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lookingformoondrop · 6 months

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NAJDNWKKRKW U WRITE FOR THE COFFIN OF ANDY AND LEYLEY?

You're the first person I see writing to themmm I'm so happy. Can I ask Something with leyley ? If not, No problem, I accept anything

Ashley Graves (Leyley) x Reader

TW: Everyone has a foul mouth and Ashley is a little shit (oh, really?), mentions of the devil's tango (sex, gasp!), Ashley is manipulative (remember kids, never stay with someone if they act like this during arguments, even if they're goth mommies).

♥︎ I'm not sure if the people crave X Reader or just headcannons with the Graves siblings, so if this isn't what you had in mind, you're always welcome to shoot me another ask. I'm so sorry this took so long to write ;-; Thank you for your patience!<3 ♥︎

♡1,287 WORDS♡

If you ever asked about 15-year-old Ashley Graves, you'd be told one of these three things;

"She's a little psycho. I'm pretty sure she'd choke out a teacher if they looked at her brother wrong."

"She's always the odd one out. If only she was nice like her brother, she wouldn't be such a lonely freak."

"Pretty like the devil is sly."

These comments always alluded you. Ashley was by far the prettiest girl in class, and even if she was a bit curt to the teachers, she had these blossoming eyes and rich smile whenever she walked by.

One day, after watching the girls mock Ashley for the second time that day, you decided to walk up to Ashley.

Ashley's gaze out of the window quickly turned towards you as you sat down on the other side of her desk. She slowly eyed you up and down.

"Uh, I'm Y/N," you offered weakly.

"Is this about my brother?" Ashely held her face in her hand with a bored stare. "Because if this is about my brother, know that he's already called for..."

You quickly shook your head, "Don't take any offense, but I don't really care about who your brother is...I'm more interested in you."

Ashely looked startled by this statement. A small blush dusting her cheeks. She had spent a lot of time making quitters and hussies run from her marshmallow-spine brother who didn't know any better, and if she learned anything it was that they would say and do whatever it took to get closer to him.

Ashley scoffed and looked out the window again, "Yeah, right, you're probably just saying that so that I'll let you meet him."

You sighed and laid your head in your arms,

"I want to play with you... not your dumb brother."

Ashley gave you a quick glance. She chewed her bottom lip as she thought about it.

"Fine. But if I catch you trying to hang out with my brother, I'm going to punish you!"

You shrugged off that last part and nodded passionately.

Ashley didn't know what it was about you that made her laugh easily, and force the malice out of her body, but it pissed her off.

Day after day, you'd run after her with some sort of treat, present, or a friendly smile that made her day.

One day, you had come to school with a surprise;

"Jesus christ Ashley, did you fish that out of the dumpster?" Andrew walked into the laundry room and saw Ashley standing in front of the washing machine with a very deformed and crusted teddy bear in her hands.

"Y/N gave em' to me," Ashley pulled her hand away, a sticky substance connecting her hand to the deformed bears head.

Andrew was taken aback and quickly snatched the bear from Ashley's hands with a simple (grossed out) finger.

"Fucking gross Ashely! Why the fuck would she give that to you?!" He made a move towards the trash bags in the shelve, but Ashley took back the teddy bear before he could do anything.

"Don't snatch things from other people's hands, you jackass!" She held the bear close to her chest despite shivering from the unknown wetness the bear had.

Andrew visibly cringed and searched Ashley's face for some sort of explanation.

"Y/N had won this at a carnival she went to over the weekend and thought I'd like it," Ashley dangled the bear from paw to paw.

"Well if it came from a carnival then why does it look like it was gangbanged-"

"I'm getting to it!" She sighed with annoyance.

"I had thought it was some stupid ploy to get to you, so I might have...thrown it down a sewer." She shrugged that last part like it was naturally the most obvious reaction to a gift.

"While it was down there, I think the rats decided to have a piece of Teddy's face and stuffing and well... the sewer, too." At the word 'sewer', both of them looked at the drenched teddy bear that dripped ominously with disease.

Andrew put his head in his hands and sighed into them, "Why are you like this? Y/N tried doing something nice, and you...let it be beaten to death by rats."

Ashley shrugged and observed the gross teddy bear in her hands, despite it being jizzed up it was cute with its (seemingly darker...) brown fur and button nose. On its chest was a pink stitched heart that read, "I told the stars about you ☆."

Maybe it was a little dramatic to throw it in the sewer, but she wasn't about to admit that. After all, she had to get this damn teddy bear back somehow, and that was enough to convince the next guy over she regretted it.

"Do you want me to clean it?" Andrew mumbled from his hands.

"What?" Ashley hadn't realized she was zoning out.

"I said, do you want me to clean it?" Andrew looked at her with tired eyes.

Ashley thought about it for a moment and then reluctantly handed the bear to Andrew, who pinched its ear to minimize the most physical contact with the dumpster fire.

That night, while Ashley was lying in bed, she thought about why you had decided to give her the bear. Maybe it really was a ploy to get closer to her brother... but Ashley couldn't help but have fun with you. Maybe, just maybe, she could enjoy this friendship a little longer.

For the next couple of weeks, you and Ashley would hang out in spots around the city.

You'd go to the movies, window shopping, clubs (mostly to get thrown out by the bouncer), food joints, and greasy taco trucks.

Ashley would come home with a pleasant smile on her face. Oftentimes, being teased by Andrew, who said he was "finally glad Ashley found a friend."

However, this didn't mean that you were safe from Ashley's tantrums. Whenever you talked to Andrew for too long or made plans with other friends, Ashley would start crying.

This became increasingly obvious when you started becoming more acquainted with Andrew.

"I thought you were my friend Y/N! I should've known you just want Andy all to yourself! I knew it! You don't care about me at all!"

"What!? No! I was just trying to ask the time-"

"I knew it! You're fake, fake, fake!! You're only hanging out with me because of my brother. You're so selfish! Well fine, since you like him so fucking much then leave! And while we're at it, why don't you just fuck him since that's all you're good for anyways!"

Ashley laughed as she dug her fingernails into your shoulders, "Everyone is just slutting around for my brother! Including you! I should've known! I should've known!-"

In a moment, your lips were on Ashley's, instantly shutting you up.

When you pulled away, Ashley stood there shocked. Her fingernails were no longer digging into your skin but rather grazing your shoulder blades.

"Would someone obsessed with your brother do that?"

Ashley opened her mouth to speak but closed it instead. She looked down and shook her head.

"I love you, Leyley, but has anyone told you you're exhausting to be with?"

Ashley nodded and rested her head on your shoulder, "You're the one that talked to me first, Y/N. You don't get to complain."

You sighed and wrapped your arms around her. Clicking your tongue as you took a moment to process all the foul things Ashley said in the heat of the moment.

"You know, everyone was right. You're kind of a psycho." You looked at Ashley's face.

"And?" She scoffed,

"It doesn't bother me."

Ashley smiled into your shirt, "You're stuck with me,"

"Forever~"

Thank you for the ask!<3

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deacblues · 1 year

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dave strider is essentially homestuck’s tutorial npc character. before i elaborate i need to establish some stuff;

homestuck isn’t just a webcomic that imitates videogame imagery, it is a game pretending to be a webcomic. at least until andrew hussie drops the reader commands in act four.

john egbert is the reader’s point of view character. he is the method through which we learn how to play both homestuck and sburb. we tend to learn things as he does, and he is most interesting when there is an audience to direct him places (in my opinion, anyways).

with that in mind, i can continue. until his introduction in act two, dave strider is an npc by definition, and he spends a good chunk of his time teaching john how the world works and giving him objectives. here are some examples of that from the first 40 pages:

he’s also the tutorial character in the sense that he’s introducing you to how homestuck’s dialogue delivery works as a series of meandering and occasionally humorous chatlogs. dave as the tutorial npc is formalized when dave becomes davesprite, since sprites are sburb’s skaia-designated tutorial npc figure. and, as soon as he becomes davesprite, he tracks john down to impart some brotherly wisdom

i mean, hell, he pretty much outlines his whole “i am the tutorial character” thing in his letter to john

i think people don’t really recognize this part of his character because for one thing, dave stops being a tutorial npc when you get to order him around in act two, but also because it’s hidden pretty well. i certainly had friends like this who had to teach me how to play video games and bail me out of jams. in some ways, dave is sort of like john’s older brother, trying to nudge him in the right direction and wise up. i guess the rest of the beta kids are like his older siblings too, since he is the youngest and the one who knows the least about homestuck’s inner-workings. he is you, after all.

#john egbert #dave strider #homestuck #ramblings #analysis

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giac222 · 3 months

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I think one of the most annoying takes I see about TCOAAL is when someone says Ashley is solely the problem and that Andrew is completely innocent…💀 like did we play the same game?? Ashley and Andrew are the same, they always have been. Andrew just hides it better, but we see his mask slip in Ch. 2.

In a comment section on YouTube I literally saw someone say “Andrew needs to realize that Ashley is a bitch and leave.”… I rolled my eyes 🤦🏻‍♀️ lmao, like alright are we just going to completely ignore everything Andrew did? I’m convinced that person didn’t actually play the game.

I’m going to die on the hill that Ashley and Andrew weren’t born evil. The two of them are a product of their environment, especially Ashley. We see that her parents never cared about her and that her “friends” weren’t actually her friends. I’m sure we’ll see more of this in Ch. 3, I already know it’s going to make me sad ughhh. Ashley’s been treated like shit by everyone around her it seems except for Andrew. Andrew has been the only consistent presence in her life, the only one who’s ever been there for her. The flashback from her birthday was so fkn sad, but Andrew tried his best to make it special for her 😭. When she called him her favorite lemon muffin 🥺 yeah, she loves him downnn.

Ashley also has major self esteem issues which absolutely stem from her childhood. Again, I think we’ll see more of this in Ch. 3. She also has a ton of internalized misogyny, she’s had it since she was a kid. I’m like girl.. why are you like 10 calling other girls hussies? 😂 Seriously though, I believe she picked this behavior up from her mother. I mean where else would she learn those words and behaviors from? It’s very easy for kids to pick up on things. I really need the lore on Mrs.Graves because I don’t think she was born evil either. 🤔 The fact that she was a teen mom of 2 before the age of 18 is crazy. That also means her and Mr.Graves have been together for quite some time.

We know Mrs.Graves overall doesn’t care about either of her children, but it’s fair to say that Andrew was treated somewhat better than Ashley. I bring this up because I’ve heard stories about how some moms are easy on their sons while being very hard on their daughters. Also, I’ve seen someone else bring this up before, but when Andrew declines the olive branch and defends Ashley, Mrs.Graves doesn’t understand why and then she accuses him of sleeping with her. Why did her mind automatically go there? As if he couldn’t love Ashley for any reason other than sex. I think the reason Mrs.Graves said that is because of her own internalized misogyny and is projecting. Basically saying: If a man cares about you and does things for you, it’s obviously because you’re sleeping with him, not because he actually wants to do those things out of love. I could be wrong though, that’s just something I picked up on. So yes, I do believe Ashley got her internalized misogyny from her mother. I think generational trauma is definitely at play here, which is honestly just sad more than anything.

Andrew is everything to Ashley, he really is the center of her world 😭, and he’s the only person who’s shown her any type of love. We know she’s terrified of losing him and will do anything to keep him around. Considering no one else has stuck around in her life, it makes sense that she has serious abandonment issues 😞. Ashley can be abusive and manipulative, but I don’t think she necessarily wants to do that, she does it because she thinks that’s the only way she can keep him in her life… what she doesn’t understand though is that Andrew loves her just as much as she loves him, he would stick by her without any of that, we know this, even though he doesn’t show it as much. In ch. 3, I’m sure we’ll finally see him open up more and give her the affection and reassurance she needs. We see a glimpse of this in the questionable burial route when they’re on the bridge. In my opinion, I don’t see how people can call the questionable route the “bad” ending when both of them look the happiest, especially Andrew. I don’t think I’ve seen Andrew that happy at any other point in the game. 💀 he was fr in his element there.

Some people may not want to admit this, but Ashley is a victim as well. That’s why it’s frustrating to see people with the take that Ashley is purely evil and that Andrew is an angel who was manipulated to do everything he’s done. They’re both flawed individuals, but their upbringing was awful and the world around them is awful too. They live in a dystopian society. How they ended up was inevitable, and I’m not excusing their behavior, but they were failed by their parents and had 0 parental guidance. I mean my god, to make things even worse, their own parents sold them to organ harvesters and they were left to starve locked up in an apartment for months with no one else but each other. If they didn’t do what they did, they would have died. 🤷🏻‍♀️ They originally didn’t plan to sacrifice their parents either, they wanted to rob them and leave, but their mother came home and it screwed up their plans. Their mother absolutely would have snitched on them if they didn’t take action. We also know now that people are looking for them, hence the hitman. They literally have no choice but to be on the run. Their situation and actions aren’t black and white.

This turned into a very long post, sorry if it’s messy haha. I just wanted to get my thoughts out there because some of the takes I’ve seen on this game are horrendous. 💀 Thanks for reading if you did. ❤️

#tcoaal #the coffin of andy and leyley #nemlei #kit9 #ashley graves #andrew graves #andrew x ashley #andy graves #leyley graves #andy x leyley #gravecest #coffincest #mini essay #didn’t expect this to be so long oops

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calware · 2 months

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very genuine question i just want to be informed. how is gamzee racist/abelist? im trying to think and i cant put my finger on it. like i definitely dont think youre wrong i just wanna know specifically why

before i say anything i need to give the context that before and while writing homestuck, andrew hussie was very racist and ableist (and you can see that in multiple of their works, not just homestuck. have you heard of their previous comic "team special olympics"? what about the time they wrote dave saying the N WORD in a blog post?). other people—most importantly black and disabled homestuck fans—have already discussed this better than i can, but i'll do my best to give a VERY BASIC breakdown

gamzee's character (and the other makaras, but i'll stick to gamzee for simplicity) being racist stems from the way his character lines up with several anti-black stereotypes (has a drug addiction, an absent father, violent impulses, i could go on), his way of speaking is written to mock AAVE, the way the concept of "chucklevoodoos" appropriates haitian vodou (i believe that's the correct term), and more. for the sake of keeping this ask short, i'll stop there, but there is still plenty more. his character is ableist because it perpetuates stereotypes for people with psychotic disorders—he hears voices telling him to kill his friends, kills them, and as the story progresses from there he becomes more and more "unhinged" and dangerous. he is also at least implied to have brain damage (it might be outright stated, i can't remember) due to his drug addiction. i also want to clarify that this ableism is specifically racialized ableism, especially with the way it stems from said drug addiction

here's a post from off the top of my head that delves into the racial stereotypes with more specifics

please correct me if i got anything wrong

#ask #Anonymous

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fefairys · 6 months

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sorry a lot of this reread liveblog is just me posting quotes from the authors notes but there is so much good stuff in here

"By the very nature of trolls, a lot of these guys were always going to be pretty bad, obnoxious, gross, or creepy, particularly at first glance. So one major challenge I found interesting was something like, "How do you introduce someone who appears to be almost instantly revolting or objectionable, and then proceed to make the reader love this person against all odds?" Equius is probably the strongest example up to this point of me embracing this idea as a challenge. The initial impressions he gives are pretty horrible. He's constantly angry, racist, humorless, has weird horse porn everywhere, and...oh no, does he BEAT HIS LUSUS TOO?? Just awful. But the unfolding of his character thereafter reveals certain mitigating truths. He doesn't beat his lusus, he's just so strong he leaves bruises despite his best efforts at tenderness. It's like a disability he struggles with. If you want to go full sadstuck, picture him unable to hug his dear moirail upon meeting her, for fear of crushing her fragile bones. There are many small ways his portrait is guided so that a guy who really has no right to be seen as endearing ends up being strangely so, often in ways that aren't even easy to explain. I firmly believe that if you don't love Equius after you've read most of Homestuck, then there's something wrong with you." -Andrew Hussie

#sams reading homestuck again #homestuck #equius

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davekat-sucks · 4 months

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man. that ama was so bullshit.

why are they acting like they know it was always meant to be. You think Hussie. Andrew Hussie. The hussle. You think the hustler of all people ever paid mind to that idea.

it really pisses me off how they act. this is the, if not (((THE))) perfect example of "pushing agenda"

so sad. destroying beloved characters to make a hc canon. its not even fun.

I will never accept this as canon. ever.

Everyone is better off making their own ending. If they prefer the big bad being only Jack Noir with the Beta Kids beating him and winning the game, that's canon and better. If they prefer ships like DaveJade or KatNep being endgame, that's canon and better. Do not give Patreon money to this new Homestuck team.

#Homestuck #HOM3STUCK #Homestuck fandom #Homestuck Beyond Canon #HSBC #WhatPumpkin #What Pumpkin #Homestuck^2 #HS2 #HS^2 #Homestuck 2 #Homestuck2

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hms-no-fun · 11 months

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Sarah, Do you hate Rose Lalonde? Not in like the heavy malicious way people associate with Andrew and his relationship with hussie but like, as a fan of godfeels for probably the wrong reasons (my autistic ass really likes the way you approach the character and also me when someone writes Dirk and doesn’t make him a irredeemable piece of shit and a active creep) something that’s stuck out to me reading your tumblr and thinking back on the story is that rose is, to me at least, one of the most unluckiest characters in godfeels, both from a writing and in character perspective,m.

she’s the first to display the kid’s transphobia and thereby the first to get reality checked by June (which, to be fair to both June as a character and your reason for that scene in your godfeels video, she deserved) and therefor the first forced to learn the lesson of “you can move on and continue being friends with people but still not forgive them for the shit they put you through” (which I will admit I might be wrong on) and I’m pretty sure the first one to die when June does the whole kill everyone (or at least everyone that’s considered gods) on earth c thing, and besides that, unless I’ve misremembered something, besides the first chapter of divergence syndrome, she doesn’t really do much until she gives her final message to kanaya and well, the shit all goes down.

I’m not a big big fan of rose Lalonde, but it just feels like there’s something like, there, like there’s something about rose that you’ve never agreed with, and thinking back on it I don’t hate it, but it feels like sometimes rose is a means to a end, which is what all characters are but I mean like, a means means to a end, “how do Segway into the beta kids transphobia of June” through Rose’s constant biased Psychoanalysis failing her in the worse way possible, “How to keep epigone in after Dirk’s absolute asskicking” possessing her corpse, “how to finally get Gerald’s halo out of the story” get her dead, “how do I pronounce death to all endgame ships” kill the lesser used part of the pair, it just, feels like there’s something there, not something outright malicious, but something just, there, like the reverse of the hussie Vriska stuff, creator’s Chew toy stuff.

I apologize for the rudeness this ask may give off, I do truely love godfeels and read up to date anything about it that gets released, this just has been negging the back of my mind for so long.

spoilers for godfeels 3 here but i guess that ship's kinda sailed if you read the question lmao

i don't hate Rose at all! i mean i think freudians are all cranks and it really bugs me how much mid-century and contemporary marxist theory is couched in freudian/jungian/lacanian bullshit, but that's not really got anything to do with Rose lmao. i can't say that i hate any of the characters in godfeels the way andrew seemed to hate, say, Jake English (though there *are* homestuck characters i dislike and wouldn't enjoy writing, which is why they're not in the fic). i'm of the mind that every character sucks in their own unique ways and that's precisely what makes fiction fun to read. that Rose doesn't have a ton of direct agency in the narrative just comes down to, in part, this being a story focused primarily on June. that i didn't really understand how to write Rose in gf1-2 certainly doesn't help. but it's also related to how i interpret her role as a Seer of Light.

her role in gf3 onwards is defined by the Epilogues, where she either needed to transfer her consciousness to a robot body that could contain her ultimate self before her physical body died, or otherwise exist in a universe untethered from canon where connection to her ultimate self is irrelevant. she's had visions of, presumably, a great deal of the events of chapter 8, and i think understood that VV's whole gambit (whether or not she knew it was VV specifically playing this game) was to split the difference between Candy and Meat by disconnecting from Homestuck canon while still maintaining existential relevance in the shadow of some other story.

a lot of the best narrative premonitions/prophecies, especially in Homestuck, use them for dramatic irony-- that is, by trying to avoid a projected future, you only end up creating it. classic macbeth shit. if there's anyone in this story who viscerally understands that vicious narratological cycle, it's Rose Lalonde. so rather than pushing back, warning her friends, trying to rally the troops, she instead accepts that her universe's survival requires sacrifice, namely Major Character Death.

in this way, her so-called suicide wind is an echo of Dirk's own suicide in Candy, albeit towards existentially opposite purposes. and in that sense it's an equally selfish act, because who knows! maybe they *could* have done something substantial to prepare for Epigone's coming if Rose had bothered to warn anyone! but such is the passive nihilism of our beloved Seer, whose death could never be anything less than a dramatic tragedy. this was, in fact, an exercise in absolute agency-- Rose chose to accept her fate rather than fight back against it, perhaps even vibed with how poetic it was to be decapitated by her own beloved wife.

all of this is very relevant to the future of godfeels-- i didn't put her at the center of a load-bearing polycule just to have her death be meaningless. :)

#sarahposts #godfeels #rose lalonde #spoilers

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eggsploded · 4 months

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HOMESTUCK AND STAR TREK? :O

oh baby this posts gonna be long

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

HS: aradia and sollux. aradia is my favorite forever as my patron troll and sollux is just fun to draw because whys he look like that

ST: all the cardassians in general. garak is the best, im honestly more fascinated with andrew robinson himself and his dedication to the character. also damar who doesnt get much presence until later seasons and gets crushed by actually giving a fuck about his position. i took a shot of kanar (maple syrup) for his honor and it was agony.

dukat is excluded from this because he managed to curse the show into buffering on his face everytime i watched.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

HS: probably the beta kids before playing sburb. theyre all just little kids and best friends forever and it makes me tear up- in pesterquest dave literally talks about jade like shes his girlfriend that goes to a different school. all the kids were more than eager to see eachother in person and it sucks that it happened under the circumstances of.. homestuck

i dont have cuteness aggression for them theyve been through enough :-(

ST: in TNG's the enemy geordi helps out this genuinely pitiful romulan dude thats shaking like a chihuahua and i felt so much for that guy i wish he came back

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

HS: i think people are finally past portraying kanaya as a nothingburger, it was kind of funny 10 years ago that people were falling into her flimsy veil of Perceived Normalcy, like she doesnt regularly bite her friends and wasnt unforgivably delulu about vriska when they were moirails.

truly underrated might be the felt? their designs tickle me

ST: damar? maybe hes got more content now idk. honorable mentions are: keiko obrien, worfs parents (my favorite tng ep), hugh, the cardassian scientists that hit on obrien that one time, lwaxana troi and keevan.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

HS: any of signless' crew. like. we got shafted so hard with the dancestors its crazy. in my wildest dreams psiioniic didnt get utterly crushed by the vast glub and somehow escaped at the ripe age of 2000 sweeps and is now overgrown and too old and ancient for his own good, squatting in solluxs hive. we didnt get much content about how signless did his recruiting- did he just do speeches and demonstrations? did he fuck nasty? i know for sure it wasnt the cringe dialogue they strapped kankri with. same goes for dolorosas life before she raised signless, she should be at the club.

ST: background vulcans. especially in TNG when they just stopped giving a fuck about them, thank god tuvok exists or i wouldve had no incentive at all to actually watch part of VOY.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

HS: equius. its really a special day when a character cant be quantified with a simple archetype like the rest of the trolls. theres something so deeply strange and wrong with him that its captivating, i chalk it up to being the horse guy in a insect body.

hussie also just like, had it out for him at day one. gamzee got beaten to a pulp narratively but equius didnt even get a chance. its sad, and im more interested in what he couldve been rather than someone like eridan or meenah.

ST: kai winn. shes literally an alien white woman and its fantastic. she did her role so good that the poor actress got hatemail, and her insidiousness is just so well done. the final season of ds9 isnt that good but it was fun to see her go off the rails with dukat.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

HS: what do i look like? hussie? in truth when it comes to being a flop i like seeing kanaya flounder. shes weird guys. she is so fucking weird and she doesnt really know because her friends are Weirder. we dont always need her to slay, atleast in my book.

ST: riker. no further notes

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

HS: jake. if he has a deeper character i havent noticed because my eyes glaze over trying to read through this dialogue. he feels like a leftover shitpost character hussie couldnt fit on the dancestors. i havent reread act 6 yet, but i remember such a large chunk being some strange love triangle-square surrounding jake and i did Not Give a Fuck, and salt in the wound was dirk and janes friendship being so fantastic but overshadowed by jakes unceasing sex appeal cursing them.

ST: obrien because it was be a standard episode plot for him, i think hed come out fine

#egg asks #homestuck #star trek

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clay-pidgeon · 4 months

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vriska + equius’ relationship (i say relationship bc its platonic but idk if i can call it friendship without adding 8+ disclaimers about alternian society) is genuinely so important to me. i need to talk about this more

vriska is the thief of light. she steals light/narrative relevancy for herself, creating darkness/irrelevancy for others in turn. she injures (UNDERSTATEMENT) both of the characters that equius is shown to give bodies/prosthetics for (INCLUDING HERSELF THRU KARMA BULLSHIT.) equius the heir of void is extremely important (something vriska craves) in the form of being part of le/doc scratch, 3/4 of the kids birthdays being in sagutarrius, + dirk being somewhat modeled off him iirc. probably more stuff. also the fact they both have the addiction is a powerful thing line and they both habitually break things. also they have opposite relationships with their lusus (READ THE VRISKY BUSINESS PARADOX SPACE COMIC) they are Parallels on some level its so interesting

and thats just like meta shit their ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP is fucking awesome. their thing is mainly about collabing on aradias soulbot but both of them plan to backstab the other and give it to aradia themself to uhhh get in her good graces i think? in their only 1on1 conversation as far as i know equius’s general tone comes off as…not PATRONIZING but the vibe that hes just entertaining her shit because means to an end shit is clear. he says “make them envy our nobility” implying that he thinks of vriska on some level in the same group as him. which is TRUE theyre neighbors and ceruleans and indigos are the only ones you can rly call highbloods and arent clearly classed somehwere else bc the other 3 highblood castes are clown gang and Fish. and equius openly doesnt rly like seadwellers

anyways back to their actual conversation equius clearly doesnt hold much AFFECTION for vriska but he does put up with her! they dont seem to actually like each other as much as theyre like. allies. means to an end. my weird neighbor whos kinda creepy but is too valuable to actually stop interacting with. vriska likes messing around with him but equius just goes “D—> Stop” and she does it! (also i just remembered that in one of the authors notes andrew hussie says its possible she has a crush on him in which is so fucking funny. irrelevant to this specific thing but holy SHIT thats fucking hilarious) in general equius goes “yeah. yeah. stop. sure” in RESPONSE to stuff vriska says, not reallt bringing up any topics of his own interest

except for at the end: he brings up that he built her metal arm, and vriska does her thing where her sentences look like algebra problems because of all the 8s in them where they shouldnt be, and on the next page vriska slaps herself using her robot arm, which is a one off gimmick but does that mean that equius can control her arm???? what the fuuuuck haha anyways vriska is obviously not a person who likes owing people stuff no shit sherlock.

vriska going to equius for her robot arm is also the main focus of “vrisky business” a paradox space comic thats fucking wonderful. i love it so much. vriska and equius’ relationship is much like the “8lah 8lah 8lah” “D—> Ok” one i mentioned in the last paragraph where equius is simply entertaining the whims of someone he views as lesser, but not lesser enough to be weird about it. vriska pretends she hasnt been mortally injured (saying she stubbed her arm and leg like one would a toe) but is also like a little vulnerable (possibly because of the Blood Loss) stating itd be nice to have a lusus like aurthor who actually serves equius and doesnt eat kids, being way more self deprecating than is decidedly Vriskesque, etc. equius says they dont have many interests in common and also that vriska is lesser than him. at the end, right after her aurthor comment, she admits shes jealous of him and collapses . this is a gross oversimplification read vrisky business here its so good (note this is the preview on the website theres like a continuation on imgur here but i didnt include that bc i just found out about it and didnt want to make this paragraph too long. its here tho its so good)

when arquius happens, vriska Very Obviously fucking LOVES the guy. she says this many many times in no uncertain terms: this guy is AWESOME and Team Vriska forever. which is fair shoutout to arquius. also its implied she has a crush on him which again. so funny. these two are great. not much to say here that i havent already so ill just say theyre awesome again

this post is too long for its own fucking good. tldr equius and vriska are so friends in such an interesting way and i love it

#dove chirps #my stuff #homestuck #vriska serket #equius zahhak #equius #vriska #hs equius #hs vriska #vriska homestuck #equius homestuck #sorry for all the tags i just. like them a lot and i think if there are others out there who like them a lot i want them to see this #also please dont tag as ship theyre friends #i love them. they dont even like each other. theyre close friends. amazing dynamic

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dash-n-step · 7 months

Text

Okay, twitter convo has made me realize that not a lot of people know that

1. There are other Candy kids who appear in the bonus updates, which are/were tangential updates to Homestuck Beyond Canon that were initially patreon only before all of that fell through and can be read on the website for free, and somewhat serve to give the main candy kids people their age to interact with outside of their weird family/friend group

The green kid is a girl who knows Tavros because her family's rich, the blue kid is non-binary and has history with Harry (wiki says they have a crush on him, but I didn't catch that) and they talk in emojis, the Danganronpa kid is a social media influencer and he talks in hashtags

There is a troll who is meant to join up with them in their latest update, but the comic went on hiatus before we got to see more of her

2. The idea behind them is that they're background characters who influence the main story by causing certain things as it goes along, so far being the reason people know Gamzee is dead and unlocking the door to the clock tower.

Have you seen Lion King 1 1/2?

Go watch Lion King 1 1/2.

3. They were recruited by United States Senator and 2020 Presidential Nominee, Bernie Sanders

4. Andrew Hussie was a precinct captain for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign

5. Bernie Sanders did not win

#dashingposts #homestuck #homestuck beyond canon #bernie sanders #homestuck 2 #homestuck^2

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cbts004 · 1 year

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i admire your skillful linework so much ! do you have any advice or are there any specific artists that inspire you?

Thank you so much for your kind words! It's kind of hard for me to give a definitive list of what exactly had influenced my linework specifically. Some people that do immediately come to mind though are maroonracoon, postiago, jim woodring, haruko ichikawa, takahashi hidebu, andrew hussie, and honestly the traditional tattoo style by people like sailor jerry (even though there are definitely things about him as a person I don't like, his economical art style is definitely classic for a reason)

As for advice, I'd say what really helped me was building line confidence, there's a variety of approaches to practicing this. There are tons of different exercises out there to look up and try regarding line confidence. Practices are great every once in a while! One simple thing I think that helped me a lot was to practice sketching with more permanent materials like pen. You're committing to the line, imperfect or not. It also helps to not rely so much on the undo button or stabilizers (not that they are bad, but they can act as crutches if you use them all the time) by trying more traditional mediums.

I'd also say that there isn't just one goal to lineart, and that you should try a variety of brushes/mediums to see what is the most fun for YOU. For some people even, lineart is just not any fun, and painting or just cleaning up sketches is better. I think one thing that really opened my eyes was Scott McCloud's making comics book. (you can read it here: https://archive.org/details/MakingComics-StorytellingSecretsOfComics/page/n71/mode/2up ) he shows SO many different approaches and potential sources of inspiration. It is seriously an amazing resource for artists, even if you are not interested in making comics. If you make scratchy lines, or if you like to make big swooping ones, you should embrace it.

Sorry if this answer was overall rambling and not very helpful. If anything, I'd check out that Scott McCloud book, if not for his advice, the pure amount of work of other people he cites are a great way to find new artists to inspire you.

#ask #not art

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marisoft-paint-adventures · 1 year

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Pgs. 614 - 759

fuck you Rose.

this item has far reaching consequences that affects all of time and space as well as giving me depression.

I like Andrew Hussie’s weird fucking gag of making Harry Anderson out to be this damn hardass magician man who just fucking cuts fingers and pokes holes into playing cards for no good reason. I also enjoy this narrator who’s some crack ace detective detailing his life in this book because why not.

SCREECHING CHILD DEMANDS ATTENTION.

YES.

POGO HAMMER.

HELL FUCKING YES.

FUCKING GET EM.

bed.

it is here where John sleeps in the page titled John: Sleep that John sleeps.

it is also here where TOBY FUCKING FOX IS IN THE COMIC BABYYYYY!!!! YEEAAAAAHH TOBYYYYY!!!! TOBIAS RADIATOR!!!! THE FUNNY GUY!!!!

I have to say that this page being Toby’s debut is incredibly funny because it didn’t even have his music when it first came out, because this was also the 1st flash for the muscial debut of fucking BILL BOLIN.

the tale of Bill Bolin is like a legend of ancient times, imagine getting so pissed off at Andrew Hussington of the Republic of Homestuckia that you post a giant fucking rant and this shitty compressed JPG of yourself giving the finger and that’s all people remember you for.

your entire legacy is this image, and you get replaced by THE DUDE WHO MADE UNDERTALE.

I still think of this photo to this day, it’s so damn good.

fuckin idiot.

POV: Jade Harley descends from the heavens.

speaking of Jade, the constant foreshadowing with her character is honestly so fun. she’s just so mysterious in every damn way, she knows shit in the future, she seems to be directing the kids into the game, for some reason she switches from well put together and collected to fuckin head empty happiness, she’s very cool and ominous at the same time.

This is what weaker adversaries do whenever things get too hot to handle, which is frequently.

even the imps are scared of the ogres.

you get that fucker.

oh yeah here’s where the early act style really comes into its own.

fuck yeah, look at this shit.

AND THEN DAVE ASCENDS TO THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE FUCKIN BUILDING YEAH YEAAAH YEAAHHHHHH.

THIS SHIT’S SO FUCKING COOL OH MY GODDDDDDDD.

I love Dave’s fucking trek up the stairs, he’s literally walking up the stairs he’s just WALKING but it’s shot in such way where it’s just fucking HYPE. the SUN the fuckin SUN, I love how it’s drawn as this violent red inferno eye that just stares down the city. Upward Movement is the perfect track for this whole thing, there’s no song that better communicates that shit is about to get real.

oh yeah and I guess Bro doesn’t really care everyone around him is dying, he’s too busy initiating the world’s most insane sibling wrestling session to ever exist.

what’s this??? girl????

no.

welcome to Problem Sleuth but also it’s the apocalypse.

Your teeth are useless for the task! They are blunt like that of livestock, presumably suitable for mashing up plant matter, and not for puncturing metal.

>lower carapacian ranks like pawns have dull teeth that would be built for plants.

>the high agents have sharp teeth perfect for puncturing flesh and Chess Flesh.

has Jack Noir mauled a bitch.

Your WEAK PATHETIC DIGITS are not strong enough to penetrate the can!!! Your fingers are certainly pointy enough, and your black carapace is suitably rigid, but you just don't have enough muscle for the task.

I want to headcanon that along with sharp teeth, the agents all have fuckin can-opener fingers, straight up claws, they could slash you dead. they could live out a Warrior Cats RP.

It is a sort of specialized BAR CODE PATTERN.

This brings back unpleasant memories and you would prefer not to dwell on it.

I am going to follow WV’s advice and not dwell on what sort of uncomfortable analogues you could make between this and real life.

YES.

IT BEGINS.

HIS WONDEROUS LEADERSHIP STARTS HERE.

You love the idea of being a mayor. You love everything about mayors, and the concept of an orderly, civil democracy. It all seems so mannerly and reasonable to you. Everyone is friendly and happy, and the city runs like clockwork. The foundation of the government is based on mutual respect between the leader and its people. It is also built on having a really great mayor that everyone loves who is totally amazing and heroic and brave.

see this is the perfect example of how WV’s whole mayor obsession becomes horribly mischaracterized and Flanderized by comic and fandom. at the heart of it, the quirk is a joke and is played for laughs most of the time, however...

Mayors are so much better than kings. You hate kings and you think kings are really stupid. They are petty, bossy tyrants and are really full of themselves and are basically awful in every way. God do you hate kings.

despite it being painted as silly and goofy, it has an actual place in his backstory and the general plot. he doesn’t just like the thought mayoral duty, he fantasizes about democracy because he has a real personal vendetta against monarchs.

meanwhile later portions of the comic and a lot of fanworks just reduce it to “OH HE LOVE THE CANS!!! THE CITY OF CANS!!! HE LOVE LEADING THEM!!!! HE LOVE HIS SASH OF MAYOR!!!! HE LOVES MAYOR!!!!” and nothing else.

His Fate Has Now Been Sealed.

hi Serenity.

You cannot urinate because you have not had anything to drink in quite some time. You are very thirsty.

THIS IMPLIES CARAPACIANS CAN PISS.

>THIS IMPLIES CARAPACIANS CAN PISS.

THIS IMPLIES CARAPACIANS CAN PISS.

>THIS IMPLIES CARAPACIANS CAN PISS.

what could these planets be???? hmmmm????

the tab key dispenses the Tab soda, genius wordplay Hussianiel.

You free the heavenly brown elixir from the jewels of pink carapace and imbibe like the wind. It is so sweet and sugary. You wonder how so much sugar can fit in one can. Whatever mighty wizard concocted this potion is truly deserving of your fear and respect.

ok I know the joke is about how Tab is literally sugar free but has anyone actually ever drank Tab ever in their entire fucking life??? Homestuck is literally the thing that made me realize it existed. it’s a fucking Coca-Cola product, you’d think they’d be like, somewhere, but no.

The TABS are naturalized as loyal new citizens of CAN TOWN. All cans are welcome and equal in your city, regardless of can content, and whether empty or full.

don’t be racist, be like WV.

such foreshadowing, wizard??? crow??? what could it mean????

a beacon of hope for all of the country of...

chess.

I have no actual idea how chess works so I’m just gonna assume “WV: Lead your men to victory!” is just how an average game goes.

MAIL LADY!!!

MAIL LADY!!!!!!

I think the most impressive part of Homestuck’s wildly ahead of the game foreshadowing is the coordinates, because Hussie chose actual real life places for every kid to live in right down to the address, even Jade’s fictional island is located at a weird visual artifact in the middle of the ocean on Google maps.

Does this machine look like a DEAPPEARIFIER to you?? Honestly, the idea that an APPEARIFIER could both APPEARIFY and DEAPPEARIFY things is so laughably ridiculous, you would wish someone would DEAPPEARIFY your brain and REAPPEARIFY it with a brain that is more smart and less dumb.

I don’t know why but I particularly like how Homestuck’s paradox system creates fuckin weird slime clone things.

OH AND HERE’S WV: ASCEND.

this flash is so fucking underrated, like, oh yeah sure, we have Enter, Descend, Cascade, Collide, Act 7, whatever, but what about this fucking baby? it’s not the insane or intense flash out there, but this shit just lands for me so well. this is pretty much the point where you are hooked, it’s so dense, so much shit happens at once, and all it’s actually important, it’s so fucking good. I love the little things, like the exile stations matching up with each kids’ entry item, the defined locations for where they all live, the history of Jade’s island, it’s just so fucking GOOD.

it also just has really good art.

Explore is such a banger track as well, a fine fucking work by Buzinkai, godspeed.

if there’s 3 people associate with Homestuck music, it’s Michael Bowman, Toby Fox, and Buzinkai, they made all the good shit.

oh yeah and here’s Nanna with suspiciously vast knowledge of future events some dudes who have fancy hero titles, wonder what this means something something foreshadowing something.

y’know, I’ve seen Act 2 and Act 3 kinda blend together when it comes to fan perception, and that’s understandable, they’re pretty similar in their content. I do think Act 2 has enough to stand out on its own though. there’s a lot more absurdity with the guardians, Bro Strider is a man who is fuckin insane and ridiculous in every way that is both horrific and amusing, Dave losing his mind, the man WV himself and his Problem Sleuth styled adventure, fun smaller flashes, and just ENDLESS FORESHADOWING.

I have to say that the biggest change in feelings I got was over all the puppet shit. I used to think it was funny, and, well, it’s still funny, it’s really damn funny how these puppets are just all over the place and exist with their perfectly shaped asses. but also, I think the horror has finally set in for me in regards to just how terrifying these things are, just

the puppets,

everywhere,

all the time,

ass wherever you go.

turn the corner and another technicolor rump is there to greet you.

it’s a house of fucking horrors.

in conclusion, Act 2 is pretty fuckin cool and shit.

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ariapmdeol · 7 months

Note

What undertale songs would you assign to coe characters

ok so!! to me, a lot of undertale, deltarune, and homestuck tracks and live in the same genre, so I ended up doing a mix of all three! I didn't do EVERY character, but i did a bunch of them! In no particular order Tucking them under a cut because it gets long!

Noa Enomoto - Snowdin town her DLC record's track reminds me so strongly of this one that i had to do it

Mutei Harada - Premonition Self explanatory! Very much just gives off the VibesTM

You Jabuchi - Battle Against a True Hero ougughgh it's a little melancholy and bittersweet but the themes of justice are soooo strong,, it's a fight track so it makes me think of jabuchi's boss fight

Reiji Isoi - Song That Might Play when you Fight Sans I have no reasoning for this, it's just fun!

Haruki Isoi - Fallen (soundtest) Quietly melancholy. There's something so sad about Haruki to me,,

Haruki Atou - Field of Hopes and Dreams I'm gonna be honest this one is just pure bias. I like the undertones of it a lot and it just feels very reminiscent of Atou to me

Eiji Shinano - DOGSONG sorry i had to and Enemy Approaching dogboy joke aside (<3) I think Energy Approaching is an upbeat and fun track! I thought it was cute <3

Ryuu Nijou - Killed by BR8K Spider!!!!!!!! this was self indulgent for me <3 he had to get a vriska track, i do in fact make the rules

Seodore Riddle - Empty Town and Judgement Day Chiptune draws more attention to the "game" aspect, and there's something compelling in with associating the immortal with an empty town... Something about time moving on without him Judgement day is half bc of the name (Judgement IS Seo's tarot card, after all) and It's just a fun fight track tbh

Hajime Hatsutori - Waterfall and Black quietly foreshadowing the end of this Divine Comedy. less of a character song and more of an atmosphere... Think like Ch 7-ish? Black is bc i am just.

Naming of the Flowerpots-era flowerpot trio - Moonsetter I DON'T NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS ONE i'm just right. Moonsetter fans understand me

Noriyuki Utsugi - Flare this is vibes based again. A quiet song, really just gives off record 7 vibes to me,, the bits of distortion throughout the track REALLY give off the energy of Utsugi bottling everything up and spiraling, trying to fix it all on his own,,

Sanemitsu Isoi - Heir of Grief am i biased in giving this to sanemitsu? yes. but guys hear me out. hear me out. it's bittersweet and has strong motifs and i cry over the piano parts. you can associate different motifs and sections with different parts of Sanemitsu's Life, whether it be living as Minoru Harada, Sanemitsu Isoi, or Code:DANTE. I'm so normal

and one for gavi bc she REALLY wanted me to use this track somewhere

Lin Orie - Theme of Andrew Hussie ( Let's Read a Webcomic ~ You're Welcome ) System.NH encourages metafiction themed songs, and thus Mr. N Portman has gotten Hussie's theme! also they're both green <3 It's an upbeat and fun theme!

Aogu Kanou - Amalgam fast bpm, a little bit of an unnerving song, which makes it a lot of fun <3!

Nina Yanagi - Requiem of Sunshine and Rainbows Heavy piano motif (yanagi core to me), has an underlying tone of determination to parallel her rising determination throughout A/S/S+ routes!

Rumeseo - Phantasmic Youngsters its the country vibes that did it,, it reminds me of their interlude track, it's just a cute song tbh

#cell of empireo #aria rambles #aria answers #anon #this one gets in the tag bc its long LOL #ofc people are free to agree or disagree #gavi wanted me to give utsugi megalovania and i REFUSE #NO #WE ARE NOT GIVING HIM MEGALOVANIA #i wanted to find another track for hajime but i wasnt satisfied with any of them ^^;#im gonna post this as is #bc ive been sitting on it too long SAKLJASJKL #im not tagging all those characters thats too many #gavi no clicky #coe spoilers

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apocalypticavolition · 8 months

Text

Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 33: The Dark Waits

Here be spoilers! Not just spoilers for this whole book (they don't resolve every conflict in this one) but spoilers for the whole damn book series (at least some characters are definitely alive or dead by the end). If anything more explicit than my entirely unsurprising parentheticals would bother you, go read the books and then come back!

This chapter has another heron-marked sword icon, which is rather interesting this time around! Rand's sword is primarily a liability this time, something he keeps hidden from prying eyes now that he understands just how much it makes him stand out, but it's also something he won't let Mat take from him out of fear he'll lose his connection to Tam.

Maybe they were all townsmen and local farmfolk. Does that make any difference?

Rand is definitely succumbing to the paranoia of the situation. I wonder if the little tastes of the taint he's been getting are helping him along on that front, or if it's purely a natural reaction. It certainly is understandable either way.

Mat turned on the seat beside the farmer and leaned back until he found Rand’s eyes. The scarf that did duty for dust, when need be, shaded his own eyes, folded over thickly and tied low around his forehead.

God these scarves make everything confusing. So, chapter 31 started at the end of this three chapter sequence but Rand reflected on getting the scarves. We then jumped back to the immediate aftermath of Whitebridge when they did not have the scarves and continued forward in time through chapter 32 to the escape from Four Kings. Then (now) we've jumped a little forward, to when they do have the scarves, and will shortly be jumping back to where chapter 32 left off. They'll get the scarves then. At the end of this chapter we'll catch up to... *drinks*... the start of this chapter, and then we'll skip ahead to where 31 started the flashback.

I hope my explanation made sense of the chronology for anyone still confused though I fear the reasoning for this bizarre presentation of events in an order that Homestuck author Andrew Hussie would call "fucking needlessly convoluted" is lost to time if it ever existed at all.

“Queen’s Guards,” Master Kinch said around his pipe. He kept his eyes on the road ahead. “Won’t go much further than Breen’s Spring, ’less they’re called for. Not like the old days.” He sucked on his pipe, then added, “I suppose, these days, there’s parts of the Realm don’t see the Guards in a year or more. Not like the old days.”

Understatement of the year. Master Kinch wasn't even alive the last time the Guards might have been in the Two Rivers! His grandpa may not have been alive then.

Rand wondered what Master al’Vere would say if someone told him the Two Rivers was part of some Queen’s Realm. The Queen of Andor, he supposed. Perhaps the Mayor did know—he knew a lot of things that surprised Rand—and maybe others did, too, but he had never heard anyone mention it. The Two Rivers was the Two Rivers. Each village handled its own problems, and if some difficulty involved more than one village the Mayors, and maybe the Village Councils, solved it between them.

Some - like myself - would argue that if the Two Rivers is so completely divorced from the realm that it is completely oblivious to its status, receives no benefits from it, and avoids the cost, that they aren't part of the realm, no matter what any old map says. They absolutely deserve their independence and it's a travesty they didn't get it. And yes, I'm going to complain about this every time it even tangentially comes up.

Makes me wonder though if there are corners of the other nations that are as oblivious as the Two Rivers to external affairs. I mean, Altara is obviously a state in maps only, but what about the others? Will they ever get their independence, or did the Dragon's Peace damn them to eternal bondage under monarchies that don't give a fuck?

“How would you know what Darkfriends look like?” Mat demanded. He backed away from the cart, and his hand went under his coat. “What do you know about Darkfriends?”

Finally, Mat's showing some paranoia that's actually alarming.

“Rand,” he said, “you won’t leave me, will you? If I can’t keep up?” His voice quavered. “I won’t leave you.” Rand tightened his grip on his friend’s hand. “I won’t leave you no matter what.”

Rand and Mat have a better-written romance than virtually every other couple in this series. Change my mind!

When he turned back, Ba’alzamon’s outstretched hand had become a fist. “You are mine, youngling, alive or dead. The Eye of the World will never serve you. I mark you as mine.” His fist opened, and a ball of flame shot out. It struck Rand in the face, exploding, searing.

I think on my earliest readings I assumed this dream of Rand and Mat's was supposed to line up with Perrin's somehow, but chronologically speaking it absolutely does not. Perrin's been captured at this point. I wonder if he is getting a dream at this point, or if his close association with the wolves led Ishy to rule him out.

“My eyes! Oh, Light, my eyes! He took my eyes!” Rand held him close, cradling him against his chest as if he were a baby. “You’re all right, Mat. You’re all right. He can’t hurt us. We won’t let him.” He could feel Mat shaking, sobbing into his coat. “He can’t hurt us,” he whispered, and wished he believed it. What protects you makes you vulnerable. I am going mad.

F- f- f- foreshadowing! Also more on the Rand/Mat front. These two boys are practically closer than Frodo and Sam.

“If I was a good man,” Mull said, “I’d offer a couple of lads soaked to the skin a place to dry out and get warm in front of my fire. But it’s hard times, and strangers . . . . I don’t know what you’re running from, and I don’t want to. You understand? My family.” Suddenly he pulled two long, woolen scarves, dark and thick, out of his coat pocket. “It’s not much, but here. Belong to my boys. They have others. You don’t know me, understand? It’s hard times.”

Damn these scarves. They're so poorly knitted they tangled up time itself!

The innkeeper was as clean as his inn, with a gleaming white apron around his bulk. Rand was glad to see he was a stout man; he doubted if he would ever again trust a skinny innkeeper.

It's true, if you're skinny and in hospitality you're clearly evil! Or at least your establishment serves shitty food, and in a way, isn't that the same thing?

“Hey,” Mat exclaimed, “I can see!” He sat up on his bed, squinting around the room. “Some, anyway. Your face is still a little blurry, but I can tell who you are. I knew I’d be all right. By tonight I’ll see better than you do. Again.”

Enjoy it while you can, Mat, because you're ironically setting up your own injury later down the line.

Light, when I see Moiraine again, I’ll kiss her!

Ah heck, I'll ship this too. Rand's already canonically an easy lay, I'm just widening his net to obscene proportions.

“My name? My name. Ah . . . call me Paitr.” His eyes shifted nervously. “Ah . . . this is not my idea, you understand. I have to do it. I didn’t want to, but they made me. You have to understand that. I don’t—”

Paitr isn't quite the poster child for why being a Darkfriend doesn't pay, but damn if he's not going to be an effective demonstration. He's also not remotely competent, is he?

Paitr seemed to take the threat seriously. His face grew pale. “I . . . I heard what happened at Four Kings. Some of it, anyway. Word travels. We have ways of hearing things. But there’s nobody here to trap you. I’m alone, and . . . and I just want to talk.”

Dana from the TV show is kind of a mishmash of every antagonist on the road (especially since it's really clear that they'd hoped to have another episode for the travel but couldn't get it and had to trim even further). Where Paitr only hints at it, Dana's much more explicit: orders are being transmitted through the World of Dreams.

Maybe Paitr already knew about it; maybe Gode had told Ba’alzamon, and Ba’alzamon had told Paitr; but he did not think so. He thought Paitr had only the vaguest idea of what had happened in Four Kings. That was why he was so frightened.

In particular, I think Rand's suppositions aren't quite true here. Gode is dead and so not a useful informant; he's nowhere near connected enough to offer anything more than a few parting words on his way out the door. But I don't think all of Gode's men died and I do think they were all Darkfriends, so Ish was able to get a barebones account from somebody. However, either the witnesses wouldn't be able to explain much and Paitr is thus left with only vague impressions or Ish was able to piece together that Rand was channeling... leaving Paitr genuinely concerned for his life.

Images spun in his head. The Trolloc, Narg, leaping at him in his own home. The Myrddraal threatening at the Stag and Lion in Baerlon. Halfmen everywhere, Fades chasing them to Shadar Logoth, coming for them in Whitebridge. Darkfriends everywhere. He whirled, his hand balling up. “I said, leave us alone!” His fist took Paitr flush on the nose.

Rand's already got that tasty, tasty PTSD. Poor boy.

Twenty Darkfriends had held a gathering in Market Sheran. Men with twisted bodies, and the women worse, all dirty and in rags. They could make your knees grow weak and your stomach heave just by looking at you, and when they laughed, the filthy cackles rang in your ears for hours and your head felt as if it were splitting open. He had seen them himself, just at a distance, far enough off to be safe. If the Queen would not do something, then somebody ought to ask the Children of the Light for help. Somebody should do something.

It's terrifying that the tale grew this much in the telling and genuinely sad that the wagonwright is the sort of guy who would lie about being an eyewitness and want the Children to step in.

It's also funny because the Queen absolutely won't do anything about Paitr and the Children do.

From the way the serving maids scurried between the tables with harried looks—and the landlord, too—it was a larger crowd than they were used to.

Okay I don't wanna mention Jordan's gender norms every time they come up but in every town since Four Kings it's been serving maids and landlords. No dudes waiting tables on the road at all, nor ladies running the establishments. Not very equal! (At least the cooks have some variety; in Four Kings it was a lady but the one in this inn is a gent).

“Not a bit of it,” Mat said. He was trying to sound cheerful, but Rand could hear the hidden worry. “He was scared the other folk would find out there was somebody sick in his inn. I told him if he kicked us out, I’d take you into the common room. That’d empty half his rooms in ten minutes. For all his talk about fools, he doesn’t want that.”

This chapter shows what a beautiful friendship these boys have. They're all kinds of traumatized, including supernaturally, and here's Mat refusing to leave Rand's side or let him be denied shelter anyway. And since Rand's having his channeling chills just a couple days later, we're very close to his internal death clock going off - and frankly I'm not at all sure when he resolves it. No later than Asmodean's tutoring, I would say, but it's possible he'd figured himself out by Tear.

The night deepened, and the stable shifted in the flickering lantern light. Shadows took shape and moved on their own. Then he saw Ba’alzamon striding down the stable, eyes burning, a Myrddraal at either side with faces hidden in the depths of their black cowls.

Moiraine doesn't explicitly mention crazy hallucinations as part of the sparking process. Are they common, something unique to Rand's situation because he's sparking in such a miserable state of affairs, or something that's relatively common to dude sparkers because they're reacting to the taint on top of everything else? Is Ish reaching into his mind again? This is the first time that Rand hears the term "Black Ajah" - Elyas mentioned it once to Perrin, but otherwise the only color he's heard discussed is red.

“There’s nobody but us,” Mat said. “Here, let me take that.” He reached for Rand’s sword belt, but Rand tightened his grip on the hilt. “No. No. I have to keep it. He’s my father. You understand? He’s m-my f-father!” The shivering swept over him once more, but he clung to the sword as if to a lifeline. “M-my f-father!” Mat gave up trying to take it and pulled the cloaks back over him.

Mat must be so hella confused but he's just helping his buddy.

But the worst was Tam. Tam stood over him, frowning and shaking his head, and said not a word. “You have to tell me,” Rand begged him. “Who am I? Tell me, please. Who am I? Who am I?” he shouted.

This is more proof to me that Rand's in denial about his circumstances, with the fever dream showing his true state of mind. He knows he ain't Tam's biological son.

She was about the same age as Nynaeve, he thought, but she was no village woman. The pale green silk of her dress shimmered as she moved. Her cloak was a rich, soft gray, and a frothy net of lace caught up her hair. She fingered a heavy gold necklace as she looked thoughtfully at Mat and him.

You can tell that Mili isn't an Aes Sedai despite Rand's uncertainty by the way that she isn't wearing black despite being a Darkfriend. Made her very unhappy, not being able to channel.

Licking his lips, Rand stared at the tableau above him. Even if he had not been so weak, he did not believe he could have moved. Then his eyes fell on her dagger, and his mouth went dry. The wood around the blade was blackening; thin tendrils of smoke rose from the char.

So what's up with Mili's dagger? Is it a power-wrought weapon of some kind? I don't think it comes up again - the wiki doesn't mention it on Mili's page nor does it include it in a list of items with articles in the page for chapter 33 - but weird shit like this is supposed to be hella rare! I want to know more... I just doubt I will. Can anyone with an extraordinary memory for trivialities fill me in if I'm just blanking?

“She tried to kill me, Rand. She’d have killed you, too. She’s a Darkfriend.” Mat spat the word. “But we’re not,” Rand said. The woman gasped as if she had just realized what Mat had intended. “We are not, Mat.”

Mat being so blase about killing a woman must be the dagger's influence in much the same way that Rand's madness will lead to him killing that Darkfriend gal on the road in a couple books.

Also, while like most people I hate the "If you kill me you'll be just like me," trope, I'm absolutely here for the "If we kill them we'll be just like them" variant.

The man blew a streamer of smoke from the corner of his mouth. “Going to Caemlyn, are you? Was your age, I expect I might be off to see this false Dragon myself.” “Yes.” Mat nodded. “That’s right. We’re going to see the false Dragon.”

Funny how it's a lie now but won't be a lie for Rand by the time all this is done.

In any event, this is another chapter done. Chapter 34 will finally have us resuming linear time, thank goodness. Damn those scarves!!!

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #rand al'thor #mat cauthon #ishamael #paitr conel #mili skane

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