Troll Primer
May. 17th, 2019 09:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mindseerAlways a WIP
I am no expert on Homestuck, so if you wish to suggest a correction below, send me a private message. I may or may not update the information below. I'm disabling comments, though, because this is more meant to be a helpful reference for non-HS familiar people who want to understand these things a little better, not to open dialogue on topics many of us have hashed out for way too long anyway.
Table of Contents
1) What are some Basics you can tell me about what a Troll is?
2) What is the Hemospectrum and how is Troll Society organized?
3) What is Troll Romance like and how do they make more trolls? (The PG version)
4) What the hell is this SGRUB game and how does it affect the story?
5) What's the Plot of Homestuck?
6) What's Troll Culture Like? (Big time WIP)
I am no expert on Homestuck, so if you wish to suggest a correction below, send me a private message. I may or may not update the information below. I'm disabling comments, though, because this is more meant to be a helpful reference for non-HS familiar people who want to understand these things a little better, not to open dialogue on topics many of us have hashed out for way too long anyway.
Table of Contents
1) What are some Basics you can tell me about what a Troll is?
2) What is the Hemospectrum and how is Troll Society organized?
3) What is Troll Romance like and how do they make more trolls? (The PG version)
4) What the hell is this SGRUB game and how does it affect the story?
5) What's the Plot of Homestuck?
6) What's Troll Culture Like? (Big time WIP)
(frozen) The Hemospectrum (Troll Social Structure and Castes)
Date: 2019-05-17 05:22 pm (UTC)Generally, the "Hemospectrum," as it's called, rises in order from Red/Rust at the lowest end to Fuscia/Light Purple at the highest, being the color of the royal bloodline.
It is worth noting that Troll Society is inherently violent. The 'higher' the blood, the more likely that a member of the species has murderous impulses, with land dwellers being less able to control this than sea dwellers (meaning that the most inherently violent subset are the so-called Indigo "High Bloods."). This murderous impulse is partially normalized in society and to an extent a member of a higher caste is permitted to kill/cull a member of a lower caste within reason, though there may be repurcussions with the deceased's closest associates. Revenge killings are not unusual to troll society.
The Castes:
Bright Red: A mutation of the social order, seen in only two cases (Karkat and the Sufferer/Kankri Vantas). Generally considered by purists to be beneath even Burgundy/Rust blooded trolls, they are almost outside of the caste system and are viewed with derision, scorn and even fear, potentially subject to the attacks of fellow trolls, particularly during the era of the Sufferer, before Karkat's birth.
-Known Unique Qualities: Land Dwelling, no known powers.
The Low Bloods
Burgundy/Rust: The lowest of the low. Adventurous and short lived by nature, Burgundy-blooded trolls usually endeavor to travel and explore, as much to get away from the society wherein they are treated as little more than chaffe.
-Known Unique Qualities: Land Dwelling, Short Lived (~30-60 Years), prone to psychic powers, vulnerable to psychic powers.
Bronze/Umber: "Fudge" or "Mudblooded" are the second lowest of the castes. They are generally agrarian in nature and left to the cultivation of crops needed to maintain troll society. When applicable, their psychic abilities are usually more empathic in nature, serving to assist in maintaining herds of domesticated beasts.
-Known Unique Qualities: Land Dwelling, Short Lived (close to human), prone to empathetic psychic abilities.
Gold/Yellow: One of the highest of the "Lowbloods," Yellow blooded are prone to psychic powers of either a divination or psychokinetic nature. They are utilized as the 'worker bees' of troll society and tend to be one of the more abused of the castes, shackled for their powers and treated more as living tools than individuals.
-Known Unique Qualities: Land Dwelling, Short Lived (Roughly Human), prone to psychokinetic or divination-related psychic abilities. Known for a 'vision two-fold,' which generally translates to the ability to see in two very different ways at the same time.
The Middle Classes
Lime: Little is known of the Lime-blooded other than that their psychic powers were immense and they were killed off almost to the troll in the past.
Olive/Dull Green: Considered "Good but not so great" by higher bloods, Olive blooded trolls are a large body of the middle class of society. Possessing few, if any, psychic powers they represent the point at which troll blood stops being known for this knack. They are still relatively short lived compared to royal blooded trolls, but are not known for being short lived. There is, basically, very little special about Olive bloods and they are frequently used as foot soldiers, rogues, spies or whatever they happen to be good at doing.
-Known Unique Qualities: Land Dweller, None otherwise.
Jade/Bright Green: Considered rare among trolls, they are a mostly female caste who are largely tasked with care for the wrigglers. Though not all are able to endure the harsh light of the Alternian Sun, it is not an unusual quality in their ranks, normally tied to their propensity to create "Rainbow Drinkers" (trollian equivalents to vampires who can walk in the day).
-Known Unique Qualities: Land Dweller. Larger number of daywalkers and rainbow drinkers. Usually female.
The High Bloods
Teal/Light Blue: (Terezi) The median between the middle green castes and the blue high blooded caste, the Teal blooded are almost exclusively involved in the legal system of the troll society, being forced as a caste to serve as judges, attorneys, executioners, investigators and the like. Essentially they are the nobidlity's equivalent to a dedicated legal bureaucracy, frequently with brutal jobs. Like Olive-blooded, they are not as a caste known for any unique abilities. Though they are considered high blooded, however, they are not nobility.
-Known Unique Qualities: Land Dweller, no special properties.
Cerulean/Cobalt Blue: The lowest of the Nobility of Troll society, Cobalts are a male dominated caste known for manipulation and scheming. They are, because of their nobility, left more to their own devices than lower castes and take this as far as they can get away with, which can result in a lot of good or harm to others, depending. Psychic powers are rare, but not unheard of, as are eye mutations of unique varieties.
-Known Unique Abilities: Land Dwellers, longer lived (? years), occasional psychics (mental manipulation), occasional eye mutations with unique vision properties, Increased Aggression (Moderate to Minor).
Indigo: Again, male dominated, this noble class has a traditional rivalry with the lower caste of the royalty, jockeying for favor and power. They are considered enthusiasts of the caste system and a bit on the snooty side. Most are physically adept to some extent (though Equius' incredible strength is an outlier) who are not always fully aware of their own prowess. They are generally elites of the military, where their violent urges are put to better use.
-Known Unique Abilities: Land-dwelling, Longer lived, Physical Prowess, Increased Aggression (Moderate)
Purple: The so-called High-Bloods are the highest tier of land-dwelling trolls and are the bearers of the most violent urges in troll society. They are unpredictable, hard working, ambitious as a rule and extremely violent. Most adhere to a clown-centered religion of Juggalos that is (admittedly) very strange and surreal, and equally hard to explain. Many possess a telepathic ability that can be used to 'keep lower castes in line,' and as a result they are frequently used in social structures intended to maintain the order of the caste system.
-Known Unique Abilities: Land-Dwelling, Psychic Powers (Telepathic usually), Long Lived, Extremely Violent urges.
The Sea-Dwellers/Royal Blooded
Violet: The lowest of the sea trolls, all of whom have a bladder-vascular system more common to fish and amphibians, along with gills that enable the breathing underwater along with lungs capable of taking on regular air. They are extremely violent, chaotic and prone towards attacks on land dwellers. Piracy is not uncommon, as are raids and the like on land dwellers. They tend to be physically quite adept but are not known for a lot of special powers, instead being allowed considerable social latitude to do whatever they want.
-Known Unique Abilities: Amphibious, Social Latitude, Moderate Physical Prowess, Very Violent tendencies.
Fuschia: Also sea-dwelling, the royalty of the trolls shares the same properties of breathing as Violet trolls. They are extremely rare, usually with only two being alive at a time (The current empress and the heir apparent), and it is not uncommon for the current sovereign to seek to kill their heir to avoid abdicating the throne themselves. While alive, the Heir apparent generally exerts a near totalitarian control of their preference on the homeworld (as the Sovereign is rarely on Alternia), matching the preference of the individual heir. Heirs are tasked to keep a giant, near omnipotent monster beneath the sea in check to avoid devastation to the race. They are exceptionally long lived and the two primary known members seem capable of extending the lives of others, though this may have been because of personal powers. Due to its rarity, most Fuscia blooded trolls are semi-unique in terms of their personal powers and psychic abilities.
-Known Unique Abilities: Amphibious. Possible Unique abilities. Exceptionally long lived (The Condesce lives nearly a millenium). Near unquestioned authority over the empire. Violent tendencies (though this varies from person to person)
(frozen) Quadrants: Troll Romance/Reproduction
Date: 2019-05-17 05:53 pm (UTC)1) How do Trolls make a baby?
-Do you remember in Pokemon, when you gave them your pokemon at the pokemon nursery and they said "Sometimes a miracle happens and an egg appears!" And nobody ever told you how it happened? This is one of those times. Dumb jokes are a thing, but we're not getting into crude biology. It's a PG Game.
Just know that it involves buckets and buckets freak trolls out. That is all you need to know.
2) Ok, so what about Troll Relationships?
-now this, I will answer. Trolls are intensely romantic creatures with complicated dynamics. They view four 'types' of relationships as being "Romantic" in nature, with two of these being associated with the reproductive process, one of them "Redrom" and the other one "Blackrom."
Basics -
Redrom are romantic entanglements centered around the emotion of Pity or Sympathy. One or both partners have pity towards the other that carries with it a quality of affection, akin to friendly or loving interest. These relationships usually have a dominant partner and a submissive partner. One is pitied, the other pities, though this can vascillate at times between them.
Blackrom are romantic entanglements centered around the emotion of Hate and Rivalry. These partners enter into a rivalry-centered relationship of mutual hatred and endeavor to one-up or harm each other without actually killing or destroying each other. (It is important to note that trolls are violent. There is platonic hate, which usually just involves wanting to kill someone or not deal with them, and romantic hate, which wants to play up the hatred in almost comically theatrical varieties.)
These two types of emotion get tied into two romantic relationships each, creating what are called the "Quadrants." Two are Red, two are black.
-Reproductive Relationships: Matespriteship (Red/Flushed) & Kismessitude (Black/Pitch)
-Non-Reproductive Relationships: Moirailship (Red/Pale) & Auspisticism (Black/Ashen)
People flip between these things all the time, and added to this you get situations where people are flushed for someone who hates them, yada yada yada, and it all gets hopelessly convoluted after a while. Trolls are, additionally, culturally bisexual, hermaphroditic and generally polyamorous because of their need for both Flushed and Pitch relationships to reproduce. If this sounds like a clusterfuck, it is.
The Quadrants: Because basically that's the only way this makes even a little bit of sense (I'm lying. It doesn't. It never did.)
These are sometimes symbolized by a suit in a deck of cards in text chat to show interest.
-Matespriteship/Flushed: <3
This is basically the closest thing to a normal human romantic relationship in the western sense you're going to find. One partner pities the other, and the other likes being pitied. They feel deeply protective of each other and attracted, going out of their way to support one another. It usually has a Submissive/Dominant element, though this may be more because of the caste system than the emotions involved. It is not especially violent, but can become so because of the protective element.
Multiple Matesprites are unlikely due to inherent jealousy, but not strictly impossible.
-Moirailship/Pale: <>
Somewhat closely akin to human friendship, a moirailship is a sort of mutual bond between two people who find something in the other that they pity, and who want to help 'fix' or address that element. It is a supportive friendship that is not sexual in nature and tends to be very protective, angling to protect the moirail not only from others but from their own worst inclinations. One of the more well known examples was Nepeta and Equius, where Equius would guard Nepeta against her flighty nature and making foolish choices that might get her killed, and she tried to control Equius' more obsessive and violent urges, keeping him from doing unfortunate things that would have lasting consequences. They weren't successful, mind you, but they show how it's 'supposed' to work in principle.
Multiple moirailships are not unheard of, but troll problems tend to be inclusive and demanding. One doesn't usually have multiple best friends who save each other from themselves regularly. The same goes here, though it's not impossible.
-Kismessitude/Pitch: <3<
Trolls are violent. Even Rust bloods are violent. They hate lots of things. A kismesis is someone that someone hates almost to the point of obsession, but not someone that they want to simply kill, destroy or never see. It is a seething, blinding obsession that drives them to one-up, to challenge and to fuck with that person near constantly. When the feeling is returned, it becomes akin to the concept of a "Hateship" with a heavy rivalry element. The longer-lived a hateship goes, the more that partners will develop a sort of rapport where they can deal with their urges to one-up each other without going overboard. Youthful hateships, however, have a nasty habit of being very violent.
Multiple Kismesis relationships are a good way to get a lot of dead trolls. They happen. They usually end in blood. No tears. Just lots and lots of blood and bodies.
-Auspisticism/Ashen: o8<
Like I said. Trolls hate a LOT of things. And they go too far with that hate a lot of times. They're also polyamorous, which means the possibility of multiple kismesis exists, which is a good way to find a whole lot of dead fucking trolls when the jealousy hits. That, and they just want to wreck shit sometimes. The Ashen quadrant is sort of an accidental result of this.
In this, a third party steps into a hateful relationship and mediates it in some fashion. Possibly they calm the parties down so that they're seething but not romantic/overly destructive. Possibly they give the two of them something else to hate and keep the others busy. Possibly a lot of things. The point is that the third party exists to keep these two from blowing their gaskets and everyone around them to hell, and they keep things nice and stable. It is not unheard of to see individuals with multiple Ashen engagements, though this can get very exhausting and earns one a reputation as a "Fussy McBritches" (I'm looking at you Kanaya.)
Good, now. Did that all sound stupid and confusing? Congratulations! It is, and you're right there with Karkat, many fans and the rest of the cast who got really tired of this by end canon. It's a complicated headache.
(frozen) Troll Aging and Life Cycles and Basic Biology.
Date: 2019-05-17 06:22 pm (UTC)Trolls us a system for the passage of time known as "Sweeps." A sweep is longer than an Earth Year, being akin to the time it takes for Alternia to make a "sweep" around its sun. Because this has been the subject of more debates than I care to discuss, I will be using the Homestuck Wiki's dating of ages of characters as canon, period. That can serve as a guide for the duration of a sweep:
6.00 Sweeps = 13 Human Years.
7.38 Sweeps = 16 Human Years.
9.00 Sweeps = 19 Human Years.
9.69 Sweeps = 21 Human Years.
These are ballparks based upon the ages of the primary and secondary trolls as per the wiki. This gives us that the average Sweep is roughly 2.17 Earth years in revolution around the Alternian Sun.
===================
The Life Cycle of a Troll
Trolls are, basically, semi-insectoid mammals who go through larval and pupal stages before achieving early maturity and full maturity as horned, bipedal humanoids with gray skin and variable blood colors that may signify other biological properties depending upon the color/breed.
The more red a troll's blood, the warmer blooded it is. The more blue/violet, the colder blooded it is.
The more red a troll's blood, the shorter it's lifespan. The more blue/violet, the longer. On the short end, Rust Bloods live 30-60 years, barring a violent death. We don't get hard years for other breeds, but it is surmised that Fuschia blooded can live centuries based upon the Condesce (Though her lifespan may have been further extended due to the power she had over life forces). Somewhere around Gold/Yellow and Olive/Green blooded trolls, it is likely that one is dealing with a relatively human lifespan. Blue bloods will live longer than humans, though it is unclear how much. Assume the more blue, the longer lived.
They all begin as larva or "Wrigglers," which are like something between a beetle and a caterpillar with a humanoid face on it. They go through a pupal phase after this in the early sweep, and become 'mature' in the sense of having achieved their final form.
Rather than being raised by biological parents, they are raised by "lusi," which are monstrous beings domesticated for the purpose of rearing child trolls to full maturity. These lusi vary by blood but tend to be consistent generally across blood type.
Most Trolls appear to be carnivorous in nature, but not obligatory carnivores (like Sharks). It is relatively safe to assume that they're probably in the same general category as wolves, foxes or bears, who can eat other things than meat to supplement their diet, but who require a certain amount of meat more than humans... particularly given the sharp teeth that they have.
Trolls have horns on their foreheads of a "Candy Corn" coloration and variable appearance depending on blood typing. They normally have yellow eyes with small irises matching their blood color and dark black pupils. Trolls who have died in the SGRUB game may appear in dream bubbles as spirits of a sort, and have white eyes without visible, discernible pupils or irises.
Trolls, as has been said numerous times, have violent tendencies. One technique used to control these is sleeping in a slime that soothes the dreams they all suffer every day, though this "Sopor Slime" is considered mildly toxic and hallucinatory and should not be eaten.
(frozen) Troll Culture and Names for Human Things
Date: 2019-05-17 06:26 pm (UTC)Might stay a WIP. It's really complex and annoying. Basically, short version: Assume they have a name for stuff o earth that is weird but "Ok, I guess that makes sense." Like Bark Beast instead of Dog. They have specific forms of art and culture that are very strange and surreal and only really make sense to them. These have a way of being somewhat limited to bloodlines (e.g. the Clown Juggalo cult is pretty much a Purple-Blood/High-Blood thing.).
Bank on weird shit. We'll see if I feel like explaining later.
(frozen) SGRUB Classes and Aspects
Date: 2019-05-17 06:58 pm (UTC)Yes. I'm being serious. A giant fucking frog croaks near the end of the series and makes a universe seed and they live in it.
Look, it's a very giant, dumb video game and most of the castmates would agree on that point. They hated it by the end and were glad to be done with it.
However, one thing about SGRUB is sort of mildly important to understand the characters: Everyone in the game is assigned a Class and an Aspect. Every team usually only ever has one of each Class and one of each Aspect (though if teams team up... well you get the idea). These Classes and Aspects impact the way in which a character impacts the plot of the whole story on numerous occasions, and plays into their nature as characters, so it's available if you want to plow through it. Most classes are either Passive or Active in how they approach their aspect.
I will be keeping explanations to a sentence of two. Basically imagine "Hey how might these two things impact each other metaphorically in a combat situation?" Done. You have the idea of how this character operated in the story to some extent.
(Some of these are speculation)
Classes:
-Thief: Actively takes/steals the Aspect for themselves and their Use.
-Rogue: Passively Shares/Steals the Aspect for their teammates/others.
-Heir: Passively invites change through their aspect, and by being/becoming their aspect.
-Maid: Actively One who protects others through or is protected by their Aspect.
-Page: Passively? One who creates or provides others with their Aspect.
-Knight: Actively, One who serves others through their Aspect or wields it as a weapon for others.
-Seer: Passively, One who sees or understands through their Aspect to support/coordinate their team.
-Mage: Actively?, One who benefits themselves through their knowledge of their Aspect.
-Sylph: Passively, One who repairs or heals their Aspect, or through their Aspect.
-Witch: Actively, One who manipulates their Aspect.
-Bard: Passively, One who invites destruction through their Aspect.
-Prince: Actively, One who destroys their Aspect or through their Aspect.
-Muse/Lord: Passive and Active "Master" classes respectively. They wield the Aspect at a Cosmic Scale either passively or Actively. (Basically End Game Boss stuff.)
Aspect:
-Space: Of or relating to the basic fabric of proportion, distance and, you know. Space in a "Space/Time" sense of the word.
-Time: Of or relating to Time. Duh.
-Mind: Of or relating to Thoughts, Decisions and the Consequences of one's decisions.
-Heart: Of or relating to the soul or essence of a being (Though it has some relation to romance/emotion.).
-Hope: Of or relating to Hope, Potential, or Faith/Belief. (Tends to be the one with "Holy Powers.")
-Rage: Of or relating to Rage, Negative Emotion or Madness.
-Breath: Of or relating to Freedom, Change or Direction.
-Blood: Of or relating to Unity, Friendship, Ties, Relationships.
-Life: Of or relating to Life and Life Forces (Duh.)
-Doom: Of or relating to Misery, Fate, Binding and the Rules of the Game.
-Light: Of or relating to Light, Luck, Fortune and Chance.
-Void: Of or relating to Nothingness, Lack, Secrets and Emptiness.
(frozen) So, What is Terezi?
Date: 2019-05-17 07:01 pm (UTC)In essence: "One who sees or understands through the thoughts, decisions and consequences of those choices of herself and her teammates to support/coordinate her team."
That's basically how she operates in the group, as a background supporter who theoretically guides them not to make stupid mistakes. >.> She doesn't do a very good job of it until the end, at which point she does a colossally good job of fixing her own mistakes and enabling the others to avoid the worst case ending.
(frozen) The Plot of Homestuck
Date: 2019-05-17 07:45 pm (UTC)Nope. I am not explaining the full story to you. Here is Terezi's Wiki Page. That'll give you the basics if you want.
But it's over 8000 pages, includes numerous flash animations of 5-10 minutes each, several flash games with easter eggs everywhere, a few extremely irritating "side comics" that mean nothing to the plot, and is absolutely saturated with alternate realities, doomed timelines, time travel and other insane drivel that can make explaining the series painful at best.
So, I have no short-hand for you on this one. Homestuck was a beast to get through, and to this day there are vast parts of it that don't make sense to me and a lot of fans.