*dons reading daggers*

Are we continuing with Ly'lac? I'd be interested to see that but this is also a well-phrased sorta-gag for a sudden cutaway. Maybe even to the Time/fate-obsessed AA.

> Accept fate.

Oh, Swiss.

Oh, the "blood" prank again. REAL mature, guys.

Well that's not good. We have gouge-marks clearly from claws and lots of silver blood, and before there was that creature with the huge trunk, and the cutaway earlier in Swiss's early sections to all that blood on the busts in his room in the future when--

Hey, wait a fucking minute.

That was RED blood in Future Swiss's room. We now know that Satyr blood is silver and Nymph blood is black ink. So this is clearly the blood of some sort of wildlife creature. Before there was a loose tie between the surprise CT had in store for him and whatever's happening here, but that seems to line up a little less with everything we've learned. Why would CT, a professional masked gladiator, have sent some sort of dangerous wild animal to the vicinity of Swiss's frat that has the ability to likely cut down his Academic Advisor offscreen? Something with different causal factors is probably going on here.

If the Academic Advisor who was at his door is dead, which seems likely given CT's coach is also dead under a boulder, we're following a Troll-like Slain Guardians pattern for these Satyrs and Nymphs more likely than not. (Though Ly'lac's Caretaker has yet to befall Meemaw's fate.) That could be very interesting for AA in particular, who was already likely to lose her "sisters" in the apocalypse besides, and if TC is being watched over by Dirk Strider / "The Exemplar" himself that seems like a way for one of them to buck the trend. Or maybe like Jade, TC's lost guardian was earlier in life and part of his past trauma.

Too many questions, too little information just yet. Moving on:

===>

Nice top-down view of the Frat. From comparison to the last image, Swiss's house is the second from the bottom-right.

Well at least it's quiet now. The Advisor must have taken that pranksome rabble away for disciplining instead of stripping you of your rank and dignities, leaving you broken and shattered. All this sweating and perhaps you were never his target in the first place.

Swiss must have been holed up and panicking pretty hard to not hear something that caused enough mass panic to evacuate the entire premises.

> Swiss: Reconsider life.

Life, huh? Aspect or no?

This puts things into a new perspective for you. Your boys are always warning you about your penchant for the dramatic. They say, Swiss, all you do is make yourself miserable. And for the first time ever, you're almost willing to consider their words on the matter. You've spent so long chugging down a steaming pot, when was the last time you stopped to taste the honey?

I'd insist that's definitely more a Light player's perspective, especially the "penchant for the dramatic". His anxieties require a level of overthinking and catastrophizing that has him extracting way more Meaning out of situations than is warranted, rather than a Life or Doom player's more close-at-hand or in-their-face anxieties and... wow, I think I'm too tired to thoroughly ramble about Classpect stuff. Yeah, sure sign I'm depressed from recent life stuff. (I'll be better in a few weeks, don't worry.)

I really doubt Swiss is actually going to switch to Decaf like it says here, as good as it'd be for him.

> Swiss: Switch to Decaf.

Oh yeah.

WHOA, that looks fucking comfortable. If everyone else is hearing about the meteors, not to mention whatever animal disaster made them take shelter, Swiss might just be the most relaxed man on campus right now.

Let's see that change.

===>

OH NO!

Oh it's just some cartoonishly freaky Humanimal thing. (Really leaning into the Andrew Hussie's Humanimals side of too-human faux-furry uncanny valley.) It's not even that big. I'm not sure why I'm so incredibly disappointed. (Funny Swiss is still wearing the silver grills, even while he was sipping coffee.)

Is that Jake or Jane on the console? Probably Jane, she was tracking him earlier:

> GOOD HEAVENS WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT?

At least the art team is enjoying themselves! Dirk Strider, what the fuck did you do to this planet's wildlife you asshole.

This imposing asshole is Honeyfall's own mascot, SENATAUR WINNIEFRED STICKYPAW. Who, obviously to anyone alive in the world, should not exist. Unfortunately, it's impossible to ignore the fact that he does. This nasty fuck is one of the few remaining SATANIMALS not sequestered off from polite society, and the only one you've ever had the profound displeasure of meeting. He tends to get out like this once or twice a lap, occasionally taking some lives and often wrecking your beautiful campus. It's tragic, but it's also a school tradition implemented 200 laps ago so there's no way that's ever going to end.

Ah yeah, school traditions, I know what that's like. "SATANIMALS" is a better name than Humanimals for them, too. I'm glad these things both are already nearly and are about to be apocalyptically extinct. (Swiss you'd better not prototype this thing's corpse I swear to god.)

Oh that's definitely probably Jane Crocker on the console controls, displaying some very good sense:

> KILL THAT FUCKING THING NOW!!

If you were allowed to, you'd erase this thing in an instant. That's not your call to make though, considering he is technically school property, and a government-protected endangered species besides. Even as he grinds his grundle all over your perfectly curated dorm, you're powerless to intervene.

Oh of COURSE it is. I should've fucking known.

Not that this is a thought you'd ever think, but it would be nice if for once the rules actually worked in your favor.

I TOLD you he's more Light than Life! Light and Doom are the Aspects willing to be married to systems of rule and order, or opposite/stolen permutations thereof like the Thief of Life's (Condesce's) regime which enforced order and restriction (Doom) on everyone else while giving herself total personal power.

Instead you'll just have to fend it off until whatever asshole fell asleep on the job chooses to wake up and wrangle the beast back.

Oh, this next command DEFINITELY shows it's Jane Crocker at the console, I love Jane being flabbergasted by things:

> WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE A PERSON??????

No one knows! There's no exact consensus on the origin of SATANIMALS, but despite their myriad wretched forms all of them seem to exhibit some degree of satyrical anatomical features, or rough equivalents to them, and they're occasionally disturbingly genetically proximal to satyrkind. Everyone pretends this makes them special and worth preserving but you're of the opinion that they are hideous mistakes made by god. Unfortunately, the Exemplar seems to adore them, so they get to continue their shameful existences frolicking and rampaging across gorgeous national parks and nature preserves that would be much better suited to the frolicking and rampaging of satyrs.

GOD DAMNIT DIRK STRIDER WHY do you have to share so much of Andrew Hussie's sense of humor????????

Beyond that, they're left well enough alone. Satanimals aren't high on the research docket, understand- Wait.

GOD DAMNIT SWISS ELYSI don't you dare consider a Term Paper on Humanimals to elevate your standing!!! (That's very Light-over-Life behavior if it's really what he's contemplating.)

> SWISS DON'T LOOK.

EW BIG GROSS SNEEZE

Sorry you had to see this, Jane, I know you're already getting very invested in poor Swiss.

> No no no no.

Wait, WAS Jane really at the console, or is this command from Swiss's subconscious? Does she understand Swiss well enough already to know he's about to lose his shit, break the law, then lose his shit about having broken the law? (Or she just cares about the bees that much?) The origin of these commands is getting confusing with this:

> NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

RAAARARRAAUUUAAAAUUAGHGHGGHGGGGHHGH!

Pffhahahah, love this panel.

Wait, so it IS Jane and she's just being especially compassionate? Gosh it's great to have Sane Jane Crocker back:

> I'M SO SORRY!

They look a little busy.

-- cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] sent supa_secret_lylac_present.zip to gavageCunctation [GC] -- -- cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] set their status to bizayzay -- -- gavageCunctation [GC] began negging cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] -- GC: hey! GC: omg??? GC: you fixed my orb! GC: tysm!!!

Oh cool, I didn't know CC was able to fix Ly'lac's cracked orb remotely like that, I was worried it'd require a delivery! That's kickass, now she has a working computer to enter with.

Wait, I wonder if Ly'lac's going to get around to addressing the metaphorical-and-literal Narwhal in the room she should've just spoken with.

GC: wait. GC: delfi wtf is this...? GC: DEL'FI??? GC: how did you get this??? GC: ... GC: ... GC: THANK YOU??? GC: omg omg. GC: THIS IS CRAZY!!! GC: wow! GC: this has just been the craziest day...! GC: del'fi you are probably the best nymph i know.

Yup, Ly'lac received the signed artwork from the Beyond Anon! A really thoughtful gift can go miles to get you back in a friend's good graces.

GC: hey actually… GC: if you get unbizayzay'd later would you wanna play this game with me later. GC: AA and TC are playing too also btw… GC: and um. GC: a new… friend… GC: friends apparently…? GC: i guess lol. GC: you're still really slicing and dicing huh ha ha.

Ly'lac must be pretty excited to be inviting them to play the game right now, and no wonder, too. Also, I forgot thanks to the way these Orbs work that Ly'lac can observe what CC is busy doing right now.

GC: omfg get back on so i can tell you about all the craziness... GC: ykw funny is it's kind of related to this mday gift. GC: ominous right...? GC: i bet that makes you wanna ask me what i'm talking about.

(Since the game plan entails Ly'lac meeting the "real Vriska" and the art is of fictional Ly'lac and Vriska if that wasn't clear.)

GC: ... GC: ok i'm not gonna freak out but ANYWAY. GC: it'd be cool if you played! GC: i'm always telling TC he's the second smartest person i know... GC: come help me prove it lol. GC: and it'd be chill to have more like... GC: nymphs in my circle playing with us! GC: the number of randos is making my vellum itchy... ha ha GC: can you come save me lmao. GC: ... GC: jk anyway i'll untwist my way out of your tendrils for now. GC: thanks again hit me up soon!!!

(Vellum is a clever Nymph term for skin, given their blood is ink!)

Those are some seriously sweet and tender sentiments coming from the moody likes of Ly'lac!!! I know she probably gets in friendlier moods like this more often offscreen, but this is probably some of the sweetest we've seen her act.

And to pile on, that's a seriously sweet and mildly-shippy edited GIF. The file's even titled "LooneyLyfi", that's gonna fuel people for a little while.

-- gavageCunctation [GC] ceased negging cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] -- -- gavageCunctation [GC] began negging cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] -- GC: don't die. -- gavageCunctation [GC] ceased negging cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] --

D'aww. Gosh, the writing team must have had so much fun writing such a cute conversation as this.

Of course, they're combining the artist and writer commentaries this time because the update in question is "pretty short, but stuffed to the gills with meaning".

Omfg there's great concept art of the Nymph Babies here. EXCELLENT concept art. Like there's a confused Yiffy playing with one, it's so fucking cute.

Birth and impending death in the same frame. (Definitely some meaning in that juxtaposition, especially in likely-Doom-player Ly'lac's proximity IMO.)

It was going to be a pretty goofy nothing Flash until they decided to bump up the drama and stuff more in, but they kept the goofiness alive in the first half. (Personally, I think it was a wonderful bait-and-switch IMO, my only practical complaint is that I had to watch that long goofy first half of the sequence SO many times rewatching the flash to make sure I caught all of the last part.)

Omfg there's a bunch of great unused concept art.

Into the flashback: The commentary is giving us a LOT of explicit context into the likely history of the matter, alongside some riffs of course.

They're using he/him pronouns for the Uni-Nymph. So that was intentional historical pronoun-use by Del'fi.

His ears and hooved feet might have been more of a permanent thing, less shapeshifted-on-demand like Del'fi does.

.........................their prayer/devotion self-hugging gesture is meant to form the shape of Dirk's glasses across their chests. God damnit.

No answers on the mysterious pillar spy, just a wink and a nod.

The pegatulp's arrival, confirmed to be connected to the Barley Frat as alluded to by both Del'fi and by Swiss's bookshelf. They were going for much more happy than ominous. (Though I think they managed to accomplish both.)

I'll direct quote here because this is crucial: "MILES: Floral got into this already a little bit in the previous 4koma [Bonus Comic], but it looks like this pegatulp and the Narwhal were very, very close for a while.  He’d never stand for this kind of betrayal, but his struggles were in vain...  Also, if you look closely, you’ll see his wings resemble those of an albatross!  Wonder what that means..."

I'm pretty sure that the background in that one panel of the Abyssal Anchoresses taking him into the sea was showing the Dirk Strider Moon in the far back, but they don't give any specific clarification in the Commentary, so they probably didn't think we'd misinterpret it. (The glasses-shape DOES poke out of the sides in a way a glaring Meemaw face wouldn't, thinking about it they would have drawn it differently, so I'm even less confident in my earlier theory; they would have mentioned it here if Meemaw was even a possibility.)

HOOOOOLY SHIT. THEY'RE SHOWING US ORIGINAL CONCEPT ART FOR THE YOUNG NYMPH ANCESTORS, AND ARE SHOWING US TWO OF THREE (the third is blacked out for now), both very similar to and somewhat different from what we eventually got!!! Even some excerpts from their initial backstory concepts.

Their backstory gives the Ancestors full names, blacked out. Unknown if they have "Last Names" or just the obfuscating Epitaphs hiding them, or both. The first name of the one who put The Great Combiner to sleep is blacked out-- short enough that it COULD be Rose, but I'd still put heavy odds on the Third Nymph Ancestor being the culprit.

The backstory concepts list The Great Combiner as the head of the "MALEFIC NORTHWESTERN POLYCRUEL", a pun which I think reinforces the (in-my-opinion) Blood-like idea (possibly Thief-of-Blood) that everyone subsumed into her was considered part of an enormous relationship, as well as Instrumentality or whatever other analogues there were.

Even more later concept art and fanart, including a cropped art piece showing all the kid Nymphs and ancestor Nymphs together.

The spiral horn poking out of Ly'lac's Shubhurb actually IS The Narwhal's horn, trapped through the ground. The concept art shows the logistics of how this makes sense.

"Haven: Unfortunately Meemaw’s fate was determined before Ly’lac was even finished being designed." T_T Haven insisted on the one-munch gag which I agree was super fucking funny.

"FLORAL: It’s so funny people realizing she never had eyebrows." I'm glad they're amused that we caught that.

"[ANDI:] Nymph morphology is a result of their environment", and The Narwhal's evolving form is influenced by his upbringing, his confinement, and his nymph nature all together.

Regarding the ink-filled pipes we saw, "He’s already being used for his blood as a type of fuel, an energy."

===>

Oh, are we moving on from Del'fi at that dramatic pre-battle standstill? I expected a scene-change but-- wait, from the next link, this may or may not still be Del'fi-- or wait, maybe Ly'lac, I didn't recognize her home arch and spires here at first, right next to Ly'lac's home:

> Be the baby.

OMIGOSH IS THAT A BABY NYMPH?!??!????

Did they seriously make proto-baby-squiddles even CUTER than squiddles??? Of course they did, oh gosh they're geniuses.

You cannot be the baby. Why in the world would you want to be a baby? Especially one so unfortunate to be born during THE GREAT LOSS.

Oh, something bad might also be about to happen to this baby, especially because now that I think about it we don't know any with brown upper-organons yet. And this says it's happening during "The Great Loss", which is... lemme check the previous mentions of it:

(p819) Recently, the mere mention of it triggers a major vibal nosedive, and vaguely reminds you of the PROPHECY FORETOLD REGARDING YOUR "BIRTH". Something about a global calamity, THE GREAT LOSS or whatever. (p1075) Some simply desired to be a part of something greater, while others saw it as a way to possibly circumvent prophecy; if only a few were destined to endure THE GREAT LOSS, the subsummation of their species all but guaranteed their participation.

Okay, so "THE GREAT LOSS" absolutely refers to The Reckoning coming down on Deltritus, and the meteors on the last page and this page are present day meteors. Meaning this is a present-day doomed baby. Ouch.

We've really gotta be closing in on our first Shurb Entry fast with the meteors getting this conspicuous. Isn't Ly'lac ages away from her house, and AA's present she still ought to retrieve from it somehow? Wait never mind, I'd forgotten that the second present landed right on her and she captchalogued it without opening it. So considering she already prepared for a long journey, Ly'lac might end up Entering from wherever she can next get to or concoct a computer that lasts long enough. (And Meemaw's definitely coming with, I hope, as a Kernelsprite or Guardian or otherwise.)

===>

Holy shit those doomed babies are so adorable.

What the fuck is that conspicuous damn Narwhal horn doing.

Her sisters seem to have unanimously agreed to take a doze in the middle of their shared birth. And on such a calamitous day! Not that they have many thoughts about current events. The lone fry, faithful to her instincts, makes her way to the sea, even as it begins to ache from the first percussive impacts of the song that will end the world.

Whoa holy shit, an [S] page!!! We couldn't be getting her entry so soon, could we? Unless that other present contained a working Farsphere or she has a spare unexploded computer at home and makes it there? Is she going to be carried back up from the depths on a Narwhal's back? Fuck, I'm nervous-excited, I'm not sure I'm awake enough to react to an [S] today but I'm gonna do it. No wonder the tweets said there was a newspost but I couldn't see it on the main page, it might be about the flash, unless this whole [S] is for a cartoonish drop sound effect.

FUCK IT WE BALL LET'S GOOOO

> [S] Ly'lac: Descend.

Oh my fucking god, her freaking out about this now-leisurely Meemaw descent is so fucking adorable.

Oh, is she falling asleep? Dream sequence upcoming?

WHOA, UNINYMPH BACKSTORY WHAT? METEOR CHILD CONFIRMED???

WHO THE FUCK IS THAT FLYING PEGATULP FIGURE OF CHAOS

WHY DOES THAT LOOK LIKE A STRIDER-GLASSES MEEMAW-ALIKE ASCENDING OUT OF THE OCEAN ABOVE THE NYMPH DELEGATION

WAIT THAT'S THE CAGED UP OVERGROWN UNINYMPH AFTER ALL THESE YEARS ISN'T IT? THE NYMPHS MADE A DEAL TO TAKE HER HIM BACK AND THEN LOCKED HER HIM UP IN THE NEARBY DEPTHS ALL THESE YEARS.

Holy shit that was a beautiful little flash. Let me grab some screenshots...

The uni-nymph grew up incognito among the Satyrs after being given a headdress with fake (or actually not?) Satyr ears and tail. A spy that looks winged, possibly a Nymph (unless it's the later Pegatulp with grinning eyes, preparing to make an entrance having found out the secret), is hiding behind a pillar, presumably verifying his location for his further abduction. (I forgot until I checked back that Del'fi described the "Uni-Nymph's chronicle" using he/him for the figure. Possibly just the depiction of the figure in "OURAN GYMNASIKKOU HOST CLUB" and the actual figure used different pronouns, but from the wording of the page I assume Del'fi was talking about the actual historical figure.) There's also a Light aspect symbol highlighting this ancestor in this one shot, whether significant or not, possibly referring to his secret being observed or his truth being divined from afar alike. Could Rose have been involved? Would she orchestrate something so cruel? I don't particularly think so-- I'd assumed their race had simply been left to it. Light symbols are bound to be used in preponderance surrounding the race that Rose created, even as deeply connected to Void as the race may be, as per the allure Void has always held for Rose.

And then there's THIS ASSHOLE. It's clear from the cadence of the flash that this cheery Pegatulp, probably an Ancestor of one of our Satyrs, sparked off the announcement of the presumably mutually agreed deal between the Satyr and Nymph factions to capture the Uni-Nymph back into Nymphkind's custody-- from Del'fi's abridged retelling:

Despite being a largely popular anime, the show was ended after only one season, though a part of you was grateful for that. There's no way she could have translated The Council's "reclamation" of the Uni-Nymph and the slaying of Barley Frat in a school AU.

From the way this figure is flying in as a dark, cheery avatar of descending death, I'm also reminded of one of Swiss's book covers:

--Oh shit, and BOTH mention the Barley Fraternities!!! So that possibly-upside-down flying asshole in the top of that book cover is definitely the SAME Pegatulp asshole. For some reason the [S] Peruse Librarium page isn't loading properly for me on any browser, so I'll pull the text of Swiss's description of the book from the Wiki:

Rise and Fall of the Barley Fraternities The Fraternity System, historically, has been composed of 3 tiers. Honey tier fraternities are the highest-achieving, highest-funded, and highest-power communes your society has to offer. Oat tier fraternities are one tier below, but still quite respectable institutions. Some of history's finest have been oat-tier dark horses. Grass tier fraternities are... well. You want to keep things diplomatic, so you'll just say that if you were only able to make it into a grass-tier fraternity you'd have to perform steppuku. For a brief period, there was a fourth tier; a reclusive, monastic order of socially anxious isolationists. They spent the majority of their existence in unremarkable obscurity, contributing basically nothing, but their final decades were marked by a profound change: a commitment to revelry so infectious that it went on to fundamentally change the nature of satyr society, prompted by the appearance of a man who flew across the sea from the uninhabited Cursed Land, Australia. He catapulted their order to the highest echelons of power and influence, which you always found weird because he was just a savage degenerate. At any rate, that didn't last long, because at some point their so-called "revolutionary" danced them all into the sea. So you guess maybe he wasn't such a fucking cool guy after all.

Connecting these two sides of the same historical events, it's unclear EXACTLY what the Pegatulp's appearance had to do with selling out the Barley Frat to be dragged into the ocean and drowned by the Nymph Council, and whether he was culpable or as much of a victim as the rest of the Frat, though the [S] we just watched definitely implies some sort of culpability. (Pegatulp-ability.) Though the hidden Nymph from the earlier panel implies The Council already had eyes on the Uni-Nymph before the Pegatulp's arrival. Did the Pegatulp trade the Uni-Nymph away from Satyrkind and sacrifice the Barley Frat for the sake of further fame and influence with Satyrkind in general? Was undermining and destroying the Barley Frat perhaps an intended goal of his, even?

Whose ancestor was the Pegatulp? (Tentatively "The Revolutionary", or was that more sarcastic?) He was too important to not be one of them, and was smiling too wide to be a disguised Dirk. In the running are Swiss's (catapulting their order to power and influence), and TC's (always shown in shadow, giving into mirthful revelry, hailing from an unknown/isolated land, Australia being "down under"). Insubstantial, possibly specious ties, frankly, not enough for firm conclusions. Either one sounds weird, as these Ancestors were clearly VERY different from their descendants, even if there's a chance they share an Aspect like Del'Fi and The Great Combiner seem likely to do-- we don't know enough of the story of this Pegatulp ancestor to say for sure, nor have enough hints of the other Ancestors to narrow it down. We know The Grey Rain was brought about by a Satyr "tyrant king" and Nymph "enchantress" working together, who now that I'm looking for mentions of the same terminology is possibly the same one who brought down The Great Combiner:

But when all seemed lost, the neptunian golem of a certain long excommunicated enchantress appeared. Then apparently she just wagged her finger, shooshed her to sleep, and tossed her back into the freaking ocean.

--and is certainly the same pair of Satyr "omnicidal madman" and Nymph "megalomaniacal heretic" who invented the ~PTH programming language together. This gives the Grey Rain pair parallels to Ly'lac and TC which may mean the Tyrant was TC's ancestor, not this Pegatulp despite the mirthful characteristics. I wouldn't be incredibly surprised if the ~PTH/Grey Rain ancestors weren't precisely Ly'lac and TC's, though. We need a little more information to suss it out.

I know for a fact people made the Grey Rain Couple -> ~PTH Couple connection earlier, but I wonder how many made the Barley Frat / Uni-Nymph Incident one since a couple updates ago, tying it together with that Rise And Fall bookshelf book? Either way I'm glad I've at least belatedly hit on it now with these more blatant hints.

There was another screen that showed the one member of the Frat shaking hands with a Nymph to seal the deal while other frat members who hid him amongst them being subdued and pinned to the ground, but I'm not fetching every frame, and in terms of what I want to analyze... On to the last big relevant screenshot of something that went by too quickly:

Is that the Dirk Strider glasses-moon in the distance visible above the shoreline, or a darkly-glaring slightly-less-ancient Meemaw? Or maybe even some Orb-like robot of Strider's / The Exemplar's overseeing the events? It's genuinely difficult to tell. Also the Nymph guards leading the Uni-Nymph back to the sea look just like the crystallized Abyssal Anchoress, which makes me wonder how they all got their Upper Organons in that shape or if they're wearing some sort of Shell over them; their "hair" below the helmline actually looks like hair more than tendrils, in this shot, though I'm probably reading too much into that.

Then Uni-Nymph's betrayed eye, teary.

Finally, no need to screenshot it, but we ended the Flash sequence on the present-day absolutely gigantic Uni-Nymph behind bars, his Narwhal-like horn thrust so high that the tip is obscured by the ceiling and possibly drilled into it. It could even be drilling and thrusting up and out of the ocean somehow, though if that's the rising spire on the previous page it'd have to be even bigger than I thought. Oh, and he's DEFINITELY awake and observing Ly'lac and Meemaw's arrival, which makes me damn well hope Meemaw wasn't the one in that earlier screenshot overseeing his "reclamation".

Gosh we got so much more out of that [S] page than I was expecting, especially in proportion to its length and complexity. Incredibly well done. Now then, on to the next page:

===>

OH HAHAHAHAHAH OKAY MEEMAW IS WIDE AWAKE AND KNOWS THIS MIGHT BE BAD NEWS UH OH XD

Fucking hilarious. Gee, I really really hope you weren't a part of that delegation, Meemaw! You don't want to be made all dead and Kernelsprite-Ready so soon!

Gosh I never expected the Uni-Nymph to get so much relevant play so soon as to be ACTUALLY RIGHT HERE about to be discovered. Never saw that coming.

===>

OH GOODNESS. She died of shock!!! D:

Those Xs above her eyes-- were her "eyebrows" her upper organon's extra eyes all along?

Poor, sweet, dear, precious, Meemaw. She was so damn old. All that's left is to honor the deceased with a tradition that's been passed down for generations.

NOOO, DON'T EAT HER YET! KERNELSPRITE, KERNELSPRITE! Augh, none of you have any way of knowing about that yet! D:

I hope the Uni-Nymph is going to interrupt them before, well, feasting is done. Though Ly'lac looks a little too small to eat an entire Meemaw in one sitting, so maybe that'll save her for the kernelsprite (I want Meemawsprite so bad).

===>

OH COME THE FUCK ON

I miss Meemaaaawwww!!!!!!! (T o T)

(It's so Homestuck to mix such a tragedy with such an ace visual gag, I'm upset but I'm also dying this is too perfectly hilarious.)

On another dark note that just occurred to me... I wonder if creating an entire race who immediately eats their own dead was, in part, a morbid way of reflecting Rose's childhood-bred distaste for Funerals by averting the practice altogether.

> Ly'lac: Turn around.

THE NARWHAL wants to speak with you.

As suspected from the flash/[S], Ly'lac's long-dreamt-of Narwhal and the imprisoned Uni-Nymph are one in the same. I suppose he's taken a "seahorse" form in Nymphian wild adult-build variety. Holy shit.

That's all! What a banger update!!! Holy shit that was... SO good. So many disparate pieces coming together, so early, and giving us just enough of a taste of the lore to be craving even more to come. I'm still busy mourning the loss (barring regurgitation) of any Meemawsprite chance, but The Narwhal being (potentially!) prototyped would lead to some significantly more visually interesting and intimidating prototyped monsters.

Before I go I ought to find that news post they tweeted about...

Yup, I should've expected more warning and explicit preparation before the Big Probably Ly'lac's Entry Flash/[S]. Oh, and cool, they'll be offering more Patreon benefits than just the monthly Commentary and Art, possibly some streams?? Asking people to contribute if they can so they can do more for us and with the comic. Happy Pride, etc-- you can read the news post yourself. If they post any bonuses on the Homestuck Discord like they promised there, feel free to tell my askbox or replies, or even maybe add me on Discord and let me know. (The Homestuck Discord gives me a headache so I prefer to check only when absolutely necessary, get content exported from there to me by others in screenshots instead of natively, etc.)

See you for the likely beginning-of-month Patreon Commentary that'll likely go into even more juicy details on the flash we just watched!

Artist commentary takeaways:

Oh, they wanted to do Second Life for Trench2Peak screenshots but instead worked with modders to heavily mod Sims 4 for screenshots. Hilarious. There's lots more raw screenshots in the Patreon post.

The BINDING CURSE was originally art-conceived as binding Karkat's wrists to Jake, putting their hands together rather than their whole bodies. It just turned out easier to reuse the terminal panel and their sprites. Still on-theme Blood of course IMO.

The creative quirky coding style for Del'fi's use was inspired by LOLCODE and they put a lot of thought into making the subject of the code relevant, the Ion Cannon resemble famous DDOS tools of yore, etc.

The hand-around-the-head mantle for the Great Combiner was wanted early on. (Great design choice!) Merged with the idea Haven had for "an undersea nymph city that was on/inside a massive sleeping nymph, for a child who lived literally inside their caretaker."

The night sky theming all around Del'fi's home architecture, the stars and moons et cetera, is to environmentally reinforce the theme of "(HAVEN:) Del’fi waiting for a morning that will never come. Which paired with the child's blanket/crib mobile to allude to feelings of arrested development."

The intentionally-styled "drool" line on their sleeping caretaker is actually a gap cut in their lips. Confirmed the body is (they think) "(HAVEN:) largely vestigial [...] a body-shaped dilapidated pulpit for the Lightstone".

Next to a sketch of the baby Great Combiner they refer to her as "baby GC", which I didn't realize fit the kid shorthandle pattern, further amplifying the chances this is a Meteor-sent Nymph ancestor.

Writer Commentary takeaways:

Trench2Peak intentionally further advances the theme w/ Del'fi of "(MILES:) the aforementioned need to use the internet/online space as a way to learn more about things that you might not really be able to encounter or act out in your own personal life." Mentioning the Outernet and Uppernet aren't flush with each other but rather have a "vaguely interconnected frontier-like nature of the interstitial zone that bridges the two separate satyr and nymph internets [which] leads to spaces like this becoming small oases of mutual understanding between two cultures that are otherwise almost entirely cut off from each other". They note that the drive in young people to seek these spaces out, IRL, is properly reflected here and in Del'fi and means a lot to the creators. Gosh, I love that the Beyond Canon writers care so much about these themes that are so close to the original Homestuck's, the ways we grew up and connected to each other as kids online, the motivations and struggles behind and inherent to those ways. (Y'all should really read these Writer Commentaries, they're consistently great.)

Satyr Romance and Values. They wanted to avert some Omegaverse traits like making roles biologically determined, "experience-based" rather than another layer of gender/sex/race which is already quite a busy space in this Deltritan story. A "mandate determined from birth" wasn't as interesting for them. (I'm also guessing this is part of why Betas aren't excluded from the mpreg of the relationships, etc.)

They go back to Swiss's shipping chart and mention how unlikely it is that Swiss actually ends up being an "obvious alpha", which all of us could clearly see anyway. They mention it's "(FLORAL:) a welcome difference from quadrants because it’s less focused on unconscious emotions", and it "feels very true to the new age of yaoi we are in that is very focused on playing with expectation/dynamics [...] playing with the idea of dominance and desire outside of simply dom top and sub bottom." They have a lot more to say on this and how the writers were educating each other on tropes in the (rapidly evolving) traditional omegaverse space, while also outlining how their A/O/B formula creates an inherently different sort of space with its own nuances that, unless I wanted to quote it all, you're probably better off reading from them. (Either by subscribing or reading in two months when it unlocks!)

Note about Dirk they make: "A lot of how satyr society is set up is a fairly telling portrait of a busy, ambitious desire for things to Work Out, Make Sense, and Feel Empowering. There’s a very utilitarian and goal-oriented fixation [...] personal ambition [...] productivity-minded-positivity[...] seems like the kind of thing a certain someone would really be into."

There are some backstories for the Beyond Canon Inside Beyond Canon cast that Del'fi drew about. Lots of funny stuff here, but to stick to the potentially relevant stuff... Calliope's "favorite food is twin", Alt!Calliope/AL is "Lunch that packs a punch", and Roxy is Rose's "greatest rival". Jade is not even mentioned, even though Kanaya IS even though she isn't shown yet.

Davebot MIGHT have just needed more balls and chains because he's stronger, because Haven mentions: "[T]he only real design note I had going in was they [Aradia and Davebot] needed to both be Alkyrins. [...] But each shackled metal ball added to Davebot made me laugh harder and harder. I had to stop myself from adding a 5th." This doesn't rule out that they might have had some sort of Jade is the balls-and-chains symbology going on here, or at least the SINGLE ball-and-chain for Dave initially, but it does make the extended metaphor of Davebot having "more baggage" in Jade-or-family form represented by the multiplicity of chains potentially less likely.

The biggest portion of the Writer Commentary is about the TC / Del'fi conversation, which they have SO MUCH to say about. I'm only going to touch on a few of the things they say.

The invasiveness of what TC is doing here is of course highlighted, as is his request and how he's trying to seemingly "speedrun" what he may see as a "natural friend[ship]" between himself and Del'fi. And they've intentionally left it ambiguous whether or not he even picked up on the fact that his overture didn't work all that well. (My own thoughts, TC identifying with the one of them who's secluded in THE ABYSS and darkness, not to mention reclusive hacker etc, is also very Seer of Void.)

Mirrored themes in TC and Del'fi of a "real dissatisfaction with their circumstances that’s reflected in very different ways".

Del'fi telling TC "dont ever tell me what to do" in harsh terms met with TC's "that's the fuckin spirit dude!" as: "(MILES:) genuine delight of not only seeing Del’fi stand up to meet what he sees as circumstances trapping them both, but Seeing Del’fi, period." FLORAL: "It’s almost as if to TC being seen could only be liberating." (I think this adds further points to my Seer of Void theory, or at least him being any sort of Seer, but especially one who understands and loves to understand who people are IN SECRET under their layers and masks.)

The conversation unsurprisingly also reflects the Satyr/Nymph cultural mindset difference of striving vs fatalism.

Mentions TC's invasion is, as much as he seems to appreciate 'seeing' Del'fi, "(MILES:) with very little thought for perspectives outside his own."

That despite admiring Satyr culture, the writers note that readers have noticed that Del'fi still has enough internalized skepticism about interspecies cooperation to reflexively reject the idea of ACTUALLY coming together as TC proposes, that (FLORAL:) "despite admiring parts of satyr masculinity, Del’fi’s feelings aren’t so simple as we may assume".

They go into The Great Combiner as Caretaker for Del'fi, noting their relationship is much like "(HAVEN:) Knuckles' relationship with The Master Emerald." Also talks of the Combiner as having "a childhood bereft of attachment" leaving them to grow up so disturbed, which again, explicit Blood language being used.

The apathetic generation that saw The Combiner's childhood seems to have been recovered from somewhat: "(HAVEN:) AA’s earlier comment about Nymph Culture makes it seem like after this very scary era [that almost led to the entire planet's destruction(?)] they tried to make a big turn around, and that’s the culture she’s been proudly raised in." Even though they know the prophecy still has to come true sooner or later, which colors much of their society still.

They also cover the danger of knowing in advance that only a drop of their race's ocean will make it off-world, because if all Nymphs know that, then it makes sense that many would conspire to BE one of those Nymphs, perhaps by joining into The Great Combiner or such.

They keep referring to the Great Combiner as "GC"!

HAVEN: "A few things here sound familiar. And the language used seems quite specific. Let’s keep this in the back of our minds, chums." Yeah we have to keep the language in mind to be sure of exactly the person being referenced here, in case it's an Ancestor Nymph and not Rosebot, because even though it sounds a whole lot like Rosebot we have to cross-reference it with other examples that'll use the same language to be sure. And it'll be an interesting detail if it were to turn out that ROSE were indeed "excommunicated" from her own race, willingly or otherwise.

Okay, so reading back I... certainly used a lot of quotes, though still only a bare fraction of the full articles... and I may not have typed substantially LESS than I did in like, the supposedly-larger Artist/Writer Commentary posts I used to make. But I liked this format, and that just shows you're not losing much! Again, if you love Beyond Canon like I do, consider supporting the Homestuck Patreon and reading these for yourself! :D Talk to you next upd8!

Do I need a tag for The Great Combiner? I'll add one just in case.

The tweet said "øpdate" so I wonder if we're getting any of TC this time. I suppose Del'fi was about to finish back-hexing him...

===>

This is... they invented an entire old internet pseudocode language that sounds like Del'fi. Having a whole team lets them really go all-out on each upd8 doesn't it.

Anyway, you don't have to think about that anymore because it seems like the leet hex finally managed to get a few hooks into cha.OS! Wait... what are all these hidden functionalities? Full remote viewing? Temporal tracking? This is... really advanced. And really, really invasive. Ugh!

Yeah, if it has a Trollian-like viewport, Del'fi has every incentive to find a way to block that function for themselves before they get into the game together. Not that Del'fi knows they'll be "in" the game together.

===>

What's even the use for these?

Is that-- no that couldn't be Rose, it's not a match even for her Candy haircut and she's still either a robot or something transcendant of it... is that Dirk Strider from behind? No dog ears or Satyr ears. It's not the strictest match of any Dirk's silhouette we've seen so far. Harry's hair seems like it'd be more curly from behind... does Roxy have a new haircut we haven't seen yet?

Honestly the closest match is Tavvy's hair swoop, maybe it's black hair that the viewing glow just makes LOOK like white from this stylized angle. But it's definitely brighter than Vrissy's hair was from a similar angle. Because it's reflecting a white human face in front of it? ...Yeah it's... probably Tavvy despite the discrepancy making it unclear.

===>

UGH, he's SO… speak of the devil.

TC's chat bubble appears, and a Hazelog! Looks like now that he's outed, the very-possibly-if-my-earlier-guesses-were-right Seer of Void might want a chat.

- tinnitusChakra [TC] began hazing cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] -- TC: whats pøppiiing! TC: cøuldn't help but nøtice that yøu just snuck thrøugh the first gate øf cha.OS' waterfall! TC: that's sø sick. TC: nøbødy's managed that in the whøle 2 day histøry øf the prøgram, pretty sweet møves. TC: i've been fucking arøund with leethex myself and i think i'm really starting tø get the hang øf em, but tø see them depløyed sø expertly... TC: that's wassup. TC: hønestly, keep up the gøød wørk. there are a few deeper layers of psychersecurity i think yøur current hex might have søme trøuble with but hey, if yøu can break it yøu can take it. TC: always gøød tø get anøther pair øf eyes frøm sømeøne whø actually appreciates the delicate interplay between the løwer mysteries and high løgics.

Waterfall gates and locks as like... a metaphor for layers of the afterlife or something. I'm shit at mythological references, but I've seen fictional series like Abhorsen that dealt with that, huh. (EDIT 3: As @shoutyourporpoise points out and I somehow didn't realize in TC's previous conversations, he talks a lot like a surfer as a personality characteristic-- so continuing to use Oceanic and water-rich metaphors like Waterfall gates, along with his association with ~PTH and surfer-ness, has FURTHER symbolic Void associations with water and the pull of the ocean depths, like the Fallingwater house Mom Lalonde owned and many other associations with Ocean-plunging and irrelevance or dislocation throughout original Homestuck.)

TC: aaactually, høw many eyes dø yøu have? TC: twø? TC: møre, right? TC: it's tøugh tø tell thrøugh the webcam! CC: oh hai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cc: how keeee~wl CC: can u even c mah lit sign TC: hell yeah i can! TC: and in turn alløw me tø raise yøu a particularly righteøus shaka. TC: if yøu wanna see it, gø ahead and hack my cam back. CC: hehehehehehehe CC: no thats ok CC: so didya get ur uppernet hooked into our orb tech? CC: i waz wonderin wat lylac waz helpin u cook up but she must of been rl helpful for that TC: øf cøurse! TC: she øpened up a whøle new wørld when she intrøduced me tø løwmys.

I know I'm biased as fuck, but even as much of a challenge it sounded like for TC to tell Del'fi to hack him back, this definitely sounds to me like a Seer who can't wait to expound on all his understanding.

CC: does she knoes ur using it to put ur lil horsey snoot all up on her homegrls? CC: kinda wack of her to leave me outta the peep party CC: a real misdemeanor on her part CC: is she mad at me? do she hate me badly? CC: shud i kms? TC: yøu shøuld chill yøurself. TC: my ly'ly wøuld never leave a friend øut in the cøld. CC: MY LYLY? CC: hahahahahahaha CC: except she ttlly would TC: løl! TC: true, she wøuld. TC: but nøt because she was trying tø harsh anyøne's vibes, yøu knøw what i mean.

Del'fi seems to be feeling this out, cautiously trying to determine just how much of a threat TC is and to whom, waiting for the other shoe to drop on what could be a potent blackmail situation among many other things... TC clearly has a lot of power over Del'fi and their friends right about now.

TC: yøu're øne øf her cløsest dørmies. CC: rlly? TC: ch'yeah dude. CC: ur so fr rn? TC: the realest. CC: idk... *kicks rock* TC: øh fuck yes, øur very first røleplay. TC: [i catch the røck with a fetløck and start juggling it like a høøfball.] TC: [after a bit øf høity høøfwørk i pass it back!] CC: dang CC: so anyways she doesnt know at all? TC: øh, she knøws. TC: øn the real i just døn't think she cares, løl. CC: i mean dats wat she says until she starts lobbin nades at u CC: u gotta keep a close eye on dat btw

Del'fi seems easily distracted by talk of their friend and how much Ly'lac cares... even though it's hard to read because, from Del'fi's point of view, this is definitely a hostage situation.

If Del'fi is indeed a Bard of Blood, they might be naturally doubtful of the true strength of their own relationships.

CC: i dont have to tell you how the trope goes CC: upstandin satyr givin in2 the call of mysticism CC: repercussions must b served CC: not hard 2 c how when u saddle ur seahorse 2 a grl who blows herself up CC: or turns on any1 dat gets a bit 2 bossy CC: r u a bossy alpha boy TC? CC: keepin command CC: smacking away our greasy sneak fingers from ur spankin new hybrid toy TC: i døn't knøw abøut greasy. TC: thøugh yøu knøw lac-attack always keeps that slime øn her.

So far, at every turn, TC is CONSISTENTLY deflecting any negative statement about any of the Nymphs, Del'fi included, and declining to frame anything SO FAR as a threat. He's being extremely positive and not OVERTLY threatening.

Void, however, is the aspect of submission, and getting people to know when they have to yield, like he did in his conversation with Swiss...

TC: anyway, the general scryware is limited tø admins (me), ør ambitiøus hexxørz (cøuld be yøu!) før nøw, but i get the feeling what yøu're really asking abøut is thøse advanced features i saw yøu scrølling thrøugh. TC: thøse are møre experimental. TC: hønestly, kind øf dangerøus, thøugh that's the fun part, isn't it? TC: i've døne my fair share øf playing with singularities but remøte spatiøtempøral quantumødulation is particularly tøuchy stuff, sø i løcked it før everyøne but an especially select few. TC: still, pretty neat, right? CC: me no know CC: is it? TC: yeah. TC: it is! CC: oh... CC: but bringing in strangers... CC: from da ITERNET? TC: frøm sømewhere! CC: oh noes CC: dats the worst place u can b from CC: i hates em

Right, it's unclear whether Del'fi has any real inkling that Ly'lac's "enigmatic fictional maiden" is real.

TC: they wøn't be strangers før tøø much lønger. TC: i mean, løøk at us. TC: we've been talking før twø minutes and we're basically like best brødeøs. CC: rite! CC: tru besties CC: tbh ive been wanting to talk to u 4evaaaaaaaaaaa~a CC: everyday i go to the bathroom and jus read up about u on social media CC: wonderin if ur also going to the bathroom CC: or wut brand of shampoo u use CC: putting mah hand to the mirror CC: dreamin of the day ud let a lil ole wretch like me kiss ur krusty stinker (//3^)/ CC: and then CC: the ink flows til the tubs black TC: yøøø. TC: that's different!

Sounds like Nymph reproduction is potentially pretty messy!

It's still so delightfully unclear whether TC's assertions of friendship are optimism or a dominance display.

TC: let's nøt talk abøut me anymøre, yøu flatterer. TC: let's get back tø yøu. TC: and what i need yøu tø dø. CC: oh... *SHUDDER!* TC: døn't shudder. CC: dont ever tell me what to do CC: understood? TC: that's the fuckin spirit dude!

Whiplash! Did TC deliberately provoke them, then give them props for not submitting?

TC: yøu mentiøned feeling left øut earlier? TC: well, i'm here tø fix that. TC: hasty-style. TC: there's a game ly'ly and i have been cøøking up før søme time nøw, which yøu knøw, and i knøw yøu knøw. TC: and i'm gønna need yøu tø høp øn. TC: yøu've been døwn there førever, and believe me i knøw høw that is. TC: all cøøped up, nøbødy tø rave with. TC: thing is, when yøu finally take matters intø yøur øwn hands and step øut intø the light? TC: fuuuck, it feels gøød. TC: sø that's what i'm asking yøu tø dø. CC: zang wow r we like kindred souls? CC: u got my whole heckin number tattooed on ur sleeve? CC: bro ur lyke crawling around n my head and we havent even nuptulized yet CC: get out of there!!!!!!!!! CC: cant a nymph keep sum secret dang

Ah I see TC's game here, he's using the blackmail he has on Del'fi to strongarm them into playing Shurb, smoothing things along. Quite smart use of secrets without being too bullying, though it's still extremely invasive.

TC: can yøu løck in før a sec? CC: UWAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. CC: but but but but but!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TC: hey, why døn't we level with each øther? TC: this game is gøing tø be fun, but it's alsø extremely necessary. TC: AA knøws that. TC: (super funny chica, btw, can't wait tø get intø søme mischief with her later.) TC: a few laps agø, i came acrøss søme pretty mindbløwing intel while i was scraping the øld man's servers før shits and giggies.

Which old man? TC is supposedly close to the Big Kahuna according to Swiss, but I'm not sure whether or not that would mean being in the presence of Dirk Strider directly or his servers.

TC: i wøn't børe yøu with the deets, because they're patchy and cryptic and required a løt øf extrapølatiøn and we frankly døn't have much røøm før størytime, but the løng and shørt øf it is that this game we're abøut tø play is all that stands between us and the cømplete annihilatiøn øf øur søcieties, øur species, and øur wørld. TC: if that wasn't trippy enøugh, check this shit øut: TC: we're MEANT tø play it. TC: me, ly'ly, AA, CT, AT. TC: and yøu. TC: he was TRACKING us. TC: well, tracking the satyrs, anyway. TC: yøu three were møre øbfuscated, but i was able tø intuit that yøu'd be cøming intø play eventually by kind øf like... triangulating via the blind spøts. TC: and there were a løøøt øf blind spøts. TC: i døn't knøw why he didn't just tell me, but i'm kind øf glad he didn't, because finding øut øn my øwn was way møre fun.

So TC found out that either Dirk Strider, or whoever his "old man" is in their parentless society, was tracking all six players. As would naturally be the case. But lemme roll back the conversation just a bit:

TC: yøu three were møre øbfuscated, but i was able tø intuit that yøu'd be cøming intø play eventually by kind øf like... triangulating via the blind spøts. TC: and there were a løøøt øf blind spøts. TC: i døn't knøw why he didn't just tell me, but i'm kind øf glad he didn't, because finding øut øn my øwn was way møre fun. TC: blind spøts are where i thrive. :)

ABSOLUTELY a Void player, a hundred percent. Whether my assertion of Seer or not, we'll have to see, but doesn't it fit better than much else so far?

TC: that said, meeting ly'lac was an actual straight-up certified cøincidence. TC: and thrøugh her, yøu and AA came intø the picture. TC: again, BY CØINCIDENCE. TC: is that nøt FUCKING CRAZY? TC: i think it's FUCKING. TC: CRAZY. TC: :D CC: crazy? CC: ... CC: thats a regular ole nymph tuesday CC: nothin moar special than wut i alrdy got goin on

Yeah I suppose Rose Lalonde's doom-foretelling Nymph race wouldn't find cosmic coincidences like Shurb arranges especially out of the ordinary.

TC: the shit we're facing is gøing tø make the grey rain løøk like a dainty little dewdrøp. TC: and anyway, what is it yøu actually DØ have gøing øn? CC: i save the world everyday CC: yadda yadda grey rain blahblahblah listen dude CC: i hang w the Great Combiner CC: surrounded by beautiful ladies CC: in my own city of riches CC: p grt by nymph standards hm? TC: yøu're surrøunded by ruins and echøes and sleeping cørpses and yøu deserve sø much møre. TC: that has tø be sø børing, man. TC: it makes me sad.

Who or what exactly is the Great Combiner? ...does it have something to do with the Alchemy magic Ly'lac practices?

TC: are yøu scared? CC: lmao CC: r u? TC: maybe? TC: i'm anxiøus, but dø yøu have any idea høw løng it's been since i had anything tø be anxiøus abøut? TC: it feels amaaazing. TC: we're øn the precipice øf sømething cømpletely beyønd øur science, beyønd yøur magic. TC: sømething NEW, past the banal tøtality øf wørldly knøwledge i've had møre ør less figured øut since i was five. TC: i føund ~PTH at exactly the right time, but it ønly just barely scratched the surface øf what's pøssible here, i can feel it. TC: we're abøut tø be free. TC: døn't yøu wan't tø be free?

It's true. And this thrill-seeking, it's the sort of thing someone who wants to Understand the Unknown might find irresistible. Even if it means a potentially dangerous fascination with something he may very well KNOW could be the cause of civilization's downfall as much as it is a way out of it, it's difficult to tell just how aware he is of that but the way he talked about apathy consuming him to the point that ANXIETY was EXCITING makes it sound like he'd find a sick thrill from this all being responsible for the inevitable apocalypse too. A Seer of Void can potentially be extremely dangerous, even in optimism-- he looks to view the good AND the bad of this to be so exciting he can't wait to see it.

TC: i dø! CC: "i do~!" shut up CC: there aint a prophecy or tech thats gonna give me wut i want TC: nøt if yøu never dø anything. CC: mang CC: its so cute how satyrs all think they matter CC: strivin and fightin to make a little dent in the world or whatever CC: but its just… so cringe too CC: so much struggle to do nothing rlly new or special CC: and then turning around acting all proud of urselves CC: totally unaware that all ur doing is exctly wut u were meant to do and unlike us ur too stupid to realize ur walkin a fixed path CC: its a sorry sight CC: u cant even appreciate how lucky u r CC: if things were different and nymphs were even a fraction as gullible as u guys r CC: we wld have wiped u out at the get go TC: pøint blank man i refuse tø accept there are ønly twø øptiøns here. TC: hide frøm each øther førever ør die screaming? TC: cøme øn. TC: that's silly. TC: we can dø better than that.

TC is talking about Blood somewhat, uniting the races, in a way it seems as if Nymphkind might be avoiding because of (potentially) specific (and true) prophecies that their cooperation would end the entire world in a firey apocalypse. Del'fi, perhaps more than Ly'lac, has embraced the Nymphian sense of futility of their situation and life in general. I wonder how Del'fi's going to act once they indeed eventually realize they've been freed from the prison Deltritus represented for themselves specifically.

TC: sømetimes sømething is sø cømpletely beyønd yøu that yøu'd never have a shøt at figuring it øut øn yøur øwn. TC: ly'lac shøwed me shit that changed my life førever. TC: SAVED my life!

There's some backstory here behind TC's seemingly-easygoing personality being hinted at here, something that what Ly'lac and ~PTH brought TC helped him out in a low point of his life.

TC: and yøu have sømething sø beautiful gøing with CT. TC: whatever the fuck it is. TC: dø yøu knøw høw rare that is før him? TC: før anyøne? TC: it MATTERS. CC: OML CAN U BACK OFF 4 1 SECOND U FRUIT LOOP CC: i dont get wut ur trying so hard to do rn!!! CC: i knew u were sum kind of sicko but this is jus somethin else

TC is trying to psychoanalyze and help Del'fi right now, and even if Del'fi weren't a Bard of Blood, at this stage of Del'fi's being and beliefs I'd know it can't help but backfire. At the moment, anyway. TC 'sees' a better future for Del'fi, but they aren't willing to accept that at the moment.

CC: i EXPECTED u were going to lord CT over my head sure CC: but this is GROSS!!!!!!!!! now he has 2 crappy backstabbers spittin on the bro code CC: playin in his face CC: n u dont even have an excuse! TC: what's wrøng with playing? TC: playing is fun as fuck, and cømpletely within acceptable brø cøde parameters if yøu ask me. CC: ur jus a bad friend TC CC: we both r TC: [i grab yøur face.] TC: listen. TC: yøu're nøt a bad guy, big d.

TC is actually calling Del'fi "big D" which could double for "Dagger".

TC: i knøw yøu CARE abøut him. TC: i've been actively følløwing the chrønicle øf the møuntain and dagger tartarus før søme time, and brø. TC: that kind øf hearts-wrenching cøllab døesn't just cøme aløng every day. TC: that's special. TC: it tøuched me. TC: deeply. TC: that private server yøu twø wørked intø the pløt? that's søme real multimedia artistry. TC: even if the security øn it was kind øf a jøke. TC: but let's put it this way. TC: yøu cøuld keep dancing arøund it and cøntinue yøur rp før anøther høwevermany laps, and it'd prøbably be super sick. TC: hell, i løve a gøød dance. TC: but aren't yøu ready tø MEET him? TC: that can HAPPEN. TC: that WILL HAPPEN. CC: wait CC: u read our rp doc? TC: yeah dude.

TC thinks that breaking into everyone's secrets, he can just expose how they really feel about each other and they'll be able to accept it, heal, and do what's best for themselves. But people don't work that way. When you crack them open for their secrets, no matter how badly you want them, you deal damage. When you lay out something inside someone bluntly when they're not ready to hear it, they can deny it and retreat further.

TC: yøu twø are gøing the fuck øff in there at all høurs øf the damn day ør night ør whatever sø sømetimes the backløg gets thick as all hell but the møst recent arc? the warden's gambit was sø viciøus, brø. TC: i løve høw yøu wørked in all these hints abøut it during the cøurt saga, that was fuckin CINEMA. TC: yøu guys are fantastic writers. TC: but just sitting at øppøsite ends øf the planet førever is such a stupid waste, før bøth øf yøu. TC: i'm nøt gønna bløw up yøur spøt and take that leap før yøu but i am gønna prømise yøu that it's a leap yøu need tø make if either øf yøu are gøing tø survive. TC: his life is in yøur hands. TC: … TC: yøur cam's glitching øut øver there and i've gøtta gø, but i'll leave ya with this. TC: if we døn't figure øut høw tø wørk tøgether øn this, we're all fucked. TC: but if we dø? TC: paradise. TC: the files are øn yøur ørbs. -- tinnitusChakra [TC] ceased hazing cloisteredConnoisewer [CC] --

He's not even threatening them! He's explicitly saying he isn't going to expose Del'fi to CT -- unconditionally -- and that they should all work together just because it's what's best for Del'fi if nothing else.

But he's giving a premature moral message of camaraderie to a, theoretically, Destroyer of Blood who clearly isn't ready to accept it this early in their character arc.

...While I was browsing the log for some earlier silhouette reference links I may have accidentally glanced at an upcoming link that looked like "React to this in a completely reasonable manner" or something, which is kind of tilting my analysis but like. Yeah, Del'fi-splosion would be a reasonable reaction... setting off some form of sick sabotage.

===>

He read it.

OH. Or... that. That part would be the part one latches onto, yes. Have I mentioned lately that cracked and broken glass is a Void symbol?

This is what I meant, in part, about the damage that breaking into people's secrets can do. Especially secrets one considers core to one's identity, whether one realizes it or not. Del'fi often OFFERED to share SELECTED logs with Ly'lac, or writings, mostly knowing she wouldn't accept or read them, but... having someone you DON'T KNOW having broken into EVERYTHING, read all your smutty roleplaying, even the stuff you never would have voluntarily shared outside your currently-only-CT-and-you comfort zone????

That's devastating. Brutal. Terrifying. TC is going to have to learn to do better by people than this.

And, there's that link title I peeked:

> Del'fi: Have a reasonable reaction.

Literally growing more mouths to scream with-- hey wait, Del'fi can actually lift their upper organon off their lower pair of eyes??? (Oh hey, does Del'fi usually go for eye-tongue instead of mouth-tongue like Ly'lac or the crystal-person?)

You've left him alone all this time for your friends' sakes, but this is too far. You have to make him pay.

Oh yeah, it's industrial strength sabotage time. Destroyer time.

===>

...AND THERE SHE GOES DEMANDING YOUR ATTENTION AGAIN! "WAH WAH WAH, intruder alert, come protect my lightstone, you don't have time to cast a death spell on that popular pompous prick!!!"

Oh god, Del'fi's out-screamed. Are those screaming mouths metaphorical or are the grasping looping hands that make up this sanctum partially alive??? Excessively demanding of a possibly-Caretaker.

YOU GET IT! FINE! FREAKING, FINE!!!!!!!!!!! YOU WILL CHECK THE PERIMETER.

Is this revenge interrupted, or will this be sufficiently out-of-the-ordinary to mean revenge indefinitely deferred? ...Even if they get in the game and they suddenly find themselves "free", I'm not sure it'd quench Del'fi's need for revenge over plundering and browsing their private RPs here, regardless of his praise.

> Del'fi: Scope out the situation.

Oh, wow. Ok, you see what her problem is now. That's actually a LOT of intruders.

Driven down to the far depths by the beginnings of a meteor apocalypse maybe? Or prophecies concerning such coming to fruition?

===>

You'll have to act fast if you hope to cast your DEATH CURSE in a timely fashion. Whatever you choose to surrender will have to be a SIGNIFICANT BARGAIN if you hope to pull off this level of vengeance. Unlike before, you see instantly what your only true option for this spell is.

Del'fi has to surrender things of personal value just to cast a Death Curse??? This sounds more and more like it happens to be a unique specialty to either Del'fi's nature or interests as a potential Bard of Blood, giving up that which they hold dear to catalyze Destruction.

They're looking at the Lightseed, though, aren't they? Aren't they protecting that for a reason? Or is their Caretaker also there to sacrifice, or something?

===>

After all, what could be stronger than LOVE?

Seriously, is anyone still going to tell me that Bard of Blood isn't incredibly likely here? "SEVER"ing bonds and proof of love?

I hope it's just those three dearly important artworks, and not like, something out of their own heart.

> Del'fi: Sever.

No, that'd be too far. You're still going to hit him with a little NIGHTMARE IMPRECATION, but you'd hate going to sleep beneath the space they'd leave behind. There are some things even you can't live without.

Oh phew, the beloved statuary instead. Del'fi's still bound by Blood, like Jack (the theoretical Prince of Blood) often was. But those cherished artworks are potentially a SERIOUS time bomb for Del'fi to detonate to power a curse sometime later in the plot. That or they'll be able to sacrifice something even more precious, like whatever/whoever their Sprite turns out to be or something.

TC is going to be cursed with nightmares, but given the way Dream Bubbles work, that could essentially be to the team's collective advantage.

You're a bit more like her than you'd want to admit.

Like "her"? Their Caretaker/Warden maybe? What? What does this mean? Being unable to sacrifice something that ought to be...? Couldn't sacrifice Del'fi maybe?

> Del'fi: Resist urge to think about what she did to you.

Wait, is that the Lightseed? With the stem propping it up, from this angle... it looks like a Sburb-generated near-Frog-Temple tower house.

You fail terrifically. To the point you can't help but recount the legacy of loneliness that tethered you here in the first place. A very long time ago, the wisdom of the tides brought about a cultural wave of nymph apathy, fueled by the knowledge that the entire planet would be wiped clean within a few generations, leaving naught but a select DESTINED FEW.

They know it's coming, to some extent, AND when. TC wasn't saying much about the incoming apocalypse that surprised Del'fi, even if they didn't know the shape of it.

This caustic lethargy led to large scale egg abandonment; hundreds of little frys dropped into trenches left to fend for themselves in the depths.

So Nymph eggs aren't always abandoned the way Ly'lac described or?... no, wait, rereading it... ah, they're usually laid on the BEACHES to give them hope, and SOME were cast into the depths due to this racewide spike of apathy Del'fi is referring to.

The lurid tangle of striping stars that surrounds you was sewn together by one of those sad little orphanites once upon a time. She was armed with nothing but a doctrine of unabashed purehearted nymph love and a terribly horrific weapon of mass destruction, callously cast away into the trenches like so much radioactive waste, corrupting all it touched; in this way, she and the weapon were very much alike.

OH. This "weapon of mass destruction" may very well have been carried down with Del'fi's caretaker on a meteor. Not necessarily, not quite. But this very well could have been their ectobiological ancestor, who could also have been a Blood player given all the holding-hands environmental design they engineered, a non-Destroyer potentially.

Not confirmable yet though, it's hard to say, what with the Gray Rain and ~PTH being presumably the work of ancestors too from the vibes we've been getting.

===>

WHOA HOLY SHIT

Hand hair! Hand throne! She grew all that! And a seed from her heart?!?

Unmistakeable Light symbol too, hair like a gripping claw around her face...

In her early fryhood she was alone, but as she bloomed with maturity she found herself surrounded by suitors and supplicants. She had decided that neither she nor anyone else would ever know the touch of isolation ever again. Thousands upon thousands came to her of their own volition, desperate for the safety of her bosom, her cruel tolerance, the lack of pretense in her all encompassing embrace. Some simply desired to be a part of something greater, while others saw it as a way to possibly circumvent prophecy; if only a few were destined to endure THE GREAT LOSS, the subsummation of their species all but guaranteed their participation.

I know there's a Light symbol on her forehead, but the whole race are Rose Lalonde's progeny. From the story of her history, this does read like a Blood-bound Ancestor, one who wasn't necessarily Destroyer-class oriented. (EDIT 2: Wait, they were SUBSUMED? Like the Subsumation Curse Del'fi cast in Cha.OS general chat earlier and has on their desktop? So amalgamated or eaten up? I missed that on first read, so this maybe-ancestor was eating everyone in some ways or incorporating them literally rather than just forming a community.)

Many, however, did not lust for assimilation.

I could be speaking too soon about the non-destructive part, but it sounds like the destruction probably was done UNTO her rather than FROM her.

Del'fi also just compared themselves to her and said they were "more like her than you'd want to admit", full of love and desperate to not be alone.

===>

Countless nymphs and satyrs alike were consumed in their intimate and tender grazing, and with them, their homes and history. All were made piecemeal and dragged into herself as she became a writhing museum of extinction. With each addition to her alluvial labyrinthine form so grew the power of her inkstone. It grew so incredibly dense and impossibly dark that it began to shine bright as the morning star.

Consumed? Grazing? What??? (EDIT 2: I'd missed "subsumed" and that the assimilation was literal on first read, as covered.)

So this city of their was like a roving, consuming city-state? These bonds she extruded into a city captured places they roamed over and conquered and fed upon? Was this potential-ancestor perhaps some sort of Thief of Blood, gaining power from all that she bound to herself? Is that's what's collected in her inkstone seed?

Drawn toward some unknowable peak, she and her supplicated constituents stretched west. They took to land, and took the satyr's capital with them. In a rare display of interspecies collaboration, THE COUNCIL OF HIGH PROPHETS, THE PLAYTORIATE, and THE EXEMPLAR himself combined forces in an attempt to protect what little world had remained after her passionate rampage.

"Playtoriate" like "horseplay" and "Praetorian Guard", or something.

For several tides they fought in vain, struggling helplessly against her love. But when all seemed lost, the neptunian golem of a certain long excommunicated enchantress appeared.

Rose wouldn't have been excommunicated... would she? Is this a different ancestor? Rose might get a perverse kick out of being in exile from her own species, but... the "golem" of an enchantress? A robot?

Then apparently she just wagged her finger, shooshed her to sleep, and tossed her back into the freaking ocean.

We actually know for a fact that Rose has exhibited this power, able to infuse dark/Void power into a ball of yarn to knock Dream Dave to sleep. As an Ultimate Self in command of presumably a wide spectrum of the Light/Void axis, putting someone to sleep is very possible.

Alternatively... if not for the 'neptunian golem' line, for all we know, it could have been Vriska, lending the pair a hand under some pact. Knocking someone asleep psychically with a boost from her powers and casting them down into literal dark oceanic depths is very Thief of Light -> Plunge someone Down into Void.

Where she's remained in this seemingly insurmountable slumber to this day, with the only notable action being when she grabbed a meteor out of the sky carrying a baby on it some several thousand tides ago, before promptly falling back to sleep. And that baby was you.

They couldn't resist the "the baby is you" phrasing, could they. XD

Chances of this being an Ancestor definitely ramped up with this deliberate act of hers. It's pretty wild that Del'fi actually KNOWS they're meteor-born, unlike (presumably) Ly'lac. I wonder who else knows? This is one of the biggest instances so far of Nymphkind proving their doomsaying/foretelling chops by having foreknowledge of this apocalypse within generations.

I can't say this is an Ancestor for sure, or that the Enchantress was Rose for sure (controlling any number of remote bodies of any given potential size as part of whatever plan she hinted at having to transcend her human-body-and-robot-body arrangement)... It could have been some other Golem-piloting Ancestor... and I definitely can't say what the Lightseed is capable of, what the weapon of mass destruction was or if it allowed her to extrude this city, or what any of this is capable of. This slumbering Nymph and her heart seem eminently Prototypable, and if they contain some sort of immense power they've gathered, what effect would that have on the enemies and structure of the Session? Is this the equivalent of prototyping Becquerel for them? Do Dirk and Rose have long-laid plans to use the Prototyping process to construct something out of key pieces they've seeded around the world like this? Wild things are bouncing around my head like the Lightseed becoming Skaia of all things, given AA doesn't seem to have noticed the Satyrs joining them in their session in Skaia's clouds for some reason, and my old theory that the purpose of this session was to create the workings of the Game in the first place. Hmm.

And I wonder if this slumbering ancestor IS Del'fi's caretaker, and part of how the rest of that otherwise "one munch lunch" disappeared is that the very STRUCTURE OF THE PLACE ate it! In fact I'm actually pretty certain of this, given the middle fingers she was throwing the Lightseed afterwards! She's giving orders to Del'fi and controlling the very bones of this place in her sleep! (EDIT 1: Oh... oh duh, SHE'S the "Great Combiner" mentioned earlier, that's the perfect name for her creating and such a place and is even more Blood-bound a name than I expected.)

I'm not sure I can say any more about this that wouldn't be even MORE wild speculation than I just threw around. We'll just have to take more as it comes.

(Do check out the start of that Artist/Writer Commentary reaction link if you didn't already, because I covered important stuff I'd missed such as the substantial Jake <3< Karkat evidence. Also, regarding the Beyond Canon Hero Titles post, I won't be editing it to add more evidence as we go because it's literally too big for Tumblr to let me edit, with too many hyperlinks et cetera, so if evidence evolves substantially I'll have to make an ADDENDUM repost or something.)

===>

Ooh, it looks like we're getting the Beyond Canon inside Beyond Canon updates finally!

Can we run it back on the prison break?

Classic. Notable that Vriska and Dirk are together though.

Oh my goodness that's almost everyone! Well, not everyone. Referring back to the Artist Commentary for when the inner comic appeared, that's (left to right first row) Callie, Vriska on Dirk, Jane Crocker, (2nd row left to right) Jake English, Dave Strider, Rose Lalonde, and Karkat.

So about half the cast, as John, Terezi, Roxy, and Kanaya are missing from the scene out of the ones we received sneak previews of the character designs for.

((EDIT: I'd assumed the blast was where I vividly remembered the Pumpkin exploding in a prior Jailbreak, but that never happened. I have no idea where I got that idea. We've had how many editions of Jailbreak, like Jack Noir's reprise in Act 6 (there was a transportalizer there)? Which one had an exploded pumpkin? None! I must be misremembering. At least it's not smelly pee mud or a pumpkin burial site. Well, it might be one of those things. See also potential note about Nymph Kanaya being missing at the bottom of this post.))

Anyway, Vriska rears up "Ride." style and:

Jane looks so done, even in doodle form, I love it. I shouldn't post all the images due to the upload limit, so Jane holds up a card hand and:

Oh, those are Vriska's dice thrown at her! Del'fi even knows about that! Vriska pumps her fist.

Jane gambling Vriska for the Dirk she found and captured.

That's a very interesting user suggestion, and I wonder if it'll have any actual relevance regarding Vriska and Dirk's interactions in comic. I had to assume earlier that they either wouldn't run directly into each other, or would perhaps remotely agree to a tenuous ceasefire to not act directly in the session and let their wards sort it out so as to not cause a huge ruckus with direct battle. Vriska has at LEAST learned not to go fight the Big Bad on her own again, if nothing else.

Then Dave is riding Jake and crying as Jane and Vriska keep gambling away.

Rose should kill karkat, leading Dave falling into the arms(?) of Jake

That whole sequence above seems like great bait for a Bard of Blood to have drawn, just gonna say. I don't think the user suggestion spawned comic options they chose here will for sure cause canon events, but, they can definitely be referenced, or be closer to what will happen than we might be comfortable with. This could definitely be used to just threaten us with the possibility of Rose threatening Karkat's life later, with the foreshadowing making the possibility seem more serious to us whether or not it gets fully executed.

Terezi splats Calliope opening up the door, Dirk turns to her while she's holding something behind her back...

Terezi reveals a dark secret

Judging by Jailbreak, is that pron?

Dirk learns about My Little Person

Scandalous!!!!!!

Splatted Callie is still alive (EDIT 3: Since I forgot to mention it, her shirt symbol is an upside down red version of her skull-head with X'd out eyes, meaning Caliborn is dead both literally and in influence on her), the window explodes, Roxy slips in as a snake-like Nymph shadow to ride Dirk, wave cutely to Rose and then:

Rose and Roxy Dramatic Wizard Battle. There are casualties.

Riding their respective steeds yes. Interesting to have Roxy colored RED and wielding red magic, almost AA-colored and looking like... actually auguryAside's Naglink avatar has a mostly gray hat. So, maybe there's some bleedover to how Del'fi thinks of AA or maybe not; maybe Roxy still has another fashion change to be red to contrast Callie's green ahead of us.

Roxy magically summons...

Oh what the actual fuck. Gamzee?! Aranea?! Some abominable fusion? She orders him off and:

"Nymph" Gamzee: Reject your role as the living weapon

Ohh, not only is he a "fake" Nymph wearing a stitched together Upper Organon, he's split along the head and organon in two as per how he was bisected and half of him went into Lord English back how the Stage-End fight unfolded in Homestuck.

Rose counters by summoning a... what the fuck?

That's a bust of... or maybe even a robo-bust of... someone I can't begin to guess with my bad-at-recognizing-celebrities brain.

What the hell is this prompt with a roleplayed typing quirk? Did a user come up with it or the team in whole cloth?

This has got to be like... a classic movie reference to a robot dude or something. I don't know who this user(?) is referencing. Maybe they even put their own OC in, I'm stumped. (EDIT 3: It's a real user submission, I can see why they had to put it in. Actually multiple posts.)

Callie walks out into the dark, and finds...!!!

Aradia, alt!Calliope (AL) and RoboDave! Wait... I thought Dave had a shackle around him just for JailBreak flavor, why does Ultimate Dave have four robo-shackles around him? Is there going to be some moratorium Dirk Strider imposes on Time Travel around Deltritus, or inside/outside the session? Something to lock down the incoming Meat Ship from interfering with how Deltritus's session unfolded and launched outside of the Exile Terminals would make a large degree of sense. Also, very interesting that regular Meat Dave is a Pegatulp but RoboDave is an Alkyrin. Aradia is an Alkyrin too... that means Alkyrin equates to Ultimate Self for Del'fi's imagination.

Well, "not dead" is sort of debatable, I'm honestly not sure. AL's sure been hauntin' bodies.

What is that weapon she's given Aradia? A whip, like her old specibus? One of Dave's turntables? Hard to tell in doodle style other than it's Red Spiral-y. ((EDIT 4: Someone pointed out it might be a black whip with a red glow, making more sense of the hand positions. Perhaps even the BQ/Snowman’s Black Inches then.))

Hilarious. I'm glad Del'fi's glad.

Dirk: Trot in a little circle.

hee hee

(Does this mean he's working to keep the two of them apart though? There was some artistic liberty in interpreting that command to have them both onscreen between him before the trot... maybe that's not insignificant...)

Dirk: Tenderly lick saltblock

heheheheheh

((EDIT 4: In this frame Vriska walking towards Terezi while Dirk is distracted is in the background, potentially indicating that he’d have to be distracted from narratively causing them not to meet before they can reunite. That or this whole thing is just another tease and the reunite at that door that was knocking is already happening, soon to be in our perspective next intermission or addendum, we can’t be sure.))

Lasso'd?!

Interesting color scheme on Nymph John Egbert! I haven't been able to discern a clear rhyme or reason to why certain people are Nymphs and certain are Satyrs other than the fun it'd be to draw them that way, much less some of these off-colors besides Vriska's renewed ties to Red.

((EDIT 3: Thanks again to @coinagefission - the yellow is from the poison Golden Tooth still embedded in the middle of Meat John's body! As best seen in this frame I'd previously omitted--))

John pulls Dirk close and:

"Ok BYE." Yeah, I guess she'd lose patience with that. Being a Yaoi fan doesn't mean you don't have your own tastes-- and/or what with June and all, maybe Del'fi senses it wouldn't be proper BL! I'm kind of surprised that there weren't more m/m relationships in this upd8 but Del'fi IS only SECRETLY the Beyond Anon and I got the sense that they're keeping their tastes at bay to avoid giving themselves away to the likes of Ly'lac.

Having finished the sketches, you immediately post them to your website so you don't have to look at them anymore. In truth, you're glad to be rid of them... you almost regret asking in the first place. You guess you shouldn't be such a jerk about it, and you're sure the fans are just happy to be able to interact with the comic in this way, but is this seriously what they want to see? This is barely any better than the stuff you were posting to deliberately piss them off! Predictably, your readers immediately start eating it up. Sometimes you despair for art.

Yes, we are very grateful.

And that's the end of the upd8. What have we learned? Uh... well, Alkyrins carry a similar connotation to Ultimate Selves (aside from hornse Dirk), some further suggestion that Aradia is an Ultimate Self too (even though she basically said so, "we are both an infinite number of years old living countless lifetimes at once") and Aradia might be alchemizing/getting a cool whip back or some other artifact/weapon before she enters the fray (even if just as a mundane weapon), and... well, other than that, not much of consequence! Just a bunch of silly stuff to be referenced later, or not. It was a pretty fun exercise with the community regardless!

I feel there could be a crumb of something in John (June) Egbert being a wrench in Dirk Strider's plans, but we knew that going into this, the lasso bit is just Del'fi being bonus prophetic. Practically a given. And those Ball-and-Chain (Blood??? Maybe???) shackles around Dave and RoboDave are... I'd be surprised if those ended up representing nothing, that's going to mean something but we probably can't guess exactly what, unless it's my No Time Travel Allowed Zone narrative restriction guess. If not that... hmm.

((EDIT: Also, Kanaya is the only one missing from the full set of people we've had depicted in the Artist Commentary preview, start to end, and there's a scorchmark near the window, so maybe that's an ominous sign especially since it wasn't in anyone's suggestion. I'm not sure how well it would serve the plot for such a thing to happen, unless it was an Aradiabot-like fakeout where Kanaya only appeared to die because she's going to Quest Crypt ascend circumstantially simultaneously?))

((EDIT 2: Thanks to @coinagefission - Jade was missing from both this entire set of events *AND* the Artist Commentary of the "characters of Beyond Canon" inside Beyond Canon! One possibility is that Jade is bound to be excluded because AL, alt!Calliope, intends to be possessing her while she's in range of Dirk's narrative sphere to counter him. (At least until she arrives in her other body with RoboDave and Aradia?) Another is that she's represented derogatorily by Yaoi fan Del'fi as the gay Dave's "ball and chain" (unwanted wife), and RoboDave has had multiple lives with multiple Jades... unsure what to believe of the absence for sure though. There are further Jade is Dave's Balls (heh) theories on the Forums which detail that Ultimate Dave has known four Jade Harleys onscreen (Meat, Candy, Pre-Retcon, and Masterpiece (AL's current body)) who he may have unresolved issues over weighing him down (Blood), or even might suggest a more literal way Meat Jade is trapped or neutralized besides AL, and points out Dave hit his head on the ball and died (which I missed). Again, though, we are viewing through Del'fi specific bias here and for a gay male character to be held back at all by a straight paramour does make sense to me as being derogatorily depicted by Del'fi as weighing him down, so I can't be sure one way or another.))

One more administrative note: I know the first five tags count for everything on Tumblr, so should I move one of them out for "Beyond Canon", even maybe the main Homestuck tag so it doesn't spam people who aren't readers of HS:BC? Or do you think it's fine as-is? And should I replace the occasional "Satyrical ⍺/β/⍵" tag with "Satyrical A/O/B" to fit the comic's new nomenclature and make it so I don't have to copy/paste those unicode symbols all the time? Or keep it fancy?

-

The Candy Kids

By the End of Act 1 of HS^2, we had as much evidence as we're likely to get for a good while of each of the four Candy Kids' (Omega Kids'?) Aspects and likely Classes, other than the process of elimination we've been getting from having the Nymphs' and Satyrs' likely titles.

A Hero's Title, as per the theoretical Answer to the Ultimate Riddle, represents one's "Calling", the way one is best suited to affect Reality around them. The Aspects are the twelve vectors through which Reality unfolds, and the Classes are the methods with which one is most suited to leverage a given Aspect to shape Reality. We've come a long way since my guesses last year at the Candy Kids' titles, at least glimpsed our entire 10-player cast of characters, confirmed by Derse moon and power-tower counts, giving us characters to contrast to, more titles to reserve for others and help us figure out by process of elimination, et cetera. Out of the Candy Kids, the one with the most evidence dumped on his head has been the only one we received a full Room Introduction for:

-

Harry Anderson Egbert - Heir of Heart

Heart is the Aspect theoretically concerning the Inner Self and personal expression, roles and identities, the Soul that spans timelines and makes an individual and their story unique. (Said cross-timeline Soul is what one gains full access to by becoming an Ultimate Self or Sprite Squared.) Among its many symbols and signs are Hats, unique Shoes (as in, walk a mile in another's), roles to play and the adornments thereof like how Nepeta traded accessories with Equius to imitate each other as one might expect from a Rogue of Heart.

Now let's cut back to when Harry received his room intro:

Accessories litter the room. His handle is "thespiansGlamor", the accoutrements an actor dons to embody the role of a Character.

And FUCK, one might say, does he like MUSICAL THEATER. He has been in his fair share of school plays, but he has LOFTY ASPIRATIONS to STAR in bigger and better productions.

Harry seeks a career where he's given roles to play on stage. There's a poster for the live-action adaptation of CATS carefully hidden behind all the other posters in his room. Why all the effort to hide it? Perhaps a Nepeta reference.

The boy who is not yet here has also been known to dabble in ACCESSORIZATION. He could be described as a COBBLER ASPIRANT, a NEOPHYTE MILLINER, or even a BIT OF A WHIZZ WITH A NEEDLE AND THREAD.

A Cobbler makes Shoes for people. A Milliner makes Hats for people.

His mother got him his first SEWING MACHINE when he was 10, to keep him from using hers all the time. His looks are HAND-CRAFTED, often IMITATED, but never DUPLICATED. His COSTUMES appear in various AMATEUR PRODUCTIONS, the devising of which takes up most of his FREE TIME. His friends are usually LESS APPRECIATIVE of his attempts to dress them up than he would like, though.

He creates unique, inimitable looks for himself and others! He makes costumes for people to play roles in stageplays!

And the word Heart, or even its concept, immediately started being tossed around surrounding Harry to a level that rivals Dirk Strider:

HARRY ANDERSON: so sorry it took so long. HARRY ANDERSON: can't rush a heart to heart, you know how it is. VRISSY: You actually had a Heart to Heart with your dad? How many times did he Cry? HARRY ANDERSON: none, actually, i think he got that over with when he was talking to my mom. HARRY ANDERSON: but god, it was a mess. i had to keep talking to keep him from looking at his phone or turning on the radio. HARRY ANDERSON: i may have told him more about my deep passions and emotions in the last hour than the whole rest of my life combined, just to keep him from hearing the fucking news.

He talked about and shared his inner self as an action tactic, even just as a distraction from something else! Methods of action are especially important for determining someone's Class, as the Class shows us how a character leverages their Aspect to affect how reality unfolds.

There's plenty more little hints we caught and documented across my liveblog posts at the time, but here's some more mentions coincidentally surrounding him:

Not far away, another human kid is attending human school in the heart of the human kingdom.

You figure it's another LONG-WINDED HEART-TO-HEART about their POST-DIVORCE WOES.

TG: i've had my fill of awkward heart to hearts with adults so it'd be really nice if i could see you right now.

TG: she doesn't care, dude. TG: about us. TG: or anyone. TG: or material possessions, for that matter. TG: she trashed up my room and stomped her gross red shoes all over my awesome costumes! TG: i put my heart and soul into those, man...

His strife specibus is allocated to Scissorkind, to create garments for others-- particularly a bright pink pair of scissors that even LOOKS like a heart! So does the Cherry on his laptop for that matter.

So Heart seems a lock, one of the most clearly telegraphed Aspects for a character in the story so far... but what about the Class? Less clear, but I at least have a guess.

Back when I misunderstood the Page class to arm others with their aspect, I thought "Page of Heart" was the best title to suit him. Since then, however, we've gotten the real definition of the Page -- "one who fights to preserve their aspect" / with their aspect. According to the Canon class chart, the Heir is one who gives their Aspect to others but doesn't necessarily have as much of it themselves, theoretically inheriting it from those around them instead. An Heir son of an Heir! This fits how John, the Heir of Breath, gave purpose to others while receiving direction and quests in turn, and Harry seems to be serving a similar technical role for as a nexus for the Heart aspect. The exact pages escape me, but his shared interest with Vrissy in helping with her fit and getting posts to go viral fits an Heir of Heart role too, as well as how excited he is to redesign John's God-Tier outfit.

JOHN: they are just your basic magic pajamas at the end of the day. HARRY: and it didn't occur to you to, y'know, magic them any bigger? HARRY: you just look like, well, a grown adult wearing clothes for a kid. HARRY: it's kind of embarrassing to look at... JOHN: blargh, you're right. [...] JOHN: when we get a moment, maybe the two of us could brainstorm a redesign? JOHN: no pressure though. HARRY: !!!

Helping listless, directionless John (June) create a new identity for herself, one she can finally be satisfied in and proud of being, one of the most important things for John's entire character arc in Beyond Canon:

JADE: no matter where you go, john, youre still going to be... this. [...] JADE: and... looking at you in that old outfit makes me nauseous.

--would be the sort of purpose that would call to Harry's purpose as utterly necessary. Perhaps the hints that we'll get June somewhere on the Meat side of existence could even incorporate Harry having a role in resurrecting and reinventing the version of John who's dead there in a way she'd appreciate.

Harry is one of the most passive characters, clearly moreso than Tavvy so far, making plenty of sense of how he may be the most passive standard Class.

There's one last bit of circumstantial evidence that not only fit Harry to Heart, but started us off on a course to diagnose his peers' Aspects properly too. It was the theory that page 214 held background colors for each character which -- since they didn't fit their typing colors -- hinted at their Aspects, just as Vriska was dropping hints that a new Game Session would be in store at some point in the future for these kids:

The pink behind Harry isn't an exact match for the Heart aspect, but it's clearly the closest Aspect, and Tavvy's colors are closer to Breath than Life even though they DO represent the Cyan of Jane using her powers (and Life's colors would have been too much of a giveaway, would've clashed too much in this image composition). Back to Tavvy later. The real inspiration we got from this panel was how very oddly, very distinctly Mind aspect colors appeared behind Vrissy:

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Vrissy Maryam-Lalonde - Witch of Mind

This raised the incredibly interesting possibility that despite every possible version of Vriska Serket that could have existed in Universe A being flavors of a Thief of Light, a genetically identical individual in a different place and different circumstances could grow up to have a DIFFERENT optimal method of interfacing with Reality to bring about change... and as the story continued, Vriska started to NOTICE Vrissy was different.

Vriska says nah this is definitely where we wanna be. She says between the two of you, you've probably got enough luck to take this whole place off the map if you really wanted. You ask her what the fuck she means by that. She says you know like with your Thief of Light powers. You tell her you don't have anything like that. She says huh, weird!

AG: It wasn't a 8ig deal. I pl8yed the hand I was given, and I'm Fine. I wanted to prove to her that I can handle these things Myself. AG: And I Did. AG: She Pressed me to try out my Mind Manipul8tion, and it turns out that was all I Needed!

VRISKA: I’ve already tried respecting you for making me the 8est, 8ut you know what I’m realizing? VRISKA: I didn’t have to go through aaaaaaaall of THAT to 8e strong. Vrissy didn’t! VRISKA: Even growing up in a f8ke world where no one has a spine, and with 8arely any guidance, her powers can do things mine can’t.

Vrissy's powers can do things that a Thief of Light can't. And one's natural abilities and one's Hero-granted powers, which one has a degree of access to before God-Tier and even before the game itself, are two sides of the same coin. Vrissy has different natural inclinations, different priorities, a different focus. And I believe the evidence the writers and artists have laid out for us hint at Mind, Terezi's aspect, as the most likely candidate.

Mind is theoretically the Aspect of the outward self, Heart's flipside pair. Lies and façades to Heart's inner truths-- the logical choices one must confront, the five senses that interface with the world. Where Heart is who you are in the dark, Mind is the face that you keep in a jar by the door. We can expect a Mind Aspect manipulator to play with various fronts and disguise her intentions to achieve her goals, or perhaps even the fronts and lies of others. I believe there were at least a couple of instances of this during Beyond Canon, including how carefully she creates her online profile and posts for popularity, but I'm having trouble searching up the exact conversations that led me to believe this... let's see what we can find. (I don't think we have to go all the way back to the Epilogues, though my memory is way too fuzzy as to where I recall spotting it to be sure.) There isn't much, but this is what I can find on short notice:

(VRISKA): Yeah, I'm not feeling very parenthetical. (VRISKA): I'm gonna need to 8e Vriska again. VRISKA: Fine 8y me, 8ut we can't 8oth just go around 8eing Vriska. VRISKA: If you want to keep Hanging Out, I mean. Which I assume you Do. (VRISKA): Duh!!!!!!!! VRISKA: That's the Right Call. VRISKA: So, Nickname me, 8itch. And make it Cute. [...] VRISKA: Nice to meet you, Vrissy. VRISSY: Fuck yeah, I Love it.

It's not a sure thing, but it's definitely not nothing that she's ordering someone to help change her outward name. Then immediately forcing everyone else to roll along:

VRISSY: Hey, it's Vrissy. TAVROS: w,, who, TAVROS: Vriska? VRISSY: Yeah, but Vrissy is a Thing now. Roll with it. TAVROS: Okay, uh,, Vrissy,

VRISSY: The OG Vriska is in town, and she and Tavros and I are driving around trying to find somewhere to stash Gamzee's corpse. VRISSY: Vriska killed him. VRISSY: Oh, and call me Vrissy, now. HARRY ANDERSON: fuck, vrissy, that sounds a lot cooler than precalc.

--I admit, other than the psychic powers and explicitly-named "Mind Manipul8tion", that's not the HUGEST pile of evidence given the veritable mountain we got for Harry, and I'm almost tempted to cut the above section, so let me press forward with the more circumstantial:

Vriska was long jealous (as a child in original Homestuck) that Terezi could manipulate people's minds even without any fancy psychic powers. It'd be fitting and interesting for a version of her raised by a loving Rose and Kanaya to have the emotional stability to properly develop the talent her nature idealized.

Vrissy and Harry make sense together as a power-couple, Heart and Mind together. And the way Vrissy takes charge and dives into the fray indicates a class likely at least as active as a Thief.

But... you might've noticed that despite the lack of specific hints besides her Psionic demonstration and a conspicuously colored background image, I seem pretty committed to the idea that Vrissy is not only a Mind player, but a Witch of Mind specifically. Why is that?

Mainly because I've been burying the lede of the biggest evidence we received in the comic so far: Ly'lac's very first onscreen conversation with her, which was also full of classpect hints for a bunch of different characters to help crown the confirmation that they'd be playing a session together:

GC: anyway, i think today is the day i fuck everything up. GC: i'm messaging you now to see if you might maybe... GC: change my mind or something.

There had been a conspicuous lack of indications of Thieving behavior of any kind from Vrissy... and all of a sudden, this drops. As far as we've been able to deduce, CHANGE is the operative word that belongs to the Witch class, the most active class: One who can change and control their Aspect.

I could be jumping the gun at that because of my bias at how much that Operative Keyword ("Change") resonates with my old Class framework. I mean, adamantGriftress does sound like a more acquisitive pester handle than one might expect from a Thief or Rogue, and it's difficult to tell which parts might be a holdover from the original Vriska and which are indicative of her personal uniqueness. In the absence of other Aspect hints, with the CLEAR indications from Vriska that she's different and probably not Luck-associated at that, we can be almost completely certain that Mind remains the aspect regardless.

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Tavvy Crocker - Page of Life

His father's Class and his mother's Aspect, perfect together. Life is the aspect associated in part with biological strength/prowess, and the physical energy symbolized by sweets and nutrition. There isn't a whole lot of evidence for Tavvy's method of action, but what IS there all points in one direction:

His chumhandle glutinousGymnast alludes to sticky foods and acrobatic feats.

He offered sugary soda to Yiffy in solidarity and to hopefully cheer her up.

TAVVY: I,,, tried to remember if i have ever seen you,,, drink soda before, TAVVY: I'm,,, pretty sure i saw this brand in Aunt Jade's groceries once,,, TAVVY: ,,, and made some assumptions,,,

He made sure to leave trail mix (watching his friends' nutrition!!) with the note he provided when leaving for the End of Act 1 battle to protect Yiffy.

Yiffy left. I think she wants to help the rebel forces, somehow. Which is pretty stupid. But I am also pretty stupid, because I want to help her. I hope if I really try, I can keep her from dying, at least. I’m kind of sick of sitting around doing nothing. I thought it’d be best, doing this alone, since Yiffy sort of knows me. And you yelled at her a lot. And don’t seem to like her in general. Also this will require a lot of drastic gymnastics, which is not either of your strong suits. No offense. Hope you understand, Tavvy. (P.S. I left you guys some trail mix. Don’t pick the raisins out; they’re healthy.)

Finally, there was the sick gymnastic act he did in the End of Act 1 flash where he kick-deflected a missile that would've otherwise hit Yiffy.

Tavvy and Harry used to seem a near-tie between Heir and Page earlier in Act 1, but when Life symbolism seems the only cut-through theme between some of the only significant actions of Tavvy's own choice that he's made so far, we should at least be reasonably confident in Life as his aspect, and Page fits extremely well out of the standard classes. The Page is canonically, Word of God, the class who fights to preserve their aspect. (And presumably, fights to preserve using their Aspect as well.) Tavvy's only onscreen decisions across Beyond Canon so far align just about perfectly with "one who fights to preserve Life".

Granted, the earlier background color evidence we used for the others seemed more Breath than Life, but again, there was ambiguity from Jane's cyan Life powers, and I really haven't seen any evidence of Breath in terms of direction, quest, or purpose in Tavvy's actions as a lever to affect reality as much as Life, and most of the passive classes for Breath have already been taken! Though I suppose you could make the case for Maid or Sylph. I feel like there's one more important factor in favor of Page, though... the weenie factor, as @floridamansneighbor put it on the Fruity Rumpus forums. Tavvy is depicted in a way that feels a bit like a weenie in the same way that Tavros Nitram and Jake English were like, a unique way group-punching-bag way a character falls on their ass that seems to undermine all of their fragile pretensions, which "tastes" a bit different than John Egbert's Heir weenie-ness felt. The Page's inherent early fragility, begging to be overcome, which Tavvy seems well on his way to doing considering he ended Act 1 by KICKING A MISSILE AWAY, HOLY SHIT. Y'know?

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Yiffany Longstocking Lalonde Harley - Thief(?) of Rage

Finally we have Yiffy, for whom I'm lacking almost any evidence on class but COMPLETELY convinced of the Aspect: Rage theoretically is the aspect of the power of negative emotion and negative belief, such as fear and conviction. But it took me a long while to figure out this might be Yiffy's aspect only based on our old framework. Instead, this is the only instance so far where I've been swayed by people pointing out the Hiveswap Extended Zodiac Quiz Aspect personality description:

Those bound to the aspect of Rage are bringers of chaos. They posses great contempt for lies or false ideas, including the stability that false ideas can impart. To them, the true is far more important than the good; they would tear down a system just to destabilize it if, by their reckoning, it is built on faulty premises. Often the Rage-bound prefer anarchy to any of the alternate forms of civilization, which they believe to be riddled with lies and foolishness and obedient masses. They are bringers of confusion and doubt, and they can be frustratingly difficult to convince otherwise when they have attached themselves to an idea. If they sound dangerous, they are. The Rage-bound tend to be most volatile and unpredictable of the aspects. At their best they are original, revolutionary, and fearless. At their worst they are cruel, uncompromising, and vicious.

And doesn't this square with what little we've seen of Yiffy's ideology more than anything or anyone else?

You've only been around this earth for 15 years, but it's a self-evident fact that there are no useful authorities. Gifted with unimaginable power, their concern only stretches so far as to manhandle those dependent on them, and tangles into ineffectual deadlock the instant it meets a challenge worth addressing. Potential killed for the sake of comfort. True kindness is real, but only for those that bare teeth and break skin. Why should these disingenuous, bystanding, spineless, SELFISH adults get anything they want?

You hope they eat each other alive.

Combine that with the way she sent Jane Crocker into a flying rage by disrupting her funeral for Gamzee, with how irrationally mad Vrissy still remains at everything about her suddenly-revealed half-sister. She's both constantly angry and constantly anger-provoking, to the point where even her NAME and the fact of her existence sent the READERS into as much of a fit as the characters when revealed. (Not the first time a Rage player's effects have extended to the audience.) Yiffy is absolutely a Rage hero, and Dirk Strider deserves to be scared of her.

(AH:) I think you're scared of her. (DIRK:) Scared of who? (AH:) Of Yiffy. (DIRK:) Wow, sorry, this conversation was so irrelevant I completely forgot what it was even about. Me. Scared of Jade and a shittier Rose's spawn? I have to laugh. (AH:) Then why are you shaking?

The only alternative aspect for her was Time, something I speculated far earlier based on her reverse-hair/fur-coloration from Jade and her active nature. However, Time and Space make MUCH more sense as reserved for the Nymphs and Satyrs, as I'll explain later in this post.

I have no clear indication that gives me confidence in her class. I picked "Thief" for only two reasons: Pure process of elimination after all the other kids, Nymphs and Satyrs, and her scooting into a vent like Nepeta or recently Vriska with the following Thief/Rogue-like command prompt:

> (Yiffy: Swipe a backstage pass.)

> (Yiffy: Enjoy the show.)

Very thin evidence. She could easily be a Maid or Mage, or if we're wrong about any of the other players' classes (like Swiss being a Knight or Ly'lac a Rogue) that role could be reserved for her. I've never seen her TAKING Rage from anyone else, except perhaps passively becoming Candy Jade's single-minded emotional focus, but we'll have to wait for more evidence as the new session gets rolling.

Alright, time for the rest!

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The Nymphs and Satyrs

By the mechanics of the game, considering Rose and Dirk framed this as some sort of philosophical contest between them and their races, it always made the most METANARRATIVE sense for the Satyrs and Nymphs to have the Space and Time aspects between them rather than the Candy Kids, as if the session could have functioned without the newcomers if things had gone how Rose and Dirk had originally designed it. Calliope long ago confirmed that the bare minimum for a proper session was two players, one of Space and the other of Time. (There's circumstantial evidence that every session may be intentionally structured so that there is not enough time to complete the frog breeding, forcing the Space and Time players to collaborate to complete a Sburb session (one Aradia failed because of Role Inversion), serving as the enforcement mechanism of this Space-Time-minimum mechanic!) Dirk also is arranging to indirectly try and kill all the Candy Kids' dreamselves, the "intruders" to their session/game from outside Canon, meaning the mandatory Space and Time players presumably wouldn't be among those four.

So it makes eminent sense that we'd have a Time player bound to one moon and a Space player bound to its opposite, the Space player bringing a volcano to serve as The Forge on entry.  One Satyr and one Nymph, to even the balance between Rose Lalonde and Dirk Strider's sides of the game. That's why I'll go over this pair together:

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auguryAside - Sylph of Time

championsTirade - Prince of Space

Unfailingly, Time heroes have been Red themed/texted and Space heroes have been Green themed/texted. (Even alt!Calliope and Caliborn only swapped colors because they "stole" the other's by predominating over them.) AA's shared shorthandle with Aradia, obsession with augury/foresight, hourglass character symbol, and red theme nail her down as the obvious Time player of the six Deltritans. The green CT, who lives directly next to a Frog Temple as most other Space players do, is the obvious shoe-in for the other aspect. A character going by "The Mountain", personified as a place, as a Space player named after a literal space?  It simply fits!  And he's an INCREDIBLE artist on top of it all, fitting a consistent Space-player pattern of Creation.

As for the classes: Naming AA a Sylph of Time is one of the few full-title slam dunks we've been given.  She's acted heavily like every single Sylph we've seen since not only her introduction, but before her introduction, when Ly'lac's first conversation suggested she bugs and fusses and meddles, something attributed to both Kanaya and Aranea.  Her manner of speaking is overly loquacious like both of those two, concerned with assuaging her friend even if it disarms her pronouncements of doom, and she's pretty much the most focused on her friends (instead of herself) of all of the characters set to join the session so far.  As for why she's not Mage/Seer, it appears her Time fixation might make her a bit of a "false seer", aspiring to doomsaying and pronouncing the future even if she isn't all that good at it:  Ly'lac's first conversation mentions she's "not an oracle", she's "something else". We know she has access to foresight in Skaia's clouds as a Prospit dreamer, so to have been outmaneuvered in predicting the future by TC is a good hint that the REAL Seer / Understanding class lies elsewhere, not with her.  Her obsession with foretelling, therefore, is that of a Time player whose true skill at affecting Reality around her doesn't rely on understanding outcomes. In fact, as a Sylph of Time and presumably a healer whose handle is "augury ASIDE", her true focus may turn out to be to heal people and outcomes DESPITE what augury has in store for their fate.

Prince my very strong gut guess guess for CT, as he'd relate heavily to Del'fi as a pair of Destroyers and killers. Considering he goes into Kayfabe mode as an "insane murderer", openly aligned with killing, and he and Del'fi both privately believe they could kill the other indisputably, Destroying makes perfect sense for them both (I'll go into Del'fi further below). The only other potential Destroyer candidate in the entire 10-player session, going purely on their behavior/personalities -- absent any pre-session Role Inversion hiding their "true" personalities like we had with Gamzee and Aradia and Jade -- would be Yiffany, but her Aspect rules it out-- both the Bard and Prince of Rage have been taken by Gamzee and Kurloz, and Yiffy seems to be far more aligned with pure Rage than a Destroyer anyway.

The balance between AA and CT makes further sense given AA is a Prospit dreamer, and CT is a Derse dreamer, making them moonswapped from every Space/Time pair we've seen so far! Additional points if the Space player is indeed a Destroyer Class like the Prince. And as Space is in some ways the aspect representing Creation to Time's Destruction, it would indeed be interesting to see how a Destroyer of Space operates outside of the likes of Role Inversion (Aradia). Sorry for repeating so many of the same links to my old posts by the way!!! But I'm gonna keep doing that because I wanna be thorough. Please hover over the links to check so you won't open my Aspect Duality post for like the eighth goddamn time. I'm incorrigible.

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Ly'lac of the Final Applause - Rogue(?) of Doom

GC: sorry. i know... GC: you'd "h8" this "vaguely ominous Doomer 8ullshit."

Doom is theoretically the Aspect of Energy's Negation, quietly or explosively-- of Depression, the way Life's energies are boxed in by Anxiety, Caution, Rules and Order, or the Codes of reality (which provide its association with hacking). Doom entails that energy must be expended and exhausted, that a countdown must end, that a lit fuse must lead to an explosion-- that every action has a consequence.

Ly'lac, a self-professed "Doomer", is surrounded by Doom symbols like using mechanical Satyr equipment instead of regular Nymph magitek, not being able to keep plants alive, explosives (a very potent Doom symbol, like Clubs Deuce who's oddly ALSO a Rogue of Doom fit and our first-seen Carapace of the session, or like the Aimless Renegade who also put yellow Caution tape everywhere representing boundaries one cannot cross without consequences), includes fuses ticking down in her typing quirk, and her entire spell repertoire consists of Death Beams of one sort or another. She's practically bleeding Doom out her ears! And is partially our vector of understanding the Doom-alignment of the entire Nymph race, as envisioned by their creator Rose Lalonde. Her Aspect couldn't be clearer.

But her class feels WEIRD.

The incident with The Latchkey against the Hagsnab had plenty of oddities.  Even though she's clearly Doom-aligned in aspect, it seemed as if the Hagsnab exploded due to an overload of LIFE instead, or a LACK of Doom, in the form of destructive cancerous expansion. Even the wand's magic color shifted to near-Peixes Fuchsia.  The Latchkey's weirdness is likely a hint as to her class, and the biggest option that fits her relative passivity is Rogue. (Prince and Bard are better suited to others above and below, and don't quite fit her personality so far.) But does Rogue fit anything else we've seen of her? Maybe the way she constantly defuses the bombs that she primes, as part of her Sylladex... that makes a degree of sense. She's constantly juggling Doom around, someone for whom the Artist/Writer Commentary said "This little weirdo only feels safe when she isn’t". (I know, sounds Bard-y, but wait til I get to Del'fi!) Rogue also has the unique quirk of overlapping with the much more clearly demonstrated Clubs Deuce in that title (who traded around not just deadly bombs but some of the most dangerous items in the Game, like the Ring, the White Scepter, the Tumor), so if it's true, it'll be interesting to see her showing us a different side of a nominative hero title. Its expanded potential.

It's also possible however that The Latchkey is a weird artifact which, even if it resonates heavily with Ly'lac, has its own Juju-like alignment that operates differently than her class. Not the MOST likely option, but possible.

I have a weird side shot to call, though. Maybe I'm underestimating how well Rogue fits, or making hay of the fact we haven't seen any theft/acquisition-mindedness from Ly'lac, but... I feel like if we get any non-standard classes in our coterie, something OTHER than the standard 12 I believe usually cover the whole gamut of action verbs you can leverage over Aspects, then Ly'lac could be a prime weirdo candidate.

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Swiss Elysi - Knight(?) of Light

Blinding white is the first thing we saw with his introduction.

Light is not just associated with Fortune but also Agency and Importance, the story's spotlight, Meaning and Information (as Void's opposed pair). An acquisitive Light player might care more about the meaning which Status confers them, as opposed to a Life player whose aspect centers more on the literal Power that status confers than the mere fact of occupying that status and its prestige (as seen with Jane and the Condesce re: Crockercorp, for example).

I've seen people argue whether Swiss is more likely Light or Life.  His insistence on his moralistic values, on Importance and Status and Prestige, is absolutely heavyhanded, and those versed in the symbolic theoretical definitions we've sussed out of the Aspects from the original comic,   What makes the difference to me is the discussion Meenah had with (Vriska), way back when:

MEENAH: sea my thing is MEENAH: i dont verbally torture my cray schemes like all the serket girls MEENAH: and that works ok for me MEENAH: guess i made some mistakes but who really gives a flip VRISKA: You don't care if you make mistakes? MEENAH: not like you and she do MEENAH: araneas deal is MEENAH: what shes doin now isnt much different from how she always did stuff MEENAH: the stuff she does is never about the things shes actually doing MEENAH: its about what those things M-EAN and makin sure everyone KNOWS what they mean MEENAH: and above all makin sure everyone understands how important she is cause shes obviously the source of all that critical M-EANING without which all action would be pointless right? MEENAH: but thats not how i rolled MEENAH: i just MEENAH: did shit MEENAH: and the shit i did MEENAH: meant only the things the shit accomplished MEENAH: and if that shit accomplished a dumb thing that sucked MEENAH: then i guess thats what you call a mistake and oh fuckin well MEENAH: mistakes aint make me feel too bad since i dont really connect results with my shelf worth MEENAH: ya feel me

This is one of the biggest differences between Light and Life players-- concern about what every action MEANS, which we can ascribe to the layer of meaning and subtext associated with the Light aspect.  Whereas when Meenah does something, what she does is only important for what it is and what it accomplishes is simply what it accomplishes, and if it fails she doesn't let that impact her idea or view of herself.  That sounds EXTREMELY opposed to the way Swiss Elysi operates-- where he's concerned with status, it's all about the IDEA of status and the ideals those represent to the point of obsession.  He drowns himself in Meaning until he has anxiety attacks, rather than a Life player in the swing of their role simply doing what feels good to them.

I'll acknowledge that there ARE additional Life symbols tucked all around Swiss, so it's not entirely impossible:

AT: What kind of mentor shows up the day AFTER his kouhai's BIRTHDAY? The LACK of CARE... it's enough to make a man SICK. AT: Always ignoring your nutritional NEEDS, never asking about your LEVELS. AT: Your MACROS. AT: Fucking CHUFF.

He's helping manage CT's nutrition routine, and making custom Honey for everyone too... but that could be Satyrical ⍺/β/⍵ Beta-role leanings on Swiss's part. And Light has enough overlap to make things unclear. So I won't be too unprepared if he turns out to be Life and Tavvy turns out to be some Breath class we haven't seen, but I'll DEFINITELY be surprised, given the huge amount of Light symbolism woven through his entire introduction and most of his obsessions and anxieties.

As for his class... honestly, we don't really have many hints besides all the swords about, which could be more Dirk-related than anything Knight-related.  But after the process of elimination for most others, I'll tentatively roll with it. His scrambling activity and the way he physically jumps into every anxious problem he encounters strikes me as rather Knightly. He's probably the third most in-question Class though, and I wouldn't be too surprised if he ends up a Maid of Light and frees up the Knight class for someone like Yiffy. I did expect more people to buck the Gendered Titles trend, more male Maids and female Princes et cetera. (Hey, The Mountain has a poster of Lady Divine in his Derse room, so when combined with some dissatisfaction of his, hinted in the Writer Commentary for us to get to later, maybe we will get a female Prince?)

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tinnitusChakra - Seer of Void

Void is the aspect theoretically not just of the obfuscation or destruction of information -- Secrets, Silence (or the sensory blur Tinnitus might introduce!) -- but also the aspect of Submission of Agency, of giving over your control of events partially or completely to mind-altering substances, to other people, to sleep and dreams. Its players seem to have Doom-crossover with technological and hacking interests as well, which apply here.

TC has long been foreshadowed as the Seer of the session who actually knows what's going on and who will enter when, as well as the consequences of the Game they're all setting into motion, seemingly unbeknownst to all the other five Deltritus Kids.  His associations with mystery, obscurity, darkness (first shown computing in darkness in a techy tower, hiding his plans from the others while seeming to see through the secrets of others (like Del'fi's identity), his quirk being ø (the NULL SET), the skillful way he manipulated Swiss in their conversation, and even his association with mind-altering substances and the Submission ties those carry to the Void aspect like alcohol does (though in this case strategically used to titrate and optimize his mood up or down for the occasion), all identify him as a likely potent and quite realized Void Seer in the full swing of his role to me.  I wish there weren't so many "vibes" to it, to the similarities we can draw to other players like Roxy or Equius who share the aspect and how they've been depicted, but I have to admit the evidence is heavily circumstantial.  I just have all my chips on it.

The TC / Mirthful / substance use / purple hints feel superficial to me, a red herring that makes all readers immediately fear a Gamzee-like twist of a Rage character when they’re hiding something deeper in plain sight, and really, there were only so many colors to pick from. His behavior is too effective without invoking Rage to feel like a match, the way he orchestrates those on the other end of the conversation. I think the team saw an opportunity for teasing bonus parallels with their self-dosing character and took it, but that the Void parallels run deeper than the Rage Destroyers’ surface similarities, especially since all Rage Destruction is taken so it’d have to be a Thief/Mage/Seer if not Inverted. It’d be quite like Void to mask itself behind another apparent Title. Again though, much of deciding what does or doesn’t matter is my gut here, so I can see other subjective readings diagnosing his whole Title differently, or especially just his Aspect as the Understanding Class vibes are strong with this one. I’m really really sold on Seer of Void despite alternatives.

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Del'fi, Who Aches To Be - Bard of Blood

Del'fi is a MUCH more concrete case, though!  Blood is defined by bonds, relationships, promises and pacts and the fetters that bind one to the world and to others, are heavily implied by all their surroundings.  Their entire home environment is full of HANDS CLASPING, and Hands in general. Blood has not only been symbolized by handshakes but Hands themselves, often hands covered in blood, dragging someone down to the mortal reality of a situation (perfect to traumatize Breath-player Tavros for instance). They cut off a spare shapeshifted HAND to cast a BINDING CURSE wrapping Jake and Karkat forcibly together, two people who have been conspicuously hinting at the potential for a Black relationship between them. Their fetch modus Pairs items to each other with the same visuals as the blocky fingers-joining of the hands-architecture in their surroundings.  They're obsessed with Yaoi and shipping their friends, shipping being one of the overlaps between Heart (one's inner uniqueness and drives) and Blood (recall Karkat's obsession with romcoms and self-professed romantic expertise, it wasn't just a Nepeta thing).  And one of the very first things we see Del'fi do onscreen, unlike every Blood player we've seen thusfar (even counting Jack Noir), is make a promise to Ly'lac that they won't snitch about her dreams (like the many pacts and promises Karkat engaged in from the start of Hivebent, as detailed in my Breath and Blood post)...

GC: also before i get into this you need to swear on your ink and gristle you won't snitch to the maroon goon... GC: this information will cause her to flip out and among my rankings of nymphs i need flipping out she is in dead last. [...] CC: (//.^)/ GC: [-,-]\ you gotta prommy. CC: i promise GC: um… wheres my prommy? CC: kys ROFL GC: o--* CC: OK OK ON WITH IT!!!

...and they IMMEDIATELY BREAK IT by snitching to AA on the side before they've even finished their conversation.

AA: My superior sources of intelligence have alerted me to thy recent ascent to the quiet kingdom bathed in the wine of She Who Looks Aside, Our Weaver Of Tendrils. GC: oh really...? GC: your "sources" told you this? AA: Yes. AA: My sources. GC: and would this source happen to be a certain disgusting backstabbing seafoam sucking pervert? AA: A nymph never tells her secrets. GC: just everyone else's... GC: i really can't with the two of you today.

Del'fi is easily invited to smash prommys, to try and kill their Caretaker, to envision having to kill their only Satyr friend, to catfish and spin up relationships that are bound to shatter under their untruths.  I think it's a dead ringer for a passive Destroyer, a Bard who instigates to rile up and manipulate their friends to destructive ends (like that entire "motivational" speculative harem to rile AA up), more outwardly-focused on the conduct of others than a more active Prince of Blood would be. (A Bard is theoretically not only one who invites and allows destruction of and through their Aspect, but also is easily INVITED to such destruction, by the way.)

Even the “Door arc” comics from The Beyond Anon were an exercise in envisioning the destruction of Blood— recounting modern Terezi about to find modern Vriska at her door, but failing to meet in a dozen ways. Del’fi is prophetic as their namesake, but envisions the Blood bound pair (perhaps likely soon to be united) failing to unite at all, or destroying themselves in the process!

Although, one of the main reasons besides personality that I think they’re more Bard than Prince is that "Prince of Blood" is already taken by a character with such a starring role that we can't see it reprised: theoretically, Jack Noir, the ultimate active Destroyer of Blood as seen in the Breath and Blood post I linked, or his use of the Ring and its Bloody Miles, or his favoring of the Crowbar Juju, the ultimate tool for prying things apart and breaking temporal contracts, or his cutting of the chain that linked Prospit's moon so it would crash down in Descend, or his otherwise slaying of those relying on the power of relationships, his talent at cutting through bureaucratic red tape, et cetera.  With Prince so thoroughly played for us by Homestuck 1, a Bard promises a much more unique spectacle in Homestuck^2.

And yet again, out of all the players of the session, only Del'fi and CT seem to murder for sport and/or obligation, meaning their deeply relatable friendship as Destroyers who both believe they could (and would!) easily murder each other would be extremely fitting and almost touching. 

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So! Of our 10 players' aspects, this theoretical set of assignments would leave us without Hope -- interpret that how you will -- and without Breath -- in a session where June is destined to make an appearance, perhaps she'll make up for the lack of it that way.

We're short on definitive class evidence in a lot of places and doing a lot of house-of-cards process of elimination here, but that's not too much of a surprise when the Session hasn't even started.  The Aspects are usually a bit more apparent than the Classes, at least in cases other than auguryAside's.  I'm going to continue to monitor for hints at their titles pretty obsessively as I continue to liveblog each upd8 as they drop.  (It might be entertaining to backtrack through my Homestuck Liveblog tag and read ever since Ly'lac was first teased if you want to watch how my viewpoints have evolved on their titles with everyone's help!) I might also add smaller pieces of later evidence to this post if they fall in line with it, or if any of these titles get DEBUNKED, post a fresh version with a new date so I can keep people informed while linking to my outdated ones for a thorough record of my mistakes.

More on how I feel personally responsible as I mentioned earlier... Back when the original Homestuck was ongoing, I hung on every word of Andrew Hussie's and even those tangentially connected to the Homestuck project for hints to the Class/Aspect system that I zealously considered the key to understanding the whole story, something Andrew eventually pointed out I (and those like me) had likely gone overboard with in some of the Book Commentary. I was hyperfixated on the system, took the "story that is also a puzzle" deadly seriously, and I'm sure a ton of other people shared my views and crashed right along with me into the ending of Homestuck that ultimately didn't reveal SO many of the answers we had been expecting we'd been owed before the final page. We weren't owed anything by the story; we created expectations Andrew hadn't necessarily intended to nurture. He had a different ending message in mind for the story than us, a message of freedom from all the plot threads I practically worshipped him for keeping so well track of. The fact that I was heartbroken enough to need therapy before coming back to anything Homestuck (EMDR works wonders) shows how much I unhealthily attached myself and my sense of self-worth to what I expected, one-sidedly, out of the story. I was bitter about not getting the answers I wanted, but even more bitter about how I'd thought the author had valued the same things I valued in the story when that didn't turn out to be true, and luckily for everyone else I let that crush me inwardly instead of projecting it outwardly. I'm glad therapy helped me work through that and see the continued works of Homestuck, hopefully, more for what they are than for what I "need" them to be.

I'd like to say I was unrelated to anything detailed in the document, or in Andrew's account of stalkers in the Color Composer post... except I did engage in an instance of something close enough to stalking, once. Decade-plus followers of my blog might remember it, though I'm too embarrassed to link it (and am having trouble finding it besides). I had a Private Message exchange over the MSPA Forums with someone in Andrew's circle at one point, and one of their responses provided what I viewed as some juicy classpect history. So in my hyperfixated excitement, I immediately went to paste screenshots to my tumblr blog and discuss it... without asking if I had any permission to reproduce Private Messages from this person. They messaged me back that they hadn't appreciated what I did, and I quickly apologized and redacted the screenshots from my blog... I recall apologizing pretty profusely, and I also recall them at least appreciating that I'd acted quickly and expressed remorse. But even if I had some degree of forgiveness from them, I don't doubt that I contributed to the atmosphere of being stalked that people in Andrew's circle had to contend with, taken together with all the other people seeking out their every word and hint.

And if **I** made a mistake like that with my intense, emotionally-dependent hyperfixation, I can't imagine how many others I might have inspired to do the same. I can't apologize for that enough.

So please, be reasonable when doing any theory-seeking or classpect-hunting going forward. I'm also newly skeptical of how I've been doing reactions to the Artist and Writer Commentary on Patreon-- while I've made some effort to make sure I don't detail too much of what's sealed behind the paywall to preserve the incentive for folks to pay up to the Homestuck Patreon and see the fun stuff I'm excluding, "making sure I get all the potential theory content" as has been my obsession and the reason I reacted regularly to those posts isn't like... SO goddamn important that I have to be spoiling ANY paid content and potentially depriving Homestuck of funding by reproducing parts of it, y'know? Why does my "need" for early answers override their need to make a living? I've already made the one for this month, but thinking seriously about it now, going forward I may significantly reduce the way I reproduce Patreon content in my Commentary reactions, and perhaps keep things to paraphrasing and actionable bulletpoints in a significantly reduced form. Maybe I'll ask advice from someone anywhere close to the team's circle to see if I've been doing my strictly-partial Commentary reproduction-reactions kosher enough, and if it's fine maybe I'll keep putting in the same amount of elbow grease, but I really don't want to undermine the Homestuck teams in my obsessive search for answers on my silly overanalysis liveblog.

Sorry if this post was a bit of a downer, but as soon as this all started to occur to me last night I realized I had to get some of it off my chest, even if it'd mean harassment going forward. Fundamentally, the biggest reasons I avoided posting about fandom drama were to avoid tainting what I was too emotionally invested in AND even moreso to avoid getting caught in the shotgun-blasts of those who had taken one side or another because I thought I lacked the emotional bandwidth. Maybe I still do, given I'm still unwilling to engage. I'm afraid to be identifiable as a member of a marginalized community, but I can't avoid that forever. Hell, my fears have been reinforced because a dear friend of mine was recently convicted for protesting. I'm a coward who has always lacked the energy and determination to put myself at risk to stand up for what's right, and... I'm probably going to remain that sort of coward for the rest of my life, honestly. But I'm not going to be able to keep out of sight forever if I want to get out there and be myself, and that means that the VERY least I can do is briefly signal boost those who have been living in a position I've always been personally terrified to occupy.

I noticed a homoerotic jab or two during the exile exchange between Jake and Karkat, but for some reason my mind filed it under "all in good fun" or just "typical for Jake" who, as fitting for a Hope player, has always managed to make things sound suggestive unintentionally. Looked at holistically, though, there's a broader pattern I completely missed until it was pointed out for me:

Jake and Karkat constantly at each other's throats, jamming the same keyboard at the Exile Terminal just like Karkat and Terezi used to.

Them nominally sharing interests in the same thing in their argument, such as the alien romance system, and Jake throwing in comments like "For a boy so lovely" referring to Karkat in the same breath he alludes to pussyfooting.

Yaoi fannymph Del'fi using a hex to literally bind them together.

Previously in the Jadetok sequence, Jake being personally responsible for Karkat getting seriously injured TWICE, crying and laying a hand on his thigh while Dave stares accusingly at him.

Also back in the Jadetok, engaging in scantily clad (on Jake's part) wrestling while Jade comments on them being "such good friends".

(Thanks to the friend who pointed it out isolating the screenshots for me.) So, what are we looking at here?

If I had to guess, the writers are flirting with the pretty suitable idea of Jake <3< Karkat. Dave previously didn't make a polyamorous relationship work with Jade and Karkat in another universe, but that's not something that completely rules out Karkat having leanings in his other quadrants, or Dave being potentially more open to the idea if discussed properly now that he and Karkat are so much more emotionally open with each other compared to the Candy Epilogues. To be clear, I don't believe that infidelity is going on, but this leaning of Karkat's could reasonably cause Dave some discomfort that may be somewhat entertaining to have resolved, whether or not this black shiptease between Jake and Karkat persists. It's easy to imagine Karkat busting out a chart to propose Dave the idea.

(For a Romspec proponent sometimes I can be really dense to romantic overtones that don't fit my preconceived notions, I'm really grateful someone pointed all this out to me.)

On another topic, that friend also brought up that it's been commonly thought in the fandom that the three Satyrs don't just echo parts of Dirk's personality, but possibly his personality fused with that of each of the three friends he grew up holding dear. Swiss being something of a combination of Jane and Dirk, what with his ambition and responsibility and anxious head-to-laptop smacking; The Mountain resembling Jake and Dirk's martial overlap and showmanship, sentimentality; TC the Seer of Void representing a Roxy/Dirk mix. I honestly see merit in all of it, especially TC so far who has quite an understandable Roxy vibe given their incredibly likely Aspect overlap.

They also showed me the similar argument that Rose and her three Nymphs represent John (Ly'lac, as has been said she's this session's stand-in for in the Commentary), Jade (CC?) and Dave (AA?), but I honestly don't see it, no matter which way you flip CC and AA around. Drawing comics/doodles is the only superficial similarity CC shares with Jade or Dave IMO, and AA behaves more like a Rose/Kanaya fusion than any of the other Beta Kids.

I also completely forgot sometime in the past year that CT is likely the morphotype with wings. Absolutely slipped my mind somehow.

One more thing, I'm not sure I caught it at the time, but even though TC seems to be cooperating directly with Vriska and the Candy Kids to fulfill his "he's got to have his inside info from someone" quota the data suggested, I'd missed that there was other direct evidence connecting TC to Dirk:

Why has TC had a "front-row seat" to (presumably) Dirk's (and not some stand-in's) life for years? (We know he's the EXEMPLAR, I'm not sure if he's been specifically called the Founder though it's like a 90+% certainty.) Exactly how close is TC to Dirk Strider? Is it a one-way affair where he lives close to where he's doing... whatever he does? Have they spoken? I know Strider's gotten hands-on with his race throughout history, likely far more often than Lalonde has, but exactly how much immortal time has Dirk spent in real time with Satyrkind on and off to be relevant for "laps" at a time? Could this front row seat have been some sort of metaphor, maybe TC's giant compound is a place for time spent at some sort of study facility dedicated to Dirk's accomplishments despite that residence not sharing a Dirk-like visage/theme?

I'm not sure. Could TC be playing both sides? A Seer could plausibly strike that balance. Vriska and Dirk are doubtless at bitter odds in my opinion due to Vriska bringing in the pollution of the Candy Kids, but it's not out of the question that they could have some sort of hands-off truce to keep either side from interfering directly in the Session, and TC could have contact with both of them because of it somehow. It's puzzling, and I don't think it'll be fully resolved until we actually meet TC formally, if I had to guess.

OKAY THAT ALL TOOK MUCH LONGER THAN I THOUGHT. Let's get to the Artist Commentary:

Wait hold on, when we got a glimpse of those mountains, did I miss The Mountain's home inside a mountain cave? Lemme check...

Nope not quite, just the Frog Temple expected of a Space Player's residence. No clear sign there or in the pages before it exactly where he lives amidst it all. He DOES likely have wings however, so, high up is a perfectly valid option. Oh DUH, I just realized the giant green block that says "CT's House" is blocking out CT's house from our view since it'd be a spoiler, duh. So, probably not Cave House.

The artists go over the color experimentation and design of CT's home area, show off the first glimpse of The Mountain in-person and how they thought it "would be funny if it wasn't the typical MSPA style". (If you subscribe to the Patreon you can see a cleared-up, less blurry version.)

Then back to Del'fi roleplaying as a Satyr complete with shapeshifted ears...

And, their room!

Floral: I made the first floor the room around the time where we did the Derse update, so we’ve been holding onto it. Overall, I wanted to surround Del’fi in creature comforts scavenged from the remnants outside. Chumi: Lots of things going on here. The huge skull in the back is an edited sperm whale skull! The sweater on the ground is an edited Jiraiya sweater. We got some curious satyr skeletons, who knew they had different-colored bones?

You get to see close-ups of a ton of the posters they mocked up and Satyr-ified of animes, of the drawings Del'fi has on hand, including that gorgeous gift The Mountain rendered for them:

Floral: Little factoid, I actually drew this with actual charcoal pencils. When considering CT’s art, it just felt wrong to have him use a tablet. 

Moving up, lots of potion bottles in their potion room. They note that a couple are uncorked and stuff's floating out of them.

Oh, gosh, I never realized til they pointed it out that the third / top-level room is actually "bubbled" to remain dry and not damage some of the Satyr merch!

They go into how much effort they collectively put in to give us such a broad Yaoi collection/impression all at once.

They even give a list of all the pairings and properties they included, which could conceivably give some theory foundations, however it feels wrong to copy that out from the Patreon post so I'll leave that to subscribers to their Patreon to enjoy. I will point out just one they left special notes on:

ZADR (MILES note: this one was important to me.  We all immediately agreed that this was about as necessary a time capsule taste indicator for this specifically evoked era as it was possible to be.)

Which is... *looks it up* Zim and Dib romance????!? Ohhh, okay I get it. Del'fi ABSOLUTELY talks in chat like someone from that era.

There is a HUGE collection of the individual posters and figurines here they edited into Satyrs and/or compromisingly BL positions.

Skipping forward:

Floral: Ouran was recommended pretty early in conversation about Del’fi’s taste. And while that in-universe Ouran is a non-historically accurate AU, it was fun satyr-fying everyone. Andi: I’d recommend watching Princess Tutu. It’s pretty good. Pretty apt, I daresay.

I gather from the descriptions, and I've heard since they showed up in the upd8, that both of these are pretty important for understanding Del'fi.

There's her desktop background:

Andi: Are you a true fujo if you didn’t play DMMD at least once? 

Oh, and they actually give a list of what the puns are on each of the Application names! And while I won't post the whole list (you can subscribe for that), Trench2Peak IS supposed to evoke Second Life as it happens.

They get to the gift art Del'fi made for Ly'lac:

Haven: What’s fun to note with this image is the similarity it bears to Vriska taking the omega kids away. With the flames being changed to waves, and Ly’lac in the place that Vrissy would have been in previously.

And finally the design of the Happi Coats the staff wore at NYCStuck, and a huge thank-you from them to everyone who did and didn't attend. <3

On to the Writer Commentary of the month!

They emphasize how anticipated the CT and CC conversation was: "this conversation (and Del’fi’s general circumstance) has been one of our prominent through lines within Act 2". It's definitely one of the biggest connections and crossover-points between the Satyrs and Nymphs, that's for certain, even though TC and Ly'lac have a quieter friendship going on.

The writers go into detail about the nature of this dynamic they set up and what they enjoy about it.

There’s even a bit in this intro section where the two of them sort of overtly spell out a lot of their dynamic.

I know it's still theory, but after all the hashing-out I did on the forums I'm personally really inclined to think this is a Prince (of Space) and Bard (of Blood) dynamic here, the destroyer and the fire-fueler. I'm planning sometime to make a full post with a nice cover image setting my guesses down on all the aspects and classes of our 10 players like I did in that forum thread, so people have a nice date-marked image to send around Tumblr and judge what I was wrong about later. :D

I won't be photoshopping that together just today though, so moving on with this Commentary... Ooh, Miles mentions that part of the purpose of the photo CT shared was that this is a NEW MASK he's wearing, that makes so much sense!

MILES: [...] Del’fi spends a lot of this early half of the conversation encouraging CT to beat up and enslave the satyrs around him, urging him to be more confident and assertive, were such a thing even possible.

(COUGH COUGH inviting destruction COUGH bard insinuations COUGH)

FLORAL: Raise your hand if you picked up on this being a poop joke. I was trying to be conspicuous. MILES: Constipicuous.

I did not, in fact, catch the poop joke. That is a very good poop joke.

More on the way the conversation unfolds, skipping to when CT...

FLORAL: [...] But here we are, with another “puzzle piece” regarding this web of feelings and relationships between these kids. That while Swiss is begging to be consoled by CT, Dagger is pushing to support him through his embarrassment. 

Yeah, CT served as emotional support for Swiss to vent at, but that took a psychological toll on CT that he had to vent to CC about. I suppose from what we learned last upd8 about Satyrical ⍺/β/⍵ (or A/O/B), would that be more of a Beta or Omega role CC is serving, or perhaps flipping between them both throughout this conversation? Hmm... especially with CC urging CT to dominate, and presumably be more Alpha-like even though it's not domination-exclusive...

Okay, we're approaching an important bit. They talk about how the playing around turns into the serious emotional discussion about what Dagger really is, CT giving into doubt from the accusations Swiss made...

MILES: [...] and demands an answer, which leads to one of the more touching moments in any of the conversations we’ve had between the Delta kids thus far, even if it’s also one of the hardest to swallow:" FLORAL: This whole part is the foundation of this update, this escalation. This is such a fun log, but the whole time you can see CT avoiding thinking about Swiss’ words. [...] MILES:  There’s a lot of really tough emotions swirling around in this one.  A lot of the way we write CT and Del’fi is predicated on the feelings of really, really connecting with a person online in the sort of intense, almost dangerous way that can happen when you make an online friend and feel like you’re finding a real escape from your current circumstances in your relationship with them.  For reasons we only touch lightly on now with CT, and get more into with Del’fi in the coming pages, both of these kids are pretty anxious and dissatisfied with certain aspects of their IRL lives.  That feeling of getting to be “real” with someone online in the way that you can’t be in person is probably familiar to a lot of readers who discovered the magic of having an Online Life and Online Friends compared to the social constraints of your whatever your IRL circumstances/persona are; it’s a beautiful thing to have this space to play in.  Of course, it also introduces the issue of having to confront within yourself the reality of these two existences, and as we grow and flex them both we begin to sort through those two selves and try to triangulate the truth of who it is we really are from it.  Ideally, you reconcile and integrate them, and become authentically Yourself reflected in both realms, but it’s still hard, and I think at least for some people, it involves a lot of... I almost want to say dismantling of lies?  Or at least, the dismantling of Restraints, the lies of omission that we tend to wield unconsciously as kids in this space when first given the privilege of partitioning out which parts of ourselves we want to be known by in online vs irl space.  There’s a real need to be sure that you’re becoming Yourself online, and not a character, and it’s scarily easy to become a character before you even realize it’s happening.

I can absolutely relate to that in a few ways, and know plenty of people who would relate to it even more. It's pretty interesting that there's some serious dissatisfaction in THE MOUNTAIN'S life, too... it'll be fascinating to get into that.

Also, I don't want to miss that they capitalized Restraints -- a curiously Blood-like way to phrase this sort of phenomenon. Where Breath is being whatever you can imagine yourself to be online, with its associations with whimsy and freedom, and Blood is the ways we hold ourselves back or the constraints our acts put on us, though also ways we're keeping ourselves from fully being who we want to be, the shackles of reality and even those we put on ourselves...

Even classpecting aside, this is really good discussion for understanding these characters and, for some of us, understanding ourselves and how we've experienced living online through these characters as mirrors.

Continuing to quote again:

MILES: Anyway, that was kind of a weird rant, but the point I’m getting at here is that a lot of the core of this conversation between these two friends, ESPECIALLY from Del’fi’s POV, is driven by a lot of these feelings.  Del’fi getting to be authentically himself with CT emotionally, and also to play this character as a satyr, is this really precious experience for him, but at the same time, there’s so much about the Premise of Dagger that isn’t authentic at all, or is at the very least predicated on a pretty large lie of omission.  There’s this dear and REAL aspect of who he gets to be with CT that is wrapped up in the complicated anonymized construction of his aforementioned Character, which we get into a lot in the coming pages/next update, so I won’t go into it much more here, but behind all that, from both ends, is the yearning for something Real.  CT, for reasons that will become more apparent later, also blazes desperately for the Real, and the anxiety CT and Del’fi both suffer at the possibility of trouble in paradise hangs kind of sadly over the end of this conversation.  More on this later.

I do catch that Miles is using he/him for Del'fi! That's important to note. And yeah, it was important later on in the update to note Del'fi thinks Dagger is a dumb, early name and wishes to change it but can't because Del'fi's locked in this pantomime with CT, which they'll probably go over.

MILES: Ultimately, the two settle on a truce: CT will get the full truth eventually, Del’fi has more time to just Be Dagger without having to step fully out into the light for now.  CT is satisfied with this, and Del’fi is relieved, but the tension is only really being kicked down the line.  It’s hard, being a kid online and growing up.

:C

The fact that it's hard being a kid online and growing up is a real Homestuck staple theme, and I'm really glad we've been given such a great opportunity to return to that theme and tackle it in so many new ways.

Floral also uses he/him for CC now that the cat's more or less entirely out of the bag dancing in front of everyone, and:

We also wanted to make a point that, despite CT’s extreme show of violence and comforting himself with any betrayal brought to justice with death, CC’s major concern with meeting up is the death of The Mountain.

Yeah, Del'fi's confidence that The Mountain would absolutely be the one to die at Del'fi's hand was super well done to include, both parties assuming they'd absolutely destroy the other if the End ever came and Del'fi's assumption that it'd be the only option.

We have the mock introduction Del'fi gives for Dagger Tartarus, and:

MILES: [...] The degree to which Dagger Tartarus IS Del’fi, vs a character that he’s uncomfortable with and even has a little contempt for, is played with a lot in this update, but I always liked this bit for its very clear parallels to Del’fi’s actual life. [...]

Yeah, I could kind of read that in to how Del'fi's been in a large sense a similar sort of prisoner at the bottom of the sea like this.

There’s also a clumsy chuuni masculinity to it that I feel really dearly about.  I hope this doesn’t feel condescending to say, but the degree of almost satyrical (Ha ha.) manliness in here being a sort of “gender chicken” attempt at brushing up safely against masculinity in the context of playing out a caricature of it feels... I don’t know.  Authentic to the experience of being a kid and trying to figure stuff like this out.

Extremely, extremely Egg. (Personally, I'm going to continue to use They/Them a bit longer for current Del'fi, despite their egghood being obvious, in part so I can crack open the He/Him pronouns when Del'fi actually goes for them like tearing open a morphday present. Or maybe I'll change my mind and give in to he/him soon regardless, who knows.)

FLORAL: I think it says a lot about how gender works on Deltritus considering Dagger’s circumstances are completely flipped, in the sense of going from a prisoner to a warden. The position of someone fighting to escape and prevail versus being the person to maintain the status quo.

And some confirmation that Del'fi's not the prisoner, but rather the warden-- and the prison is not only that of isolation, but that of the responsibility (BLOOD) Del'fi bears in their cage of a deepsea world.

Finally moving further into Del'fi's intro:

MILES: [...] I do love the detail in here of 2000’s era leetspeaky livejournal cuteness being a classical dialect.  If there’s one thing artists are going to do it’s succumb to the siren song of nostalgia and glaze their childhood just a little bit.  It’s our right. HAVEN: I love “teh dignified dialects of yore” Ancient nymph society of leetspeaking nobles, long since lost to time.

Yep, as soon as they placed the date with Dib/Zim shipping it made perfect sense.

I'll skip past some of the continued commentary on how much fun Del'fi has in their room... consider chipping some in to the Homestuck Patreon to get the fun alongside the facts, and extra facts I may have missed!

FLORAL: [...] I just think the use of necromancy so a child can have a dance party is so cute.

OH OF COURSE, it's unclear how literal Floral is being but if so, I completely missed that the reason the skeletons were staying curiously well together and dancing was that Del'fi was using NECROMANCY. That could have been made a bit more clear!

(They also mention how Del'fi dismisses the Beta of the fictional relationship between room-skeletons and it's likely indicative of their shipping tastes.)

CT's charcoal drawing by Floral is "Hokuto no Ken/Baki-esque"

Ah, we've gotten to Del'fi being profoundly unsatisfied with the name Dagger, and:

FLORAL:  It was funny watching people speculate that we wrote this part after the previous update dropped because of the all the heated discussion but this has been here for months and months. We tricked you. Bwahahaha.

--confirmation that they'd always intended Dagger to be a discarded name. Whatever name Del'fi settles on, it'll be something he likely finds out as he finally finds himself and realizes the true options for who he can be outside of mere fantasies.

The writers point out that the Cauldron is obviously full of dense goop because it's not mixing with the water or rising...

We have Karkat coming in to join Jake at the terminal, and then the Yaoi room. "[MILES:] Karkat is predictably blown away."

There's the Uni-Nymph rant:

MILES: Well what’s this…! More mentions of the Uni-Nymph, and also more references to the way that nymph authors occasionally publish work amongst satyrs under pseudonyms/assumed identities. Sound familiar?

Yep, even more of the Gender Divide and how online publication bridges the gap. Floral goes on to mention that Ouran was foundational for them, and "Using this media to pick apart this kids psychology is such a great device." which I super agree with, and feels right at home with Homestuck even as it goes a fair bit further than even Homestuck Original did IMO.

A bit more Karkat/Jake banter... more fun discussion... then the reveal that Del'fi is The Beyond Anon who makes Beyond Canon inside Beyond Canon.

MILES: Another interesting reveal that Del’fi has been hiding the fact that he’s the author of Ly’lac’s favorite webcomic from her.  There’s so much that Del’fi keeps at arm’s length...!

And the call for user input...!

MILES: And here we ended with another ever-so-slightly passive aggressive call for reader input through the FRAF forums. This became even more special as it was also incorporated into the festivities we recently held at NYCstuck, so in addition to all the crazy submissions we got through the forums we also got a bunch of incredible submissions in person that I actually have in a physical notebook with me right now at my very own house!

That's really cool and engaging, I love that!

MILES: One of the things I hope I’m not too out of line when I talk about it here is that unfortunately, a LOT of the suggestions we got on FRAF were pretty fundamentally misunderstanding what kind of submissions we (and, in-character, Del’fi) were asking for, or they just weren’t playing as much in the space as we were hoping they would. Like, Del’fi is here asking fans for suggestions regarding HIS webcomic, Beyond Canon, which is not the same thing as Homestuck: Beyond Canon, but the vast majority of the FRAF submissions were suggestions for the plot of HS:BC itself, regarding people and details in Del’fi’s actual life (he’s anonymous!), not really adhering to the kayfabe of Being Beyond Canon Readers, asking for yuri (look at Del’fi’s room. Come On Now.), or some combination thereof. Maybe this is on us as writers for not making it clearer!

OH MY GOSH I THOUGHT THIS SAME THING SO HARD. That's part of why I couldn't resist sending in my own submission (possibly too specific of one!). Heck, considering that, maybe I have more of a chance than I thought of getting one of those suggestions included...

MILES: On the plus side... we did get some good ones, and a whole bunch more that were admittedly more on-task from the amazing audience at NYCstuck during our panel.  But I’ll talk more about that in the commentary when those suggestions actually show up!

That's it for the Artist/Writer Commentary that I thought was worth highlighting for speculation reasons (and/or a bit of fun) without spoiling the whole Patreon experience. I do hope I'm not quoting too much of these, and I'll gladly cut it down to paraphrasing or bullet-point revelations or something if there's any broad sentiment that I'm possibly quoting/including enough to undermine, like, the incentive to pay to read and experience and internalize some of this in-person.

From a Breath and Blood perspective, I know we have the example of an Heir, John, taking every quest/job/direction (Breath) offered up to him and running with it but resisting whenever he was told to "stop". Del'fi, as potentially a Bard of Blood with a complicated relationship with the aspect of Responsibilities, seems apt to be a bit more unpredictable, especially with Bard at the head of the mix. And they've shown quite the oppositional, defiant streak so far.

Gosh, Jake, when did you get so bossy and impatient?

> Sorry is this supposed to matter at all? If nothing fun is going to happen then just install the damn game already! Tally hop fucking to it.

Of COURSE Rose's squiddle race uses their Blood blood as ink, even digitally. It's too edgy for her to pass up! Lalonde's just, indulged all of her wildest childlike edgy fantasies with the Nymph race, hasn't she? Which I suppose is sort of the point.

Onto gothic mirrors too.

> CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS FUCKER THREW HIS OWN PHONE ON THE FLOOR AND CLAIMED HE DROPPED IT SO THAT I'D GO PICK IT UP, JUST SO HE COULD KEEP BEING A PAIN IN YOUR ASS? ANYWAYS SORRY AGAIN, APPARENTLY THIS DIPSHIT IS COOL WITH REWATCHING 'MEET DAVE' FOUR TIMES BUT IS TOO INCURIOUS TO SIT BACK AND SEE WHERE THINGS GO? RATHER SAD, ISN'T IT?

I have to believe that Brain Ghost Dirk has been working Jake up into a frenzy or something for him to be this backseaty. *clicks*

They're drawing...

> He says as if he hasnt been fogging up the monitor while pushing you to indulge in these homoerotic arts. A high horse to saddle just to beat around the bush wouldnt you say little lady?

Karkat's been eminently reasonable in my opinion, if a little verbose. *clicks*

Oh no, the arguing is getting a little distracting, even for Del'fi.

> OBVIOUSLY YES BUT FOR FUCK'S SAKE LET'S TRY TO PLAY IN A SLIGHTLY MORE NUANCED SPACE AND LEARN SOME SHIT ORGANICALLY. EVER HEARD OF ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING? THIS LITTLE MONSTER WILL REVEAL THIS WORLD'S SECRETS IN DUE TIME, RIGHT DEL'FI?

They look about to snap their quill. I wonder if the way Jake keeps gendering them is causing them subconscious irritation.

> For a boy so lovely he sure is persnickety isnt he my girl! He cant embrace that at some point you have to put the foot before the pussy and take what you want! Watch and learn Delfi: explain alien romance system.

Good god these two simply can NOT shut up! You're used to catching occasional psychic missives from power-hungry crones who attempt to delve down in pursuit of your prisoner's power, but this is the most obnoxious it's ever been! It's as if these two were made in a lab specifically to torture you.

Hm, so the Lightseed is a prisoner? Or the power a prisoner possesses? Or are they unrelated?

It makes sense that a Knight of Blood might aggravate a Bard of Blood, but as certain as I am of the title, how might Page of Hope specifically make the mix more volatile? Could I have the class wrong? Oh, though the only other example of a Bard given significant screentime had special relationships with both the Knight and Page of his session. Maybe classpect has little to do with this, it's mostly dunking on the dynamic these two busybodies have, it'd drive almost anyone up the wall.

To shut them up, you open up TRENCH2PEAK. It's a multiplayer life-sim romance actionRPG sandbox game that you've been playing a lot for the past lap or so, another secret cross-net initiative for the few brave souls of each species who chose to circumvent the mutual isolation pact in their noble pursuit of ONLINE GAMING.

I'm not sure what the pun is here that relates this to any other online multiplayer game, but it's definitely designed to bridge the gap between Nymphs and Centaurs from the name of it.

You've set up a pretty complicated private server that you and CT have been using as one of the many fronts in your campaign of epic collaborative storytelling, which has the dual advantage of allowing you to install even crazier mods than the native game supports and keeping CT away from any of the few other players, who might inadvertently alert him to your non-terrestrial nature and ruin everything forever. It's a janky piece of junk, but that's only to be expected of something with a userbase that hasn't exceeded 108 concurrent players in tens of laps, and as one of the only pieces of media available to satyrs and nymphs that actively tries to explore and educate about the nuances of the respective opposite species. You're kind of obsessed with it.

Sounds like a Space-Station-13-like turbo-niche, and emphasizes how oppositional and isolated the races have been from each other even at peace, even harassing each other across the various dual 'nets. Maybe "explain alien romance system" is actually going to be elucidated on here despite Del'fi's opposition to the voices, practically without realizing they're doing so. I imagine it was probably some of the requests in that request thread too from last update, I can't recall exactly, it's been a while since I combed through it.

This game gets coo coo crazy, but it sounds like the two voices in your head right now don't know poop from pee so you figure maybe if you put the satyr tutorial on for them they'll shut up long enough for you to be able to concentrate on finishing drawing this dang slop! You boot up a new game and let the intro cutscenes play.

Oh, huh! Guess we might be getting the Satyr side after all.

===>

That looks like some Sims / Second Life BS.

WELCOME TO TRENCH2PEAK. YOU HAVE BEGUN A CAMPAIGN AS: A SATYR Satyrical civilization is predicated on what they call THE TWIN PRINCIPLES. Those principles are MERIT and FRATERNITY, and just about everything you need to know about these fascinating muscle-men boils down, in one way or another, to either or both of these two principles, which are reflected in satyrs at both the societal and genetic level.

I do have to say again that making it so anything pertaining to the Satyr race would be described as "Satyrical" is both incredibly inspired and incredibly Dirk Strider.

MERIT can be defined in many ways, but it has always historically been understood to mean EXCELLENCE. Satyrs are, above almost anything else, encouraged and expected to exceed in all they pursue, or at the very least to exceed in the endeavors that they have chosen to most define themselves by. Are you an athlete? You'd better be up at the crack of dawn on that #grindset. Are you a poet? Crank out five sonnets a day or you're not serious about this shit. Are you a chef? Your dishes better give anyone who eats them a damn Rodeotouille flashback. MERIT can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, but they all more or less boil down to this: you should be trying to be the absolute best you can be, and to settle for anything less is a waste of your potential. Competition amongst satyrs is fierce, a natural byproduct of this unquenchable thirst for victory. Never forget, you are the project that never ends.

This very much mirrors Dirk's view on the honing/perfection of the Self/Heart, the carving out of whatever doesn't suit his ideals of perfection and "manliness", et cetera.

FRATERNITY, by contrast, is a concept that has evolved more fluidly alongside satyrical civilization and taken on many different forms over thousands of laps, but its core emphasis has always remained a dedication to your fellow satyr. Just as any man worth his salt lick is expected to strive for personal greatness, so too is he expected to strive for the betterment of those around him and revel in their company. After all, what's success without a cohort of thriving brothers to share it with? For millennia, FRATERNITY has been exemplified by the FRATERNITY SYSTEM, the planetwide network of differently-specialized scientific, artisanal, and artistic communes satyrs spend the majority of their lives in, but FRATERNITY is applicable to personal friendships, one's duty to society as a whole, and even romantic relationships. Never forget, you are not alone.

This, on the other hand, is very much something Dirk grew up without and yearned for. He seems to have handcrafted a civilization where nobody would be alone. And fostering the spirit of cooperation... that seems actually most notable in the ways it differs dramatically from Nymph civilization. Rose Lalonde created a race of people who, seemingly, may be just as liable to kill and eat each other as collaborate meaningfully outside of mysterious, plotting cabals. She was given an escape from the semi-loneliness of her former life, but in being cut away from Kanaya by Dirk's mental manipulation, it almost seems like she's projected out her own loneliness like shattered glass, eagerly taking up the oppositional position to the principles Dirk was forging.

Together, THE TWIN PRINCIPLES serve to both galvanize and stabilize satyrical civilization. MERIT drives satyrs to improve themselves relentlessly and to seek success, acclaim, and self-betterment, while FRATERNITY keeps satyrs from turning on each other in their pursuit of greatness, channeling all the potency MERIT cultivates into productive collaboration. This MERITORIOUS FRATERNITY further serves to produce an environment of spirited yet supportive competition, and results in the development of FRATERNAL MERIT, an individual strength only possible by keeping the company of other high achievers. Strong men produce good times, good times produce strong men. Thusly do THE TWIN PRINCIPLES recursively propel satyrical civilization towards PEACE, PROSPERITY, and PRs. At least for the most part.

Dirk takes the inherent... well, homosexuality of toxic male ideals and instead embraces an ideal of masculinity where men, well, embrace in every sense of the term. As much as he may try to sand off the isolating rough edges from "masculinity" and the seeking thereof, though, the obsession with achievement and excellence is inevitably going to lead to some friction where even your closest friends are also seen as competitors. There's a high likelihood that the entire Satyr race is culturally sick from its masculine obsessions, Satyrs turned into islands by the specter of being potentially viewed as not enough. I'm gathering from the way this is going, however, that the Satyrical ⍺/β/⍵ system might help stabilize rivalry in a similar way that Kismesis may have for trollkind? Not completely, but partially?

===>

A whole ton of hilarious fake Sims-like screenshots here. They've thrown in UI boxes and icons from a whole ton of different games here to try and cram in as much as possible for the laughs, I see what might be FF14 HP/MP bars, I'm sure there are a ton of other elements other people might recognize.

SATYR ROMANCE: Just as society at large is guided by THE TWIN PRINCIPLES in an attempt to channel its ambitious momentum in a positive direction, so too is SATYR ROMANCE a codified method of ensuring that each romantic relationship is in itself a productive and harmonious unit. However, the relationship roles are not called THE MERITORIOUS and THE FRATERNAL, because that would be dumb. Instead, SATYR ROMANCE gets a little more complicated.

Yup, time for the Satyrical ⍺/β/⍵ / Omegaverse explanation.

There are three relationship roles codified in traditional SATYR ROMANCE: the ALPHA, the OMEGA, and the BETA. Each plays a different role within the individual romantic unit that makes up one satyr relationship, called a HARRAS, and each contributes to the success of that harras in different ways. Satyrs tend to colloquially refer to this relationship schema as A/O/B instead of calling it SATYR ROMANCE, because that would be dumb.

Ah, using A/O/B instead of the typical arrangement dodges the accidental-slur of putting them in ⍺/β/⍵ order. I imagine "HARRAS" is a... *looks it up* yeah it's just a horse pun. Defined "a herd of stud horses [or] enclosure for a herd of stud horses". For a moment I thought it might have to do with hazing and the fraternity puns, but no it's not that kind of "harassment", and I wonder if they even have that word in the same sense now.

The role of the ALPHA can be summed up as the role of the LEADER. The alpha of a harras is expected to guide, lead, and protect the partnership. Alphas were traditionally expected to act as representatives of the harras in society at large. Traits traditionally considered alpha are assertiveness, decorum, and gravitas.

I'm not really deep enough into anything Omegaverse to clock exactly how in line these explanations are going to be compared to typical Omegaverse roles, by the way.

The role of the OMEGA can be summed up as the role of the CHALLENGER. An omega exists as a galvanizing force within his harras that keeps it from calcifying, provoking his partners and daring them not to become too comfortable, ensuring that ideas and power flow freely between its members. Traits traditionally considered omega are indomitability, creativity, and spontaneity.

But that DOES seem a little different than the typical definitions even to my untrained eye, isn't it? And I'm also noticing that all of these traits for EACH of these could be said to be characteristics of Dirk Strider that he values. Out of our trio of Satyrs by the way, this does seem to suit TC and his background machinations, especially how he sets up and provokes them. He IS sort of leading them from the background though... he's serving as the outward face of the team to outside forces. I wonder how TC sees his place in things.

The role of the BETA is best understood as the role of the SUPPORTER. A beta is there to ensure the needs of his harrasmates are met, to lift their spirits when they're down, to most fully exemplify the masculine bond that the harras stays together for. Betas were something of an interesting outlier in traditional A/O/B relationships of a more classical era, as they were not expected to participate in the sexual aspect of the relationship, functioning more analogously to the housewife you cherish and happily return home to, without the pressures of coitus, but this is an artifact that history has left behind in modernity. Traits traditionally considered beta are adaptability, supportiveness, and steadfastness.

(More ending traits that Dirk believes he represents.) Swiss Elysi seems a natural fit for this sort of role the way he's been behaving so far. However, CT / The Mountain seems... somewhat if not completely uninterested as serving as the Leader or the face of his trio of friends? He tends to go with the flow unless he's sufficiently challenged, so far at least, and in the few interactions we've seen doesn't seem intent on dictating or guiding the behavior of others. Maybe their conflicting urges and natures are leading to something like, ⍺/β vacillation between Swiss and The Mountain? And whether or not that's true, I wonder exactly how the introduction of the Nymphs and Candy Kids are going to throw a wrench in their romantic array? Could someone assertive like Yiffy or Vrissy fill the assertiveness gap and serve a stint as an Alpha one or more of the others get behind? Heck, would Yiffy/Tavvy/Mountain seem to fit the ⍺/β/⍵ mold temporarily or otherwise, leaving the others hanging? And where would trans Del'Fi fall on the spectrum in whichever relationships they choose to enter?

Oh, also important to note that within modern Satyr civilization the entire trio of an established relationship is eventually sexually active with each other, sharing DNA et cetera, and the Beta isn't left out.

The classical satyrical ideal of a harras consists of three men – one alpha, one omega, and one beta – but it's important to note a few things. Firstly, although the romanticized ideal of an A/O/B relationship remains popular in modern society, it is quite common to see relationships comprised of any number of different combinations of roles: one might encounter a relationship between two alphas and a beta, three betas, an alpha and an omega without a beta, three omegas… the possibilities continue from there.

Ohhh, that is a more flexible and modern take than I expected. And complicates much of the romantic speculation to high hell, heheh.

Secondly, the role one plays in a harras is potentially fluid: one's status as an alpha, beta, or omega is defined solely by their behavior within the harras, and is subject to change should the dynamics between individuals in a harras shift.

Canonical healthy vacillation even in an established harras! That's very open-minded and even more complicated.

While it's quite common to hear someone say something along the lines of a given satyr being "a born alpha", it's not to say that one's role in a harras is at all inherent to any particular aspect of their biology, because that would be dumb.

Right, nixing that characteristic of certain other Omegaverse fiction in this particular situation.

Things get even crazier and more complicated from there when you consider the sexual politics of all this. One could be forgiven for thinking that an alpha equates to what you'd consider a "dom" where sex is concerned; not so. You could have dom alphas, sub alphas, service top betas, switch omegas, hung bottom omegas, feral omegas… just the thought of it is enough to make the nose bleed. The beauty of this system is that every role, every FLAVOR of role, is so clearly delineated.

That's definitely a riff on like, Omegaverse role quizzes that delineate all sorts of sub-roles like, (what comes up on a quick google...) Stoic Omega, Submissive Alpha, or-- wait did they slip "hung" in there? XD

Oh, no fucking wonder Karkat is immediately paying rapt attention.

> FASCINATING… CAN YOU CLARIFY ONE MORE THING FOR ME?

Whoa hell that's cool! More hacks/hexes that can affect the user on the other end of a computer, please!!! :D Extending Rose's classic magic-flexing moment with more flexibility and possibilities.

(Amusingly, Karkat and Jake are being forcibly tied together, not tied up separately heheh. Those are Jake's new Retro-Sci-Fi Rubber/Latex Gloves, not a Carapace's hands, by the way. OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT, "Binding" people is an excellent Blood player ability! If she's a Bard too it's an especially perfect fit. (EDIT 3: Cast with a HAND of all things, and an injury! Gosh more Hand symbolism with Blood potentially...))

Nope! You cast a RETALIATORY BINDING CURSE to ensure you won't be hearing from those bickering beldams any time soon. You never thought you'd actually miss the silence down here. Still, you're glad you got to spread the A/O/B gospel while you finished these prompts.

Glad to have gotten an explanation this upd8! I wasn't expecting the full Satyr rundown this soon, and it's bound to present TONS of opportunities for analysis of where each character in the potential relationships here is falling (and with whom!) as Beyond Canon continues, which is both hilarious and fun. You know I love me some Romspec.

Seems they've given themselves a little bit more time to complete whichever they picked from the Suggestion Thread for the internal Beyond Canon comic. Can't wait to find out next time what we'll be getting and speculate endlessly on the way they chose to depict their silly slapstick comic! If it continues in the theme of the "Door", as fitting a Bard of Blood author, we may get continued displays of relationships or meetings failing to coalesce or going wrong-- when it's almost as if Del'fi's foreseeing the future and showing us the contrary opposite of Blood bonds that WILL find each other. I still really hope that the fact that Del'fi showed Terezi and Vriska failing to meet through that knocking door was a Bard of Blood's contrary proof that we WOULD, crossing-my-fingers, have Terezi and Vriska finally meeting that way... though it could very well be a missed opportunity Del'fi foresaw and was compelled to depict. Funny that AA is the least Oracle of all of them so far!

Alright, enough blabbing. I'll see you... well, probably in a day or two for the Artist and Writer Commentaries.

EDIT: There was some Q&A at the NYCStuck live update, and according to info from @dcmcboxers there are a couple extra tidbits to share on Satyr romance/society:

Any satyr in a relationship can become pregnant and the role has a certain amount of prestige attached to it. This is the longest time any satyr spends with their child before they're given up to be raised communally.

Satyrs do not know their direct lineage and it's seen as egotistical to try and track it down. It's frowned upon for parents to seek out their child as well.

Satyr society has been unified as one government for a long time but this is after ages of warring states (very feudal Japan).