“Meat” And “Candy” Thoughts And Speculation
“Meat” and “Candy” Thoughts and Speculation
Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t read both.
“Meat” and “Candy” are essentially fanfiction—perhaps specifically fix-it-fics—written by Homestuck characters themselves. While it doesn’t make them any less “true” or “real,” (even though it divorces them from the Three Pillars of Canon), it does explain the “fanficcy” feel.
“Meat” is written/narrated by Dirk and Alt!Calliope, each fighting for control of the narrative. Dirk might actually be Caliborn/LE, or at the very least, influenced/corrupted by him.
Dirk did something like this before, when he “wrote” Pony Pals for Jane, altering the original story by replacing parts of it with his own commentary.
Each page contains lovingly hand-written commentary on the deeds of this intrepid young horse.
Later, about halfway through the book, rather than see the gag through to the bitter end, Strider began pasting over entire pages of original text with his own completely rewritten version of the story, while keeping all the chapter titles. His revision is a tough, emotionally draining read. But it's cathartic, in all the worst ways possible. He tends to get carried away with his projects.
Sounds familiar, right? Using Pony Pals as an analogue, Alt!Calliope might represent the author of the original story, while Dirk modifies and rewrites it, twisting it into his own version. Alternatively, neither Dirk nor Alt!Calliope are the original author of the Epilogue, and both are altering the story as "Meat". Perhaps the book found in Calliope’s picnic basket is the original, unmodified story—the "pure" version of the Epilogues. (More on this below.)
Dirk is becoming Lord English/Doc Scratch. The parallels between Dirk and Caliborn/Doc Scratch are uncanny.
It might have something to do with Dirk's Ultimate Self and gaining access to the thoughts/memories/experiences of all his splinters and alternate lives. Those alternate selves/splinters include Bro (who was raised/corrupted by Lil Cal), Lil Hal, Doc Scratch, and Lord English, and the lines between all of them are blurring.
If Dirk is indeed LE in some way, shape, or form, the events of Meat may be LE’s way of trying to take over Post-Canon, exerting his influence beyond his domain of Canon.
(I plan to elaborate on the Dirk = LE theory in a future post.)
As a parallel to Dirk = LE, Jane is essentially becoming the Condesce. I’m not sure of the connection with her Ultimate Self, although I suppose that would include Crockertier Jane.
It might have something to do with the Condesce grooming her to be her heiress, and possibly even Jane inheriting her immortality curse? (I need investigate this further.)
Dirk and Jane even have the same alliance as LE and the Condesce: Dirk and LE pulling the strings while Jane/Condy carries out the plans. Similarly, Dirk and LE rule the metanarrative/story and travel through space, while Jane/Condesce rules the planet(s) of Trolls and Humans. (Credit to @wisdomdissimulator for the original observation/theory.)
“Candy” is written/narrated by Calliope from the Meat timeline. In Meat, Roxy mentions Calliope stays home and paints the walls with what sounds like the events of Candy.
ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise ROXY: some of it is like ROXY: weird and violent?? ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um ROXY: nudity???? [...] ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married . . .
While the Calliopes seem less inclined to control/force the characters and narration than Dirk, there are still moments of bias and asserting their will—specifically anything regarding the Trickster Lollipop.
Calliope (as the narrator) may have even controlled/influenced Dirk to suicide, possibly as a way to “save” the Candy timeline from Dirk’s influence. While the narration claims otherwise, it’s also possible Dirk killed himself of his own accord in a twisted mixture of Heroism and Justice, knowing what he could become if he lived, and thus wanting to spare the timeline.
Terezi of “Meat” is the same Terezi communicating with John in “Candy”. Since she’s still in Canon, she basically transcends the Meat and Candy timelines until she reaches Meat’s Earth C. This is why she expects Meat’s John to be older, why she thinks John and Roxy might be together, and why she has a hunch that things wouldn’t have worked out between John and Roxy—because this is true of Candy’s John, at least at the time Terezi last spoke with him.
Gamzee’s presence and influence might have something to do with the unexplained weirdness of the Candy timeline. Characters seem oddly blind or impotent to the circumstances around them, almost like there’s a Ragey influence sowing discord, anger, confusion, and obliviousness among the characters—just as what happens with the Trolls during Murderstuck. It isn’t until after Gamzee’s death that the characters start to seem more like themselves and are more capable and hopeful.
While Gamzee has “Joker immunity” within Homestuck, he’s able to die in Candy because it’s outside of Canon. (My theory is that Lord English grants him immortality, since Gamzee must become a component of LE and thus CAN’T die.)
John needs to take a third option, different from The Choice™ of either Meat or Candy. There's a book in Calliope’s basket, so the third option very well may be the book. Which would also make sense since a book represents/contains a story, and Meat and Candy, while food, also represent stories.
Another interesting third option would be “Vegetables”—or specifically “Pumpkin”—which Roxy could potentially summon via Void powers. It would make a cool reference and callback to “What Pumpkin”.
(More elaboration on the Third Option theory planned for a future post.)
I have a LOT more thoughts and ideas on the Meat and Candy Epilogues, so I’ll probably continue this in another post.
More Posts from Pixie-styx and Others
I realize I haven't posted anything in quite a while, and I apologize. I haven't been as active on Tumblr lately, but I'm still around.
I have some upcoming ideas and theories that slowly have been coalescing. Some projects include a Class wheel (and theories expanding upon it), MBTI personality and/or psychological disorders of the various Homestuck characters, and ideas relating to a third Scratch. And of course I have other post ideas, as well. No ETA on any of these, though.
I also have a few asks in my inbox I've been meaning to answer. I haven't forgotten, and I intend to respond to them.
On another note, I've delved into Steven Universe and Undertale. Now, this blog's primary focus is Homestuck, but considering how much the fandoms overlap, I'm considering including posts related SU and UT, too. Making separate blogs is another possibility, although it kind of sounds like a pain. I haven't decided anything yet, though.
Feel free to shoot me any questions or thoughts.
Thanks, everyone, for your support and patience. :)
Cinnamon Roll Classes
Looks like a cinnamon roll, is actually a cinnamon roll: Heir, Page, Rogue Looks like a cinnamon roll, could actually kill you: Witch, Sylph, Maid Looks like they could kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll: Knight, Mage Looks like they could kill you, could actually kill you: Seer, Prince, Thief SINnamon roll: Bard
what say you that Kanaya's and Karkat's visit to Echidna will still end up be the same choice being asked of them? Jade's quest require resolution post-scratch, John's quest ended up factoring things that APPEAR to be outside sburb's programming (retcon powers), so perhaps Echidna of the troll session was asking a task of Kanaya that's only resolved across 3 sessions(!) so it appeared impossible to her?
Could be. Echidna may very well give both Kanaya and Karkat a second chance to rectify their previous actions. Kanaya, the same “impossible” task as before, which she may accept this time. Karkat, the opportunity to set right his previous mistake of rushing the frog breeding which resulted in the kids’ cancerous universe. (Which wasn’t entirely his fault, but he certainly blames himself for it.)
Maybe Kanaya and Karkat will sendificate the Genesis Frog to Jade in the past. (That still needs to be resolved.) Maybe they’ll breed a second Genesis Frog, so there will be one that becomes the Cherubs’ universe and another that becomes a universe for a new instance of Paradox Space.
If there ends up being two Genesis Frogs, maybe one of these frogs is the “perfect” one from the Trolls’ session that they never found and bred. Echidna could certainly help them with that, and it could easily relate to an “impossible” task that would also be resolved across multiple sessions.
Homestuck and the 12 Archetypes
I recently came across something called the Twelve Archetypes. Apparently it’s a concept by psychologist Carol S. Pearson, inspired by the Jungian notions of personality types and archetypes, as well as Joseph Campbell’s theory of a monomyth (aka The Hero’s Journey).
And, well… Wow. Twelve hero archetypes. That is absolutely the Homestuck class system. While not perfect, they translate really well, too!
Witch = Magician
Heir = Everyman / Orphan
Mage = Explorer / Seeker
Seer = Sage
Prince = Ruler
Bard = Jester
Maid = Creator
Sylph = Caregiver
Thief = Revolutionary / Rebel / Destroyer
Rogue = Lover
Knight = Hero / Warrior
Page = Innocent
Apparently there’s a whole formal, official, scientific-based personality test regarding the Twelve Archetypes called the Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator (PMAI). (Free version of the test here.)
Information on the Twelve Archetypes: The Pearson Archetypal System The 12 Common Archetypes Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator (PMAI) (Wikipedia) Pearson’s heroic archetypes
How am I just now learning of this? There's no way Hussie could have NOT based the SBURB class system on this concept. I don't even.
The Return of Lapis Lazuli
We’ve recently seen this short promo, aired as usual on Cartoon Network, which shows us Peridot giving Lapis a gift.
We don’t really know what episode the promo was from, but many speculate that it’s from Barn Mates, judging from the synopsis:
We initially thought it was going to be Peridot and one of the Crystal Gems, but the promo suggests otherwise: it’s actually Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.
There’s one problem: as of now, we don’t really know how Lapis is going to get back. Malachite is still there, as far as we know, chilling on the ocean floor or something, with the usual internal battle going on.
One of the other future episodes we know about is Super Watermelon Island. It’s the first in the list, actually, and one of the only three to have a synopsis.
Do you remember what happened to those Watermelon Stevens? They went into the ocean.
This really makes me think that those very same Watermelon Stevens are going to be the key to finding Lapis/Malachite, making them finally plot relevant! (Thank you, Chekhov’s gun.) They could possibly search the ocean floor, or just know where she is. Heck, maybe she’s on “watermelon island” with them.
The following episode (that we know of) is Gem Drill. Obviously, it seems they’re going to deal with the Cluster, but well, there’s one logistic problem: I think drilling a freaking mantle-deep tunnel with just a drill, even made of whatever gemkind technology, is not very feasible. It’d take an impressive amount of power to do something of that sort.
Luckily, we have a character who’s done impressive stuff before. She stole an entire ocean and built a water tower into freaking space. It’s Lapis Lazuli. She would at the very least be tremendously helpful, for example by helping the drill not overheat (an actual concern for real life drills, where muddy water is used as a coolant).
tl;dr: The Watermelon Stevens are going to be the key to Lapis Lazuli’s return, and she’ll be crucial to drill to the Cluster.
Teaser for my upcoming theory post! Look forward to it sometime this week.
why would davesprite have to die to ensure there's only one of him of the same explicitly didn't happen to nanna or arquius?
my last ask mgiht have been confusing, so to clarify i’m referring to how you think jaspersprite’s presence means the other sprites that were on LOTAK came to the post-retcon timeline with john. though it seems like post-retcon jaspersprite is alive too, as he didn’t die when LOWAS exploded and i’m not sure what else on the battleship would have killed him.
At this point, we really don’t know what the deal is with the sprites. The only one we know for sure made it to LOWAS is Jaspersprite. But considering Jaspers was able to tag along, it seems reasonable that Davesprite would, as well.
As for any duplicate sprites (we at least know Jaspers is one), one instance is probably doomed, even if they’re still around for now. We haven’t heard anything about Alone!Jade’s Jaspersprite, but it’s probably safe to say Nannasprite kept Jade company. So if Nanna made it to LOWAS, there would be two of her, too. Again, if so, one is probably doomed.
As for ARquiusprite, if there are two of him, there may be an important reason for that. At least one is needed to be trapped in Lil Cal and become part of Lord English. A duplicate may serve another purpose.
It’d be interesting if Erisolsprite survived, though. If in the current timeline, Feferi and Nepeta each end up being prototyped individually, then all 12 trolls will be “alive” in some way. Of the 12, only Equius and Eridan would be…fusions.
Anyway, bottom line is, if Jaspersprite could survive, Davesprite could, as well. Exactly why one of him LOWASploded, we don’t know for sure; we can only speculate. But even if he’s dead in this timeline, some other version of him will be around. His story isn’t finished. He’ll be back.
Updated! Added a bunch more keywords. Go check it out!
If anyone has more ideas, feel free to let me know. :)
Aspect Keywords
The 12 Aspects all mean significantly more than their literal meanings. Supposedly, collectively, they encompass all of reality.
Here are some keywords that can be used as substitutions for the actual Aspect names. Not only are they useful for understanding the Aspects themselves, but they’re also useful for classpecting purposes, for understanding the meaning of a Hero Title.
When paired with my Classes Chart, these Aspect keywords provide broad, basic, simplified information on what a particular role might do.
Read More
Just noticed something. The platform the characters are on...
Trolls’ platform, too...
Is shaped like a lily pad!
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