don't know (or really care honestly) if they're biological siblings or not but it really doesn't matter. Their dad fucked off out of their life when they were really little and Lord English indoctrinated them into the cult by giving them a home and family in it. (He did this solely because he was old and gonna die soon and he needed at least one trusted and devote member to raise his kid in accordance to the cult rules by the way.) Gamzee and Kurloz consider the Cult of the Messiahs their family and they live together with Calliope and Caliborn. They consider the two of them brothers and they have a secret cult dlc relationship to the Cals.

Ampora: Normal siblings so ummmmmmmm. Seahorse Dad is a rich and successful guy with a Reputation. He tried to raise Cronus super strictly but he chipped away at his willpower fast, so now Cronus is the most reckless entitled adult ever and Eridan gets everything he wants handed to him on a silver platter. Fun!

Peixes: They are siblings but they don't have a familial bond because their mom never treated the household like a family. Gl'bgolyb is also a rich successful girlboss (I mean like she inherited all of Condy's stuff and then didn't expand upon it or go out of her way to achieve anything more, but she still manages all of Condy's stuff, which is a lot of stuff.) She tried to raise Meenah to be the perfect heir but she was not down for that so all it accomplished was giving her the skills to more successfully do the opposite of whatever Gl'bgolyb wanted. As a result Meenah is kind of seen as a family disgrace. While she was trying to raise Meenah Feferi got shoved to the side as the Other Kid and was treated less like a daughter and more like a freeloader (which her constant insistence that the company's business practices were flawed did not help). But now Gl'bgolyb has no one to leave her company to except two kids she views as disappointments (She has her eye on her niece Jane though). Feferi and Meenah have started to bond a little bit (like a microscopic bit) over this, but Meenah still needs to unlearn the "you are competing against your sister for the company and if you trust her she will ruin you" mentality that Gl'bgolyb instilled into her. Also sidenote Condy's dynamic with all the humans she adopted is exactly the same as it is in canon, down to her marrying Colonel Sanders. Also the clown cult has serious beef with CrockerCorp.

Cals: As previously mentioned, Lord English (leader of the clown cult and considered to be god by his followers) is their dad and he left them with the Makaras. Calliope doesn't want anything to do with the cult but loves Gamzee and Kurloz as family nonetheless. Caliborn is her headmate and considered by the cult to be Lord English reincarnated, and boy howdy he sure is Caliborn.

#homestuck #humanstuck #marshel's shitty humanstuck thing