harper/kk (they/he) | main: @taciturnaberration | i have a bachelors degree in art and i mostly draw homestuck fanart | my work is NOT to be used in anything relating to blockchain or generative AI | i do not endorse any advertisements Tumblr may place on my blog
If you ever read my Psiioniic fic D1SC0NNECT and thought "This is pretty good, but I wonder how it sounded in the author's head", or if you haven't read it and you would rather do it with your ears, I have just uploaded all six chapters to YouTube, voiced by me.
Your Words Destroyed My Planet, the Stream Series will resume one week from today (so on Saturday, July 25, at 3:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time) with Chapter 65.
Chapter 66 will be the same time the following week, on August 1. Remember, this blog is the place to watch for announcements in case anything comes up. Additionally, you can follow my Twitch in advance and turn on stream notifs so you don't miss it! And as always, VODs will be posted on YouTube after the stream.
The cover art for the podfic I made of my Psiioniic fic, D1SC0NNECT :)
sketch and lineart because i like them:
The final product being a combination of "blendy shading" (reminiscent of my traditional drawings in charcoal) and hatching is a combination that I had not tried before and have not done since. It is a CERTIFIED BANGER but it also takes so much time and effort! Maybe every now and then...
for my own archival purposes, the main subject was completed dec 21, 2025 and the bg and typography was done on july 6, 2026
The Third Movement in a Symphony of Teenage Shenanigans (Third Movement or thirdmvmt for short) is a series of short humanstuck fics centered around high schoolers and best friends Karkat Vantas and Sollux Captor as well as their friends and families. It’s a pretty simple AU and it’s loosely themed around music, hence the fic titles.
I've pulled a lot of little details directly out of my own life. Third Movement is absolutely "Harper self-indulgently projecting, the fic" and I'm never going to apologize for that.
This post, Prelude, is where I will keep information about this world, including character profiles, headcanons, and details about the world. As such, I may change or add things as the series grows.
Last updated July 17, 2026
Individual character profiles below the cut:
KARKAT VANTAS
Age: 16
Birthday: July 12
Height: 5’3” (160 cm)
Pronouns: He/him (He’s pretty apathetic about gender actually, he would probably be open to anything* but this is what people default to and he doesn’t care enough to investigate further.)
Orientation: Asexual, biromantic
Family: Kankri (brother), Kanaya (cousin), Porrim (cousin)
Occupation: 11th grader
Hobbies and Interests: Singing, theatre, film, creative writing
Voice description: His normal speaking voice has a distinct rough texture to it, but there's a gorgeous smoothness he can tap into when he speaks more gently. He has a strong and beautiful belt, and an impressive falsetto.
*For the sake of clarity, since Third Movement is written in third person instead of first or second, the narration will only ever use he/him for Karkat.
Karkat is the “performing arts” variant of your typical overachieving AP student. Instead of physics and calculus, his areas of expertise are literature and music. He holds himself to very high standards, both in his academic performance and in every other aspect of his life. Growing up with a sense that he is inherently different from his peers** in ways he can’t put his finger on, Karkat pushes himself in the hopes that his achievements will compensate for his shortcomings. He would be doing this to a degree even without all the pressure to excel that he receives from his older brother Kankri. Perfectionism seems to run in the family.
**this guy is straight up autism
He needs glasses but he nearly never wears them. Fortunately his vision isn’t that bad and he can get around fine so long as you don’t ask him to read a sign on the other side of the cafeteria.
Constantly fidgeting. Tends to bite his lips and pick at his fingernails without even noticing.
Prone to insomnia.
Because typing quirks don’t really exist for humans the way they do for trolls, Karkat doesn’t always type in all caps. Typically, he will type with proper caps and punctuation, and uses all caps for EMPHASIS. He will, however, emphasize JUST ABOUT ANYTHING.
SOLLUX CAPTOR
Age: 16
Birthday: June 2
Height: 5’2” (157 cm)
Pronouns: He/him (transmasc)
Orientation: Aroace, but romance favorable (he’s dating Aradia)
Family: Mituna (brother)
Occupation: 11th grader, math tutor to 9th graders
Hobbies and Interests: Programming, gaming, sleeping in
Voice description: Straight up his voice is my voice. Just listen to my podfics. Sollux takes pride in his lower range because he did it all without T—but at the same time, bemoans its limitations. His speech ranges in pitch depending on how expressive he's being—around most people he speaks pretty flatly. Yes, he has the lisp, it's not as strong as when he was little, but his is more noticeable than either Mituna or Psi's. He has a soft and smooth singing voice and a powerful belt but he will only utilize it when he feels safe to.
Sollux and Karkat have lived next door to each other and been best friends since they were tiny. They trust each other with everything. Sollux is an introverted gifted kid, the sort who can get perfectly fine grades without really trying—which is why he doesn’t put in any more effort than absolutely necessary. His favorite people on Earth, the people he’s the most open and comfortable around, are Karkat, Aradia, and Mituna. If you’re inviting him somewhere and you actually want him to come, you’d better also invite one of those three.
Unlike Karkat, Sollux is nearly never seen without his glasses.
He is excellent at math and science, and is a year ahead in math. He’s just sort of okay at English and history, but that’s fine, he’s got Karkat.
Half-Korean. “Is he mixed-race because that’s two, or because you’re projecting?” Yes.
Karkat persuaded him to join theater tech so he could be there when Karkat performs without having to be onstage himself.
Despite his demeanor, he's surprisingly physically affectionate! But only towards the people he's closest to. (This makes Psi happy because Psi also likes hugs)
Didn't speak until he was 3 years old. Still sometimes loses speech if he's tired or stressed.
His dad calls him "honeybee"
Sollux is his birth name, he kept it when he transitioned.
Because typing quirks don’t really exist for humans the way they do for trolls, Sollux’s capitalization and punctuation patterns are the same as usual but he doesn’t make any substitutions, except to replace any instance of to/too/two with a numeral 2, including within words like “today” or “into”. For instance: “are you going 2 come over 2night or is it 2 late?”
ARADIA MEGIDO
Age: 16
Birthday: April 4
Height: 5’6” (168 cm)
Pronouns: She/they
Orientation: Acespec biromantic
Occupation: 11th grader
Hobbies and Interests: Singing, archaeology, media about ghosts
Voice description: Aradia's voice has a rich, dark quality to it that results in a beautifully haunting alto when she sings. In speech, her tone varies from soft and airy to lively and energetic.
Though she has a tendency to unsettle people with her tone of voice or cheerfully morbid comments, Aradia is a generally cheerful and curious girl who prefers to live in the here and now rather than dwell on the past or what-ifs. She’s dating Sollux and she’s in the same choir as Karkat.
Sometimes dyes part of her hair dark red.
On their first anniversary, Aradia taught Sollux how to make a friendship bracelet, and they each made one for the other. So now, Aradia almost always wears a dark golden yellow bracelet, and Sollux is nearly never seen without a dark red one.
I haven't decided a lot about Aradia's background, but she just lives with her sister Damara, their parents are not in the picture.
Her zest for life was hard-earned; a few years ago, her mental state was. Bad. Turns out the solution was getting away from the people who were making her life hell. Who knew.
KANKRI VANTAS
Age: 22
Birthday: June 24
Height: 5’8” (173 cm)
Pronouns: He/him
Orientation: Aroace, but hasn't quite worked that out yet because he thinks he's just "too busy" to care about dating.
Family: Karkat (brother), Porrim (cousin), Kanaya (cousin)
Occupation: College senior
Hobbies and Interests: Activism, volunteer work for charities, writing
Voice description: Depth and diction are the keywords here—he's not a full bass but his voice has the height, maturity, and clear enunciation of someone with lots of choral experience that even carries over into his regular speaking.
If you thought Karkat was too perfectionistic you’re not ready for this guy. His high expectations make Karkat look relaxed. The problem is that his standards don’t apply just to himself—and he isn’t always gentle about it. Karkat often clashes with Kankri over his tendency to act like a secondary, even stricter parent. His concern comes from a place of care, though...
After graduating high school he got involved in a big volunteer project alongside his father Silas** and took a gap year to focus on that.
MITUNA CAPTOR
Age: 19
Birthday: May 29
Height: 5’10” (178 cm)
Pronouns: He/him
Orientation: Pansexual
Family: Sollux (brother)
Occupation: College sophomore
Hobbies and Interests: Gaming, skateboarding
Voice description: He can carry a tune, but he'll probably yell it. His voice has all the texture of Karkat's and none of the refinement. That's okay though, it suits the styles he'd prefer singing.
Sollux’s excitable and reckless older brother. The two get along very well—most of the time. (Mituna was the first person Sollux came out to, and he’ll always be grateful to have such a supportive brother. But they also tease and mess with each other and hold meaningless grudges, as ya do.) Though Mituna often struggles to articulate himself and doesn’t have the best impulse or volume control, he’s also really fucking smart and loves proving people wrong when they underestimate him.
He likes puzzle games, shooters, and Minecraft. But he'll play anything once.
Likes to wear bright colors. I am partly noting this for myself because I am my own illustrator and I have a pretty subdued taste in clothes colors.
Though he shares the same two-toned aesthetic with his family, he didn’t inherit Psi's heterochromia like Sollux did. Mituna just has brown eyes.
His dad calls him "bumblebee"
As a plot point in Subito Pianissimo I’ve given him some sort of chronic illness that I had not nailed down any details about at the time. I have since decided it's some flavor of cardiomyopathy inherited from his late mother. I said it wouldn't be plot relevant again after Subito, but I was wrong. Check out Poco Rallentando, out now on AO3!
ADDITIONAL CAST
Silas Vantas: Karkat and Kankri's father has dedicated his life to putting more good in the world through activism and volunteering. Kankri very much follows in his footsteps, or tries to. Silas is boundlessly generous and kind, excellent with words, and unshakably optimistic in a way that other people can't help but believe in. He is also where Karkat and Kankri get their perfectionism from—he holds himself to the same standards. He's never harsh and would never tell them they're "not enough", though; his expectations are only high because he just really believes in them!
Silas was adopted by the Maryam family as a very young child, though they kept his original surname. He is very close with his older sister Dorothy, whom everyone else calls Dodie but whom Silas calls Dot. She's a very trustworthy and protective older sister. Though usually Silas is the one keeping things together for everyone else, when it's him who needs support, he goes to her.
I haven't decided the deal with Kankri and Karkat's birth mother yet, but I also haven't worked in the Leijons and I want Disciple to be Silas's current partner.
Siyoung "Psi" Captor: Psi and Silas have been best friends since they met in college. On his own, Psi is reserved and scatterbrained, but he'd do anything for the people he cares about. His main job's IT but he also helps Silas's organization. When Mituna and Sollux were really little, their mother passed away, and the grief nearly broke Psi. These days, he spends most of his time working to exhaustion to support his family, and constantly doubts if he's taking good enough care of them. (Poor dude is only getting more relevant in this 'verse since I wrote D1SC0NNECT, which means he's now a prime target for my Angst Beam. Sorry, Psi!)
"Siyoung" is pronounced more like "shi-young". The Korean language just does this. He only goes by his given name in professional settings, though—outside of work, everyone calls him Psi.
As of 7/17/2026 I haven't named captormom yet but I'm thinking something like Dawn or Sunny, fitting her bright and energetic personality. Sollux (sol + lux) was named after her.
Latula Pyrope: Age 19. She’s been dating Mituna since they were 14.
Kanaya and Porrim Maryam: Ages 16 and 23 respectively, the Maryam sisters are the Vantases’ cousins. Same as their parents, they're very close and trust each other a lot, often turning to one another for help or advice.
Feferi Peixes: Age 16 (all the beta trolls are juniors). Energetic, optimistic, and impressively popular, star student Feferi Peixes is involved in so many school organizations and events that no one is quite sure how she does it. This year she’s determined to win student council president, and has recruited Karkat to help with her campaign.
Eridan Ampora: Age 16. Has an assortment of internalized phobias to get over but I'm not gonna be the one to help him do it, sorry chat. Karkat is friends with him but constantly questions this decision. Eridan has a blatant crush on Feferi who has repeatedly rejected his advances. Sollux fucking hates Eridan and delights when bad things happen to him. I'm gonna be honest, I have no intention of writing about him again. Lmao.
**October 2025: I finally named the dads! Signless is Silas, after this fic. So, unoriginal perhaps, but phonetically speaking it's kind of the perfect people-name for him. I love it.
UNIVERSE NOTES
ID cards drawn April 5-12, 2026
This post would've been an entry in the series itself on AO3 but I couldn't tell which side of the fence it fell on regarding the content guidelines so I'm erring on the safe side.
I haven't decided yet if I'm going to include the beta kids; I work better with smaller casts. If an idea presents itself to incorporate them in a way that has to be them and not anyone else, I won't restrain myself, but as of now this AU is pretty centered on the Vantases and Captors (and, given my whole everything, I'm not expecting that to change much).
The cover art for the podfic I made of my Psiioniic fic, D1SC0NNECT :)
sketch and lineart because i like them:
The final product being a combination of "blendy shading" (reminiscent of my traditional drawings in charcoal) and hatching is a combination that I had not tried before and have not done since. It is a CERTIFIED BANGER but it also takes so much time and effort! Maybe every now and then...
for my own archival purposes, the main subject was completed dec 21, 2025 and the bg and typography was done on july 6, 2026
If you ever read my Psiioniic fic D1SC0NNECT and thought "This is pretty good, but I wonder how it sounded in the author's head", or if you haven't read it and you would rather do it with your ears, I have just uploaded all six chapters to YouTube, voiced by me.
IT BEGINS!!!! This fic gripped my brain for two months straight and I'm finally sharing it with the world. Please check it out and share your thoughts! <3
