Homestuck Theory Under the Cut: Where did Gamzee's secret abilities come from?
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Ever since the “Horrorstuck” arc, we’ve seen Gamzee suddenly get “Flash-Step”-like quickness abilities and a relatively unexplained possesion of Lil’ Cal. Not to mention a bunch of other mysterious things going on with him that makes us ask “What’s his deal?”
Does this make Squiddles trickster Eldritch Horrors?
As in the 48 player session that gave origin to the Trolls?
Maybe the only way for a session to be fully won is for tricksters to come into effect
that’s the price you pay for playing god
you either end up stranded on a meteor by a atomic dog beast from another dimension
or become candy
Here's A Crock (Haha) of Theories Regarding Jane Crockers Really Obvious Inversion
There’s a really good chance that Jane is inverting, and that she has already begun to invert her aspect and title to become a Bard of Doom.
This is very reminiscent of the R.I.P on a tombstone. As bladekindEyewear pointed out, it isnt a very subtle reference to Doom.
This imagery is pretty recumbent of Doom/Destruction/Death.
Bard’s allow the destruction of their aspect, or they could invite destruction through their aspect.
Bard’s are unpredictable, and the full details of the class are just coming in to play, now, as Gamzee’s character is pulling more strings behind the scenes.
Here are some theories that support Jane’s inversion, and what havoc an inverted Jane Crocker could wreak.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if Gamzee ended up helping the Alpha Kids and Jane became corrupted by Destruction and Doom?
It’s definitely looking that way, at least in Jane’s case.
Class = archetype
Since other fans have already pointed out the similarities between Dave and Karkat, and recent updates have given us as many as three different players all with the same Class type, I was reading over them to see if players of other Classes shared personality traits the way Knights seem to. And they do!
It was when I was comparing Jane, Aradia, and Porrim that I had a sudden “oh!” moment and realized that Classes represent story archetypes.
For example, the Maid is a young, headstrong girl (maiden) who, over the course of the story, matures into a wise matron (mother and eventually, crone).
My evidence goes like this:
'because thats all i fucking do'
This won’t quit nagging at me, so I’m just gonna go ahead and gently lay this here:
With the reveal of uu’s name as ‘Caliborn,’ there’s been a lot of neat stuff surfacing, mainly in terms of ‘Caliborn’ as either an alternate name for Excalibur or as the name of an entirely different sword, namely the one that Arthur had to pull from the stone in order to prove that he da bes/the rightful king of England and eventual founder of the Knights of the Round Table. This then gets tied to Dave, in regards to his role as the Knight of Time, and this series of posts sets it out pretty neatly.
Okay, so Caliborn’s moniker is a sweet sword. Dig?
Now here’s another tie-in to Dave, which I found pretty interesting: Dude breaks swords.
It’s not just a gag. It’s part of his personal quest in Sburb, and Davesprite explicitly mentions it here:
and stresses it in the same conversation
(‘It’ here being nothing much, just, hey, a literal sword. In a stone. Called ‘Caledfwlch,’ which is another name for ‘Excalibur.’ HMM.)
and Dave mentions it again here:
Now, I don’t think Dave alone is going to kill Caliborn and/or Lord English, despite the multiple references to ‘drop[ping] it like it’s hot whilst the pimp’s in the crib’ as LE appears to be portrayed as the hustler pimpdaddy of the cosmos. First of all, LE apparently can’t be killed. (But if you look a little further in the same convo, ‘destroyed’ might still be an option.) Second, I don’t think Homestuck is that kind of story, which is to say that to me, it’s a glorious fuckin mess of causality and little things adding up and especially teamwork, and one kid doing a take-down of the big bad just doesn’t jive. I do think he’s going to be instrumental (see: entire rest of this post); I just have no idea how.
But hey, if something like this happens
I’m not gonna complain.
Musings on Hope and Rage (PART 1)
Okay. Hope and Rage. These are two pretty interesting aspects, because four fifths of all examples are explicitly destroyers. And that makes it hard. Hard to see where the Rage ends and the Hope begins. And vice versa.
But we can try. Keep in mind that, while Princes and Bards tend to see themselves as absolutely drowning in their aspect, they still follow the core beliefs that their aspect insists upon. Dirk still believes in doing what you love. Gamzee still believes in following your instincts. Cronus, against all evidence to the contrary, still believes that he is a sympathetic character.
The thing is, there’s something else that muddies the playing field. And that thing is that Hope = belief looks kind of odd after a while.
See, pretty much everyone with a brain understands that our single demonstration of Hope powers— Eridan’s stupid wwand— was tied very heavily with his personal beliefs. He said as much in the flash preceding his attack.
But what parts of this were specifically tied to Hope, and what parts are shared across the board by all aspects? We have precedents to believe that you can predict a lot about a person’s outlook on life just by looking at their aspect. Both Dirk and the Leijons emphasize the “true” part of “true love”. All three Heroes of Blood found issues with society and trolls which they decided to try and fix. All Light players believe that (when talking about subjects that they enjoy) no detail should go unmentioned.
And this leads straight into the beliefs of Hope players.
Put simply, Hope players explain things. They look at something, ask themselves “Why is this thing the way it is?”, and then answer their own question.
CRONUS: i barely EVWER evwen bring up my high social status. it couldnt be LESS of a big deal to me, but i think people maybe are still intimidated by it? theyre probably putting me on a pedestal, in spite of all my easy going assurances that my royal lineage is something i nevwer evwen think about. like, no friend, i am just like you. vwe laugh at the same jokes, listen to, vwell, to some extent, the same music…
CRONUS: ah. i see howv it is. cronus gets the shaft, vwhile you scurry avway to flirt vwith some infantile loudmouth. vwhy am i not surprised?
CRONUS: guess im neither mentally unstable or a big enough asshole to catch your eye. no big deal, ill just record my feelings on the subject through a bit of slam poetry and bubble my sorrowvs throughout the… and, yep. looks like im talking to myself again. shes gone.
CRONUS: i guess the truth is, deep dowvn i alvways knewv i vwas a 1950s-style human greaser.
CC: You can’t )(ave t)(e sort of affinity for “our kind” t)(at you profess if you’ve only spent, w)(at…
CC: A few days underwater, maybe? IN YOUR W)(OL-E LIF-E!
CA: wwhatevver
CA: i havve to keep an eye on em up here
CA: its all about tactics
CA: magic is NOT REAL
CA: wwhatevver youre doin its not real its somethin else outright entirely
CA: its fancy and impressivve and all but its not the fuckin figmental storybook claptrap you wwanna make out like it is
CA: so howw about you get off your high skyhorse
CA: i had a misconclusion about that so my fault
CA: obvviously you got rich blood so maybe when you crash landed you wwerent recognized for it by wwhatevver vvehicle upholds the class structure in human society
TT: That is exactly what happened. You figured it out.
CA: must of been fuckin brutal raisin up a commonblood wwhen you knew you wwere better than evverybody and its probably got you all messed up inside but maybe theres hope for you
GG: i do not have a score to settle with rose!!!
GG: why would you think that?
CA: oh
CA: wwell fuck
CA: suppose i wwas guessin it wwas natural to presume somesuch relation like that betwween the twwo a you
CA: probably a cheap imitation of the original
CA: uh
CA: kind of like that one there is
CA: so theres your answwer stable loops ahoy
CA: wwell maybe he didnt wwanna disrupt wwhatevver disgustin sequence of evvents wwas responsible for his spawwnin in the first place
CA: and for the record
CA: evven though i said that stuff about bein fated to find my gun
CA: fate isnt real
CA: its a lot of FAKE FUCKIN HORSEFEATHERS
GT: Actually it just occurred to me. Its funny he didnt mention your party in his text.
GT: Im SURE he wouldnt have forgotten. He never forgets ANYTHING what with all his calculations and his computerized brain. Both figurative and literal.
GT: I wonder what his game was? He invited me on an expedition without mention of your party as a potential conflict…
GT: If he sensed i could use some space perhaps he was concerned that if we both showed up to the party it would be awkward?
GT: Or maybe he didnt want to mention he was going to the party in case it would spook me away from attending?
GT: Argh! Do you see jane?? This is what his endless machinations do to you!
GT: Can you tell me why youre so upset with me?
GT: Is it because i forgot your birthday party? Because i do feel awful about that.
GT: Im not much of a leader of people. Not like you are jane. I think when it comes to adventuring maybe im more of a solo act?
GT: Which now that i think about it might be contributing to my problems with dirk. Maybe thats part of the reason why i needed some space?
GT: Now hold the phone.
GT: Jane i think i may finally understand whats been going on here.
GT: In retrospect i cant believe ive been this blind.
GT: Youre right i really can be deplorably thick sometimes.
GT: Looking back i can see how many of our conversations must have been torment for you.
GT: You really should have told me how you felt sooner!
GG: YEAH. I…
GG: I know. :(
GT: If you told me you had the hots for dirk i would have backed off without another word.
“Jake: Answer.”
Oh, it looks like Roxy was trying to reach you. But you were so preoccupied with your Geromy sticker you didn’t notice. It was a rare lapse in awareness of your surroundings and your friends and their feelings which you pride yourself in maintaining 24/7 as a dashing man of adventure. You refer to the unfaltering field of all-encompassing alertness as your JAKEDAR, which you think compares favorably to the spider senses from the comic books.
GT: Or wait. Is calling her hot a compliment or is that creepy?
GT: She is certainly pretty. But hearing it come from you sounds lecherous and dastardly!
uu: OH MY FUCK.
uu: SHUT UP.
GT: Heh. Its probably just my instincts as a brave boy kicking in.
GT: The old chivalry bone acting up you know? When i hear a ladys good name getting besmirched i just start seeing red!!!
GT: Ive never been accused of having a photographic memory but i dont recall you typing in green either.
GT: Are you ripping me off bro??
GT: You think so?
GT: Not to sound too self obsessed or anything but ive given that some thought.
GT: That maybe there is something special about me that nobody can understand. And maybe thats why i always seem to be botching things up the wazoo with my pals.
GT: Maybe thats why i feel like such a loner. I dunno. Im rambling and ive been thinking about it a lot lately. What about you?
GT: Nope!
GT: Dont reckon i understand much of that either.
GT: But i guess im not supposed to. Me not being a time maestro or what have you.
GT: Well THERES your problem dude. You dont want to BELIEVE!
GT: Just let go and believe in things. Then youll find you had the power in you all along.
While other people do happen to rationalize things, it seems that Hope players are the only ones who so consistently instantly believe whatever stuff they make up. Sometimes, they can be right! Sometimes, they’re quickly disabused of these notions. But sometimes… they end up unaware that the world doesn’t operate according to their mental processes and conclusion-jumping*.
Anyway: there’s a couple of ways that we can read this connection between Hope players and rationalization. We could say that this rationalization lets them believe in things more sincerely than any other players, because it legitimately makes perfect sense to them. This is thrown into an interesting light when you consider Caliborn’s offhand comment about Hope.
uu: IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE A FORCE OF ”UNPARALLELED POWER”. BUT REALLY. IT SOUNDS SO LAME.
uu: BUT I GUESS THAT’S WHY IT MAKES SENSE THAT IT’S YOUR ASPECT.uu: YOU STRIKE ME AS A GUY WHO IS LAME ENOUGH. TO HOPE SOMEONE TO DEATH. SO WHY DON’T YOU TELL *ME* ABOUT IT??
(also note that his next statement is exactly the same kind of rationalization as the ones that Jake throws around)
If the aspects are all powered by belief, but Hope is one which confers the ability to believe even more powerfully, then surely that fits the definition of “unparalleled power”?
There’s a flipside though. Although Hope players can use “evidence” to support “claims” such as “I can kill people with my raw fucking belief”, making them much more powerful, “evidence” to the contrary is able to break these claims in exactly the same way.
Eridan couldn’t do shit against Kanaya, the second time around. She didn’t even have to “debunk” his wand, although that does provide a pretty funny visual parallel to the part where Eridan’s powers were also debunked.
So Hope and rationalizations and evidence are all pretty well-linked. I wouldn’t say that Hope is entirely conclusion-based, but this is a nice start, and segues into the next topic that I want to address.
But I’ll cut it for now. This post is pretty long, and I’m anticipating that the next segment will be of similar length.
EDIT: The next part can be found HERE. It is indeed of similar length, and deals with much more conjecture than this part.
* This kind of reminds me of Miko Miyazaki from the Order of the Stick. She’s a paladin with a tendency to automatically generate explanations for anything that happens— these “theories” usually revolve around the gods of her pantheon, but once she assumed that a guy was betraying her. A character in-text actually said (paraphrased) that “she has the ability to jump wherever she wants, as long as it’s a conclusion.”
Here's A Crock (HahaheehehahaHASHASHFAHAHAHAH) of Theories Regarding Jane Crockers Really Obvious Transformation into Diddy Kong
She’s back again, and about time, too
And this time, she’s in the mood!
She can fly real high
with her jetpack on…
With her pistols out, she’s one tough Kong!
She can make you smile when you hear her tune…
But, Kremlings beware
‘cause she’s out after you!
D. K.! Donkey Kong!
D. K.! Donkey Kong!
See it just makes sense ok. here are some theories that support me
wouldn’t it be interesting if gamzee became lanky kong? and jane succumbed to being diddy kong
It’s definitely looking that way, at least in Jane’s case
Lately I’ve been thinking about the “why”s of Gamzee’s actions in the comic, what exactly is he after for all the trouble he’s causing. Of course his actions all trace back to his religious devotion, but he does have a mind of his own so perhaps his motives lie a little deeper than “because he worships Caliborn/Lord English”.
To begin with, I’m going to highlight a quote I think could explain exactly what Gamzee’s endgame goals really are.
Ever since watching that youtube video that had him question the validity of his entire religion, one of the strongest foundations in Gamzee’s life, all he wanted was the truth. Just who are the mirthful messiahs? He claimed himself as them during murderstuck as he was the last clown from Alternia left, but that wasn’t the truth either. And after the dust settled, somewhere down the line he learned of the cherubs. He wanted to know the truth and became part of the truth, finding the egg and setting the conditions Caliborn and Calliope would grow up in. Being there when Caliborn enters his session to assist one of his messiahs in any way possible as Caliborn rises to power.
But the Mirthful Messiahs aren’t the only part of Gamzee’s religion he held onto dearly. One thing that stands out in particular comes from his introduction page, and repeated again to Dave later.
Gamzee’s religion has a prophecy. That a band of rowdy, capricious minstrels would one day rise up on a paradise planet that does not exist yet. Gamzee telling this to Dave goes on to say that the Mirthful Messiahs will be “CRASHING THAT FUCKING PIE STAND AND BRING THE HOLY RUCKUS”, and specifically causing the Vast Honk.
Now we’ve seen what Hussie has told us is the Vast Honk through Lord English entering the trolls universe, but who are the minstrels? And what is the paradise planet? What I’m getting at here is that the answer lies within the alpha session, and what comes after. Unless you want to try saying that the paradise planet was Earth, which became a planet in Caliborn’s session, where the ICPresidents once rose to power for some time. But do remember that Gamzee would reject any part of his religion if it had to do with those human clowns, blasphemers spitting on the very thing he holds most dearly.
Gamzee is in a position to mold his religion to what he wants it to be, as LE/Doc Scratch have used the religion to mold Gamzee into becoming what they needed him to be.
So in conclusion, I believe that—more than just being a devoted cult follower—Gamzee is creating his own religion; setting up the conditions that led everyone to the alpha timeline of the alpha session, and once he is done with that will have intents on creating that mythical planet of paradise he’s always wanted. And what else, well,
we will just have to see what it is he truly wants (concerning his friends).
Calliope: Caduceus vs Rod of Asclepius
Well now I can finally brush off this speculation post that’s been sitting in my drafts for months. Unfortunately I don’t have my classics textbook anymore so I don’t have all the details and myths on hand.
So Calliope’s symbol is the Caduceus, which as we all know is the recognized symbol on many medical-related things such as the US Army Medical Corp’s badge. However, this is a misconception - the Caduceus is NOT a symbol of health and healing. It was mistaken as the Rod of Asclepius. They are very similar so it’s a pretty easy mixup for someone who is new to greek/near eastern myth:
The left one is the Caduceus, and the right is the Rod of Asclepius.
So now that we know how Cherubs mate and how they look in their matured form, the Caduceus’ backstory instantly comes to mind:
One version of the origin tells it came from Tiresias (Anyone remember Oedipus?). He came upon two snakes mating and used his staff to kill the female snake. Upon doing so, he became a woman, and remained one until he could find the male snake and kill it the same way about seven years later. It was also said that it was given to the Greek god Hermes (God of thieves, boundaries, trade, border crossings, and travelers; also the guide to the underworld and the only being able to cross to and from it) by his half-brother Apollo (God of the arts, oracles, medicine, plagues, the sun, light, and knowledge) as a sign of peace and friendship. It is the herald’s staff since Hermes is a messenger, and also in Roman counterpart Mercury represents writing and eloquence.
The Rod of Asclepius was given to Asclepius by his father Apollo. Asclepius was also a god of healing and medicine, and both he and his father were sworn to in the first version of the Hippocratic Oath. (That doctors swear to, it’s probably just a coincidence with Caliborn’s title referencing the Doctor) and the snake in the symbol has a dual meaning of both healing and harm that can be done by it. (Such as was the duality of Calliope/Caliborn as well as all Cherubs)
Now we arrive to Calliope’s symbol.
It is just like the Caduceus except for the wings (Due to her immaturity from an early death or an absence of Hope, as the symbol of Hope are very similar wings as in the Caduceus?) But still features the intertwined copulating snakes that we just saw in the update.
It’s also the false symbol of health and medicine, and ironically enough, a symbol of a trickster. So who knows what this lends to how reliable Calliope is, as speculated before by many. Hermes is also associated as the god of thieves and travelers, both elements related to her closest friend Roxy. It’s also interesting to note how the staff was given to Hermes by Apollo, a god of light and knowledge (Rose and Roxy meeting in Calliope’s dream bubble?). Both Calliope and Roxy write stories, and that goes back to both the Muse Calliopeia and the god Mercury (muse of epic poetry and a symbol of print, writing, and elloquence)
I will probably edit this later with more info, but for now here’s my thoughts. Just some extra info for those who don’t know :)
Speculation As To What Could Happen In The Next Update
The Condesce said she had business to attend to regarding the Heiress, Jane.
Right now, Jane is flying to Derse with Jake in tow, both with super-powered Life and Hope (??) abilities, respectively.
As we know, the Condesce took over the Handmaid’s position as Lord English’s servant.
In order to do that, she had to fight and kill the Handmaid.
I’m not sure if this is what the Condesce has planned out for Jane, but they both have something the other would definitely want. HIC could use Jane’s juju for her own previously stated intentions, whatever they may be. And Jane, of course, would want to be reunited with her father.
If they both have something that the other covets, and if, according to tradition, the heiress fights the old empress to become the new one, then I smell a duel.
…or perhaps just a Birthday party.
Either scenario would be interesting.
(This is just me collecting some of my thoughts on what might go down, feel free to add anything in.)
