#this is my first time theoryposting

[i-do-not-know-what-it-is]

tmagp episode 10 theory::

what if, and hear me out, what if the heavy breathing paired with the tape recorder at the end of the episode is the OG sasha??? like, the last we saw of her wasn't necessarily in the archives per say but it was in artifact storage with a tape recorder in hand as well. not to mention that throughout the rest of tma they never actually confirm that she's /dead/ necessarily, just that she's "gone"... what if the NotThem doesn't actually kill its victims...?

just some food for thought...

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 07/09

Anonymous asked: also, thats pretty distinctly not vriskas handwriting (page 2196). the hell is terezi even talking about?

Terezi, for god's sake.

@manorinthewoods asked: I'd like to note that Pyralspite's eyes are either an eighth the brightness of Alternia's sun, or Pyralspite has the ability to psychically burn out people's eyes just by wanting to. Probably the former. ~LOSS (30/8/24)

I should have guessed that Vriska's cruel and unusual punishment for Terezi was yet another case of Mindfang Roleplay.

I think it's likely that Pyralspite does have some sort of ocular ability. After all, Terezi's lusus had a vision-based power, and she's probably Pyralspite's direct descendant.

@gogogoat495 asked: Say, what do you think of the reuse/mix of animation and music from Dave: Ascend to Seer: Ascend? Is it a simple callback or are there deeper parallels between the characters and story beats?

Well, they are both lead-ups to a climactic fight between 'siblings'. Other than that, though, I'm not really sure. Dave and Terezi have always got on very well, but I can't really see any direct parallels in their personal arcs.

@manorinthewoods asked: Mindfang's classism is ridiculous. This woman straight up said 'one of such middling 8lood' about someone literally one step below her on the ladder. If she were Tavros, she would be oppressing Aradia so hard. ~LOSS (29/8/24)

In Terezi's own words, she's 'a little too teal' to be considered a true highblood. I think there's a hard line of separation here, where anyone below Vriska's caste is considered a midblood at best.

In other words: to be a blueblood, you really need to be a blue-blood.

@manorinthewoods asked: Nepeta, whose handle is arsenicCatnip, uses arsenic's atomic number as a significant element of her quirk. This implies that arsenic has the same atomic number in Alternia as on Earth, which in turn means that, at the very least, the two universes likely share a periodic table. Odd, given how one has widespread psychic abilities and the other doesn't. ~LOSS (29/8/24)

I think it makes sense that Earth inherited some of its scientific concepts from Alternia. It wouldn't be the first thing we inherited!

@heliotropopause asked: TG: maybe if you kill her at least we can finally stop obsessing over her Hah! homestuck's been over for over for almost eight years now, and people are still doing vriscourse to this day. There is no escape, i'm afraid.

'Vriscourse' is kind of killing me. I'm kind of disappointed that this is my first time hearing the term, because I'd probably have been using it this whole time.

@probablyapineapple asked: im not completely caught up on reading this liveblog yet (currently up to s67) but i think youre on track to understanding these characters better than literally anyone

Well, thank you! I have, admittedly, posted some rather hot takes in the past, though. If I recall correctly, my Act 5 shipping chart was my most controversial post to date.

@bladekindeyewear asked: Back during these times in the comic, there were broad theoryposting camps advocating for both narrower and broader interpretations of Aspect domains/powers. I know you're avoiding as much outside influence as you can, but I'm wondering if maybe after the end of this Act, you could accept some community Theorydiving from around this time that could unlock more tools for you to understand hidden evidence for Aspect Stuff you might have missed? […]

I'm definitely considering something like that. Specifically, I'd love to take a look at some of the comic's early theories - ones that had already been disproven by this point in the comic. That'll allow me to get into the headspace of Homestuck's earliest theorists, without influencing my own as-yet-unproved theories.

@manorinthewoods asked: Perhaps an older Legislacerator's job is less actually trying to pursue justice, and more going through cargo cult-esque rhythms of justice, taking its trappings and trying to bring it about while having no understanding of what they're actually doing and what the meaning of their actions is. Maybe, like the Subjugglators, they're an entire social class/blood color based around a single cult? ~LOSS (28/8/24)

I think Dave was pretty on the mark when he described early legislacerators as bounty hunters. Maybe they assumed something marginally closer to an attorney's role in Alternia's modern age - but in Redglare's era, the ideal legislacerator was a violent thrill-seeker, more concerned with bloody combat than courtroom paperwork.

@violetsquare111 asked: I do wonder how big, exactly, is the multiverse in Homestuck. I guess that's a bit of a weird question if there are "infinite universes"… but infinite potential doesn't mean infinite already-existing universes, does it? For some reason I always thought of the amount of Sburb sessions/universes being fairly small, in the grand scheme of things. Less than a million, maybe. I really don't know where I got that from, and there's probably some throwaway line in the comic contradicting it, but if applicable then it's another possible explanation for how Perfect Jack would be one-of-a-kind.

It's not impossible. That would imply that the overwhelming majority of sessions are doomed to fail - but, honestly, they might be! After all, neither of the sessions we've seen so far have been unambiguously successful.

@iris-in-the-dark-world asked: i had a dream that you went from page 3703 to page 7053 in one day

You dreamt of Sally on Adderall.

@spiddermen asked: hihi i just caught up with your liveblog and im so happy to have a chance to reread hs along with you, the first time i read it was when i was like… twelve? so nine years ago? and pretty much all of it went over my head. but now im finally getting to appreciate this masterpiece and your observations are making a lot of stuff click for me as well. so its cool to finally get to understand how freaking good this story is and i cant wait to see you react to some of the crazy later stuff also i hope this doesnt trip the spoiler sensor but some of the answers to the questions you're asking are only answered in sequel material so i do really hope you'll read those, they're ignored by a lot of the fans but they're honestly really really good and i feel like you're the kind of person who would get the intended experience out of them. and psycholonials as well! everyone ignores it but it practically is homestuck (2) to me

Thank you! And yeah, we've talked a bit about this before. Cat and I had a discussion about the subject back in Act 3, and I'm well aware that this comic isn't going to answer all of my questions. Honestly, it would be pretty surprising if it did - I've been digging really deep into aspects of the comic that are clearly just meant to be background details.

As for whether I'll be dipping into Hussie's other projects, or Homestuck's non-canon material - I'm certainly going to check them out, but only time will tell whether they get the full liveblogging treatment. That said, if it addresses questions of mine that Homestuck itself doesn't elaborate on, consider my interests piqued.

@manorinthewoods submitted: I sorta skimmed Homestuck, and missed out on basically all of the Flashes going through, so I totally missed the fact that WQ wrote a romantic fanfic about herself, which is really funny. It does have a serious aspect, though - it implies something about her relationship with WK, no? I suspect they may be friendly with one another, but fate gives their relationship a bit of tragedy - as well as a bit of 'we are simultaneously both forced to be in a romantic relationship and also only being co-rulers'. Is WQ<3WK a thing? Doesn't have to be. I suspect it may be something like WQ<>WK […]

Plus, Carapacians are clones, so it's not like the Royals need to make any heirs. Really, they only need to be co-workers - but the idea that they might have a moirail-adjacent relationship is very cute.

Anonymous asked: Grimdark Rose: "Vengeance and rage are all I live for now, seeing my dead mother makes me feel nothing, I will-" John: Exists Rose: "OMG bestie hiiiiii" ~DJ

First Vriska, now Rose. It seems like John's the perfect calming influence for any out-of-control Light Player.

Anonymous asked: Not sure if you noticed, the tapestries about the kids' quests are all referencing the [S] pages with misattributed quotes associated with each kid (pages 82, 307, 444, and 2988). The quotes are, respectively, from Maxims by Francois de La Rochefoucauld, The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot, Drop It Like It's Hot by Snoop Dogg, and possibly an original piece by Hussie ending with a line from Hamlet. I don't think any of them mean anything.

The quotes might not be Hussie originals, but they definitely seem to evoke the kids' respective Quests. Dave's quote is a bit of an exception, though...

Anonymous asked: "They wait for he who would drop it while it's hot whilst the pimp's in the crib." I mean, you laugh NOW, but knowing Andrew and this comic, can you honestly say this won't end up having an incredibly important and literal meaning? @walkerbehindyou asked: Is there a quest more suited for Dave than to show up at his denizen’s (certainly the pimp of LOHAC) palace in the past and drop straight fire?

...but perhaps that means it's foreshadowing something we haven't seen yet. If Dave ends up making a Choice, I wouldn't put it past him to rap an answer to his Denizen.

@iris-in-the-dark-world asked: the soundtrack of the grimdark rose segment really gets to me. i'd highly recommend the first few songs of that album

Black Rose/Green Sun was a great song. It evoked a very different feeling than anything we've heard before, and really highlighted how alien Rose has become, now that she's been fully submerged in darkness.

@manorinthewoods asked: Ooh, here's an idea - when you do the Sahlee-and-Sally Let's Play, set it in an alternate Sburb that's based on all of your incorrect theories. Every Land has a God Tier Moon orbiting it, for instance. Would be really cool - your theoretical Sburb has a lot of super fun stuff in it. ~LOSS (12/8/24)

Oh, I like that idea. It means I can finally bring back the anti-Skaia, which is probably my favourite since-disproven theory.

Anonymous asked: I never realised that the pillow that Rose uses then is the one from her mum - well spotted :,(

A mother will do whatever is best for her children.

And a daughter will remember what was best about her mother.

Anonymous asked: So. Do you think that a Horrorterror-Boosted Rose has any chance against a First Guardian Prototyped Jack Noir? We've seen that if left alone Jack can destroy Entire Worlds and his teleporting is Nigh Instant, plus who knows how far he can go in a single teleport! […]

Dark Rose is arguably a God-Tier level threat, but we've just seen Jack one-shot a God Tier. I don't think she has a hope - there's only so many bullet-time stabbings she can take!

Anonymous asked: its really interesting to see you say that rose saying she felt mom was a sister and a mother at once made u feel like there must have been camraderie. for me, it reinforced the idea that moms parenting forced rose to act like a peer to mom when it came to her alcoholism? in the sense that moms alcoholism took her out of commission, and made it so that rose had to take care of herself in a lot of ways that a parent would, putting them on similar levels. So its interesting to see a different interpretation!

It's not impossible. To me, Rose's monologue reads as if she's trying to express her admiration of her mother. This is the first time she's admitted to having positive feelings for her guardian, and I think she's regretting that she never voiced these feelings to the woman herself, before it was too late.

That's just one reading of her words, though. I think her monologue here is meant to be ambiguous, just like the Lalonde mother-daughter relationship always was.

@manorinthewoods asked: Ooh, you're thinking of a Carapacian player, huh? That would be interesting - imagine if they go in with, like, complete knowledge of how Sburb works, so they prototype something super strong in order to buff the Ring that they then steal and equip. ~LOSS (12/8/24)

That would be interesting. Carapacians are the only species where the game can't fully compensate for the power of your race by buffing Underlings, since buffing the Underlings would also buff the Ring I'm abusing!

@skelekingfeddy asked: re: troll romance: i generally lean towards xenopsychology, mixed in with a secret 4th thing (humans can also feel troll romance), with a little dose of propaganda, and also an undercurrent of parody (because Hussie. everything has an undercurrent of parody (e.g. pretty much all the trolls are based on internet stereotypes). i COMPLETELY disagree with the notion that the quadrants are made up unhealthy bullshit. i think theres a genuine evolutionary biological origin for the quadrants if matespritship is all about Companionship, then kismesissitude is all about Competition, Rivalry, a drive to push yourself and make yourself better. both are generally healthy and beneficial in their own ways. the evolutionary basis for moirallegiance and auspisticism is the need for pacification, a better half, to prop up matespritships and kismesissitudes and keep them from being interfered with (as described in-comic). each quadrant is the result of a genuine primal, biological urge

I don't necessarily think the quadrants are fabricated, but I do think that the version of them that exists on Alternia are unhealthy more often than not, particularly when it comes to black romance. Monogamous auspisticism requires an overwhelming amount of emotional labor, all the kismesissitudes we've seen have been toxic at best, and there has to be a better way to do this.

Anonymous asked: My brother's been going through your liveblog recently and it's been fun getting to re-experience it through him, especially being reminded of all the theories you have that are shockingly accurate in very inaccurate ways. The two that come to mind are your theory that Jade was engineered in a lab (which, she kinda was, but that's not unique to her) and that John's version of Sburb is bugged (the meteors, it turns out, were a part of the game as it's meant to be played, but this whole 'tumour' thing sure isn't). Also, while I'm here, going to recommend checking out Temporal Shenanigans by Rachel Rose Mitchell, which is a gorgeous fansong about Aradia that shouldn't have any spoilsies at this point. I would also rec PhemieC's music with the caveat that many of their songs are spoilery - while most of the troll-specific ones should be alright, I'd definitely say to get someone else to go through them first to be certain. Hope you're doing well!! And I look forward to seeing more of your liveblog if and when you return to it! -Megido

Oh yeah, I was talking about how Jade was made in a lab! I'd totally forgotten about that theory.

You know, her Dreambot is actually interesting in retrospect. The bed that controls it looks suspiciously like a Quest Bed, which makes me wonder just how much Grandpa knew about Sburb's lore, and what exactly he was trying to do here.

Anonymous asked: I find it a bit funny (in good way) how aspects of your troll and human sona are kinda opposites, like life and death type of thing, sweet

Really, it's mostly just me hedging on my own Aspect. Plus, having two 'sonas lets me explore twice as much Sburb lore, allowing me to come up with two weapons, Lands, Title powers, and the like.

Within the hypothetical context of the fic, I've been thinking a lot about why there'd be two Sallys. Like, was one 'sona partially cloned from the other? If so, who was the original? Technically, the Alternian version would have existed 'first', but the existence of time travel ensures that that doesn't mean much.

@manorinthewoods asked: Rather appropriate that Rose's weapon is her Thorns. ~LOSS (10/8/24)

Ayyy!

@ipunchvampires asked: "You should understand [Rose has] been corrupted by various entities with some rather questionable motives," says Entity with Rather Questionable Motives corrupting her. Kind of the perfect Doc Scratch line, honestly.

Doc Scratch is an awful person, but he's still a funny fuck.

@heliotropopause asked: wait. is that *Guybrush Threepwood* in the boat there??? @elkian asked: At the risk of being the 88th person to say something, the troll in the dinghy is a Guybrush Threepwood cameo (using the more cartoony style from Curse Of Monkey Island etc.). Man's truly unfortunate, or maybe he's lucky for not being a focal character? XD Anonymous asked: that 'one random motherfucker on a little dinghy' is in fact, guybrush threepwood from the monkey island series, thrown in as an easter egg by one of the artists who made assets for the flash @sanctferum asked: the troll on the dinghy is Troll Gybrush Threepwood. the guest artist for that scene confirmed this on the now-defunct MSPA forums IIRC

Ahahaha. Mystery solved, I guess!

I've been wanting to play Monkey Island for some time - and now I need to, so that I can understand the true backstory of of GY'BRSH TRPWUD.

Anonymous asked: I love this section, because I think it really shows something about Dave (and Rose). Because Dave just says whatever pops into his head, when he's getting command prompts, he just repeats them uncritically. (That also supports that when he said he didn't love his Bro, it was his honest reaction) @ben-guy asked: David "Zero Filter" Strider was absolutely not ready to have thoughts beamed directly into his head by an exile lmao @krixwell asked: It's so funny to me how when thoughts are incepted into Dave's subconscious mind, they just come falling right back out his mouth at the first opportunity. Filter, what filter? Those sunglasses don't hide shit.

Reminds me of his stress-rambles from early on in the comic. The reason he wears those shades is, I think, because he is a naturally expressive person - he just doesn't want to be.

[aj-jesterdude]

deltritus worldbuilding theorypost...^2!!!

so!! homestuck beyond canon has ended it's first act and according to the reddit q&a that happened right after, it seems Act 2 will finally, *finally* show us those beautiful beautiful deltritans. i made a post a while back attempting to theorize about what the worldbuilding of Deltritus could look like. but after some recent conversations i have realized i could've gone much more in depth...tackled not just the societal implications but also the biology...so...ahaha...here we go

So let's start off with the species. We know that Dirk has created the Satyrs. Satyrs are, according to Greek myth, essentially horse/goat/human hybrids of sorts. And this makes sense for Dirk, he's a horse fan. I theorize that the Satyrs will be only slightly horse-like. Maybe horse legs, but still bipedal...horse tails, ears. I've heard various suggestions of them having puppet-like features but that is...while not impossible, I think it would complicate them significantly. How does death work for them if they are puppets? How does that interact with SBURB's systems? It's a little too messy for my liking, though odds are there is some other complication to them as if they're just half-horse-half-man, that is just a little too simple. I do suspect that they're going to be male-exclusive, and Rose's species will be similarly female-exclusive. For one, Satyrs in Greek myth *were* entirely male, and secondly, Ult!Dirk's whole...masculinity thing he's got going on. This does raise the question of reproduction, and I would humbly suggest mpreg, but if they were puppet-y I could see them just quite literally making new ones. What I do stand by though is that puppets are at least a huge part of their culture. Let's entertain that within the Satyr lands there's a giant golden Lil' Cal statue, yes? I also presume that, like Dirk, they will be makers of machines and whatnot. Creative types. But something I realized I failed to explore with my last theorypost was the influence of two other forces on the Satyrs: Terezi...and *Jake*. Terezi's running the command terminal to shape the societies, and has automated it much to Dirk's displeasure. And what's more, she's been fiddling with it even though she claimed to be done with it. Obviously she is trying to meddle with the deltritans to do something to sabatoge this new session...but what? This I am still unsure about. Perhaps she's stripped out any Time or Space aspects, to try and doom the session? Now as for what that means for the societies, odds are Terezi's made them not as hostile to each other as Dirk was hoping for. I believe the original plan was to have both species compete, and one would lose and be barred from playing the game. However, I think Terezi's managed to work it so both species are still thriving to play at the same time. Perhaps that will cause messy friction between the two different species that will hinder the session's progress? And let's tackle that little juicy implication I put back up there a little while ago. I think while yes, a lot of Dirk's personal traits and flaws have sunken into the Satyrs...I think a little bit of Jake probably got into them too. Maybe this enhances the manly machismo angle of it all? Will they enjoy making movies? Will firearms be their weapons of choice? It’s something to think about, at least. Now let’s shut up about Dirk and talk about the far more mysterious half of the deltritan population, Rose’s species. We have no name for them, but in the circles I’m in, we’ve taken to assuming Nymphs. Yet again another Greek mythological creature, Nymphs were taken as nature spirits of sorts. And this is interesting, Satyrs would often try to chase after Nymphs. So that feels about right. But what would they be like? I highly suspect we’ve already…sort of seen a Nymph already. Odds are that gavageCunctation is one of them. You see, they mention having “buccal mass”, which is an aquatic feature…and we know at the very least that Rose’s species is aquatic, that’s why they moved to the cliffside there. And Nymphs could be water-dwelling and based too. Now, if Dirk’s basing his off of his particular animal of choice, the Horse, then surely Rose’s aquatic species must be based around squiddles/horrorterrors.

But looking at GC’s hands in the only panel we have them in right now…they don’t look or feel too horrorterror-y, do they? They’re gray, and seemingly have some sort of talon or claw on their fingers. You see, I suspect that Rose has gone two-fold. Sure, work in some of that eldritch horror aquatic beast stuff, but Rose Lalonde has always been, in my mind first and foremost…a cat person. I think the Nymphs are some sort of aquatic cat-like race. In my speculative design for GC, I assumed we’d have tentacle hair and cat-like mouths, go check the drawing to see me go a little more in depth there since I’m really rambling too much already on this post. But what about the society? Well, last post I speculated they’d be a more magically-inclined race to further match Rose’s interests, and act as a further opposite of Dirk’s more mechanical/tangible Satyrs. 

But once again I have to ask how another person worked their way into their design…and if Dirk’s was Jake…then surely Rose’s must be Kanaya. Are they more into fashion than the Satyrs? Are they more inclined to meddle? Will one of the Nymphs act quite similarly to her? It’s just so interesting to entertain. Now before I let you go, I wanna put out just a few more quick thoughts. I do hope that we’ll see Vriska guide the Omega kids, and Terezi guide the Deltritans, as that would create an interesting parallel to their little game they had between John and Dave, right? And wouldn’t it be similarly interesting if Dirk himself decided to get in touch with one his Satyrs, and end up recreating a dynamic similar to Bro and Dave’s? Augh. Anyways.

Thank you so much for reading all of this insane rambling. If you have any thoughts or opinions on this as well, please comment them!!! I wanna talk about this so much more!!! See what other people think. Anyways um. idk how to end this so go read homestuck beyond canon if you haven’t yet okay? <3

[bladekindeyewear]

Homestuck^2 / Beyond Canon say they're on a few-months break:

I’m currently sitting in an art dev meeting for Act 2 of Beyond Canon. I’m very excited for you to see these characters. This brings me to my next point. After a huge flash and several very art intense updates, we’ll finally be taking our long awaited production break. The plan is to take a few short months to finish asset production on Act 2’s first few updates, an intermission update and build up a buffer again. Since we’d like to start updating a little more often with smaller batches for pacing reasons, I’d like to give the artists some time to recuperate.

I was thinking of writing a theorypost in the interim but the events of the Addendum threw my senses of it off, so I'll probably be pretty quiet til their break's over unless I go through some old Patreon commentary I haven't gotten to or new Patreon bonuses.

[springtrappd]

i am the absolute worst kind of person to do the whole ""theory"" thing (hence why my theoryposting tag is almost entirely fandom meta) bc you give me "halloween-themed moon variant that appears primarily on what is described as a vintage carousel and the backrooms, glitched-out (princess quest-themed!) areas of the new foxy log ride" and "there are posters referencing fallfest from hw1" and i go "oh cool, a reference to the curse of dreadbear dlc, where: vanny was first introduced, the nightmares are heavily featured, the plushbabies wear masks of the og band, foxy's first ride appears, the moondrop candy first shows up, you experiment on an undead animatronic's brain, the handunit insists that there are no ulterior motives behind its creation (while the game makes a lot of references to purging its systems and finding + reporting 'glitches'), among many other things -- princess quest also directly references it, with grim foxy guarding the vanny mask (as he did in cod's corn maze). the jack-o animatronics appear throughout the backrooms of hw1's foxy log ride as its primary antagonists, with the various props seen there also eventually being present at the pizzaplex -- which was already under construction at the time, as evidenced by the teaser showing it as such in that very same update (with a suspiciously familiar barn as part of the scenery), and hw1 levels eventually appear as hidden side-rooms in the pizzaplex's utilidoors network. nightmarionne also appears a looooot, being an easter egg in both sb and hw2 and an outright level in hw1. are the halloween versions of the nightmare animatronics, as explicitly stated non-canonical versions of the cast, being presented as the primary occupants of the 'true world' hidden backstage -- the way they kinda have been, ever since fnaf world? does this mean that the moon character was created around the same time as vanny, both in-game and outside of it? huh, neat. it's cool to see them bring back concepts in this way, and how it relates to the recurring idea of reality vs memory and dreams vs nightmares. design itself is kinda bland, though." and not "MOON WAS MADE IN THE 70S"

[courgowr]

Monocular Theorypost

I have a theory about why crypteks and deathmarks have a single eye (it's a pretty boring one lol)

so first let's talk about orbs. orbs are a pretty common feature on necron models, but the important ones for this theory are the ones on the synaptic disintegrator (the rifle deathmarks use)

and the one at the front of the tomb blade

the placement of these suggest (to me) that they are meant to display information to the necron looking through them - I think these are a necron equivalent of a computer display

the necrons with the monoculars also tend to have a raised section around them (you can also see this on the tomb blade's pilot!)

my theory is that these are a remnant of a piece of equipment from the flesh times - some kind of portable computer/visor that crypteks and deathmarks used in their work (both having jobs that require a lot of math, data collection, and an ability to retrieve information quickly) that became sort of a symbol of their jobs, and so were kept even through biotransference

(or they could have started using them after biotransference, but i'm a little attached to the idea of the necrontyr having goofy sci-fi visors)

[hopeymchope]

Theoryposting: Is 2025-2026 time for some kind of Danganronpa game?

Theory Background

First of all, it's important to remember Spike Chunsoft's assertion in 2021 that the Danganronpa franchise will continue to expand with games in various genres. And this was ultimately just one of multiple times that they've teased future DR games.

Up to now, the longest we've gone without a new Danganronpa game of SOME kind was the 2017-2021 window between Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (aka "New Danganronpa V3") and Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp.

In terms of global release, those two games were four years and two months apart.

In terms of Japanese-specific release, they were four years and 11 months apart—just barely shy of five years.

(And before that, the gap between Dangnaronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls and Danganronpa V3 was two years and four months in Japan, or three years on the worldwide market. Unbelievably, this was the previous record for gaps between games. That's just how blessed we were with DR content during the 2010s.)

If you want to keep your IP relevant in the minds of your audience, you do have to occasionally seed some new content out there. And at this point, they don't even have spin-off manga or light novels to rely on keeping DR in the minds of consumers; Danganronpa Kirigiri wrapped up in 2020, a year before we got Ultimate Summer Camp.

So it seems to me like 2025-2026 is a logical window in which to release the next side game. It's time for the next diversion that will keep the name "Danganronpa" relevant—presumably without actually making a proper Danganronpa 4. (Personally, I'm imagining that SC wants to leave the possibility of a Kodaka return open for a little while longer before they go down that road themselves without his involvement... which is probably what will have to eventually happen. One day.)

Possible Release Timing

To keep things copacetic between Spike Chunsoft and TooKyo Games, SC probably wouldn't want to release some new game at a time that would step on the toes of The Hundred Line. One has to assume that The Hundred Line will follow the example of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code and release onto other platforms roughly a year after its initial Nintendo Switch and PC releases. With The Hundred Line scheduled for April 2025 and probably landing on other platforms some time in between April and July of 2026, that leaves the back half of either 2025 or 2026 as the safest windows.

2025 is also the 15th anniversary of Danganronpa. I'm just sayin'.

What kind of gaming are we talking about?

I'm honestly not sure I should even hazard a guess. I imagine the eventual answer, if there is one, will likely be NOTHING that I'd predict. But I will at least try to come up with working theories.

Ultimate Summer Camp was really a giant-sized expansion of the post-game "Ultimate Talent Development Camp" mode from DRV3. So the easiest course of action would be to expand some OTHER post-game mode into a bigger, fuller game. That serves as the fuel for most of my theories.

Using "Despair Dungeon" mode as the basis for a more full-featured dungeon-crawling RPG game that has an actual story to it. This seems like the easiest and most logical pathway to me...

Using "School Mode"/"Island Mode" as the basis for a much bigger resource management/allocation game of some kind.

Or maybe using the resource management of "School Mode"/"Island Mode" AND the dialogue-choice-consequence system of "Love Across the Universe: Dangan Salmon Team" as the basis for a DR dating sim?

Outside of just expanding existing concepts like that, though, I think there's still another possibility. Remember that 2022 Spanish interview where Kodaka suggested remaking the original Danganronpa with slightly altered plot details and in full 3D as a way to revitalize the series? One has to assume that a remake—even one with some altered storytelling—would take a lot less involvement from Kodaka than a full-on new game would, so it's at least possible.

Or maybe not.

But of course, this is all just a theory. (A GAME THEORY!) Spike Chunsoft could always opt to keep Danganronpa in the public eye in far lesser, quieter ways. They could continue to rely on DR characters showing up in other games ala Crypt of the Necrodancer, Mystery Chronicle: One-Way Heroics, Riichi Street and the like. And/or they could finally free DRAE from its PlayStation prison and port Ultra Despair Girls to the PC, Nintendo, and Xbox platforms. These are hardly the ideal scenarios. ... But then again, nothing I've posited here is really "ideal."

"Ideal" would be getting an actual DR4 or that long-hoped-for Danganronpa Fighting Game. :P

[headshotheaven]

PROJECT MOON BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

goddddd i love you projmoonnnnnn. so like ok. I started with Ruina and almost immediately fell in love with how insane its world was and how much it trusted me to understand what was going on despite never once stopping to explain itself. I really loved getting to unpack the world like a puzzle when even the simplest concepts were expressed in a way that felt almost alien to me and finally understanding it felt like I'd mastered some part of this infinitely intricate system the story was based in. And like yeah I could've also just played lobcorp but I think the fact that I was able to speculate so freely about the game was part of what kept me from tempering my expectations of what it was gonna be offering me, and once I learned it wasn't gonna let me down anytime soon (Love Town was when I first realized this. Holy shit.) I fell instantly in love and set my expectations to the moon and never once was I disappointed with how strange and unique and human the story was. Yan's arc specifically blew me away, especially with the secret of the prescripts being a concept I've been brewing for a personal project of my own for years now but never had the confidence to actually invest in.

and all of that is just ruina!! I picked up limbus right after (thank you adan for gregorpilling me. kafka is one of my favorite writers and the metamorphosis is a top short story of all time. to me) and while i didn't immediately rock with it as hard as ruina the characters and ideas on display really carried it until we got to the really fun shit with canto 3. cantos 5 and 6 specifically are genuine works of art in and of themselves that I could write entire essays about due to the ways they sit right on the intersecting leylines between love, the body, and the supernatural. i actually have a theorypost i've been planning out for canto 7 that i need the focus to actually put together :3

Side note angela is one of my favorite characters of all time now, from the moment of the first I understood her as someone so hurt she had no way of understanding that the world was capable of anything else and immediately needed to see more. The way her path to becoming human mirrors the ways that recovery from a traumatic past makes you more and more vulnerable until you realize you have the strength to protect yourself on your own was just so perfectly handled aughghhhh. My beloved netzach is another favorite too for just how. kind he is. his dialogue near the end of the game reminds me of the sorts of things i didn't realize i'd been saying to myself for years now; why I love being the person I am and doing what I do. ruina is a game that makes me want to make art no matter how hard it is and love it the whole time

[mirror-ralsei]

alright.

mental health tanked and abandoned everything and never finished all my theoryposts so here's my literal last second inb4s for fun.

Toby Fox is an unreliable narrator in his devlogs of all things. (didn’t notice the “cancelled” segments when cancellation/scrapping is an important plot element... then “tied to a chair etc etc underwater” was too similar to Spamton and also uh water. now super obvious with whatever’s going on with the Pacifypilling... Royal Sciences LLC and otherwise engaging w the real world is important to Deltarune, after all. did a Ralsei- or Muffet-benefactor-coded shapeshifter diagetically take his place idk)

GLOSSARY HYPOTHESES

Color: Examples include Undertale overworld, Home, God of Hyperdeath Asriel, Spamton in shop / Freedom ending, holidaygirl1225 colorful posts, Susie’s search result egg, Undertale save points. Associated with warmth. Connected to “Hopes” and “Dreams.” (Does CYMK factor in?)

Colorless: Examples include Undertale’s portraits and battle scenes, New Home, phase 2 Asriel, Spamton after transfer / Silence ending, holidaygirl1225 colorless posts, Temmie’s egg, Deltarune save points. Associated with cold. Connected to “Goners,” “statues,” and “Silence.”

Capitalization: Unsure (maybe all-caps is connected to CHAOS or SOUL?)

Mispelling / Anagrams: Connected to alternate timelines.

Up: The direction associated with “Light.” Connected to “HEAVEN” and “elevators.” (Upward arrows form Castle Town.)

Down: The direction associated with “Dark.” Connected to “HELL,” “Ocean,” “Roots,” “falling,” and “elevators.”

Reflection: made a post about this one. unused room 123 and 321, and now the two steeples on the countdown site (mirrored design and mirroring each other), are more examples

Memory: Major theme (“don’t forget,” nostalgia). Connected to Ralsei. Unsure of meaning

Power: Connected with “light” and “SOUL.” Unsure of relation of Deltarune “power” to Undertale “power of determination.”

Trash / Garbage: Metaphorically a scrapped idea, especially art, such as “cut content” in video games. Connected to “colorless,” “Goners,” “down,” “falling.”

Eggs: Represent quantum states. Connected to “boxes.”

Boxes (esp Elevators): Connected to quantum states (incl. eggs). An elevator is the most important box. The CORE elevators are the most important elevators we’ve seen. Papyrus doesn’t know why the CORE elevators have “L” and “R”, Sans talks about a lime green sea, the elevator is “in use” on first inspect then “out of order” on the second.

Cell Phones: Connected to “connection.” Oppose “Silence.”

Voice: Opposes “Silence.”

Silence: Opposes “Voice.” Possible examples of “Silenced” characters: Everyman, man behind the tree if he is not Everyman, “Lancer” on cliffs, Guei in promo video

CHAOS: Associated with butterflies. Connected to “Freedom.”

Order: Unsure.

Freedom: Connected to “CHAOS,” “breeze.”

Revolving: Connected to time/clocks.

Shattering: (Venturing could be related to “reflection” bc of mirror motif and “if this harmony were to shatter”...)

Cold: Connected to Noelle and the Mayor, “colorless,” “statues,” and possibly “Goners.”

Burning: Overexposure to “Light”...? Connected to “memory” and “death.”

Pain: Associated with the color red. Different from “damage.” (This means something about its connection to “trash” and idk what: “”This ‘Roller,’ ‘Coaster’ / It’s Not Actually / ‘Finished’, Yet” “WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?!?” “Pain” “L... Looks like this trash saved us.””)

Wind: Connected to “cold.” Seems associated with absolute darkness or nonexistence.

Breeze: Connected to “freedom.”

Pollen: Unsure. Connected to “sunshine.” Opposes “wishing.”

Water: Connected to “Dark” and “down,” as well as “memory.” (Could evoke the Lethe: River Person, “Memories are flooding back!")

Heart: Representation of “SOUL.” Connected to “SOUL,” “shattering,” and “cut/tear.”

Heartbeat: Represents fear. Connected to Noelle and “EARTH.” Also appears at end of No Mercy route.

Cut / Tear: Could represent “reflection” through division. (“CUT ANYTHING / 2 PIECES!”)

Shaking: Unsure. Instability?

Waiting: Unsure

Angle: Unsure. Glass?

Guts: Unsure. Connected to “pain.”

Strings: Unsure.

Smell: Unsure.

SUSPECTED PUNS

“Bug” = animal OR software defect

“Cut” = wound OR cut content

“Crash” = smash OR program exit

“Glasses” = eyewear OR plural glass

“Freeze” = ice OR unresponsive program

(lot of future potential puns too, like Colonel Panic, Silent Knight, Holy Knight, Knight Mayor)

UNUSED ROOMS

These are supposed to be scrutinized and have important info breadcrumbs or I’ll eat my hat

Room 123 is extremely relevant, has friend with a creepy smile (FRIEND?), almost certainly “bug” puns on program bugs (see: basement bugs), may be the true disproportionately small gap, connects to room 321 which is completely dark (a reflected “dark world”)

room2 is reminiscent of Snowgrave on normal enemies

TESTROOM perfectly lines up w probably-Gaster’s Deltarune file labeling

272 room_water_redacted is INCREDIBLY INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!!!! seems like a NEO dark world / nested dark world or something like that of the mysteryman room, “every time your friends forget you a little more” or something, the character resembles a white sausage so the inverse of a “darksausage” and has that tendrily look that the new trailer critters attacking Susie and Kris have

304 room_water_mushroom has dialogue that’s important enough to translate and also has a very strange crystal you’ve never seen before in it which could be or be connected to a ShadowCrystal or PureCrystal

lots more to say but it is 5 mins befor re release lol

CHARACTERS

at least two opposing sides are in play but I could not corkboard out Team Gaster vs Team Typer 2 with the information we have

I don’t know what Gaster’s motivations are but (bc of the Fun events appearing for low LV or Clam Girl who’s a Follower telling a violent player to leave Suzy alone) it seems like he wants to recruit a bunch of Pacifist players of Undertale (kind of similar to what Ralsei was perhaps told to do...) to secure a “happy ending” for Deltarune as well. However, from possible Whimsalot foreshadowing, this may be self-destructive. (Which would fit with becoming consumed by his own creation.)

Whimsalot’s morbid dialogue/descriptions may foreshadow both Kris and the ending of Deltarune. Trying to change Deltarune’s ending – “Not this time.” may be analogous to suicidal resolve.

Typer 2 has bitter jaded vibes lol idk anything else about em tho. Maybe they’ve tried this before and think they know beetter. The only clue is maybe the screen transition from dark to light: if Gaster is associated with darkness and ocean and losing oneself in fiction, maybe Typer 2 is associated with light and heaven (our reality) and the harsh coldness of truth.

Spamton made a deal with terrible consequences just like the player and possibly Kris. He may have had communion through a Bishop and had his eyes burned with light to make him meta-aware. He may have gotten a bit closer to “Heaven” – our reality – by becoming NEO; he no longer uses asterixes to precede his dialogue and can occasionally talk with normal capitalization. Also he has one more Ch 3 friend (or maybe one changable friend who got sliced in half (and maybe also burnt?)) represented by “[Man, Woman, or Child] [At Half-Price]” and “[DVDs of any movie at 50% off]”

“A hooded figure watches the commotion from afar.” seems like another Deltarune character in Undertale

MUSIC

the real lifey sampled tracks are sus. obviously It’s Raining Somewhere Else, but also the post-No Mercy black wind, the car squeaking in trash heap area in Cyber World, the tapping in Queen’s basement... “Berdly (Rejected Concept)” has terrifying implications especially considering what trash and rejected concepts mean

SOUND EFFECTS

the egg sound effect and the dimensional box sound effect are the same

Pacify has such an ominous sounding sound effect (this one feels like it’s already getting confirmed lmao)

why does alphys opening undyne’s letter use the same sfx as hyper goner

snd_paper_surf you say

the door opening/closing is another very real lifey sound

snd_fountain_revival and “THE DEATH” and whatever’s going on with Kris being a zombie seem connected. that or “sealing” (stealing) the fountains is reviving some ancient evil maybe

RANDOM IDEA FACTORY

what if there is an “ocean” antagonist character and a she/her “earth” character

there are too many knight puns to only be one Knight also “Knight Mayor”

welp didn’t finish typing this out but pencils on the table lol game is gonna be out in minutes

[lakesbian]

okay we have officially finished 1.1. i am getting the vibe that this is going to be a more setting-driven story than worm, as in: if this was a worm liveblog i could ostensibly say things about taylor's character right now instead of theorizing about the setting's lore (i.e the parahumans), but the Circumstances of pact are such that it would be sort of absurd to post solely abt blake's character without mentioning any of the fantastical shit said character is being put thru. so my prior "i'm probably not gonna theorypost a lot, we get there when we get there" statement is being rescinded

i'm sort of reminded of the experience of reading the spiderwick chronicles as a kid, which is a compliment. from what i gather so far:

universe has got faeries & folklore and so on in it, called 'others'

some sort of mirror/alternate world function going on (rose, twisted reflection of jacob's bell)

blake's grandma was a prick who made a million (varyingly supernatural) enemies while she was alive and then pulled Something to protect her shit after she dies (+ some form of magic presumably being involved in the scheduled death which she was lying abt being cancer due to she and her cat both just fucking drop dead at 12 exactly), it makes it her family's problem after she dies, molly was first in line for The Problem but got got after having no idea wtf was going on and stepping outside of the safety grandma established in the estate (this is what reminded me of the spiderwick chronicles), blake is next in line for The Problems and is presumably off to go have a shitty time dealing with them

the others can be interacted/dealt with and ostensibly appear human (padraic's inhuman eyes/smile + maggie's questions to him having a price)

there's a thing called a glamour and i hope it's cool and beautiful in a viscerally unpleasant way

"believing things can make them true" magic system

average person not necessarily aware of The Horrors (<- what i will be calling in-universe magic because i think it's funny)

humans presumably also capable of dealing with or outright participating in The Horrors, blake presumably inherited some form of The Horrors/magic capability after molly kicked it

huge win for me (guy who likes narratives about shit running in the family + reading negotiations with fairies where there's Prices and so on)

[thewertsearch]

The more we’ve learned more about Sburb, the more questions it’s brought up. We know so little, and it’s getting kind of overwhelming!

So for this theorypost, let’s pause, zoom out, and take a look at some big picture stuff - the ‘top-level’ questions of Homestuck thus far.

Who created Sburb?

How does one ‘win’ Sburb?

What happens to a Player who ‘wins’?

What is the Ultimate Riddle?

What is the Ultimate Alchemy?

What is the purpose of Sburb?

About most of these, we can only speculate. So let’s speculate! 

Who created Sburb?

We’re told it was Skaianet, but that’s pretty clearly a front for something else. Sburb has found its way to multiple planets, so some interplanetary entity most be putting it there. There are a couple of likely suspects. 

A deity or deities. Is there a god in the machine? This game is already pretty mythical, so let’s fully commit. Gods are well known for ‘testing’ hapless heroes, and Sburb is the mother of all tests, with the fate of the Players’ entire civilization hanging in the balance. This could be where the Browser Gods finally enter the story. Earth’s instance of Sburb could have come from Typheus, before Grandpa slew him, stole his creation, and published it as a video game. 

The Noble Circle of Horrorterrors. It’s very unclear how these things fit into the Sburb mythology, but maybe it’s at the very top. Could they be the game’s admins, watching their sessions play out from beyond the Veil? If this is the case, their goals with Sburb are likely more insidious than any of my theories. We don’t even know what these things are, and what purpose they have for the game’s champions is anyone’s guess. 

An advanced civilization. Probably not the trolls, since their planet is a victim of Sburb, but it could be a third party civilization we haven’t seen yet. The game’s self-replicating nature would suggest that it propagates itself through the universe, assimilating planets and turning them into Sburb-session factories. Sburb is a planet virus, and I don’t know what civilization thought this was a good idea. Maybe they lost control.

Sburb could retroactively be ‘creating itself’. Not a fan of this one, but this is a timeloop story. If this is the case, we’ll probably see the kids send the code for Sburb back in time, so that Skaianet can release it. Thus, Sburb would then come from nowhere, a self-sustaining lifeform just trying to survive and reproduce. 

How does one win Sburb?

I think it might be helpful, at this point, to list the steps required to complete the game. Looking at it all together might help to bring things into focus.

Deploy your starting gear and enter the Medium. Prototyping before this point may or may not be required - as Rose stated, it should be possible to Enter without putting anything in the Kernel - but I think an empty Kernel Spire would probably be a fail state. Sburb becomes more challenging with each pre-Medium prototyping, and it can’t be that easy to cheese. 

Travel through your first six Gates, each more challenging than the last. Each brings you to a different section of your Land - John’s First was a wide-open space with mostly basic Underlings, whereas Dave’s Fifth was an arena filled with powerful enemies.  

Complete your Land Quest, solving a problem created by your Denizen. John’s is to release the fireflies from his Denizen’s spell, and Rose’s is to repopulate the sea, which the Denizen sterilized. 

Awaken your Denizen, and pass through the Seventh Gate to arrive at its lair. Speedrunners beware - the game has an anti-cheat system in place here. If you try to cheese this, Sburb will just flat out kill you.

Defeat your Denizen, presumably after gathering intel and maxing out your stats. This will release the Denizen’s Hoard. 

Perform the Ultimate Alchemy, using the Hoard as fuel. What are you making, you ask? That’s a secret >;] 

Solve the Ultimate Riddle, maybe. I’m assuming both ‘ultimate’ questlines are connected. This sounds like something you do as a group, so you’ll probably have to wait for the other Players to get to this point, too. 

Travel to Skaia, where Derse is destined to win the war, and may have done so already. 

Defeat Derse, and stop the Reckoning before Skaia is destroyed.

(The Riddle and/or Alchemy might also go here. Skaia is a ‘crucible of creative potential’, so maybe it needs to be saved and ‘unlocked’ before you can make whatever it is you’re making.)

Prospit and Derse have been defeated. The Denizens are slain, their Hoards claimed, and Skaia is safe. What have you made from the Hoards? What have you learned from the riddle? What now?

What happens to a player who ‘wins’?

In the beginning, I was sure that you’d get your planet back. That does not seem to be how it’s supposed to work, however, as both Earth and Trollplanet are in the hands of the Carapacians. No, if Sburb has a reward, it’s something else. 

The trolls may or may not have won Sburb. They certainly don’t seem to be actively playing anymore, not unless their Quests all involve bothering some aliens. They’re just sitting in a room, still in their session, getting on each other’s nerves. 

This bodes poorly, and I think one of two things is happening here.

The Mistake has completely broken their session. The trolls can no longer progress in the game, as a result of whatever wide-reaching fuckup the kids perpetuated. They can’t do anything, so they’re just holed up in the Veil, messing around on computers. The more I think about this scenario, the more Project Trolling sounds kind of justified, actually. I really hope this is what’s happening, because the other possibility is that

Completed sessions are abandoned by Sburb. Players have an important purpose, which means that some day, that purpose will be fulfilled. What use does Sburb have for a player whose job is done? Maybe, when the game is over, it just cuts the power. The Sprites, Underlings, Agents and Consorts all despawn, and Skaia goes dark. Congratulations, you won! Now enjoy spending the rest of your life in an inert session!

What is the Ultimate Riddle?

This is one question I think I do know the answer to. I think the Ultimate Riddle is the question of what you, the Player, are supposed to be doing in this game.

I said Sburb wasn’t really a puzzle game before, but I think I’ve come around on that. The Sprites are designed to be riddlemasters, and they’re only supposed to give you hints.

Sburb, famously, does not come with a manual, so the onus of figuring out Sburb’s objective is on its players. The game wants them to do exactly what I’m doing - piece together all the disparate sources of information it provides. Eventually, the game’s true goal is revealed, and that’s the answer to the Ultimate Riddle. 

What is the Ultimate Alchemy?

Honestly? I’m stumped. 

It’s obviously some great act of creation, but the nature of creation is such that the possibilities are literally endless. It’s obvious that these alchemy machines don’t have any real restrictions, just functionality not yet unlocked. Dave already made a time machine, and that’s without the Denizen Hoards. 

We could be creating:

Immortal bodies. This is a common goal of traditional alchemy, and the kids might need to do this to take on the armies of Derse.

Godlike or otherwise ‘perfect’ bodies or souls.  Alchemy isn’t just about physical transmutation - it also emphasizes perfection of the self. This alchemy might be of a more spiritual nature.

The Philosopher's Stone, or some variation of it. The kids don’t have much use for a hoard of gold, but but there are a few other effects attributed to the substance that might be more useful. Notably, it’s often used interchangeably with the Elixir of Life, which could potentially help them resurrect their planet - something I still think they'll want to do, even if if it’s not the game’s actual goal.   

An entirely new planet could even be on the cards. Alchemy is already unbelievable, so I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. Sburb started as a Sims-like game, so maybe we’ll be graduating to Spore. 

Sburb. As with the ‘Sburb created itself’ theory above, this could all just be a way for Sburb to propagate itself through the universe. The end causes the beginning, the snake chases its own tail, yadda yadda yadda.

Whatever it is, it’s the ultimate alchemy - probably the last thing the kids make in the game. 

What is Sburb’s true purpose?

Hell if I know. 

I’ve been looking over these notes for about ten minutes now, and I’m not getting the great flash of insight I expected. I’ve generated a lot of possibilities, but I haven’t been able to put together a grand theory that ties it all together. 

I have enough data points to shoot a lot of guesses down, but nowhere near enough to prop a theory up. The entire game, plus the trolls, are screaming about how grand and important the Players’ purpose is, but that purpose is still shrouded in mystery. 

In other words, I need more data. Watch this space.

[afklancelot]

something i really love bout Danielewski's books is the use of color, not only by using it to signify a place/character using a color, but also text related to the place/character being the same color as well.

yeah, that doesn't make sense. elaboration in the Read More, but if ya don't wanna be spoiled on House of Leaves and/or The Familiar, then do not read any further.

Ok so first, House of Leaves. The first thing that comes to mind when I talk about color motifs AND House of Leaves is, obviously, gonna be having the word house be blue.

Out of every instance of the word house showing up in the book, only one instance has the word house be black. thanks to that, the readers start associating the House with the color blue; for example, the blue square framing the long rambling of what the House doesn't have. in general, seeing the word blue in the book makes one think of the house (though are are examples of blue being used that oppose the house). Even the instance of the house being black has the reader associate black with the house and its dark labryinth and ashen hallways.

in addition to blue, red text shows up as well: when it talks about the minotaur. and this isn’t just the word minotaur being red: any text pertaining to it will both be red and crossed out. example below:

like with blue and house, we start associating red with the minotaur thanks to the text about it being red. and so when Johnny tells the story of meeting Johnnie and using the word red to describe her and how unsettling she is, we automatically think of the minotaur. the fact that Johnnie seems to be an aspect of Johnny (almost same name and everything) helps connect the minotaur and Johnny as well; how Johnny starts becoming more obsessive and violent, culminating on the beatdown of Gdansk man.

there is one more colored text that is important in House of Leaves: purple. this colored text only appears three times, and the first two are within the cover and the very first few pages: A Novel and First Edition (the latter of which is crossed out). unlike the former two colored text, we are unsure what the color purple has to do with the book. by the time we get to the last instance of purple text, which is also near the last of Johnny's sections, we understand: Johnny seems to associate the color purple with his mother Pelafina, best seen when he sees purple flowers and starts to hyperventilate (according to his mother, she tried to strangle Johnny as a child). this is confirmed when Pelafina and her letters note that she had long purple nails when she was first admitted (this was when she describes the strangling). of course, with the first two instances of purple text, the theory that it was Pelafina that wrote House of Leaves, but i aint here to theorypost.

Now onto one of my favorite book series: The Familiar. notably, unlike House of Leaves, the use of colored text is benign. the word familiar is allways colored pink, whether or not it's part of a bigger word (familiarity) or being used in different contexts (the title pertains to a familiar a witch has, but in the series it's used as the adjective). notably there ARE some instances of the word house being blue as well, but there are much fewer compared to HoL.

What TF DOES have though is interesting. see, there’s nine total narrators in this book, which is a lot and kinda makes it hard to keep track of their own personal stories (only three of them actually intersect on a daily basis). to compensate for this, each of the narrators’ sections have a colored tag, pictured badly below:

can’t tell if picture bad bc it just looks better when reading it or bc ive had the books for about 2 years, but as you can see, there are colored tags, each pertaining to a specific narrator. when the colored tag changed to another on the next page, you know you’ve switched to another section w a new narrator.

for example, Xanther has a pink tag, Luther has a black tag, jingjing has a blue tag, and so on so forth. Xanther specifically is important: since both the word familiar and Xanther are associated with pink, that signifies to the reader that Xanther is important, and this is correct as she’s the central protagonist to the main storyline.

this carries on into mentions of colors in the story, perhaps even moreso compared to HoL. whenever a narrator's color shows up in another narrator's section, we automatically think about the former narrator and any possible connections to the latter. for example, Xanther is often described with clothes of both pink and black, the latter color making us think of Luther and the fact they seem to foil each other (not to mention Xanther has a black banner underneath; more on that on another post). conversely, in the first volume Luther ends up with a pink umbrella, making us think about Xanther (ironically enough, this is when Luther says "You think a color's gonna tell me who I am?" which is, well, wrong).

idk how to end this beyond the fact I wish colored text would be used more in other novels, no matter the genre it's just realllly good.

[strangebrew]

theoryposting once again! this time it’s about billy’s reverse audio message. before the end of the relocate project. the audio file above is a version in which i pitched it up slightly and slowed it down so i could hear the words more clearer.

disclaimer: this theory is pretty dubious. there’s a lot of shit we don’t know in regards to the walten files and a lot of things to figure out that hasn’t been shown yet, so take this with a grain of salt.

a lot of people seem to think it says a variety of different things, such as “the boy went to college, filled with knowledge. but never was wanted.” (which was actually debunked by martin walls in one q&a). however, i have a completely different interpretation. to me, it sounds more like...

“the blinds, which it colors, spoke to acknowledge, but never was content.” instead of colors, it could instead be saying “covers” but i’m pretty much confident on what i think what was said. first, i’m going to run down how i came to this conclusion, and then i’m going to explain what i think this could mean.

the first thing i did was obviously slow down and pitch the audio. secondly, i ran a few different versions of the audio (one slowed and not pitched, one pitched but not slowed, etc) through a transcription software to see if it could parse out any words/phrases/sounds i didn’t intially pick up on. the images you see below are its own transcriptions.

[first image i.d.: the text of the image reads, “the blind were to tell with knowledge, but never responded. yeah, absolutely.” in the corner of the picture, there is a percentage with a target next to it that says “61%”. end i.d.]

[second image i.d.: the text of the image reads, “a blind were to tellers truth to acknowledge, but never with auntie.” in the corner of the picture, there is a percentage with a target next to it that says “66%”. end i.d.]

[third image i.d.: the text of the image reads, “i buy for, to tell her with knowledge, but never was gone.” in the corner of the picture, there is a percentage with a target next to it that says “66%”. end i.d.]

now, here’s where a fault in my methodology comes in. see that number in the top of all the photos? that’s the accuracy percentage. since the audio is so garbled and there’s background noise in the clip, this hurts the accuracy of the transcription software.

despite all that, i think its still reliable due to the patterns displayed in all the images with its word recognition. in all the trials conducted, the software picked up on the word “knowledge” as well as “but never...”. 2 out of 3 of the transcriptions also picked out “blind” as one of the first words in the message. so although the software on its own probably isnt all that reliable at figuring out exactly what’s being said, i still believe there’s reliability in the word recognition patterns as a whole.

then there’s the most fun part of all! deciphering what it all means. :-)

like everything in the walten files, this message is very metaphorical and not to be taken literally. cutting to the chase, i think it’s about how the incidents at bon’s burgers are being covered up and ignored, and subsequently the spirits of the animatronics’ cries for help. what specifically makes me think this is the parting phrase of “spoke to acknowledge, but never was content.” it kind of reminds me of that one thing said in the secret episode lucky you. 

at one point in the video, the screen reads “they try to talk to us, through analog, they will be heard.” this is consistent with the fact that lucky you is the secret episode right after the relocate project. throughout the entirety of the walten files, there is a certain theme of the animatronics desperate cries being ignored and their stories being forgotten (either intentionally or unintentionally). they speak to acknowledge their own pain and unrest, but are routinely ignored and dare i say silenced, leading to their unsatisfaction and lack of contentedness.

this ties in with the context of the relocate project episode, of course, as we can see with the text flashing on the screen before the video cuts to the credits. it remarks that ashley, the assumed spirit that possesses billy the clown, had been screaming in the backdoors, only to be left there by her coworkers and for the facility to be shut down.

there’s also one more thing i’d like to bring up before concluding my analysis. there’s also a chance that the phrase could be “but never responded” instead of “but never was content”. both phrases work with my interpretation of its meaning, and it more likely says “content”, however i think “responded” makes more sense in the context of the phrase, what’s going on in the series, and the situation at hand.

as for the first part of the phrase “the blinds which it colors/covers...”, i have less of a grasp on its meaning. maybe it’s something that hasn’t been yet revealed to us, or doesn’t make sense yet because of missing parts of the puzzle that is the walten files. however i feel we’re supposed to interpret the blinds as being the animatronics and their spirits, if we’re just going off the rest of the phrase.

and...that’s all i got. i’m most likely definitely wrong on my theories, but hey, it never hurts to try right? so i thought i’d put all my walten files thoughts down and see if anyone else has any other additions, critiques, etc. by all means, if you have any ideas or counters or whatever about billy’s message, please send me an ask or reblog or something! i’d love to hear what others have to say on this subject.

[coolfire333]

MAJOR deltarune chapter 2 spoilers below the cut!!! 

But here are my thoughts, I didn’t think to type this up as a live-reaction type thing until late in the game so some of this is typed up as I go but most will probably come after I’ve finished

Ok first off, I love the aesthetics of chapter 2 so much!! The first chapter was really good too (I am a sucker for card game aesthetics what can I say) but the music, the enemies, the atmosphere is just so fantastic in part 2.

Toby (and Temmie since I know she does a lot of the spritework and designing) and whoever else was working on this did such an excellent job

I also got stupidly excited over the fact that the original Starwalker joined our inventory and I about died when they started walking behind us. I love the little icon in the menu and it’s really Pissing me off that they couldn’t join the party for real. Original Starwalker appreciation post :)

ALSO unrelated to this area but guys try to go all the way to the bottom of the yellow car traffic puzzle. It’s hard but there is a Funny there, please trust me it’ll be worth it. 

You have to be careful when timing the lights (I think I stopped the red cars before the yellow) and try not to bump into anything so Kris doesn’t lose their speed when trying to get there.

Speaking of dudes who I love, Spamton is absolutely supreme, I seriously cannot get enough of this guy. I didn’t think to start this post until after I fought him so I don’t have any images but his theme music is awesome.  

I don’t care if he’s super sketchy and questionable I’m giving him all my kromer. Going to become a big shot. Also the menu outside the shop isn’t lying his potions really do poison you inside and outside of battle lol

I’m stuck doing his basement puzzle because I have no spatial awareness so I keep dying to the bullets on the teacup ride back up. I’m nervous because this situation is just reminding me of the Jevil fight, I hope whatever secret miniboss comes out of this has a little mercy on me. 

And I don’t fully remember but I think when you first talk to him about the Knight he mentions a “clown,” does he know Jevil? He seems like the kind of character who knows more about things than he should, much like Jevil or Seam. 

Also interesting is the fact that if you go back to the shopkeepers in the city, Kris seems to say something about Spamton to them and they either deny knowing him or say that they refuse to bring his name up ever again. Hm. Someone who’s done a lot more digging into this game can probably make a good theorypost about him but there’s weird stuff here

Also the Queen is so hilarious. God just look at these portraits, they laugh at you when the song in this room gets to the point where the Queen laughs, and I love that detail :)

I hate to make the homestuck comparison but she reminds me of a cross between Kanaya and Roxy and knowing Toby’s homestuck background I do wonder about that. Also more nice comparison to superstar saga but her theme song kinda gives me Cackletta vibes. She is great :)

Also I thought that maybe based on her design that she was supposed to be Lancer’s mom, like the Spade Queen or something, but Lancer didn’t make any comments to suggest that? It does make me wonder where the remaining queens and jacks are, if there are any. 

We see the rest of the kings locked in the basement of the palace (later in Ralsei’s house too), and when looking at Lancer in the overworld inventory it says he’s the jack of spades, so do the other kings have sons? Are there queens too? I’m really curious about this.

Later addition #1: Spamton neo battle?????? He can turn your soul yellow!! New soul mechanics holy crap :0

His earlier theme also reminded me of the songs in undertale associated with the ghosts/dummies, the fact that he has even more callbacks to Mettaton in his later battle is very interesting. This song really reminds of “Ghost Fight” from undertale too. ALSO I can hear the same melody from “The World Revolving” in one section of this song too........REALLY interesting.

Same line as in the Jevil battle too....hmmm :/

Also what is “the power of NEO”? Second time this has been mentioned in the ut/dr series, and iirc Mettaton neo only shows up in a no mercy run? Really really odd stuff happening here

And this is a new game over screen than the usual chapter 2 one! It also says “Please, don’t give up!” after this. I didn’t recognize the text’s voice either...and I feel like the music is slightly different? Not totally sure. If anyone else has thoughts on this let me know. I’m probably gonna be seeing this screen a lot though, Spamton’s hard lol but I still think he’s really cool

OH and after dying a lot (idk how many times lol) it says “Come on, that all you got!? Kris, get up...!” hm, still unsure who this voice is...maybe Ralsei? It’s high pitched but I’m not fully sure it’s high enough to be him speaking

Later addition #2: God that battle was unsettling. “Spamton begs to the audience. Spamton prays to the audience.” is such a haunting line. And the ending...man. Really creeps me out. 

I have the dealmaker glasses now though so that’s pretty sweet. I wore the mannequin with Kris thinking it might do something in battle with him but I still have no idea what it does unless the effect was really subtle. If someone knows what the mannequin does I’d love to hear it. Also I hope we get to see the optional bosses again, I really like Spamton and Jevil...bring them back :(

Later addition #3: WOAH ok sounds like Spamton was making weird deals with Gaster?? Maybe Jevil was too, Spamton does mention a “clown” in his neo fight and he seems pretty upset with the notion that he is a “clown” so maybe Gaster is the one making all sorts of weird alliances with the secret bosses?

Anyway, all the shopkeepers left to gather outside Spamton’s shop in the trash dump and they’re all talking about him, it’s actually sad to hear his backstory...but the last one mentions a phone in Spamton’s room being left off the hook, and when they listened to whoever was on the other end they say “There was nothing but garbage noise.” which is similar to the “It’s nothing but garbage noise.” text that shows up when you try using the phone in the dark world. HMMMMM. 

Later addition #4: 

ROUXLS KAARD!!!!

Also idk if I fully trust Ralsei (we don’t know much about him at all and when chapter 1 came out I read an analysis of him that compared him a lot to early-game Flowey so I’m suspicious of his kindness) but this boat ride was sweet.

Does Ralsei have a little crush on Kris?? I might have been reading into it too much, I’m bad at seeing this kind of thing so idk maybe he just wants to be their friend and feels all sweetly about that but he was very much complimenting Kris a lot and blushing a ton on this boat ride lol

OH MY GOD YES IT’S THE MACHINE TO THRASH MY OWN ASS (almost forgot I made it bi pride edition LOL)

Also actual RK battle heck yeah!!!!

Later addition #5: Berdly has a crush on Susie. Oh my god. I guess that’s kinda cute that he likes her since she was actually genuinely nice to him but oh my god no. I will say that even though I didn’t like Berdly at first, his speech about being the “smart kid” was very emotionally resonant, I really feel for him and Noelle, and he seems like he’s got a good heart. But dude maybe don’t go after Susie (and maybe talk a little less too haha)

Later addition #6:

DUDE this battle music!! This was a really cool battle omg

Ralsei is starting to concern me, idk I’m still kinda suspicious of whatever is going on

Later addition #7: I love how the town now looks omg

They’re all back!!! I love the music vendors :)

Later addition #8: Um so I got to the ending of chapter 2. Hm. I have to think about this for a while. 

But I really enjoyed this game!!! I might boot up another save file so I can fool around with it more, but this was such a blast! :)

[larathia]

theorypost the first: Amane’s bruises.

Hokay. So. This is gonna be long, possibly triggery for abuse survivors, I’m just going to start with a cut so everyone has the option of ignoring it up front, before things get squishy.

There. Now.

Firstly - that abuse happened is not in question. Tsuchigomori is about as close as a disinterested third party as you can get, and the damage was extensive enough to make him take notice and try to intervene, even though he didn’t really care because he was sure Amane would pull through it and grow up to be a science teacher.

He uses rubbing alcohol and bandages. He comments on bruises, but you don’t use rubbing alcohol and bandages on bruises. You use them on scrapes, cuts, and burns.

We know that Amane dies after killing Tsukasa. Shortly afterward, too; the Red House arc mentions that a family of four dies all in one night. That it was ‘suicide’, or at least looked like it. We know that the twins’ mother, shortly after Tsukasa’s return, was damn sure that what came back was not her son. We know that Amane was being abused by someone he loved greatly. (And we know that because he forgives them, unconditionally. If it were just a school bully, he might keep quiet but I strongly doubt he’d forgive.)

Now. On to the options.

What people seem to forget, a lot, are two not-insignificant facts here. One is that eight years passed between Tsukasa’s return from the red house, and the death of the Yugi family.

The second fact is that it was the whole family that died - not just Tsukasa and Amane.

I mean. That’s kind of important. Yes, we have hints from Nene’s time travels that Tsukasa was sometimes violent. But we also have, from the priests, that Tsukasa’s mother was reacting badly to Tsukasa’s presence fairly soon after his return...yet she did nothing for eight years? While, apparently, Tsukasa got more dangerous?

Take a moment to consider what she knew. She knew that, prior to Tsukasa’s disappearance, Amane was sickly. Like, near-death sickly. Not-gonna-live-to-see-four sickly. And then...boom. He’s better. It’s a miracle. Nobody knows how but suddenly bam. Healthy child. And RIGHT AFTER THAT - Tsukasa disappears. He’s gone for six damn months. There isn’t a parent alive who wouldn’t be out of their mind with worry.

(One of the things I really, really want to know is how Amane’s parents treated him during that six month period. Did they cling harder to the son they still had, or did they ever think Amane’s sudden health and Tsukasa’s disappearance were linked somehow?)

And then - Tsukasa comes back. But he comes back different. He comes back able to grant wishes, for one thing. The boy we see in the Red House couldn’t stop offering wishes if he tried, but that’s the entity in the seat of its power. Let’s figure that maybe it took time for the entity to grow strong again, in Tsukasa’s body. Maybe.

You know what else we know? That right around this time - right around when Tsukasa disappeared and returned - a rock fell from the sky that Amane truly believes was a moon rock. That Tsuchigomori also believes was a moon rock.

And we know that Tsukasa thought, at this time, that Amane would go to the moon and bring back pieces.

I wonder how much power it took to pull that one off?

We know that Amane loves Tsukasa. Loves him so much that even when Tsukasa gets violent, he’d rather do anything than lift a finger against him. Yet there’s all these bruises. And Amane wants to be an astronaut - which is pretty much peak 60s escapist fantasy, let’s be real. It’s the ultimate fly-away fantasy. 

What if the abuse was coming from the parents. What if - and I’m saying ‘what if’ because we DO NOT KNOW, okay. We have no evidence. Zeeero. Pure speculation. But so is saying the abuse came from Tsukasa, so bear with me a minute here.

What if - the parents knew that Tsukasa came back wrong, and they feared him, but Amane was just really glad to have his brother back? The parents can see shit going wrong - Tsukasa doing things, or things happening around him, that are straight up impossible. But Amane’s a child. And Tsukasa loves him. He’s not going to have the same perspective. Even if Tsukasa is occasionally Violent and/or Weird in ways that don’t benefit Amane (like leaving him alone at a festival) if overall Tsukasa defended him and was loving, Amane would probably forgive a lot.

The parents, though. The adults in the room know something’s wrong. Tsukasa’s at the heart of it, but we’re talking identical twins here and Amane’s encouraging it. What if - the parents tried to forcibly separate the twins? What if - they were hurting Amane in an attempt to prevent whatever was corrupting Tsukasa from spreading? Hell - what if it WAS spreading and the parents were panicking about it, coming down harder on Amane in an attempt to stop it?

Before y’all rip my throat out on this - bear in mind that Hanako is capable of being just as much of a trickster as Tsukasa. He’s less mean about it, most of the time, but that reputation for being a deceiver did not come out of nowhere. And that boy can fight. That, too, doesn’t come from nowhere.

What if the abuse was coming from the parents, and Tsukasa killed them for it? And then Amane, forced to accept that this is a bad line that’s been crossed, kills Tsukasa and then himself? What, then, is the breaking point?

The breaking point is Amane.

The thing about being bullied, about being abused, is that sooner or later fight or flight kicks in. You snap and fight back, or you snap and run away...or you just snap, all the adrenaline and fear turning inward.

I think it’s a very real possibility that while the bruises came from Amane’s abuser, the cuts were self-inflicted. That when Amane said he ‘wasn’t going anywhere’...he’d snapped. He gave his precious moon rock away (which is one of those things people do right before killing themselves) and he resolved to die. (Remember his snarling at Teru that exorcism would only be a release.)

I really doubt Tsukasa would have taken that idea well. And we do know that whatever Amane intended, it apparently blew up bigtime.

I do not present this as Definite Fact - only a theory that I think is a reasonable interpretation of the evidence. Trust me, I have others. I’ll get to them.

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-10-31

THE SPOOKTOBER SPOOKD8 IS HERE!  Time to blog it and hope to the lord of bones that it heavily features the 12-foot Home Depot Skeleton!  Continuing from last time.

Will John remember that he should be off protecting the other kids from running off?  Or will he search for Vrissy finally, now that he’s spent a literal DAY staring at his house burning down?

> (==>)

This is the last Blood tie with your childhood and the past you were clinging to like a man-child, finally cut.  Your psyche is no longer allowed to be....

....Housetrapped.

Now get your Breathy ass over to your more adult responsibilities.  Or do something as irresponsible as usual, but more forward focused and thus singularly impressive.

> (==>)

I LITERALLY GASPED

I knew I was a fatally addicted Homestuck fanboy despite the trauma but I didn’t know I was THAT much of a just-over-thirty-year-old fanboy, I literally GASPED out loud.  To finally have the joy and confidence for the future that comes with JOHN and KARKAT together IN PERSON and interacting with a common goal.

What a dramatic, perfect shot.  This IS Karkat right?  That’s what the visuals and my heart and soul said

> (==>)

THEY’RE CLOSE FRIENDS

CLOSE ENOUGH FOR THAT

KARKAT HAS COME SO FAR

Karkat and John conversations are some of the strongest in Homestuck, I ship them as FRIENDS so hard

It brings to mind something I mentioned in the Breath, Blood, and the Flow of Reality explanation/theorypost, which was holy shit SEVEN YEARS AGO wow

I didn’t always understand the appeal of John as a character, ranking him in the middle of my liked characters list. But after a while, I suddenly noticed how enjoyable he was for the things his conversations did to others, making his pesterlogs some of the most enjoyable to read. I wrote the following two years ago, in a character rankings thread, back when we knew jack shit about the import of classes and roles:

“I didn’t really see why I should think John was such an amazing character until I realized his consistent effect on the other party. He’s goofy and doesn’t really understand anything, but he understands just enough about his friends and others to make cutting, hilarious, almost unintentional insights that can change people for the better, even if he’s off the mark. It’s not what he says himself, but what he brings about in others that makes him so great to read. I mean, if you wall him off from everyone else… he kind of fails.

That’s why I take issue with the complaint of protagonist syndrome, here. John is very little by himself, but enhances all the characters around him immensely. Imagine if John were doomed to stay the least powerful and/or game-advancing of the kids and trolls combined; notice how little that would do to the story, or his beneficial role in it.”

John cut himself off from EVERYONE for YEARS in the Candy timeline.  He tried to be close to people and just ended up distancing himself from it.  He tried to keep himself tied down by his old home and memories of the version of Dad he lost, and all sorts of childish stuff.  But that tie is cut, and the bonds he’s forged need to be grasped to bring him out to exercise his maturity, because Breath is futile without real BLOOD.

> (==>)

Awesome shot.

KARKAT: ROUGH DAY, HUH.

(that was supposed to skip to 2:26 when you click but I couldnt embed it that way -- I haven’t metal geared i just seen clips and super best friends & know some memes)

So many scars.  I used to even ship Jane and Karkat a little so they could just be aghast together at everyone’s shenanigans and level criticism at them together, but to think Jane’s fought and hurt Karkat THIS much...

(And yeah, his blood color is shown through his eyes now at this age, that’s correct.)

> (==>)

Oh my fucking god, going from that to Sprite mode that abruptly.  XD

This is great.

JOHN: karkat? JOHN: what are you doing here? KARKAT: IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU TOO.

Hah, SO close that Karkat’s immediately critical of NOT being greeted warmly.  :)

JOHN: this isn't a battlefield, it's just... KARKAT: THE OBLITERATED, SMOLDERING HUSK OF YOUR FORMER HOME. JOHN: well, yeah. KARKAT: WHICH WAS DESTROYED AS COLLATERAL IN AN ONGOING MILITARY CONFLICT. JOHN: oh all right, fine. JOHN: it just feels weird to call it that. JOHN: i guess i'm used to thinking of home as somewhere far away from all that war stuff.

Yeah John, the burning down from a bomb that was meant for you and ALL of your friends’ children is supposed to shatter you out of that illusion.

I’d continue criticizing, but Karkat’s about to do it for me:

KARKAT: JESUS *CHRIST* JOHN. KARKAT: I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO LIST ALL THE WAYS IN WHICH THAT CONSTITUTES A SHORT-SIGHTED AND PUKE-WORTHILY IGNORANT THING TO SAY TO ME, PERSONALLY. KARKAT: AND FRANKLY I DON'T HAVE TIME TO BOTHER, THANKS TO THE COUNTLESS FIRES I HAVE BEEN PUTTING OUT ALL DAY, THE ONE PRESENTLY CONSUMING YOUR HIVE NOTWITHSTANDING. KARKAT: YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE MADE THINGS GO A BIT MORE SMOOTHLY? JUST A FRACTION? KARKAT: IF YOU HADN'T JUST DECIDED TO WANDER OFF THE INSTANT SHIT STARTED HAPPENING. JOHN: jeez, i'm sorry karkat. JOHN: i had no idea how much time had passed. JOHN: i must have gotten a bit distracted by my house being blown up.

A BIT DISTRACTED.  You empty-headed irresponsible guardian.

KARKAT: NOT WANTING TO POINT OUT THE OBVIOUS, BUT I FEEL LIKE THIS WAS A PROBLEM THAT YOU OF ALL PEOPLE WERE UNIQUELY AND MAGICALLY EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH. JOHN: huh? KARKAT: YOU KNOW. KARKAT: WITH YOUR SHOOSH THING. JOHN: my shoosh thing. KARKAT: YOUR SHOOSH THING. KARKAT: THE GUSTY NONSENSE? THE GIFT OF GAS?? KARKAT: YOUR SBURB ALLOCATED BLOW JOB??? JOHN: uh. KARKAT: THE SUPERNATURAL COMMUNION YOU HAVE WITH ALL THINGS WINDY, YOU ASS!! JOHN: oh right, that. JOHN: that would have let me put the fire out, maybe. JOHN: i don't think there's anything in my skillset that would have unexploded my house though. KARKAT: THAT'S FAIR.

Mhmm.  Many of the characters in Candy AND Meat are currently in a situation where due to either years of unpractice in a worshipful society that discourages it by fueling their insecurities or inability to due to confinement in a years-long space trip has caused them to AVOID using their powers for the main beginning stretch of our new story.  People have complained about them outright “forgetting” to use their powers, and they’re right, to an extent, but it’s story-justified.  They’re almost all physically or psychologically prevented from doing so!  But those walls are coming down, starting now.  They’re going to come back into their own.  And we’re bound to see a LOT MORE of these literal Gods using their abilities to shape the fabric of reality as the story progresses.

JOHN: i suppose i'll add one more notch to the daily tally of crazy stuff that happened which i just have to accept as my life now.

It was all already happening, you just refused TO accept it until now.

JOHN: so... JOHN: what else happened while i was caught up watching the symbolic representation of my former life get consumed in a giant fire ball? KARKAT: OH BOY. WHERE TO START. KARKAT: SO FIRST OFF, IN HINDSIGHT, TODAY WAS PRETTY OBVIOUSLY JUST ONE HUGE BAITED TRAP. KARKAT: I SAY "IN HINDSIGHT", BUT FORTUNATELY IT WAS ALSO EXTREMELY APPARENT EVEN IN FORESIGHT TO THOSE OF US WHO SPENT A FEW SECONDS THINKING ABOUT IT. JOHN: ...right. KARKAT: OH COME ON EGBERT, SERIOUSLY? KARKAT: KIDNAPPING A PERSON OF IMPORTANCE, ONLY TO LET US KNOW PRECISELY WHERE AND ON WHAT OCCASION THEY WOULD BE MOST ACCESSIBLE FOR A RESCUE ATTEMPT? KARKAT: HAVING THAT OCCASION BE NONE OTHER THAN THE CORPSE PARTY OF A HIGHLY NOTEWORTHY POLITICAL FIGURE, WHOSE CASKET MIGHT AS WELL HAVE HAD A GIANT "KICK ME" SIGN DAUBED ON IT? KARKAT: THERE WAS BASICALLY NO WAY IT WASN'T A FRONT FOR SOMETHING HUGE. AND IT WAS! KARKAT: WE HAPPEN TO BE SITTING IN FRONT OF ONE FACET OF THAT HUGENESS AT THIS VERY MOMENT.

Wait.  Oh, God.

Someone brought up the possibility that Gamzee might still be revivable by Jane, and I speculated that she’s deliberately CHOOSING not to because she actually doesn’t like him that much or has some semblance of fucking sense left in her.

But what if she PLANNED to have a public funeral for him, and then revive him SOON AFTER to turn him into a Christ-like resurrecting figure?  D:

JOHN: well, when you put it like that... JOHN: i guess we all got pranked pretty hard, huh. KARKAT: THIS IS NO TIME FOR YOUR SHITTY NERD PRANKS JOHN. KARKAT: FRANKLY I'M INSULTED THAT YOU THINK SUCH A WORD IS EVEN REMOTELY APPOSITE TO THE PRESENT SITUATION. KARKAT: OTHER THAN TO DESCRIBE THE WAY I AM PERSONALLY BEING "PRANKED" BY REALITY IN HAVING TO EXPLAIN ALL THIS TO YOU.

Pretty much.  Get serious, John, actual people are dying by the--

--oh right, he was like this through the apocalypse and death of everyone on Earth.

I guess this is in character.  Paradox Space made sure to choose someone empty-headed and disconnected from reality enough to withstand this shit easily.  He really is a Breath player.

KARKAT: IT TURNS OUT THAT WE DIDN'T NEED TO PUT SO MUCH EFFORT INTO THE RESCUING YIFFY PART OF THE OPERATION. KARKAT: SHE BASICALLY RESCUED HERSELF WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE. KARKAT: AND TOOK CARE OF KICKING GAMZEE'S CORPSEBOX OVER WHILE SHE WAS AT IT, IN A STUNNING DISPLAY OF EFFICIENCY WHICH THE REST OF US CAN ONLY ASPIRE TO.

Excellent, yeah.

JOHN: it sounds like she'd be a pretty welcome addition to your ranks then. KARKAT: SHE'S A CHILD, YOU MORON.

Yeah, you’re fucking grown up now, John.  Stop thinking of the kids as the ones who have to rise up when the adults aren’t all doomed or dead.

KARKAT: THE VRISKAS, PLURAL. JOHN: shit. KARKAT: THEY'VE BOTH BEEN CAPTURED. JOHN: shiiiiiiiit. KARKAT: YEAH. KARKAT: GREAT WORK KEEPING AN EYE ON THEM, BY THE WAY! KARKAT: YOU LITERALLY HAD ONLY ONE JOB, AND YOU MESSED IT UP IN THE EQUALLY SINGULAR WAY IT WAS POSSIBLE TO DO. JOHN: urgh, i know, i know. ):

At least he messed that part up while he was TRYING to watch them, and not when he wandered off and watched his house burn for a whole day instead of protecting the remaining kids.

KARKAT: JANE'S PLAN FOR THIS CONFLICT HAS THUS FAR CONSISTED ALMOST ENTIRELY OF KIDNAPPING VARIOUS HIGH PROFILE CHILDREN. KARKAT: IT'S BIZARRE. KARKAT: AS THOUGH WE ARE FIGHTING A WAR OF ATTRITION, WHERE THE MAIN RESOURCE BEING UTILIZED IS THE OFFSPRING OF THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE ON THE PLANET. KARKAT: IF IT WASN'T ONE OF THE CORE TENETS OF HER FASCISTIC PHILOSOPHY, I'D BE TEMPTED TO SAY THAT CURBING REPRODUCTION MIGHT HAVE BEEN A GOOD IDEA, IF ONLY TO PREVENT THIS KIND OF FUCKSHIT NONSENSE FROM HAPPENING.

Leave it to Karkat to point out the blatant absurdity of Homestuck’s nonsense in any given situation.

JOHN: wait. JOHN: wait a minute. JOHN: you said that both vriskas have been captured, right? KARKAT: EXCUSE ME WHILE I WEEP FOR JOY AT THE REVELATION THAT YOU HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION FOR ONCE. JOHN: okay, well putting that emotional outburst aside for a moment. JOHN: how is that even possible? JOHN: doesn't vriska, the original vriska, still have her magic alien mind control powers? JOHN: it seems like it should be basically impossible for anyone to kidnap her. KARKAT: YOU'VE STUMBLED ASS BACKWARDS ACROSS THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT OF THIS UNFORTUNATE DEVELOPMENT.

...Is Karkat going to put two and two together and realize that Vriska must have been intentionally captured of her own free will for some sort of ploy?

KARKAT: YOU ARE CORRECT, IN THAT WITH HER CASTE-TYPICAL, *COMPLETELY SCIENTIFIC AND NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT MAGICAL* PSYCHOMANIPULATIVE ABILITIES, STAYING OUT OF CROCKER'S REACH SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY TRIVIAL FOR SERKET PRIME. KARKAT: EVEN ACCOUNTING FOR THE FACT THAT SAID ABILITIES ARE NOT NEARLY AS POTENT ON HUMANS AS THEY ARE ON FELLOW TROLLS, THEY STILL OUGHT TO HAVE TIPPED ANY ALTERCATION SQUARELY IN HER FAVOR. KARKAT: BUT SOMEHOW, IT DIDN'T! KARKAT: INSTEAD, THINGS APPEAR TO HAVE GONE GLOBES UP IN CLASSIC VRISKITE FASHION, AND NOW ONE OF THE MOST UNEXPECTED AND UNWANTED BUT NEVERTHELESS USEFUL WEAPONS IN OUR ARSENAL IS DOING TIME IN CROCKERJAIL. KARKAT: THAT'S ABOUT ALL WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GLEAN FROM TAPPING INTO THE BATTERBITCH AIRWAVES, WHICH IS A FANCY TERM FOR EAVESDROPPING ON THOSE OF HER AGENTS WHO TALK A LITTLE TOO LOUDLY IN SEMI-PUBLIC SPACES. JOHN: jeez. JOHN: i really screwed that up, didn't i.

Guh.  I guess Karkat is underestimating Vriska a bit or just assuming the worst out of a habit of assuming the worst of everything.  (Or, if he has his suspicions, he’s not telling John.)

KARKAT: HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT, AND WITH THE RECOGNITION THAT I AM CHOOSING TO NURSE YOUR BRUISED FEELINGS DURING A PLANET WIDE CONFLICT FOR THE FATE OF MY SPECIES, KARKAT: IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO EXPEDITE YOUR GETTING THE FUCK OVER IT? JOHN: i... hm.

Yeah, use your shoosh-paps from Karkat wisely, John.  You needed them.

JOHN: i don't really know? JOHN: this all feels wrong, karkat. JOHN: no offense, but when you're around, it's usually a lot... KARKAT: A LOT WHAT? JOHN: a lot funnier. KARKAT: FUNNIER. JOHN: how to put this. JOHN: normally listening to you go on and on about how much we've fucked everything up is just very funny! JOHN: but now it's just not the same. JOHN: maybe it's part of what's going on with this entire reality? i don't know. JOHN: once upon a time i would have put down your ability to pull a silly rant out of your butt as a fundamental law of physics or something. JOHN: remember back when we first knew each other? JOHN: it felt like all you ever said to me was how much you thought i was screwing up and being a useless asshole. JOHN: and once i realized that you were also just a dumb kid who didn't know what was going on, i started to kind of enjoy it. JOHN: but now it's like... the only one who's still a dumb kid is me, and everyone else has something big and important going on that i just don't understand.

Mhmm, Karkat has every reason to be mad.  And everything really, REALLY close to you that you care about is in danger from the very things he’s mad about.  Karkat is RIGHT for once with every angry seemingly-exaggerated-but-not word, and that’s throwing you.

JOHN: i thought that i finally got what was going on with this whole war and everything. i wanted to be useful! JOHN: i guess i got a little too wrapped up in the feeling of something finally happening again. JOHN: and then watching it all blow up in my face, kind of literally now that i think about it...

...you think maybe something that happens to be A WAR is actually a big farking deal that you should be serious about??

JOHN: it's hard not to feel even more dejected about the situation than i was before. JOHN: and now even the patented karkat vant rant has lost all its sparkle.

IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FUN.

JOHN: maybe if you had like, painstakingly itemized a list of all the things wrong with my plan in a comically overdone fashion or something. KARKAT: I CONSIDERED IT, BUT HONESTLY THERE WAS SO MUCH WRONG THAT I CONCLUDED THAT THE BEST THING FOR EVERYONE WOULD BE TO NEVER SPEAK OF IT AGAIN. JOHN: oh. okay.

Heheh.

KARKAT: IF WE'RE BEING HONEST, YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A PLAN, JOHN. KARKAT: CALLING IT A PLAN WOULD IMPLY THAT IT WAS A STRUCTURED SEQUENCE OF STEPS DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE A GOAL. KARKAT: WHAT YOU CAME UP WITH WAS A CONVOLUTED MESS WHICH STILL SOMEHOW INVOLVED DOING FUCKALL. KARKAT: AND I USE CONVOLUTED HERE IN THE SAME WAY THAT I WOULD TO DESCRIBE THE FRENZIED DRAWSTICK SCRIBBLES OF A SQUALLING HUMAN INFANT.

All Breath and no Blood?  All concept and influence and ephemeral accomplishments and no physical impact or results?

Karkat has been fighting this whole time with physical results in mind.  He NEEDS to tie that ephemeral shit down, and once added to his plan, once Breath sweeps the tide of actual sentiment of people, inspires them, you have an actual victory in reach instead of just more attrition.

KARKAT: I APPRECIATE THAT YOU SEEM TO HAVE DUG YOUR PAN OUT OF YOUR OWN CHUTE THE FEW MICROMETERS NECESSARY TO NOTICE THE PRECISE DEGREE TO WHICH THE WORLD IS BEING JUDICIOUSLY BATFUCKED RIGHT NOW.

Really need to dig yourself out more than that, John, yeah.

KARKAT: AS HARD AS IT IS TO BELIEVE, THAT'S A FEAT WHICH NO SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY INCAPABLE OF DOING!

(Which is why your plan of attack needs more Breath!)

KARKAT: BUT NOTICING THE PROBLEM AND MAKING MEANINGFUL PROGRESS TOWARDS SOLVING IT ARE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. KARKAT: THE NEXT TIME YOU GET THE IMPULSE TO "LEND A HAND", YOU'D BE BETTER OFF CANNING IT FOR FIVE MINUTES AND LISTENING TO THOSE OF US WHO'VE BEEN TRYING TO SOLVE IT A LOT LONGER THAN YOU HAVE. KARKAT: THIS ISN'T AN EXERCISE BEING CONDUCTED IN ORDER FOR YOU TO PROVE YOUR PERSONAL DEGREE OF MORAL RECTITUDE. KARKAT: AND IF IT WAS, YOU WOULD HAVE ALREADY FAILED MISERABLY! SO DO YOURSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE A FAVOR AND STOP TREATING IT LIKE ONE. JOHN: well... all right. if you say so karkat.

Phew.  Let’s hope he takes Karkat’s gift of a worldbound, arms-in-the-dirt sense of responsibility (Blood) and runs with it.

KARKAT: I DO SAY SO, EMPHATICALLY AND AT GREAT VOLUME. KARKAT: AND NOW THAT MY OBLIGATION TO CATECHIZE YOU ON THE SUBJECT OF YOUR OWN LIFE IS FULFILLED, I HAVE A WAR TO GET BACK TO. JOHN: wait, hold on. KARKAT: OH MY GOD WHAT NOW.

--is it gonna be a hug?

> (==>)

JOHN.  Put it together.

JOHN: you can't be leaving already. JOHN: there's... so much we still need to talk about!

No, not that!!

...well, yes, I’m all for more of you two talking but.  This ain’t just about you two.

KARKAT: WHAT MORE COULD THERE POSSIBLY BE FOR US TO DISCUSS?? KARKAT: PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME YOU JUST HAD ANOTHER EMOTION THAT WE NEED TO DROP EVERYTHING IN ORDER TO DISSECT. JOHN: no, that's not what i'm talking about at all. JOHN: karkat, we still haven't spoken about *you*! KARKAT: ABOUT ME? JOHN: yes. KARKAT: ABOUT *ME*? JOHN: about you. KARKAT: WHAT THE FUCK ABOUT ME. JOHN: well... JOHN: you know, how you feel! KARKAT: HOW I FEEL. JOHN: or just... JOHN: argh, i don't know!

This was more of an intervention than a feelings jam, John.  I’m not sure John’s in the condition right now to Breathily inspire Karkat somehow and help his war with an idea and drive he didn’t have before -- like he SHOULD eventually -- but I suppose we’re about to see.

JOHN: it's just been so long since we've seen each other. JOHN: all sorts of things have happened in that time, and it doesn't feel right to just not even mention any of it! KARKAT: LIKE WHAT?? JOHN: oh, i don't know karkat, literally anything! JOHN: i mean, look at you. JOHN: you are decked out in a tight body suit and have an eyepatch and everything. there is simply no way there isn't something to discuss there.

You talked with him plenty while NOT in person, though.

> (==>)

Such MOOD.  What a good image.

JOHN: or like, forget the eyepatch, we don't have to talk about the eyepatch. JOHN: i feel as though my point still stands? JOHN: there is basically a bottomless well full of stuff to go through. JOHN: i mean we kind of glossed over it when you brought her up earlier, but what about yiffy? JOHN: this might not come across so easily due to human troll cultural boundaries, but her existing is kind of a big deal?? JOHN: i feel like somehow i missed the part where we all sit around and talk about how strange it is that two of our friends went off and had a secret child without any of us knowing! JOHN: is it too much to ask that we have that part now, karkat?

That’s fair.  And they DO need to talk about it!  But this is sort of like in the Game -- there’s important shit to do, and not a whole lot of time to do it.  You’re going to do a lot of talking, but you won’t be able to do all you want with certain people separated from you by the circumstances of how this war is dividing your responsibilities.

JOHN: i mean, maybe it just doesn't mean that much to you. KARKAT: JOHN. JOHN: which is a little strange, given that it ties in to the whole conflict that you had with jade and dave. JOHN: oh god we have to talk about dave. KARKAT: JOHN. KARKAT: FUCKING HELL! KARKAT: I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT DAVE. JOHN: no, this is what i mean, karkat. JOHN: we need to talk about dave! KARKAT: HAHA! LIKE SHIT WE DO!! KARKAT: I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE HOW THIS IS EVEN A RELEVANT TOPIC OF CONVERSATION. JOHN: oh come on. JOHN: there's no way you aren't feeling kind of messed up about him, right?

THIS is fair.  Karkat does need to talk about this with somebody.  Whether John is the right somebody... I guess he is where Dave is concerned.  And he has to talk to Jade eventually, too.

JOHN: i know i am. JOHN: whenever i think about how things ended between you two... JOHN: especially now that he's... JOHN: ugh, i'm sorry. i'm SO sorry karkat. sorry doesn't even begin to cover it. JOHN: this whole thing feels so impossibly sad. JOHN: all i'm trying to say is... JOHN: it's not healthy to bottle these feelings up and not acknowledge them. JOHN: even if you aren't feeling anything right now, and i don't for a moment believe that's true, *i* need to talk about dave! JOHN: so can we please just talk about dave for a moment. KARKAT: NNNNGNGNGGGGGGGUUUUUUGUUGHHHHHHHH FINE.

It’s difficult to live in a Daveless world.

KARKAT: IF IT WILL GET YOU TO SHUT UP ABOUT THIS TOPIC FOR EVEN A BRIEF MOMENT, THEN FINE. KARKAT: REGARDLESS OF HOW POINTLESS AN EXERCISE I CONSIDER IT TO BE, I WILL DISCUSS WITH YOU MY "FEELINGS" ABOUT DAVE. JOHN: okay. JOHN: thank you. KARKAT: ARE YOU PREPARED TO BE INUNDATED WITH NONE OTHER THAN AN UNINTERRUPTED SPATE OF HARD, UNEMBELLISHED DATA VIS A VIS MY SWEEPS-SUPPRESSED, BISCUITFELT EMOTIONS ON THE DAVE SITUATION?? KARKAT: WELL HERE GOES.

--it’s not gonna be short, or cut away, is it?  --actually it could just switch to a very sad sunset-like vista of the two sitting there, and one poignant line from him followed by a long, hanging pause.

> (==>)

KARKAT: *DEEP BREATH*

A giant expletive isn’t it.

The best sendoff you could give him.

> (==>)

Holy shit.  It really IS a rant!

KARKAT: YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT DAVE? KARKAT: HOW I FEEL IS THAT I WISH THAT EVERYONE WOULD STOP FUCKING BOTHERING ME ABOUT HIM!!! KARKAT: ALRIGHT, SO HE AND JADE GOT HUMAN MARRIED!! BIG DEAL!!! KARKAT: DO PEOPLE FORGET THAT I WAS THERE?? I FEEL LIKE EVERYONE IS FORGETTING THAT I WAS LITERALLY INVITED TO THE OCCASION. KARKAT: I'VE EVEN COME TO EXPECT THIS KIND OF AMNESIAC BEHAVIOR FROM EVERYONE ELSE, SINCE I ADMIT THAT I DIDN'T EXACTLY STICK AROUND OR ACTUALLY SHOW MY FACE FOR MOST OF THE ORDEAL, BUT YOU EGBERT SHOULD HAVE NO FUCKING EXCUSE! JOHN: wait, karkat, that's not what i KARKAT: SO YEAH! THAT WHOLE THING HAPPENED, AND I CAME TO TERMS WITH WHATEVER THERE WAS TO COME TO TERMS WITH, WHICH WAS FUCKING *NOTHING*, AND THEN I GOT ON WITH THE ACTUAL IMPORTANT BUSINESS OF TRYING TO PREVENT THE WORLD FROM CRUMBLING! KARKAT: WHICH, NOW THAT WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT, IS *STILL FUCKING HAPPENING*! KARKAT: I AM UTTERLY APPALLED THAT THIS IS AN INFO MORSEL I KEEP HAVING TO SPOONFEED DOWN YOUR WINDCHUTE EVERY FIVE SECONDS, JOHN, I REALLY AM. KARKAT: I MEAN HOLY SHIT, NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS! KARKAT: AND ONE THING I CAN SAY WITH ABSOLUTE IRONCLAD CERTAINTY IS THAT IF DAVE WERE HERE, HE WOULD SAY THE SAME THING!!

Okay he dealt with it by keeping his hands in the dirt working on hard-fighting responsibilities, yeah, as a Blood player might.  But the way he’s ranting about it seems a little-

KARKAT: SPEAKING OF WHICH, WHERE *IS* DAVE?? JOHN: um. KARKAT: I FEEL LIKE IF ANYONE COULD HAVE PREVENTED TODAY FROM DEVOLVING INTO A HEADLESS CLUSTERFUCK, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN... OKAY, MAYBE NOT HIM, BUT AT LEAST HE MIGHT HAVE HELPED DRAG YOU OUT OF YOUR DEPRESSIVE FUGUE A LITTLE SOONER! JOHN: (oh shit.)

Oh SHIT

> (==>)

Oh no... oh no, they’re BOTH about to let it out together.

They’re gonna have to cry it out.  Finally, onscreen.  THIS is why they weren’t showing us, why they were saving it.  It felt so awkward at the time but it’s because it has to culminate in these two, some of the closest to Dave since CHILDHOOD, get to show us the effect on everyone in a microcosm.

KARKAT: NOT ONLY THAT, BUT MAYBE WITH BOTH OF US HERE WE COULD HAVE DISPENSED WITH THIS ENTIRE SORRY TOPIC ONCE AND FOR ALL, IF ONLY FOR YOUR BENEFIT! KARKAT: OH HI DAVE, JOHN SEEMS TO BE UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THE UNSPOKEN HISTORY BETWEEN US IS OF SUFFICIENT IMPORT THAT WE NEED TO HASH IT OUT THIS VERY SECOND IN FRONT OF THE BLASTED REMAINS OF HIS HOME! KARKAT: yo karkat that does seem to be a strange thing for my best friend john to be concerned about given that he has spent the past five years wallowing in the depths of deepest divorce fever KARKAT: and especially since jade and i have meanwhile been working as part of your resistance with no complaints, but sure, we can brofist each other and arrange our limbs in an unambiguously platonic way KARKAT: a way which is also flawlessly calculated to communicate to everyone present that here are two guys who are totally and unequivocally over each other JOHN: (oh god. you don't...)

Talk about John’s comment about Karkat’s rants not being hilarious in a situation.  THIS situation really tugs it out of them.  :(

KARKAT: THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA DAVE, AND WITH THAT MAYBE THAT WAY WE CAN WASH OUR TOUCH STUMPS OF THIS WHOLE ORDEAL AND NEVER HAVE TO SPEAK OF IT AGAIN! KARKAT: WOULD YOU LIKE THAT, JOHN? KARKAT: WOULD THAT SATISFY YOUR CRAVING FOR CATHARSIS ON THE SUBJECT OF DAVE?? KARKAT: WELL WHY DON'T WE TRY IT THEN. KARKAT: IN FACT, WHY DON'T YOU CALL DAVE AND GET HIM OVER HERE RIGHT NOW! JOHN: (oh my god...)

> (==>)

These visuals are ON POINT.  This entire sequence since Karkat showed up is masterfully done.

KARKAT: MAYBE WE SHOULD GET JADE TO COME AS WELL! JOHN: ): KARKAT: FUCK, WHY NOT INVITE FUCKING EVERYONE!!! KARKAT: WHY NOT PRESS "PAUSE" ON THE RACE WAR FOR A MOMENT AND HAVE ONE HUGE FEELINGS JAM LAWNMEAL WHERE WE ALL PUBLICLY EXPATIATE OUR VARIOUS CONVOLUTED EMOTIONS. KARKAT: FORGET PEACE TALKS, GET FUCKING *CROCKER* TO COME! KARKAT: MAYBE THE SIGHT OF A DAVEKAT RECONCILIATION IS THE SECRET KEY TO UNLOCKING THE PART OF HER BRAIN THAT STOPS HER FROM BEING A GENOCIDAL RACIST BITCH!!! KARKAT: HOW COULD WE HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN SO BLIND!!!!!! KARKAT: IF GAMZEE WASN'T DEAD, YOU COULD HAVE INVITED HIM AS WELL! KARKAT: HAHAHA, THAT'S OKAY, WE STILL HAVE A VERITABLE MENAGERIE OF PEOPLE WE KNOW WHO AREN'T DEAD. JOHN: ))))): KARKAT: ALL OF WHOM I AM SURE WILL BE SIMPLY DELIGHTED TO ATTEND WHAT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT IN EARTH C'S BULLSHIT HISTORY. KARKAT: IF THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES, EGBERT, THEN I AM PREPARED TO DO IT! KARKAT: DON'T THINK THAT I WON'T!! KARKAT: IF JUST FOR AN *INSTANT* IT WILL GET EVERYONE OFF MY CASE ABOUT THIS, I WILL STAND UP WITH DAVE IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE ***FUCKING WORLD*** AND SOLEMNLY VOW THAT I DO NOT GIVE A SHIT!!!! JOHN: KARKAT!!!!

That last bit with John.  I can HEAR the rawness in his voice as he shouts that last bit... he’s about to burst into tears.  And Karkat is going to have to with him.  And they’ll cry it out together, as they should.

> (==>)

JOHN: ugh, fuck, this is just too much! JOHN: i thought you KNEW! KARKAT: KNEW WHAT??? JOHN: dave's GONE, karkat! JOHN: he's... JOHN: he's dead.

Let’s see it happen.

> (==>)

Just body language, the blow of the words...

JOHN: i didn't mean for you to find out like this at all, i thought... JOHN: i mean, i only heard about it yesterday, but i was convinced someone would have told you already! JOHN: apparently one minute he was there, and the next... JOHN: none of us even know how it happened, and it doesn't make any sense that he's dead, but he is. JOHN: he is dead and he's not coming back. KARKAT: JOHN: talk to me karkat, please. JOHN: please talk to me karkat. KARKAT: KARKAT: HE...

Jade and Rose were on a different part of this battlefield, they didn’t have the ability, time, and/or heart to break the news--

> (==>)

KARKAT: HE DIDN'T EVEN SAY GOODBYE?

aaaaAAAA

What a fucking expression, wow.

And what a regret RoboDave has to have for abandoning everyone without so much as a farewell letter.  To think that ditching them like that was IN his Ultimate Soul is going to eat away at him.  He may be linked to all of his self of selves, but he’s still an individual with individual regrets.

This was a damned good update.  See y’all next time.

(It may be the new meds I’m on, but between this and the thorough love I see put into the unofficial archive, I’m suddenly reminded that despite all the drama, I fucking LOVE Homestuck.  Even its current incarnation.)