The Alternian Nation series, a Homestuck fanfic by celynBrum
, partially based on the TV Show Alien Nation. It begins with Home Is Where The Heart Is, following with All's Fair in Love and War, and Blood is Thicker Than Water. A fourth installment titled You Reap What You Sow was planned, but due to the author losing motivation is unlikely to be written.
In Home is Where the Heart Is, Feferi devised a desperate plan to escape Alternia. Hijack a ship, load it with as many trolls willing to board, and run so far and so fast not even they have any idea where they are going. They crash-land on Earth's surface after a long and bloody voyage. When the story begins the Alternians have more or less been integrated into Los Angeles. But it's not perfect; homeless Alternians wander the streets, prejudice runs rampant, and someone is going around killing trolls and painting complex murals with their blood. Spread across all walks of life from the top of the society to the dirtiest of alleyways the Trolls do their best to survive day to day while humans do their best to adapt to the new additions.
All's Fair in Love and War picks up where the last story left off. This time the danger is much more sinister, going for the defenseless among them. Comatose Aradia has been kidnapped, leading the characters into the complex world of criminal politics against basically everyone's better judgement. Time is running out fast, and there are hints that this kidnapping is about a lot more than money...
Another piece of note is the one-shot Christmas Miracles, focusing on Gamzee and Karkat's utter bewilderment at the holiday season and how getting locked in a mall at night has a lot of unintended consequences.
This fanfiction contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Karkat and Gamzee's foster father, who beat Karkat, stole Gamzee's medication money to spend on beer, and was generally a shitty guardian. Karkat eventually ended up bashing him over the head with a toaster after he started to turn his violence on Gamzee, leading them to end up on the streets.
- The Alcoholic: Roxy Lalonde. She decides to sober up after the events of the second fic.
- An Ass-Kicking Christmas: Karkat and Gamzee have one in the prequel fic "Christmas Miracles".
- The Atoner: Equius has a lot of regrets.
- Ax-Crazy: Half the Highbloods on the ship lost their minds when the sopor ran out, leading to the "Night Of Blood".
- Big Damn Heroes: Gamzee taking down the Ringmaster at the end of the first fic.
- Big Damn Villains: The Midnight Crew in the finale of the second fic.
- Bittersweet Ending: The third fic. Dirk is cleared of all charges but is unfit to continue to take care of Dave, who moves back in with Roxy. Vriska is saved but also has to move into the Lalonde household. Karkat is able to calm Gamzee down but Gamzee was found in the same room as a corpse and it's clear that everything isn't completely okay between the two of them.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: In addition to all the bizarre biology trolls have in canon, apparently touching their hornbeds triggers a "submission reflex" that causes a flood of endorphins.
- Bullying a Dragon: In the sequel, some of the kids at John's school try to pick on Karkat and Gamzee, despite the fact that they have Super-Strength, fangs, claws, and a whole bunch of other advantages. It's not as bad as most examples of this trope, though, since the bullying isn't too severe and rarely gets physical.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Roxy Lalonde is a Lady Drunk, but she's also a fantastic scientist and has a number of powerful connections. She becomes even more effective after she overcomes her alcoholism.
- Chekhov's Gun: The map of the Midnight Crew's hideouts.
- Christmas Episode: A prequel fic called "Christmas Miracles", which follows the then-homeless Karkat and Gamzee.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The "Purists". Mr. Egbert lampshades in "All's Fair In Love And War", outright comparing them to the KKK.
- Good Parents: Dad Egbert, Grandpa Harley, and Tavros and Terezi's caretakers.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Snowman and Vriska seem to genuinely care for one another. Indeed the Felt in general seem to treat each other surprisingly well, as do the Midnight Crew.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Averted. Snowman wants to bring Vriska into the family business, but Doc Scratch won't allow it.
- Evil Uncle: Spades Slick for John and Jade, though neither of them know it.
- Fantastic Racism: Many people against Alternians.
- Fantastic Slur: "Troll", and the even more offensive "goat-eater".
- Half-Identical Twins: John and Jade; Rose and Dave.
- Happily Adopted: Tavros and Terezi, by their respective human families. Karkat and Gamzee end up adopted by Mr. Egbert at the end of the first fic.
- Hates Everyone Equally: Spades Slick, which he even lampshades. Ironically he still uses racial slurs.
- Hearing Voices: Gamzee, whose voices tell him to kill people.
- Humans Through Alien Eyes: As in Homestuck canon, much of human society looks outright bizarre to Alternians — particularly human relationships.
- Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Will Smith has one in the sequel.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Outright quoted after it is revealec that the Ringmaster is both Jonh and Jade's biological father and Spades Slick's twin brother.
- Mafia Princess: Vriska due to being adopted by Snowman.
- Man Behind the Man: Snowman and the Felt are working for Doc Scratch who's working for a larger organization and it's boss.
- Monster Clown: The "Ringmaster".
- Morality Chain: Karkat to Gamzee. Karkat's mediation is pretty much the only reason Nepeta and Equius are even still alive.
- Nature vs. Nurture: Many characters muse on whether the violent tendencies many Alternians have are an innate trait or simply a consequence of living in an extremely brutal society.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Doc Scratch reveals that he was actually considering letting Vriska into the Felt which would've given her the info the she needed... had she not spied on him, which proved to be one of antics he wouldn't tolerate.
- Noodle Incident: The Midnight Crew escaping prison between the first and second fic. Clubs Deuce was apparently responsible, but we don't learn how he managed it.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Vriska accuses Aradia of this, claiming that she would've killed Vriska and that attacking her was self defense. Aradia privately admits that she's correct.
- Pet the Dog: Vriska and the Midnight Crew both get these moments in the second fic; Vriska spares Aradia (as opposed to taking the opportunity to kill her) and the Midnight Crew save Terezi, Dave, Tavros, Equius, and Nepeta from the kidnappers.
- Official Couple: Rose/Kanaya like in canon.
- Only Sane Man: Diamonds Droog for the Midnight Crew.
- Overlord Jr.: Vriska, who was adopted by the leader of one of the city's major gangs.
- Reality Ensues: It turns out that Gamzee's increasingly poor mental state was caused by him going off his meds, since he and Karkat couldn't afford them once they hit the street.
- Reluctant Psycho: Gamzee. He eventually gets medication for it.
- Sadistic Choice: The kidnappers in the sequel give Sollux one: betray Feferi, or have Aradia be killed.
- Shout-Out: Feferi mentions "Lord of the Flies" when arguing that Alternians are no different from humans.
- Street Urchin: Karkat and Gamzee, for most of the first fic.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted. While most Alternian kids have at least a little psychological trouble, due to their messed-up pasts, the ones who were a danger to themselves or others were given therapy.
- Token Evil Teammate: Eridan has aspects of this. He's more of a Jerkass/Jerk with a Heart of Gold when the story takes place, but at one point he thinks that he would have been all for just killing all the humans and taking their planet, had they had the numbers to do so.
- Transparent Closet: Roxy apparently knew that Rose and Kanaya had a crush on each other the whole time. She makes fun of them for thinking that she would be surprised.
- Villainous Breakdown: The Ringmaster begins having one after John rejects him, continuing to degenerate until he is arrested. Not that he was all that stable to begin with.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Eridan and Jade.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: Extremely unfunny version. After the Night of Blood, Eridan woke up in the medical ward, covered in other peoples' blood, with no memory of the last few hours. Sometimes, when he's alone, he prays that he just fell into some of the gore that was splattered all over the place.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Due to space issues in the first story the fate of the Midnight Crew ended up being a noticeable loose end, as they're last seen being arrested and interrogated by the cops. Fortunately the writer used
explained in the author's notes that they escaped off-screen.
