#s159

I like Nepeta's perspective here, that a timeline is made of 'what lets you exist'. She's saying, I think, that timelines are made out of reality - out of the firmament that distinguishes the multiverse from the Furthest Ring.

Her imagery suggests that she understands at least the basics of her world's deeper mechanics, despite not actually using this knowledge during her time on-panel. I would have liked to learn more about her perspective, but we're almost out of time. From where we're sitting, Nepeta's already dead.

AC: :33 < […] look at the sky! JASPERSPRITE: Meow yes i see the sky and can tell that indeed something is going on. JASPERSPRITE: But aside from that i dont really understand what you said being a cat and all.

Even though he’s a Sprite, the poor guy just doesn’t have the brainpower to use this information he's getting - and that's if Sprites are even told about Scratching.

The world’s being ripped to pieces, and he’s just going to watch the pretty colors until there is no more Jaspersprite. Someone please get this cat a ticket to the Yellow Yard.

AC: :33 < im a bit nervous for you, especially since you remind me so much of someone i already lost AC: :33 < but maybe youll be ok? i dont know

It’s difficult to say. The troll sprites were implied to have died when their session ended, but this session isn’t really ending; it’s being rebooted. Sprites might be doomed in a normal game, but we’re pretty far outside of normal parameters, so there may still be hope.

...right, Sburb? I'm right, aren't I?

...Sburb?

AC: :33 < did you ever have someone nice back on earth who you loved? […] AC: :33 < […] i bet lots of girl cats would have loved to be with you, if only there had b33n some around to hear your lovely meows :33 JASPERSPRITE: Youre really nice to say so nepeta what about you though? […] AC: :33 < […] yes i have liked somebody for quite some time, but alas he doesnt know it

Nepeta’s tale is one of missed opportunities. She never got to wax poetic about her love of shipping, never got to confess her feelings to to Karkat, and - let's be entirely honest with ourselves - never really got to be a character at all.

Now, if you’re an optimist, you could take this as evidence that Nepeta’s story isn’t over – that we’ll be expanding on her character in the Dream Bubbles, perhaps.

I'm... let's say I'm a realist.

I think Nepeta is simply a victim of Homestuck's enormous character roster. Ever since Hivebent started, it's become increasingly obvious that there are some 'important' trolls, and some less important ones. This isn't a bad thing - it's just how fiction works, and it would be borderline impossible to juggle rich, satisfying, 8000-page arcs for sixteen primary characters, no matter how quickly you're putting up panels.

Nepeta simply isn't a protagonist. She's a total sweetheart, but in the end, she didn't make the cut.

JASPERSPRITE: Maybe you can win his affection by rubbing your cheek against him thats what i would do. AC: :33 < ohhh no no no, im too shy even for that! […] AC: :33 < its hard to explain, maybe cats think diffurntly, but trolls tend to be pretty cautious about expressing their f33lings when it comes to the flushed quadrant JASPERSPRITE: Whats a quadrant? […] AC: :33 < a quadrant is a thing in a group of things that consists of four similar things JASPERSPRITE: Like paws? AC: :33 < EXACTLY like paws!!! :DD

EB: who ever goes will be risking their life for good, won't they? […] EB: couldn't i do it? EB: i am apparently immortal, because of this god tier business, so the bomb probably would not kill me! CG: OK, BUT DON'T YOU THINK THERE'S A REMOTE POSSIBILITY THAT GOING ON A SUICIDE MISSION TO SAVE ALL OF REALITY WOULD COUNT AS A HEROIC DEATH?

I’m still not convinced that Jack’s a reality-level threat.

Let's be honest; the majority of the kids' intel is ultimately derived from Scratch, and Scratch's primary goal is to summon Lord English. It seems a lot more likely to me that English is the reality-buster in the equation, and Jack is just a convenient scapegoat. Remember, Rose pressed Scratch on this exact question, and his argument for why Jack was the larger threat was very shaky.

Additionally, this entire Green Sun situation is starting to seem a little suspect. I originally thought that Scratch was engineering its destruction in order to destroy Snowman, but it's clear now that Slick will be ending her life in a much more direct manner. I guess Scratch could have multiple kill-Snowman plans – redundancy is smart, after all – but his omniscience should tell him which plan will succeed. As far as he's concerned, redundancy is, uh, redundant.

My point is that Scratch clearly doesn’t need to destroy the Sun to summon English. In fact, doing so seems exclusively bad for English, because it will deprive him of a powerful First Guardian minion. What's the deal here?

CG: JADE'S DREAM SELF IS DEAD TOO, SO SHE'S OUT. OR TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, HER DREAM SELF IS AN OVERLY EMOTIONAL DOG WHO WENT OFF WHIMPERING SOMEWHERE. I'M PRETTY SURE SHE WILL BE COMPLETELY USELESS.

Speaking of First Guardians, Jadesprite definitely has some important role to play here. She’s the most powerful hero on the board by far, and the only thing holding her back is her own mental state, which is sure to change eventually. That's what mental states do.

CG: I'VE TRIED TO TELL HER THAT HER SPRITE SELF IS PROBABLY NOWHERE NEAR AS DESPICABLE AS SHE'S MAKING OUT WITH HERSELF TO BE. CG: I MEAN CG: MAKING HERSELF OUT TO BE. […] EB: what i am getting from this, aside from the possibility that jade may or may not have kissed dog jade at some point, is that neither of them will be able to help with the bomb plan.

LMAO

Yes!!

I knew it! I fucking knew it! The king is back!

Well... mostly, anyway.

I’m shocked that Sprites can even bleed, let alone lose a limb - they always seemed a little too ethereal to sustain bodily injury. I guess Davesprite was made from two living creatures, though. Hopefully Nanna’s healing beams can work their magic on him later.

By the placement of his wounds, I'm betting that Jack stabbed him through the chest, same as Bro. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he skewered them both simultaneously, which means that Davesprite probably had to watch Bro die. That must have been... complicated for him.

He seems to have upgraded his weapon, too. Instead of his standard chest-sword, he's wielding an unbroken Royal Deringer - the infamous blade which enabled Jack's regicide. Just what is Davesprite planning?

...wait, seriously? That's all we're getting?

Damn it, Hussie's getting really good at screwing with me. Let's check out Nepeta's scene, then.

AC: :33 < jaspers i guess i should say furwell to you now :(( JASPERSPRITE: Why nepeta? AC: :33 < beclaws this is the end of your timeline and i dont know what catpuns to you after this

It certainly looks like things are falling apart.

It certainly doesn't sound like Jade fought Echidna directly. That'd definitely be a tall order for a Player who's been in the Medium for less than a day.

Let's assume, then, that Echidna relinquished the Quills of her own free will. This reads to me as a vote of confidence – as if Echidna approves of the reboot, or at least won’t intercede to prevent it.

Davesprite’s version of Hephaestus was angry about being in a doomed timeline, because it meant that he could never complete his ‘work’, which I believe to be the universe itself.

This current timeline isn’t doomed, exactly – but it is pointless, since it can't birth a universe. Echidna probably wants a timeline where her frog Quest can actually bear fruit, so maybe she’s willing to negotiate with Jade in order to make that happen.

CG: ANYWAY, AFTER SHE GIVES THAT TO YOU, SHE THEN HAS TO GO THROUGH WITH THE REST OF THE PLAN, WHICH IS MAKING SURE YOU ALL SURVIVE AFTER THE SCRATCH, MINUS ONE OF THE DERSE DREAMERS OF COURSE. CG: THE PLAN REVOLVES AROUND SOME REALLY BAFFLING HAND WAVEY MUMBO JUMBO WHICH I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND, BUT SHE TOLD ME TO TRUST HER ABOUT IT BECAUSE THE INFO COMES FROM A "Reliable informant." CG: WHITENED FOR SMUG TOOL. CG: IT INVOLVES SOMETHING TO DO WITH A YELLOW LAWN RING.

So the Yellow Yard is also Scratch’s idea! Great! That's awesome!!

I don’t know why I’m even surprised anymore. We can assume, then, that the kids will preserve themselves in a manner which is disadvantageous for them, and advantageous for English. Maybe they'll be be reduced to something as insubstantial as Aradia's ghost form - still technically present in the session, but unable to warn their successors about the demon menacing their reality.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around what a yellow yard could possibly be. Hussie’s direct involvement suggests to that there’ll be some meta element to their escape – in which case, it's not really possible for me to predict what'll happen. Hussie could pull anything.

EB: maybe she could use some protection? maybe that is what Dave was just trying to do, when he temporarily died. EB: remember, jack is still on the loose! he has killed rose and dave once, and me twice. […] CG: […] IT'S A TOTAL NON ISSUE. JACK WOULDN'T HESITATE TO STAB YOU AGAIN, BUT HE WON'T HURT JADE FOR SOME REASON. […] CG: HE LINGERS AROUND HER UNTIL THE SCRATCH BEGINS AND I LOSE THE FEED, NEVER ONCE DOING ANYTHING THREATENING. [...]

And after the feed cuts out, Jack somehow finds his way into the troll session. I still don't have a clue what's up with that.

CG: [...] SHE SAYS SHE THINKS IT'S BECAUSE JACK INHERITED LOYALTY OF HER LUSUS.

I doubt it, unfortunately.

I’m pretty sure Earth’s First Guardian will be altered by the reboot, which means this timeline will have diverged millions of years before Dad was born. The only humans who'll remain the same in such a radically altered timeline are Sburb Players, since they're getting injected from the outside.

CG: YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON GETTING READY TO START THE SCRATCH. THE GAME DOESN'T MAKE A HARD RESET THAT EASY TO PULL OFF. CG: ONCE YOU INITIATE IT, THE GAME THROWS EVERYTHING IT'S GOT AT YOU. WHICH IS ONE REASON WHY YOU'RE THE BEST GUY FOR THE JOB, BECAUSE OF YOUR SUPERPOWERS AND SILLY WINDY BULLSHIT.

Sburb wants to know if you’re worthy of a second chance – and the burden of proof lies on you, John Egbert.

Good luck!

CG: GET PREPARED, MAKE ALL THE EQUIPMENT YOU THINK YOU'LL NEED, STAY OUT OF TROUBLE. CG: WAIT FOR JADE TO SEND THAT CODE, WAIT FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND DO YOUR BEST TO HUMOR HIM WHILE HE IGNORANTLY ATTEMPTS TO FLAME YOU BACK INTO THE PUDDLE OF SLIME YOU CRAWLED OUT OF.

We’ve finally come full circle, as John is about to experience the iconic Act 5.2 opening conversation between himself and Karkat. Liveblogging it brought up a ton of questions, all of which have slowly been answered, as we watched John grow into the person Karkat first saw.

If we're finally closing this loop, then we really are getting close to the end. I'm getting chills!

Looks like you can choose your own reading order here, and I think we've got to start with Jadesprite.

CG: IF WE CAN RIDE THIS OUT FOR A LITTLE LONGER UNTIL THE CRITICAL MOMENT, AND DAVE/ROSE CAN DESTROY THE SUN, JACK SHOULDN'T BE A THREAT. CG: CONVENIENTLY, IF THEY'RE SUCCESSFUL, THAT WILL SIGNAL THE BEGINNING OF OUR OWN ESCAPE PLAN. […] CG: APPARENTLY THE EXPLOSION WILL BE SO HUGE, IT WILL BE VISIBLE AT GREAT DISTANCES THROUGHOUT THE FURTHEST RING. CG: EVEN FROM DIFFERENT SESSIONS, LIKE YOURS AND OURS.

Alright, this escape plan is starting to come into focus.

The Sun's explosion will create the Ring's first ever landmark, allowing the trolls to pinpoint its 'location' without needing to build a Horrorterror Map. It's a little screwy that the explosion will be visible 'at great distances' when the Ring's concept of distance is nebulous at best - but on the other hand, this is no normal explosion, either. I guess the metaphysical details don't really matter here; the key takeaway is that the trolls will travel to the Sun.

CG: EVEN FROM DIFFERENT SESSIONS, LIKE YOURS AND OURS. YOU WON'T GET TO SEE IT BECAUSE BY THEN YOUR SESSION SHOULD BE WIPED OUT BY THE SCRATCH.

The kids, however, will not. The timing doesn't work out.

What I'm hearing, though, is that it is theoretically possible for other sessions to follow this new waypoint. Over time, the Sun's remains could even become a rendezvous point for sessions scattered across the multiverse, allowing Players to meet, collaborate, and share resources.

For now, though, it's just a way for the trolls to get out of dodge.

CG: SO YEAH, WE'LL MEET IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE EXPLOSION WITH OUR PEOPLE ON THE INSIDE, OR I GUESS I SHOULD SAY OUTSIDE. CG: I DON'T THINK THEY CAN COME WITH US THOUGH. EB: come with you where? who are they? CG: DEAD PEOPLE.

Dead people, as well as their cheerful psychopomp. Unlike the Ring's ghosts, Aradia could conceivably rejoin the team at this point - but I don't think she's actually likely to do so, because she's needed out in the Ring.

The Dream Bubbles are an extremely important resource, and I don't think anyone could manage them as well as her. This is her element.

CG: THE SCRATCH WILL REBOOT YOUR SESSION. YOUR WHOLE UNIVERSE ACTUALLY. SO SOMEWHERE IN THIS DREADFUL ABYSS, THAT NEW SESSION WILL START UP IN ITS OWN INCIPISPHERE, FROM SCRATCH. […] CG: THE IDEA IS FOR YOU ALL TO PRESERVE YOURSELVES BY ESCAPING THERE.

I sort of assumed that the reboot session would physically replace the original, by spawning directly on top of it. Apparently that's not the case, though; it just pops up somewhere at random.

Well, that'll make it a little harder to find, since we won't know where to look. I can't really think of any solutions, either, unless reboot-Rose is kind enough to post another GameFAQs guide. Preferably one containing her exact dimensional coordinates.

EB: through the lawn ring? CG: YES.

Through the lawn ring? So, what, the Yard is a physical pathway that they can move through?