HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2026-04-30
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I feel like I've been waiting on tiptoes for this update to arrive for some reason, expecting it down every dark alley. And there'll be more writer/artist commentary too tomorrow most likely, when it rains it pours. Anyway, this character doesn't seem likely to be swayed by people ordering them to stop, they seem quite oppositional, so let's see what the Beyond Canon inside Beyond Canon they'll draw will look like...
EDIT: Added some more at the end secondhand from the NYCStuck Q&A that seemed relevant. (EDIT 2: An observation at the end another made about these two Exiles.)
From a Breath and Blood perspective, I know we have the example of an Heir, John, taking every quest/job/direction (Breath) offered up to him and running with it but resisting whenever he was told to "stop". Del'fi, as potentially a Bard of Blood with a complicated relationship with the aspect of Responsibilities, seems apt to be a bit more unpredictable, especially with Bard at the head of the mix. And they've shown quite the oppositional, defiant streak so far.
Gosh, Jake, when did you get so bossy and impatient?
> Sorry is this supposed to matter at all? If nothing fun is going to happen then just install the damn game already! Tally hop fucking to it.
Of COURSE Rose's squiddle race uses their Blood blood as ink, even digitally. It's too edgy for her to pass up! Lalonde's just, indulged all of her wildest childlike edgy fantasies with the Nymph race, hasn't she? Which I suppose is sort of the point.
Onto gothic mirrors too.
> CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS FUCKER THREW HIS OWN PHONE ON THE FLOOR AND CLAIMED HE DROPPED IT SO THAT I'D GO PICK IT UP, JUST SO HE COULD KEEP BEING A PAIN IN YOUR ASS? ANYWAYS SORRY AGAIN, APPARENTLY THIS DIPSHIT IS COOL WITH REWATCHING 'MEET DAVE' FOUR TIMES BUT IS TOO INCURIOUS TO SIT BACK AND SEE WHERE THINGS GO? RATHER SAD, ISN'T IT?
I have to believe that Brain Ghost Dirk has been working Jake up into a frenzy or something for him to be this backseaty. *clicks*
They're drawing...
> He says as if he hasnt been fogging up the monitor while pushing you to indulge in these homoerotic arts. A high horse to saddle just to beat around the bush wouldnt you say little lady?
Karkat's been eminently reasonable in my opinion, if a little verbose. *clicks*
Oh no, the arguing is getting a little distracting, even for Del'fi.
> OBVIOUSLY YES BUT FOR FUCK'S SAKE LET'S TRY TO PLAY IN A SLIGHTLY MORE NUANCED SPACE AND LEARN SOME SHIT ORGANICALLY. EVER HEARD OF ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING? THIS LITTLE MONSTER WILL REVEAL THIS WORLD'S SECRETS IN DUE TIME, RIGHT DEL'FI?
They look about to snap their quill. I wonder if the way Jake keeps gendering them is causing them subconscious irritation.
> For a boy so lovely he sure is persnickety isnt he my girl! He cant embrace that at some point you have to put the foot before the pussy and take what you want! Watch and learn Delfi: explain alien romance system.
Good god these two simply can NOT shut up! You're used to catching occasional psychic missives from power-hungry crones who attempt to delve down in pursuit of your prisoner's power, but this is the most obnoxious it's ever been! It's as if these two were made in a lab specifically to torture you.
Hm, so the Lightseed is a prisoner? Or the power a prisoner possesses? Or are they unrelated?
It makes sense that a Knight of Blood might aggravate a Bard of Blood, but as certain as I am of the title, how might Page of Hope specifically make the mix more volatile? Could I have the class wrong? Oh, though the only other example of a Bard given significant screentime had special relationships with both the Knight and Page of his session. Maybe classpect has little to do with this, it's mostly dunking on the dynamic these two busybodies have, it'd drive almost anyone up the wall.
To shut them up, you open up TRENCH2PEAK. It's a multiplayer life-sim romance actionRPG sandbox game that you've been playing a lot for the past lap or so, another secret cross-net initiative for the few brave souls of each species who chose to circumvent the mutual isolation pact in their noble pursuit of ONLINE GAMING.
I'm not sure what the pun is here that relates this to any other online multiplayer game, but it's definitely designed to bridge the gap between Nymphs and Centaurs from the name of it.
You've set up a pretty complicated private server that you and CT have been using as one of the many fronts in your campaign of epic collaborative storytelling, which has the dual advantage of allowing you to install even crazier mods than the native game supports and keeping CT away from any of the few other players, who might inadvertently alert him to your non-terrestrial nature and ruin everything forever. It's a janky piece of junk, but that's only to be expected of something with a userbase that hasn't exceeded 108 concurrent players in tens of laps, and as one of the only pieces of media available to satyrs and nymphs that actively tries to explore and educate about the nuances of the respective opposite species. You're kind of obsessed with it.
Sounds like a Space-Station-13-like turbo-niche, and emphasizes how oppositional and isolated the races have been from each other even at peace, even harassing each other across the various dual 'nets. Maybe "explain alien romance system" is actually going to be elucidated on here despite Del'fi's opposition to the voices, practically without realizing they're doing so. I imagine it was probably some of the requests in that request thread too from last update, I can't recall exactly, it's been a while since I combed through it.
This game gets coo coo crazy, but it sounds like the two voices in your head right now don't know poop from pee so you figure maybe if you put the satyr tutorial on for them they'll shut up long enough for you to be able to concentrate on finishing drawing this dang slop! You boot up a new game and let the intro cutscenes play.
Oh, huh! Guess we might be getting the Satyr side after all.
===>
That looks like some Sims / Second Life BS.
WELCOME TO TRENCH2PEAK. YOU HAVE BEGUN A CAMPAIGN AS: A SATYR Satyrical civilization is predicated on what they call THE TWIN PRINCIPLES. Those principles are MERIT and FRATERNITY, and just about everything you need to know about these fascinating muscle-men boils down, in one way or another, to either or both of these two principles, which are reflected in satyrs at both the societal and genetic level.
I do have to say again that making it so anything pertaining to the Satyr race would be described as "Satyrical" is both incredibly inspired and incredibly Dirk Strider.
MERIT can be defined in many ways, but it has always historically been understood to mean EXCELLENCE. Satyrs are, above almost anything else, encouraged and expected to exceed in all they pursue, or at the very least to exceed in the endeavors that they have chosen to most define themselves by. Are you an athlete? You'd better be up at the crack of dawn on that #grindset. Are you a poet? Crank out five sonnets a day or you're not serious about this shit. Are you a chef? Your dishes better give anyone who eats them a damn Rodeotouille flashback. MERIT can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, but they all more or less boil down to this: you should be trying to be the absolute best you can be, and to settle for anything less is a waste of your potential. Competition amongst satyrs is fierce, a natural byproduct of this unquenchable thirst for victory. Never forget, you are the project that never ends.
This very much mirrors Dirk's view on the honing/perfection of the Self/Heart, the carving out of whatever doesn't suit his ideals of perfection and "manliness", et cetera.
FRATERNITY, by contrast, is a concept that has evolved more fluidly alongside satyrical civilization and taken on many different forms over thousands of laps, but its core emphasis has always remained a dedication to your fellow satyr. Just as any man worth his salt lick is expected to strive for personal greatness, so too is he expected to strive for the betterment of those around him and revel in their company. After all, what's success without a cohort of thriving brothers to share it with? For millennia, FRATERNITY has been exemplified by the FRATERNITY SYSTEM, the planetwide network of differently-specialized scientific, artisanal, and artistic communes satyrs spend the majority of their lives in, but FRATERNITY is applicable to personal friendships, one's duty to society as a whole, and even romantic relationships. Never forget, you are not alone.
This, on the other hand, is very much something Dirk grew up without and yearned for. He seems to have handcrafted a civilization where nobody would be alone. And fostering the spirit of cooperation... that seems actually most notable in the ways it differs dramatically from Nymph civilization. Rose Lalonde created a race of people who, seemingly, may be just as liable to kill and eat each other as collaborate meaningfully outside of mysterious, plotting cabals. She was given an escape from the semi-loneliness of her former life, but in being cut away from Kanaya by Dirk's mental manipulation, it almost seems like she's projected out her own loneliness like shattered glass, eagerly taking up the oppositional position to the principles Dirk was forging.
Together, THE TWIN PRINCIPLES serve to both galvanize and stabilize satyrical civilization. MERIT drives satyrs to improve themselves relentlessly and to seek success, acclaim, and self-betterment, while FRATERNITY keeps satyrs from turning on each other in their pursuit of greatness, channeling all the potency MERIT cultivates into productive collaboration. This MERITORIOUS FRATERNITY further serves to produce an environment of spirited yet supportive competition, and results in the development of FRATERNAL MERIT, an individual strength only possible by keeping the company of other high achievers. Strong men produce good times, good times produce strong men. Thusly do THE TWIN PRINCIPLES recursively propel satyrical civilization towards PEACE, PROSPERITY, and PRs. At least for the most part.
Dirk takes the inherent... well, homosexuality of toxic male ideals and instead embraces an ideal of masculinity where men, well, embrace in every sense of the term. As much as he may try to sand off the isolating rough edges from "masculinity" and the seeking thereof, though, the obsession with achievement and excellence is inevitably going to lead to some friction where even your closest friends are also seen as competitors. There's a high likelihood that the entire Satyr race is culturally sick from its masculine obsessions, Satyrs turned into islands by the specter of being potentially viewed as not enough. I'm gathering from the way this is going, however, that the Satyrical ⍺/β/⍵ system might help stabilize rivalry in a similar way that Kismesis may have for trollkind? Not completely, but partially?
===>
A whole ton of hilarious fake Sims-like screenshots here. They've thrown in UI boxes and icons from a whole ton of different games here to try and cram in as much as possible for the laughs, I see what might be FF14 HP/MP bars, I'm sure there are a ton of other elements other people might recognize.
SATYR ROMANCE: Just as society at large is guided by THE TWIN PRINCIPLES in an attempt to channel its ambitious momentum in a positive direction, so too is SATYR ROMANCE a codified method of ensuring that each romantic relationship is in itself a productive and harmonious unit. However, the relationship roles are not called THE MERITORIOUS and THE FRATERNAL, because that would be dumb. Instead, SATYR ROMANCE gets a little more complicated.
Yup, time for the Satyrical ⍺/β/⍵ / Omegaverse explanation.
There are three relationship roles codified in traditional SATYR ROMANCE: the ALPHA, the OMEGA, and the BETA. Each plays a different role within the individual romantic unit that makes up one satyr relationship, called a HARRAS, and each contributes to the success of that harras in different ways. Satyrs tend to colloquially refer to this relationship schema as A/O/B instead of calling it SATYR ROMANCE, because that would be dumb.
Ah, using A/O/B instead of the typical arrangement dodges the accidental-slur of putting them in ⍺/β/⍵ order. I imagine "HARRAS" is a... *looks it up* yeah it's just a horse pun. Defined "a herd of stud horses [or] enclosure for a herd of stud horses". For a moment I thought it might have to do with hazing and the fraternity puns, but no it's not that kind of "harassment", and I wonder if they even have that word in the same sense now.
The role of the ALPHA can be summed up as the role of the LEADER. The alpha of a harras is expected to guide, lead, and protect the partnership. Alphas were traditionally expected to act as representatives of the harras in society at large. Traits traditionally considered alpha are assertiveness, decorum, and gravitas.
I'm not really deep enough into anything Omegaverse to clock exactly how in line these explanations are going to be compared to typical Omegaverse roles, by the way.
The role of the OMEGA can be summed up as the role of the CHALLENGER. An omega exists as a galvanizing force within his harras that keeps it from calcifying, provoking his partners and daring them not to become too comfortable, ensuring that ideas and power flow freely between its members. Traits traditionally considered omega are indomitability, creativity, and spontaneity.
But that DOES seem a little different than the typical definitions even to my untrained eye, isn't it? And I'm also noticing that all of these traits for EACH of these could be said to be characteristics of Dirk Strider that he values. Out of our trio of Satyrs by the way, this does seem to suit TC and his background machinations, especially how he sets up and provokes them. He IS sort of leading them from the background though... he's serving as the outward face of the team to outside forces. I wonder how TC sees his place in things.
The role of the BETA is best understood as the role of the SUPPORTER. A beta is there to ensure the needs of his harrasmates are met, to lift their spirits when they're down, to most fully exemplify the masculine bond that the harras stays together for. Betas were something of an interesting outlier in traditional A/O/B relationships of a more classical era, as they were not expected to participate in the sexual aspect of the relationship, functioning more analogously to the housewife you cherish and happily return home to, without the pressures of coitus, but this is an artifact that history has left behind in modernity. Traits traditionally considered beta are adaptability, supportiveness, and steadfastness.
(More ending traits that Dirk believes he represents.) Swiss Elysi seems a natural fit for this sort of role the way he's been behaving so far. However, CT / The Mountain seems... somewhat if not completely uninterested as serving as the Leader or the face of his trio of friends? He tends to go with the flow unless he's sufficiently challenged, so far at least, and in the few interactions we've seen doesn't seem intent on dictating or guiding the behavior of others. Maybe their conflicting urges and natures are leading to something like, ⍺/β vacillation between Swiss and The Mountain? And whether or not that's true, I wonder exactly how the introduction of the Nymphs and Candy Kids are going to throw a wrench in their romantic array? Could someone assertive like Yiffy or Vrissy fill the assertiveness gap and serve a stint as an Alpha one or more of the others get behind? Heck, would Yiffy/Tavvy/Mountain seem to fit the ⍺/β/⍵ mold temporarily or otherwise, leaving the others hanging? And where would trans Del'Fi fall on the spectrum in whichever relationships they choose to enter?
Oh, also important to note that within modern Satyr civilization the entire trio of an established relationship is eventually sexually active with each other, sharing DNA et cetera, and the Beta isn't left out.
The classical satyrical ideal of a harras consists of three men – one alpha, one omega, and one beta – but it's important to note a few things. Firstly, although the romanticized ideal of an A/O/B relationship remains popular in modern society, it is quite common to see relationships comprised of any number of different combinations of roles: one might encounter a relationship between two alphas and a beta, three betas, an alpha and an omega without a beta, three omegas… the possibilities continue from there.
Ohhh, that is a more flexible and modern take than I expected. And complicates much of the romantic speculation to high hell, heheh.
Secondly, the role one plays in a harras is potentially fluid: one's status as an alpha, beta, or omega is defined solely by their behavior within the harras, and is subject to change should the dynamics between individuals in a harras shift.
Canonical healthy vacillation even in an established harras! That's very open-minded and even more complicated.
While it's quite common to hear someone say something along the lines of a given satyr being "a born alpha", it's not to say that one's role in a harras is at all inherent to any particular aspect of their biology, because that would be dumb.
Right, nixing that characteristic of certain other Omegaverse fiction in this particular situation.
Things get even crazier and more complicated from there when you consider the sexual politics of all this. One could be forgiven for thinking that an alpha equates to what you'd consider a "dom" where sex is concerned; not so. You could have dom alphas, sub alphas, service top betas, switch omegas, hung bottom omegas, feral omegas… just the thought of it is enough to make the nose bleed. The beauty of this system is that every role, every FLAVOR of role, is so clearly delineated.
That's definitely a riff on like, Omegaverse role quizzes that delineate all sorts of sub-roles like, (what comes up on a quick google...) Stoic Omega, Submissive Alpha, or-- wait did they slip "hung" in there? XD
Oh, no fucking wonder Karkat is immediately paying rapt attention.
> FASCINATING… CAN YOU CLARIFY ONE MORE THING FOR ME?
Whoa hell that's cool! More hacks/hexes that can affect the user on the other end of a computer, please!!! :D Extending Rose's classic magic-flexing moment with more flexibility and possibilities.
(Amusingly, Karkat and Jake are being forcibly tied together, not tied up separately heheh. Those are Jake's new Retro-Sci-Fi Rubber/Latex Gloves, not a Carapace's hands, by the way. OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT, "Binding" people is an excellent Blood player ability! If she's a Bard too it's an especially perfect fit. (EDIT 3: Cast with a HAND of all things, and an injury! Gosh more Hand symbolism with Blood potentially...))
Nope! You cast a RETALIATORY BINDING CURSE to ensure you won't be hearing from those bickering beldams any time soon. You never thought you'd actually miss the silence down here. Still, you're glad you got to spread the A/O/B gospel while you finished these prompts.
Glad to have gotten an explanation this upd8! I wasn't expecting the full Satyr rundown this soon, and it's bound to present TONS of opportunities for analysis of where each character in the potential relationships here is falling (and with whom!) as Beyond Canon continues, which is both hilarious and fun. You know I love me some Romspec.
Seems they've given themselves a little bit more time to complete whichever they picked from the Suggestion Thread for the internal Beyond Canon comic. Can't wait to find out next time what we'll be getting and speculate endlessly on the way they chose to depict their silly slapstick comic! If it continues in the theme of the "Door", as fitting a Bard of Blood author, we may get continued displays of relationships or meetings failing to coalesce or going wrong-- when it's almost as if Del'fi's foreseeing the future and showing us the contrary opposite of Blood bonds that WILL find each other. I still really hope that the fact that Del'fi showed Terezi and Vriska failing to meet through that knocking door was a Bard of Blood's contrary proof that we WOULD, crossing-my-fingers, have Terezi and Vriska finally meeting that way... though it could very well be a missed opportunity Del'fi foresaw and was compelled to depict. Funny that AA is the least Oracle of all of them so far!
Alright, enough blabbing. I'll see you... well, probably in a day or two for the Artist and Writer Commentaries.
EDIT: There was some Q&A at the NYCStuck live update, and according to info from @dcmcboxers there are a couple extra tidbits to share on Satyr romance/society:
Any satyr in a relationship can become pregnant and the role has a certain amount of prestige attached to it. This is the longest time any satyr spends with their child before they're given up to be raised communally.
Satyrs do not know their direct lineage and it's seen as egotistical to try and track it down. It's frowned upon for parents to seek out their child as well.
Satyr society has been unified as one government for a long time but this is after ages of warring states (very feudal Japan).
EDIT 2: Another, coinageFission, noted to me that Del'Fi's exiles have a cherubic duality-- regular case and uppercase somewhat similar to Gamzee's ":)" and "D:", fitting for a Bard, and that Jake and Karkat are also associated with Green and Red specifically. Possibly the perfect exiles an I'm-still-betting-Bard could have!
