Homestuck Trivia

Obvious Things You Missed

Homestuck is big. Really big. It's understandable that people miss things that might be obvious to others with many rereads under their belt. Cataloguing these common pieces of trivia was the duty of the posters at the now dead Obvious Things You Missed threads. This is an archive of everything they felt worth cataloguing, with some modern additions. The MSPA Forums were murdered in 2016, after all.

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Basically Homestuck is really big and really complicated. Occasionally you may make connections on a readthrough or casual skim of the forums that completely went beneath your notice before. When you do, this thread is here.

This is the thread for posting either obvious stuff you missed the first time around or not-so-obvious stuff you wanted to bring light to, unless it happened in the last three days, in which case you are better off in a Comic Discussion thread.

There will be a hall of fame for some truly amazing things that may have been missed. For example, If you miss Act 3, you will automatically be rocketed to the top of the leader-board in the "Missing shit" competition.

Previous threads:
Obvious Things You Didn't Notice for Months
Obvious Things You Missed 2: The Second One, Just In Case You Missed It
Obviouth Thingth You Mitthhed 3: Tholluxth thpeakth with a lithp
Obvious Things You Missed 4: Wait, it's in the OP!?!
Obvious things you missed 5: WV likes green? (but phrased wittily)
Obvious Things You Missed 6: Stuff Happened in the Banner?
Obvious Things You Missed 7: Why do I suddenly feel like cake?
Obvious things you missed 8: three days or you didn't miss it.
Obvious things you missed #9: three days or the cat's not Sassacrushed.

Here are some commonly missed things, amassed in part by Tesseract and Tenebrais. Please make sure that you don't post something that's already listed here.

General
- Homestuck BETA
- The horseshoe at the end of [S] Rose: Fast forward to now. leads to [S] Ride..
-- [S] Frigglish: Fast forward to Jaspersprite. links to the B2 version of [S] Ride.
-- [S][A6I1] Karkat: Mental breakdown. has a button in the upper-right that leads to that weird Nic Cage thing.
-- [S] Terry: Fast forward to Liv. has a link to [S] Wait, what am I supposed to do with this bunny again?.
- Ms. Paint is first seen here.
- Karkat's blood color was (unintentionally) foreshadowed here.
- John's shirt reacts to his being named Zoosmell Pooplord.
- John and Karkat both have AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH. ~ATH on their computers.
- Tavros runs over Tinkerbull in this page.
- The frog temples are models of their session's incipisphere, with the frog as Skaia, the central structure as the seven gates (implying all sessions have seven gates), and the pillars the players' planets, Derse, and Prospit.
- Snoop Dogg appears in the background here and here. The ICP appear in the background here.
- Jade has had a magic 8 ball and magic cue ball.
- Loss of and arm and an eye:
-- John's harlequin, both tiers of his sprite and the kids' Dersian royalty are also missing them, of course.
-- Jack is also a Captain-Hook-like figure, having lost an eye and an arm in both universes.
-- Vriska is the Captain Hook/Tinkerbell to Tavros's Peter Pan. (Wings, missing an eye and an arm.)
-- The blue doll John intended to prototype Jade's kernelsprite with (he was hoping that it would deprive jack of both arms and both eyes).
-- So is Mindfang.
-- The "t1CK t0ck" code is said to accompany the ultimate demise of the tyrant less an arm and an eye.
- John's shirt turns blue on this page due to gif pallette issues (despite what this thread said before, that isn't a compression as such).
- John does a windy thing here (though that might really have been a convenient wind; it is part of the planet's name, after all).
- There's a cloun on this page.
- Eridan blinded Sollux with science.
- AR's stuff once belonged to Grandpa Harley.
- Trolls have ears.
- Sollux going blind is foreshadowed early on and he outright stated it was going to happen a bit later.
- Sollux has Sgrub-related scrawlings on his wall.
- WV's keyboard may or may not contain a pumpkin key.
- Jack scanning the barcode mirrors one shot in [S] Jack: Ascend..
- Andrew had earlier used Lil' Cal in a comic, but he had originally taken it from Byrobot [EDITOR'S NOTE: More Lil Cal comics here].
- Vriska mentions, at one point, ripping her heart out of her chest and pounding it to a bloody pulp on a hard surface with her super strong robot arm, spattering nasty blue blood everywhere.
- Nepeta threatens to tackle Equius, but is nowhere even remotely within his proximity that would be necessary to execute such a maneuver.
- Gamzee asserts that making Equius smile would be the best fuckin miracle he ever did part of.
- On this page a screen on the right displays eight planets rather than four. It is likely just another session, however. Andrew didn't think of the ancestor-swap until around the time John started ectobiology. [citation needed] [EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm pretty sure I've seen
- There is a looong underling (maybe a basilisk or an imp) in the background of this page.
- Karkat has a drawing of his dad on the fridge.
- DD is wearing cat ears here.
- Dave pestering someone like clockwork is mentioned twice.
- Darkleer's hive looks a lot like this thing.
- John used to wear a spades shirt, Dave a hearts shirt (and before that a bib) and Jade a diamonds shirt. The Squiddle on Rose's standard shirt is shaped like a club.
- Doc Scratch has a painting of Pyralspite wrecking Mindfang's fleet.
- Sweet Bro is the stubbled red-shirt, Hella Jeff the 8Y-faced blonde.
- WV's standard sprite is facing towards us.
- Most of the trolls' horns mirror their symbols.
- The trolls' dreamselves' shoes match their blood colors, with the exceptions of Karkat, Terezi, Sollux and Vriska. Several of their wakingselves' do as well.
- Hussie may or may not have been locked in Vriska's attic.
- John has been carrying Serenity around.
- Libra. Scales. Dragons.
- Terezi's consorts are crocodiles.
- The Tumor is not only associated with black and white, but also with red and blue.
- Karkat foreshadows his ancestor's execution
- Sassacre's book "could kill a cat if you dropped it." (several thousand pages pass) "Yep, he's dead. Totally Sassacrushed."
- Dave's got a picture of Sawtooth and Squarewave on his wall.


413/612/1025/2/8
Homestuck began on 4/13/09 and is the reason for 413 showing up all over the story. Similarly, Act 5 started on 6/12/10 and is the reason the Trolls' have 612 as their arc number. Add these two together and you get 1025.

- There are 4 13-year-olds and 12 6-sweep-olds. The beta started on 4/10, hence the chums originally being 10.
- The kids' first names each have 4 letters and their last names either 6 or 7 (according to their dream planet); adding together 6 and 7 gets you 13. Similarly, the trolls are 6 and 6, for a total of 12.
- The bottom right pool balls spell 413.
- 4 13s and 6 12s.
- There are 4 suits in a standard deck, each containing 13 cards.
- In [S] WV: Ascend., Rose's mom inputs what is presumably 413 into the terminal.
- 4-1=3
- 4+1+3=8
- Sollux's bees pair up into 2s and their eyes flash beenary. "B" is the 2nd letter in the alphabet.
- Vriska is the 8th troll in Zodiac order, the 8th troll introduced, the 8th to enter the game.


The Felt
The names of the members of Lord English's gang each have significance that is not at once apparent. (taken from wiki)

Lrd English: A type of spin put on the cue ball. Also retroactively named for Lord British from Ultima, who could only be killed by glitches.
Doc Scratch: A term for pocketing the cue ball. Also possibly a reference to "old scratch", an old name for Satan.
Itchy: Named for "ichi", the Japanese word for one, and as an allusion to the cue sport term scratch. It is also an indicator of his demeanor; he appears tense and high-strung, and is loaded with caffeine.
Doze: Named for "dos", the Spanish word for two. He also appears quite sleepy.
Trace: Named for "tres", the Spanish word for three, as well as his ability to retrace people's Past Trails.
Clover: Most likely named for the four-leaf variety of that plant and his leprechaun-like personality and stature.
Fin: Named after a slang term for US five-dollar bills, although the name also recalls his strangely shaped head. It is also possible that he is named for the French or Spanish "fin", both meaning "end". He also has notoriously sharp teeth, and, like Trace, resembles a shark. A pool shark.
Die: Named for the number of sides on a standard cubic die, and "die" as in death.
Crowbar: Named for the similar shape of a crowbar and a 7.
Snowman: Named for the slang for pocket 8s in poker. Could also be a reference to the similarity in shape between a snowman and the number 8, or possibly a pun ("she's Snowman" is almost a homophone of "she's no man"); her name is also possibly intended as an ironic reversal of her black complexion as a distinctive feature among The Felt members. Sinking the 8-ball ends the game (universe).
Stitch: Named for the scar on his face, as well as the phrase "a stitch in time saves nine" and the fact that he is a tailor.
Sawbuck: Named after a slang term for US ten-dollar bills, which, like Fin, probably comes from the shape of his head.
Matchsticks: Named after the fire producing sticks, because of his powers to appear at whatever time and place that there is a fire. Matchsticks also look a lot like the number 11.
Eggs: Named for the most notable product served in a dozen, and his eggtimer.
Biscuits: Named for a baker's dozen, and his oven.
Quarters: Named for "quatorze", the French word for fourteen, but also for the money as when he got introduced, quarters were shown to be used by the Felt to summon each other.
Cans: Named for "quinze", the French word for fifteen. "Can" is a boxing term, equivalent to "jobber", someone who is there only to lose.



The Trolls
Similarly to the Felt, the trolls' names each have latent meaning.

Karkat: Sanskrit for Cancer (Karkata).
Vantas: A drug to treat cancer.
Gamzee: Named for someone on the forums (called Gamze).
Makara: Sanskrit for Capricorn.
Terezi: Azerbaijani for Libra. Sounds like Tiresias of Oedipus and Homer fame.
Pyrope: A red pyralspite garnet, lit; also means "fire eyes". Sounds like "rope".
Sollux Captor: From Castor and Pollux, the twins in Gemini and red and blue suns. "Sollux" is also Latin for "sunlight".
Tavros: Greek for "bull". Sounds like wheelchaired Davros from Dr. Who.
Nitram: Named for someone on the forums (called Martin). Mary Martin played Peter Pan in the 1954 musical.
Aradia: A goddess/witch figure in Pagan mythology.
Megido: Har Megiddo is the mountain which is said in the Abrahamic religions to be where the apocalypse takes place.
Nepeta: Name of genus containing catnip.
Leijon: Taken from Anna-Greta Leijon, a 1976 Swedish Minister of Immigration who was kidnapped in a plot called Operation Leo. "Leijon" is the archaic spelling of "lion" (or Leo) in Swedish, and "leijona" is Finnish for "lion".
Vriska: Vriscika, Sanskrit for Scorpio.
Serket: Egyptian scorpion goddess.
Equius: The horse constellation (from Equus, Latin for horse).
Zahhak: A villain from Iranian folklore who was strong and clever but easily manipulated by his evil counselors into world domination, and whose older name means "10,000 horses".
Kanaya: "Kanya" is Hindi (I think?) for Virgo.
Maryam: Arabic version of Mary (as in the Virgin Mary, the Auxiliatrix).
Eridan: From Eridanos, the river poured onto the Earth by Aquarius.
Ampora: From Amphora, the jug used to do such.
Feferi: From metasepia pfefferi, a vibrant species of cuttlefish.
Peixes: Portuguese for "fishes" or Pisces.




Other Name Meanings

- "Homestuck". "Earthbound".
- ~ATH > tilde ath > til death (has an icon of Death's head)
- ^CAKE > carat cake > carrot cake (has an icon of a carrot cake)
- DIS* > dis asterisk > disaster risk (or possibly disastrous)
- The chumhandles/trolltags are based on DNA (G, C, A, T). John's newer EB may be a reference to ethidium bromide, or Earthbound.
- Jade views the world through rose-colored glasses; Rose is jaded.
- Heir of Breath > breath of air
- Knight of Time > time of knight
- Maid of Time > made of time
- Heir of Void > Void of Air (he was strangled)
- Seer of Light > sees light
- Thief of Light > steals Terezi's vision
- Gl'bgolyb > glub glub
- part-pickle > particle
- Land of Little Cubes and Tea > LOLCAT
- The becquerel is the SI unit of radioactivity.
- Upon ascending to godhood, you gain a god hood.
- Black Inches is an actual magazine.
- Kanaya becomes a rainbow drinker after being kissed by the Knight of Blood.
- Bilious Slick sounds like "billiards stick".
- "Noir" is French for "black", making Jack translate to "Blackjack" (in which the most powerful hand is a jack and an ace, and spades is the most powerful suit), or alternatively, "Jack Black".
- SS hates everyone, DD often helps keep him under control, HB is an avid shipper, and CD excels at mediation. Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs.




Common Misreadings

- Homestuck > HomeStuck
- Hivebent > HiveBent
- Egbert > Eggbert
- ghostyTrickster > ghostlyTrickster
- incipisphere > incinisphere
- Tavros > Tarvos
- Megido > Medigo
- Leijon > Lejion
- Eridan > Eridian
- 0k > 0kay
- subjugglate > subjuggulate
- auspistice > auspitice




Common Misconceptions
- Karkat's blood is at the bottom of the hemospectrum. Or the top. {It is nowhere; he is a mutant and hence treated the worst.}
- Dave is an albino. {He shows traits of it, but Andrew has stated on Formspring that he's not an albino but just blond. Also, he would probably not be able to function in his light-filled city or land, stare directly into a bright dream bubble, see as clearly as he has been shown to, etc..}
- Tavros has what appears to be a bucket on his jousting thing. {It is a can, likely an old game container or can of Grub Sauce.}
- The Batterwitch was the Witch of Life in the pre-Scratch session. {Feferi is the Witch (of Life), her ancestor is the Batterwitch.}
- There is troll blood in the coffee. { No, just the alluded-to oily film that coffee develops. Employee tumblr post saying so here. [EDITOR NOTE: Worth noting that Hussie said otherwise in his commentary, proving even he managed to forget what he was going for.] }
- Trolls don't write English. { Vriska can read English text just fine. }