homestuckreplay

[homestuckreplay]

Underwater Castle … Underwater Tab

(page 2448-2477)

I am fully recovered from vacation and not going anywhere else until this comic ends, because it feels like I was totally absent for some important events. Lesson learned.

A while back (maybe the beginning of act 4?) I remember saying that Homestuck is pretty long but every page contributes something to the overall experience, whether that’s characterization, humor, worldbuilding, aesthetics, etc. With hindsight I think part of that came from reader commands. I know Hussie has talked about how it’s harder to move the plot forward with reader commands, but when every page is directly in conversation with the most recent command, things are constantly happening even if those things are wildly tangential to the plot. Now that the story is focused on one overarching plot instead of a series of micro-actions, an action is more likely to run over several pages. Eridan and Feferi’s ‘Do something ridiculous’ ending in their moirail BUNP (p.2443-7) is five pages that could easily be cut to three without losing anything.

But something else Hussie has said is that they think some readers have been drawn in by the fast update schedule, and are basically here to gawk at them making the thing so fast. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s a mindset that lends itself to filler pages, because ‘I updated my webcomic five times today’ is more impressive than ‘only’ updating it three times. So as we close in on 2500 pages (!!), I think the length might actually be the point.

HOWEVER by ‘filler’ I am only talking about pages that don’t contribute anything new, at all. Eridan and Feferi helping themselves to a nice beverage is NOT filler. This is something I care a lot about! I learned more about John Egbert from him spending a hundred pages fucking around in his room than I’ve learned about any troll from the intense plot and relationship swings of Hivebent and that’s part of why I love him so much. This is the kind of characterization and worldbuilding I want.

For example, Eridan pretends not to ‘bluh’ over his Faygo and treat it like it’s ‘just soda’, but he does in fact ‘bluh’ and hides it quickly. His hive is actually kind of a disaster – his fridge is full of shitty wands for fake magic, and he maintains this treasure-forward military strategy office aesthetic but in every cupboard and drawer there’s probably an assortment of Stuff he doesn’t want on display but doesn’t know what to do with. So his facade is very thin all around, and he’s probably counting on the fact that most people are not going to examine him too closely. If they try to question him, he can probably fall back on his superior blood status to halt their criticisms. Disguise and concealment has been a really big theme since Act 1 but each character’s take on it is a little different.

Faygo, with its label written in English, is an imported soda from one of the many planets that have been conquered by adult trolls. Tab has an Alternian label so is probably made locally. Soda is not optimized for underwater consumption, which could be why Eridan spends most of his time underwater. Aquatic royalty may be the highest castes, but the land dwellers outnumber sea dwellers by a significant amount. Society is set up primarily for land dwellers, so many purplebloods who could live in the sea as a mark of status are probably unwilling to forego the everyday convenience of, for example, the sopor slime staying in the recuperacoon and not mixing with the surrounding ocean water. Feferi has no choice but to live underwater, and might be genuinely disadvantaged by doing so despite her high status.

^ see! all that just from a couple sodas. that is why I LIVE for the small moments outside the main plot.

Feferi and Eridan have a pair of romantic-themed conversations. In the first one (p.2448) they’re moirails who exchange fish puns, argue about Eridan’s plans to kill land dwellers, and discuss their leanings in other quadrants. Eridan has caliginous feelings for Vriska, but won’t open up about his flushed feelings, while Feferi thinks maybe she’s too young to have any of those feelings yet. Everyone gets interested in dating at different times, but instead of being too young, I think Fef might be too busy and too separated. Her whole life has been spent taking care of her lusus – a much bigger job for her than for other trolls – and for the aquatic wildlife. And her friend probably act different towards her based on her strange life and high status. So she hasn’t had a chance to naturally meet someone through a shared hobby or neighborhood, the way Vriska and Eridan did.

In their second conversation (p.2467) they’ve both entered the Medium, and Feferi wants to end their moirallegiance while Eridan wants to ‘upgrade’ to matesprits. Plus there’s more fish puns, which it seems like Feferi breaks out when she’s overwhelmed with emotions, like Vriska and her extra 8s. It’s a cool contrast with both Feferi and Eridan talking without their quirks when they want to be serious for a moment, stripping away the aesthetics they lean into and just talking openly.

I really like the section where Eridan reflects on his and Vriska’s roleplaying history, all told through his memory/imagination (p.2459-65). He was the first to say ‘being a kid and growwing up / its hard and nobody understands’ (p.2343) and here he shows a lot of nostalgia for his own past, at this big moment of change in his life. Of course he misses being part of a successful gamer duo who get all the treasure and all the levels!! Of course it’s cool that an arrangement born out of necessity – the lusii need feeding – was also something fun and exciting for him! And through a slightly darker lens, Eridan had two girls who were in vulnerable positions both depending on him and looking to him for help. He probably liked feeling important and thinking that he had the power in those relationships.

I think Eridan’s life has been easier than the average troll’s, which is probably why he’s so nostalgic for childhood while some others are more focused on the future. And he is selfishly motivated in his relationships with both Feferi and Vriska. That said, he’s still working to stop all trolls from being exterminated via the Vast Glub, which is a fairly noble goal. And considering he otherwise wants to kill all land dwellers, that means his love for Feferi eclipses his hatred for all land dwellers combined. So he’s capable of feeling that love too, although in such a way that it probably becomes overwhelming and oppressive for her to experience even while it’s technically a positive force.

sidenote: the Vast Glub is definitely a plot device for exterminating all trolls given that Sgrub’s meteors can’t hurt the offworld trolls. the distinctions between world, galaxy and universe are important, but it’s still not confirmed whether Earth will exist in the trolls’ galaxy/universe or a different one?? ~ATH codes that affect the whole universe do make this pretty relevant.

I like the sea dwellers more than I expected to! I think Feferi is a really interesting character, particularly when it comes to freedom. She’s had a life of responsibility that she insists isn’t a burden (see p.2328), and when she enters Sgrub she’s literally trapped inside a fishbowl. But she’s overall so excited and happy all the time that she’s okay with confining other creatures, like cuttlefish and aquatic hoofbeasts, because she’s convinced herself that it’s a positive thing and certainly a fate preferable to death. But as soon as she has the chance for freedom from her own burdens, she takes it, so I’m curious whether that will change how she treats others, too. Eridan on the other hand SUCKS ASS on the surface but his genuine feelings about growing up, leaving his childhood games behind, and having to ask himself whether he actually wants to hurt large numbers of people or whether that was just a ‘cool in theory’ elaborate roleplay could also go some cool places. He’s hard to pin down. Intrigues me though.

After an extended sea dwellers sequence, we cut back to Karkat, Gamzee, Sollux and Jack Noir/Spades Slick. The intensity is heightened here, with Sollux lying dead on his alchemiter and the sky outside his house flashing red with oncoming meteors. It is really good to hear from Gamzee again, and any new combination of trolls in a Pesterlog is a delight. ‘magic is fake, I like it but I don’t believe in it’ Eridan and ‘miracles are real, but even if they are fake, I still believe in them’ Gamzee are a wonderful combination.

For what it’s worth, when the trolls draw attention to something as fake, I generally assume that it’s real and that they don’t know about it yet. Miracles are proven real in this same Pesterlog (p.2475) because Gamzee’s miracle modus provided Eridan with a Faygo at the exact moment he needed it, while Rose Lalonde has already proved that magic is real in her final GameFAQs entry (p.1942). Elves and fairies haven’t actually shown up yet but they are probably real too. This has great implications for Tavros’ imaginary friend Rufio.

Finally, we may have collected the full set of trolls in the story, but there’s more to learn before Hivebent comes to a close (which recent newsposts suggest will be soon, and involve a Flash animation!!)

LANDS AND TITLES 8/21/10

Aradia – Land of Quartz and Melody – Maid of Time

Tavros – Land of Sand and Zephyr – Page of Breath

Sollux - ?? - ??

Karkat – Land of Pulse and Haze – Knight of Blood

Nepeta - ?? - ?? Kanaya - ?? - ??

Terezi - ?? - ??

Vriska – Land of Maps and Treasure – Thief of Light

Equius – Land of Caves and Silence - ??

Gamzee – Land of Tents and Mirth - ??

Eridan - ?? - ??

Feferi – Land of Dew and Glass – Witch of Life

[homestuckreplay]

August 21, 2010

Homestuck Day 397

New Pages: 2478 - 2491

% Completion (Pages): 30.64

% Completion (Time): 19.40

Notes: First appearance of MSPA Reader.

[homestuckreplay]

August 20, 2010

Homestuck Day 396

New Pages: 2469 - 2477

% Completion (Pages): 30.47

% Completion (Time): 19.36

[homestuckreplay]

August 19, 2010

Homestuck Day 395

New Pages: 2466 - 2468

% Completion (Pages): 30.36

% Completion (Time): 19.32

[homestuckreplay]

THE RIFT’S CARBUNCLE, EMISSARY TO THE HORRORTERRORS, SPEAKER OF THE VAST GLUB

(page 2404-2447)

With this section of pages, which finally introduce the sea dwellers, all twelve trolls have finally been introduced! But first, I got absolutely jumpscared by John Egbert at the start of this update in the best possible way. I miss him every day. I wish we could see the conversation mentioned in the narrative where Karkat tries to explain troll romance to John and John can’t stop talking about his movies. I want Karkat to speculate on the moirallegiances and kismesissitudes in Con Air just based on John’s description of the movie. I think the two of them could meet in the middle and have a great conversation.

I don’t buy it that ‘every troll believes strongly that each quadrant holds one and only one true pairing for them’ (p.2405) – first off, I don’t think that a universal belief is very interesting worldbuilding, and second, I think there’s already trolls just from the Hivebent twelve that don’t believe in ‘the mysterious channels of TROLL SERENDIPITY’. Karkat definitely buys into it, and it’s even possible that his constant shouting and anger are the troll equivalent of flirting with everyone he comes across to increase his chances of filling those quadrants. But if there is a widespread cultural belief in troll serendipity, how does that affect troll society? Culling is much easier to justify if it’s destined which trolls will survive to reproduce, and it’s also possible that the quadrant matches help structure adult troll society after trolls leave the planet, in the same way that human society is structured around married couples. Breakups and infidelity should be reduced once people believe they’re with their soulmates, and there will be fewer unpartnered outliers.

It’s sea dwellers time!!!! Their introductions are nested together and they’re more closely associated with each other than any other two trolls. The narrative is very insistent that Eridan and Feferi are ‘made for each other’ (p.2406), and assumes that they act as a unit and are aware of each other even when they’re not together in person, like when Eridan pauses exploring his interests to let Feferi show off her house. But before any of this happened, Eridan already threw their relationship into question by hinting at flushed feelings for Feferi and complaining about ‘the moirail zone’ (p.2343). So it’s almost like the narrator believes in troll serendipity and these trolls’ destiny to fill the pale quadrant, while the trolls themselves are more hesitant to buy in.

Eridan is a lightning themed character seen above water but close to it, his design filled with jagged shaped and his rifle – Ahab’s Crosshairs, also owned by John’s Con Air bunny (p.1961) – can blast a giant lightning laser. He’s commanded to ‘do something awesome’ which I actually love, because it tells us what he thinks is awesome. This turns out to be a skilled, one-shot assassination of some other troll’s lusus. To me, the coolest part of this is the whale bursting out of the clouds instead of the water – are there sky whales on Alternia? If so can we move away from Eridan and talk to the kid with a cloud whale lusus?? But yeah, ‘something awesome’ being a controlled display of violence says a lot about Eridan immediately.

Feferi is mermaid themed, her skirt swimming behind her like a tail, and she’s exclusively seen underwater. Her fanged smile is both excitable and menacing, like an angler fish, and she’s commanded to ‘do something adorable’. To her, this is going to great efforts, swimming perhaps miles downwards, to give a miniscule snack to her eldritch horror lusus – going to a lot of effort for a small reward. And speaking of her lusus, GL’BGOLVB is apparently an ‘emissary to the horrorterrors’ (p.2441) meaning that a god of the Furthest Ring is just hanging out on Alternia. This could be why all the trolls have terrible visions of blood and carnage each night, if that thing is transmitting Derse dreamer whispers indiscriminately. It’s also hard to believe that the trolls can win after that thing gets prototyped. Forget whatever the kids do, prototyping that thing seems like a pretty big whiff up front.

Eridan’s hive is a broken pirate ship on a tiny island with pink lightning crackling around it, which is easily my favorite design of any troll’s hive. Feferi’s hive looks like a cupcake, with its spiral path like a swirl of frosting and a little Disney castle shaped sugar decoration on top, except in all black.

More than ten pages are dedicated to each of Eridan’s something awesome and Feferi’s something adorable, which are told entirely through images. Eridan’s is very dynamic, with sequential shots coming from different angles to show the swooping arc of the whale. Feferi’s has a background color gradient from shallow to deep water followed by a slow zoom out on her lusus, showing the scale and depth of the Alternian ocean, and therefore Feferi’s domain. I like how this visual storytelling differentiates these two introductions from everyone else’s room-based ones. Eridan and Feferi’s lives feel much bigger. The same way that John, Rose and Dave were confined to their rooms at first while Jade had a whole house to explore from her first page, the first ten trolls are mostly confined to their respiteblocks, while Eridan and Feferi have a whole ocean as their playground.

You have dubiously modeled your profile and exploits after the most notorious figures and their stories, which are bristling with the GLORY OF VICTORY and the STING OF DEFEAT and POLITICAL MACHINATIONS and ROMANTIC INTRIGUE. It is an image you are careful to craft through EXAGGERATED EMOTIONAL THEATRICS (p.2439)

^ very excited to convert the Dave ‘how much sincerity is hidden beneath his layers of irony’ game to an Eridan ‘how much genuine emotion is hidden beneath his exaggerated theatrics’ challenge.

The sea dweller introductions make me more curious than ever about regular Alternian society, because I feel like a potential Alternian palace intrigue underwater royal drama is unfolding here. Feferi making plans for her ascension to the throne, Her Imperious Condescension plotting in the background on how to neutralize Gl’bgolyb as a threat so that she can take out this young pretender, nevver realizin that it was actually Eridan pulling the strings all along keeping the eldritch horror fed…. that could be a story with some real stakes! But in this timeline, whether or not they were actually part of the FLARP team’s fateful revenge cycle, everything the trolls get up to ultimately comes back to very dangerous roleplay. Eridan is roleplaying as a successful military leader while Feferi is roleplaying as the inventor of forced institutionalization, but they both know this isn’t actually in their future.

The story is both saying that Alternian roleplay is something that dramatically affects people’s lives, leaving them permanently disabled or finding them life-changingly powerful magic items on quests, and saying that roleplay scenarios don’t really matter because the world is on the cusp of ending anyway, so nothing actually has a chance to become real. Incidentally these are two contradictory societal messages given to real teenagers – both that their choices now could affect their whole lives, and that nothing they do is important or taken seriously yet. I guess one way to see FLARP is all these kids roleplaying as adults because there are no actual adults around to fill that role.

Miscellaneous thoughts: Eridan is considered royalty, but nothing besides his blood and gills sets him apart. His hive isn’t bigger or more elaborate than the land dwellers’, and his treasure and legendary weapon are from his FLARP career, not inherited. What are the material benefits of his position or does it manifest more as better prospects for adulthood?? Also, what’s Eridan reading? He has a pretty extensive bookshelf which could be all battle reports and biographies of military generals, but I think Kanaya probably got him a copy of Troll Twilight and now he has the whole series.

Feferi doesn’t have a single interest in her list of interests, finally getting rid of every recognizable feature of John’s introduction text. She is also very quick to decide which prophecies will come true and which won’t, and pretty dismissive of the ones she decides not to believe in. Not sure if she has some actual control over fate via her status or Gl’bgolyb or if she just has a more proactive and less passive attitude towards fate than others.

Trollcount 8/16/2010

Trolls officially introduced: Karkat Vantas, Gamzee Makara, Terezi Pyrope, Sollux Captor, Tavros Nitram, Aradia Megido, Nepeta Leijon, Vriska Serket, Equius Zahhak, Kanaya Maryam, Eridan Ampora, Feferi Peixes

STATUS: COLLECTION COMPLETE!! I got my full set of troll trading cards including the rare holographic Gamzee.

[homestuckreplay]

August 18, 2010

Homestuck Day 394

New Pages: 2462 - 2465

% Completion (Pages): 30.32

% Completion (Time): 19.28

[homestuckreplay]

August 17, 2010

Homestuck Day 393

New Pages: 2448 - 2461

% Completion (Pages): 30.27

% Completion (Time): 19.24

[homestuckreplay]

August 16, 2010

Homestuck Day 392

New Pages: 2440 - 2447

% Completion (Pages): 30.10

% Completion (Time): 19.20

[homestuckreplay]

August 15, 2010

Homestuck Day 391

New Pages: 2436 - 2439

% Completion (Pages): 30.00

% Completion (Time): 19.16

[homestuckreplay]

August 14, 2010

Homestuck Day 390

New Pages: 2423 - 2435

% Completion (Pages): 29.95

% Completion (Time): 19.12

[homestuckreplay]

August 13, 2010

Homestuck Day 389

New Pages: 2409 - 2422

% Completion (Pages): 29.79

% Completion (Time): 19.08

Notes: Introduction of Feferi Peixes

[homestuckreplay]

Troll Romance Homework Assignment

(page 2403)

It's perfectly simple. When the full matrix of troll romance is in action, we have... uh... Hey, why don't you figure it out! You should be an expert on all this by now anyway. (p.2403)

ok, this is new. I’ve never had a piece of media give me a homework assignment before. I think it would be pretty crazy if I was watching Con Air and halfway through, Nic Cage turned to the camera and asked, “so, why do YOU think he didn’t put the bunny back in the box?” This is way more like a reading comprehension test given in school where you gotta read a written extract and then do short answer questions to test your understanding. So I will do it. I am determined to get a good grade in Homestuck, something that is normal to want and possible to achieve.

When the fast-moving, flashing GIF begins, we see cuttlefishCuller and caligulasAquarium presented as perfect moirails – one of them a modulating influence on the other’s extremism. I’d guess that CC is the one pacifying CA, because she mentions a need to ‘keep [)(er] goggles on )(is nefarious escapades’ (p.2328). Meanwhile, Kanaya auspistices for Vriska and Tavros, something which hasn’t been formally agreed among them but that Kanaya demonstrates when she ‘persuades’ Vriska to actually try to help Tavros as his server player (p.2356).

Tavros is ejected from the ashen quadrant, and both CC & CA and Kanaya & Vriska are left in the moirail zone, but neither relationship is stable. Both show cracks down the middle as both pairs struggle with whether this is actually the right quadrant for their relationship.

Both these relationships present as one-sided moirallegiance, and one-sided matespriteship. CA wants to be flushed with CC, as he hinted to Kanaya (p.2343), and Kanaya wants to be flushed with Vriska, something there’s been a lot of evidence for. Sadly, neither of their moirails share this desire. This certainly calls into question the idea that CA and CC were 'hatched for each other' (p.2402), as a truly ideal moirallegiance would be the end goal for both parties, and wouldn't leave one unsatisfied.

Vriska and caligulasAquarium could be in some kind of kismesissitude, or Kanaya could auspistice for them to land them into the ashen quadrant. This also comes from Kanaya and CA’s conversation - ‘you could either play along as our auspistice and do a little mediating like you wwere fuckin hatched to / or wwatch she and me devvolvve into fuckin full fledged kismesisses the kind like you dont get once in ten thousand swweeps’. CA is open to either option, while Vriska probably wants the two of them to be auspisticed because her black feelings lie elsewhere, but Kanaya is unwilling to be in this quadrant with Vriska because of her red feelings.

Here CA and CC have been restored as moirails, while Vriska’s feelings for Tavros become apparent. She feels very strongly about him, but isn’t sure whether those feelings are best described by red or black romance. It seems like she originally saw her feelings as black, given that she describes them as ‘a really special kind of h8!’ (p.2296), but when she kissed him she began to doubt herself and started flickering between hearts and spades (p.2381).

The gif returns to its original state and loops endlessly, suggesting that this is less of a timeline of events, and more a general uncertainty that these five trolls are feeling about their shared relationships. Such uncertainty is normal for young trolls, especially as these five are likely each other’s first partners in each quadrant. It's possible that six sweeps is around the typical age when trolls start looking to fill their quadrants, although there may be lucky pairs, such Nepeta and Equius, who find each other sooner. CC and Tavros are the more passive parties here, with CC appearing happy in her current moirallegiance and not wanting to change her dynamic, while Tavros is uncertain about being in any kind of relationship. CA, Kanaya and Vriska are the active parties, directly chasing a specific relationship with at least one other party, and their questions lie more in what quadrant describes that relationship, and whether the other party reciprocates.

so what now? is Hussie gonna grade my homework or….

[homestuckreplay]

August 12, 2010

Homestuck Day 388

New Pages: 2403 - 2408

% Completion (Pages): 29.62

% Completion (Time): 19.05

Notes: Introduction of Eridan Ampora

[homestuckreplay]

Eggs/Biscuits, 413k, slow burn, partners in crime to lovers

(page 2392-2402; troll romance! my own shipping wall!!!!)

^ ok. this is my favorite command that has been issued in the story so far. It’s been a minute since I thought about the relationship between player and narrator, but it’s back on my mind. Any command that’snot addressed to a specific character automatically goes to the narrator, and some are very computerized, like an ‘Enter name’ to ask for a character’s introduction, but others are more like a conversation between the two entities. And this one hit me hard because the narrator has spent two months introducing ten horrible trolls who are constantly trying to hurt each other, and the player responds to that by saying they want to understand. They don’t just want to skip ahead to the next dramatic or funny moment, they want to know where these trolls are coming from emotionally.

A few pages back, Tavros and Vriska discussed what makes a True Gamer. Vriska says, ‘Real gamers cut to the chase. They power through all the nonsense and go for the gold’ (p.2369), while Tavros is excited about solving puzzles. So this command is more commentary on that, with the player representing someone who’s playing Hivebent the ‘right’ way, ie. trying to understand the trolls.

So here are the four quadrants! The story moves from the ‘standard’ Homestuck art on one page to the diagram on Nepeta’s shipping wall on the next, which sort of puts her and the narrator on equal terms. I definitely see the narrator as omniscient but not omnipotent, and as only controlling a character whhen the focus is on them. So the narrator is also someone with opinions on the story, including characters they like, and ships they support. They see Mom and Dad as archetypical matesprits, which in my view points to a pretty boring view of human romance. I don’t agree, and Nepeta might not either, and in this specific scene they’re all just examples and the narrator’s opinion doesn’t necessarily trump anyone else’s.

I could also look at the narrator-player relationship through the lens of troll romance. They’re probably not matesprits or kismeses, but they could be moirails, with the narrator as a temperamental entity that sometimes gets angry in the narrative text while the player is a more even-tempered hand gently guiding the story when necessary. Or, the narrator could be auspisticing between the player and the characters (or the other way around?) when one of these entities places too firm a hand on the story. Much to consider.

So, troll romance!!!! It’s all laid out here like some kind of Hitchhiker’s Guide to Alternia. Or, like a tie-in lorebook released by a big property like Star Wars laying out its species, locations and key information outside of the story so big fans can learn more. But here it’s in the main comic, troll romance is made central to the narrative, too important to be left on a wiki or even be told naturally through chatlogs. It’s like how the first big recap had to clarify the sprite prototyping process even though it was already demonstrated in the story, but this time, Hussie is anticipating future confusion, getting ahead of it, and all but telling readers to get out their pens and make notes.

So I will take some notes. And for fun I’ll throw in some relationship headcanons too.

Summary

- Troll romance has four quadrants, grouped on one axis by purpose (reproductive vs maintaining social cohesion) and on the other by valence (positive vs negative emotions).

- Most trolls feel the need to find partners in each quadrant, however, feelings can easily flip between quadrants. These are categories imposed on uncategorizable things, and in practice it can be hard to determine which quadrant best fits a relationship.

- Trolls have government mandated reproductive partnerships, and are culled if they don’t find a matesprit and kismesis by a certain time, putting a lot of pressure on young trolls to fill these quadrants.

When the IMPERIAL DRONE comes knocking, you had better be able to supply genetic material to each of his FILIAL PAILS. If you have nothing to offer, he will kill you without hesitation. (p.2396)

Going back to my theory that ‘Alternia is just mask off Earth’, I’m thinking about all the Earth communities that put social pressure on people to get married and have kids in their twenties, and how young women especially are made to feel like failures if they reach their late twenties and don’t have a husband yet. Alternia is just literalizing a social norm by having trolls actually get killed if they fail to live up to expectations.

Flushed quadrant

Basically human romance by a cooler name. Possible examples:

- Dave and Jade (flushed crushes, possible uncertainty as to whether they’d be better as matesprits or moirails)

- Wayward Vagabond and Peregrine Mendicant (some sweet moments, but if she takes on the role of queen, perhaps they become kismeses?)

- Pre-death Aradia and Sollux (post-death Aradia is incapable of feelings in any quadrant)

- Tavros and Gamzee (the most romantic rap battle in the history of paradox space)

- Eggs and Biscuits (hatched for each other)

Caliginous quadrant

Uncontrollable negative feelings; the person you hate above all else. Someone whose life you’re trying to make worse, while also seeing them as a worthy rival. Probably a desire to kill the person while rarely going through with it, because you’d overall rather keep them around.

I’ve got some Homestuck examples but a lot of other fictional hero-villain pairs who keep coming back to each other might translate well to this framework. Holmes and Moriarty in a lot of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, the Doctor and the Master in Doctor Who, and probably plenty from superhero comics too.

- John and Karkat (though I can imagine them later developing into flushed)

- Rose and Kanaya (same as above – but realizing Rose isn’t the perfect blorbo from her walkthroughs would send Kanaya straight into those blackrom feelings)

- Vriska and Terezi (if Vriska has no haters then Terezi must be dead)

- Stitch and Diamonds Droog (if trapping a guy in your brawlsoleum and keeping him alive to fix your suits isn’t a kismesis, then what is)

- Itchy and Die (guy who makes you so mad while playing cards that you jump to a timeline where he’s dead)

Ashen quadrant

The only three-person quadrant, and as someone with two long term partners I think it’s very cool to see that in one of the trolls’ Standard Relationship Dynamics. Trolls are angry and violent and have hate as their central emotion, so potential kismesissitudes form much more readily than potential matespriteships. Auspisticism serves to balance out this difference by making sure not all potential caliginous relationships become actual ones.

- WV auspisticing for PM and AR (PM has AR pinned to the ground with a sword and WV calls for peace, see p.1365)

- Dave auspisticing for Rose and Kanaya (Kanaya messages Dave to ask for help getting to know Rose, see p.1589)

- Davesprite auspisticing for John and Terezi (Davesprite gets so so mad at Terezi for taking things too far and hurting John, see p.1657)

- Clubs Deuce auspisticing for Spades Slick and Diamonds Droog (I can imagine Slick and Droog having leadership disputes, and needing a mutual jester to help resolve things)

Pale quadrant

Like the ashen, the pale quadrant serves to calm particularly destructive and volatile trolls – but where the ashen mediates relationships, the pale mediates individuals. Both the pale and ashen quadrants have defined and uneven roles in the relationship, unlike matesprits and kismeses where both partners are equal. It’s not stated whether a moirallegiance can be equal – both partners acting as the calming influence for each other’s difficult temperaments – but I like the idea of it, especially since the quadrants are exclusive, and some trolls might need to be both the pacifier and the pacified. Specifically, Nepeta and Equius are the example moirails, but the text doesn’t mention who has which role, and I think it’s possible to read them both ways.

- Dave and Davesprite (‘would you be moirails with your clone’ the greatest thread in the history of forums locked by a moderator after 413612 pages of heated debate)

- Jade and Tavros (he seems stressed in their conversation and she’s the first of the kids to show him kindness, see p.1936)

- Karkat and Sollux (they’re both rude to each other, but Sollux is rude in a much more chilled out way that eventually makes Karkat calm down, see p.2027)

- wellPressedAttire and grayslacks66 (WPA is there in GS’ hour of greatest need, see p.158)

- Bro and Cal (????????)

Mapping these concepts onto the kids is interesting, considering their different conceptions of romance. Even if Dave and Davesprite (for example) had the perfect moirail dynamic from a troll perspective, it still wouldn’t be romantic for them, because to humans that’s a platonic bond. SO. If Karkat sees John as a good candidate for a kismesis, and John feels the exact same feelings in return, feelings that would be blackrom for trolls but aren’t for humans, how do we define that relationship? It’s perfectly reciprocated, but in a way that means something totally different for each of them? All relationship categories are cultural constructs, for humans too, but knowing that intellectually doesn’t take away people’s basic desire for romance, if they feel that type of attraction. So this has the potential to get pretty weird.

I’m also interested in what will happen with the trolls now that the formal pressure is off – they don’t need matesprits and kismeses to avoid getting culled. Could that change their attitude to romance, when it’s a choice instead of a necessity? I don’t know, but already this feels like one of the best fleshed out aspects of Alternian lore, and I really did enjoy this diversion to learn about it. It’s a great way to differentiate an alien species, and it’s very believable to me that a society with very different social and reproductive systems wouldn’t just recreate Straight Marriage.

And hey look! as an extra bonus, it’s the sea trolls in full view! Like Kanaya, their designs are much more detailed and unique than the early trolls. Also they have gills!!!!

[homestuckreplay]

August 11, 2010

Homestuck Day 387

New Pages: 2396 - 2402

% Completion (Pages): 29.54

% Completion (Time): 19.01

[homestuckreplay]

Homestuck Fan Content Roundup: August 10, 2010

I’ve been poking around the shadowy corners of YouTube and there’s definitely been an increase in fan-made Homestuck videos, with quite a few of these coming from early August of 2010, as well as a few from earlier in the year that I’ve missed on previous searches. Some great content to check out here!

Eyes5 and Radiation voice act Homestuck (Eyes5) – Popular Homestuck fanartist Eyes5 and music team contributor Toby Fox re-enact Karkat and Vriska’s chatlog about troll romance (p.2296). A great conversation already and loads of fun to hear them bring it to life.

adiosToreador Rap and Colonel Sassacre (myusernamesmud) – A fan has taken on the brave and bold task of actually rapping Tavros' Pesterchum rap (p.1595) to a strict beat, as well as narrating the introduction to Colonel Sassacre’s Daunting Text of Magical Frivolity and Practical Japery.

StreetStrifer 0.7.3 (auxarc) - This looks like a gameplay video for a Homestuck fighting game someone's developing! John fights Dave using their respective specibus allocations. Watch to find out who wins.

Gamzee: Fondly regard rainbow. (Jet Bougan) - Original art animation of Gamzee and friends to The Double Rainbow Song by the Gregory Brothers.

Jack: Become the Jack of Spades (TheDecoy13) - Jack Noir and Spades Slick-centric AMV to the song Jack of Spades by Boogie Down Productions.

Homestuck music video: Don't Wanna Miss a Thing (EyesFive) - Jade Harley-centric AMV to the song I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith, as featured in the movie Armageddon, as featured on John's bedroom wall.

The Felt in Concert (myusernamesmud) – A piece of fan music made as though the Felt are a band, featuring Snowman on vocals, Clover on drums, and more!

[S] WV: Ascend. – Homestuck – Mario Paint Composer & Homestuck – Beatdown (Round 1) – Hard Rock 2 Soundfont (Angry Nerd Bird) – Covers of iconic Homestuck songs ‘Explore’ from [S] WV: Ascend and ‘Beatdown (Strider Style)’ from [S] Dave: STRIFE, made in Mario Paint, plus MP3s available for download!

Jade plays Final Fantasy 7's Overworld theme & Jade plays the Song of Time (Arty251) - Video game theme music, played exclusively using Jade's silly flute refrain (p.769) plus keyboard

SadoMasoPedoRoboNecroBestiality (Angry Nerd Bird) - Cover of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. A beautiful collaboration, and I confess I have a soft spot for it because I watched its creation unfold. During July's week long hiatus the folks on the Something Awful forums wrote the lyrics to this Equius/Aradia song to pass the time, then decided they were too cool and ironic to record it. People over at the Penny Arcade forums found it, sang it and uploaded it. Heartwarming to see people all over the fandom working together.

In other fan news, I’ve seen some talk about other readers making their own fan music, but sadly most of it is dead links. A Pesterchum app was in development and was briefly extremely popular, with loads of fans making their own chumhandles or roleplaying as canon characters to instant message each other, but it turns out that making a messenger app is difficult and leads to a lot of bugs, so its popularity was pretty brief. Forum discussion is really lively and spikes every time there’s a Vriska update. Most people love the trolls, but there’s also a fair few comments about the arc going on too long and wanting to get back to the kids.

Finally, a new webcomics blogger chose MSPA as their first comic to cover, despite its unconventional nature. And, a contributor to a furry website was really excited about Homestuck’s representation of the lifestyle through Nepeta, and recommended the comic to other furries. very cool to see it spread so far around the internet!

[homestuckreplay]

August 10, 2010

Homestuck Day 386

New Pages: 2392 - 2395

% Completion (Pages): 29.46

% Completion (Time): 18.97

Notes: Troll romance exposition.