My favorite thing about Homestuck is that all the chumhandles have initials made up of G, C, A and T, the four "letters" that make up DNA base pairs.
The notable exceptions are John's ectoBiologist handle, (justified because he was originally ghostyTrickster but changed it) and the cherubs, whose handles use the letter U. This is clever because uracil (U) replaces thymine (T) in RNA.
Considering the importance of DNA to the story, and the presence of a guardian named G-CAT, you'd think this would be something the fandom would discuss more or more frequently carry over to OC chumhandles.
GolgothasTerror: What's behind this name, and what does it tells us about Jake
So, I've been musing while looking at Jake's chumhandle.
golgothasTerror
Golgotha, those who might or not know is the place where Jesus' skull is buried. Most people reaction is "oh yeah, Lord English motif, Jake loves skulls" and that's that. Others might even link it to Christianity, with all the angels shebang, (Jesus of course) and the cherub species.
But I may have a deeper (or parallel idk) theory behind it.
Let's put some facts on the table where everybody can see them:
• Jake loves skulls, the computer he wears on his head/brain is even called a skulltop! (and the skull bit is most definitely a Problem Sleuth reference, but I'll be back at it a bit further down)
• Most of the alpha teens (especially Roxy) agree that Jake's brain is a mystery, probably even to himself
• Jake seems to be convinced that '[he has] no business knowing those things' prompting Brain Ghost Dirk (whom is made by Jake's brain) to talk about his Page potential.
• Which directly follow up with BGD admitting to be scared of Jake due to his classpect combination
With all these elements, I can conclude that Jake's mind is really knowledgeable and powerful and as Brain Ghost Dirk pretty much confirmed, he is unconsciously aware of it. Plus considering how Jake seems disbelieving and in a hurry to deny such knowledge, I'm confident to say that: Jake is scared of what he can do or know.
Perhaps the "I'm scared of you" is a way of flattering Jake's ego, or genuine fear of his abilities, could also be both.
One thing is certain, Jake doesn't want other people to know that he is smart and potentially powerful. No, 'that's for true badass heroes that have their live together and are responsible. Nothing like him!'
So he prefers to make people think that he's dumb, because if he believe hard enough that it's the case, and if others think that he's indeed dumb, well.. it's a little bit less fake, right?
And Hope is a powerful thing.
Which lead us to the Terror part of the pseudonym.
Terror could refer to several things: the undying space-time destroyer demon that is LE, and the lusii naturae that lurk outside Jake's remaining home.
But what if we take the whole chumhandle? Golgotha Terror.
Jesus' skull terror.
Skull terror.
"I'm scared of you".
Jake's skull, his own brain is scared of him, and Jake is scared of it in return. Or maybe this sentence is the manifestation of Jake first.
A ouroboros of fear.
So this is my personal interpretation of this chumhandle:
Fear of his own mind.
Though it might raise an eyebrow among the skeptical.
'But usually the brain is represented as the fleshy organ, or with the face, isn't the skull generally symbolize death?'
And that, is also a very good and interesting point, buddy.
But I guess those are thoughts for another time.
If your username is comprised of two words than it’s a viable chumhandle I only realized this because my username is comprised of two words stationeryKid It’s three am
