The Third Scratch

D’awwwww.

——

“Mothers and Daughters“

Gamzee’s words finally make sense now!

TC: I FINALLY GOT MY . . . UNDERSTAND ON TO WHO THE MIRTHFUL MESSIAHS ARE. TC: they were always both me. :o) TC: AND ALSO . . . ME. Do:

He's literally a component of Lord English! I bet the remaining half of him is used similarly with Calliope.

Tavros has cat allergies and has only been prototyped once. What if GCat shows up, triggers Tavros’ allergies, and...

ACHOO!

...He crashes into and fuses with GCat! It’d make a nice parallel with Jade and Bec sprite-fusing, plus be all kinds of hilarious and ironic.

Plus, Tavcat? Catros? could be super effective against Bec Noir and PM because cat distraction + animal communing powers + First Guardian powers. Although he’d probably be a perpetual sneezing mess.

Even if this doesn’t happen, I have a feeling Tavros’ cat allergies will result in him inadvertently double prototyping with something or someone. And, also, Tavros controlling GCat would make a great distraction for the Becs. (As would Jaspers.)

Hey have you read the upd8? --it seem like there's going to be two alphatimelines. One with retconning and one without and (maybe..?) one with green sun and the other with pink sun, one where all the kids complete reality's time loop and one where they escape

Huh! Interesting! I hadn’t considered it that way. But yeah, I do think there will be two distinct Alpha Timelines. That’s basically what my Vriska’s Return and the Alpha Timeline’s Fate theory suggests. I guess it’s slightly different, though. But, yeah. Hmm…

Vriska's Return and the Alpha Timeline's Fate

There is something downright ominous about Vriska’s return. Something about it just seems so foreboding and …wrong.

It brings to mind John’s reaction to Caliborn’s retelling of events in “Homosuck”:

Her return is so ominous, evidence suggests that John will eventually retcon his retcon to restore the original Alpha Timeline.

But what makes Vriska’s return so foreboding? What significance will this new Alpha Timeline have upon reality? And why must John undo this change?

Overview of Topics:

Personal growth

Terezi’s inverted behavior

Characters’ meta-awareness

Retcons, void timelines, and semi-stable retcon loops

Caliborn’s statements

Doc Scratch’s omniscience

Alt!Calliope

Gamzee’s importance

Vriska’s Thief of Light and Page of Void roles

Horses: the Ultimate Bad Omen

Vriska’s return is disturbing because it undoes all the experiences and personal growth the heroes have undergone for the past three years on their journey through the Furthest Ring. The very notion contradicts something in story Hussie himself emphasized as important:

They have to face all those issues themselves, or they will never learn and grow as people. […] The journey itself is more important than the destination. The struggle is what builds character and teaches us about ourselves and about life.

He elaborates, comparing Trickster Mode shenanigans to Mario using a Star to overcome obstacles:

But the point is, [Mario] didn't really win. That magic star was actually devastating to his development as a human being. WHY. Because he skipped over many critical trials on his spiritual journey. Mario NEEDS to stomp on all those mushrooms. He NEEDS to bonk those bricks with his head, for the sake of his personal growth. By using the star, he is denying himself many powerful moments of catharsis.

This idea very much applies to John’s retcon powers and using them to change the Alpha Timeline, the events of the story. Like Trickster Mode and Mario's Star, retconning seems like an easy fix, a cheap, deus ex machina solution. It’s cheating. Dave even states, “messing with the alpha timeline [...] almost seems heretical.” Solving problems by retconning them out of existence is ineffectual and does not lead to growth.

By Terezi having John reset the timeline, undoing Vriska’s death, many of the characters will no longer face the challenges and hardships they previously would have. Terezi undoes the guilt that torments her, her abusive relationship with Gamzee, and the healing of her eyesight.

It is absolutely understandable that Terezi would want to do this! How many people wish they could undo something in their lives, especially mistakes they deeply regret making? How many people would change these mistakes if given the capability? However, in doing so, Terezi is denying herself the opportunity to grow and to heal from these experiences.

The events of our lives and the actions we take shape, define, and refine who we are as individuals. By having John retcon Vriska’s death, Terezi is essentially changing who she is and who she will become. Consequently, she’s changing who the other characters are, as well. Terezi is acting as a Witch of Heart, one who changes and controls the core identity of individuals.

The comic even visually hints at this role behavior when Terezi wears Jade’s Witch shoes:

Her Witch of Heart subrole should support her Seer of Mind role, not the other way around! Using the subrole, one’s inverse, as the lead role is not a healthy mode of operation! It spells disaster! This behavior foretells dire consequences.

There is something else foreboding about Vriska’s return. The characters all seem to intuitively KNOW these events are not supposed to happen. They KNOW things have been changed, that this is not how the story is supposed to go, that this is not the intended path of the Alpha Timeline. They have an almost meta-awareness of it.

JANE: But it wouldn't surprise me if the one who dealt my fatal blow was the leader of the raid [Vriska].

JANE: This was the unanticipated factor. JANE: Their leader was someone who was not expected to show up with them at all. […] JANE: You see, Callie, your historical documents make no mention of the leader of the raid, because originally, the curtains closed early on this plucky customer. JANE: But the hero was written back into our story by some inscrutable gambit of circumstance which we may never fully understand.

JOHN: i randomly appeared and knocked vriska out cold, just like the scarf told me to. […] TEREZI: YOU W3R3N'T SUPPOS3D TO DO TH1S! TEREZI: 1 W4S SUPPOS3D TO K1LL H3R! TEREZI: YOU JUST DOOM3D US 4LL!!!

Does Terezi’s reaction sound familiar? It should. Dave reacts the same way when John accidentally “zaps in,” interrupting his and Jade’s conversation and retconning events that originally occurred.

DAVE: you being here DAVE: thats not supposed to happen […] DAVE: its not supposed to go down like this i can feel it JOHN: i know! […] JADE: whatever dave and i were going to argue about JADE: i think the moment has passed JADE: the whole thing is kind of ruined to be honest

Dave has the same thoughts as Terezi: that John should not be there, these events are not supposed to happen, and John has doomed the timeline. John explains to each of them that this is not the case because it’s “not time travel,” yet Dave and Terezi remain skeptical and uneasy.

This meta-awareness and sense of a doomed timeline occurs elsewhere, too: when Aranea puts on the Ring of Life and invades the merged session.

MEENAH: you know all youre doing is making another doomed timeline where everyone dies right ARANEA: Of course I know that.

After the events of Game Over, Roxy and John sense the timeline is doomed, as well.

ROXY: this is starting to feel an awful lot like the end […] ROXY: maybe we should just ROXY: admit to ourselves this is probably what its like when you find yourself in a timeline where everything went wrong ROXY: and you know it means youre doomed

But here’s the thing. In each of those cases, the timeline isn’t "doomed" in the traditional sense, events undone because of time travel. In both cases, events are actually retconned by John, making the timeline not doomed, but void.

John voids the Game Over timeline by going back and retrieving the Ring of Life, preventing Aranea from obtaining it.

Regarding Dave and Jade’s confrontation, John purposefully retcons his retcon, setting events back to how they originally transpired, voiding his interference. He creates a semi-stable retcon loop.

In the new Alpha Timeline, because the characters have this same meta-awareness that these events are not supposed to happen—that Vriska is not supposed to be alive—and they sense that the timeline is doomed, I suspect John will retcon his retcon again, undoing the undoing of Vriska’s death, and creating another semi-stable retcon loop.

Why? Meta-narratively speaking, so events will play out how they originally were intended, how the characters KNOW and FEEL they are supposed to happen. So it won’t undo all the character growth the characters undergo. Besides,

It's also logical, since there is essentially nothing new in paradox space. Everything that can happen is either a visual or substantive reproduction of something which has already transpired on a timeline, offshoot or otherwise.

Another semi-stable retcon loop is bound to occur at some point. We were shown the first one for a reason.

Aside from all the parallels to events surrounding John's previous semi-stable retcon loop, more evidence supports a retcon of this new Alpha Timeline.

Caliborn points out the irony that Vriska “ACTUALLY THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO BE RELEVANT” and tells her to “KEEP DREAMING,” which is visualized by a “PSYCHE-OUT!!!” watermark and Vriska losing her head.

In the current iteration of the Alpha Timeline, Vriska’s new life state gives her the opportunity to have greater relevance and importance than before, when she was dead. “Dreaming” can even be a euphemism for “dead,” as death in dream bubbles compares to the state of dreaming and never waking up.

Caliborn seems to know Vriska will not be as important as she thinks she will be, and by telling her to “KEEP DREAMING,” he’s effectively telling her to stay dead. If John retcons his retcon, and Vriska actually remains dead after all, not only will this fulfill Caliborn’s statement, but it would prove to be the ultimate “PSYCHE-OUT!!!” to everyone, particularly to us readers.

Doc Scratch provides another indication John will retcon his retcon. Doc Scratch claims to have “absolute mastery of the Alpha Timeline” alone, any deviations withering from his perception. If the Alpha Timeline remains on its present course, it would make Doc Scratch either a liar or incorrect about this mastery.

When John retcons Vriska’s death, it voids events of the original Alpha Timeline, events Doc Scratch explicitly shows us.

    John's retcon turns the original Alpha Timeline, the events Doc Scratch shows us, into a void timeline. If Doc Scratch’s knowledge only pertains to this pre-retcon Alpha Timeline, his mastery is not of the true Alpha, but a voided version of it.

Doc Scratch is omniscient and does not lie. Yet at the same time, he has difficulty with Void.

AG: Sure you know a lot, 8ut I know for a FACT there's stuff you don't know. That's true. But the gaps in my knowledge exist by design. They are the pillars of shadow on which my comprehensive vision is built. Necessary pockets of void meant to effectuate outcomes I've foreseen and which will require my influence. Each dark pocket, in time, will be filled.

Occasionally I discover there are things I have not always known. It gives me the opportunity to make deductions, which are practically always flawless. […] But sometimes that is the nature of these hollows in my perception. It feels a bit like dark water, sloshing about the cavity in my head.

Wouldn’t it make sense for the new, current Alpha Timeline to be eventually retconned back to how events originally transpired? It would make the present Alpha, wherein Vriska lives, a void timeline. Void, which can escape Doc Scratch’s perception.

Considering Vriska “occupied a blind spot” to the Condesce, Jane, and Jade with her return, it seems reasonable she could occupy one of Doc Scratch’s “dark pockets,” as well.

If John retcons his retcon and creates a semi-stable retcon loop, it would validate Doc Scratch's mastery of the final, true Alpha Timeline, and it would reinforce the notion of pockets of Void in his knowledge.

But all of this raises another question: If eventually John is going to retcon the new, current Alpha Timeline back to its original state, what importance does the present timeline have?

The answer is Calliope’s alternate reality self.

JADE: like i said, [Alt!Calliope] just finished telling me that she was able to beat her brother in this reality JADE: but apparently, that wasnt supposed to happen? JADE: so she lived out the rest of her life in a doomed timeline and eventually died

Now, granted, this Calliope could be any Calliope from any regular doomed timeline, but I don’t think this is the case. This Calliope seems too important and special to be a random doomed one. This Calliope indicates her story is tied somehow to our John, the same John with retcon abilities and unstuck in canon.

JADE: and then she did this kinda fancy transition [...] to a story about MY brother... who was stuck in a doomed timeline too […] JADE: almost all our friends had died JADE: and johns only hope was to return to his planet, and attempt to complete his personal quest

Jade’s wording about Calliope is suspiciously similar to descriptions of timelines John retcons: Her defeat over Caliborn isn’t “supposed to happen.” If this Calliope is one who retroactively embodies Paradox Space, it would make sense for her to have been a part of the Alpha Timeline at one point, even if that timeline is eventually retconned. A standard doomed Calliope likely would not have enough importance to have such drastic influence over all of reality itself.

The difference between this Calliope and all other doomed Calliopes, why she unprecedentedly dominated her brother, could be in how they were raised: without Gamzee’s influence. In the present Alpha Timeline, Gamzee is suspiciously absent at the end of the three-year journey.

  The meaning of Terezi’s ominous message, “you don’t need him,” has not yet been explained. Perhaps it refers to Gamzee. If removed from the picture, he cannot raise the cherubs, influencing their upbringing, personalities, resources, and knowledge.

    Remember, just as Calliope is “not supposed to” dominate, Gamzee is “not supposed to” die. Hussie even states he is “not aware of a single timeline in which [Gamzee] dies.” If Gamzee only ever dies in a void timeline, each time the Alpha retconned so his death never occurs, Hussie’s supposed lack of its awareness makes sense.

If John retcons his retcon, it will make the current Alpha Timeline, wherein Vriska lives, a void timeline in actuality. It seems fitting that a Thief of Light from a void timeline would steal the Alpha Timeline’s Light—its importance and relevance. Not to mention her Page of Void subrole, empowering others to exploit Void—a void timeline—maximizing its use.

However, everything the heroes have done so far has advanced Lord English’s machinations. What exactly will happen is unclear, but all the ominous foreshadowing surrounding Vriska's return hints that something disastrous will occur and force John to go back and retcon this timeline.

One clue is Jane’s phrasing of Vriska’s return and the raid she leads in the merged session:

JANE: The tilt between the friendly and felonious was a true horse race again. A real barn burner in the brewing.

Jane’s colorful wording metaphorically surrounds them with horses.

VRISKA: I think I've just decided that 8eing surrounded 8y horses might 8e the ultim8 8ad omen. Nothing good can ever follow or precede those circumstances.

The Ultimate Bad Omen. Vriska’s return is ominous indeed.

Everyone keeps debating what quadrant Dave and Karkat’s relationship is. Each has valid and supporting arguments, and they all make sense in their own ways.

But why limit it to just one? What if it’s actually ALL the quadrants?

It was said their love went beyond the four quadrants, transcending the grid entirely. Whatever that nonsense actually means.

Perhaps Karkat is following in the footsteps of his ancestor?

what say you that Kanaya's and Karkat's visit to Echidna will still end up be the same choice being asked of them? Jade's quest require resolution post-scratch, John's quest ended up factoring things that APPEAR to be outside sburb's programming (retcon powers), so perhaps Echidna of the troll session was asking a task of Kanaya that's only resolved across 3 sessions(!) so it appeared impossible to her?

Could be. Echidna may very well give both Kanaya and Karkat a second chance to rectify their previous actions. Kanaya, the same “impossible” task as before, which she may accept this time. Karkat, the opportunity to set right his previous mistake of rushing the frog breeding which resulted in the kids’ cancerous universe. (Which wasn’t entirely his fault, but he certainly blames himself for it.)

Maybe Kanaya and Karkat will sendificate the Genesis Frog to Jade in the past. (That still needs to be resolved.) Maybe they’ll breed a second Genesis Frog, so there will be one that becomes the Cherubs’ universe and another that becomes a universe for a new instance of Paradox Space. 

If there ends up being two Genesis Frogs, maybe one of these frogs is the “perfect” one from the Trolls’ session that they never found and bred. Echidna could certainly help them with that, and it could easily relate to an “impossible” task that would also be resolved across multiple sessions.

The Mirthful Messiahs: Lord English and Calmasis?

We already know Lord English is a fusion of the souls of Caliborn, Arquiusprite, and ½ Gamzee.

But what if there’s a Calliope counterpart? A fusion consisting of Alt!Calliope, Davepetasprite^2, and ½ Gamzee.

Gamzee states that he finally understood his Mirthful Messiahs were always both him, :o) and Do:, who seem to represent both Caliborn and Calliope. Later we learn that Gamzee is literally a component of Lord English, (likely) one of his Mirthful Messiahs. Wouldn’t it make sense for his other half to be a part of his other Mirthful Messiah? And wouldn’t that messiah also represent Calliope?

For now, let’s call this fusion Calmasis. Perhaps the Mirthful Messiahs are Lord English and Calmasis, and both are central to the end of Paradox Space.

Recall Sollux and Terezi’s exchange:

GC: WH4TS 4N 4NG3L TA: 2ome terriible mythiical demon. TA: wiith the2e awful feathery wiing2. GC: Y1K3S TA: paradox 2pace u2e2 them two u2her iin the end. GC: HOW DO3S 1T KNOW WH4T 4NG3L TO US3... ........

Caliborn and Calliope are both Cherubs—or angels—and Lord English is obviously a “terrible mythical demon” who “ushers in the end.” However, notice Sollux says “them,” and Terezi essentially asks “which angel?”—implying more than one. While Alt!Calliope alone could represent another angel (as could Bec Noir and PM), it makes more sense for Gamzee also to be included in a Calliope counterpart to LE.

So if Caliborn + ½ Gamzee + Arquiusprite = Lord English, it seems reasonable for there to be a Calliope counterpart with parallel components: Alt!Calliope + ½ Gamzee + X = Calmasis.

Davepeta seems the most likely candidate for X.

For one, Arquius is a sprite consisting of Equius and a version of Dirk. Davepeta is also a sprite (squared), consisting of Nepeta (Equius’ moirail) and Dave (the other Strider). Sprite + Troll + Human (well, and also Crow + Sprite). None of the other sprites contain representations of both a troll and a human.

Davepeta also has this inexplicable desire to fight Lord English.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < i have this weird urge...... DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < to go fight lord english […] DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < im just strangely drawn to the idea DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < i wasnt at all before as a really depressed bird version of dave DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < and nepeta didnt even know who he WAS until recently DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < but now it sounds cool suddenly DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < i f33l like... DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < the exact blend of people i am DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < is a being that he should in some way be vulnerable to DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < i cant even explain why i f33l that way

This makes absolute sense if Davepeta is destined to become a part of Calmasis.

Caliborn even distastes Davepeta’s colors. Perhaps that means something, as well.

uu: ORANGE AND EMERALD. uNPLEASANT TOGETHER. uu: I HAVE NO TASTE FOR PuMPKINS. OR ANY HORRID VEGETABLE MATTER.

Alt!Calliope is already established as a key to defeating Lord English. Dave is also crucial for defeating LE.

As for Nepeta… During Murderstuck, the only trolls Gamzee kills are Equius and Nepeta. (The other trolls are all killed by others.) We already know how Equius’ death is essential for the eventual creation of Lord English, one of Gamzee’s Mirthful Messiahs. Perhaps Nepeta’s death is intentional and crucial for the same reason—for the eventual creation of Gamzee’s other messiah. (On another note, Roxy even makes a comment about Fefeta being a secret weapon, which, while sounding absurd, is also intriguing, considering Fefeta is a sprite consisting of Nepeta, just like Davepeta.)

In a previous post, I discussed an alternate interpretation of a passage from [S] Seer: Descend.

If Paradox Spaces uses both Lord English and Calmasis to “usher in the end”… And if Calmasis contains the souls of Gamzee and Davepeta along with Alt!Calliope…

A maimed clown (Gamzee), an undead cat (Nepetasprite), and an impaled crow (Davesprite) would make three of the four “held in reverence for the eternity they serve to cut short.”

A fusion of Alt!Calliope, Gamzee, and Davepeta in the form of Calmasis is the perfect parallel counterpart to Lord English—both of the Mirthful Messiahs and mythical demons ushering the destruction of Paradox Space.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of this blog!

Stats and highlights:

Posts: 114

Followers: 471

Total notes: 27,037

Top 10 most popular posts of all time:

[S] Jasper: Mental breakdown

Karkat x Clover

Classes Chart

Dave x Karkat Quadrants

Dave the Archaeologist

John <3< Terezi?

The Mirthful Messiahs: Lord English and Calmasis?

Skaia's clouds and Alt!Calliope

Vriska's Return and the Alpha Timeline's Fate

Classpect Profile Guide

Although this blog has been inactive for many years, and Homestuck ended many years ago, I want to acknowledge that Homestuck was a huge part of a previous chapter of my life, and I'm grateful for that experience and for the friends I made through it.

Homestuck also sparked (and/or fueled) my interest in astrology, which led to me becoming an astrologer.

I don't know what the future holds for this blog. While I still post regularly on my general "reblog blog" @pixie-styx-mix, I don't have much interest or motivation to blog about Homestuck anymore, especially since its end. (And Homestuck^2 basically killed my interest, too.)

I still have several unfinished posts sitting in my drafts that I don't know if I'll ever publish. Some of them are completely obsolete theories, anyway. (And some of them are about Steven Universe, which also ended years ago.)

I've thought about finishing and publishing some of my posts. I've also thought about continuing this blog, but pivoting the content and expanding to theories and meta-analyses about other media/fandoms. Maybe even posting creative, non-meta content.

I guess we'll see what happens.

Thank you to everyone who's followed, supported, and/or engaged with this blog over the past 10 years!

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.