#from sinfrog

[alterfall]

Why do some of the humans' hair colors change? Do they dye it or did something with the ectobiology change?

Is the troll blood color change because of something different with the ectobiology, or is it a troll biology headcanon that their environment can affect their physical development? Like how some reptiles develop as male or female based on temperature and not genetics, or something like the Kyre from Cassiopeia Quinn (https://www.cassiopeiaquinn.com/comic/xeno-log-002, https://www.cassiopeiaquinn.com/comic/alium), where young trolls absorb DNA from being around their lusus and develop to match them? Or is it just standard bloodswap logic where there doesn't need to be a reason for, it's just an AU.

Hey there, thanks for the big ask! Hope you don't mind a big answer, because it's me again.

ALTERFALL is an AU, and we don't try to adhere it to any sort of continuity with Homestuck proper, like something like - say - the Crow Strider AU does. There's no in-universe diegetic reason why the AF session didn't turn out like canon Homestuck, it wasn't Rose getting the ectobiology wrong or anything like that; but the ectobiology *is* different, which is why everyone's genetics are different from canon. For example, Jade and Dirk are actually related via ectobiology here, rather than Jade being related to John/Jake/Jane and only being a Strider via adoption. This was the inspiration for making Dirk's hair black and so on (so to answer your question, it isn't dyed!). If we left it alone, every pairing of human would be in some way related either through blood or adoption, and that would make it weird when Rose and Jade kiss.

That's right. It was all for yuri. Our dark agenda is revealed.

In any case, we didn't actually decide on all of these elements (changing blood colours, changing genetics for the humans, that including changing hair colours etc.) all at once, and it wasn't all just for the sake of it being an AU. If anyone's interested in a bit of production history, take a peek under the cut.

ALTERFALL originally started as a 'guardianswap', where it was *just* changing who raised who among the Beta Guardians and their charges. When it came time to think about the trolls, we thought of their lusii the same way, and decided to change the trolls' blood colours as the easiest possible justification for how that would've happened. This is why Terezi doesn't have Crabdad, because Crabdad was created specifically for those with the candy red blood mutation which no player of the Beta Troll session has (see: page 4056 of Homestuck). Presumably Crabdad was never created at all in AF, because the Signless would've had no vision of a second coming of one with his blood.

I don't remember why we decided to swap the trolls' last names. Could just be for that 'Classic Bloodswap' feel, because a lot of the Troll surnames' meanings refer to things that don't apply to them in ALTERFALL, or something else. I forgot! It was definitely something that came up in conversation though.

As for human genetics, we *did* eventually decide that they would change to match the Guardian swappings, but it wasn't something we set out to do from the start. When we realized the whole weird shipping situation and decided to say that their ectobiology was different in this universe, the Alphas hadn't been designed yet, and I was the one to suggest we should swap their hair colours to show it off. Hydro HATED it at first, which is fair - quick 'n dirt edits of the original HS sprites didn't exactly do the concept justice - but once the first design passes were made, we very quickly began to like it.

As a treat, here's what those first passes looked like.

Hope this was interesting.

-SF

[alterfall]

Ah, can't wait to make that pulse-check post for ALTERFALL day. I'll just take a little nap since I'm oh-so sleepy...

Ah. It appears to be 4am the next day.

So we're a little late, but in my defence, I was literally oh-so sleepy. Happy ALTERFALL, for those it still applies to, and stay tuned for a proper update post!

- SF

[alterfall]

making sure i understand correctly- do troll ancestors remain the same as they were in canon? does vriska maryam look up to the dolorosa or some altered version of her? is kanaya serket trying to live up to/ignore the shadow cast on her by marquis mindfang or something else? and the question that brought me here- the headmistress is stiill damara megido- are there effects backwards from gamzee being her descendant?

This is correct. Just like the humans, only the Beta Trolls have been 'swapped', meanwhile the Alpha Trolls have been warped due to being the descendants of pre-Scratch versions of said swapped trolls.

A while ago, Hydro drew this companion piece to an older infographic, which I'll attach for visual aid.

(note that we didn't swap the scratch around or anything, the Beta Trolls are just on the left because they're introduced first :P)

Trolls like Vriska, who are very interested in their Ancestors in canon, retain that trait in ALTERFALL, hence why she has this whole vampire aesthetic going on and is very proud of her connection to the Virgin Mother Grub. Meanwhile, Equius, someone who buys massively into the Hemospectrum, suffers from self-loathing and a 'cog in the machine' mentality rather than highblood supremacy. I'd definitely recommend giving the old character posts a fresh look with this in mind, as it can reveal a lot of the reasons why we chose certain directions with the characters!

-SF

[alterfall]

Who are the characters in the auxillary cast (guardians, Felt, Midnight Crew, etc.) you're (aka ALL OF YALL) excited to showcase soon the most?

Also, are the Midnight Crew counterparts...Prospitan by any chance? *Wink wink Problem Sleuty reference wonk wonk* :)

And lastly, in Jane's bio, I can't help but notice how The Condesce's / her new title here / Queen of England sea bitch smth smth have a different hairstyle...but same horns and sign. Is she still )(IC in terms of individual (aka if she was still Alternian Meenah)?

I’m online, so you’re getting my (SinFrog!) two cents first. I’ll let the other mods weigh in through reblogs, since I don’t really know who I’m most excited for, and answer your other questions first.

Regarding the Midnight Crew, I should have actually said ‘Archagents’, since I’m referring to the SBURB construct characters in general rather than those specific variants from canon. I’m unsure if their variations from the troll of cherub session will be included, but expect to see their beta kid versions in the post.

As for Her Eternal Perfection, she *is* still Alternian Meenah, yes. She’s Queen Elizabeth II instead of Betty Crocker, hence Jane’s last name being Windsor.

- SF

[alterfall]

In 2436 on Earth B, 'chimeric monsters' roam the wastelands outside of Imperial civilization.

These are, as you can surely tell, Alternian fauna, but they've been genetically modified and spliced in various ways. The double-headed beastie, in particular, is a combination of a biclops and giant ram, with its red/blue psionics replaced with gold/violet as per Eridan's design (did you know that the AF SGRUB teams were also 'Gold Team' and 'Violet Team'?)

Off all these creatures, the bull-fairy seems to be suffering the least. It was combined with a giant moth Lusus, which Terezi has. Meanwhile, the likes of the Basilisk are pretty much constantly in agony.

- SF

[alterfall]

Is kanaya serket single (and into girls) I MEAN WOAH HEY WHO TYPED THAT

Vriska's always wanted Kanaya to do Belmont shit to her, but Kanaya's never really been sure if she likes her the same way. Once they get into the session, Kanaya's quadrants aren't something we've fully tied down, but her meddling is often misconstrued as pale or ashen flirting.

The big quad-related thing for Kanaya post-entry is her relationship with Rose, which I've described as 'parasocial' before (though not on Tumblr, I don't think). Eventually they actually start talking and Kanaya ends up with a fat pale crush, which Rose doesn't really pay much mind to for a while.

For Kanaya, having pale feelings for a reckless woman like Rose, and over long distance so she can't physically restrain her, is incredibly stressful. Safe to say she's likely not paying much mind to Vriska's weird rainbow drinker fantasies at that time, nor her red quadrant.

Could this be your chance?

- SF

[alterfall]

what are the sprites like, or do not quite have those set in stone yet?

There's some very old concepts floating around on Hydro's blog which may or may not still happen, but we've got most of the beta kid Sprites figured out by now for the auxiliary characters post. Trolls all have what you'd expect, but I don't believe we're fully locked-in on how a frog icon may or may not get involved. I've veto'd setting any Alpha kid Sprites into stone until we're further into planning their session's particulars.

If I had to give hints... Rose and John's Sprites will be very familiar to the source material, though John's in particular is twisted toward his particular living situation and interests. Jade's revolves around an aspect of her Guardian, but is someone who's appearances thus far only include an alternate universe variant.

And then there's Davesprite. They've been around. Has anyone fed them lately?

- SF

[alterfall]

who do you think would make a sound most pleasing to the ears if shook of the alterfall cast?

I think if you hold Equius upside-down by his ankles, you'll hear a moo.

-SF