Oh... OH...! OH SNAP!

Rose’s Quest and the Pink Sun

  You wonder if this rain will ever let up. It's driven since the month began, perhaps long enough to forget its purpose. It no longer even knows to assuage fire. Somewhere a zealous god threads these strings between the clouds and the earth, preparing for a symphony it fears impossible to play. And so it threads on, and on, delaying the raise of the conductor's baton. How you hate this season. "April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain." -American sports legend, Charles Barkley

(Charles Barkley quotation actually from T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.)  

We know from Jaspers the gist of Rose’s quest in the Land of Light and Rain:

JASPERSPRITE: Rose im just a cat and i dont know much but i know that youre important and also you are what some people around here call the Seer of Light. JASPERSPRITE: And you dont know what that means but you will see its all tied together! JASPERSPRITE: All the life in the ocean and all the shiny rain and the songs in your head and the letters they make. JASPERSPRITE: A beam of light i think is like a drop of rain or a long piece of yarn that dances around when you play with it and make it look enticing! JASPERSPRITE: And the way that it shakes is the same as what makes notes in a song! JASPERSPRITE: And a song i think can be written down as letters. JASPERSPRITE: So if you play the right song and it makes all the right letters then those letters could be all the letters that make life possible. JASPERSPRITE: So all you have to do is wake up and learn to play the rain!

Hussie even summarizes and clarifies this information:

[Jaspersprite] explained elements of the mythos of her land, and how she'd need to learn to play the rain to produce the musical analogue of a genetic code to reintroduce life into the ocean.

Produce a genetic code? That sounds familiar. Where else have we seen a genetic code?

“MEOW” combined with Halley’s ectoslime to create Becquerel.

“t1CK t0ck 8r8k H34DS honk HONK” combined with Lil Cal and a Magic Cue Ball to create Doc Scratch.

“BARK” combined most likely with Jaspers to create God Cat.

These genetic codes are used to create First Guardians. First Guardians all have the Green Sun as their power source. So most likely, these genetic codes are related to the Green Sun itself.

So, Rose’s Quest is to play the rain, to produce a genetic code that reintroduces life into the ocean. Like the previous codes tied to the Green Sun, what if the genetic code Rose plays is tied to a different sun, a Pink Sun?

There are clues everywhere for a Pink Sun paralleling the Green Sun.

Rose is a Seer of Light, and the Light symbol is a sun. It would make sense for the genetic code to be for a literal source of Light, a literal sun.

But what other significance might this code and Pink Sun have? Well, "They wait for she who would breed lilacs out of the dead land." “They” being the Nobles—the kids of the Alpha Session.

The “dead land” may very well be the Land of Crypts and Helium. Jane’s planet is filled with seed pods that seed and water the planet, yet nothing is able to grow on the surface. What her planet lacks is Light—sunlight. (Her denizen is even Hemera, goddess of daytime.) Perhaps by “playing the rain,” Rose provides the Light LOCAH needs—in the form of the Pink Sun—enabling lilacs to breed out of the dead land. Considering during Trickster Mode, half the planet sprouts flowers everywhere, it seems to be the intended transformation LOCAH will undergo.

But wait, Rose’s planetary quest is to reintroduce life to her planet, to LOLAR. More specifically, to restore ocean life that was eaten by her denizen Cetus.

JASPERSPRITE: But sadly there are no fish i think. JASPERSPRITE: They were all eaten by the Denizen! ROSE: Who? JASPERSPRITE: It ate everything in the ocean and got so full that it took a long nap. JASPERSPRITE: No there is surely not a single living thing left!

Ocean life? Hmm…

What is something heavily associated with both Rose and the ocean?

  The Horrorterrors (Squiddles)!

What if, when Rose plays the rain and reintroduces life on LOLAR, she creates the Horrorterrors? The very same ones currently residing in the Furthest Ring. The same ones who likely created the Trolls’ universe.

If so, perhaps the Pink Sun has ties to both the Horrorterrors and to the flora of LOCAH. That would make the Pink Sun a Light—a symbol—of Life and Void.  Just like…

…The Rings of Life and Void!

When the Draconian Dignitary puts on the Ring of Void, shades of pink and purple flash around him. Symbolic—even powered by—the Pink Sun, perhaps?

(Image made static because seizure warning.)

Compare to when the Queen’s Ring transforms Jack Noir after Bec prototypes himself, giving Jack powers of the Green Sun:

And then there are the green and pink moons of Alternia, paralleling the Green and Pink Suns.

The green moon is home to Doc Scratch, representative of the Green Sun (symbolic of Space) as a First Guardian. Yet pre-scratch, the pink moon is home to Meenah, Thief of Life, further tying the Pink Sun as a Life symbol.

LOLAR and the rain itself have symbols of Light, Life, and Void through their colors—yellow, cyan, and pink.

Yellow represents the sun emblem of Light, its Seer Rose. Cyan represents Jane, Maid of Life, whose planet lacks Light. Pink represents Roxy, Rogue of Void, whose planet’s element is Neon—that is, Neon Light.

Aside from the Pink Sun, restoring life to LOLAR, and sending Light to LOCAH, Rose may even have a role in Dave’s quest, considering the rain “no longer even knows to assuage fire”—its purpose forgotten.

Regarding Dave’s quest,

It's meant to rain this season but there ain't been a drop in sight. Even a little drizzle would help. Might help to fizzle this sizzle a little bizzle, set the record straight on this global turn-tizzle.

Perhaps the rain Rose plays—or even the Pink Sun itself—will aid in his quest. (But more on Dave’s quest in another post.)

It seems pretty clear that Rose represents the “zealous god” who “threads these strings between the clouds and the earth.” As for “delaying the raise of the conductor's baton,” perhaps the conductor is…

  You wouldn't trade your dualing weapon for any other. It is lightweight, elegant and precise, like a conductor's baton with stopping power.

…Calliope!

A Seer would not charge into the fray headlong but direct it as a conductor with a baton.

…Or Terezi, or even Rose herself. Perhaps all three!

As for “mixing memory and desire,” that sounds a lot like…

    …What the heroes have been doing all along!

If they are meant to create not just a new universe, but a new reality to escape Lord English, wouldn’t their new reality consist of memory and desire? A new reality conducted, inspired, and embodied by Calliope, Muse of Space; located in the currently blank canvas Void to where LOWAS, Roxy, and John escaped; its information (Light) to be supplied by Rose and the Pink Sun; and filled with the memories and desires of the heroes.

Thoughts and musings on the upcoming battle

Reflection on the 5/13/15 update with potential strategies, considerations, and predictions.

The best team to face the Becs would ironically be the "least important/effective" characters: Tavros, Jaspers, and the Mayor---plus Jade and GCat.

Jaspers could be a great distraction for them because cat. Actually, there’s probably even two of them around.

Tavros could use his communing abilities to control the Becs, plus potentially GCat to use as a distraction.

The Mayor would probably be safe because PM is his friend. He’s destined to face Bec Noir, anyway.

Jade, either asleep or awake, would occupy the Becs' attention, be safe from them (and protected by them!), and has the same First Guardian abilities.

As long as the Condesce is sufficiently distracted, they'd all be good.

Jack English vs. Dirk, Dave, and possibly surprise Davesprite would make a nice callback to when Bro and Davesprite fought against Jack on LOWAS. Remember how the final prototyping gave him First Guardian powers, which turned the tide of battle?

What if that happens with Jack English, such as obtaining the golden cuestaff and that very same ring? LOWAS (I assume it’s there now) is one of the closest planets to Jack English, too, so the battle could occur in the very same spot!

If Davesprite is around, he risks being influenced by the Condesce like Jade, since he’s part bird.

The idea of Karkat facing his old frienemy Spades Slick is delicious. If anyone can convince Slick to form an alliance, it's Karkat.

Any of the trolls facing the Condesce is probably dangerous because of her manipulation powers. That mostly just leaves the kids.

Nannasprite's probably around. She'd be great as part of the healing team, since she's alt!Jane and has healing abilities, too.

If there’s an extra Nannasprite who tagged along on LOWAS, even better.

Remember Casey's undead army on LOMAX? That has potential to show up again, too. If the Condesce uses her powers to control them, BAD NEWS. If not, allies ahoy! I imagine the golden battleship is still there, too, since Aranea wasn't around to move it; they could use that, as well.

During the fracas, Gamzee will probably escape. (Don't turn your back on the body!) Plus, he most certainly will travel back in time to at least give Lil Cal to CD to create Jack English in the first place. That has to happen somehow, since Vriska apparently didn’t do it. Gamzee might also prototype the final sprite. Who knows what else he'll do?

Vriska is leaving, yes. My guess is to raise the Cherubs, but we really don't know. (She's already hijacked Gamzee's role for practically everything else, plus she has other Gamzee parallels.) What if she returns in time to give the final blow to the Condesce, being the one to officially kill her? It'd mirror her dealing the final blow to the Black King of their session, plus... She'd likely inherit Lord English's curse. Lord English has already been manipulating her and using her to his advantage anyway; the curse would just make it official.

So, apparently the House Juju contains the souls of the Beta Kids:

THIS WEAPON COULD ONLY BE USED AGAINST FOUR GUYS AT A TIME. BECAUSE ITS SHAPE HAS. LIKE FOUR SLOTS OR SOMETHING. SO I CHOOSE MY TARGETS CAREFULLY.

THEIR SOULS WERE TRAPPED IN MY JUJU. FOREVER.

Flash back to John sticking his arm in the Juju:

It’s in Rose’s square.

I dunno, I feel like this is significant somehow. What it means, though, I have no idea.

So, are the kids stuck forever? Or is Cali's statement wrong bc the chest currently in the hands of Meenah or Aradia, or is it impossible to get them out? Please explain, this can woo some people grasp the juju

Well, the way I see it, these are the possibilities:

This is an alternate timeline, either doomed, void, or split Alpha Timeline.

These are decoys of the kids.

Caliborn is wrong; they’re not actually trapped.

Caliborn is wrong; they ARE trapped, but somehow they will be freed.

The kids ARE permanently trapped, but will be “recreated” somehow.

Some other option I haven’t thought of.

I’m inclined to think it’s Option 1, but at this point, there’s really no way to tell which it is.

There’s just no way the Beta Kids will be permanently trapped in the House Juju (Homestuck, heh) in the ALPHA-Alpha Timeline with no hope whatsoever, though.

Terezi is NOT going to have Vriska’s death retconned

Yes, Terezi regrets killing her, but more significantly, she realizes she was cornered into that choice and wonders, had she been thinking clearly and known all the facts, had any thoughts or circumstances changed, would there have been more options? Would killing Vriska be the only way to stop her?

GC: 1 K33P WOND3R1NG 1F TH3R3 W4S 4NOTH3R W4Y GC: SOM3TH1NG OTH3R TH4N L3TT1NG H3R GO, OR K1LL1NG H3R

GC: WH3N 1 CONFRONT3D H3R, 4ND 1T W4S T1M3 TO M4K3 UP MY M1ND GC: 1 THOUGHT 1 H4D 1T 4LL F1GUR3D OUT, L1K3 TH1S W4S WH4T 1 H4D TO DO. NOT JUST TO S4V3 3V3RYBODY, BUT 4S SOM3 STUP1D R1T3 OF P4SS4G3 OR SOM3TH1NG? GC: TH3N 1T C4M3 T1M3 TO DO 1T, 4ND 1T W4S 4LL H4PP3N1NG SO F4ST... GC: 4ND 1 FORC3D MY OWN H4ND. 1 COULD 31TH3R L3T 3V3RYON3 D13 1N ON3 R34L1TY, OR K1LL 4 FR13ND 1N 4NOTH3R GC: 4ND 1 T3LL MYS3LF THOS3 W3R3 TH3 ONLY TWO VORT1C3S 1 S4W... GC: BUT TH3N, 1 W4S TH3 ON3 WHO M4D3 TH3 S3R13S OF D3C1S1ONS WH1CH L3D UP TO TH4T CHO1C3, 4ND COMPL3T3LY P41NT3D TH3 OPT1ONS 1NTO TH4T CORN3R

TEREZI: 4ND NOW 1T F33LS L1K3 TH3 ONLY "H3RO1C" TH1NG 1 3V3R D1D W1TH THOS3 POW3RS TEREZI: W4S US3 TH3M TO JUST1FY K1LL1NG MY FR13ND [...] TEREZI: 4ND WH4TS WORS3 1S TEREZI: TO TH1S D4Y, 1M ST1LL NOT 3V3N TOT4LLY SUR3 1F 1T W4S N3C3SS4RY [...] KARKAT: WELL, YEAH. OF COURSE IT WAS NECESSARY. KARKAT: EVEN IF IT WASN'T THE MORALLY RIGHT CHOICE OR WHATEVER, IT WAS OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING THAT HAD TO HAPPEN. [...] KARKAT: IT'S SIMPLE. IF YOU HADN'T KILLED HER, YOU WOULD HAVE WITHERED AWAY IN A DOOMED TIMELINE.

Maybe, in the end, these retcons reinforce to Terezi that indeed, killing Vriska is the only viable option, and she makes that decision with a clear mind and of her own accord—not one limited by Rage. By knowing Vriska is responsible for Tavros' death and not all the others, as well as no longer viewing their confrontation as a JUST1C3 role-playing game of sorts, Terezi will no longer have lingering doubts and regrets, and instead embrace her role as a Seer of Mind.

If the retcons are geared toward this intent, they wouldn't so much undo events as undo Terezi's outlook and attitude—her depression,  self-hatred, and rejection of her role. Really, only events post-Cascade and events revolving around Terezi would change. And there weren't even that many of those during the meteor trip.

But here's the main reason nothing significant will change pre-Cascade: Doc Scratch's narration.

The Seer of Mind had challenged the Thief of Light to a simple game of chance. If the result was the undamaged side, the Thief would agree to stay. If not, she would "go." [...] The actual result was trivial; it was a constant across all timelines. [...] The Thief used her abilities to steal the fortune of her opponent, and forced the flip to yield what she regarded as the most favorable outcome. The Seer anticipated this move, correctly.

I've never much enjoyed navigating the vortices of alternative possibility. The path which alone has my absolute mastery is the alpha timeline, a continuum I define as that which boasts exclusive rights both to my birth and to my death, two circumstantially simultaneous events. Any divergence from this path to my knowing will taper into blackness like rotting roots.

(Bold emphasis mine.)

Why is this information significant? The Alpha Timeline seems to have already taken John's retcons into consideration. So far, all events as known from Caliborn's perspective, like John dying in an explosion and his "ghost" returning periodically to haunt him, seem to be accurate post-retcon information. (Of course, this is also assuming the Jade and Jane hanging out with Calliope are from the same and Alpha timeline.)

If retcons don't change or contradict Caliborn's knowledge, I would think this concept would extend to Doc Scratch, as well, considering his omniscience and influence. Undoing Vriska's death would dramatically change his story.

Not to mention, it would change this:

But it is the desecration of a priceless timepiece where I must draw the line. I'm afraid I must now insist that you take your beating quite personally.

Events that directly affect and influence Doc Scratch, Spades Slick, and the destruction of the universe leading to the creation of the Green Sun.

The one way events could change is if Doc Scratch is playing a rare prank. If that is the case, Terezi doesn't need to kill Vriska, but someone else does in order for the god tier clock-related events to occur. An escaped Gamzee would be the likely culprit.

Regardless, Vriska still has to die Justly, or too many crucial events change.

!!!!!

I haven’t had the chance to read any of this yet, and I’m unsure when I will, but... The long-awaited Epilogue is finally here! And ~8000 pages? That’s almost as long as Homestuck itself! (Possibly a longer read, depending on format.)

This is an awesome and fitting 10th Anniversary gift! I bet Hussie’s been purposely waiting to release it on this particular anniversary.

Happy 4/13! Here’s to 10 years of Homestuck, and happy 23rd birthday to John and Jane!

Edit: Never mind; the 8000 pages was referring to Homestuck itself, not the epilogue.

UU: it is the day whereafter the legendary octet of mUtUal progenitoriety will come together and heal a great breach in paradox space. UU: a day delivered throUgh eighty billion years and foUr distinct Universal instances worth of Unfathomable tUrbUlence. UU: and while the emerald eye of this storm is fixed in the abyss forever UU: today yoU are poised to escape its scowl once and for all. UU: by skaias gUiding light, yoU may leave behind its tUrning arms of bright coloUrs and mayhem, and secUre peace for yoUr cosmic progeny for all dUration.

The emerald eye of the storm---the storm of “Unfathomable tUrbUlence“ and “a great breach in paradox space“!

Does anyone else find this resemblance incredibly ominous?

Teaser for my upcoming theory post! Look forward to it sometime this week.

Muse of Space: Rise up.

UU: . . . yoU have already spent a long time gathering intelligence Unbeknownst to the aUthorities.

  !CALLIOPE: my soul would have to wait here. !CALLIOPE: for what felt like a very, very long time. CALLIOPE: wait for what? !CALLIOPE: you. !CALLIOPE: echidna told me that your visit would be my signal.

UU: how mUch more do yoU expect to accUmUlate even if yoU coUld stay Undetected? UU: and how mUch strategic advantage is left to gain by delaying yoUr discovery for mUch longer?

  UU: as i told yoU earlier, my brother is hUnting for me. so i have created a little sanctUary in space to stay hidden from him. UU: . . . he is highly sensitive to my presence, so it is very easy for me to get his attention if i'm not carefUl.

  CALLIOPE: this is it then, is it? CALLIOPE: am i to spend the rest of eternity hiding inside this vortex? CALLIOPE: how can i go in search of myself if i am blown to smithereens the moment i set foot oUtside? CALLIOPE: maybe the trUth is... CALLIOPE: sUch a fate woUld be preferable to this. CALLIOPE: i am so dreadfUlly lonely. u_u

  UU: i say the time to make a stand is now!

  UU: make yoUr presence known. let them see that the [mUse] is awake, and make it abUndantly clear what that means.

[T]hose in the territory of a good cheru8 will likely come to view it as a protector, waiting quietly for millenia in deep space, ready to attack any encroaching threat.

UU: perhaps it is their tUrn to be nervoUs? to cower in the shadows and live in Uncertainty?

UU: i mUst remain hidden from everyone for as long as i can. TG: why? TG: why not come out and be all like TG: here i am yo its me! secret weapon ghost callie ;)

UU: that is my advice. do with it as yoU will.

!CALLIOPE: live.