Remember When John Said 'are You Trying To Fix Your Romance Problems' While Following Terezi's List Maybe

Okay, John's note that "it was gamzee," on the most obvious level, means Gamzee is responsible Nepeta's murder, not Vriska, whom Gamzee is framing and Terezi suspects.

But what if there's a deeper meaning to the message?

What if John inadvertently answered his own (and likely poor, confused Terezi's) question?:

"you don't need him."

Who's "him"?

"it was gamzee you idiot!!!"

By pairing together these two seemingly disconnected messages from John, maybe it'll plant the idea in Terezi's mind that Gamzee is the one she doesn't need. ...Unintentionally, at least on John's end. Granted, she probably won't even make this connection until much later, perhaps after more messages, but hey.

Inception, Egbert style.

Thanks!

Some related thoughts and speculation

Doc Scratch:

Doc Scratch does indeed make pranks on rare occasion. I’m not sure it’d be something quite so elaborate and involving blatant lies, though. But it’ll be interesting to see if/when he does play another prank.

Calliope and the Third Scratch:

The “doomed” God Tier Calliope likely dominated because perhaps Vriska raised the Cherubs instead of Gamzee. Paralleling Caliborn, Calliope dominated prematurely and forcibly by having Caliborn’s dream self killed. It's likely this Calliope embodies the current Paradox Space.

Post-Scratch Calliope, the one who plays, is one who dominates naturally rather than prematurely. She will fully integrate/absorb Caliborn into her being, as opposed to expelling him, thus eventually becoming Calmasis.

Post-Scratch, the Cherubs are raised by Davesprite.

The third Scratch will not only reset the Cherub’s universe, but it might reset all of Paradox Space, as well. If so, Calmasis might be the one to embody the rebooted version, which is probably the new reality the heroes must escape to.

Vriska and the Green Sun:

Like how Roxy tagged along with John when he retconned the Game Over timeline, Vriska might end up tagging along if/when John retcons the current timeline. If so, she'll be a part of the true Alpha Timeline while her original iteration, punk!Vriska, remains dead in the dream bubbles.

Alternatively, Vriska dies in this timeline, and somehow SHE obtains the Ring of Life, thus reviving. (I don’t think punk!Vriska will be the one to do that.)

In either case, the Vriska of the current timeline will be the one to steal the Green Sun’s light.

Re: Vriska's Return and the Alpha Timeline's Fate

A few things–

Doc Scratch doesn’t lie, but he does tell pranks – foreshadowing which has never been fulfilled up to this point. Even if he’s not there to give a “Hee Hee,” the Egbertpunch – placed at a critical moment in Scratch’s elaborate narrative – fulfills the requirements of a prank.

If Jade’s Calliope is from a void timeline, then what’s the point of a Third Scra… actually, hm. What if this supposedly “doomed” Calliope – the one with no friends and no frame of reference for understanding human emotions – becomes this reality, the cruel and harsh Paradox Space we’re familiar with, while pre-retcon Callie… actually, no, that still leaves another Scratch out of the picture. Sorry, just thinking aloud here.

It seems like this (retconned) Vriska is going to be the one who steals the Green Sun’s light. That can’t just not happen… maybe that will be what causes John to try to retcon his retcon, but it’s too cosmically important to undo?

Not saying this theory is wrong, I actually really like it.

For anyone interested to know more about me, I finally got around to making an About Me page on my personal/reblog blog. Not a whole lot there, but at least it’s something.

Here we have a nice picture of the Green Sun in the black void of the Furthest Ring:

But if we take the image and invert it...

...We have a Pink Sun in a white void.

If the Green Sun and black void symbolize the current instance of Paradox Space, perhaps the Pink Sun and white void symbolize a new instance of Paradox Space, a new reality to where the heroes will escape.

The First Guardian of Beforus

We already know three First Guardians:

Becquerel, pre-scratch Earth

God Cat, post-scratch Earth

Doc Scratch, Alternia

But what about Beforus?

I suspect its First Guardian is, in some way, shape, or form, a rabbit.

So far, all First Guardians have ties to the kids.

It goes without saying how Bec is connected to Jade. Bec was ectobiologized from Halley, Grandpa’s dog. Grandpa is pre-scratch Jake.

Then there’s GCat. GCat was likely ectobiologized from Jaspers (aka Frigglish), who belonged to both Rose and Roxy. Plus, Roxy already has heavy ties to cats.

As for Doc Scratch, one of his components is Lil Cal. Lil Cal belonged to Dave’s Bro and Dirk, and haunted Dave’s dreams (and waking life).

That just leaves John and Jane.

John has strong ties to a rabbit. Specifically, the stuffed bunny from Con Air, whom he received three times for his birthday—the original from Dave, the oily bunny patched up by Rose, and Liv Tyler from Jade (and Jake).

Post-scratch, Jane has ties to the stuffed bunny, too.

  Like John, each of Jane’s friends gave her a bunny, as well. Jake gave her his Grandma’s bunny, Roxy gave her Mom’s, and Dirk gave her Lil Sebastian.

Earth’s First Guardians, Bec and GCat, have obvious, simple parallels. Dog, cat. “MEOW” and “BARK” codes. Pets connected with the kids.

But the Con Air bunny and Lil Cal have interesting parallels with each other, as well. They’re both filled with stuffing (as are dead Halley and Jaspers). Both have traveled convoluted, circuitous routes through time and space. Evidence points to them both being Jujus. Both are used as a weapon, via bunnykind and puppetkind strife specibus.

Lil Seb especially parallels Lil Cal. For one, they both have similar names. Both once belonged to Dirk.

Then there’s this:

  They both end up in Caliborn’s possession (and at the same time).

That can’t be a coincidence. These instances of Lil Cal and the Con Air bunny also have the most direct paths through space-time.

Doc Scratch is First Guardian of Alternia due to Lord English’s influence. Who’s to say Beforus’ First Guardian wasn’t also his influence?

And if Doc Scratch was made from Lil Cal and a Magic Cue Ball…

...Maybe Beforus’ First Guardian was made from Lil Seb and a Magic 8-Ball.

How perfect would that be? It would complete all the parallels.

Doc Scratch is the Man on the Moon, Alternia's green moon. A bunny First Guardian could be the Moon Rabbit of Beforus' pink moon.

Not to mention… There would be a white rabbit as a First Guardian. A White Rabbit to go along with the Cheshire Cat, GCat.

ROXY: gcat [...] ROXY: you gonna behave urself ROXY: not do anything too uh ROXY: vexing or cheshire catty ROXY: i hope?

The bunnies, especially Lil Seb, already have Alice in Wonderland connections.

It's the White Rabbit!

Sort of!

If the First Guardian of Beforus is a White Rabbit living on the Pink Moon, perhaps it leads Meenah “down the rabbit hole” with SGRUB.

ARANEA: [Meenah] viewed the empress as a glorified slave. ARANEA: So she a8dicated, and fled to the moon to hide. […] ARANEA: While she was there, she discovered an ancient device. ARANEA: Inside the device was a game. ARANEA: She 8ecame o8sessed with playing it, 8ut needed our friends to agree to play first. […] ARANEA: Needless to say, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

A rabbit hole, as in the first artifact that draws players of an alternate reality game into its world. If SBURB/SGRUB isn’t an alternate reality game, I don’t know what is!

A rabbit First Guardian is PERFECT.

Updated with more clues in light of recent events!

The Pink Sun?

I dunno, I feel like there are little clues hidden everywhere:

  Keep reading

The Third Scratch

BladekindEyewear has a theory that there will be a third Scratch, one in Caliborn’s session. While I’m not completely sold on it being necessary (and I disagree on the events that will play out if it happens), thematically, a Third Scratch makes sense, and evidence does support it.

Three scratches across Gamzee’s face:

Dave’s game glitching, making it unplayable and unwinnable:

Time to reset for the third time this hour.

> Dave: Reset.

So, if a third Scratch will indeed occur, what can we extrapolate?

We know a Scratch Construct is different between sessions.

It will always be an edifice of similarly cryptic design, located on the planet that is home to the Hero of Time. Its environment dictates the nature of its construction.

The Trolls’ construct is the Cardinal Movement, which looks similar to Aradia’s time machine music boxes. It also reflects the Land of Quartz and Melody, Aradia’s planet. Damara must have the same (or similar) planet as Aradia.

  The Kids’ construct is the Beat Mesa, which matches Dave’s emblem and his time tables. It also fits with the gears and tech theme of his planet.

  That just leaves Caliborn, the Time player of the third session. And what’s the theme not of his planet, but his entire session and character? Billiards.

Caliborn’s session includes a planet representing each pool ball. Notoriously missing is a Cue Ball planet.

What if Caliborn’s Scratch Construct is an entire Cue Ball planet, and we haven’t seen it yet? Or seen it in its final form, anyway. Rather than being ON his planet, it IS a planet.

Two likely candidates are Caliborn’s planet (Earth), or the Land of Heat and Clockwork, Dave’s planet.

  (Personally, I love the idea of LOHAC, and its transformation resembling a cue ball.)

During a typical Scratch, once the construct’s surface is scratched, it will head toward Skaia.

  Except Caliborn’s session no longer has a Skaia. However, recall Skaia transformed into a black hole. The black hole Caliborn uses to sink the pool ball planets!

I predict Caliborn’s Scratch will involve scratching the surface of a Cue Ball planet and then sinking it into the black hole that was formerly Skaia. In billiards, pocketing the cue ball is called a scratch. How perfect is that?

TT: This terminology can be very literal sometimes.

What do else do we know about Scratches?

Its power is dangerous, and is meant to be utilized only in emergencies such as yours. TT: You mean, in sessions where victory is no longer possible? Yes. […] TT: Then, it's like a panic button for the players to push once they realize the cause is lost.

Only in this case, replace “session” with “reality.” It sounds like this could describe the situation the heroes are in, with Lord English wreaking havoc throughout Paradox Space. An even greater emergency would be after Vriska begins the process of the Green Sun’s destruction, which has the potential to lead to the Big Crunch of Paradox Space.

Within the context of Rose and Doc Scratch’s exchange, “victory” means ability to successfully create a new universe, which is the goal of a typical session. However, Caliborn’s session is unique and extreme—a dead session. Its goal isn’t to create a new universe. In all likelihood, it has some connection with all of Space-Time, all of reality itself. A Scratch for a dead session would be employed for a different, more extreme reason.

TT: What exactly does the Scratch do, then? It resets the game. […] The release of temporal energy will be quite massive. This is a hard reset. It will reboot the conditions in your universe well before you began playing the game. You will have lived different lives after the reset. The different initial conditions will ideally lead to a more favorable scenario in the new session. Unfortunately, you will have no memory of anything that has happened in the session you are in now. TT: What will happen to us? Everyone in this session now? You will all cease to exist completely if you remain here during the Scratch.

Now, all this is true of typical null sessions. If scratching a null session resets the universe, perhaps scratching a dead session—Caliborn’s session—resets REALITY.

Instead of resetting the cherubs’ universe and which cherub plays, I think the third scratch will reset all of Paradox Space, all of reality, producing an alternate reality. A new reality perhaps ruled by a Pink Sun instead of the Green Sun.

Just as the kids escaped their Scratch and entered the new, reset instance of Earth’s universe—the Alpha kids’ session—through the window, the heroes will have to find a way to escape the third Scratch (and the Big Crunch) and enter a new, reset instance of Paradox Space.

While simultaneously destroying reality, the massive black hole created from the Green Sun’s destruction could very well be their escape route, like the hole in the window.

UU: and while the emerald eye of this storm is fixed in the abyss forever UU: today yoU are poised to escape its scowl once and for all. UU: by skaias gUiding light, yoU may leave behind its tUrning arms of bright coloUrs and mayhem, and secUre peace for yoUr cosmic progeny for all dUration.

A third Scratch, the destruction of reality, a black hole escape route, and the creation of a Pink Sun would make absolutely lovely parallels to the events of [S]: Cascade. It works.

The Return of Lapis Lazuli

We’ve recently seen this short promo, aired as usual on Cartoon Network, which shows us Peridot giving Lapis a gift.

We don’t really know what episode the promo was from, but many speculate that it’s from Barn Mates, judging from the synopsis:

We initially thought it was going to be Peridot and one of the Crystal Gems, but the promo suggests otherwise: it’s actually Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.

There’s one problem: as of now, we don’t really know how Lapis is going to get back. Malachite is still there, as far as we know, chilling on the ocean floor or something, with the usual internal battle going on.

One of the other future episodes we know about is Super Watermelon Island. It’s the first in the list, actually, and one of the only three to have a synopsis.

Do you remember what happened to those Watermelon Stevens? They went into the ocean.

This really makes me think that those very same Watermelon Stevens are going to be the key to finding Lapis/Malachite, making them finally plot relevant! (Thank you, Chekhov’s gun.) They could possibly search the ocean floor, or just know where she is. Heck, maybe she’s on “watermelon island” with them.

The following episode (that we know of) is Gem Drill. Obviously, it seems they’re going to deal with the Cluster, but well, there’s one logistic problem: I think drilling a freaking mantle-deep tunnel with just a drill, even made of whatever gemkind technology, is not very feasible. It’d take an impressive amount of power to do something of that sort.

Luckily, we have a character who’s done impressive stuff before. She stole an entire ocean and built a water tower into freaking space. It’s Lapis Lazuli. She would at the very least be tremendously helpful, for example by helping the drill not overheat (an actual concern for real life drills, where muddy water is used as a coolant).

tl;dr: The Watermelon Stevens are going to be the key to Lapis Lazuli’s return, and she’ll be crucial to drill to the Cluster.

“Meat” and “Candy” Thoughts and Speculation

Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t read both.

“Meat” and “Candy” are essentially fanfiction—perhaps specifically fix-it-fics—written by Homestuck characters themselves. While it doesn’t make them any less “true” or “real,” (even though it divorces them from the Three Pillars of Canon), it does explain the “fanficcy” feel.

“Meat” is written/narrated by Dirk and Alt!Calliope, each fighting for control of the narrative. Dirk might actually be Caliborn/LE, or at the very least, influenced/corrupted by him.

Dirk did something like this before, when he “wrote” Pony Pals for Jane, altering the original story by replacing parts of it with his own commentary.

Each page contains lovingly hand-written commentary on the deeds of this intrepid young horse.

Later, about halfway through the book, rather than see the gag through to the bitter end, Strider began pasting over entire pages of original text with his own completely rewritten version of the story, while keeping all the chapter titles. His revision is a tough, emotionally draining read. But it's cathartic, in all the worst ways possible. He tends to get carried away with his projects.

Sounds familiar, right? Using Pony Pals as an analogue, Alt!Calliope might represent the author of the original story, while Dirk modifies and rewrites it, twisting it into his own version. Alternatively, neither Dirk nor Alt!Calliope are the original author of the Epilogue, and both are altering the story as "Meat". Perhaps the book found in Calliope’s picnic basket is the original, unmodified story—the "pure" version of the Epilogues. (More on this below.)

Dirk is becoming Lord English/Doc Scratch. The parallels between Dirk and Caliborn/Doc Scratch are uncanny.

It might have something to do with Dirk's Ultimate Self and gaining access to the thoughts/memories/experiences of all his splinters and alternate lives. Those alternate selves/splinters include Bro (who was raised/corrupted by Lil Cal), Lil Hal, Doc Scratch, and Lord English, and the lines between all of them are blurring.

If Dirk is indeed LE in some way, shape, or form, the events of Meat may be LE’s way of trying to take over Post-Canon, exerting his influence beyond his domain of Canon.

(I plan to elaborate on the Dirk = LE theory in a future post.)

As a parallel to Dirk = LE, Jane is essentially becoming the Condesce. I’m not sure of the connection with her Ultimate Self, although I suppose that would include Crockertier Jane.

It might have something to do with the Condesce grooming her to be her heiress, and possibly even Jane inheriting her immortality curse? (I need investigate this further.)

Dirk and Jane even have the same alliance as LE and the Condesce: Dirk and LE pulling the strings while Jane/Condy carries out the plans. Similarly, Dirk and LE rule the metanarrative/story and travel through space, while Jane/Condesce rules the planet(s) of Trolls and Humans. (Credit to @wisdomdissimulator for the original observation/theory.)

“Candy” is written/narrated by Calliope from the Meat timeline. In Meat, Roxy mentions Calliope stays home and paints the walls with what sounds like the events of Candy.

ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise ROXY: some of it is like ROXY: weird and violent?? ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um ROXY: nudity???? [...] ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married . . .

While the Calliopes seem less inclined to control/force the characters and narration than Dirk, there are still moments of bias and asserting their will—specifically anything regarding the Trickster Lollipop.

Calliope (as the narrator) may have even controlled/influenced Dirk to suicide, possibly as a way to “save” the Candy timeline from Dirk’s influence. While the narration claims otherwise, it’s also possible Dirk killed himself of his own accord in a twisted mixture of Heroism and Justice, knowing what he could become if he lived, and thus wanting to spare the timeline.

Terezi of “Meat” is the same Terezi communicating with John in “Candy”. Since she’s still in Canon, she basically transcends the Meat and Candy timelines until she reaches Meat’s Earth C. This is why she expects Meat’s John to be older, why she thinks John and Roxy might be together, and why she has a hunch that things wouldn’t have worked out between John and Roxy—because this is true of Candy’s John, at least at the time Terezi last spoke with him.

Gamzee’s presence and influence might have something to do with the unexplained weirdness of the Candy timeline. Characters seem oddly blind or impotent to the circumstances around them, almost like there’s a Ragey influence sowing discord, anger, confusion, and obliviousness among the characters—just as what happens with the Trolls during Murderstuck. It isn’t until after Gamzee’s death that the characters start to seem more like themselves and are more capable and hopeful.

While Gamzee has “Joker immunity” within Homestuck, he’s able to die in Candy because it’s outside of Canon. (My theory is that Lord English grants him immortality, since Gamzee must become a component of LE and thus CAN’T die.)

John needs to take a third option, different from The Choice™ of either Meat or Candy. There's a book in Calliope’s basket, so the third option very well may be the book. Which would also make sense since a book represents/contains a story, and Meat and Candy, while food, also represent stories.

Another interesting third option would be “Vegetables”—or specifically “Pumpkin”—which Roxy could potentially summon via Void powers. It would make a cool reference and callback to “What Pumpkin”.

(More elaboration on the Third Option theory planned for a future post.)

I have a LOT more thoughts and ideas on the Meat and Candy Epilogues, so I’ll probably continue this in another post.

[S] Jasper: Mental breakdown.