That should be enough to start off the blog. Greetings everyone! Has there ever been something regarding Homestuck that you weren’t quite sure about? Character interactions, plot details, little facts and trivia, analysis…
Or perhaps, are you a newcomer to the Fandom that’s still not quite sure about something and wouldn’t mind some clarification or help pushing through this intricate Webcomic?
Or is it Hiveswap you want to know more about, relations between Homestuck and Hiveswap, plot details, WhatPumpkin Interviews…
From Obscure Canon to Fandom Craziness, this new blog seeks to Answer every one of your questions and spread good will through the Fandom!
When are the new wave of trolls scheduled to release?
Troll Call Trolls are going to be released every week on Wednesday, much like the Dev Updates we got prior to the release of Act 1. Specifically, we are going to get 2 Trolls every Wednesday until they run out on March, and then there will either be some Dev Updates on what’s going on with the game, or the actual release of the game.
Hey there! Do you think there was anything really significant about Roxy killing Condy with Bro's sword? I thought it was cool, but I feel there might be something deeper and more meaningful behind it I mightve missed
ROXY: back when i first saw it on your blue planet ROXY: that was when i just lost all my friends and i thought for a while they all might be gone for good ROXY: and i saw the sword pokin out of there and it reminded me of dirk ROXY: it reminded me of everyone we just said goodbye to ROXY: even if that only turned out to be temporary ROXY: i dunno what it meant to people before i came along ROXY: but to me it was a symbol ROXY: of all the people who didnt make it as far as we did ROXY: so i stole it ROXY: see ROXY: im a goddamn rogue ROXY: i TAKE shit ROXY: and now ima take back from the WITCH ROXY: everything she stole that shoulda been ours ROXY: promise of a better life ROXY: a future for humanity and trolls alike ROXY: all that shit ROXY: im going to swipe its lack ROXY: and make it all start being a thing again ROXY: lets never let all that stop from being a thing ever again ROXY: k guys???
She actually gives quite a nice speech explaining the symbology of the Sword prior to the battle with the Condesce! First as a gravestone to symbolize those who didn’t make it (Which in a way, given the Heart-Soul tie, is kinda fitting), and then using this same symbol to, in her own words, ‘take back from the Witch’.
In a similar way, it could also represent how Roxy and Dirk were the two Humans trapped in Condy’s Water Apocalypse, so it would only be fitting that Roxy wielding Dirk’s Sword was the one to strike the final blow.
hi! um do you know umm what was supposed to be homestuck 2.0? I have seen it mentioned by some people but I never knew and I've been curious since then but im not sure what is it or what, is it canceled? was it a rumor? is it some in-fandom joke/meme? I read and finished homestuck last year after the credits, so I've only know about hiveswap and the incoming epilogue :0
Back while Hiveswap was still 3D, Homestuck 2.0 seemed to be some sort of creative initiative intending to expand Homestuck beyond the comic itself and doing things that involved the Fandom as a whole in them. Paradox Space would have been a ‘precursor’ to Homestuck 2.0 so to say, and Dante Basco seemed to be pushing the project a little bit, going as far as to make a video on the official Homestuck Youtube Channel asking Fans to send video reactions of what their thoughts and experiences with the comic had been.
Sadly, it seems like it was dropped off at one point- The video was deleted, talk about Homestuck 2.0 stopped, and given the development hell Hiveswap went through to actually come out, it’s not surprising they had to leave secondary projects off to the side.
Now that Hiveswap Act 1 is out, however, with Hiveswap Act 2 in the works and Hussie having partnered with Viz Media, it’s possible that Homestuck 2.0 may be revived- Perhaps not with that name, but in spirit at least.
So Tumblr is being stupid- Apparently because this is a recently created Sideblog, nothing I post appears on the respective tags, limiting my exposure for as long as Tumblr considers me ‘new’ and ‘potentially a spam blog’, even though the tags and Tumblr in general are STILL filled with Spambots so I have no idea what this protection even accompishes.
Either way, thank you already for 16 subscribers in this limited environment! I consider this little experiment to talk about Homestuck more than a success already!
What do you think happened to Aranea after she suffered a just death after game over?
Good question! She doesn’t quite return to Meenah and Vriska’s side, which means she is either too embarrassed after that fiasco to show her face around them again, or that she dies for good on the Session somehow.
There should be a distinction made here, that the Dream Bubbles are not the norm when it comes to Souls and Death in the Homestuck Universe, as we see with Aradia being a ghost on Alternia, and being able to call the spirits of the recently deceased. The Bubbles were made by the Horrorterrors, by Feferi’s Request, so it seems to imply the Horrorterrors sort of yank the Souls of those who died into the Bubbles. They appear in the Furthest Ring because of the influence the Horrorterrors have over the place.
Aranea’s ‘resurrection’ is extremely weird, because she doesn’t seem to gain a body, rather, her Soul seems to become a physical body. When she puts on the ring, her eyes fill up again, and when Condy snaps her neck, they fade again. Her Soul doesn’t exit her body or get pulled anywhere- She is the Soul, and she is cast down into the depths of the blazing wreckage left by the planets of the Session.
I am not sure of what happens to her after Game Over, but given the context given, it’s arguable that she faces whatever Afterlife there actually is in the Homestuck Universe. The Horrorterrors already pulled her Soul into the Bubbles once, she escaped, and now there’s no Soul to pull back. It’s just her, the vessel of her body is one with her Soul, and as it fades into the flames, it could fittingly be seen as her being cast down into ‘Hell’.
This is all speculation of course, there’s no explicit canonical answer, and we do see other Aranea Ghosts aside from our Aranea in the Ministrife (Not quite sure about Collide), so who’s to say she’s not just. Wandering another area of the Bubbles afterwards?
Whichever the case, I don’t think anyone would argue it’s a well deserved death.
Did the dream bubbles get destroyed when the green sun became a black hole?
A good deal of them at the very least- We see in the Snapchat Credits how a Nepeta and an Aradia are being sucked into the Breach, and given the Ghost Army being placed on the cracked spots left behind by Lord English, it’s likely a majority of Ghosts and Memories were also within range. However, when Terezi is still searching for Vriska years after the fact, it seems like the Furthest Ring is still breaking down and being absorbed, so it could be possible for Horrorterrors and Bubbles to still exist beyond the area currently being torn asunder.
thanks for this blog <3 sometimes I have questions and I don't know who to ask! and sometimes I consider you haha and now you made a place :) my question is about... paradox space! what's that? who did it? once I was reading about it and I understand that it was kind of semi-official ?? half canon? or sometimes? idk maybe I didn't understand, why is it in the site? I haven't read it but I'm interested
Awww, no need to thank me, comments like these reassure me about having made this blog in the first place, and I hope to clear up all the doubts you guys may have and put some interesting facts out there!
I’m assuming by Paradox Space you don’t mean the location in the comic, but the comics! See, Hussie has been saying he wants to branch Homestuck out into something more than the Webcomic for a while. Right now we’re seeing it with Hiveswap and the Viz Media Partnership, but back in the day, the first attempt at this was Paradox Space.
Known and more unknown artists in the Fandom got together with Hussie and made all these plot lines that ranged from canonical expansions on some things (The Inaugural Death of Mr. Seven, written by Hussie), to silly “What If” Alternate Timeline scenarios. (That one comic in which the Harlequin Doll loses both arms)
It was sometimes silly and other times adorable, and I personally really liked the comics, but sadly with the issues Hiveswap had and the Hiatuses, it ended up dying off. Who knows though, Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff Hard Cover Book is being Kickstarted right now, so maybe Paradox Space 2 will come in due time.
Classpects seems so interesting but long and a bit complicated, I've found many things to explain those, however how do you find your own ? I remember doing a test years ago to find out I'm on Prospit apparently (but I'd love to do that test again though I don't remember where it was), but mostly know where and how to find my classpect~ Do you have any link(s) perhaps ?
There are many interpretations for the Classpects, I personally like optimisticDuelist’s take on them, however everyone has their own headcanons and ideas about who does what and such. In the end, Classpecting yourself is an extremely personal choice, and I feel tests can only slightly approximate your Classpect, since whoever made the Test most definitely had a different idea about what each Class and Aspect did than you may do.
Classes and Aspects heavily correlate in the comic to certain character Quirks, narrative elements and personal growth, so the most accurate way to find your Classpect would be some deep introspection with an understanding of what the Classes and Aspects are, or even asking friends details about yourself and see if you can come with something together!
So sadly, I don’t have any reliable tests I know of other than what may come up after a quick Google Search.
That being said, they can also happen on a whim, I found out my Classpect and that I was a Prospit Dreamer from an actual Dream, and then started to piece together how fitting the Seer of Doom title was for me.
Tumblr didn’t want to allow my first few posts appear on the tag when I posted them because I was ‘too new of a blog’ and they needed to make sure I hadn’t been made just to spam? Either way, I don’t know if the things I posted prior to this will pop up on the Tag now or if they will be Lost, so let’s try this again.
Hi! This blog is a little project of mine attempting to answer questions, doubts, and give personal opinions and theories on anything Homestuck or Hiveswap related! I’ll try to stick to Canon as much as possible and clearly state it when something I say is speculation.
Hi, so I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on why Xefros loves his balcony so much. Like, we know by now there is nothing random or insignificant in homestuck, so it HAS to signify something, right?
I was a bit confused because I haven’t yet seen all optional dialog of Hiveswap, and I was thinking on the few interactions you get when checking the door to the balcony. But nope, there’s quite a lot of interactions when you actually get out of the back door and look at the Gander Precipice high up above!
Sadly, there’s no symbolism here, but immediate foreshadowing, much like whenever something is called “Sweet, Dear, Precious”, Xefros contemplates how immutable, permanent and great his Balcony is, because it’s going to be destroyed right after checking the Software Box.
Okay, let me reformulate my question, why is this even a thing people are complaining about???
Twins =/= Siblings. Trolls don’t have familiar structures because, specially after the Rebellion with Adults being off the planet, they don’t tend to group together in the same way Humans do. Trolls CAN feel familiar bonds as seen with the Dolorosa and the Sufferer, but they’re extremely rare because it’s just not something that happens with Trolls between Caste Differences and the World they live in. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be Twins. The Troll Genome seems volatile and mutable enough as is after all I would’ve been more surprised there weren’t Twin Trolls at some point.
And of course they share a Lusus, they’re Twins, arguably genetically identical and hatched from the same egg, they would be chosen just the same by the Lusus. And if they do share a sibling-like relationship? Their unique case, much like the Dolorosa with the Sufferer, would easily explain why.
Fandoms have been extremely quick on criticising authors for ‘bad canon’, ‘forgetting stuff’ and the like lately, as if they were the expert eminence on everything that’s ever happened in Canon. Look, mixing Fanon and Canon is fine, but don’t go around feeling superior because you prefer your Headcanons over Canon or misjudged something as Canon when it was never truly stated. The Overwatch Fandom is a huge offender when it comes to this stuff, and I’d hate seeing it bleed into Hiveswap and Homestuck more than it already has.
What is Time in Homestuck? What is its function, its purpose, what are timelines, what defines the Alpha and doomed timelines. How do timeloops work?
Time in Homestuck takes from a couple of theories about the workings of Time and Parallel Timelines. So, Time itself doesn’t have any Function, much like in real life, instead, Space and Time are treated as the two main building frames of a physical reality, to the point where the Universe Frog requires a Space and Time players to actually even be possible to be created.
Going in detail though, according to Homestuck’s Interpretation, there’s an Alpha Timeline that marks a path that must be followed, but there are alternate realities, sometimes required by the demands of the Alpha Timeline itself, where divergent Choices and Actions from the various characters have led to a deviation from this path that needs to be followed. A Time Loop is nothing more than ensuring no Paradoxes are created while following this Alpha. For example, according to the Alpha Timeline, Lil Cal ends up in Jack Noir’s possession, and eventually is shot through a meteor portal into Alternia. This is a stipulation that must be followed, so in the Timeline where John dies because Terezi sent him to see Typheus early? We learn with John’s ghost, that Typheus didn’t actually just insta-murder him, he gave him a Choice, to Die for the benefit of the Timeline. The thing that doomed the Timeline wasn’t John dying- It was Dave prototyping Lil Cal. Davesprite needed to exist, because without Dave preventing Lil Cal from being prototyped, Lil Cal would become a sprite, and thus never get to Alternia. This is the kind of Paradoxes Stable Timeloops want to avoid, and the reason this Timeline leaves behind a Doomed Rose. We see in a couple of occasions, Daves dying when a Time Loop is broken- When Dave screws up Time-Travelling, he creates an offshot Dave that doesn’t become ‘future Dave’, instead it’s its own iteration of Dave unrelated to the Alpha Timeline, and as such, Doomed to die. Davesprite manages to become un-Doomed by Prototyping himself into Davesprite, and thus becoming an integral part of the Alpha Timeline, rather than a Doomed Version.
Of course this still leaves the question of what the Alpha Timeline itself is. After all, we see dead God Tier Trolls, implying that actually becoming god-like is somehow not Alpha, and thus rendering the explanation of the Alpha Timeline being the ‘best’ or ‘most beneficial’ path impossible. No, in fact, the entirety of the Alpha Timeline is filled with Death and Suffering and awful things and characters being erased off the story.
This is because the Alpha Timeline is, in reality, a Time Loop that favors the Lord of Time, Caliborn. All the Alpha Timeline does is ensure Lord English is created and does what he does in the story, after all, he IS the Lord of Time, and he Commands Time itself. Paradox Space bends to his will.
[S] MSPA Reader: Mental Breakdown is a quick example of one of the Alpha Timeline’s most important devices- Lil Cal. A Juju which contains the Essence of Lord English, and needs to follow an EXTREMELY specific path to reach where it needs to reach, dividing in two at one point to become an Entry in Caliborn’s Land, through which he spreads his influence, and in which he eventually becomes trapped, and an Exit in the Lil Cal Dave has, which eventually ends in Gamzee’s Possession, and is ultimately used to convert Jack Noir into a Proxy for Lord English.
Everything in Alpha Timeline is delicately crafted to eventually lead to Caliborn’s Rise. Lil Cal is not just the Entry and the Exit, the Vessel for His Soul, it’s also the only reason why Caliborn manages to achieve full, unconditional Immortality. When he reaches Yaldabaoth’s Boon, he uses the Juju Breaker Crowbar to obtain Inconditional Immortality. Crowbar which he’s had since before he actually met ‘Crowbar’ from the Felt. Crowbar which was gifted to him by Gamzee of all people, the Troll who raised Calliope and Caliborn. Gamzee needed to be there to raise the twins, and he offered the tool that would eventually grant him Immortality. And how did both Gamzee and the Crowbar get to Caliborn? Through the Black Hole created after killing the Jack Noir possessed by Lord English through Lil Cal. Black hole which ALSO absorbed a majority of LOTAK, including its core, where the Denizen Yaldabaoth himself was, making it seem like everything relevant to Caliborn’s Session arrived there in the first place only thanks to Lil Cal.
Similarly, even the God Damn Retcon favors Lord English, even though it seems like a Canon-Breaking tool, even though it seems like something meant to bypass the Alpha Timeline in the first place, it’s actually a necessary tool for Lord English’ creation- Without the Retcon Powers, John would’ve never reached Caliborn’s Masterpiece, becoming stuck in the House Juju with the other three Betas. He wouldn’t have led the Kids that would, in turn, defeat Caliborn and suck his Soul, ARquius’ Soul and half of Gamzee’s into Lil Cal to create the amalgam known as Lord English. And without the Beta Kids stuck in the House, it would’ve never been filled in, and thus become the double-edged sword that would eventually cast Lord English into the Breach.
But of course even the Retcon favors Lord English- After all, he kills the Author. Caliborn interacts with Hussie through the Command Prompt, and physically smacks the website around on several occasions, as well as glitches the cartridge containing the data to continue the story. Doc Scratch and Vriska seem to be the only other characters in the comic to even be aware of the existence of Hussie as the Narrator- With Scratch being part Lord English, and Vriska literally getting angry at Hussie for switching the narrative just as she was about to reveal the House Juju, and tearing it back from him to show everyone what was in the Juju Chest. A Villain that messes with the Narrative itself would definitely still benefit from a tool meant to break the narrative. And in the same way, when the Villain of the Story has control over not just Reality, but the direction of the Narrative, the only two that can oppose it are a Character who Knows they are in a Story and Wants to be the Protagonist, and a Protagonist who Can Alter the Narrative and just wants to be Happy.
As such, Homestuck takes the idea of ‘parallel timelines’, and throws us a scenario in which an evil entity has basically overwritten Free Will through imposing himself in a very specific path, so if I had to give a short answer to the question of what “Time” and “The Alpha Timeline” is? I’d have to answer, The Alpha Timeline isHomestuck in itself, both the story and the struggle of the characters as they navigate through it.
( From this point downwards, these are my THOUGHTS and opinions, and may not reflect what’s strictly Canon or what may happen in the future )
This ties in to my thoughts on why I think Act 7 is good, contrary to what many in the Fandom seem to believe. We’re shown Caliborn’s rise to immortality, the beginning of his journey towards becoming Lord English, and eventually becoming the big villain of the story, contrasted with Vriska inserting herself in the role of the Heroine, even though everything was already set in the story for this exact same culmination and all she did was take the spotlight by opening the Juju Chest, and the Release of the Kids from the Alpha Timeline to live in Earth-C, free of the influence of Lord English, of the grasp he’s had on their choices and their existence.
Already at the very beginning, John himself states it clearly.
It is your thirteenth birthday, and as with all twelve preceding it, something feels missing from your life. The game presently eluding you is only the latest sleight of hand in the repertoire of an unseen riddler, one to engender a sense not of mirth, but of lack. His coarse schemes are those less of a prankster than a common pickpocket. His riddle is Absence itself. It is a mystery dispersing altogether, like the moon’s faint reflection, with even one pebble of inquiry dropped in its black well. It is the most diabolical riddle of all.
When the Kids cross the threshold of the Door to the new Universe, the story ends canonically, because they’ve escaped the Time Loop known as the Alpha Timeline, they’re beyond English’ Realm. They are no longer Stuck, and they’re free to make their choices without fearing the creation of an offshot Timeline or worrying about what may happen in the future.
It’s my belief that the fact we see Caliborn with the Ring of Life Calliope has, that two Nannasprites exist without one dying, and a few other details such as Caliborn stating seeing himself surprised at the Kids appearing to face him using John’s Retcon Powers, means that this is not following the Alpha Timeline at all by the ending. John’s ‘I’ll do it’ has sparked many theories about this being the conflict that sparks John to want to go back to fight Caliborn, but it has always seemed nonsensical to me. John is depressed, Terezi is looking for Vriska, but for most of the part, they’re happy. They’re content with having gone through the hardships of the Game, and now being able to just live their lives. I could maybe see John using a fight with Caliborn to mask his emotions, but I can’t see him convincing Rose, happily married to Kanaya, that they should go back to beat up the stupid asshole that keeps Trolling him through Snapchat, using his highly dangerous Retcon Powers.
To me, it always felt that this was the result of a Timeline we didn’t see, but may see in the Epilogue, and even though there are ways to make it work, it ties perfectly well to this theme of breaking out of the Alpha Timeline, that by the end of the comic, we wouldn’t even be following the Timeline that spawns Lord English, and rather, the one the John we’re following, seeing master these Retcon Powers, creates following Terezi’s Instructions.
Ironically enough, this Timeline ends as an empty victory for both John and Terezi. John, with his adventure over, and having never seen inclined to even think what he may want to do after it’s over, is now left alone with his thoughts, the trauma he’s went through, and missing his father, while Terezi, who in the Game Over Timeline thought all she needed to be happy was Vriska, realizes that even that is more of a patch for some deeper self-steem issues, and yet continues to try to chase after her around the crumbling Paradox Space for no avail for years.
It’s my belief, when the Epilogue comes out, that we will see a distinction between the Timeline in which John reaches Earth-C, and the one in which they all go to Caliborn’s Masterpiece, as well as have Terezi return to Earth, not with Vriska, but with Davepeta, Sollux and Aradia, who are still potentially alive and out there. But that’s mostly because I don’t think Vriska should survive the encounter with Lord English.
Vriska herself, in this case, climatically becomes what she’s always wanted to be, the protagonist, only by her desire to be as such. She treats the Game of SBURB like a Game, and similarly, she treats Homestuck like a Story, a Story in which she wants to be seen as the Heroine. Not for Noble or Heroic reasons, but merely for the hell of it. She becomes the perfect Counterpoint to Lord English- The man who set the Alpha Timeline, whose existence jeopardizes the entirety of Paradox Space, the unseen, mysterious hand behind every event. Lord English becomes the Villain of the story, and Vriska takes advantage of it. A story needs a Villain and a Protagonist, and with John more focused in his Friends than the Big Bad, she steals the role for herself, which would make seeing her never actually return, all the more fitting. Act 7 is the Finale. It’s the End of the Alpha Timeline, the End of the Story that is Homestuck. So of course, once the curtains are drawn, both Villain and Protagonist are out of the picture entirely.
Since I realized how outrageously long that post I made about Time was, I decided to make a Read More version:
anonymous asked:
What is Time in Homestuck? What is its function, its purpose, what are timelines, what defines the Alpha and doomed timelines. How do timeloops work?
Time in Homestuck takes from a couple of theories about the workings of Time and Parallel Timelines. So, Time itself doesn’t have any Function, much like in real life, instead, Space and Time are treated as the two main building frames of a physical reality, to the point where the Universe Frog requires a Space and Time players to actually even be possible to be created.
Going in detail though, according to Homestuck’s Interpretation, there’s an Alpha Timeline that marks a path that must be followed, but there are alternate realities, sometimes required by the demands of the Alpha Timeline itself, where divergent Choices and Actions from the various characters have led to a deviation from this path that needs to be followed. A Time Loop is nothing more than ensuring no Paradoxes are created while following this Alpha. For example, according to the Alpha Timeline, Lil Cal ends up in Jack Noir’s possession, and eventually is shot through a meteor portal into Alternia. This is a stipulation that must be followed, so in the Timeline where John dies because Terezi sent him to see Typheus early? We learn with John’s ghost, that Typheus didn’t actually just insta-murder him, he gave him a Choice, to Die for the benefit of the Timeline. The thing that doomed the Timeline wasn’t John dying- It was Dave prototyping Lil Cal. Davesprite needed to exist, because without Dave preventing Lil Cal from being prototyped, Lil Cal would become a sprite, and thus never get to Alternia. This is the kind of Paradoxes Stable Timeloops want to avoid, and the reason this Timeline leaves behind a Doomed Rose. We see in a couple of occasions, Daves dying when a Time Loop is broken- When Dave screws up Time-Travelling, he creates an offshot Dave that doesn’t become ‘future Dave’, instead it’s its own iteration of Dave unrelated to the Alpha Timeline, and as such, Doomed to die. Davesprite manages to become un-Doomed by Prototyping himself into Davesprite, and thus becoming an integral part of the Alpha Timeline, rather than a Doomed Version.
Of course this still leaves the question of what the Alpha Timeline itself is. After all, we see dead God Tier Trolls, implying that actually becoming god-like is somehow not Alpha, and thus rendering the explanation of the Alpha Timeline being the ‘best’ or ‘most beneficial’ path impossible. No, in fact, the entirety of the Alpha Timeline is filled with Death and Suffering and awful things and characters being erased off the story.
This is because the Alpha Timeline is, in reality, a Time Loop that favors the Lord of Time, Caliborn. All the Alpha Timeline does is ensure Lord English is created and does what he does in the story, after all, he IS the Lord of Time, and he Commands Time itself. Paradox Space bends to his will.
[S] MSPA Reader: Mental Breakdown is a quick example of one of the Alpha Timeline’s most important devices- Lil Cal. A Juju which contains the Essence of Lord English, and needs to follow an EXTREMELY specific path to reach where it needs to reach, dividing in two at one point to become an Entry in Caliborn’s Land, through which he spreads his influence, and in which he eventually becomes trapped, and an Exit in the Lil Cal Dave has, which eventually ends in Gamzee’s Possession, and is ultimately used to convert Jack Noir into a Proxy for Lord English.
Everything in Alpha Timeline is delicately crafted to eventually lead to Caliborn’s Rise. Lil Cal is not just the Entry and the Exit, the Vessel for His Soul, it’s also the only reason why Caliborn manages to achieve full, unconditional Immortality. When he reaches Yaldabaoth’s Boon, he uses the Juju Breaker Crowbar to obtain Inconditional Immortality. Crowbar which he’s had since before he actually met ‘Crowbar’ from the Felt. Crowbar which was gifted to him by Gamzee of all people, the Troll who raised Calliope and Caliborn. Gamzee needed to be there to raise the twins, and he offered the tool that would eventually grant him Immortality. And how did both Gamzee and the Crowbar get to Caliborn? Through the Black Hole created after killing the Jack Noir possessed by Lord English through Lil Cal. Black hole which ALSO absorbed a majority of LOTAK, including its core, where the Denizen Yaldabaoth himself was, making it seem like everything relevant to Caliborn’s Session arrived there in the first place only thanks to Lil Cal.
Similarly, even the God Damn Retcon favors Lord English, even though it seems like a Canon-Breaking tool, even though it seems like something meant to bypass the Alpha Timeline in the first place, it’s actually a necessary tool for Lord English’ creation- Without the Retcon Powers, John would’ve never reached Caliborn’s Masterpiece, becoming stuck in the House Juju with the other three Betas. He wouldn’t have led the Kids that would, in turn, defeat Caliborn and suck his Soul, ARquius’ Soul and half of Gamzee’s into Lil Cal to create the amalgam known as Lord English. And without the Beta Kids stuck in the House, it would’ve never been filled in, and thus become the double-edged sword that would eventually cast Lord English into the Breach.
But of course even the Retcon favors Lord English- After all, he kills the Author. Caliborn interacts with Hussie through the Command Prompt, and physically smacks the website around on several occasions, as well as glitches the cartridge containing the data to continue the story. Doc Scratch and Vriska seem to be the only other characters in the comic to even be aware of the existence of Hussie as the Narrator- With Scratch being part Lord English, and Vriska literally getting angry at Hussie for switching the narrative just as she was about to reveal the House Juju, and tearing it back from him to show everyone what was in the Juju Chest. A Villain that messes with the Narrative itself would definitely still benefit from a tool meant to break the narrative. And in the same way, when the Villain of the Story has control over not just Reality, but the direction of the Narrative, the only two that can oppose it are a Character who Knows they are in a Story and Wants to be the Protagonist, and a Protagonist who Can Alter the Narrative and just wants to be Happy.
As such, Homestuck takes the idea of ‘parallel timelines’, and throws us a scenario in which an evil entity has basically overwritten Free Will through imposing himself in a very specific path, so if I had to give a short answer to the question of what “Time” and “The Alpha Timeline” is? I’d have to answer, The Alpha Timeline isHomestuck in itself, both the story and the struggle of the characters as they navigate through it.
( From this point downwards, these are my THOUGHTS and opinions, and may not reflect what’s strictly Canon or what may happen in the future )
This ties in to my thoughts on why I think Act 7 is good, contrary to what many in the Fandom seem to believe. We’re shown Caliborn’s rise to immortality, the beginning of his journey towards becoming Lord English, and eventually becoming the big villain of the story, contrasted with Vriska inserting herself in the role of the Heroine, even though everything was already set in the story for this exact same culmination and all she did was take the spotlight by opening the Juju Chest, and the Release of the Kids from the Alpha Timeline to live in Earth-C, free of the influence of Lord English, of the grasp he’s had on their choices and their existence.
Already at the very beginning, John himself states it clearly.
It is your thirteenth birthday, and as with all twelve preceding it, something feels missing from your life. The game presently eluding you is only the latest sleight of hand in the repertoire of an unseen riddler, one to engender a sense not of mirth, but of lack. His coarse schemes are those less of a prankster than a common pickpocket. His riddle is Absence itself. It is a mystery dispersing altogether, like the moon’s faint reflection, with even one pebble of inquiry dropped in its black well. It is the most diabolical riddle of all.
When the Kids cross the threshold of the Door to the new Universe, the story ends canonically, because they’ve escaped the Time Loop known as the Alpha Timeline, they’re beyond English’ Realm. They are no longer Stuck, and they’re free to make their choices without fearing the creation of an offshot Timeline or worrying about what may happen in the future.
It’s my belief that the fact we see Caliborn with the Ring of Life Calliope has, that two Nannasprites exist without one dying, and a few other details such as Caliborn stating seeing himself surprised at the Kids appearing to face him using John’s Retcon Powers, means that this is not following the Alpha Timeline at all by the ending. John’s ‘I’ll do it’ has sparked many theories about this being the conflict that sparks John to want to go back to fight Caliborn, but it has always seemed nonsensical to me. John is depressed, Terezi is looking for Vriska, but for most of the part, they’re happy. They’re content with having gone through the hardships of the Game, and now being able to just live their lives. I could maybe see John using a fight with Caliborn to mask his emotions, but I can’t see him convincing Rose, happily married to Kanaya, that they should go back to beat up the stupid asshole that keeps Trolling him through Snapchat, using his highly dangerous Retcon Powers.
To me, it always felt that this was the result of a Timeline we didn’t see, but may see in the Epilogue, and even though there are ways to make it work, it ties perfectly well to this theme of breaking out of the Alpha Timeline, that by the end of the comic, we wouldn’t even be following the Timeline that spawns Lord English, and rather, the one the John we’re following, seeing master these Retcon Powers, creates following Terezi’s Instructions.
Ironically enough, this Timeline ends as an empty victory for both John and Terezi. John, with his adventure over, and having never seen inclined to even think what he may want to do after it’s over, is now left alone with his thoughts, the trauma he’s went through, and missing his father, while Terezi, who in the Game Over Timeline thought all she needed to be happy was Vriska, realizes that even that is more of a patch for some deeper self-steem issues, and yet continues to try to chase after her around the crumbling Paradox Space for no avail for years.
It’s my belief, when the Epilogue comes out, that we will see a distinction between the Timeline in which John reaches Earth-C, and the one in which they all go to Caliborn’s Masterpiece, as well as have Terezi return to Earth, not with Vriska, but with Davepeta, Sollux and Aradia, who are still potentially alive and out there. But that’s mostly because I don’t think Vriska should survive the encounter with Lord English.
Vriska herself, in this case, climatically becomes what she’s always wanted to be, the protagonist, only by her desire to be as such. She treats the Game of SBURB like a Game, and similarly, she treats Homestuck like a Story, a Story in which she wants to be seen as the Heroine. Not for Noble or Heroic reasons, but merely for the hell of it. She becomes the perfect Counterpoint to Lord English- The man who set the Alpha Timeline, whose existence jeopardizes the entirety of Paradox Space, the unseen, mysterious hand behind every event. Lord English becomes the Villain of the story, and Vriska takes advantage of it. A story needs a Villain and a Protagonist, and with John more focused in his Friends than the Big Bad, she steals the role for herself, which would make seeing her never actually return, all the more fitting. Act 7 is the Finale. It’s the End of the Alpha Timeline, the End of the Story that is Homestuck. So of course, once the curtains are drawn, both Villain and Protagonist are out of the picture entirely.
So if the fabric of Paradox Space is made up of all aspects interwoven together, could aspects be potentially broken down into different aspects especially since it is currently being torn apart by the black hole? And if this is true, would that make certain fan aspects technically canon?
There is potential for Aspects to be broken down in different sub-Aspects, given that all of them mean a variety of things- So perhaps something like Blood being broken down into Pulse and Bond, and the like. There’s really nothing Canonical implying they could be sub-divided like that though, nor leave much room for extra Aspects to be made that wouldn’t be somewhat redundant and overlapping heavily with already existing ones in Canon.
That being said? Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t subdivide Aspects or make up Fan Aspects because it’s ‘not canon’, playing around with concepts like that can be really interesting and fun! Even Hussie has done it with little Joke Classpects such as the Gent of Piss or the Huss of Lips.
Who is your favorite Homestuck character? Also I plan on rereading Homestuck for a project I'm working on, any advice?
Roxy and Jade have to be my two favorite characters, but that’s like asking which one of my children I love the most. Even characters like the Amporas which I really kind of hate, I like what they add to the story and I like them as characters, even if they’re kind of assholes. And don’t even get me started on Vriska and Caliborn. The Love-Hate ratio is off the charts, but in the end, I love all of them.
As for rereading tips, I’d say reading along with a buddy may make the journey more interesting! Having it finished once too, you can check the MSPA Wiki without fear of being spoiled, and of course note down or ask to others in the Fandom about certain events or loose ends and open-ended stuff. Formulating your own new opinions and seeing how things foreshadow what you already know is going to happen is part of the experience when it comes to re-reads.
There’s no such thing as the ‘Weakest Class’ or the ‘Weakest Aspect’. You could argue, as the Master Classes, Lord and Muse are the ‘Strongest Classes’, but even then how effective a Classpect combination may be depends entirely on who is the Hero, who/what they are up against, and the specific details of their situation.
Prince may be a Destroyer Class and seemingly more powerful and potent than a Seer, but with the Foresight of a Seer, the Prince may have no chance at beating them.
Similarly, Mind and Heart are more specific than, say, Time or Space, but that doesn’t mean a Hero of Mind or Heart is necessarily weaker- I mean have you SEEN Terezi? She’s possibly one of the most Badass characters in the entirety of Homestuck, and she’s a Seer of Mind.
So no, Mind and Heart are two Aspects. Some may seem more relevant at times than others, but they all form Paradox Space together, and their importance and power depends on the scenario in question.
What abilities a Heart Player may get is also extremely dependant on their Class, but generally there’s a few things they all seem to share.
First of all you could argue Dirk being awake on Derse and Earth at the same time could be a trait Heart Players share, similar to Space Players waking early on Prospit, but there’s no confirmation about this being a general Heart Thing or merely a Dirk Thing. Still, it would be fitting for it to be a Heart thing. Heart Players also seem to build ‘personas’ for themselves, representatives of other facets of their selves or trying to accomplish some sort of ideal- Dirk making Brobot and Lil Hal, Nepeta’s roleplaying persona, Meulin trying to emulate the Meowrails with Horuss…
Heart is the opposite of Mind, where Mind tells us of how they present themselves outwardly, their choices and such, Heart speaks of the more intimate and personal aspects of a character. Their True Selves, their Soul. Romanticism, Affection, Passion, a Hero of Heart’s powers would be heavily related to others’ or their own feelings and desires, as well as their actual Soul. How they use this Aspect, of course, depends entirely on the Class.
As we see with Meulin, the Mage of Heart, she uses her deep knowledge of Relationships, Character Interpretation and Romance to match people together and make her Shipping Grid come to life. Dirk, as the Prince of Heart, struggles with his personas to the point he nearly Destroys Lil Hal. He shows at various points to be capable of tearing people’s literal Souls out of their bodies, and his toxic attitude damages his relationship with his friends pre-God Tier. Thankfully, as opposed to Bro being an unaware Shitbag in general, Dirk is way more aware of this and shows concern about his manipulative tendencies and wants to not be That Asshole™ and be a good friend.
You could also argue the fact Lord English can kill ghosts comes from the fact that he’s part AR, and thus part Prince of Heart- Literally part Destroyer of Souls, but really, with the power to tear Paradox Space itself apart, killing ghosts seems Trivial.
When Davepeta was formed, their existence sort of mixed and overwrote that of Davesprite and Nepeta- In a way, true to her Rogue of Heart nature, stealing both their Souls for their mutual benefit into a single, radical and way more content being. Davepeta is the one to pull off an Undertale Parody as well, Determination being, fittingly, Time + Heart, so one may also say the concept of the Soul from Undertale also ties in with Heart in Homestuck, inner strength, willpower…
In the end though, Heart is what you make it to be. As it relates to such broad concepts as the Soul and the True Self, it’s broad enough that pin-pointing a specific power set without a Class or without knowing the specific person is nigh impossible. Like most Aspects tend to be.
What do you think happened to Mituna during the Pre-Scratch trolls' session?
I think Damara had something to do with Mituna’s burning out. There’s no concrete proof of anything regarding this, all we know about the issue is that ‘Kurloz was probably there with him’, since he was, or is, his Moirail.
Now, with the way Aranea talks about Damara, it’s obvious that while Meenah’s bullying made her snap, Kurloz influenced Damara to flip the fuck out entirely, and cemented her allegiance to Lord English. Given Kurloz was more of a silent puppeteer, if the Doom the Session was going to face was something a Troll was going to do, then it most likely had to do with Damara.
There’s also Mituna on the Part 3 of Meenahbound appearing randomly. The only reason for him to be passed out under the Brain Tree is for Latula to show up when Damara tries to get near him, and telling her that if she gets any closer she’s fucking dead (Double dead?). Either way, while yes, ha ha, Damara is deranged and a pervert, the fact Latula is there to block Damara from getting any closer in such a blunt, direct way, seems to imply to me that there’s a deeper connection between her, Latula and Mituna, which sets her as the prime suspect.
But if it wasn’t a Troll, and rather, an Event of some sort he tried to prevent, things get more complicated. The issue is to think what Doom they may have been about to face? Since, they lost the Session, they all Died, and the Scratch was performed by Damara, gleefully, because she knew that after Scratching, LE would rule over their Universe. Damara would have done nothing to jeopardise the arrival of Lord English, so it can’t have anything to do with the Scratch Construct, and they all Died in the end so Death is an irrelevant ‘Doom’ to prevent.
The only thing I can think that would fit the bill is The Tumor itself. With the Session being Unwinnable and everyone going to Die eventually, the thing Mituna could prevent that could be so important would be Complete Oblivion, disappearing entirely, forever, and instead appearing on the Dream Bubbles as ghosts. Did he maybe slow down the countdown? Captors and Programming go hand in hand. Or perhaps he saved it from the Core of the planet before the Meteors destroyed everything? Slowed down the Reckoning enough that they could extract the Tumor from the Core… If it had to do with The Tumor, it wasn’t extracting it from the core by itself, since there’s a SBURB Device made to specifically perforate through the Battlefield’s Crust, this thing:
So it would be dumb for the overexertion to be something any old SBURB Device from the Phernalia Registry can accomplish.
So there you go, those are my two primary suspects- Damara Megido messing something up, and The Tumor being destroyed.
Hey there! So far I’d like to thank you all for making this blog quite the astonishing success!
Even though I only started a couple of days ago, I’ve already got 41 Followers, and I’ve gotten questions from you guys every single day! However, Answering things is only a part of what I intended to do here, and I know at some point I’m going to run out of things to answer.
So, if you like the explanations and analysis I’ve been giving so far, is there anything you would like to see me doing regularly or every now and then? Character Analysis and Rating, God Tier Analysis, Act Explanations? More Hiveswap-related content? Theorycrafting? Unanswered Mysteries?
Anything you may want to see in a future, feel free to comment!
Godtier analysis is one of my absolute favorite things. When the subject comes up I sometimes take my friends over to DhaniWitchofLight's page to figure out their classpect and inverse. In one of my friends words, she felt "personally attacked" by how accurate it was. I'd love to see your take on classpects!
Yeah, Classpects seem to be quite popular and great! But most of my take on Classpect stuff is heavily inspired by @revolutionaryduelist‘s interpretation of the Class and Aspect system, so my take on Classpects would be kind of very similar to RD’s take on it? Which he goes broadly over here. In a way, I’m reluctant to do it because it’d feel like… Plagiarising is not the word, rather… Parroting a lot of his ideas. There’s not much of a spin on them that I feel is personal enough to grant deeper Classpect Analysis for individual Classes and Aspects, and I prefer sticking to how the Classes and Aspects relate to characters and parts of the story if that makes sense? I don’t know, we’ll see! If you guys really request it a bunch I’d consider it.
With the new expanded zodiac out and people getting back into Classpect analysis and OC making, we all should have in mind that while Calliope stated there were Gendered Classes, based on gender-coded words like Prince or Witch, Hussie went on record saying this is not the case and Classes may be applied without this restriction.
So with the reveal of the Expanded Zodiac and the explanations of the Aspect Players, people have been wondering how come Xefros is a Rage Player apparently. There’s things fitting his Character Arc and his possible Growth that indicate he could definitely lean towards Rage, however, the references to Time are still there.
Then it dawned on me.
These two symbols? The first is Ariborn, the second, Libries. Now why is this important? Because the names are, obviously, combinations of the names of the True Symbols.
Within every Caste, individuals may be Prospit or Derse and any Aspect as needed, however, there are True symbols. The Human Zodiac Symbols, the Symbols of the Beta Trolls and their Ancestors, of the Dancestors. These specifically match their Prospit Moon and Aspect as expected. And they are ‘True’ symbols, that is to say, there’s some significance to them.
This is because everything that shares any part of the Symbols’ Root is Bound to its Aspect as well. With Libries, it’s evident- -RIES at the end comes from Aries, making it a combination of ‘Libra’ and ‘Aries’. And… That’s exactly the thing. Libra is within the symbol’s root as well. In Xefros’ case? -IBORN at the end states Derse and Rage, but AR- at the beginning denotes its connection to Aries.
The castes are not limited to the Aspect of their True Symbol, however, they still seem to be partially Bound to this Aspect. That is to say, while each specific individual will have their own leanings and convictions and Aspect, their Caste will also determine either a facet of them or what Society expects from them. Not all Rustbloods are Time Players- But by being Rustbloods, they’re tied to Aries inseparably, and thus, tied to Time in some way.
This is why Xefros seemed like a Time Player but is actually a Rage Player- At the beginning of Hiveswap he’s being contained, oppressed by Dammek’s attitude and the Society around him, not letting him grow. And thus the only thing that showed through was the natural Time leaning all Rustbloods have. Now though, Joey is giving him more confidence and making him believe in himself, and you better believe this Rust boy isn’t going to be Time-Bound anymore, and it’s going to start Serving some Rage.
Heya guys! So Hussie’s update with 288 Troll Symbols, canon talk about the Aspects and an actual god damn Canon TEST took everyone by surprise, and everyone has been talking about the possibility of him eventually making a full God Tier Class and Aspect test. While this would be an amazing thing and we’d finally get closure on what Classes do What and What they relate to canonically, it’s likely we won’t see this for a long while.
So since I had some Request to do God Tier Analysis stuff but I wasn’t sure about doing so, since I’d be paraphrasing a lot of @revolutionaryduelist‘s work, I thought… Why not make a God Tier Class test myself? Definitely not Canon, but updated with thoughts and analysis post Act 7, and to be paired with Hussie’s Canon Dreamer-Aspect Test to give a full Mythological Role to those looking for it!
I have yet to begin the analysis and make the appropriate questions (And given the scope of the Class System, it will likely take over 50 questions…), but I wanted to put the word out there so you know what I’m working on, and also to ask if you’d know of a good Website or way to make this test? I’ve had my eye on Quotev, since I recall seeing some Classpect Tests over there a while ago, but I have no idea if it’d allow for something with so many Questions or if there’s any restrictions I should be aware of, or if there’s simply a better place to put this on.
Feel free to tell me what you think about this!
Also, Credit to the Mage Sprite goes to Homestucking-girl on Deviantart, since there’s no Hero Mode version of the Mage Outfit canonically on the comic.