HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2026-03-31
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THIRD upd8 of the month. Oh geez I'm nervous getting another upd8 this soon, only a day shy of April 1st and its accompanying potential shenanigans. Liveblogging under the cut!
(EDIT 2: Happy Trans Visibility Day! Hint hint, looks at a certain Nymph!)
Also, I realized looking at it again that if there was any possible ambiguity last update that the "Galloping gladiators thats downright bad ass!" was from Jake and not Jane, I'd point to the fact that there's no apostrophe in the "thats" in that command, which Jane would've included. Also also, I know I have like, 4 different un-attended-to inbox asks because I've been negligent the past week and only realized when I refreshed just before starting to write this, so I'll wait until liveblogging is out of the way and check those at the end of this post. Okay moving on:
> Del'fi: Examine skull of beast!
Del'fi seems not to have much patience for being told what to do?
Hold your horses, pushy prompter! This is no time for lackadaisical exploration. Right now, you are on a quest to bring down your other mortal enemy. What you need to do is decide which CHERISHED POSSESSION of yours to sacrifice via the mystical art of ASCETICATION. Once you do that you can bust out your LEET HEX in order to uslurp the spyware that long-maned creep is definitely watching you through.
So their *other* mortal enemy (apart from, presumably, her own Caretaker / "The Warden", if they didn't mean CT) is the "long-maned creep" ie "long haired lordling" mentioned last time, which must be TC. Which makes sense, since Del'fi was just informed that TC had hacked out their true Nymph identity and, ipso facto, is likely spying on her. Del'fi is already said to do some hacking, and we know from MUCH earlier that Del'fi was able to send someone a link to a memetic hazard or something that destroyed them or their computer, so if I had to guess Del'fi's a good hacker but TC is probably a step above.
I'm just wondering whether TC was at "mortal enemy" status anytime before he got his hands on Del'fi's name and identity?
Anyways, on to this new mechanic. Sacrificing a cherished possession for power sounds pretty Doom or at least Life/Doom spectrum, or possibly tangentially Blood if it has to have sentimental connection, which may or may not have anything to do with time spent with others. Items with which someone may consider themselves worldly attached definitely qualify as Blood if needed, and "Ascetication" implies letting go of worldly attachments, giving them up for the enlightenment of a free mind like that Avatar: The Last Airbender sequence I mentioned in the huge Breath and Blood theorypost.
> Del'fi: Examine Crop Harvesting Device.
That's your HANDMADE SCYTHE. It's an ancient nymph tool used only for killing, emphasis on ancient. You'd love to get a shinier spiffier new scythe one of these days but unfortunately, that seems unlikely. It's old as dirt, but it gets the job done.
Maintaining a really old tool hm? Also, another reference to hands in "handmade". Are Hands a Blood symbol now, just, in general? Maybe in HS^2's frame of reference they are, or maybe they held more relevance than just dramatic Karkat x Jack Noir handshakes this entire time... like how many times someone looked down at blood on their hands in Homestuck. Shit, that actually happened pretty often. Have I been missing an obvious Aspect Symbol all this time in Hands? Shit.
> Del'fi: Sacrifice fine skeleton collection.
D'aww!
The old guard? You can't sacrifice them! These aren't possessions, they have names! These two fine fellows are PRAETORIAN PINEPRANCE, and AARON CANTER. The Praetorian had a pretty meteoric fall from grace, despite surviving all those assination attempts. He wasn't a bad guy, perhaps a smidge ill-tempered, but who could blame him? He was traumatized!
I didn't miss that, Del'fi, you just said assination. That wasn't a typo, that was intentional, I'm sure of it.
...I'd quote the rest of the page but it's just Del'fi's fanficcing about the presumed romantic former lives of dead Satyrs. We might learn more about Satyrical ⍺/β/⍵ from her ramblings, but right now Del'fi's just naming and alluding to the trifecta, not explaining how it works much more than an "ALPHA" having to "throw his MEAT around" to lay down the law in a relationship.
> Del'fi: Mobilize the troops.
See what you mean? Dance you butt monkeytaurs! DANCE!
What is this about to be, flashstep skeleton puppetry? Or just cut to them falling to the floor? Oh wait we're underwater, there's some floating involved isn't there.
===>
Some of the inbox messages or replies I haven't looked at are probably explaining what the Yaoi paddle means, I forgot I asked about that.
This is all like, Terezi-style scalemate imagination stuff from early in her room in Hivebent, right?
It seems like Aaron Canter may be lacking the usual pep in his step. You ask him if he's feeling alright. He says yes, he's just been distracted lately on account of a few personal matters. You say aw, he should have told you sooner! He says really? You say of course. You say he should have told you sooner so you knew he wasn't serious about this freakin job. Does he understand how many greenhorns like him there are mulling around these parts? This is a city full of bones who would kill for a sliver of this recognition. For a seat in the big house! You brought him into your home, you thought he had promise!
I shouldn't stretch everything I see into classpect stuff, much less this silliness. Not sure I can extract much Blood out of the stone of this cartoonish rant besides, like, holding people responsible for keeping their nose to the grindstone, doing their jobs. A Destroyer of Blood might run a punishing schedule for their underlings, even a fictional schedule for fictional underlings. ...Damn, I did it anyway.
When the armies of darkness set their sights on her, what does he plan to do? Some lackluster monologue? Recite a bit of "All the world's a stage," as those lucky devils drive the world into despair? Tut tut tut, you tut. The disappointment you feel is devastating, you actually thought he valued this opportunity. He begs he does! That it's not his fault, that what he's dealing with… is morning sickness! As if that would make you care. As if that single omission hadn't just killed his whole dang career.
Which omission? (Also is this confirming the Omega is the one of three who gets pregnant?)
> Guards: Seize him!
Del'fi is really good at grabbing and throwing around skeletons whole. I'm gathering from their earlier rant that sets of complete bones make a pretty lively rotation through their quarters from around these ruins.
I... don't like how brightly that tear is colored.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't cry Praetorian. There's plenty of other butt bones in the sea. Like a million guys. All thanks to your WRETCHED CAPTIVE dragging them down here a couple thousand laps ago. Anyways, what else is there to choose from?
Hm, so the "SLEEPING GIANT" Del'fi and The Warden(?) are overseeing -- or one of the other obscure things her introduction referenced -- is the one who dragged these ruins to the bottom of the ocean? (Good thing laps is closer to years, I forget if we got a conversion metric.)
> What about that lovely bit of artwork then?
The left one is Dagger and CT, right is Del'fi and Ly'lac, and middle is all three Nymphs.
These are VELLUM SCROLLS of your friend's art that you LASORB PRINTED yourself. You can't receive packages down here so most everyone drew you something for your morphday.
LASORB PRINTED is a quality damn pun. I was wondering about the variety of art quality on display. In that case, CT is a magnificent artist, which isn't all that much of a surprise! Ly'lac would be rightmost, and AA might have... some trouble rendering artwork properly. I guess with Space players being so prolifically artistic and Time players' art being more sequential or musical in nature (or SBaHJ-like), a presumed Sylph of Time like AA might have a little more trouble rendering her visions to paper?
Two are by your ladies GC and AA! The last, by your buddy CT, is a charcoal sketch of his character THE MOUNTAIN and your SATYRSONA, DAGGER. It's technically his interpretation based off snippets of descriptions you've given him. You appreciate it, considering you can't decide your own design. Every time you try it never feels quite right. You're not even satisfied with the name Dagger anymore, it's so fake and childish sounding.
The way they call The Mountain "his character" is funny, because it's both an original character AND essentially WWE persona (judging by the luchador mask and bloodsports references), so it both is AND isn't the "real him", in a sense.
I've been trying to stick with they/them pronouns for Del'fi because they may or may not have some soul-searching to do, expressed partially in nailing down these Satyrsona traits, and--
If only you were able to introduce yourself as DEL'FI OF THE EPIC SLAUGHTER but obviously you could never pass with a name like that.
This here, talk of passing as Satyr? It sounds very... well, trans? But we'll have to see how seriously Del'fi takes it.
Having trouble defining oneself, feeling trapped at the bottom of an inescapable abyssal prison... "DEL'FI, WHO ACHES TO BE" is a really tragically fitting Epitaphic Hex Name isn't it?
Whatever. You'll endure it all for the roleplays.
Right now it's all roleplaying indulgence, which can be and feel like a crucial outlet, but, uhm... I don't think I'm projecting TOO much, as someone who's found myself exploring and discovering my own gender partially through roleplay, as like, seeing Del'fi POSSIBLY in a similar situation. Where the fun and play verges more and more on something desired and core-held until you take a hard look one day and realize the original body was an eggshell you were yearning to stretch out of. Y'know? Because it COULD FALL EITHER WAY. Del'fi could be perfectly comfortable keeping the Satyrical relegated to fictional play, here, comfortable as hell in being the Nymph pulling the strings. Nothing she's done so far precludes that. But the possibility of them being like, a trans-masc egg (in a society where masc means Satyr) is something we need to keep our eyes out for signs of in someone who, well, "ACHES TO BE". Maybe I should be more certain that Del'fi wants to still go by she/her, explicitly, and... did I see them avoid specific pronouns to refer to Del'fi in the artist/writer commentary, is what made me switch to they/them for them? It won't hurt anything for me to go through the trouble for now.
(And on discovering new species like Humans, Trolls, even Cherubs, what will Del'fi think? Of gender, species, everything and Del'fi's own place in it?)
Commands being almost increasingly Jakelike:
> Fine what about those boisterous busty brothers? They look plenty cherished!
How the heck are you supposed to fit that in a cauldron! Use your head! Besides, you like these fellas right where they are.
Oh, that's Ryuk from Death Note for some anime scythe rep.
Calm down Jake, there's no rush for her to find something she has a cherished connection to (Blood) to destroy (Bard).
> Fucking come on then girl pick something! Youre out of options.
Oh another floor IS THAT ROSE IN AN ICE BLOCK???! NO, NYMPHS JUST LOOK LIKE THAT, RIGHT? IT'S JUST ANOTHER NYMPH. THAT'S NOT ROSE OR ROSEBOT RIGHT? Despite appearing to wear her old god-tier slippers? Pointy claws, that's... gotta be just a regular Nymph, right? Well, "regular" up to the point where Del'fi would have one on ice but... okay I have the urge to rush through things and get to the point faster so we can get the inspection panel of that mystery figure faster.
Hush! All this talk is going to break your concentration. Not that there is a lot to look at on this floor anyways. This is the CAULDRON ROOM. This is where the magic happens. Literally.
I don't recognize the pattern on the rugs on the floor. The colorful jars, well, Del'fi did say they make potions. Gamzee wasn't a Blood player when he literally used different color blood to sell as potions or use as ink for fitting purposes, but, well... he was a Bard.
Jake... Jake come on.
> Oh is that soup? Have yourself some delicious soup.
Oh my God, anyone who still doubts she's a Blood player, she has a SHIPPING MODUS that links things together!!!
Soup? You're getting pretty sick of this guy now. This is obviously your cauldron of SALINEAR CONGREGOOP. Or BRINAL BASTE. You forget which. They're both incredibly toxic. Hopefully toxic enough this time to finally end HER. With your PAIR MODUS you can help that nasty toxic sludge find its special someone, keeping the rest of your delightful items safe from its corrosive nature. You scoop it out and captchalogue the JAR OF BRINE, for later. "Soup," he says. Dolt. As if you could ever enjoy any soup down here.
"PAIR MODUS", with the links shaped like the interlocked hands that are a theme throughout Del'fi's home turf. I wonder if it has a "HATE WINS" option like those two lion prison cells from Deltarune Chapter 3 having the LOVE WINS / HATE WINS choice. Yeah, it seems like the only thing Del'fi might have to eat around here is other Nymphs they kill scytheways, and only if they can get their fill before their greedy Caretaker eats the rest--
KARKAT!!! YOU TELL ME SHE'S NOT BLOOD AND THEN KARKAT SHOWS UP AT THE EXILE TERMINAL???? Okay I really want to know about that person in the crystal though. Like if it's Rose's previously to-be-discarded body or John's corpse previously in Terezi's possession or something aaaaaaa show me
> OKAY, JUST GOT HERE, SORRY ABOUT THAT MORON. IS THAT A PERSON IN A CRYSTAL?
Oh phew, that's not Rose.
(EDIT 1: WAIT A FUCKING SECOND, SHE HAS LY'LAC'S NEW SHIRT SYMBOL EMBLAZONED ON HER UPPER ORGANON. That sounds like Ly'lac and/or her Latchkey wand has a tie she doesn't realize to the entire mythology of being stationed here!!!?!)
Oh no, there's two of them now. And of course it is! This is an ABYSSAL ANCHORESS, the previous one stationed at your post and the only one whose body was left presentable. For generations since THE CRADLING, the COUNCIL OF HIGH PROPHETS have had sisters anchored to this post to guard THE LIGHTSEED from those who would abuse its power, though the events that led you here were incredibly unorthodox. You were handpicked. Obviously, this anchoress won't work for the sacrifice, you don't give a crap about her.
The Lightseed. That sounds like, possibly, that hidden plan Rosebot had to free herself from dependence on her flesh-and-blood original body that may or may not have happened in the intervening period of time. It brings to mind... well, it kind of brings to mind the White Cueball. And what's "THE CRADLING"? A form of imprisonment referred to that way, which brings to mind a string-figure Cat's Cradle, also makes me think of the tumbleweed-like shape of Del'fi's undersea home-prison? Also if a Cradle is meant to birth something, like this Lightseed, not just imprison?
Ack, my head's hurting!
See, this is a consequence of... like. See, compare this to Hivebent. Back when Hivebent was going on, Andrew Hussie was clearly absolutely fucking WINGING IT with a whole ton of the details about how Troll Society worked and integrating them as he thought of them or drew them, organically building a work-in-progress while laying down a handful of seeds of ideas that would be locked in to germinate into details we weren't immediately privy to but were still canon. We were introduced to the entire Troll race half-baked. And I don't mean that as an insult! It worked pretty well to introduce us to elements of Troll society at about the speed of creation, the speed of thought. At the speed Andrew was committing new details to canon, because it was happening onscreen as much as behind-the-scenes without a whole fuckton of pre-work, and so our puny minds could handle it.
THIS is different, right now.
Nymph and Satyr society have been fleshed out for YEARS by a multi-member team's relentless brainstorming and preparation. Each time we're glimpsing a Nymph or Satyr, it's them in the midst of so many convoluted societal... convolutions! That they get name-dropped all in a row and we're seeing their universe through a keyhole and can't get the full big picture all at once! And so!!! Brain hurt!!! But it's a good hurt! :D Probably? Ouch!
There's a smarter way of saying this than I have energy for today. Basically they have so much worldbuilding at their fingertips here that it's hard for them to drip-feed us without some globs too big to swallow coming down the pipe ew I wish I'd used a less weird metaphor.
Okay, on to the Next button. I have a feeling Karkat's apology here isn't going to keep him from venting further despite his promise.
> SORRY, WE AGREED WE'D JUST PRESS THE ARROW, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE SOMEONE COULDN'T HELP HIMSELF.
Ooh a third layer to Del'fi's home, with all sorts of goodies! "DEVILTAUR" as a Devilman poster, Ouran Host Club, lots of anime here Yaoi or otherwise... a Kotatsu with classic Homestuck bedsheets, hah! That's really clever. Wait, are those CHAINS and manacles (cough Blood) coming out of the Kotatsu?! Is that why it looks so beat up?
Okay this huge gif the page gives us is completely hilarious with all the proud zoom-ins to Del'fi giving us the eyebrow waggle. Let me gif-decompose it for myself to check though because a few things stood out...
Okay I won't share it out of context, but one of the shots is of a statue of an extremely busty Satyr man. Like, full on exposed bahongas. Do Satyr fathers breastfeed their young? Like, that makes complete sense doesn't it?
Also, Del'fi has a Satyr Sephiroth bodypillow, but, like, who wouldn't.
The third floor: your bubbled, dry, inner sanctum. Here you take a moment to bask in the glory of a perfectly curated collection of PREMIUM SATYR YAOI, your own endeavors sitting proudly side by side with works that represent the very heights of homoeroticism, each seme and uke in attendance poised and ready to dance through the sordid bordello of your mind at your command. You love everything up here, so it should be easy, which is to say incredibly difficult, to find something good to sacrifice.
Oh my God, of course Karkat gets distracted up here.
> WAIT. WE HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THESE POSTERS.
You indulge the second crone to vex the first one, and take a look at your vast collection of ANIME POSTERS.
Is Del'fi (gosh it's so much harder for me to remember their name than Ly'lac's) just using a turn of phrase here, or are they assuming it's Crones who are psychically ordering them around? Since this phenomenon seems a known thing for Nymphkind even though they don't know about Exile terminals.
Oh wait, this is the perfect sacrifice actually! OURAN GYMNASIKKOU HOST CLUB was a foundational anime for you and even now looking at this poster you are filled with STRONG COMPLICATED EMOTIONS.
Very simple name replacement to make it Satyr, serviceable.
It's essentially a modern retelling of the Uni-Nymph's chronicle, which you're almost positive was written by an actual nymph under a pseudonym. Usually you'd have no way of knowing, but her in-depth references to such a divisive figure would be impossible for a satyr.
Oh wait, of course. I forgot that show was about a girl disguising as a boy to work at a male host club-- that absolutely plays into Del'fi's whole thing, and now we're also rolling in the Uni-Nymph mythology which implies the Uni-Nymph was a Nymph who could be mistaken for and pass as a Satyr.
And Del'fi had "STRONG COMPLICATED EMOTIONS" about it, huh?
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. You always suspected it would turn the tragedy around and end up being a fix-it fic of sorts.
So Nymphkind "reclaimed" the Uni-Nymph from Satyrkind and slew her Satyr fellows? Wait, wait. Not "her"--
Unfortunately, nymph authors tend to run the risk of settling all their happy endings around the fulfillment of prophecies. Everything is already decided by the beginning of the story. If they somehow made him happy to go back into the ocean, you'd hate it. And if he was given a prophecy along the lines of "be happy on the surface," you'd also hate it.
HE/HIM. The Uni-Nymph went by he/him pronouns!?!!
That brings an ENTIRELY new dimension to this. From what I'm looking up (since I haven't seen it), I don't think even the genderfluid-leaning protagonist of Ouran High School Host Club went as far as to explicitly do that, much less be regarded that way pretty much as fact by Del'fi here. The Uni-Nymph is basically a doomed, tragic tale of a unique member of Nymphkind trying to live properly Transmasc amidst Satyrs and being failed by society, by the likes of Nymphkind clawing him back.
You'd much rather remember the story as him being able to keep his secret forever, having fun despite it all.
And Del'fi's feelings on the matter are, predictably, quite complicated. It's going to be VERY interesting to see how Del'fi evolves as the story brings Del'fi out of their prison, their secrets out into the open, and their conception of the ways one can exist as oneself beyond what mere Satyrkind and Nymphkind have had to offer them thusfar.
You collect the poster off the wall and head to the second floor.
And that's where the update ends, with Del'fi about to burn the representation of being to play and hide in secret like that in a sacrificial cauldron.
Okay before I move on from this update, I have to get to my inbox asks and replies. But before I do THAT, I have to go back to something else I just noticed:
Are those... it's too filtered and messed with to tell, but I could swear that's Satyr Light from Death Note on the left and... Satyr Nagito Komaeda from Danganronpa 2 on the right??? Because, like, you can't exist as a toxic shipper, much less a toxic yaoi shipper, without shipping Nagito Komaeda. I hate Danganronpa with a passion and he's still broken containment enough for me to recognize.
(Don't ask me to classpect Danganronpa 1 and 2, which are the ones I've watched playthroughs start to finish of -- and decided I detest from like, especially a writing and dialogue quality standpoint -- but Nagito was either a Bard of Hope or a Bard of Light, I forget. Actually I'm pretty sure it was Bard of Hope from what I remember of his personality and obsessions; even though there's a bunch of Luck stuff that would fit if you went Bard of Light, his actual personality and actions painted too-clear lines of Hope to me especially with his perspective on the huge Hope/Rage (Hope/Despair!) themes the Danganronpa series trades on. (The Danganronpa series relies on Hope/Rage (Hope/Despair) in the most juvenile and poorly written way possible, in ways that ought to resonate with no one, but it does.) But I could be misremembering which Aspect flavor of Bard I thought he was, it's been years since I suffered through a 1 & 2 playthrough to try and see if there was anything to the series. Maybe argue it out in the replies or your own posts but not my askbox, I don't care how right or wrong I am about Danganronpa. Just know to be wary of the classpecting judgment of anyone who argues Nagito isn't a Bard at all! Like, if he's not a Bard then NOBODY is a Bard.)
They're also shipping someone I don't recognize on the left with Satyr Sesshomaru from Inuyasha, on the right, I found the exact figure even. I have no idea how I recognized Sesshomaru so instantly and immediately. Maybe I just have naturally good Yaoi instincts? All untrained, sadly enough. I could have been a Yaoi whisperer.
Oh right, my inbox! It's time for my inbox, who's in my inbox?
ANONYMOUS:
I dunno if you know this, but one of the HSBC writers (Haven) in the official discord used he/him pronouns to refer to CC
Ooh, interesting. That might have been part of what I saw to make me use they/them as a placeholder while Del'fi figures out their gender dealie... it's blatantly obvious that they're about to face some VERY shattered paradigms and have opportunities to grow and become themselves in, well, a Game that's all ABOUT growing up to become oneself. And you've heard me go on about how obvious it is that with Dirk's obsession with manliness and his denegration of Roxy's transition, it was almost inevitable that at least one of the chosen Satyr-and-Nymph players of HIS session would end up transgender. Right now Del'fi is the most obvious candidate, and the various writers and artists are going to have their pick of pronouns to use with them, since they in their authorial-omniscient wisdom command all temporal points of Del'fi's story to refer to them with whichever pronouns they currently or will eventually go with. And it's not a spoiler, either-- for all we know, Del'fi might eventually decide they're not trans but go with Any pronouns, making whichever any given team member uses for Del'fi correct! There are still other candidates if we expect a transgender member of the Satyr/Nymph six, especially with all the character-redefining shenanigans that can take place during a Session. I'd LOVE for The Mountain to go she/her. TC seems like they could be a really cool Any Pronouns too.
@clueless-rarito
Dagger is my favorite little weirdo. I imagine CC voice as the may i have some oats pig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7FIiYsVy3U
O... okay. >_>" (Any headcanon is fine though, joking aside! I'm not siding with your interpretation but I'm not begrudging it either.)
(EDIT 3: Rarito clarified they meant CT, makes much more sense! From them: "I specifically like to imagine him having a deep, high class noble type of voice that makes everything sound really serious and dramatic, even the dumbest batshit stuff he says.")
@hellstobetsy
The last page of the latest update capitalizes PART OF THEIR WORLD. Do you think there's a Little Mermaid theme here, with Del'fi trapped in the ocean by her male guardian who prevents her from being where the people are? Ariel does become human by making a deal with a sea witch...
(Referencing last update not this one.) Well, I think the parallels between Del'fi and The Little Mermaid / Ariel aren't all that subtle! And the HS:BC team would be negligent not to pull on those themes with at least one of these Nymphs. Del'fi seems to be the strongest fit for them, and we'll see how much they play with the obvious parallels they've written in here going forward!
TL;DR, yes, there's an absolutely enormous Little Mermaid theme here and it's deliberate enough that they expect half the audience to be onboard, which is when you have to be wary of twists on the theme and subversions. But hell, even playing it straight in this Satyr/Nymph context would end up so weird and juicy they hardly have to subvert anything.
Phew, I'm caught up! And I'll pay more attention to my askbox between blogposts this time, I promise! So... next update, if it isn't tomorrow, will probably be around 4/13 won't it? Talk to y'all then or beforehand!
(EDIT 2: Also, interesting we're getting our first post-naming update of Del'fi DIRECTLY on Trans Visibility Day.)
