History Homestuck / TropesAToL

** In Act 6 Act 5 Act 2, after playing a purposefully annoying mini game in which you just move trickster Dirk to the right until he reaches his goal, the options to "Play again?" are "no" and "fuck no." However, if you roll over either button, a bigger button will appear saying "YES," taking you back to the beginning of the game.
** Crocker-tier Jane sells Kanaya troll blood. The options are "Yes" and some other form of yes, differing with each bottle.

[[folder: C]]

* ArtEvolution: The author's skill with flash has improved quite a lot since he started. Compare [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=001982 this early page]] with [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003049 this one]]. Regular updates have the same sprite style since the beginning, and the "hero mode" drawings have a consistent style, although they appear much more often later in the comic. The author admits this is still well within his talent and he prefers the simpler style, though this has changed somewhat.
** Also inverted in terms of Hussie's skill--drawing the high-detail cover for the "Heir Transparent" album in fact took him more time than it would have before he started the comic, simply because he just doesn't do that kind of stuff lately.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Thorns of Oglogoth are described as doom artifacts.

* ArtShift: The comic tended to shift into [[http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Hero_Mode more traditionally drawn]] panels for [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome suitably epic]] scenes, although by Act 5, half the pages are done in this style. It also switches into a [[http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Scribble_Mode more scribbled and sloppy style]] for silly or childish panels.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The united trolls & humans plan to be sent at near light-speed on their asteroid to the new B2 session in a single push. When Karkat objects that they can't stay ahead of a pursuing Jack, [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006285 Rose shuts him up]] by mentioning "Troll UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton," which is well and good except for two problems:
## Accelerating to near light-speed in a single short push would impart enough energy to render them instantly into a sub-atomic plasma.
## The Medium is breathable, so there's presumably air resistance. Hitting air at near light-speed would ''also'' more than vaporize them. It would also slow them down, gradually. Newton's 1st Law would only prevent this in a vacuum.

* AscendedMeme: On the forums, due to the [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} community's general personality]], many forum polls had "WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE" as a non-sequitur choice. Shortly after this happened, Worcestershire sauce got a mention in the comic. There are many other examples, as Andrew Hussie incorporates [[WildMassGuessing speculation]] into the comic.

* AsYouKnow: Future Dave and Future Rose's review of the events leading up to their appearance.

* AuthorAppeal: For one, glasses. Seriously, over half the main cast wears glasses of some kind [[note]] John, Jade, Jane, Jake, and Vriska have actual corrective lenses, All 4 Striders, Sollux, and Equius wear shades, Eridan is a bit of an enigma but might wear them as part of being a hipster, Terezi wears glasses less out of a corrective need and more to [[EyeScream hide her burned-out retinas]], and Feferi wears her goggles, which [[GogglesDoNothing may or may not do anything]][[/note]].
** Amongst other things, clouds, superpowers, and [[ComplexityAddiction intricate plots]] are things Andrew enjoys.
* AuthorAvatar: [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003571 Andrew Hussie: Engage in highly indulgent self-insertion into story.]] He shows up for recaps, and also when the fanbase is particularly riled up about something to [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004397 troll them]] and [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004971 make references to]] ''Film/TheNeverendingStory''.

*** Dirk is also Andrew's avatar, but to a much greater extent than Dave. He and Andrew seem to have similar ideas about irony, and they've both performed {{MST}}ings of actual books by writing in them.
*** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And they both have the same Sweet Bro tattoo]]
* AuthorCatchPhrase: '''BLUH'''
--> GC: [=1 4M UNF4Z3D BY YOUR HUM4N BLUHS=]

[[folder: B]]

* BaitAndSwitch: [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002565 Here]], after heavy anticipation of Jade's first appearance.

** The Land of Heat and Clockwork also applies to a limited extent.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: The Incipisphere is breathable.

* BattleCouple: Jake and Dirk are a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of one.

* BeamOWar: Eridan and Sollux engage in this twice.
* BeamSpam: [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003260 Sentryworm.]]

* BerserkButton: Two words: Kankri Vantas.

* {{BFG}}: Holy ''[[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005064 shit.]]''
* [[{{BFS}} BFH]]: The Telescopic Sassacrusher is too big for John to use on his own. And then there's Fear No Anvil, which in its natural size is too big even for the gauntlets. Inverted, however, with The Bunny's weapons, which, while insanely powerful, are ''too small'' for the kids to use.
** {{BFS}}: All of Dave's swords are significantly longer than he is tall in the standard art style. While more proportional in the various {{art shift}}s, they still fall under this trope.

* BigDamnKiss: Foreshadowed [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006456 here]] and played out [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=007150 here]], though [[ProphecyTwist not exactly in the manner implied.]]
** And again [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=007321 here]], with possibly the most awkward build-up imaginable beforehand. [[TrollingCreator Probably on purpose.]]

* BigGood: The White King, until he abdicated to a [[AlmightyJanitor postal worker]].

* BigNo: Jake's reaction to Jane's [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/trickster.php?s=6&p=007623 new hue]].
** John's reaction to [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=008230 Karkat being stabbed by Crocker-tier Jane]].
** Dave's reaction to [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=008289 grimbark Jade trying to push The Mayor into lava.]]
* BigShutUp: [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=007426 Here.]]

-->@@JOHN YOU ARE STUPID\\

* BigYes: "YES. HELL YES. HELL [[PrecisionFStrike FUCKING]] YES."
* BilingualBonus: Used in an interesting way. The troll alphabet is actually the [[http://www.imperial-library.info/content/daedric-alphabet Daedric Alphabet]] from Franchise/TheElderScrolls, rotated 180 degrees. The first name suggestion translates as "Turdodor Fuckball." The "real" name, however, translates as "Trollplanet", which is obviously just a joke since the real name is "Alternia". The attempted insulting name for Karkat translates as "Bulgereek Nookstain". During their fight scenes, the word "[[{{Griefer}} GRIEF]]" appears instead of the kids' STRIFE. Much later, we discover that the name of the Fluorcite Octet's ultimate attack translates as "Ancestral Awakening."

* BizarreAlienReproduction: Trolls reproduce by donating two samples of genetic material to the Mother Grub, with one sample coming from a loving pair and the other coming from arch-enemies. This works just as well between same-gender couples as it does between mixed-gender couples, rendering sexual preference meaningless to the entire species. They must be able to provide at least one pair of buckets, or they will be killed. Among other things, this also means buckets are morbid sex objects to trolls.
** Exactly how bizarre is unclear due to RuleOfFunny, CallARabbitASmeerp and TeasingCreator.

* BlackComedy: ''Homestuck'' has ''many'' examples of this, often accompanied by MoodWhiplash.

* BlandNameProduct: Played straight with ''Gamebro'' magazine and the chat client Pesterchum.
** "[[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Green Slime Ghost]]".

* BloodyHilarious
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Troll society takes killing relatively easily. Childhood on [[CrapsackWorld Alternia]] begins with a series of dangerous trials designed to off the weakest of them; once the survivors pass, they're introduced to an essentially lawless society where everyone has to fend for themselves, compassion is weakness and your frenemies are likely to stab you in the back. Arbitrary cullings are commonplace. They don't seem to have a huge problem with murder in its own right, just when it happens to someone they actually like, in which case it's okay to get bloody revenge on their fallen friend's behalf. Trolls who would qualify as dangerous sociopaths and serial killers on Earth are just thought of as huge tools, except for [[VigilanteMan Terezi]], who is well-liked (possibly because unlike Vriska, who kills indiscriminately, Terezi has a set of rules she follows). The actions of Vriska are more understandable given the culture she grew up in--and it's implied she isn't nearly the worst out there, just the worst given characterization.
** Trolls are so inherently violent that being someone's MoralityPet is an integral part of their culture.

** It is first implied then later outright stated to be due to Doc Scratch's meddling. The pre-Scratch version of Troll culture was too soft and the players failed hard at the game (because they were too weak and unprepared), so Doc Scratch (on Lord English's orders) manipulated their culture to bring about a brutal, violent, ''prepared'' group of teens the second time around.
*** Another big part of it was the Condesce's insane ruling; it would seem that a murderous, bigoted sociopath who believes in a bastardized form of social Darwinism and apparently thinks that wild animals are better at child-rearing than adult trolls [[{{Understatement}} doesn't exactly make a civilized society]].

* BookEnds: The story begins and ends on April 13.

* BootstrappedTheme: Sburban Jungle and the drumline from Upward Movement (Dave Owns) are more or less the main themes at this point.
** Also, Doctor. It was originally used for John's land, then for his ascension to God Tier, then ''Jade's'' ascension to God Tier, and by now it is ''the'' most heavily remixed song in the entire Homestuck discography.

* BrickJoke: In a meta-joke, from [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004387 here]] to [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004974 here]].

** Eggy-Looking Base.
** The red, swingy, flippy, flappy dealie on the mailbox.

* ButThouMust: One of the inhabitants of the Land of Wind and Shade asks John to sell him his dapper suit. At many other such choices in the segment there are two buttons to click, "Yes" and "No", but this time "No" is the only option.

*** Later, Crocker-tier Jane sells Kanaya troll blood. The options are "Yes" and some other form of yes, differing with each bottle.

* CallBack: Almost ''every single page'' is in some way a call back to another, either visually or in some other elements. There's an in-universe explanation, a phenomenon called [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005710 circumstantial simultaneity]]. For some examples:

* CameBackStrong: God Tiers do this. Kanaya also achieved this by becoming a vampire.
* CamelCase: Every pesterChum or Trollian handle.
* TheCameo: The Parcel Mistress has a letter addressed to a [[Webcomic/DrBrinnerGhostPsychiatrist Dr. David Brinner]] at one point.

[[folder: A]]

* ABoyAndHisX: Jade and Bec.
* AbsurdlyHighStakesGame: The story revolves around a game that ends the world. Not playing means dying, while playing means killing everyone else, and having the possibility of dying anyway. It's a rather large gamble.
** A more minor appearance is when Terezi takes a gamble with everyone's life on the line in [S] Flip.
* AccidentalInnuendo: Invoked in-universe, [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006272 from Karkat's POV]] when John sends him and the others a letter in a bucket. Played with even a bit more before, as Jade chastises John and tells him to "throw [a bucket] through my mysterious portal"

** Also definitely subverted by the Condesce, who is the only living adult Troll... and is very much ''not'' useless.

--> OH GOD HOW CAN SHAVING CREAM BE SO FLAMMABLE

* AfterTheEnd: The Reckoning initiates a meteor storm that reduces all host planets it affects to a desolate wasteland to be populated by Exiles from the game years in the future (but not many).

* AirJousting: Featured [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002771 here.]]

* AlienBlood: The troll hemospectrum contains a wide variance of colors, but they are all dull and muted. Karkat's bright red blood is an anomaly.
** Three of the storyline trolls have special blood: There's Karkat's mutant candy-red which ''isn't even on the hemospectrum''; Feferi has the most highly-ranked shade of purple of any living troll, making her the future Empress. Kanaya's blood is pretty rare as well, and she comes with a number of exceptions to general troll rules. It's possible Karkat and Feferi and their ancestors are the ''only'' trolls of their blood colors on account of being created with ectobiology rather then being born the usual way, though with Kanaya we do get mention of other Jadebloods.

* AlliterativeName: Used several times for the characters' screen names: tentacleTherapist, gardenGnostic, gutsyGumshoe, timaeusTestified, apocalypseArisen, cuttlefishCuller, uranianUmbra, and undyingUmbrage.

** Draconian Dignitary[=/=]Diamonds Droog.

* AllOfThem: Used by various characters, though mostly Vriska.
* AlternateSelf: Dreamselves, doomed timeline doubles, and Scratch counterparts.

** The fourth universe is when the Kids do their own Scratch, resetting their universe. This universe also contains Earth and humanity, but things have changed a bit, and troll influences are a bit heavier.
*** This universe's version of Sburb, the Sburb Alpha, is depicted with a horizontally-flipped logo colored red to demonstrate its creation by Betty Crocker Corp. The universe itself is associated with green, which serves as an inversion from the pre-Scratch universe, which was associated with red and the Sburb logo was green.
*** Earth itself is more of less the same. However, there are a few differences:

*** The far future of this Earth is also home to the Cherubs Caliborn and Calliope.

* [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation Amazing Technicolor Babies]]: When trolls are grubs their eyes and bodies are their blood colors. Once they pupate, their skin and eye colors become the same between all trolls, however they fill in with blood pigment as the trolls get older. The twelve main trolls are still young enough for their eyes to be uniformly gray-and-yellow.

* AmbiguousEnding: Act 7 in a nutshell--at least until the credits sequence came along.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Vriska and Eridan, killing three people between them, are considered monsters, while Jack, who killed millions, hardly seems to have hit the MoralEventHorizon. Vriska and Eridan had killed their so-called friends, rather than simply attacking their enemies. Eridan did however destroy the Matriorb, thereby dooming the Trolls to extinction, and Jack will blow up Derse, which is basically his home.

*** Virtually nobody brings up the fact that Vriska personally murdered thousands of trolls, or that Eridan murdered their lusi [[note]]Indeed the first thing Eridan does after being officially introduced is murder a lusus[[/note]]. Feferi and Terezi likewise escape judgement despite being complicit in their murders for sweeps. (Granted, Alternia has a society in which violence is widespread and even encouraged.)
*** Feferi, at least, has an excuse: if she doesn't keep her lusus alive by feeding it the lusii Eridan hunts, it will kill ''[[BrownNote everyone in the galaxy.]]'' Vriska's case is similar, if less intense (failing to feed her lusus will only lead to the death of the two of them, as opposed to the entire galaxy), but other aspects of her character mentioned elsewhere on this page keep her from being seen as sympathetic in the eyes of some.
* AnachronicOrder: The entire storyline is fraught with flashbacks, flashforwards, different universes (which exist in separate timelines altogether rather than the past, present, or future), and everything in between. Good luck figuring out anything. The Intermission and Act Five take [[SerialEscalation this even farther.]]
** [[http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/288/b/3/homestuck_timeline_by_niftyapplestar-d4cyonx.png This might help.]]
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The comic tends to change POV at extremely inappropriate times. It once showed the POV of a ''hat''.

** The Midnight Crew has to take the cake for this. They have a chapter's worth of story, but have nothing to do with Homestuck. You're meant to think so, anyways.

*** This has become so prevalent that we get this from [[=A6I5=]]:
--->'''Andrew:''' ''So why don't we stop wasting everyone's time, shut the lid on this lousy MacGuffin, and be Viceroy Bubbles Von Salamancer.''
*** This becomes relevant in [S]Collide.
* AnimalMotifs: Quite a bit, seeing as the Trolls are partially inspired by the Western Zodiac. Most of these are represented through their horns (Tavros = Bull, Aradia = Ram etc) while others show it through their actions (Karkat = Crab = [[GrumpyBear Crabby]], Vriska = Spider/Scorpion = [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Unpleasantness]] etc).

* AntiquatedLinguistics: Hussie loves using obscure vocabulary.
** Jake speaks with an odd mix of modern and early 20th century slang.
* AntiClimax: Most of the flashes usually have some action; [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005420 [S] 3x Showdown Combo]] appeared to set up a [[MexicanStandoff three-way fight]] between the murderous trolls God-Tier {{Munchkin}} Vriska, "[[BlackMage White]] [[InvertedTrope Scientist]]" Eridan, and MonsterClown sober Gamzee; then quickly averted it as Kanaya came BackFromTheDead and kicked all their asses.

* APlanetNamedZok: Downplayed quite a bit with troll planet Alternia.

*** This was downgraded to a Class 4 (Extinction of higher lifeforms) during the Post-Scratch Human session due to the machinations of the Condesce. She later alterniaforms the flooded Earth and colonizes it.

** Class X-5 (Multiversal Destruction) is the aim of Derse, although why exactly hasn't really been explained.
*** Jack's destruction of the Human Universe was later revealed to be this, as his destruction of the Genesis Frog destroyed ''any and all'' parallel universes from the Human Universe.

* [[ApocalypticLog Apocalyptic Memo Page]]: Due to the nature of [[TimeyWimeyBall time]] in Homestuck, Karkat's final memo actually gets viewed by the people it most affects before it even happens.

* AlienLandmass: The Medium of Sburb creates a unique, distinctly alien planet for each player. Examples include the Land of Wind and Shade's glowing blue rock formations and rivers of oil; the Land of Mounds and Xenon's planet-circling canyons, and the Land of Quartz and Melody's crystal mountains.
* AllJustADream: [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005732 Here]], Doc Scratch [[TheReveal reveals]] that, from the [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005674 coin flip onwards]], he had [[HalfTruth actually been describing]] a [[ForWantOfANail doomed alternate timeline in which Terezi let Vriska carry out her plan]], and that, in the alpha timeline, Terezi had [[SelfDefeatingProphecy foreseen that outcome and stabbed Vriska to avoid it]].
* AllTrollsAreDifferent: ''Homestuck'' plays with the dual meaning by having [[{{Troll}} internet trolls]] turn out to be actual grey-skinned creatures with horns. Further reveals have shown that they're HumanoidAliens, with BizarreAlienBiology implying that they're closer to insects than humans, divided into varieties with different blood colors that to some extent determine traits, abilities, and lifespan. They're a HigherTechSpecies whose society runs on BlueAndOrangeMorality and lots of violence. They're almost all bisexual (because gender is vestigial) and have weird forms of romance(troll reproduction requires this), and many are either psychic, psychotic, or both. Most of the less-savory aspects of their culture are not natural, but were engineered by malevolent outside forces. Prior to the pressing of an in-universe ResetButton, trolls were a peaceful species. Personality-wise, there's a great deal of variation within the 12 trolls in the cast (and [[GenerationXerox their ancestors]]): from {{Anti Hero}}es to {{Anti Villain}}s, {{Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain}}s to {{Smug Snake}}s, monsters to {{Messianic Archetype}}s. However, they are similar to mythological trolls in that they are nocturnal and sensitive to sunlight. As in, sunlight can blind them. Permanently.

* AlienGeometries: The final form of Skaia is certainly non-euclidean.

* AllLowercaseLetters: Jade, John, Dave, and quite a few trolls type (and speak!) like this, but they have different styles; see [[Characters/{{Homestuck}} the dossier]] for more detail.

* AlternativeCalendar: Alternians measure time in "solar sweeps" rather than years; one solar sweep, at least as far as age is concerned, is equal to two point sixteen repeating years. (And ''two'' solar sweeps equals [[ArcNumber four and one-third]] years!)
* AltText: The banners in Act 5's Doc Scratch arc starting [[http://mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005956 here]].

* InventoryManagementPuzzle: Part of the humor of early acts was the increasingly ridiculous Moduses that characters have to deal with. This recurs briefly at the start of Act 5 and Act 6 before fading again.

* AmbiguousEnding: Act 7 in a nutshell. Let the RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement prevail here.

* FreudWasRight: [[invoked]]

* CrutchCharacter: Time players seem to be this for their group: they are able to TimeTravel and sense changes in the timeline before they ascend to God Tier, whereas everyone else's powers are locked off, or at least harder to use, until they die on their Quest Bed. All of the Heroes of Time shown so far have been incredibly {{Badass}}, Dave and Aradia especially, backing this up.

* Tavros [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004951 reminds]] us why children [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003819 should not be allowed to dual-wield flintlock pistols]]; he makes Jade kill Grandpa Harley with the same pistols an infant Harley used to kill Colonel Sassacre.

* Doc Scratch rhetorically [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005532 explains Rose's powers]] by comparing her relationship with the Horrorterrors to [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005220 Kanaya's tutelage under Scratch]] and [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005261 Eridan's connection to the angels]], implying the Horrorterrors have been using Rose for their own ends.

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: [[{{Troll}} In more ways than one!]]

* GuideDangIt: [[Invoked]]. All players in a session must prototype their respective Kernelsprites at least once before entering the Medium; failure to do so renders the game {{Unwinnable}}. The game comes with no documentation, and there is no guarantee the players will figure out that "prototyping" is even a thing they can do, let alone a thing they ''must'' do within a certain timeframe. The Kids only realized this after their session was nearly complete.

** In act one, it is established that John [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=001977 can play the piano.]] Later on, John needs to [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=008998 play the pipe organ]] for his quest. Longest

* ChekhovsGunman: Gamzee was called the most important character in ''Homestuck'', but he does relatively little outside of killing two ''very'' minor characters. Turns out, Gamzee manages to create the a large portion of the code that created Doc Scratch and made the doll that spawned Jack's hatred for harlequin clothes. He's practically the indirect cause of a lot of the bad things in the comic.

** Spades Slick breaks originally wants to get rid of the Felt for [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003055 destroying one of his favourite casinos.]] He still gets his opportunity for revenge later. [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=009875 Much later.]] [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]: 'That didn't stop from being a thing.'

* BewareTheSillyOnes: Courtyard Droll[=/=]Clubs Deuce is an [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} idiotic goofball]]. He's also the killed the most (that we see) of the whole Midnight Crew, with his body count including Jade, Jake's dream self, and the majority of the Felt.

** One RunningGag has a character expecting ShavingCream to put out fire, only to learn it actually makes it worse. This is largely inconsequential until the Courtyard Droll attaches explosives to a pack of shaving cream and uses it to kill Jade right as she was supposed to save the Kids from being wiped from reality.

** During Doc Scratch's [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005709 second narrative takeover]], he stops narrating for a time before returning and revealing that he was doing his first takeover during his brief absence. It's incredibly strange.

** John's hatred of Betty Crocker.

** [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003338 Chekhovs Juice]]: This is not a trope, but it damn well should be.

* CityPlanet: Prospit and Derse have no real "ground," just buildings on top of buildings.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The united trolls & humans plan to be sent at near light-speed on their asteroid to the new B2 session in a single push. When Karkat objects that they can't stay ahead of a pursuing Jack, [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006285 Rose shuts him up]] by mentioning "Troll IsaacNewton," which is well and good except for two problems:

* GeodesicCast: * ''WebComic/{{Homestuck}}'' turns it UpToEleven with four kid protagonists, four corresponding guardians, four exiles, and four sprites. And then there's twelve trolls, who turned out not to be counterparts at all- but they also each have a corresponding lusus and exile... and some of their exiles are alternate universe characters from the kids' session.
** Also, four of the trolls took a role as a "patron" for each of the kids. Vriska is John's, Terezi is Dave's, Kanaya is Rose's, and apparently Karkat is Jade's. The Trolls have long-deceased adult ancestors, with similar personalities, zodiac symbols, and powers, but their own separate subplot.
** Pretty much the only characters that break the mold are the kid's version of Jack Noir (he is the DiscOneFinalBoss, while the troll's is an Exile), and Doc Scratch, who manipulates both sessions without bothering with a counterpart.
*** Well, technically Doc Scratch's counterpart is Bec, as they're both First Guardians: Doc Scratch is First Guardian of Alternia, and Bec is First Guardian of Earth. But since Bec is a [[RunningGag Good Dog, Best Friend]], he only cares about Jade's welfare and not about meddling.
*** Bec has recently [[spoiler: gotten a new counterpart in [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin God Cat]]. The First Guardian of the rebooted universe.]]
*** Both Jacks are more parallel than it seems at first. [[spoiler:Both end up destroying their own session's originating universe and help create the Green Sun.]]
*** And it gets even worse, as it was revealed that [[spoiler:all of the ancestors of the trolls actually played a session that resulted in a reset, which switched their places in the timeline with the troll kids the readers know, who had been the ancestors in the original troll universe.]]
*** And as of 11/11/11, [[spoiler:the same thing has happened with the human universe, with the four ancestors of the B1 kids becoming the Sburb players for the new B2 universe.]]
*** [[spoiler:As of [=A6I3=], there are an additional twelve extra trolls: the dead A1 trolls in the dream bubbles.]]
*** [[spoiler:And, hopefully finally, there are the two cherubim, one of which is the juvenile version of [[BigBad Biggest Bad]] Lord English.]]
*** The kids' Jack gets a counterpart in [[spoiler:Peregrine Mendicant]], while the trolls' Jack gets one in [[spoiler:the alpha kids' Jack]]. [[spoiler:Both pairs end up fighting in the End of Act 6 sequence]].

-->[=GT:The last thing i need on my bday is another installment of and i quote manbro bukkake theater.=]\\

* CallBack: Almost ''every single page'' is in some way a call back to another, either visually or in some other elements.
** There's even an in-universe explanation, a phenomenon called [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005710 circumstantial simultaneity]].
*** And at one point it is implied to be [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005603 the entire point of the game/comic]].
* CallForward: "TROLLING ME FROM THE FUTURE, HOW JUVENILE CAN YOU GET" - oh, you are so right there, Karkat. [[SarcasmMode You would never do such a thing.]]
** Doc Scratch to Terezi: I'm not going to tell you my name. But if you wish, you may refer to me as Mr. Vanilla Milkshake. It is perfectly in keeping with a habit which you will develop in the future.

-->@@[[color:red:TG: i always keep birds in here its sort of my thing]]\\
[[color:#4ac925:GG: ohhhhhhh\\
GG: kind of like all those silly naked puppets are your bros thing?]]\\
[[color:red:TG: no no thats irony this is like\\

TG: im training to be a lame gothy supervillain]]@@

--> [[color:#008282:GC: [=1 4M UNF4Z3D BY YOUR HUM4N BLUHS=]]]

-->[[color:green:[=GT: Does that mean I'll have to deal with two dirks?=]\\

[=GT And another who is a computer program you made hahahahahahaha.=]]]\\
[[color:orange:[=TT: That's a super joke.=]]]

* BenevolentArchitecture: Parodied. [[color:#2ED73A:Stitch]] and [[color:#2ED73A:Crowbar]] are found setting up a room with two rows of chest-high [[CrateExpectations crates]] before a gunfight breaks out. Very thoughtful of them.

---> [[color:#e00707: DAVE: what are welsh things doing in this game]]
---> [[color:#f2a400: DAVESPRITE: thats an awesome question]]

-->[[color:green:[=GT:The last thing i need on my bday is another installment of and i quote manbro bukkake theater.=]]]\\
[[color:orange:[=TT: You still don't actually know what that means, do you.=]]]\\
[[color:green:[=GT: Not really? Its your friggin figure of speech man. I gathered it just meant getting slimed like in ghost busters or somesuch.=]]]

** In [[[color:white:Doc Scratch's]]] case, it's more like Color Coded For Your Inconvenience - [[[color:white:his text is in all white, forcing readers and characters alike to highlight it in order to read it easily.]]] The annoyance of this is repeatedly lampshaded.

-->[[color:red:TG: just once id like to see dad crap his pants when a kid says theres a vampire in his closet]]
-->[[color:red:TG: "OH SHIT EVERYONE IN THE MINIVAN"]]
-->[[color:red:TG: be fuckin dad of the year right there]]

-->[[color:purple:TT: That was a really good idea, John. Nice work.]]\\
[[color:blue:EB: thanks!\\
EB: i got the idea from harry anderson.]]\\
[[color:purple:TT: Who?]]

* EvilVersusEvil: The Midnight Crew vs [[color:# 2ED73A: The Felt]]. Apparently subverted during the Intermission, as [[color:# 2ED73A: The Felt]] (except possibly [[color:# 2ED73A: Sn]]o[[color:# 2ED73A:wman]]) don't seem nearly as bad as the Midnight Crew. Double subverted in act 5, where we [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003992 learn]] that [[color:# 2ED73A:Lord English]] is an indestructible, time-traveling demon destined to eat the corpse of the recently-destroyed universe and trying to ensure his own eventual summoning, and presumably the universe's destruction.

** In the Midnight Crew intermission, [[color:# 2ED73A: Sn]]o[[color:# 2ED73A:wman]] stabs her cigarette holder into Spades' eye.

-->[[color:red: TG: i just want your professional take on how many things in my dream symbolize dicks]]
-->[[color:#b536de: TT: We've already established that all of your dreams are packed with enough homoerotic symbolism to lift Freudian theory from the ashes of discreditation.]]

--> [[color:gray: CCG: LATER, FAG.]]
--> [[color:gray: CCG: TOO BAD THE ACRONYM WASN'T "HAG" INSTEAD, IT WOULD HAVE SUITED YOU MUCH BETTER.]]
--> [[color:gray: CCG: INSTEAD OF THAT NONSENSE WORD]]
--> [[color:gray: CCG: MAYBE [[HistoricalInJoke ITS ASSOCIATION WITH YOU WILL COLLOQUIALLY CAUSE IT TO TAKE ON A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION]], WHAT DO YOU THINK?]]

* GilliganCut
--> [[color:#e00707: TG:]] [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004672 i dont cry]]. [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004673 The next panel.]]

* IHaveMyWays:
--> [[color:#b536de:TT: My perception of the future has been informed by other sources.]]
--> [[color:#0715cd:EB: like what?]]
--> [[color:#b536de:TT: Informants.]]
--> [[color:#0715cd:EB: durrrrr.]]

-->@@[[color:#4ac925:GG: but isnt this your sword?]]\\
[[color:red:TG: that could be anyones sword]]\\
[[color:#4ac925:GG: :|]]@@

* InsistentTerminology: The '''[[color:#2ed73a:Green Sun]]''' is always written in green with flickering letters (using an image file).
** Similarly, '''The Tumor''' is always written in black, at least until its appearance is known and then it's [[color:white:T]][[color:black:h]][[color:white:e]] [[color:black:T]][[color:white:u]][[color:black:m]][[color:white:o]][[color:black:r]] ("[[color:#b536de:Black-and-whitened for giant yin-yang bomb.]]")

-->@@[[color:gray:CG: MORE OF THIS NARCISSISM.\\

CG: WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR DUMB LITTLE WINDY PLANET OR YOUR PETTY LITTLE QUESTS.]]@@

--> @@[[color:#e00707: SQUAREWAVE: YEAH, DOGG!!!]]@@

-->[[color:#626262:KARKAT: THEY DIDN'T EVEN GIVE YOU ANY GRIST, YOU IDIOT. THAT WAS YOUR FIRST CLUE.]]

[[Homestuck/{{TropesMToO}} ==>]]

[[Homestuck/{{TropesMToO}} ==>]]