YUM!

Haha, Wow!

[shrimpanalysis]

TETRARCH DAMMEK ANALYSIS

Tetrarch Dammek isn’t an inherently bad character that most of the fandom paints him out to be. He quite selfish, paranoid, and hedonistic in some aspects from what we have seen but what we see in Hiveswap is most Xefros’ portrayal of him and how he perceives Dammek’s gestures and Joeys comparison of alternian to human culture which is not a very well rounded representation of character.(yet.) Though it does give us a glimpse into their relationship and his motives.

Bronze bloods like Dammek being the second lowest, would perhaps try to take advantage of their lower caste counterparts.

To dammek, filling a quadrant with a troll of a lower blood caste gives him an ego boost. As evident from Zebruh’s route in friendsim, we can see that many lower blood trolls are pursuing red/pale quadrants with those who are above them on the hemospectrum for protection.

The highbloods benefit from having an obedient partner (if they’re even into that) who will try to actively sustain the relationship as it benefits them greatly and allows them to have better opportunities. The highbloods manipulate this desperation and use it to force them to be their slaves of sorts.

Dammek takes advantage of the hemospectrum and does use it to rule over his relationship with Xefros, pursuing a pale quadrant with him. A healthy moirallegiance is usually mutually beneficial, but as from what we can infer from Xefros’ reiterations of his experiences with Dammek, we can see that it’s not really the case here(Dammek taking Xefros’ stuff without permission, and also being one of the possible causes of his low self-esteem). There can be toxic moirallegiances as well.

Dammek is a bronze blood. Bronze bloods are more closed off and are untrusting of most relationships. They are also quite materialistic and place their worth on the belongings they own. This is evident when you enter his hive in the game. It looks like a storage unit that has never been sorted out. It is an accurate representation of a basement dweller who has never cleaned out his room in years.

He usually gives Xefros materialistic items while being closed off to him emotionally, trying to distance himself from Xefros by treating him lower than himself.

This possibly can be due to his own inferiority that he feels the need to put people down and his fear of authority (starting of the rebellion in order to be in control of the very system that oppresses people like him).

Bronze bloods also have a knack of communing with animals due to their craving for validation and animals are mostly quite affectionate to people who are nice to them(this can cross over to their own personal interactions as trolls/humans are more complex than animals). Dammek not reciprocating Xefros’ kindness might be due to past experiences with quadrants(previous relationships not reciprocated, causes him to try and distance himself emotionally to prevent from getting himself hurt.).

Dammek being a blood player, leads him to be someone who feeds off camaraderie and loyalty from others. Blood players are also known in most instances to be natural leaders as they manage to inspire many through their actions or words which might be why he is a tetrarch. Blood players stick tight to their own beliefs and views- even if they are wrong as they are too prideful to back down from what they have already worked hard to build up. (Him being an organizer of a rebellion)

Dammek seems to have a fear of separation, mostly to Xefros as is evident with how he always takes his stuff and claiming it as his own. Due to the nature of bronze bloods this can represent Dammek not wanting to let go of Xefros and can also provide a incentive for him to engage in conversations or interactions with Dammek to get back his stuff as Dammek does not want to come off as desperate due to his ego and forces Xefros to interact with him first.

Dammek also seems to be quite a paranoid person. With him planting several bugs in Xefros’ home to the elaborate security systems he has in place- there are probably people who are after him, or people he thinks are after him.

Dammek’s paranoia is also the cause of much tension between him and Xefros’ relationship, his controlling behavior over Xefros to make sure he doesn’t doesn’t go against him(like his ‘tests’)and his reluctance to open up or be more vulnerable around his moirail.

Xefros and Dammek have quite contrasting personalities. Dammek being the more outgoing and crude rebellion leader while Xefros is a more withdrawn, selfless follower. Xefros’ personality leads him to be more drawn to guidelines and a need of directions and rules to follow that Dammek is more than willing to provide. Xefros’ emotional vulnerability leads Dammek to want to “toughen” him up and Dammek’s more emotionally constipated nature leads Xefros to empathise with him.

Here are some extra thoughts that I would like to add. In optimistic duelist’s hiveswap video, he mentions that some hiveswap trolls might not act like their aspect as they have not played SGRUB and do not know much about themselves. They are still kids trying to form their own direction and opinions based off on their experiences on the world around them and are all going through some sort of an identity crisis. Whereas in homestuck, the trolls know their aspects and what they are and how they fit into them.

There is also a theory that I’ve heard that Xefros is looking for a more redder relationship with Dammek while Dammek is looking for a black relationship with Xefros. This can also be as to why Xefros is more empathetic to Dammek while Dammek is more rude and distant to him. I do kind of disagree with this to an extent as Dammek wouldn’t have let Xefros join the Grubbels if he didn’t at least harbor some form of trust or closeness with him.

All in all, Dammek is a emotionally stunted and socially inept prick. He is constantly fighting against the system that is used to oppress him and conflicts with his controlling nature. I hope he does turn out to be a more three dimensional character in future acts as some fans can easily antagonize him. (There was also a post circulating about awhile back where a writer of hiveswap answers an ask about a Dammek redemption arc and they replied that Dammek will not be redeemed in the game. I am unable to find the source of it so take this with a grain of salt.)

[noxidae]

While Alternian culling (killing, or “arc-culling”) is still the default on Asternia, Beforan culling (“neo-culling”) is being implemented to those who are useless but not dangerous. This is currently termed “medicull culling” or “mediculling”, as it is standard treatment for those with chronic medicull issues, be they physical or psychiatric.

[noxidae]

Thrillingly, neoculling legally makes its cullees children, to keep them on-world, largely in or nearby mediculling facilities. Their actual age doesn’t matter. As legal children, they also aren’t allowed to fill their quadrants freely.

It’s a system currently in testing on disabled trolls. And as the trolls most likely to get permanently injured, traumatized, or called crazy are lowbloods, it puts a very easy feed into the hemospectrum while proclaiming to be equal-opportunity.

If you’re a highblood, you might have people around you willing to cull you instead of crowded facilities. Not to say your rights are going to be anymore secured, and you’re incredibly likely to be mistreated, but your treatment will be more individualized, instead of a lot of overworked people who’ve been given power over the selection lower than them.

[annihilatetechnocrat]

On the subject of Equius Zahhak: hypersexuality and patriarchy.

It's been a hot minute since I promised to write something like this, and I've been meaning to test a new writing style for these big posts anyways - so I'm going to try my hand at explaining my personal interpretation of Equius Zahhak.

Equius is one of my favourite side characters in Homestuck, and though the individual components of his characterisation are intentionally facetious and humourous, all of these components then come together to form a fantastic and deeply layered commentary, however unintentional.

Let's begin with the basics: our introduction to Equius proper.

The narrative makes it clear from the start how you're meant to feel about this guy for starters - he's a creep and a weirdo. Nepeta says as much in their very first interaction on-screen:

This is backed up by the narrator themselves exhibiting a discomfort with him, painting him as a cryptic and eerily observant loner:

Once again, he's making people uncomfortable. Discomfort is going to be a very common theme going forward, particularly once we tap into Equius' personal interests and the justification behind them.

The next sign is when we first see him properly on-screen, and the narrator is immediately mortified by the state of his room and advises us to move on with the story.

So, immediately, any cognizant reader knows what's up. This guy is a joke character. A punchline, a fool, a weird asshole with no redeeming qualities. This is, of course, the intended reaction.

...Which then brings us to the subversions involved with Equius' character. Every single off-putting and strange thing about him is subsequently repainted in a more flattering light by the conclusion of his screen-time.

What begins as an overcontrolling, possessive demeanour towards Nepeta becomes a genuine, albeit perhaps overbearing desire to protect his moirail from harm. The context of him being Vriska's neighbour helps us infer that he's very, very aware of the dangers of FLARPing.

What starts as a bizarre and testosterone-poisoned obsession with strength becomes more of a fleshed-out character flaw. It's an inherent fault that Equius cannot control that brings him more distress than anything else. We'll delve into that later.

This is not, of course, to say that Equius is without genuine fault. You are still meant to find problems with his behaviour, of course you are; the Aradiabot fiasco is an intentional violation of personal agency based around an unhealthy obsession. He allows himself and his moirail to die because of his refusal to disobey the vapid and classist hemospectrum.

Okay, so why is he like this?

I'm glad you've asked. This is where this delves more into conjecture, based around a few different things.

The state of the internet and online culture at the time of Equius' inception; and the ramifications therein.

What we know to be true about the aspect of Void, and how Equius interacts with it.

The added retroactive context of Hussie's handling of queer topics (as a non-binary person themselves!), particularly on the subject of gender identity.

Let's start with point one.

Equius and hypersexuality.

At the time of Homestuck's inception, it was a veritable fact that the internet was overrun with overt sexuality, oft for the sake of shock value as opposed to arousal. Screamers and shock sites like 2girls1cup, goatse, Mr. Hands... (that last one is particularly relevant).

I cite Mr. Hands in particular because therein we get to the use of bestiality as a gross-out punchline. This is what Hussie's invoking with Equius; you're looking at this guy and seeing a gross freak who hangs horse porn on his walls. It's appealing to the fact that:

Homosexuality was considered a funny punchline.

The furry fandom was considered a funny puchline.

Bestiality was considered a funny punchline.

And so, this thirteen year old child hanging gay horse porn on his walls is meant to be played for laughs.

But with the retroactive lens we're looking at this through now? It's not only deeply disturbing for reasons I don't think I need to explain, but it's also a portrait of unhealthy teenage sexuality and the ramifications of exposure to explicit content at a young age.

Because it's a veritable fact that Equius does not understand boundaries and has a deeply flawed relationship with his sexuality. It's the kind of hypersexuality induced by childhood exposure to sexual material, and I would go as far as to call it a kind of CSE.

Need more proof of this? Dave Strider. Bro's weird sex puppets and usage of pornography as a punchline undeniably fucked Dave up, and explains the way he so regularly uses sex, particularly gay sex as a source of humour. Dave is the same problem that Equius rises, played seriously at a point in the story wherein these things are no longer treated so facetiously.

Furthermore, it becomes clear that Equius does not actually understand what he is consuming and emulating. Pornography isn't pornography to him, it's fine art. He's uncomfortable and unhappy with his sexuality because he lacks a label for it and doesn't know what it is he's feeling. This is tied to his Aspect of Void; but more on that in just a second.

This is uncomfortable. It is meant to be uncomfortable.

Equius' toying with casteplay and power dynamics is a clear representation of this frayed relationship - and it also segues into our point about his lack of self-worth.

Equius, the Heir of Void.

The Void Aspect. The Aspect of irrelevance, secrecy, ignorance, simplicity and absence, amongst other things.

The Heir Class. The Class that indicates an overabundance of the player's Aspect that overwhelms them and embodies them.

Equius is he who inherits, becomes and is consumed by emptiness. Because Equius Zahhak does not have a sense of selfhood or self-worth. The inference brought about by his title as the Heir of Void is that Equius is overwhelmed by nothingness.

Combine this with his Dersite status and the consensus on Lunar Sway (Prospit indicating externalisation, Derse indicating internalisation) and you get a very clear image of how Equius' title translates.

An overwhelming, consuming sense of internalised absence and nothingness. This is where Equius' hemospectrum adherence comes in! It's a cover up to compensate for his purposelessness and lack of meaningful identity. He sees himself as being deficient in anything real or of substance, and so adheres to the system placed before him because it is the only thing he feels he understands.

Once again, this is uncomfortable and a real phenomenon amongst teen boys. We see it with Eridan, too; young and confused teenagers with no sense of purpose falling into harmful and bigoted pipelines because they have no sense of direction otherwise.

(In a roundabout sense this explains Tavros' role as well; The Page indicates a deficit in their Aspect throughout the session and so the trolls lacking Breath in the form of directionlessness fits fairly well).

It's almost like watching a young boy fall into the alt-right, or start feed into Andrew Tate-style snake oil bullshit. It's the exact same kind of exploitation on a much larger scale; because it's the whole of Alternian society orchestrated by Doc Scratch.

You know... the Doc Scratch meant to represent online groomers?

So, we've been over about all I can cover about Equius' sexual trauma, lack of boundaries and emptiness/lack of self. So, how does this translate? Particularly thinking on the last point, I'd like to give my two cents about a very interesting headcanon for Equius that's been circulating a lot lately.

Equius, and gender identity.

A transfeminine reading greatly enhances the content of Equius' character, and provides a narratively satisfying character arc and means of development for them.

(From hereon out, I will be referring to Equius by the pronouns she/her).

I've seen Nekropsii sum this up beautifully, and I'll paraphrase this interpretation to the best of my ability; Equius' manifestation of masculinity is akin to a poison to her.

It makes her into a grotesque, testosterone-poisoned freak that physically cannot interact with anything around her without hurting it. It is the metaphorical confusion and fury of dysphoria made literal. It is the emptiness and lack of self that I myself can corrobate as a trans woman myself.

Masculinity is a curse for Equius. Much like quite a few other Homestuck characters (Dave & Jake come to mind), Equius really fucking hates being a guy.

So, this ties into my final point.

How I personally would have developed Equius had she been given the screentime to keep being relevant to the story.

The transfeminine character arc seems obvious. I believe that, if a person would be willing and able to tackle the more obscene and deliberately uncomfortable components of Equius' character, you could make an incredibly raw and interesting portrayal of transition and identity.

What's more; this is corroborated by Equius' closest relationship. Nepeta Leijon, the Rogue of Heart. The girl whose role indicates the ability to share identity and selfhood. Nepeta could very, very easily function as a catalyst for Equius gaining her own identity and being helped through the transition process. It makes an already STRONG and stable moirallegiance all the more interesting and heartwarming to witness.

This is not to say that Equius should not have agency herself, of course; an important part of this development would be the formulation of an independent self without debilitating outside influence. It would be allowing herself not to be consumed needlessly by Void.

Equius, and further relationship dynamics.

Equius' relationship with Gamzee (which I have always read as a one-sided kismesis) is also very important to me. This is not healthy. Equius is using Gamzee as a vessel for her fantasies and lack of boundaries, and through her black feelings she vents out her frustration with her sexuality and intrinsic need to obey and serve someone of a higher caste.

I don't think I need to tell any of you how well that works out once Gamzee goes sober. (I'd rather not dwell on the topic of the Makaras too long; that's something for a wholly separate post - and one that I'm sure would end up being rather scathing towards Hussie).

Finally, Equius' relationship with Aradia. This is also one I feel is unhealthy and once again one-sided. It is the same principle as Gamzee; merely in the red quadrant as opposed to the pitch one. Equius is using somebody as a vessel to vent out her feelings of purposelessness and frustration, and deliberately ignoring the lack of reciprocation.

Both of these connections are similar; and both of them end with Equius getting her shit kicked in.

How one would retool and treat these relationships post-character development is up to them, but I personally think it would be healthier for Equius to step away from both of them. I don't think Aradia would want or need Equius' continued presence in her life, and Gamzee is notoriously terrible at relationships. (We know damn well how a reciprocated blackrom with him turns out, just ask Terezi).

Equius, in conclusion.

That's all I really have to say on this matter; a long-winded and ultimately self-serving wall of text that I'm sure will come off as masturbatory and stupid when I read over it again. That being said, I wanted to lay all of this down in one place.

tl;dr - Equius Zahhak is a complex and interesting character with commentaries on teenage hypersexuality and unhealthy masculinity, and reading her as a trans woman provides an incredibly interesting character arc for her in the long term.

[calstocking]

R:R(RR) theorypost: mind control and altered states

Some helpful discussions with @hussianphilosopher reminded me that while altered states of consciousness seem to be playing a big role in Rose: Remember [R^4] so far, I haven’t thought very carefully outside the fic about how I think it should be treated and why.  Working mind control out on the fly seems more perilous than working out various abstruse SBURB mechanics on the fly, since mind control goes right to the most central part of character’s motivations and agency, and thus to reader’s mental model of what they might and might not do.

So, maybe a good opportunity for me to take stock of where I am on all that before I get much farther.  I am sure better theory minds than mine have thought about this, but it might be good to take a baseline of my own thoughts before reading too much elsewhere.  The following addresses only stuff that has already happened in R^4 up to chapter 17, though some hints are provided for the next chapter.

Keep reading

[knights-unwelcommentary]

Would you mind making a list of all blodcastes and their (assumed) respective lifespans and body temps? I saw a post of yours mentioning it, and I got curious!

I can't believe I'm about to do math for a fictional species

Temperature:

In theory we could get all the hemospectrum’s body temp if we use the limeblood temp (assumed equivalent to human average 37°C or 99°F) and fuchsia blood temp (equivalent to deep sea fish average 3°C or 37.4°F) as two points to solve a logarithmic equation

a*ln(b*x), we calculate a and b. I'll spare you the details

We get

Lifespan:

In theory we could get all the hemospectrum′s average lifespan if we use the rustblood average (18*13/6=39) and the limeblood average(assuming equivalent to human's 72.6) as two points to solve an exponential equation

We get

This doesn't fit in with what we know about fuchsia bloods. There could be many reasons, maybe the rustblood average is because of culling rate, maybe limes don't have a human lifespan, maybe we were lied to about fuchsia lifespan, I dunno. But just to fuck around let's put limes in the theoretical human lifespan limit of 150 years

Looks more in line with what we know, huh

A/N: Someone please check my math I haven't done this in a while. Also ignore my grammar errors with fuchsia, I keep forgeting it has an h in English

[cynical-amphisbaenia]

Classpect, Blood Colour & Lunar Sway Checklist

My long awaited checklist is finally here. It’s kind of like a quiz with the freedom to choose multiple answers. I mainly call it a classpect checklist, but it also has lunar sway and blood colour. Feel free to use it for yourself, characters and/or others.

Keep reading

[cynical-amphisbaenia]

Questions for Determining Blood Colour

Having answers to these questions could help you determine where you lie on the hemospectrum based on my theory described here. However, if answering them is too difficult for you or potentially harmful, please don’t push yourself - you can always rely on your zodiac sign, a blood colour calculator, or even just whichever one feels right to determine your blood colour.

Are there any ideals you want to live up to?

Are you constantly asking yourself to be a certain way or to do certain things, or perhaps wondering why you don’t do them? Certain traits you wish you had?

Are there traits you’re really proud of yourself for having or things you’re proud of doing?

Are there traits/ideals you wish others had or things you wish they’d do?

Are there any stereotypes or expectations people place on you? Perhaps there are things people ask you to do or ways they ask you to change?

Are there certain traits about yourself/things you do that others compare to other people?

Is there a way people perceive you that doesn’t seem accurate?

Are there initial assumptions people tend to make about you?

What is your socioeconomic status? Or the socioeconomic status you and/or others want you to have?

Are there any common experiences you have that suit common experiences of a certain blood colour?

Are there abilities of a certain blood colour that you’d really enjoy having? Or alternatively that you’d really hate having? (You could also apply this to other things like where they live, expected interests, etc.)

[wizardflowers]

Hemospectrum Calculator (check original for updates)

CHANGES: Fixed a number in the explanation on rounding. Tweaked the way mutant is worked out when I realised I made it nigh on impossible. Added Ophiuchus as I forgot it before. Swapped the signs that calculate shift. You may wanna go through it again to double check your result. Added a link and tip for the extended sign page. Added another option to Ophiuchus’s value, since not everyone is male/female.

It’s mostly self indulgent and for personal use later for making up stuff for friends but; I got tired of seeing people put Cancer in the wrong spot in the Hemospectrum order for those equations that work out blood colour. They also don’t seem to take into account that more people should be in the lower castes, as per Troll society, so mine tries to take that into account also. It was difficult getting the balance right but I think I got it. If you try it out reply with what you got! 

NOTE: There are some exceptions to the rules, I’ll add them at the bottom of the post. I may also edit this in the future if I feel the balance is still off!

Your blood colour is determined by a number found from 4 signs:

-Sun Sign (your standard zodiac sign) -Moon Sign (you should be able to find calculators for this online, if you don’t know the time you were born, put 12pm) -Revised Sun Sign (the one that adds Ophiuchus) -Chinese Zodiac (don’t forget January birthdays are usually the year before!)

Next you need to calculate your number value. With the list below, find your 4 signs and the numbers corresponding with them, and then add them together. After this, divide them by 4. If you don’t get a whole number, use the standard method to round it up or down ( e.g. 4.5 and higher is rounded up to 5, while 4.4999(etc) is rounded down to 4). I’m gonna refer to this number you just got as your value.

Aries/Rat = 1 Taurus/Ox = 2 Gemini/Tiger = 3 Cancer/Rabbit = 4 Leo/Dragon = 5 Virgo/Snake = 6 Libra/Horse = 7 Scorpio/Ram = 8 Sagittarius/Monkey = 9  Capricorn/Rooster = 10 Aquarius/Dog = 11 Pisces/Boar = 12 Ophiuchus = 1 if male, 12 if female and 6 if NB

Next you’re going to see if your value gets shifted. This is to increase the odds of people getting the higher castes, because without this step the odds of Indigo and higher are pretty dismal (we’re talking 1 in 20,000 for a Fuchsia blood, which while accurate for the lore, isn’t very fun). 

This happens twice, using your Moon and Sun Signs. Check their numbers again, and if they’re 1, 2 or 3, lower your total value by 1. If they’re 10, 11 or 12, raise your total number by 1. Every other number doesn’t affect the value. This can be in any combination, so you could get a 2 for your Moon and a 7 for your Sun, which would mean your value goes down by 1 altogether. You could also get a 10 and a 12 which would raise it by 2. Or 5 and 7 which would mean no change and you stick with your original value.

If this step pushes you above 12 or below 1, simply treat it like a loop and go to the other side, so it’d go like this: 10, 11, 12, 1, 2, 3 etc…

Finally, your value is ready to compare to the blood colours!  I didn’t just put them in order and number them 1-12, otherwise there’d be way too many mid bloods and waaay too few low bloods. Most people should be getting somewhere in Red-Green if I did my math right, but there’ll still be a fair amount of variety.

Just take your final value and find it in the list for your colour!

BURGUNDY - 6 BRONZE - 7 YELLOW - 5 LIME - 8 OLIVE - 4 JADE - 9 TEAL - 3 CERULEAN - 10 INDIGO - 2 PURPLE - 11 VIOLET - 1 FUCHSIA - 12

MUTANTS: If your Sun, Moon and Chinese (once converted) signs are the same, then ignore the shift step and go straight to the colour step. You’re a mutant of that colour! So someone with 3 Libra signs would be a mutant variant of Teal and have bright Cyan blood, or someone with 3 Taurus would be Bright Orange instead of Bronze. This doesn’t include revised because by nature they’re different to your Sun, so it’d probably never happen. EXAMPLE FOR THOSE THAT MAYBE DON’T QUITE GET IT BECAUSE I AM BAD AT EXPLAINING THINGS

So my signs are Leo, Pisces, Cancer and the Rooster (which changes to Capricorn). In that order their values are 5, 12, 4, 10. Added together they’re 31, then divided by 4 it’s 8 (7.75 rounded up). My signs aren’t all the same, so I go to the shift step. My Moon is 12 so my number gets shifted up to 9, and my sun doesn’t affect it as it’s a 5. Which makes me a Jade blood!

ALSO this works really well with the extended sign calculator that Hussie put up over here. It doesn’t require you put your sign by date, instead you go by blood colour. I’m a Leo sung sign, but this test makes me a Jade blood, I’m a Virpio!

Tag what you get! (I check them all!)

[knights-unwelcommentary]

Just got an interesting idea, what if trolls do get stipends, but they're calculated based on lusus type and danger level? It's closely tied to the hemospectrum but in a way that would seem just indirect enough to not cause too much discontent. And that would explain why Vriska and Mindfang pay so much attention to how weak Tavros' lusus is and how the dragon was way above a teal's league

[eatingyourcanon]

[18+] He/Him