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thewertsearch · 8 days ago

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Ask Comp 09/06

Anonymous asked: Now that you're so far in, I urge you to check out Ichellor's 3D Homestuck animations! They're super cool, though you may need to be cautious. They're mostly at and prior to cascade, but you can't be too careful.

(All of these were made after Homestuck finished, so many still contain spoilers. Their first video is definitely safe, though. -V)

youtube

It's an excellent piece of work, and a great taste of what's to come. I've also watched their Cascade animation - although, according to Vamp, it does contain some subtle spoilers that I missed.

I've been able to check out a lot of the earlier Ichellor videos, but I'm probably going to have to wait a while before I can see their full body of work. Looking forward to it, though.

@mrjocrafter asked: so in literally act 1 rose tries to prototype the tier-1 harlequinsprite with a box of betty crocker cake mix. like imagine if it actually went in. what a doomed timeline that would've been. there's a MSPFA called Nepetaquest 2022 that deals with exactly this. it's peak

That does sound peak. Is the implication that the Sprite would turn into some iteration of the Condesce? I think that's more than the kids could handle, unless Rose had already gone Grimdark.

@manorinthewoods submitted:

The Star Wars example is one that many people already know, but Discworld is also a great shout here. You can easily tell that Pratchett is a sci-fi nerd, through-and-through - and, despite their aesthetics, the Discworld novels have as much fantasy in them as your average Monty Python production.

@adorable-animus asked: just to nitpick, but in an earlier post you said that aradia and equius were together due to mind controlled aradiabot and- you are semi right? equius wanted to be FLUSHED, but the control chip was completely shattered, and aradia instead felt PITCH. i get where youre coming from, but i just wanted to point out that facet of the relationship.

I'm pretty sure they were both - or, at least, they were described as both in the infamous quadrant infodump. Granted, I don't know if this animation necessarily means that both parties are experiencing both quadrants, or if it just means that things are complicated.

And, oddly enough, I don't think Aradia stayed with Equius due to the mind-control chip. That was definitely his intention, but the chip was immediately destroyed, and she kissed him anyway - implying, I guess, that she did have a genuine thing for him, as unlikely as that seems.

...I don't even know, girls. This was a weird one, even for Hivebent.

@mrjocrafter asked: Not sure if you know or have been told this but the reason Kanaya wields a chainsaw Well, Google "why chainsaws were invented"

For a member of a species without mothers, Kanaya sure is drowning in motherhood symbolism, isn't she?

@walkerbehindyou asked: One day, may you be introduced to the fanwork that was Marchingstuck/Promstuck

Apparently, Promstuck still contains some spoilers, and I'd like to experience these two as a unit. Hopefully soon, though!

@count100 asked: I submitted an ask a while back and got a notification saying I was mentioned in an ask comp, but I didn't actually see my ask. In case it was lost: I never really considered just how much it took to make the trolls into monsters, I LOVE your analysis about that. Alongside the factors you discussed, It's possible that the "dreams of blood and carnage" that haunt the trolls originate from Gl'bgolyb, given it is a gift from Doc Scratch.

I'm pretty sure I remember that ask! Sorry it didn't get a response -and yes, it's honestly a little heartwarming to realize just how much the trolls resisted Scratch's corruption.

I could have sworn I answered it, actually, but I can't seem to find it anywhere in this year's ask compilations. It's possible I accidentally deleted it while editing the post, because deleted tags will actually still notify the blog in question when the draft is posted. Tumblr, eh?

@mrjocrafter asked: this is classic old homestuck fandom nonsense from 2011

I'm losing it at the implication that 'Vriska' is an allegory for some real-world political ideology which shares her name.

This is great, anyway. Can you imagine an analogous post being made about today's political climate?

@the-jaffster-official asked: On the subject of Dirk Gently, as someone who read the book and watched all of the show, they have almost nothing in common besides a character named Dirk Gently. However, the show still feels VERY Douglas Adams, especially in the first season. Worth a watch.

Noted. I have been looking for a new show to binge...

Anonymous asked: Damn, you do not trust Gamzee at all.

Well, no! Jesus, would you?

@pineapple-temporarily-moving asked: "ricky schrodinger" was terezi misremembering the name of ricky schroder! @likelyvampirical asked: Ricky Schrödinger is a pun on Ricky Shroder, child star in the 80s sitcom Silver Spoons, which Terezi used to make the gifs featured on pages 2779-2782. This is what Terezi is referencing during the coin incident on page 3097. @morganwick asked: I think "Ricky Schrodinger" was originally a pun on "Ricky Schroder", who was the star of the sitcom Silver Spoons, which Terezi used for some GIFs she sent to Dave. @sanctferum asked: Ricky Schrodinger is a reference to Ricky Schroder, a child actor from the 80s. Terezi defaced gifs of him during that conversation back in Act 4 I think? It's just his name combined with Erwin Schrödinger's name. As for Davesprite, he could already talk out loud on screen via Spritelogs Anonymous asked: Ricky Shcrodinger is a combination of presumably Ricky Schroder (I have no idea who that is, but I believe Dave mentioned him before) and Schrodinger's Cat. Anonymous asked: Ricky Schrödinger is a pun on Ricky Schroder @weltinator asked: Ricky Schrodinger is a reference to Erwin Schrodinger and Ricky Schroder. Former is known for possibly having a cat, latter is known for starring in Silver Spoons, which is the source of the gifs used in Dave and Terezi's MOTH3RFUCK1NG D4NC3 P4RTY.

Also featuring Alfonso Ribeiro (who was later Carlton in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) @semusepsu asked: If you are still wondering about the Ricky Schrodinger joke, I'm pretty sure it's a reference to Ricky Schroder, an American child star from the 70s who starred in a film called 'Little Lord Fauntleroy'. He looks more than a little like Dave in some pictures from that era.

Hell fucking yes.

This is the kind of reference humor that is quite hard to search for on the Collection. Ricky Schrodinger is a pun, not a real name, so it wouldn't have given me any connections to this dance party - and besides, they never actually said Schroder's name in that conversation, so even that wouldn't have worked.

To catch some of these references, you really do need helpful askers. Thank you for your service. o7

@herestoanotherweirdo asked: "ARADIA: i guess ive spent enough time here that i just dont see death as the terrible thing the living make it out to be" i've read this line as like. not just spending a bunch of time in the bubbles, but also having literally been dead herself for a not-insubstantial amount of time!

Oh, that's true, isn't it?

I don't think Ghostradia was ever in the Dream Bubbles herself, but it is true that her months as a wandering spirit would give her a different perspective on death.

Most obviously, it would show her that it's not actually the end of existence in this reality; despite what the living believe, death doesn't obliterate your soul, so it's really not as tragic as everyone thinks.

@liliflower137 asked: The more I reread the more i love karkat He's just such a spicy kitten type of guy. I wanna pick him up and give him a hug and tell him he's going to be safe But he'd definitely bite me and given how dangerous bites from humans can be I think I would probably get all kinds of infections He's just... really a sweet kid underneath it all. He's just scared, so he has to be angry instead. Reminds me a lot of Sanji from one piece :) At least, the parts of him I like haha

I actually think Karkat would fit in pretty well in the world of One Piece. He has exactly the right kind of personality to form and mobilize a crew, and I genuinely believe he has enough determination to manifest Haki.

@liliflower137 asked: I wonder if perhaps Hussie ever read one piece, because the way navigating the furthest ring sounds, it reminds me just a little of the grand line But then again its also just sort of a logical way for a place devoid of time and space to behave, I just really like one piece I wonder if you could get a hyper modified log pose to work out there...

Speaking of One Piece, I've really got to get back to it. I started the manga during the liveblog, and I'm currently most of the way through the Dressrosa arc.

I've been loving the series, but god damn, is it a serious marathon.

Anonymous asked: You're aware that the author for the locked tomb was a Homestuck fic writer, right?

Absolutely. The Serendipity Gospels is probably the fanfiction I'm most excited to actually read - that, and Sburb Glitch FAQ!

Anonymous asked: That scene when Gamzee tells Karkat to settle down is why they’re my favorite ♦️ ship Because in all the others we’ve seen it’s very onesided, with one party needing to placate the violent impulses of another But for them it’s like Karkat says! He stops gamzee from killing everybody and gamzee in return helps him calm down.

It is very funny to me that Gamzee's actually contributing to the moirallegence - for now, at least.

Slightly hypocritical, Makara, but you do you.

@drakethedeep asked: One of the benefits of the Homestuck quadrant system, arbitrary as it is, is that it allows for more platonic and romantic shipping. For example, Karkat<>Kanaya is a fairly decent morail ship, because a) the relationship of their ancestors makes it poetic cosmic symmetry, and b) both of them have a tendency of trying to be the responsible ones amidst their friend groups, and a lot of their interpersonal struggles are very similar.

Plus, one's a Blood Player, and one's a vampire, so we even have thematic synergy!

@liliflower137 asked: I think a lot about your assignment for Fedorafreak as a hope player It really really makes me smile, and I will hold onto it forever

He even references hope directly! Come on, Hussie, the guy deserves better than Piss.

Anonymous asked: so, your theory about karkat weaponizing teamwork and leadership- what do you think about his and gamzee's relationship in that light?

I suppose you could say that if Karkat is able to gain Sober!Gamzee's loyalty, then the group would gain a powerful ally - and consequently, Karkat's team would gain a powerful 'weapon'.

That said, I don't currently think it's possible for Karkat or anyone else to win Gamzee's loyalty. Right now, he's only loyal to Cal.

@duorogue asked: i just looked up your name in some DMs i have - it's with someone who's read homestuck, and I like to point out specific times you've made remarkably good or bad predictions, or figured something out really well, and just realized that the first time you were mentioned in those DMs was october 20th, 2022. five months off three years of following this, and yknow? time well spent

It was time well spent - for me, too. Here's to another three years, I say!

@liliflower137 asked: I've passed you in my personal reread and I keep getting to interesting conversations and lore dumps and going "oh Sally is going to LOVE this!!"

I hope you're right, and it's good to hear there are many loredumps in my future!

@morganwick asked: "#(also. does this mean mind ≈ choices/decisions? because seers 'know' their aspect and terezi can see people's possible decisions?) #(or does mind ≈ 'outcomes'‚ whatever that means?)" I think if you de-purple prose what Rose says it's not really inconsistent with what Terezi has said about her own aspect in the past, same with what Aradia says. Terezi has talked before, and in the confrontation with Vriska demonstrated, how she can trace the decisions people make and the thoughts they have inevitably lead to certain "outcomes". As for "knowing her aspect comprehensively", Terezi has talked about reality being something that people "4R3 M4K1NG 3V3RY MOM3NT W1TH 3V3RY THOUGHT", so at least to her, understanding people's minds means understanding reality, or at least one Aspect of it, and how to extrapolate from what's in people's Minds. (Also, does the link to "my own interpretation of her powers" go to the wrong place? I don't see anything in the linked post that relates to Rose's powers...)

I suppose Terezi's abilities could indeed be themed around sensing outcomes, rather than decisions, as I previously theorized - or, it could also represent some abstract 'Mind' idea with ties to both. With only one Mind Player to analyze, it's hard to say anything definitively.

Also - yeah, I fucked up that link. Will fix it once I get this comp out!

@relaxxattack asked: AAAAAAAAAA YOU FINALLY FIGURED OUT THE BLOOD THINGG!!!! karkat’s powers are quite literally the friends he made along the way… you can see the blood aspect appear in the panel where karkat befriends slick and adds him to their party! karkat’s powers have always been about whether or not he can forge meaningful connections between people to prevent tragedy… or at least, this has been the popular fan understanding now it might make more sense how the troll session might have “lacked blood” as that other ask theorized :)

They're literally blood brothers - and a handshake is also pretty decent shorthand for what I think Blood's all about.

Mind you, I'm not sure if the troll session did lack this interpretation of Blood. Hivebent seemed to imply that the trolls were, in fact, an extremely effective team, all thanks to Karkat's leadership - and the trolls have forged plenty of meaningful relationships across their group, too. If Blood represents strong relationships, then the trolls have Blood in spades, as well as hearts, clubs, and diamonds.

@baeddel asked: Your interpretation of blood definitely seems correct to me! I think blood and breath are a pair, where blood is leadership and bonds while breath is freedom and individuality

I was thinking that those two might be related, since they're both biological functions. Blood might also be in a dyad with Heart, since they're both aspects of the circulatory system.

After all, Nepeta's a shipper who loves relationships, and that seems adjacent to the 'teamwork/bonds' theming that characterizes Blood.

@manorinthewoods asked: I think Dave and Rose are an 'unbeatable combination' because Rose has a very powerful ability to navigate the present and future to ensure optimal outcomes, and Dave (being a time traveler) has a very powerful ability to actually enact what Rose needs done. Rose, after all, is a squishy wizard - and one wouldn't imagine Seers have any physical *or* magic damage. ~LOSS (22/5/25)

Good interpretation. I suppose Dave is technically one of the more 'durable' God Tiers around, since his time duplicates can't die in the Alpha Timeline until they've fulfilled all their loops.

Anonymous asked: I'm not familiar with Worm, so Contessa wasn't my first thought re: Rose's new power, but I did think of Sagume Kishin from Touhou, whose power is kind of similar to the Contessa example but in reverse: "When she speaks about a particular situation or event, that situation will eventually proceed to reverse itself, through whatever means possible. If she speaks about an attempt to achieve a goal, it will fail in some way. If she speaks about something bad occurring, it will be resolved in some way. [...] Note that it is the situation or the event she talks about that will be reversed in some manner; it is not that the opposite of what she says must occur."

I like this power a lot. Touhou seems to have a lot of really clever powers - which is weird, because I always thought it was a mostly plotless bullet-hell game. I guess there are tie-in materials?

I've really got to play Touhou sometime, but there are so many games, and I have no idea where to start.

@clueless-rarito asked: I remember I once come up with a characters with a power very similar to this "path of victory" stuff by pure coincidence. He was able to see "the realm of fortunes" a ethereal plane where one could discern the chance of success or the possible outcomes of any one actions. By completely shutting down his own mind and giving it to the "the will of fortune" his body would automatically lead him and carry any action needed to guaranteed the most favorable outcome for himself in any given scenario.

Nice. These abilities are sort of the ultimate expression of a 'luck-based' power - a power that guarantees the most optimal outcome possible. Now that Rose has a similar ability, she's finally thematically cohesive with Vriska!

@catofulthar000 asked: There are SO MANY classpect things (and other things) I desperately want to theory swap about with you because you are picking out SO MANY delicious classpecty details (and other things) but not always quite connecting them to classpects- BUT I am: A) not caught up with your live blog on account of being busy with doctorate degree stuff and trying to be responsible by not getting totally sucked into Homestuck stuff again (failing) so I have no idea if FWS (FUTUREwertSearch) actually HAS connected the dots (or some dots) already so I, PUC (PASTultharianCat), would just be saying redundant stuff to you B) not sure if pointing out things that you're pointing out are maybe or maybe not linked to things that might be solidified later even if they're being hinted at throughout- or might just be linked to wider collaborative aggregations of themes and patterns- would be too spoilery... [EXAMPLES THAT MAY OR MAY NOT REQUIRE REDACTION BY CAT (yours) OR BE REDUNDANT TO FWS] Like Time being strongly linked to the concept of Death and all time players having an affinity for it (archaeologist/necromancer Aradia, Dave's oft overlooked hobby of collecting preserved dead things (and less death related but his photography enjoyment could also be seen as him preserving moments in Time)) or [REDACTED] or [REDACTED] And basically that one thing you said about Sburb's Aspects maybe also being linked to authorial elements (or perhaps, I might nudge your thinking, metatextual narrative elements?) and oh my gosh I have SO MUCH I want to posit theorywise to you about that because you point out so much good stuff and just sdfalskjdfhakg;kskjfasdfhlkajsdfrrrraaugh! [END REDACTIONS MAYBE PROBABLY] (I'll say this much, both redactions above are meta interpretations of an aspect, but I'll give you an opportunity to come up with them yourself. -Vamp) Anyway there is just a lot I want to say, and a lot of idea threads you have made I want to tie into other thoughts, or perhaps cables you have laid that I want to plug in to other extension cords, and I have been trying to bite my tongue at least until I catch up but I have still added some replies to old posts of yours that I'm not sure you will ever see- tbh idk how popular you may have gotten or how many asks you get now or if you can even realistically reply to all of the ones that you get but I guess what I'm getting at is that you make me so excited about all of the really complex interwoven stuff in Homestuck and I really want to talk to you about it. Also you're very cool and smart and thank you for sharing this liveblog it is excellent. -PUC

If Time is death-themed, though, then where does that leave Doom? Because Sollux's arc was saturated with themes of death, and I've always assumed that was because of his Aspect.

Anyways, thank you for the kind words! I'm still doing my best to reply to the majority of asks, so if you do want to talk Homestuck, my ask box is always open - and as for your replies, I'll be checking out all the blog's replies at the end of the liveblog.

Anonymous asked: does john have the context to be making that joke on purpose, though? iirc, the only time it's come up for him, vriska opted Not to tell him what it Actually means, instead just saying All cleaning products are Vaguely Taboo. funny either way

There's no definitive answer - but personally, I think that John was at least able to pick up that buckets were an innuendo in troll culture.

When it comes to pranks, our boy's got a killer instinct - so I think his specific reference to the bucket's 'heartfelt payload' was just a very lucky shot.

@sanctferum asked: watch Karkat's mental breakdown again. Particularly the end of it. There might be a special little secret hidden in there to perchance click upon...