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
the end of D1SC0NNECT is here. the first multi-chapter fic i've ever finished, my favorite thing i've ever written, my main hyperfixation for months... is complete.
but this isn't it for D1SC0NNECT. i have some additional things in the works, so stay tuned.
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 April 16, 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, with an impressive upper range.
*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. 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 super intense anymore (it was stronger when he was little). 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)
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.
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.
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 also, Sollux knows EXACTLY who stole his good Pokemon cards when they were kids, and has no intention of letting that shit go.) Though Mituna often struggles to articulate himself and doesn’t have the best impulse or volume control, he’s also really fucking smart and he thinks it’s hilarious when people forget that.
A few of his favorite games are TF2, Minecraft, and Splatoon.
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 the mismatched eyes Sollux got from Psi. Mituna just has brown eyes.
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. Look forward to Poco Rallentando, coming... this year I fucking hope?!
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. 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 Dis 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's working most of the time to support his family. (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!)
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. Porrim is only slightly older than Kankri, but she’s usually one of the first people he turns to for help. Similarly, Karkat and Kanaya are extremely close and often turn to each other for 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.
**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. (Oh yeah, and Psiioniic's name is Siyoung. It's Korean. But nearly no one calls him that outside of work, all his friends call him Psi. This nerd nicknamed himself after a greek letter because he thought it sounded cool. He was right)
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).
Happy Homestuck day nerds, check out my Homestuck fic! D1SC0NNECT is about Sollux rescuing the Psiioniic from the helm and helping him heal from the horrors.
Be sure to check out the series, I've started posting some side scribbles and more will be coming!
I've had an assortment of side scribbles for the D1SC0NNECT-verse sitting in the drafts for awhile and I just posted the first one. Woe, ancestor angst be upon ye.
I've had an assortment of side scribbles for the D1SC0NNECT-verse sitting in the drafts for awhile and I just posted the first one. Woe, ancestor angst be upon ye.
the end of D1SC0NNECT is here. the first multi-chapter fic i've ever finished, my favorite thing i've ever written, my main hyperfixation for months... is complete.
but this isn't it for D1SC0NNECT. i have some additional things in the works, so stay tuned.
Update on the username debacle, I've decided that dualitysDownfall is now the name for my creative stuff, so this blog's url finally gets to match how I sign my art LMAO
thinking about username stuff still... like maybe i shouldn't leave behind the dualitysdownfall name, maybe i should just put it back on my artblog after all... i'm not super attached to it except that it's familiar and it's already attached to a fuck ton of my work, but at the same time there's not really anything wrong with it either. just. neutral.
i dunno. i didn't sleep well last night so i'm big stupid. i was scrolling my dash, saw one of my own reblogs, and got wicked confused when i saw the new url. and now i'm mildly panicking over whether wanting to change my whole online identity is the right call. i have no fucking reason to care so much i am not that big a deal. it straight up does not matter. but i treat it like it does, because if it matters that means people care about the things i do and make
right now i'm feeling like the important, creative stuff (my art blog, my youtube, my ao3) gets to stay DD and anything where i'm just some guy in the crowd gets to be whatever i want. but i'll have to keep thinking about it when i'm not Bad Sleep Stupid(TM).
i did change my twitch though (i haven't been streaming, so it's like whatever. whenever i get back to ywdmpod i'll just have to be real clear about the new link, and i haven't been streaming anything else in the meantime so that's the only time it'd really matter)
wanted to do something decently lighthearted to just portray psii's day-to-day dealing with lasting effects of The Everything. some days are better and some days are worse
