#also new john and sollux interaction theyre so everything to me

[butchdykekondraki]

sollux and terezi are back the world is healing

[ardenttheories]

On the meta stuff with Meena:

DAVE: ebubbles theyre awesome #how is this not awesome DAVE: its just some ridiculous shit i figured out how to do here DAVE: this whole place runs on memories so ive been messing around with that #just as long as you dont ask me how #we are cool DAVE: turns out i dont even really need the internet for shenanigans i can just exploit the afterlife

/

DAVE: you want to "be me"? #air quotes MEENAH: yeah why not DAVE: ok well without getting too deep into the issue of how absurd that request is on the very face of it #a face presently being palmed DAVE: its just not going to happen DAVE: i mean not yet anyway not this early in your little dream bubble quest you got going on here

/

DAVE: i really dont think we should get too meta about this DAVE: just #ok DAVE: look DAVE: youre on a mission to gather up all your dead friends and build an army or something #cant believe im even explaining this DAVE: personally i think thats a shitty idea but you are clearly motivated to do that MEENAH: yea #tru dat DAVE: so why would you waste time going around "being other people" it doesnt make any fucking sense #air quotes DAVE: for instance you cant be anybody in this fucking sandy beach area because ostenibly youre just charging through this place looking for your friends DAVE: dammit try to play the part at least somewhat #ahahaha #already too meta #i give the fuck up

Dave has this weird note again of the narrative and meta without going full ham. He understands roughly what the concept of “being someone else” is, but the actual idea of it seems to be ridiculous to him. There’s a feeling that he doesn’t quite believe what she’s saying (without getting too deep into the issue of how absurd that request is on the very face of it), and then that he’s just playing along with her weird idea (#cant believe im even explaining this, so why would you waste time going around "being other people" it doesnt make any fucking sense).

It’s like he gets it, but he also doesn’t. He’s talking in the way as if he can understand the key concepts of what’s happening and even what she’s trying to ask, but thinks the whole thing is bogus. He even says she can’t be anyone in the beach area because she’s just wandering through it - as if he doesn’t recognise that it’s acceptible for her to shift narrative however she likes, or as if his understanding of the narrative is completely different (she can’t be anyone there because they’re not relevant to her quest, even though she’s been other people for lesser reasons before).

It’s weird. He gets it, but he’s still skeptical of it. Like he doesn’t want to accept the fact that there’s this person out there that can just go around being someone else, as if someone can just suddenly be him.

Even when you look at the e-bubbles thing, notice how he says it.

It’s something “ridiculous” that works based on memories (which is a fair part of Time’s capabilities, I’m so frustrated I didn’t figure that out before). It’s an exploitation of the Afterlife.

Not the narrative. None of the things they’re doing now - the tags, the bubbles themselves, the way things work - he sees as being an effect of the physical narrative that we’re seeing. He allocates it to the dreambubbles themselves instead, and his ability to play with anything related to Time.

What comes after that, then, is the stuff about Time being related to the narrative.

Here’s the thing. Time isn’t about the journey, or the beginning. Time is actually just the End. That’s why it’s so heavily associated with Doomed Timelines and death; those are things that have ended, that are no more. It’s only one part of a whole narrative.

Space, the beginning, starts this. Then we have Life, which is the rising action, and Doom, which is the falling action. One that shows the growth of the plot and one that shows its stagnation to the finish. Then, of course, you have Time, which is the conclusion.

Logically, this means that each of these four Aspects should have SOME influence on the narrative, but not total. It’s only when all four come together that you get a whole story, after all; so how can you have a fully effective understanding of the narrative when you only influence one Aspect?

This is why Caliborn can control Homosuck; he’s the Lord of Time, the Master of the Ending. That whole timeline he creates is about that one specific Game Over; that’s him changing the story to be the defeat he’s always needed. He can’t influence the narrative sooner because it’s simply too early for him to play his part; it’s only when we’re getting to the Ending that he can clutch it in his claws and fuck it all up.

This is also why Calliope can control the Epilogues - or, one of them, anyway. If Space is about Beginnings and Creation, we need to think about what an Epilogue is; a continuation after something as Ended. This is Calliope playing up to her Aspect and reviving Homestuck from the ashes of its End, creating a new storyline and a new plot. Her influence is strongest here because we’ve come full circle.

In addition, note how Calliope can’t influence a timeline where the plot continues. Dirk rekindles Homestuck in Meat and sends John back into it, thereby continuing the same old story and forcing it back to life, which goes completely against Space’s control of the narrative. This isn’t the new Beginning she needs; it’s not even an Epilogue so much as a time-skipped sequel.

In Candy, however, the Homestuck plot is very much dead and done. Everything that happens after is completely inconsequential and could be an entirely new story in and of itself - which is exactly what she needs to bank on for it to be usable for her.

I think this, even, is why Sollux is able to tap into the narrative in some degree - such as with the code that destroys the universe - without actually being... aware? And why Meena is a lot more accepting of the idea of just “becoming someone else”. Both of their Classpects have connections to narrative control, with Sollux suffering from it (though we don’t see this in full potential because of how little he’s on screen) and Meena stealing it (what else could “becoming someone” be seen as except for Stealing their Life? We’re basically in control of them in that moment; we’re guiding them through the narrative regardless of what they would have, or should have, been doing, all so we can just see what happens on-screen.)

So, back to Dave. Lord and Muse have much better control over the narrative, likely because they’re masterclasses, and we can tell that, to some degree, the other Narrative Aspects can have awareness. Dave, being only a Knight, wouldn’t really be able to tell what’s going on fully simply because it’s not important enough for him to know, not part of his duties as a Knight; he can influence the narrative only in a very distanced sort of way, utilising it to create in-world effects rather than controlling it personally.

Dave could never be a narrative speaker, but he can definitely utilise parts of it to effect in the Homestuck universe. Things that they can interact with and see.

So, that might be a reason why Dave can interact with it, but not fully - and seems aware without being aware. His class is so rooted in the concept of the in-universe that he can only influence the narrative that way; even to the degree that narrative voices are audible for him, rather than subconscious.

As for Terezi, yeah, she’s a Seer of Mind. If we consider that what Dirk’s doing is destroying the sense of Self in order to destroy Individuality, and therefore leaving this big, gaping space of Heart behind, it makes sense that in its absence Mind will rule - albeit fractured. It’s essentially Mind control Lite.

It’s well within reason that Terezi can See this sort of control when it’s so heavy-handed. By that point, Dirk isn’t even trying to hide himself. His personality shines so brightly through the narrative that Terezi can probably smell the orange soda right off the page. I think for her it’s less metaphysical, though; she knows she’s being influenced, but maybe doesn’t know it’s through the narrative specifically - at least, not in the way that she understands it.