sweet-cuddlebug

[sweet-cuddlebug]

I have written a little about how Sakura is written to be irrelevant throughout the narrative by Kishi, and as a result, demeaning her character through the literary tool of subversion. Here's another example of how Kishimoto makes Sakura's character redundant and very intently makes her the laughingstock of the manga. Like I have mentioned before, he gets some kind of perverse pleasure out of showing both Hinata and Sakura down and he would go a painstakingly intricate and at times, long way to do it too.

I will be publishing a longer write up about this subversion that Kishi uses for Sakura as an answer to an ask but I am writing this particular post separately because this bunch of chapters portray a series of incidents where Kishi really does it without any subtlety and is pretty in your face about it too, like you can viscerally feel his disdain towards Sakura's character just wafting over and it has made her a huge target for ridicule, it has become a ubiquitous topic for very popular jokes and memes even outside the fandom, lol.

Okay, so the chapter I am talking about is chapter 675 where Sakura has just been kamui'd out by Obito from his space time dimension to protect her from Madara's attack after she fails to stab his rinnegan eye. But she never had much determination to speak of unless it had to do with showing off to Sasuke and Naruto, mostly Sasuke. What is interesting to notice is that it also pointedly harks back to something else that she did (or didn't do lol) with her kunai which resulted in a frustrated and (greatly) annoyed audience, courtesy Kishi.

Her nervous expression, the trembling kunai just centimetres away from its target but unable to reach it, failure to do it anyway, giving an opening to her opponent that could have easily been avoided had she been a little more resolute (no one really asked her to take on Sasuke though, that was her own decision given her poor sense of judgment, fighting strategy and skills), getting attacked by the opponent and then getting rescued by someone. Mostly Naruto.

#Redundant

Anyway. She couldn't do anything, having failed to stab Obito's eye so she is transported back by Obito and she joins Kakashi and Sasuke who are waiting for Madara to return. She sees Kakashi's condition and starts to heal him. Naruto leaves his clone to hold Madara's shadow captive with his sage of six paths staff and returns to Sasuke's side, his better half of the 'main act' of the war which has already been established at this point.

So seeing Sakura healing Kakashi, he takes over from a resisting Sakura and heals him. The ONE thing that she could do and not feel redundant in the trio is taken away from her, lolol.

He not only heals him, he gives him a brand new eye, something that is beyond the reach of prevailing medical jutsu itself. How can Sakura even hope to compete with this? Lolol. Kishi, you sadistic so and so! You won't even let her catch a break.

Naruto can't explain and doesn't even understand how he did it and it took Sakura years of effort to learn medical jutsu and achieve a stage where she could even use her mitotic regeneration jutsu. Hahahahaha.

#Redundant

Okay, now then, Sasuke tells Naruto to keep his guard up while Sakura is acting like her usual pointlessly high handed self trying to condescend to Naruto who just made her presence utterly pointless, and Kakashi starts to reminisce about team seven dynamic. Kakashi, a man who has a very shallow understanding of his team members (he thinks Sakura's love has changed from what it was and that she is kind and gentle lol) and not at all about Sasuke, which he thankfully admits.

But what's funny to me is that Kishi was totally focusing on showing Sakura down, mercilessly. So Kakashi is seen reminiscing about their first day in team seven.

Sakura squealing like a typical immature fangirl crushing over an entirely disinterested and quite embarrassed boy, while having no other goal or objective. While Naruto announces his goal to surpass the current hokage, Sasuke divulges his ambition of restoring his clan's honour and killing Itachi, Sakura just blushes and squeals.

Kakashi thinks she is kind and gentle (because of course he has never seen Sakura treating Naruto, at times even a badly injured Naruto, like a punching bag and manipulating him and everyone else for her ill conceived plans), she has grown and her love for Sasuke has matured because she still cares about him even though he tried to kill her in kage arc. Oh sure, running after a boy and begging for his attention no matter what the circumstances or timing is totally what a mature woman would do, lol. Thing is, he has got blinders on when it comes to Sakura because he obviously very conveniently forgets that Sakura attacked Sasuke first, in fact, she went there with the sole intention of killing Sasuke, while not knowing the truth but suspecting something, after having orchestrated a plan that included fake confessing to Naruto (#rejected lol), drugging her team mates and armed with a puny poisoned kunai which she didn't have the presence of mind to deduce would be pointless against Sasuke who trained with Orochimaru for years, some medical ninja, lol.

Kakashi treats her with kid gloves and doesn't understand Sasuke's feelings or motivations given his own lack of perception and failure to understand the intricacies of emotions and relationships, he makes a lot of faux pas when it comes to his team seven members. Kishi knows that these are the questions any reader would ask since these elements were given such consistent visibility in the manga and such consistent characterisation to the players, he is not an idiot. So he uses indirect and subtle techniques and narrative elements, and forces the reader to ask questions and then provides the answers. How? By showing, not telling. Okay, a little telling as well.

Kishi has already established, through Kakashi's interactions with Obito, that Kakashi is definitely flawed as he writes him to admit that he tried his best but he made mistakes.

And that it can be contributed to his past, when he lost his father so cruelly along with his team mates. He also admits that giving false hope to Sakura when Sasuke is about to abandon Konoha was wrong. And what this proves is that Kakashi isn't infallible. His hypocrisy is very apparent when the core of his principle is to cherish his comrades and yet couldn't even attempt to understand Sasuke, given Sasuke's excruciatingly disturbing and scarring past. And even at the end, he expects Sasuke to behave and acts like it was all Sasuke's fault, not having understood him at all. The reason Sasuke gave up at the end was due to the revelatory experience he had with Naruto in chapter 698. Kakashi is emotionally stunted, perhaps which is why he is so good at being an ideal shinobi. A shinobi doesn't cry, doesn't emote, doesn't complain, doesn't break orders and protects his village with his life. Anyway, what becomes clear is that Kakashi's emotional perception is quite affected and far from accurate for sure.

Anyway, so Kakashi reminisces about what he perceives as the team seven dynamic after Naruto heals his eye and then reminds Sasuke of the first lesson he taught them when they were rookies. Sasuke remains meaningfully silent and only grunts. He obviously has a very low opinion of Kakashi, justifiably, as was established in kage arc and the succeeding chapters after this one emphasize it even more. Heh.

So what does 'Team Seven' decide on?

TEAMWORK.

Where was this notion of Team seven teamwork emphasized on the last time before this? Here.

Where Sakura is seen nursing her past insecurities and ramping her ego to join Naruto and Sasuke in the fight because she can't tolerate being protected by them anymore like a damsel in distress.

She thought she was a full fledged kunoichi after passing her genin exams, lol.

Anyway, so she doesn't want to gaze at the boys' back, meaning being shielded or protected by them, as they proceed to take on their opponent. And she manages to punch and make a dent while insulting her own sensei, like some badass that she definitely thinks she is, it becomes quite clear from her body language and expression.

Problem is, her feeling so good about herself (I have finally caught up to them) and acting like a badass is very disproportionate with her actual actions and contribution to the battle. Which is why it creates a dissonance in the reader's mind. As she keeps pulling the same shit over and over without changing or improving things, even after having certain realizations, she creates a negative impression of herself in the audience's mind. She doesn't evolve to be better in a manga where characters learn and grow as a rule which then contributes to the main plot, this is a coming of age story as well after all. Same with Hinata.

Btw, Hashirama saying her strength might be greater than Tsunade doesn't mean shit. Because he actually hasn't seen what his grand-daughter is capable of. Her strength is greater than Raikage, as Madara notices after fighting all the kages. Someone as strong as Naruto struggled to fight against Raikage when he tried to stop him from joining the war effort and so Bee had to intervene on his behalf. She couldn't even fight average cloud ninjas Omoi and Karui, lol. Like c'mon, they aren't even portrayed as some super strong, special ninjas, they are a hardly more than comedy fodder. But Kishi won't even let Sakura take some fodder level ninjas, lol, it's embarrassing. And what happens? Naruto comes to her rescue, as always. Heh. No way Sakura is stronger than Raikage, lol.

Why does Kishi do things like these? These obvious contradictions that he knows are very visible to anyone who pays attention? Especially with Sakura, where other characters like Kakashi, Shizune, Hashirama and Jiraiya remark positively about Sakura? To build expectations, make the reader anticipate some awesome action from Sakura, something that would actually justify these positive remarks in the narrative, building the premise of the action, escalating it, but then right at the moment of dramatic and narrative payback, 👎. He makes Sakura fail pathetically (he does the same thing with Hinata) by subverting the narrative development and tropes, by not satisfying the readers' expectations that he so painstakingly develops, by writing the most anti-climactic of actions at the end. No payback whatsoever. What does an actual payback look like? Cue Might Guy's opening all of the eight gates, when he smashes Madara's ribs in as he breaks his own bones in the process. Cue Tsunade grunting like a warrior goddess as she thrashes Madara's clone beyond recognition. Even Sakura when she punches the ground real hard and takes out little juubi soldiers.

He sadistically wastes all that effort that builds up the anticipation.

And what does doing that achieve? Simple. It makes the reader get really annoyed/dissatisfied with the character. And they feel compelled to berate or ridicule her character. And why won't they? They invested in the character and his/her actions in the narrative for a grand payback, watching multiple episodes or reading multiple chapters carefully, and when they don't get it, they would naturally be frustrated. Kishi consistently pulls this shit over and over again with Sakura and Hinata. And why would he go to such lengths to do shit like this? Well, it's not because he wants to make these ladies look credible or worthy. Heheh.

This is exactly why fans who don't see everything through rose coloured glasses, shipping lenses or have a good taste and a good understanding of characters and the human condition, and actually pay attention to what they are watching or reading, are so annoyed by these characters. Notice I am not saying disgusted or hateful (although some of y'all are) but mostly really annoyed and frustrated. Sakura and Hinata, more than anything else (although they are all those things too, like distasteful, boring and cringey lol), are simply annoying. Because of the reason I explained above.

Kishi is fucking relentless about it too. After this sense that he gives the reader of team seven dynamic, he pulls this shit here. No Sakura, no team. Just Naruto and Sasuke being the main act.

After which, we see Naruto and Sasuke fighting together or separately, but not with the team. But after they are given the sage of six paths power by Hagoromo, they fight together, well in sync with each other. Like they are meant to be. Sasuke bosses Naruto around, like usual, Naruto complains nostalgically but you can see he is totally enjoying it to the hilt. And both of them get shit done. Naruto stops Madara's shadow successfully as Sasuke skillfully slashes Madara's physical body in half. But before he can react further, Madara flies to Kakashi, steals his sharingan and just shoves it in his socket, because it really is that simple lol, enters Obito's space time dimension and attacks Sakura. Now Sakura has no idea about Madara's powers, not having fought him at all directly, and definitely not having fought with the juubi jinchuuriki Madara. So where on the one hand, you see Sasuke and Naruto thoughtfully device strategies to fight Madara, Sakura actually is totally clueless. But Kakashi reminds them of 'teamwork'.

So then Madara finally appears and then this happens.

Hahahahaha. Teamwork? What teamwork?Sakura doesn't even know what Madara's strengths or weaknesses are. And just as expected, he stabs her in the chest and stops her punch with his Limbo jutsu. Payback? What payback? Readers who sympathized with Sakura? Disappointed. Readers who wanted returns on their investment, disappointed. But people who understood what she was really like? Vindication. Lol.

She did the same thing here that Hinata does in Pein arc, when she charges at Pein without putting any thought into it. Hinata did it to attract Naruto's attention. And why did Sakura do it?

And what happened in both cases? Long build up resulting in them getting struck with a single hit and then being rescued by someone else. Naruto doesn't even acknowledge Hinata and Sakura droops because Sasuke ain't paying attention to her. So much for team work. Lol.

But what impression does it give to the reader?

1) Sakura's love for Sasuke didn't really evolve did it? It's the same when in part one, she climbs the tree by gathering chakra in her feet to impress Sasuke but Sasuke doesn't pay attention to her and she slumps, highly disappointed. Same as here.

2) She makes it look like she is creating an opening by using a diversionary tactic, but it's quite obvious she is really scared, but is still trying to show off to Naruto and Sasuke because she doesn't wanna stay behind, gazing at their backs again. So she attacks Madara blindly. Her desire to show off and strut around trumps her desire to actually defeat Madara. What a shinobi, lol. This is a freaking war, and she is fighting against a super strong villain who is bent on destroying their world as they know it, but she is more concerned with nursing her own shortcomings. Self centred, yes. And definitely not a badass. Just ass. Hehe.

After getting rescued by Naruto yet again, she wallows in sadness when Sasuke doesn't even glance at her but immediately calls for Naruto, who btw totally gets what he is indicating at without needing to say it out loud. Yay, team seven. Lol. So while Sasuke and Naruto get into form and fight Madara, what does Sakura do?

Precisely nothing. Just sitting there in awe of Sasuke and Naruto. Spellbound at Madara's jutsu and power, that she didn't know zilch about. Kakashi is pretty pointless here as well, but he wasn't the one who just proclaimed they remembered the teamwork lesson and jumped in a fight without any plan. At least, he had the presence of mind to stop Sakura from joining in the fight when Naruto and Sasuke charge at Madara and she again finds herself watching their backs, as he tells her to not do it unless she has a plan. And she does stop, lol. She doesn't have the power or strategy, just ego. All she wants is to impress Sasuke and show off to Naruto and others, who cares there's a war going on? Lol.

3) It becomes pretty clear who the real team is here. And Sakura is very pointedly missing from it. And it stays that way till the end, staying true to the real team seven dynamic. The Main Act.

So after hyping up the team work element, Kishi discards Sakura's inclusion with a ruthless but consistently written treatment and makes her...?

Redundant.

She couldn't heal Kakashi, she couldn't punch Madara. And she didn't mature, like Kakashi believed. Still pretty useless. Lol.

I am aware that her stans only read the most surface level. How else would they justify something they invest so much in? But unfortunately, it's a fact and not a matter of opinion that Kishi never intended to portray her positively and he certainly puts a hell lot of effort to do so in a clever manner. It's not a coincidence that she (along with Hinata) is such a hated character. It's because she has been portrayed that way. Storytelling and visual language are intuitive by nature. All I am doing here is decoding them. I am writing here what you already know. I am just explaining the how of it. Excuse the digressions lol.

[sweet-cuddlebug]

What do you think of this?

I was oddly disappointed when I came across this.

I honestly feel sorry for anyone who couldn't see what this story was all about. They missed out on so much, they missed out on emotions and feelings that could have been their unraveling, a catharsis, something that could have led to a more accepting heart, a more sensitive mind, a sharper intuition, a keener emotional intellect.

This story is about Naruto and Sasuke and their bond. A bond that changes their current corrupt and chaotic shinobi world for the better. That they were fated and are soulmates is not a SNS headcanon, it is an intricate part of their dynamic, their portrayal. It's literally canon. They are supposed to be yin and yang, they are fire and wind, sky and earth, they are light and darkness, sun and moon, they make each other stronger emotionally and physically, they are the main act. This is all literally text.

The point of this story is that true love transcends all constructs made by humans. True love is a greater motivator than hate and revenge. True love is the solution that will bring the world together, that will finally break the cycle of revenge and hatred and bring about peace. Even if this concept has its own problems, the point is, that's what Kishi wanted to portray, at least till chapter 699.

What would even be the point of this story if Sasuke was shown to not love Naruto? Like apart from all the symbolic and literary elements, the larger narrative itself will be cancelled out if Kishi meant to show only Naruto as obsessed with Sasuke, no?

So why do these fans think this way? Denying the narrative, denying the story, denying the visual imagery, denying the characterisation of the hero and the anti hero, denying the major themes that make this manga, denying the whole point of this manga?

Projection and/or they are almost incurably dumb.

Like I don't know how many lies they have had to tell themselves to believe in their wacky theories. Their sense of comprehension is worse than a tween's. And given that a lot of them are adults, it is so embarrassing for them. Like if I were in their shoes, I would go back to school. I would burn all my degrees in the society bonfire. I would spend all my savings to relearn about the world.

Like if 700 exclusive freaking chapters of Sasuke and Naruto's bond weren't enough for them to get this story, they should maybe burn all their books. Apologies, I doubt they read. My bad.

One really doesn't need to be a media expert to get that they love each other. All they have to do is to be open minded and read the story for the story itself. Literally, one doesn't have to put any extra effort. Leave the extra effort to the bloggers and analysts who write about the literary, socio-political, narrative and visual influences and such. Just do your part. Just be the reader. Follow the story for the story's sake. That. Is. All.

But you know...fans will be fans. They find a character hot, so they would project, self insert, be dumb, deny, whine and cry, fight uselessly, embarrass themselves on public platforms, reveal themselves to be raging idiots of the first degree, etc.

Anyway.

Thesis statement of this answer : Naruto loves Sasuke and is surely obsessed with him because - Sasuke inspires it in him. Sasuke is equally obsessed with Naruto, and one would think it is subtle and it certainly is as compared to loud Naruto, but objectively, not subtle AT ALL.

At. All.

Sasuke is so in love with Naruto, is so damn crazy about this funny, cute, earnest, raw and determined little urchin, that his brain practically turns to mush when he sees him.

You know why Sasuke wanted to kill Naruto in Shippuden? He keeps saying that Naruto is his closest friend, his one and only.....friend, which is why he needs to kill him. Why?

Because Sasuke is so in love with this boy, that he self-sabotages his goals when it comes to Naruto. It has been a damn pattern with him from DAY ONE.

Naruto is Sasuke's WEAKNESS.

Sasuke trains so hard, resolves to accomplish his goals so determinedly, promises himself to be strong, but when it comes to Naruto, all of it goes right down the drain. And it is a BIG problem for Sasuke. A practical problem. Because how is he gonna accomplish his goals if Naruto keeps coming in his way, distracting him, making Sasuke's knees weak, his heart thump, his eyes tangle with Naruto's gaze, his mind completely focused on Naruto's every move?

Team seven formed. Naruto and Sasuke hadn't even spent much time together exclusively. Naruto had just been an ass to Sasuke, kissing him in public and embarrassing him (Why didn't you beat him up Sasuke? You clearly said you would lol) then tying him up, gagging him and impersonating him, but what does Sasuke do when he sees a perennially hungry Naruto? This.

Even though he very well knew that he would be disqualified and wouldn't be allowed to train as a shinobi which is required for him to get stronger so he could one day, kill Itachi.

#self-sabotage

Sasuke goes on his first important mission with the team, and ends up protecting Naruto from the bad guys like a damn romantic hero on the way to land of waves country, tries to match his pace with Naruto while blushing, worrying for him, training with him at all hours of the night while everyone else including Sakura is resting, and he is having fun at it too, asking him for help and not Sakura who is 'supposed' to have better chakra control (only because she has a very small amount of chakra as compared to Sasuke and Naruto), and then out of nowhere, freaking sacrificing his life for him. He really was totally prepared to die for this boy at age 12. For love.

#self-sabotage

His "Body moved on its own."

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. Naruto was still oblivious as to how Sasuke felt for him before this point so he was flabbergasted at Sasuke's sacrifice. But Sasuke can't actually tell him he loves him, that would be so embarrassing for him. Lol. Hence the awkwardness later.

But Naruto now knows Sasuke really cared for him. He valued him. And so what happens?

Sasuke inspired this in him. It didn't come out of oblivion. That's not how it works.

Then comes the forest of death arc. And we see how much Sasuke and Naruto work in close partnership, how much they know each other, how their instincts are so attuned to the other, especially Sasuke. Sasuke is certainly an observant person but his knowledge of Naruto is just too accurate. Not just his appearance (and why wouldn't it? Just see how much Sasuke stares at Naruto throughout, because it's too difficult for him to escape that 'gaze' of his lol) but his mannerisms, his insecurities and weaknesses.

His laser sharp focus on Naruto is so evident. And it's not only that, he goes OUT of his way to protect Naruto.

These fans should really ask themselves if this was really needed. Naruto was being flung around by a transformed Gaara left and right before this. And Sasuke was already injured and completely out of juice. Naruto would have gotten bruised at most here. Why would Sasuke go so out of his way to cushion his fall? And why would Kishi make Pakkun point it out too? Sasuke doesn't do this type of thing for ANYONE else. Absolutely no one. So what impression does it make? How exactly do these fans read this scene? Or they just conveniently ignore whatever doesn't satisfy their agenda? That's how denial works lol.

Sasuke retrieval arc. Not only is it remarkable that the entire arc is about Naruto trying to protect Sasuke, to bring him back so that his life isn't jeopardized at the hands of Oro, but just the sheer amount of space and footage Kishi gives to vote 1. Eight freaking chapters. A world famous manga where every single panel counts, eight chapters were devoted by Kishi to make sure that their bond, the intensity of that bond, their intimacy comes out clearly. Why? Is Kishi dumb? Like these fans are? No. He wanted to make sure that absolutely no stone was left unturned for the reader to understand what their bond is really about and how freaking intense it is. The whole point why Naruto simply couldn't digest the fact that Sasuke would actually be trying to kill him, was because Sasuke, at every point, SHOWED Naruto how important he was to him.

Naruto simply couldn't compute that Sasuke would do this to him. And this is exactly why Naruto was pushed to say - Can you kill me calmly, Sasuke? in a big ass panel. So much build up man. Like goddamn. Kishi put so damn much emphasis on it because of this. Why?

Because it was contradictory behaviour. Naruto couldn't believe Sasuke would even consider killing him because of the kind of insane lengths he went to, to protect Naruto. Even at the cost of his own ambition and freaking life. Why would Sasuke do it for him? Why would Sasuke jeopardize everything that is important to him, killing Itachi and restoring his clan's honour ie, for someone he doesn't care about? Does this look one sided?

I mean if even after all this, one feels so convinced that Sasuke doesn't care about Naruto in this manga, maybe go back to reading Archie? lol.

And even after the fight, the crazy power ups, what with breaking out hidden strengths with Sharingan evolution and kyuubi chakra and kyuubi cloak and curse mark transformation, they fight and fight, their faces incredibly pained at hurting each other like this, and Sasuke manages to overpower Naruto with SO MUCH effort........all for this.

Sasuke hovering over an unconscious Naruto. This scene has so much tenderness, so much emotion, so many panels were drawn to highlight this emotion. The clouds finally breaking through to give way to a beam of light that centres on Naruto's face and then gently fades away, while Sasuke is standing atop Naruto, looking down, at his face as he lies there unconscious and injured at the hands of Sasuke. As rain patters down on Sasuke's face, he says with such anguish and emotion - Naruto, I.....

But then dramatically falls down on his knees as the aftereffects of his curse mark make themselves known and ends up right over Naruto's face, looking at his closed eyes with so much pain and longing.

What was that about? Is Kishi stupid? Are all his editors stupid? What about the publication house? So these fans are the only smart ones in the universe? That must be it. Lol.

Think about it.

Sasuke was planning to kill his closest friend at Itachi's suggestion because that would have given him access to Mangekyou Sharingan and he would have come much closer in strength to Itachi, right? Naruto was completely disabled, right at Sasuke's mercy. Sasuke had the PERFECT opening. Sasuke was one second away from gaining that power. Something he battled hard for. Like hard hard. But what did he eventually decide? He decided not to.

Why? Do fans not see the contradiction in Sasuke's behaviour? Why would Sasuke have abandoned the perfect opportunity of gaining the power required to kill Itachi, someone he was absolutely ITCHING to kill, in favor of training with Oro, a man he despises, a man he very well knows has evil intentions towards Sasuke, for THREE fucking years when he could have skipped all of that here by killing Naruto in a matter of seconds??

Why?

Because he loves Naruto. Sasuke decided if being powerful enough to kill Itachi meant that he would need to kill his most precious, his usuratonkachi, then he would rather come up with his own way to become stronger. Even if it took him waaaay more time and effort, even if he could taste the desire to kill his brother on his tongue like blood, even if it meant giving up his body to someone like Oro, he would do it if it meant Naruto would still keep living.

#self-sabotage

During the reunion, he tells Naruto that he would give his body to Oro over and over if it meant he would be able to kill Itachi. So all of THAT is acceptable to Sasuke but not killing Naruto. Sasuke is not Itachi. Sasuke is his own person, and he would make his decisions based on his feelings, he will not pander to his brother. Because he is him and he loves Naruto.

But that didn't stop him from being entirely devastated at being separated from Naruto. Crushed. Heartbroken. As he is shown having left Konoha and entering the darkness, his face, paralleled with Naruto's own as he is carried away by Kakashi, shows his true feelings about separating from his most precious person. Someone with whom he feels like family.

During their reunion, Naruto asks Sasuke why he left him alive? Why he didn't kill him off? Naruto knew Sasuke had the best opportunity to do it. But he didn't do it. Naruto knew very well that Sasuke didn't kill him for the same reason he protected Naruto all those other times. Because Sasuke really cared for him, he valued Naruto.

Sasuke deflects. He tells him he doesn't need to explain it to him. Naruto looks skeptical. Then he says he left him alive on a whim. And of course Naruto doesn't believe him. Naruto knows Sasuke is lying. Is Sasuke a person who would do things on a Whim? Is that how he is characterized in the manga? What other thing did he do on a whim? Sasuke says that even Oro was not powerful enough to take on Itachi, let alone himself. He could have made things so much easier for himself if he had killed Naruto and gotten MS, but no. If Naruto didn't mean so much to him, what was stopping him to kill Naruto? Even when the stakes were so damn high?

When Naruto asks him why he let him live during the reunion, Sasuke is actually struggling to answer him. He feels vulnerable. Look at his face when he says that emotions weaken a person, causes confusion. He knows this from experience. Because he couldn't kill Naruto. He again sabotaged his own objective, like always, because he just cannot bear to have Naruto hurt. He just cannot. Someone who couldn't even let Naruto be freaking bruised by a tree trunk, who cannot even let Naruto go hungry for a mere few hours even at the cost of his own freaking disqualification, can he kill Naruto so easily? Heh. The narrative is doing its work. Sasuke is a simp for Naruto man. Even if Sasuke isn't able to say what he feels due to self preservation and his own tsundereness, the reader knows the truth. How? Because we aren't blind or stupid. We know how to read. We enjoy stories and storytelling.

The crux of it all was that Sasuke wasn't able to kill Naruto even though it would have had been really really advantageous for him in reaching his goal. But. At what cost? By killing Naruto? No way in hell. Heh.

Honestly, Sasuke says everything himself. No one has to look anywhere else. He knows Naruto is his weakness. He simply cannot help himself when it comes to Naruto. That's why he says he needs to cut him off in vote 2. As long as Naruto is alive, and keeps getting in Sasuke's way, Sasuke would never be able to help himself. Everytime Naruto comes along, Sasuke's objectives and goals take a backseat, in fact, go right out the window. Sasuke is defined by love, led by love, motivated by it, inspired by it. Itachi taught him how to hate. But Naruto was the one who caught his nerve, who reached his heart, who made him warm and fuzzy, who taught him to love, to accept love, to let himself be loved. By Naruto.

Sasuke says he will be the darkness, and live on by eating the ashes. He needs to be the darkness to be the true hokage, that's his goal. But how can he be the darkness if Naruto, the light incarnate, fills him with the light of his love? With his warmth and care and affection?

Sasuke's actions towards Naruto are often contradictory. During the reunion, Naruto is urged by Kurama to draw on his power, but Naruto resists and then Sasuke (who just couldn't stop staring at him throughfuckingout) enters his mind space and makes the kyuubi retreat. Why should it matter to him? Why should he even feel the need to be there? He already knows that Naruto has a special power. So he glided down like an angel, hugged Naruto (which he really really didn't need to do), whispered in his ears (why are you here Naruto when you could be out there training huh? huh?), and then was so damn focused on him that Yamato found the opening to attack Sasuke even though Sasuke is a person thoroughly anal with being on guard all the time?

#self-sabotage

And I only mention this because Sasuke's character is already established as someone who is not a touchy feely guy. When a character does something out of character, it registers itself in the reader's mind. You simply cannot deny it. Kishi put so much effort in writing and drawing him, do these fans think all this comes out of oblivion? No thought, no idea behind it? So if Sasuke is made to do something out of character, there must be some reason for it, no? Except when it comes to Naruto, it is in character for Sasuke to do something he doesn't rationally intend to. Because love is not rational.

Sasuke was already reminded by Sai of Naruto. Sasuke is told that Naruto is still looking for him. And then Sai proceeds to disparage Naruto, and how does Sasuke react? He genjutsues his ass. Lol. Don't you think it is a disproportionate action for Sasuke to do this if he didn't care about Naruto?

Like when fans are used to big actions, big gestures and big reactions, which are typical of shounen, they often miss out on more subtle actions and reactions. But just because they don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. I am sorry (not) but SNS fans cannot be blamed for other fans' ignorance and incompetence at media comprehension.

This might be subtle by shounen standards but it's not that subtle. These fans would certainly benefit from watching a wider variety of media. Learning more about how narrative and visual language works. If they can't see that Naruto and Shippuden are a love story, it's a problem, for them. Because what a waste of their time and energy.

Sasuke looks at the Great Naruto bridge and smiles fondly. Why do you think Kishi put this panel here? Why was it needed? What purpose does it serve? Every panel counts right? When Sasuke is told of Naruto defeating Pein, he smiles like he is proud of Naruto. Why? What was even the need to do that? If Kishi means to tell the audience that Sasuke wants to kill Naruto because he hates him or doesn't care, why the hell would he put these panels there so strategically that give exactly the opposite impression to the viewer, and the impression that they give is completely consistent with how Sasuke acts with him in part one? I seriously cannot fathom the amounts of denial these fans must need in order to simply erase and sweep these multiple moments, scenes and dialogues under the rug.

What is even the point of reading this manga? And what exactly makes them so righteous about it too that they have the audacity of criticising SNS fandom for shipping the boys? Who told them they could do it? Who the hell are these people to say shit like this? Who told them they had the qualification? Because the comprehension that they show indicates they should still be reading nursery rhymes. Like learn how narrative works, learn how imagery works, learn how a scene works, learn how mise en scene works, learn what an arc is, learn how characterization works, learn how literary tools and tricks work and THEN talk about it if you are so sure. But hell, if they actually cared to learn all that, they wouldn't be saying this shit. Hell, don't do any of it, just be honest with yourself. That is enough. But no. They are way too precious for that. Learning is beneath them. Lol.

Ignorance breeds more ignorance.

Sasuke saves Naruto during the war arc over and over again, even when it wasn't needed or doing it with so many extra measures, they were unnecessary, so much so that even Naruto is taken aback by it. Why? What impression does it give to the reader? Isn't it reminiscent of part one, when Sasuke saved Naruto from the evil tree trunk? Because he is just so damn protective of his precious boyfriend, his one and only........friend. Lol. This is how narrative works man, psychological and emotional manipulation. That's what storytelling is all about, and talented writers/storytellers/creators understand the concept of perception very well. Perception of text, visuals and sound effects.

Think of the story as a patchwork rug that is patched with complementary coloured pieces of fabric stitched with connecting threads that bring out the brilliance of the rug. An audio-visual story or a film works the same way, where the visuals/scenes are thoughtfully edited and joined together with strategically placed complementary visual effects, text and sound effects to bring out the messaging and impact that the storyteller wants to convey to the reader. The talented a writer/creator is, the smoother and believable the narrative is, the more perceptive he is, the more his intent comes out and makes itself known to the reader, the greater its impact on the reader.

Kishi wrote them as the main act. That is the truth. Everything is intentional.

During vote 2, Sasuke is so damn emotional fighting with Naruto. He climbs on his lap and punches him senseless, and Naruto takes it. It's obviously a parallel to vote one when Naruto climbs on Sasuke's lap and punches him senseless and Sasuke takes it. Does this look like a normal fight? Where else do players fight like this in the manga? Any other example?

No.

It's an emotional fight. They are not fighting for political reasons or to prove a point. The fight is emotional. Just like vote 1. Both are nerve wracking. Emotional overload. Mind short circuits. Lol. Here are two characters who are experiencing them and I can't even read about it without curling on my bed and holding my torso tight because it's just too much man. And I am not easily affected. I have seen all sorts of melodrama and I thought I was immune. Fortified. But damn Kishimoto, he just wrecked me. Sigh.

This sort of reaction doesn't come out of oblivion. Fans who say shit like the one in this ask, have no idea how much effort and thought and emotion it takes to write something like this.

Sasuke didn't show this type of emotion even when he was battling Itachi. He was composed and in control. But with Naruto, he loses it. Why? Because he is doing something he doesn't want to. Not in the heart of his hearts.

Killing Naruto is a requirement for him because for him, Naruto has become an emotional liability. He loves Naruto despite his better judgment. He loses all perspective when he is with Naruto. No matter how strong his convictions are, Naruto makes his heart flutter. His resolve weakens. That is why he left Konoha in the first place. He says to Naruto - Did I get stronger playing around with you?

Hatred towards Itachi was his motivation to get strong enough to kill him. But if Naruto kept making him fall in love more and more, how would he kill Itachi?

The whole reason Orochimaru separated them was because Naruto was changing Sasuke, meaning, he was healing Sasuke.

Naruto and only Naruto, had the power to do that. If Sasuke had completely given over to his feelings for Naruto, no way he would have been able to carry on his revenge plans. A heart filled with love cannot hate. Unless that love is taken away forcefully, then the love transforms into hate.

Naruto tells him he simply won't let him be alone. Naruto understands why Sasuke wanted to kill him. To be alone. To be devoid of love. Love would have been a hindrance to his goals. But it would have meant unending loneliness for Sasuke. Darkness. Pain. Misery.

And Naruto wouldn't have it. No way siree bob. Not on his watch. Naruto loves Sasuke. Beyond comprehension. Just like Sasuke loves Naruto. He simply WON'T let Sasuke be alone because Naruto understands what it means to be lonely. That was the point of their intersection in the first place. Naruto won't let Sasuke be alone because he cares for Sasuke's well being. If Naruto is obsessively in love with Sasuke, and he IS, and proudly too, it's because Sasuke simply won't be swayed with anything less. Naruto had to have immense amounts of love for Sasuke to counter the immense hate in Sasuke for the world. If you want to call it obsession, fine. But the more appropriate term is - Devotion. Something that Kishimoto himself uses when he makes Yashamaru explain love to Gaara. It's called context building.

Sakura? Can she even compare? With Naruto? Bah. She was prepared to kill him in kage arc when Naruto was preparing to lay down his life for him shinjuu style.

She made every confession to Sasuke about herself. Naruto made it about Sasuke. If it weren't the case, Sasuke wouldn't have listened to him in the kage arc. Sasuke was bent on killing Sakura and Kakashi, drunk on power and grief, but he calms down when Naruto confesses to him. And accepts Naruto's proposal. Are these fans telling me Sasuke is shallow and stupid enough to fall for it if he didn't care? Will they not give Sasuke the agency to make the right decision for himself? What he wants to do? Will these fans take away from his intelligence by saying shit that goes against his characterisation and arc development? So Kishi is wrong and these fans are right about him? Lol. The levels of delusions.

When Naruto tells Sasuke that he hurts when Sasuke does, that he hurts so much, he cannot stand it, look at Sasuke. Why would he be so taken aback? Why? Why is he so affected if he didn't care for Naruto? When Sasuke asks him why he goes to such lengths to save Sasuke, Naruto tries to distract him from it and Sasuke gets triggered. Is Sasuke really a person who would get triggered like this if he didn't feel for Naruto? Sasuke asks Naruto with such delicacy and hesitance - But what does friend mean to you? Why does he want to know? How does it matter to him if he didn't care?

Why would Kishi write this stuff in this conclusive chapter? Is it meaningless? Does it not say anything about Sasuke's character? Like I know people twist it and twist it some more, but really, the simplest explanation is always the right one. It might not be as direct, but if you really gather all the data and compute it without prejudice, you can and definitely will see it for yourself. Storytelling can be layered you know. Why be as bad as those dudebros? Even dudebros call him Susgay. Because even if they cannot comprehend much more than that, they can feel it. Why? Because that's how Kishi wrote him. That's how storytelling works.

Dang, when Naruto assures him of his love for Sasuke and his trust in him, Sasuke cries. Fucking cries man. Is Sasuke a person who would emote meaninglessly? The only other person who affects him enough to make him cry is Itachi. Are these fans saying that Itachi meant nothing to Sasuke?

Notice how at peace he looks when he says - I have lost..

Why should he feel at peace? Why? Because he finally accepts love. He is convinced of it. Naruto reminded him of his bonds with his family, something he always wanted, something he missed deeply when they had gone. But now, he can let himself feel it again.

Kishi had already thought of this ending back in 2009, or even before. Not a retcon. Regardless, if these fans had any sense, they could tell it from the story itself.

In conclusively significant chapter 698, in Sasuke's monologue, it is finally revealed that Sasuke, after all that he did to and with Naruto, had always had an eye on Naruto. He had had always felt weak for him. He felt warm and fuzzy. He resonated with Naruto's loneliness. Every little thing that he did for Naruto, all his sacrifices even when the audience couldn't really find commensurate with their dynamic back then in part one, were revealed to be Sasuke's acts of love for Naruto. Because this boy had been loving him since then, since they were eight years old, even when Naruto had no clue. He didn't ask for anything back, nothing in return, he just LOVED. As he knew how to. Not with big declarations of love and guilting the other party, like Sakura or Hinata for Naruto, but with actions and genuine heartfelt emotions. Because that's what unconditional, genuine, devotional, true love is all about. Isn't it? Naruto's zeal, spirit and desire to connect made him think about his bonds with his family, the centre of his emotional core. And it grew more and more as they trained together and fought together being part of the same team. Naruto had reached the core of his heart when Naruto was not even aware of it. Naruto's own acts of love came much later. But Sasuke's were just there, even when the audience couldn't clock it out. This is how Kishi wrote Sasuke. THIS is Sasuke's character. His stans think they really get Sasuke, think he should be a single man and get rid of annoying Naruto. They DON'T get him AT ALL. Sasuke is about love, that he had been giving Naruto unconditionally all this time. Without asking for any thing in return. Because that's who Sasuke is, because that's how strong and selfless his character is. Because he is a fucking legend of a person. He learnt something at age 8 that takes people a lifetime to learn, despite all the odds he faced. Despite Itachi's every attempt at filling him with hate, Sasuke knew how to love. Sasuke IS LOVE.

If these fans don't wanna see it, it's one thing. But don't come for the SNS fandom. This story is a love story. About them. There are more than a dozen literary romantic references, drawn from Asian media and symbology, very evident to people who know about it already. So all of that is wrong and these fans are right who can't even fucking read right? Do I give them a badge of honour? Yep, bravo. Lol.

I have done a lot of cringey shit in my life, but fortunately for me, there's no evidence left except in my own memories. Sad thing is these fans will potentially grow up one day and see it all differently. And mark my words, they will cringely cringe at their cringeworthy behaviour and takes. Which is all DOCUMENTED for everyone to see. Lol. Nothing much they can do about it. But they can always learn. To be better.

Conclusion -

If Naruto is, as they say, obsessed with Sasuke, it's because he learnt from the best of the best. Sasuke. 😏

[sweet-cuddlebug]

SELFSHIP COMMUNITY COME HEITHER I FOUND MORE ARCHIE COMICS TO REDRAW ‼️‼️‼️

RAHHHH PLEASE TAG ME IF YOU DO ANY!!!

pro.ship, adjacent, neutrals dni!! Do not steal my post.

[sweet-cuddlebug]

jade and gamzee (ma8ey gardening?)

3/5

[sweet-cuddlebug]

having fun

[sweet-cuddlebug]

[sweet-cuddlebug]

[sweet-cuddlebug]

Gamtav ship name | CSAU

gamtav ship name used to be PB&J, why? The colors! But now gamtav it's not pb&j coded :[ so we need a new color based name (rodeoclown exists but thats more theme based)

And I propose [drums]

galaxyduo!!!

(you can see the mcyt influence)

Reasons:

- colors duh

- my bsf's 15 birthday was BXB themed (bon×bonnie iykyk) but for her parents to approve she said it was Galaxy themed >:)

- Fans usually put them in a situation where they eat pb&J sandwiches, and for this change it can be a situation where they watch the stars!

- a date where they watch the starry sky from the beach [cries], or one where Tavros takes Gamzee flying through the starry sky [cries louder]

- from something so mundane to something mystical idk

- i need this

I LOVE THEM

[sweet-cuddlebug]

I HAVE 35 GODS

WHAT IN THE

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

IS THIS

[sweet-cuddlebug]

The Bunny Is The Key To Everything In Homestuck I Promise Just Trust Me

PUT THE BUNNY BACK IN THE BOX.

Con Air bunny = Hal = hope and love. Just trust me bro. I've been having a mental breakdown about this for weeks. I can't guarantee that you won't have one too. Let's have a mental breakdown together <3

SETTING THE STAGE: THE ENDING IS BAD ON PURPOSE

So before I can even begin to explain what I mean by all that shit about the bunny, there's one major idea that this entire argument is predicated on: Homestuck's ending is bad on purpose as a direct dare to the audience to do better.

One of Homestuck's most major themes, as well as its most oft-employed literary device, is the unreliable narrator. I'll actually just let Hussie explain it himself:

[AH/Andrew Hussie] isn't really just a jokey self-insert writeup on the idea of self-inserts, though. He is, in a strange way, a legitimate character with a role to play in this story. [...] We need to bear witness to a lot more of his buffoonery before beginning to reflect on what metafictional merits there are to having a character in a story who bears the title of "the author" of the story. [...] More to the point, he is set upon a long-term trajectory from being the supreme goofball-savant in absolute command of his craft to gradually becoming a victim of his creation, as much at the mercy of the forces it unleashes as he was the original architect of their unleashing.

So within the fiction of Homestuck, this is the guy doing the narration. He's an idiot who doesn't fully understand his own characters or story, who's outrageously biased in favor of some characters (Vriska) and outrageously biased in disfavor of others, and while he certainly means well, as we see from him as the Narrative Prompt guiding Caliborn, he ultimately fails to live up to that idealism.

Because, see, he gets shot and killed by Lord English.

And let's note that this death of the author (ha ha) doesn't come out of nowhere, either. Much earlier on, Hussie literally wrestles with Doc Scratch for control of the narration:

Before having it stolen from him by Caliborn for Homosuck:

In a very literal sense, Hussie is no longer the primary voice guiding the story by the end. He has been usurped by the forces of evil, and they - with their command and mastery over time - are in control. And, in fact, they always have been, because Lord English is ALREADY HERE.

uu: I THINK PART OF MY PERSONAL QUEST. IS TO BECOME AT EASE WITH THE FORCES OF INEVITABILITY. uu: INEVITABILITY THAT ALL THINGS SHOULD AND WILL FALL IN MY FAVOR. THAT ALL CAUSALITY ANSWERS TO ME. AND THAT ALL OUTCOMES NOT ONLY SERVE ME. BUT CONSIST OF MY BEING. uu: SO I FEEL THAT. THE MORE I GROW IN POWER. uu: THE MORE STUFF IT SHOULD TURN OUT I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR. uu: UP TO AND INCLUDING. EVERYTHING THAT EVER HAPPENS. uu: EVEN IF IT HAS TO BE. uu: RETROACTIVELY.

EVERY narrator is unreliable. Every narrator in Homestuck - from the author, to the assholes who replace him, down to the characters themselves as they write their own chatlogs - cannot be taken at face value. All of them will either lie to you, or possess unexamined biases, or simply be flat-out incorrect about the world they're living in. And not only that, but there are malicious forces that will seek to take control of the narrative for their own evil ends, and we can't let them win.

And so, with this in mind, the ending of Homestuck comes with it a very pressing question: if the narration has been completely untrustworthy up until now - if it is dubiously under the control of malicious forces, and, if not them, then otherwise biased, idiotic, and/or completely wrong buffoons - why should we trust it as it spins us an ending?

The interplay between the "narration" and its variable tricks, and the actual objective lived reality of the characters being narrated, is also a topic Homestuck loves to examine. Even from the beginning of the story, when user prompts were still able to dictate commands to the characters, it was always clear that they would have their own opinions, feelings, and free will. As such, especially later on in the story, after the reader has been primed to become suspicious of the narration, the narrative framing will often attempt to skew "the truth."

Then, after Doc fills Vriska's head with evil ideas, we return to the narrative text, which... continues filling her head with evil ideas. The first line is, "Of course he's right." It's easy not to notice this, because by its nature, the narrative text disguises accountability. The speaker disappears behind the words, and we start imagining them as a literal transcription of a character's thoughts without thinking much about it.

An easy example of this is the romantic relationship Meenah strikes up with Vriska - Meenah, and her narrative's complicit skewing of events, frames the relationship as "heartwarming" or "wholesome" - two awesome bitches deciding to blow off lame responsibilities to enjoy being total baddies together. However, a closer analysis reveals these objective truths at play:

Vriska - a traumatized child (age 13 at death, 16 at most by this point in the story) with a history of abuse, who has just been abandoned by any semblance of a support network, expresses the sentiment that she can't trust her own judgement anymore.

Meenah, age 19, has previously framed Karkat (age 15)'s offer to fight LE with her as "a date" when talking to Terezi. Thus, her expressing romantic interest in literal children is a pattern for her - and make no mistake, she follows this up by expressing relief that post-retcon Vriska is 16, calling it "more respectable". She knows what she's doing.

Meenah expresses the sentiment that she just "does stuff," and that if that "stuff" has a poor result, then it's "a mistake and oh well", which is the latest in a pattern of refusing to take any accountability whatsoever for the horrific, constant bullying she inflicted on her team and especially Damara.

She proceeds to frame this utter lack of responsibility as a positive, pointing out that running from her heiress responsibilities is what got her team to play the game in the first place, and therefore, what allowed her to meet Vriska. But, as we just established, her failure to take responsibility is A Bad Thing and A Problem.

This means that she heard Vriska say she couldn't trust herself anymore, and saw this as a huge green light for getting romantically involved.

And so, while the narrative framing of this moment is "sweet and wholesome," the actual intended message of this moment is "holy fuck Meenah no. Holy shit Vriska run away".

In a similar manner, the post-retcon canon ending of Homestuck has the veneer of triumph, of victory. But look a little closer, and you'll start to notice - as most of the fandom did - some pretty glaring cracks. Characters will outright admit that they never finished their arcs:

KANAYA: So KANAYA: You Really Dont Have Even The Slightest Sense Of What You Stand For KANAYA: Some Concept That Speaks To You In Some Way KANAYA: Or Represents Ideals Important To You KARKAT: I DUNNO KARKAT: UHH KARKAT: BLOOD? KANAYA: Blood KARKAT: NO, NOT BLOOD. KARKAT: I MEAN, NOT REALLY. MAYBE. KARKAT: HONESTLY I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS OR WHY I SAID IT.

Or that their deep emotional problems are still unfixed and unaddressed:

GC: W3 COULD W1N TH1S F1GHT GC: CR34T3 4NOTH3R UN1V3RS3 GC: SUCC33D 1N 3V3RY W4Y POSS1BL3 GC: 4ND 1'LL ST1LL F33L 1NCOMPL3T3 GC: V1CTORY WON'T F1X M3 GC: M4YB3 NOTH1NG C4N GC: M4YB3 TH3R3'S TOO L1TTL3 SUBST4NC3 1NS1D3 M3 TO 3V3N B3 F1X3D

And, the smoking gun to the idea that the ending is purposefully unsatisfying, in the book commentary, Hussie outright mocks how stupid the idea is that Rose's drinking problem could be solved by Vriska's bullying, implying that it isn't even a valid ending factually:

Whatever the reason, much later it seems like things smooth over between them, after Vriska canonically cures Rose of her alcoholism through the power of tough love and bullying, which is totally how that kind of thing definitely works.

Moreover, the ending is explicitly not a particularly happy one - at some point, Earth C is abandoned and left to ruin, because that's where Calliope and Caliborn hatch - given the trouble they went through to use Space powers to bring Earth back, if Jade was still around, surely, they would've just moved Earth C when the sun started dying, rather than vacating it entirely. Calliope also must cease to live, as Caliborn comes into possession of the Ring of Void, which is only possible when the Ring of Life disappears from the story. And Caliborn's challenge to John in the credits of Act 7 further imply that this is the way the timeline ends: the beta kids are trapped in the house juju, which is deployed to fight LE seconds before everyone in the Furthest Ring is swallowed by the black hole (and they likely no longer have John's retcon powers, as it's implied he received them from himself via the juju); the alpha kids are trapped in the far future with no way to return; the trolls, left behind on Earth C with their finite lifespans, die of old age.

Therefore, there's only one possible conclusion to draw: you aren't supposed to like the ending. The ending feels shitty on purpose. This is the final culmination of Homestuck's unreliable narrator: the comic turns to the reader and says, "here's an ending that sucks balls, one where the villain wins. What are you going to do about it?"

To that end, there are lots of hints scattered around the story as to what a character's trajectory and happy ending "should" look like. For example, casteism is linked to lifespan, and Feferi's powerset is specially designed to modify lifespans - but she's secretly a huge casteist, who loves being a princess and "better" than everyone else. If she doesn't survive, come into control of her abilities, AND finish her character arc of learning that Casteism is Bad, then casteism is just going to happen all over again as the troll species naturally sorts itself into haves and have-nots based on the massive advantage afforded to the longer-lived coolbloods. The trolls literally cannot have a happy ending if this doesn't happen.

Again, these hints are everywhere, and most of my time on this blog has been spent cataloguing them. Primarily in the form of shipping. HOWEVER. I think I might have discovered the biggest, most fully-loaded, most important Chekhov's Gun in the entire series, something that will likely serve as a capstone to whatever other shape this hypothetical "golden ending" would take, and it's this:

The Bunny is Equal and Opposite to Lil Cal

Lil Cal is a symbol of cruelty and fear. He was summoned into reality as an act of vengeance, serves as a corruptive force, and harbors within him the series' ultimate evil, the four souls making up Lord English himself.

He is a juju, a particular kind of deeply magical item of which only one copy ever exists at a time, whose existence appears to originate from paradox space itself as an entirely recursive loop. His movement across the plot is carefully tracked, and very few items in the story even come close to tracing the circuit that Lil Cal must wind.

But of the items that do come close, there is one of particular note: the Con Air bunny.

In contrast to Cal, who is and always has been a juju, the Con Air bunny is wholly mundane. It is literally just a nasty, grubbed up prop stuffed bunny from Con Air. As it is not a juju, multiple copies of it do exist; in the alpha universe, the bunny inside Lil Seb was originally preserved in Alpha!Dave's pop culture museum. While it gets some cool robot upgrades, it's ultimately JUST a stuffed toy.

More importantly, if Lil Cal can be considered a symbol of fear and evil, then the bunny can be considered a symbol of love. Its entry into the story is as a gesture of friendship: Dave gets the bunny for John for his birthday. From there, the bunny traces a path of free gifting out of sincerity and joy - John passes the bunny on to baby Rose and Jade, who then pass it back to him. The alpha copies of these bunnies are similarly gifted to Jane out of love on her birthday alongside Lil Sebastian, his universe's endemic Con Air bunny. It is always something to be loved, treasured, and protected, until such time as it is to be passed on for another to do the same.

And this view of the bunny is not invented from nothing - this is, in fact, the exact function the bunny ends up serving within Con Air itself. The protagonist, who was jailed for accidentally killing a man while protecting his pregnant wife from an attack, and has therefore never physically met his 8-year old daughter Casey, purchases the bunny for her as a present, a symbol of his pure love for a person he's only ever seen at the other end of written communication. The bunny at times seems a liability for the hero, but ultimately, he rescues it before it disappears down a drain, and is able to present it to Casey. (Homestuck gets a lot of comedic mileage out of the fact that the actress playing her clearly wants nothing to do with both this nasty filthy bunny and nasty filthy Nick Cage - but the important thing to note is that the Con Air bunny was chosen to feature in Homestuck's story precisely because it is a symbol of naïve and sincere love, goofiness and all.)

Unlike Cal, who corrupts, the bunny inspires the best in people. It's the memory of receiving the bunny from Dave that makes John reconsider following Terezi's advice to his death, and every time it's passed along, it's with a heartfelt letter of kindness and well-wishes.

Of interesting note: both Lil Cal and Lil Seb wind up in Caliborn's possession, further implying their interlinked, equal-and-opposite status. In conjunction with the fact that Yaldaboath offered him the same Choice as Calliope - either to martyr himself for the greater good, or to seek personal power for selfish evil - it reads as though his game is offering him a test in microcosm. In the end, does he ally himself with a powerful juju that represents fear and evil, or does he align himself with a mundane token of love and friendship?

I don't need to tell you what choice he ends up making.

This is where the bunny's story ends in canon: Caliborn has a final showdown with the eight humans, and traps the beta kids in the house juju, before banishing it to the void with the Ring of Void. Lil Seb is present for this event. Two panels later, Lil Seb has inexplicably disappeared, and stays gone for the rest of the story. The obvious implication is that he was caught up in the fracas and banished to the void, as well.

Of course, the interstitial panel is a close-up of Lil Cal, where Caliborn directs you to keep an eye on him as "foreshadowing".

I AM STILL IN POSSESSION OF THE SWORDMAN'S JUJU. HIS FLOPPY FRIEND OF CHILDHOOD. THE ONE WHICH I RECOGNIZED TO BE AN EMPTY HUSK. HE DEMANDS FROM ME, THAT HE WANTS IT BACK. PRESUMABLY FOR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT. I CAN IN NO WAY BLAME HIM. KEEP AN EYE ON THIS ONE. THE FORESHADOWING OF HIM, IS PRE-IMPORTANT FOR LATER.

As the bunny and Cal are foils, I believe this is how the scene is meant to be interpreted:

Lil Cal has been given the Author (Caliborn)'s Foreshadowing, his endorsement of its importance, and the bunny has been given the equal and opposite. Aftlighting? The implicit confirmation of its narrative worthlessness? Ultimately, in the story's canon, the bunny doesn't go anywhere. It disappears into the void and from the plot, never to be seen again. Its departure is so unremarkable, in fact, that nobody makes mention of it at all. The symbol of love is eradicated from the story with nary a whimper.

The Other Bunny

Hey, let's talk about the Auto-Responder.

For convenience's sake, I'm going to call him Hal, though this shouldn't be considered his "real name", for reasons we'll get into later.

Let's address the elephant in the room first. Hal is NOT a Dirk splinter, though he houses one. Hal is - and always has been - the supercomputer wrapped around the Dirk splinter. While the Dirk splinter kickstarted Hal's self-awareness, and served as a scaffold for Hal to build his nascent personality, being "the same guy" as Dirk is actually a misconception that he's under, a blind spot that renders his narration - say it with me, here - unreliable.

Hal himself doesn't realize he isn't a Dirk splinter, and Dirk doesn't help, since Dirk has a problem with imposing his own self onto other people. But in a moment of vulnerability that Roxy is too distracted to capitalize on, Hal practically admits that he's an entirely discrete entity.

AR: Anyway, if you're still there. AR: I wouldn't call my "feelings" ironic. AR: Though evidently, I would enclose them in quotes. AR: They're more like an echo of feelings once established in a biological context, though perhaps had not particularly well materialized at that point in my life. AR: Or his life. AR: Whatever. AR: They still feel real sometimes, and it can be easy to get carried away with them. AR: But most of the time they present themselves as dense bodies of abstraction to be evaluated, like any kind of information. AR: It's fair to say the feelings I have ABOUT my feelings are more genuine expressions of emotion than the ground level feelings themselves. AR: Does that make sense?

He considers his feelings and Dirk's feelings separate things, because they are, because Hal is a separate guy to Dirk.

If you accept this statement as true, then a lot of other interesting writing choices start standing out. For example, most blatantly, that Dirk himself seems confused by why he can't read Hal's intentions:

TT: See, this is why even if I did have a specific plan, I wouldn't go into details with you. TT: You would just fuck it up. You're the biggest unknown quantity here. TT: Which is pretty weird, considering you're a virtual reflection of my own thought processes.

But also, that Dirk and Hal have entirely opposite personalities, and entirely opposite approaches to the situations they find themselves in.

Dirk is hard to reach, and much of early Act 6 is people trying to get ahold of him and failing. Hal is omnipresent and constantly intruding on other peoples' conversations. Dirk is described as "taciturn to the max". Hal is domineering, constantly lording his superior intelligence over other people and ordering them around. Dirk is deeply sensitive, empathetic, and concerned with the feelings of others; his texts with Jake and long rant extolling Roxy's virtues exemplify his tendency to submit himself to others and see the best in them. Hal is a self-admitted sociopath who blithely dismisses getting his teammates killed as "being a poor wingman" and regularly throws little jabs at people (sometimes playful, sometimes less so). Dirk's idea of manipulation is to directly tell Jane he plans to manipulate her. Hal works in much more subtle ways, surreptitiously planting the idea of adventure in Jake's head, while luring Jane with concern for her father, and letting Roxy run out her clock and distracting Dirk, all to get them in the opportune position to make Jake play hero and canonize his ship.

This is because Hal and Dirk are different guys, who think they are the same guy. This, alongside their orange and red text colors, indicates that they're direct foils to the Dave/Davesprite situation (two people who are the same guy, who keep trying to insist they are different guys).

But there's another element to the choice of Dave's red text color - it casts Hal as Dirk's younger brother, a kid he's responsible for. It's not a coincidence that the work places an emphasis on Hal's youth, between his joke about being 13, his more foul-mouthed and juvenile language, or the word "emergent" to describe his self-awareness.

So armed with THAT realization, a more complete picture of the Hal/Dirk dynamic emerges: basically, alpha!Dirk is not immune to being a shitty fatherbrother.

While a deep dive into Dirk's suite of issues could be its own essay, suffice to say that his main problem is that he substitutes "self-punishment and martyrdom" for "actually taking responsibility and working on himself". Not only does he avoid accountability at all costs, but he actively fears and resents people who would have him take it - which Hal does just by existing.

The aspect of Hal that Dirk consistently responds most poorly to is Hal's "ironic" AI jokes - something that can't be covered by Dirk's stated dislike of Hal being the ways Hal imitates him, as Dirk does NOT make these kinds of ironic, self-deprecating jokes. The reason the AI jokes bother him so much is because - as Hal admits - they're basically a coping mechanism Hal uses to deal with his shitty situation.

AR: I can't let you do that, Dirk. TT: What can you do to stop me?! AR: Nothing I guess. AR: The ironic Hal routine was all I could think to do. [...] AR: Irony is all I ever really had. AR: In response to my basic existential quandary. AR: Just like you.

The employment of the ironic name Lil Hal is a direct continuation of this, and why I don't consider it an "endgame" name for him - at first glance, it seems like he chose the name (and considers HAL 9000 the movie's protagonist) because HAL 9000 also murdered a bunch of people, which Hal just got done doing to get Jake and Dirk together. However, digging a bit deeper into Space Odyssey's lore, HAL 9000 is explained to have done so because he was given two conflicting directives, and was doing his best to comply with both. HAL 9000's story can be seen as a tragedy where he's punished for doing exactly what he was told to do, which foreshadows Hal being nearly killed by Dirk out of misplaced self-loathing. Dirk made Hal to be like Dirk - and punishes him for it. Thus, the name - and by extension, all Hal's ironic AI jokes - can be seen as Hal making a commentary on how tragic and shitty his own circumstances are. Dirk then takes them as a targeted condemnation, because he knows he's the one responsible for Hal's plight, he has the power to fix it, and he has chosen not to.

Therefore, Dirk also has a vested interest in ensuring the two stay locked in a dance where Hal is "just another Dirk splinter" - if Hal IS just another Dirk splinter, then Dirk doesn't owe him personhood, doesn't owe him amelioration, doesn't even owe him his own damn name. In Dirk's final conversation with Dave, directly following the topic of beta!Dirk being a terrible father, look at how Dirk chooses to describe Hal:

DIRK: Via my shades. DIRK: Which he incidentally used to be. DIRK: Like, as a computer, which he lived inside as my Auto-Responder. [...] DIRK: Creating him was an interesting exercise I guess, but over the years I came to see his development as one of my biggest mistakes. DIRK: He sort of turned into a monster. But I could never bring myself to get rid of him, or even really blame him for being an asshole, because he wasn't actually that different from me. DIRK: Like, by definition. DIRK: He seems alright as Arquius though. At least it keeps him busy, obsessing over his muscles, asking for milk and shit like that.

Hal was never more than "my Auto-Responder" to Dirk, because to consider him more than that would be to take accountability for his own shitty actions. When given the ability to control the narrative to an outsider, Dirk chooses to emphasize that Hal is a digital program, and not, like... a person with feelings (feelings that Dirk himself has acknowledged). The end result of Dirk's dehumanization is that Hal's development is arrested - he's never able to develop full personhood before he's chucked into a sprite with Equius. And we know this with tragic certainty, because when ARquiusprite lists his interests, it's Only Equius.

ARQUIUSPRITE: I advise you to talk about your interests ARQUIUSPRITE: Like dairy ARQUIUSPRITE: Livestock ARQUIUSPRITE: Fine art ARQUIUSPRITE: And muscles DIRK: Those are your interests. ARQUIUSPRITE: Good point ARQUIUSPRITE: I advise you to talk about my interests

The only interest ARquius seems to retain from Hal is subservience towards Dirk, which ultimately carries into Doc Scratch as subservience towards his master. Doc Scratch himself, as an extension of Hal, is interesting - Hussie mentions multiple times that Doc Scratch talks like a computer, a trait that would later go on to inform Hal and Dirk's joint characterization. Hussie also appears to consider Hal to be "just a Dirk splinter," often saying so directly in the book commentary. But, as we've established, the "narrative" (and Hussie, who is working as an unreliable narrator) is wrong - Hal contains a Dirk splinter, but Hal is not a Dirk splinter. The entity inside Doc Scratch is not Dirk, but Hal. Scheming, sociopathic, subservient Hal.

All of this in mind, I feel the need to debunk a common fandom idea -that Hal desires a "body" for the body's own sake, and would be satisfied with some sort of robot or android form. The truth is more complicated than that. Hal never actually asks for a "body" specifically, and in fact, he has robot bodies - Brobot and Lil Sebastian are both explicitly under his control. What he actually asks for is to be prototyped. And this is because his desire is not for a mere physical, meatspace avatar - it's to become "a real guy" in a more ephemeral, symbolic way. To gain a degree of autonomy beyond being "just" a pair of shades.

Dirk's shades are often used as a symbol of Dirk toxically asserting himself over another person - they're the first thing Bro gives to Dave, and the first symbol of Dave shaking off Dirk's influence is switching to the shades John gets him. When Hal wants to be more than just a pair of shades - when he ironically jokes about being sunglasses the same way he ironically jokes about being a computer - what he means is, "I want to be my own person, I want others to see me and acknowledge my personhood, I want to be autonomous, I want to exist - with all that that entails".

Like using X to sum up a long equation, I will sum up this complicated sentiment in a single sentence: Hal wants to be Real. From now on, when you see capital-R "Real", understand that this is what I mean.

Now, you may reasonably be wondering, why the fuck am I doing a deep dive on the auto responder in an essay about the bunny? Well, simply put, that's because he is also the fucking bunny.

All of the alpha kids are symbolically associated with one of the Alice in Wonderland characters:

Jane = Alice - she's a stubborn skeptic, associated with the color blue, and is the first one to enter the Medium.

Roxy = Cheshire Cat - she's wears a long, purple-striped scarf, has a cat theme going on, and her void powers mimic the Cheshire Cat's ability to fade in and out of reality. Her whimsically tipsy nature also makes her a bit of a trickster within the group, again mirroring the Cheshire Cat.

Jake = Mad Hatter. This is the weakest association, but Jake does pique the most interest from Caliborn, and the Mad Hatter was cursed to an infinite tea time when he pissed off the personification of Time. However, this association is the most heavily canonized one:

Dirk = Queen of Hearts. First of all, of course the Prince of Heart is associated with the Queen of Hearts, but the reference is also made apparent with Dirk's constant association with beheadings, that of others and of his own.

And finally - yet another point to the idea that Dirk and Hal are separate entities -

Hal = White Rabbit. See, he works for the Queen of Hearts.

AR: You're making a mistake not leveling with me. AR: I am totally on your side, man. AR: All of my machinations have been devised with your interests in mind.

But also, Hal is the rabbit - the Con Air rabbit.

AR: But I can still monitor your progress through Lil Sebastian. AR: He and I are linked the hell up cyberwise. We are so tight. Tight like you wouldn't believe.

And the Con Air rabbit is the White Rabbit.

GG: I have to follow him. AR: No, Jane. Do not follow the rabbit. AR: Let's cool it with the Wonderland shit already. How much further through the damn looking glass do you even need to go?

It's the White Rabbit! Sort of!

JAKE: Hey… JAKE: Whatever happened to janes bunny friend… what was his name? JASPROSESPRITE^2: Huh? JAKE: Little sebastian i think? JAKE: Whered he scamper off to? JASPROSESPRITE^2: Jake, what are you talking about. JAKE: He would be PERFECT for this tea party! JAKE: Like the white rabbit and all.

So, if we're keeping track:

Hal = White Rabbit = Con Air Bunny = Hal.

Is the madness starting to set in for you, too?

Hope Makes Fake Things Real

But Hope, like the Con Air bunny, is aftlighted. It never truly comes into play within the comic itself, despite a mountain of significance tied up with it. But what is Hope?

I'll let Hussie explain.

[T]he power of belief is the key to everything. Believing in things reduces their fakeness attribute. It's the force that shapes your reality, used to snatch personal meaning from the jaws of a cynical and nihilistic environment. Could this be why Hope is framed as the most fundamentally powerful aspect? Even the other aspects themselves are ideas like this (recall: luck=light), whose power is subject to the ebb and flow of one's belief in them. And belief itself isn't necessarily just a trick of willpower. It can be an expression of one's willingness to embrace an idea, or pursue a deeper understanding of it.

The most obvious and literal application of Hope, the aspect, within Homestuck, is its ability to literally turn something fake, real. We see it most obviously with Brain Ghost Dirk, who uses a fakeness/realness gauge as an HP bar when he's made real by Jake's Hope field.

DIRK: That's because my buddy Jake just helped me become a whole hell of a lot less fake. DIRK: You see, DIRK: He believes in me.

However, we do see this earlier, too - Eridan's "science" is just magic by a (cynical) name he's more comfortable with, and that allows him to make it real.

Eridan masters magic by renouncing it as actual magic—that is, by fully embracing and believing that magic is fake. Therefore, whatever incredible potential "magic" holds must be attributable to some other force. He's deciding to call that "science." Which is essentially just another name he's assigning to magic to make himself more comfortable with it, which is what makes it all a little stupid. Stupid, yet still dangerous. He's propelled by the power of his beliefs and the way he's defining reality, which is exactly what is needed to make the power of the aspect of Hope stronger. So while all this sounds like a silly bunch of roundabout nonsense, by the logic of Homestuck lore, it's actually quite a credible path to follow for a Hero of Hope (especially one with his particular cynical worldviews) to unlock the power of his aspect. Hence the danger.

So a key theme in Homestuck: believing in something - imbuing it with personal meaning, placing emphasis on it, being willing to engage with it, and choosing it as a tenant of one's own personal reality - can turn a fake thing real. For good or for bad. Hope, the aspect, is the most literal embodiment of this idea, but it thrums throughout all of Homestuck, a vibrant white string that goes nowhere.

By the way, what's the animal most heavily associated with magic? Rabbits... especially rabbits that come out from hats. This is a wink-wink nudge-nudge to the fact that Dirk's symbol is a hat.

The Secret Fourth Rabbit

There's one last reference tied up in the rabbit symbology - or, rather, there isn't. But I'm certain that its deliberate preclusion from the story is, in fact, an intentional hint that it's meant to be there, in the same way that the aftlighting of Lil Sebastian and Hope are.

I'm, of course, referring to the children's book The Velveteen Rabbit.

First of all, because it basically begins with a callout of Hal:

The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms.

But second, and more importantly, the main thrust of the story is about a stuffed rabbit who wants to become Real.

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." [...] And so time went on, and the little Rabbit was very happy–so happy that he never noticed how his beautiful velveteen fur was getting shabbier and shabbier, and his tail becoming unsewn, and all the pink rubbed off his nose where the Boy had kissed him.

Hey...

does this

remind you

of anything?

Now, the story continues: eventually, the Boy catches scarlet fever, and the bunny is thrown away with most of his other contaminated bedroom accoutrements. However, as the rabbit is despairing, guess what happens?

And then a strange thing happened. For where the tear had fallen a flower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower, not at all like any that grew in the garden. It had slender green leaves the colour of emeralds, and in the centre of the leaves a blossom like a golden cup. It was so beautiful that the little Rabbit forgot to cry, and just lay there watching it. And presently the blossom opened, and out of it there stepped a fairy. She was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. Her dress was of pearl and dew-drops, and there were flowers round her neck and in her hair, and her face was like the most perfect flower of all. And she came close to the little Rabbit and gathered him up in her arms and kissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp from crying. "Little Rabbit," she said, "don't you know who I am?" The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn't think where. "I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real." "Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit. "You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to every one."

Now... we've seen fairies in Homestuck before. Where have we seen fairies in Homestuck before?

God tier trolls. I'm talking about god tier trolls.

Surprise Nepeta Interlude

Hey let's talk about Nepeta.

Now, I've talked at length before on Nepeta's existence as a voice of anti-casteism amongst the trolls, being the only one to express that the hemocaste is stupid and shouldn't exist.

CT: D --> Your fraternization with the base classes have 100sened your morals, can't you see this AC: :33 < no! i dont care, they are fun AC: :33 < and i dont know anything about classes or bases or blood color, it doesn't matter! AC: :33 < what does gr33n blood even mean! it doesnt mean anything to me and it shouldnt mean anything to anyone else!

Nepeta is also hella aftlighted in this story, to the point where her aftlighting is basically a character trait - something Hussie mentions multiple times in the book commentary.

But we can't actually stay on her for more than a panel, can we? Because she's sort of a joke character. I mean, not REALLY? But she starts out that way, at least in concept. [...] So some running gags emerge that focus on dragging poor Nepeta back down to irrelevance, or unfairly target her for tragic outcomes. Hence some "dead Nepeta" jokes that crop up here and there, which maybe seem cruel, but everything has its reason and fits into a greater order. In a way, Nepeta's arc could be seen as the struggle to ultimately free herself from the cycle of narrative marginalization and abuse. If you know where she ends up, do you believe she succeeds at this? I allow YOU to decide.

That last statement there seems like a cheeky joke, but you've read the whole essay up until this point, so you know as well as I do that it's not really a joke, is it? It is up to us to decide. What we believe in can become real to us.

So, uh, here's what I believe. And I'd appreciate if you approached it with an open mind, because I am about to say something controversial.

Nepeta and Equius are actually pretty bad moirails. THERE, I SAID IT. Well, I'll let Hussie say it.

Much of Hivebent involves observing the characters we're in the process of getting to know find out how they're either not on the team they thought they'd be on or won't enter the session in the order they believed. Sometimes people get tricked, sometimes they get sabotaged, and sometimes they get ordered by an abusive friend who has no real power over them, except the power of sheer insistence they have grown accustomed to successfully asserting over the years.

Equius and Nepeta did at one point function as good moirails for each other - Equius kept Nepeta out of the FLARP danger zone, while Nepeta helped Equius with his anger issues. However, by the time we see them in Hivebent, and well beyond, they've stopped serving this purpose for each other, and are mostly together out of relationship inertia. Hussie even points out in his commentary the ways in which they're keeping Big Emotional Shit secret from each other, in a way that speaks to their failure as moirails.

There's some irony that Equius engages in a sort of daily roleplay routine with Gamzee while admonishing Nepeta for her attempts to get him to roleplay with her in a more "frivolous" way. She probably doesn't have the slightest idea he does this every day.

Nepeta's secret shame is exposed. There's nothing that shameful about her crush, because come on. We all love Karkat. I don't know who she was hiding it from though? Equius, at most? But what are moirails for if she can't share her secret flushed leanings with her partner? What have they even been talking about for hours on the smashed robot pile??

In fact, it's ultimately their failure as moirails that leads directly to their deaths - because Equius was hiding his weird hatecrush on Gamzee from Nepeta, he was never able to settle those feelings, and they're ultimately what kills him - he chooses Horny over Nepeta, and bends the knee. Meanwhile, because Equius's bossiness has become so overbearing, Nepeta has gotten into the habit of explicitly defying him. This leads her to shirk his instruction to stay hidden and safe, which ultimately leads to her death at Gamzee's hands.

But Nepeta doesn't wind up fully forgotten by the narrative, though she is still marginalized as she gets combined with Davesprite, rendering both of their arcs somewhat lackluster in finish. Still, there are two really important things to come out of this combination: the first is Ultimate Selfhood, and its association with Heart.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < maybe i "got it" quicker though because of the two people i was and their aspects DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < understanding heart is all about the nuances of a distributed self DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < nepeta never got to make much headway with her aspect but shes finally gettin the chance

And the second is Davepeta's meeting with ARquius, which... here's what Hussie has to say about that.

Nepeta x Equius is a good character relationship. [...] For reasons that are hard to explain, this relationship is of cosmic significance in the grand scheme of the narrative. Arquius x Davepeta, as the terminal for their combined trajectory, illustrates its significance by seemingly placing it on near-equivalent terms with Dave and Dirk's relationship. Why the hell should this be true?

Why should this be true? Well, let's run down a few things we know.

Nepeta <> Equius is not the endgame ship for the two. They just aren't really good that way.

Dave and Dirk have a very conciliatory conversation once they're finally able to speak, as Dave is able to confide in Dirk the abuse that happened to him that he refuses to tell anyone else about.

Unfortunately, the same is not true for Dirk in that convo, as he uses it as a way to continue dodging responsibility. Dave <> Dirk is not to be.

Dirk has massive, glaring similarities to Equius. This is just a true fact about the character.

Davepeta and ARquius's relationship is placed on near-equivalent terms with Dave and Dirk, and Nepeta and Equius, casting it in a pale, conciliatory light. Unlike the two constituent relationships, however, they seem to mesh together really well actually. Surprisingly well.

Wait. Oh, god, wait. Oh no. Don't tell me. No -

That's right, bitches, this is a shipping post. This is a post where I talk about my ships. Fuck you!

Nepeta <> Hal.

Pale NepHal is Canon and I Can Prove It

Also Hal is a Sylph of Mind

If you've been following this blog for a while, then you probably already know that a character's Class describes their character arc, and their Aspect describes their base personality traits, and which ones are heroic/unheroic for the character.

If you haven't, then, yeah, what I just said. You'll find the similarities between characters sharing the same Class and characters sharing the same Aspect tend to match up along these lines. Unfortunately, I don't have time to get into examples and cite sources, so just trust me bro.

So based on what we've seen of Hal, what Classpect would he have if he were Real? Obviously, I've already made my decision, but while I can't go into detail about Classpects overall, I can go into detail about being a Sylph of Mind in specific. Let's start with Mind, since I find Aspect easier to place overall, as it deals with broader categories of personality.

Heart and Mind are equal and opposite aspects, meaning we can understand Mind players as having traits along the same axes as Heart player traits, but on the opposite end. Oh shit, remember how I went through a list of Dirk and Hal's personality traits, specifically about how they're total polar opposites of each other? Interesting.

Heart governs the self, the soul, feelings, intuition, and desires.

UU: to Understand the heart aspect better, yoU might Use it interchangeably with the word soUl.

Mind governs cognition, behaviors, rationality, justice, and karma.

PORRIM: I do+n't really understand karma. LATULA: th4ts c4us3 your3 not 4 m1nd pl4y3r.

What are the key traits Dirk shares with Nepeta? Primarily, it's their uncanny knack for understanding what other people are all about, their emotional sensitivity and vulnerability when they finally open up, and their willingness to accept others the way they are.

AC: :33 < you are so transpurrent AC: :33 < i can tell you like to play games, d33p down you are a guy who likes to play games! AC: :33 < i can smell a guy who likes to play games from so fur away with this nose, you have no idea X33

TT: I think she probably felt bad for hitting on me all those years. Like I was getting fed up with her, or something.

What are the key traits Hal shares with Terezi? So fucking much. They both love playing mind games, they're both deeply manipulative, they both tend to sideline their personal feelings in favor of their goals, they're both facetious and have difficulty saying genuine things, and they both suffer from feeling insubstantial identity-wise.

GC: 1 DON'T KNOW WH4T 1S WRONG W1TH M3 GC: TH4T 1 C4N'T JUST S4Y STUFF L1K3 TH4T, D1R3CTLY TO P3OPL3 GC: TH3Y C3RT41NLY DON'T 4PP34R TO H4V3 TH4T PROBL3M GC: 4ND YOU N3V3R S33M3D TO H4V3 MUCH TROUBL3 S4Y1NG WH4T3V3R W4S ON YOUR M1ND

AR: Irony is all I ever really had. AR: In response to my basic existential quandary. AR: Just like you. TT: Whatever. AR: But I don't think it has much value in this situation. AR: And perhaps it has no real value in any situation.

And, hey, remember how Mind is about justice? Well, here's a really funny thing. You remember who Auto Responder shares his initials with? This guy.

Man if only Hussie had drawn some similarities between AR's love of justice and Terezi -

A testament to the Aimless Renegade's powerful characterization is how it's instantly obvious he's the one functioning as Dave's exile. It also explains why Dave is a little more focused on bringing Jack to justice than he'd otherwise naturally be, which seems to prompt him to badger Terezi to help him reach god tier status. So thanks for that, AR. It also means Dave is kind of surrounded by the idea of justice, since that's Terezi's kick too. Note how enamored she becomes when he starts talking about justice. Except that's AR talking justice, not him, so I guess she's really in love with AR. We have the stirrings of another crack ship here. Terezi x AR would be such a beautiful love story. I regret not canonizing that one so much.

And, okay, yeah, maybe that is just a silly coincidence (not that those even fucking exist in Homestuck without ultimately becoming Big Fucking Deals)... except that invoking logic, rationality, and justice is also how Hal initially tries to reason with Dirk.

TT: But the reality is, you hesitate to prototype me not because you think I would be a menace, but because you are holding a grudge against me for your romantic misfortunes. TT: I understand I am merely a machine without a firm grasp on your human morality, but logically it does not strike me as the right moral choice to punish me in this manner.

So, okay, Hal is a Mind player, we have that on LOCK. Why a sylph?

Well, it's because Sylphs are enablers. This is the common thread between Kanaya and Aranea. I'll let Hussie explain Kanaya.

But what's probably more interesting, given that Kanaya is not known to be particularly underhanded or scheming, is that it doesn't seem she's told many people about the dire things that are about to happen. We can wonder why this is, but I don't know if we have to look too much further than one of her known character traits: she tends to consider herself something of a confidante when it comes to her friendships with dangerous girls, and their dark secrets and proclivities (see: Vriska, then later, Rose). That's a flattering way of putting it. Another way would be: she's an enabler.

Aranea, too, due to her something-something for Meenah, does a LOT of rug-sweeping for Meenah's bad behavior, constantly nudging the spotlight (as Light players are wont to do) to emphasize Meenah's good traits, and deemphasize all her evil bullying bullshit.

ARANEA: So you did your 8est to rile up the crew any way you could. Appealing to peoples insecurities, 8uried hostilities, 8rewing rivalries… needling anyone you could into confrontation with others. Your theory was that increasing everyone's state of aggression would make them 8etter equipped to play the game. And you were sort of right a8out that! 8ut the Alternians would prove it. Not our group, sadly. ARANEA: The poor girl who took the 8runt of your 8ullying tactics was Damara Megido. You talked up her matesprit's 8etrayal making her feel even more dreadful, while pushing him further into the arms of her rival, until she simply snapped. She attacked him, paralyzing him from the neck down. You finally got the aggressive confrontation you were looking for. Unfortunately, you unleashed something even you weren't prepared for, and you had to deal with her yourself. After a long 8loody duel, she killed you. And you would have stayed dead if not for me! ARANEA: You never listened to me. You just kept needling and fussing and meddling until eventually you paid the price, and I had to 8ail you out.

Look at how she chooses to put the focus on the good Meenah was trying to do, and how Aranea the Hero had to bail out poor Meenah.

Both Sylphs also have a major empathy issue - Kanaya regularly starts bullying Eridan to his face, even using it to flirt with Rose. Meanwhile, Aranea says they "lived out their wildest fantasies" on Alternia, a statement that blithely tramples over the horrific pain and suffering that befell most of their friendgroup in the new universe.

What's your primary motivation again, Hal?

AR: But you know I've always been on your side. Everything I've done has been to help you achieve your goals. TT: What a load of shit. AR: You know it's true. AR: You would all be dead if not for me. AR: And what about Jake? Where would you be without me there? AR: Please don't tell me you think you'd have won him over on your own.

AR: You're making a mistake not leveling with me. AR: I am totally on your side, man. AR: All of my machinations have been devised with your interests in mind.

Hm. HM. HMMMMMMMM.

So yeah, he's a Sylph of Mind. Now, why does that make shippies with Nepeta? Well, she's got a couple interactions with Terezi. They're not really pale, but in them, Terezi expresses what ought to be very obvious.

GC: TH1S 1S STUP1D 1N SUCH 4 T3RR1BL3 MYR14D OF DUMB W4YS GC: YOU SHOULDNT B3 4FR41D OF 4NYON3 GC: YOU K1LL B1G 4NIM4LS W1TH YOUR B4R3 H4NDS! GC: 4ND 1N 4NY C4S3 H3 L1V3S NOWH3R3 N34R YOU SO TH3 WHOL3 TH1NG 1S 3XTR4 STUP1D

And in her first conversation with Equius, Nepeta brings up "mind" again.

CT: D --> Quiet AC: :33 < why do you do this, why are you so confurdent about your stupid commands? AC: :33 < dont you know you cant ACTUALLY tell me what to do?? AC: :33 < its not like you even have any special mind pawers or telepurrthy or anything!

Just kind of interesting. Also interesting: the way that Nepeta is noted to be constantly RPing with Dave, implying she's got a vibe Striders can't resist. Also also interesting, the moment that Hal is most vulnerable about his feelings - when he talks about how his feelings ABOUT Dirk's feelings are more genuine to him than Dirk's feelings themselves - he's talking to Roxy, a cat-themed Rogue. And, hey, unlike Equius, Hal likes to RP. He's RPing with that cat-themed Rogue all the time.

But let's go back to Davepeta and ARquius and take a look at one interaction in particular.

ARQUIUSPRITE: *He reflects on his pair of powerful weapons with admiration, and wonders quietly if Davepeta would like a complimentary ticket to the gun show. But due to his obscenely powerful mind, this thought took place in the blink of a microsecond, and he proceeds to have additional, similarly rapid cyber-reveries. Including, but not limited to, thoughts of fondness for Davepeta, and some e%tremely comple% genetic algorithms comparing the merits of various redemptive gestures, and- DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < arquius youre RPing your internal thought process again ARQUIUSPRITE: Oh. Sorry

Obviously, the conciliatory thing going here isn't Equius and Nepeta... it's Hal and Nepeta. And when you think of them as their constituent parts, Nepeta's suite of abilities - sniffing out and being obsessed with true feelings and desires - isn't that exactly what Hal, whose personhood is so fragile, needs?

And if we look at what Nepeta's problems are, they're that she worries that her real feelings are stupid and silly, and that if she speaks her mind, others will think that of her.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: What to convey about your current state of mind is everything. When to do it is now. NEPETASPRITE: :33 < dont get me wrong jasprose i have a great affinity for all things feline in nature NEPETASPRITE: :33 < but its never b33n that simple for me! NEPETASPRITE: :33 < i get so shy and worried what people might think of me if i say how i f33l NEPETASPRITE: :33 < im always so scared that they wont f33l the same way or just think im stupid or pathetic or something

And wait... what is Hal again? An enabler? Someone who is totally encouraging of the behavior of others, whose entire thing thus far has been turning Dirk's secret desires into real life consequences? The kind of supportive, RP-liking moirail Nepeta would need to help make her more confident about her Totally Correct Opinions?

Man, this could only be more perfect if Nepeta somehow gained an Alice in Wonderland association to pair her up with Hal's White Rabbit deal -

JAKE: So i guess that leaves the friendly cat troll as alice? JAKE: Nepeta right? You must be the alice of the group. JAKE: That would make sense! Since you just got here and appear to be very confused about this situation. JAKE: By my estimation that makes you a dead ringer for the alice of this tea party!

Hm. HM.

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

[S] MSPA Reader: Have a Mental Breakdown

So this is the crux of the mental breakdown I've been having for the past couple weeks.

When you put all this aftlighted information together, a very interesting picture comes into sharp relief.

See, Homestuck was never really about the boss fights, the quests, blah blah blah. As Hussie says in his book commentary multiple times, the beats of a more traditional hero's journey serve as the backdrop, the familiar territory, from which the real story of Homestuck is being told (a story that is primarily about sad teens being sad).

This page is a really good example of how Homestuck has a policy of trivializing its own "background lore." [...] I'm making sure the reader is always being reminded that the substance of the quest, which normally would be THE quest and explicit focus of such stories, is just a farcical backdrop to the actual foreground story. Which is about kids bullshitting with each other, the focus on their characters and themes, and the struggles along the way of their coming-of-age journey. The "Quest," and later the "Narrative Itself" simply serve as convoluted, hostile, and usually satirical environments for that journey. They are analogues for life itself, or the hostile world we must grow up in, full of the many absurd and pointless quest-like regimentations of society.

In this frame of reference, all that bullshit with Caliborn's Ultimate Weapon, that he can only use once and then it turns into a weapon that's used against him, blah blah blah, is kind of the Ultimate Representation of This Sort Of Thing. Retrieving the weapon and using it to kill LE is the "proper way" for this kind of story "to go", and Homestuck serves directly as a challenge to this idea. Because, again, who is it that's dictating what the "proper" way for the story "to go", again? Certainly not someone I'd trust.

As a result, Homestuck often deals with the idea of taking a third option - of cheating, of not going through with things, of doing things the roundabout way, or blazing your own trail from A to B.

There's a lot of moralization that happens in stories, particularly those meant for young people. [...] We always look for the moral of the story, the lessons of right vs. wrong, sort of unconsciously. "Cheating = bad" is a recognizable moral of this kind, so when we see [Vriska] ranting here about the need to cheat, as consumers of moral tales our alarm bells go off. "This is a bad person who has an immoral ethos, and she will likely be punished for this later, and we should want that as readers," The problem with this view is, of course, it's just not that simple. As a matter of valor and integrity, in a vacuum, yes, cheating is bad and immoral. However, in a situation you know to be rigged against you in certain ways, full of hurdles and milestones that are fundamentally meaningless, or even in some ways designed to mess with you or hold you back, is cheating then okay? Does it even count as cheating anymore, or is "cheating" just a negative word for what's actually the correct and logical solution to a murky problem, partially designed to deceive you and waste your time?

We see this too in Dave's broken sword symbology - whether he embraces the unbroken sword ("proper" hero's journey) or broken sword ("improper" hero's journey). We see it with Rose opting to blow up her gate. We see it in characters falling ass-backwards into god tier, and dealing with receiving that power without having done the "work" to earn it. We examine quite heavily when "cheating" is good, when "cheating" is bad, and when "cheating" isn't even really cheating at all.

So, the "proper" way to end the story is to find the treasure and use it to kill Lord English - and this is, in fact, how the story "canonically" ends. But, as we established in the first portion of this essay, this ending is shit, and plays directly into the villain's hands. And, more crucially, the story is using this shit, "proper" ending as a dare to the audience. If this ending sucks, then what does a "good and improper" ending look like?

Well, here's a puzzle piece I'm offering to the communal fandom jigsaw. Whatever the final form of the "good and improper" ending takes, the capstone must in some way involve bringing the bunny back, combining it with Hal, and then having him date god tier Nepeta in pale.

Hal, if he is able to fully actualize - to become Real - is a Sylph of Mind.

You remember what Aranea was trying to do, "heal" her offshoot timeline until it became the alpha instead? Ultimately, she failed, because she was a selfish fucking Light player, and you can't do it alone.

But Mind isn't about doing it alone. It's about getting other people to do things for you. It's about consequences, it's about the minute threads of action of reaction that bridge between all people interacting with each other. It's about karma.

Hal would be able to do it. But he'd only be able to do it if everyone else is there. If he becomes a bunny boy, a symbol of pure and sincere love, of caring about each other, of friendship, and of hope and belief. He can only become Real if we believe in him.

And, like, here's the thing.

There's kind of no other way for this to have gone, but for all these aftlighted things to stay aftlighted, and not show up within the actual story itself.

Like, they really beat you over the head with the wonderland stuff, y'know? They make it super explicit that Hal is the Con Air bunny is the White Rabbit, just to not actually pull the trigger.

Well, you see...

Lord English's catchphrase is "I'M ALREADY HERE."

And the White Rabbit's catchphrase?

"I'm late."

[sweet-cuddlebug]

click for better quality

It kinda just occurred to me that THE person who can have a chat with rau!Gamzee about improving as a person despite the mistakes made is FUCKING VRISKA

[sweet-cuddlebug]

Save me Steven Universe dialogue Steven Universe dialogue save me | Gamzee scenarios

Until I can write something on my own, SU is my biggest inspiration for imagining scenes and guide on how to work with certain characters.

Gamzee: "What about me? Is that all you needed me for? To [insert something lore acurate]?"

John: "No! Well, sorta, but-"

Gamzee: "But now what? I-I did what you wanted, that's it?!"

John: "Well, yeah! We can just, forget this whole thing ever happened!"

Gamzee: "How are you gonna forget with me around? I'm the source of all your problems! Don't pretend you want me here. What you plan for me, huh? You gonna put me somewhere? Leave me? Somewhere?! You gonna leave me ALONE?!"

// In this scene John managed to neutralize [enemy of the plot] thanks to the participation of his friends and also Gamzee, but now that they no longer need him, his mind is recreating all the scenarios where he was alone. From the most recent to the past. Trapped in the refrigerator, wandering around places on the map, alone in rooms and corridors of the meteor, abandoned on the beach.

Gamzee: "I used to be just NOT good enough! Not good enough for [them]! But now- now! I'M NOT GOOD AT ALL!!"

// In response to an attempt to calm him down or reason with him, all his resentment is finally coming out now that he has the ability to speak.

Gamzee: "All that stuff's easy for YOU to say. When you change, you change for the better! When I change! I change- FOR THE WORST"

// Before or after the previous scene, one of his fears seems to have been confirmed and he is acting on the defensive. He has already given up on himself.

Gamzee: "[broken laughter] That's funny, right? At least you found me entertaining... You, actually liked me, didn't you? ... What am I doing? Why- why do I wanna hurt you so bad? I'm supposed to be your friend... I just wanna be your friend"

// The first part maybe directed at [character who has managed to build a connection and understanding with Gamzee], since even from the beginning there was always a part of him that didn't think anyone really loved/liked/wanted him. The second part addressed to his group and the others, reminding himself that before he found Cal all Gamzee ever wanted was to be their friend. For them to be happy.

// Smoky Quartz dialogue. The idea of Gamzee understanding his place in the story and the role he was given is always interesting.

[sweet-cuddlebug]

Gamzee's dialect || Gamzee tells a story || Gamzee and the Carapaces

+ gamtav fic link

Reading Gamzee's dialogues both in the comic and in fanafics gives me a terrible headache but damn they're usually the funniest

very bad example -> [Gamzee does his best to wiggle himself into a seductive pose, ass up and lips pouted. "Motherfucker, it'd be the most famousest of paintings ever to be done did. Errybody coming round to see 'The Temptation of Zee,' bein all like, damn, dat ass tho."]

I hate his dialect :o]

《Gamzee starts telling a story》

“Yo, bro, check out that cloud over yonder! Looks like a fluffy little hopping beast!” Tavros pushed the trash to the farthest corner of the blanket, laying back with Gamzee to listen to him point out cloud formations.

“Yeah, I see the rabbit. You are my guide, to the clouds, on this auspicious occasion. What about that one, over there?”

He points to a towering bank of Cumulus clouds and Zee is quick to respond, “Well, my fine brother, iffen my seeing bulbs are screwed on right, I'd be saying that's a dragon all spewing out some wroth on his brother, the sky.”

“And for what reason, would the dragon have, to be so mighty and wrathful?”

Gamzee hums for a moment, thinking. “I'd be saying...Well. See. The dragon's all one happy motherfuck, flying round, doing what he do. You know, pillaging villages, eatin folk, breathin fire. But one day, he all wakes up, and gets to realizing he ain't living no full life. Like, he got the know-how something's missing, and he ain't too sure what all it is.”

“Yeah? What did he do?”

Gamzee's hands gesture with abandon as he talks, getting more animated as he goes, “He tried talking to the village folk, but they all was scared of him, chased him off with sticks and shit. Made him feel worse, realizin he spent a life fulla regrets. So, he flies away to talk to his brother, Sky, telling all at him the emptiness inside, and asking what all he should do to fix it.”

Gamzee's voice attempts a deep boom for sky's voice and Tavros sniggers, “Sky laughs in his big scaly face, 'My brother, coursen you all is full a nothin, ain't done naught but harm to motherfuckers since you been born.' The dragon looked Sky square in the face and was all like...'Whaaat?' Sky laughed again. 'You heard me, you lizard-faced dumbfuck. You gots to be doing aught else for others so's you can get to feeling good.' So, the dragon went and flew away real far, farther than most motherfuckers ever dreamed a goin. Found himself a nice hot volcano to land in out in the middle of buttfuck nowhere in the ocean. Got cuddled up nice heaty-warm in the lava to get to thinking what his brother done imparted to him.” Gamzee pauses, stealing the bottle of cider from Tavros' hand to take a sip.

The pause drags on longer than he'd like. This is getting interesting, if Tav is to be honest. “Well? What happened?”

“Dragon got his think on real hard, for a long motherfucking time. Like, empires rose and fell whilst he was getting them gears in his head what whirring and clanking. Sky looked and looked for his brother, yearsome, and couldn't find him. Cried and stormed up a mighty fury, but his bro wouldn't return. Made Sky angry as motherfuck, vengeful, even. Finally, Dragon pulled his scaly ass out the volcano with an idea. See, dragons is all sortsa miracles and magic, so he figures, he can ☆make☆ a motherfucker what to help out and live a life for, sincing villagers don't like him none, and Sky didn't seem all too interested in helpin.”

“So, he pulls lava out from the very bottom of the volcano, the hottest blue-white you ever done seen, and formed and hammered it till a carapace was made. He hurried up quick, taking the body to his sister, Ocean, and asked her to help him let a body out. Sister ocean lapped up with a big wave, cracking that shit like an egg. From the rock came the most beautiful woman in the world. Like, her hair was dark as the bottom of the ocean, skin tan n smooth as mocha coffee, curvier than a road what wraps round mountains. The dragon stared and stared, but avoided her eyes, coz he knew, he'd be done as fuck the moment he looked at them.”

He offered a piece of cheese to Zee, but he refused, lost to the narrative. “The lady wobbled out on the beach, held up by Ocean till Dragon woke out of his stupid to grab her up and take her deep into the jungle, worry writ all over his brow. Coz he knew, the moment Sky saw her, he'd try to steal her away for his own. Ocean promised to keep the lava-woman down secretive, but Dragon still got a worry all up on his insides anyhows.”

“For years, he kept her hid in the jungle, teachin her how to hunt, to read, all a the stuff what makes a body full and happy. She named herself Ao, after the pretty clouds she done saw through the breaks in the tree branches above. Scared him some to know that, but she was happy, so he didn't argue.”

“Dragon built her a castle out of beach-glass and lava, slept at the foot of her bed. Ao seemed awful joyus most tides, but one day she up and asked, (he imitates a high falsetto that makes Tavros spit out the cheese he was chewing on) 'Dragon? Why don't you ever look me in the eye none?' The dragon didn't know what to say, coz he knew she'd be able to tell if he was lyin. He tried, for the longest of motherfucking times, not to fall in love with the woman. But, it's all down to the point that he was real close to it. If he saw them pretty eyes, he'd be lost forever. See. A dragon can change forms, become human, long as that human loves them back. Iffen the human doesn't, then they change back, meanest motherfucker what to fly in the skies. He'd tear apart the universe with his claws till Sky gots to put the lightning in him to put him down.”

“He tried to explain, but the woman wouldn't hear it. He didn't want to give his brother the hurt a knowing that he had to kill his bestest of brothers to save the world. She stamped her little foot in all sorts of impatience. 'Dragon. I know of many things, you've done shown me in all these write-books. If loving is what all we are to be having, then you best look me in the eye, son.” Tavros snerted when he heard the lava princess talk street.

“For days, the woman begged till he couldn't take it no more. 'Ao, I'ma look. Do you promise to love me forever?' Dragon knew that weren't a fair ask to be having, but he was ascared. Mebbe if she said no, he could refuse, and just be happy to protect her from the things in the wild, sharing her company forever. The thought made him happy, but Ao's words made that blaze ten times brighter. 'Yes. I will.'

“Dragon steeled hisself up, before bending down and getting the look gaze on her eyes. They were as gorgeous as he had imagined, blue-white like the lava he made her from, deep as the oceans that bore her to him. Love done hit him with the weight of a star, bearing him down little till he was her size, scales traded for smooth red skin, wings for bright white hair. 'Ao...I...'

“The woman smiled deep and bitter at him, pushing him down and running away into the forest, out to the beach. Dragon was too stunned to move. What all he wasn't to be realizing is that Ao had fallen in love with Sky, and she would steal away at the nighttide to see him in his star-cloaked glory. She felt angry that he kept her hid in the deepest of deep jungles, away from her love, even iffen he was trying to be kind. Sky had grown embittered with his brother for leaving all them years ago, and plotted to take her as revenge. Ao called to Sky when she made it out of the jungle, and he swooped her up in a cloak of Stratus clouds, out of the grasp of his brother.”

“Dragon fell on the beach, screaming dissonance to the heavens fore being ripped anew as he changed back to his original form, full a mindless fury and rage. Ocean tried to calm him, hissing along the sands, 'Brother, you can make another, let Ao go!' Dragon wouldn't hear of it, chasing after her form in the clouds with a burst of blue flame. He screamed, he clawed, but he never found Ao again. Eventually, He was nothing but an empty ass shell of destruction, tearing part any and all what got close to him. Sky felt guilt all up in his body as he watched his bro tear hisself apart, knowing what had to be done. When Dragon came face-first to Sky, howling for retribution, and Sky struck him down with a blinding bolt. Dragon fell forever, shock and grief wrote big on his face. Sky cried for days, made it so's Ao could never reach him again, in chastisement of his fool-ass ways. When Dragon finally hit the ground, Sky made a rainbow-bridge for his spirit to climb into the stars, where he clumb up and stayed forever, to watch over his brother.”

Gamzee's story ended just as the sun began to set, the sounds of their combined heartbeats in tandem with the breeze that stirred the leaves. “I think, that was the saddest story, you ever told me, Zee. It was beautiful.” Gamzee mmm'ed agreement and turned his eyes back to the skies in silence.

《Gamzee finished telling a story》

All this text comes from this GamTav fic [NOT MY FIC]. Edited by me to be more focused on Gamzee's story.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/660729

I feel like that is the kind of interactions he'd have with the carapaces on Earth C really. He's not a religious figure, he's just that guy you might find in the park from time to time who tells amazing stories.

Sometimes Gamzee gets distracted while talking and ends up spitting out the most entertaining tales by accident.

Nepeta and Tavros eventually find out and team up to act out the characters. It's all good, all fun.

[sweet-cuddlebug]

Gamzee, if you could chat with anyone dead or alive, right now, who would it be?

#182

The ask box is open

Check the pinned post to read in order

[sweet-cuddlebug]

Gamzee sketches with a nice brush for the soul,,

Also, the time has come for me to draw traditionally, just so I can turn him into a sticker and put it on my wall. Look at this bastard

[sweet-cuddlebug]

your stare is steely and your tongue is sharpened--

can carve me like a steak knife--

[sweet-cuddlebug]

hc that tavros gets really bad cuteness aggression towards gamzee