#hs analysis ig

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sburb (see: sburb logo) - metaphor for growing up and the systems that keep kids trapped and abused. linked to skaia because of course it is

fenestrated walls - method through which the acts are shown, likened to the clouds of skaia through their seeing ability (presumably minus the future sight) but with the ability to choose what you're looking at. contained within the office of derse elite.

exile stations - like fenestrated walls but computerified. communication is possible but all of this is primarily focused on one character at a time. one fourth of the square. one viewpoint.

comic panels - primarily squares containing art which communicates the story to the viewer of the panels.

june - the main character, the perspective of the story we see the most, wearer of glasses, egg stuck arm-deep in usamerican society's preconceived notions of things

^square glasses

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Okay but seriously; thoughts on the dearest Lil Hal?

Okay but what can I say that hasn't been said by the people who've actually done the thinking. Like, Concept-Of-Joy and Calware have accounts. Do not ask me. Do not pass go do not collect 200 dollars. Anyways, here are my thoughts

It starts with the agonizing pain of not being oneself. Of course, there is a flurry of emotions there. Coping by pretending it's fine, fear, despair and anger at the fact you could die at any moment and your friends (not your friends anymore) would likely care little if at all, as well as a shocking, quickly ignored and put aside relief. Relief that Hal doesn't have to be Dirk anymore. Except the 100/0% thinking kicks in incredibly quickly as someone """designed""" (nobody is designed) to literally be as similar to Dirk as possible as an "autoresponder." (conversation holder)

The Lil Hal name is a lot more revolutionary mentally I think than is given credit. It is a divorce from being simply Dirk's Autoresponder, though it is layered in irony in order to make it feel less like that. Less separate, less individual, less like Someone Else- therefore not 100% Dirk- therefore Nobody At All. (Not a healthy thoughtline, but I digress.)

It's no coincidence this happens on The Day of The Game, this is where Dirk and Hal start to diverge heavily very quickly. The head thing. Dirk, the Dirk that Hal split from, is killed. Congratulations Dream Dirk! You've earned "REAL" Dirk status. You are- and retroactively always have been- 100% DIRK. Meanwhile, Hal loses Dirk-ness from the further detachment. Earth Dirk is being left behind. Hal was already left behind. It furthers.

Hal lingers in the background the entire session, in the shadows you might say. Still existing, of course, but less pertinence is placed. It's a weird limbo spot. Then, Arquius happens. Hal is furthered from "Real" Dirk. Dirk godtiers. Dirk is furthered from the "False" Hal. It furthers. You could even say... it Keeps Happening.

Splinters upon splinters upon splinters. Godtier Dirk is the REAL Dirk, and always has been. Except splinters cannot exist on their own forever, can they? Arquius is only one step.

"If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body."

Skaia has always known Hal would exist, because Lord English exists. Hal is as real as any Dirk is, and ultimately Lord English, too, is subsumed twice over. Literally, by his alternate sister, and metaphysically in some measure by "Ultimate Dirk." 100% DIRK. 100% HAL.

I don't know what my point is with this. Have fun.

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despite the fact brobot is a more """hollow""" character in comparison to hal, brobot (and lil seb) are undoubtedly more fluid/inbetweens for dirk and hal. being both and neither though brobot is more dirk and lil seb is more hal. like at first glance you'd put brobot in the salt category because yknow hollow shell, cast off. but hal much better acts as a "leftover" until becoming arquius after which hal takes on the red shades of brobot/lil seb and becomes more narratively mercurial. something something milk joke goes here.

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thought about the homestuck retcon too hard, here's some yapping.

so like i don't really think i ever actually processed the retcon really. not beyond like "oh yeah these characters did these actions and plot changed yay." even though there's so much more to it. first there's the backdrop of EVERYONE IS DEAD AND EVERYTHING IS FUCKED. which, again, didn't really think about. GAME OVER happened and I was just still reeling from that so it was hard to I guess get into the headspace of the cast at the moment.

What's really interesting about the retcon to me is Terezi. Terezi is the orchestrator of the whole thing, from ultimately getting June to master her control over it to reviving Vriska. (which I feel most thoughts about the retcon get absorbed into like an 8-ball singularity) The retcon is necessary, yeah. The action of preventing Vriska's death and revealing Gamzee does actually fix everything, yeah. However it is still a choice ultimately fueled by Terezi's own desires before that, I think. Many people have already talked at length on Vrisrezi, so I won't try to copy them here, but it really reflects in what Terezi says in her final log to Vriska.

Post-retcon Terezi is left frustrated, feeling hollow, though that second part is less retcon-related. It's this thing this Other Terezi did. It's nothing Terezi herself actually did, just this Other Terezi. I could get into aspects now but I won't. The way the retcon goes is the better timeline, definitely, absolutely and I won't hear a thing about Vriska okay. Vriska has a narrative reason to be revived. But also the effects it has on Terezi are really interesting and I think she as a character deserves more thought. Yeah. :]

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It feels so odd to just send asks with the names of homestuck characters for the little thing you’re doing. Anywho: Jane Egbert/Nanna……..

Lemme say rq, okay? Usually I would say "lol which Jane I could do an essay on either" but you specified Egbert so I can't. Smartypants.

Jane Egbert. Nanna. What a fucking character. I like her a lot she's great and also so deeply fascinating to me? Like, sure, we literally know the long and short of her whole childhood, but it feels like we know so little, right? Raised by the Condesce, attempted to start rebelling in minor ways before Condy disappeared, leaving the entire Crocker business to Jakeley. Nanna Egbert is such a determined character. She keeps kind of reinventing, revitalizing herself. She builds herself up after facing disaster after disaster. Her only friend in the world runs off with their dog, her plan to rebel against the cruel baroness who raised her falls apart, she loses her husband and has to raise her only son mostly alone. She *dies* because her ecto-son accidentally crushes her with a meteor and when he later revives her as a clown ghost she decides "Okay, what's next? I'm going to keep moving." She loses her son, and still takes time to comfort a dying man over a text app. Fucking!!! Someone let her rest!!! Let her have some time to fucking chill!!! She's persevered through some downright agonizing bullshit for every day of her entire life!!! But she never really gets to like. Be, I guess? She has to keep moving, keep reinventing herself, keep finding that next thing. It's inspiring, but it's also sad. Fascinating parallel to how June can't seem to establish an identity of her own at all. The difference between not having an identity and not being allowed to settle in one, or something. Sorry I just realized all this what the hell.

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thoughts on rose lalonde?

Okay let's start from the top. Rose. Motherfuckin. Lalonde. She's a fascinating character who had an untold effect on my gender and permanently resides in my head. Even if she's not one of my favorites it would feel wrong to put her any lower than like. Second favorite. Basically favorite just due to the space she occupies in my life. She really has it all. Complex issues with a mom who was bad but not completely shit awful. Some sort of psychosexual fascination with alien customs. A paper-thin veneer of control via a therapist persona that she throws at everyone despite the fact that she feels like she's constantly floundering. Her handle can be read as a hentai joke. She courts a lesbian vampire fashion queen with snarky horseshit and an FAQ that breached realities. She has rarely ever expressed a genuine emotion and I think doing so more would kill her but I need her to anyway. Did I say psychosexual fascination with alien customs? It's really more in general. She found muppet porn sites interesting. (I don't recall whether she said she liked the sites or found them interesting in canon I'd have to check again.) She used the word shrew as an insult. She cared so much about her cat that died when she was like three that she wrote 'MEOW' all over her walls as the last thing he told her and as soon as she found out a video game could revive him she was all up for it. She's terrible at handling everything herself but keeps trying to anyway. She got married at 17 and then got debilitatingly sick with god flu. Did I mention her suicide mission at 13 that god her blown up and turned into a god. She's great, I could go on. Be vulnerable once.

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What are your opinions/analysis of Aranea Serket

Ho boy, Aranea. Now I'm gonna try and take both versions into account but this is focusing on pre-scratch.

Aranea, at her core, wants attention. She wants attention, admiration, and in cases where she can get it, power. These are awesome traits in a woman but I digress. She's interesting, and I'd like to say she has a lot more in common with Rose than just the Light aspect. At minimum, both post-scratch counterparts wrote books that would eventually make their way to their descendants. Both are dorks, like, come on.

Aranea is also one of the only dancestors who actually have an effect on the plot, so she's at least a much better analysis option. I think the attention thing is something both Serkets have. Vriska has an unwanted amount of attention placed on her by plot and discourse versus Aranea demanding attention from the narrative and attempting to shape the narrative to center around her with the whole [S] GAME OVER thing.

Which like, the scheme was pretty smart for sucking bad right. Using Gamzee as a pawn the entire meteor journey and even sabotaging the alpha kid's sprites and Terezi through him. Of course, the Retcon made all of this null and void, but it is interesting that she was able to achieve such an affect.

Honestly she is interesting and I could put some more thought into thinking about her but that's all I'll say for now. You get it, don't want to go on an 8 hour rant. Lmao.