Webcomic / Vast Error

Twelve trolls play a game.^note Probably not the ones you're thinking of.

Vast Error is a fan adventure (a fan comic based off of Homestuck) written and created by Austinado and drawn/co-created/co-written by Sparaze.

It follows twelve trolls who play a game, each with their own varying personalities based off of common fanon character tropes created by the 'Homestuck' fanbase. The comic started with a short beta on the old MSPA Forums on 3/22/11, before restarting and staying on MSPFA on 3/25/13, though still keeping its 322 arc number. The story hardly updated from 2013 to the end of 2016, which the creators have expressed happened due to personal reasons before having a regular update schedule starting on 12/18/16. By 10/16/2020, Vast Error moved to its own website, Deconreconstruction.

The comic is currently one of the most popular on its hosting site, and has official albums as well as a full music team, a game programmer, an art team and a creator ran discord which can be found here.

The story quickly became known for its heavy use of trope subversion, deconstruction and reconstruction of a normal sburb-related fan adventure. Though the story centers around a completely different game entirely with only a few sburb-like constructs within it.

Fans of the comic also tend to have an unexplained fixation on Bart Simpson◊ which has become a rather infectious meme within the MSPFA community as a whole called "bort".

On January 22nd 2024, it was announced that the comic had become an officially licensed Homestuck webcomic.

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Contains Examples of:

• Arc Number: 322
• Added Alliterative Appeal: All 'Skorpe' themes follow this pattern.
• Alien Blood: The cast is made of up of trolls, what did you expect?
• Aliens Speaking English: Subverted, supposedly trolls used to speak in an alien language before an event called 'The Renaissance' but after that ended they began to speak English instead due to linguistic evolution.
• All Trolls Are Different: Literally, in this case. As these trolls aren't from Alternia or Beforus, but a separate troll planet called Repiton that follow neither of the canonical one's rules with a few exceptions. They don't even breed or get named in the same way.
• Anti-Climax:
  • Arcjec's run in with The Plinkster.
  • After a tense standoff, Snowman is neck snapped by Charmed Defalcator's ass.
• Archetype: According to Word of God, the main characters are all based off of common Homestuck fantroll archetypes:
  • Arcjec: Author Avatar/The Protagonist
  • Tazsia: Monster Clown
  • Albion: Mary Sue
  • Dismas: Emo Teen
  • Murrit: Cloudcuckoolander
  • Laivan: Furry Fandom/Expy
  • Ellsee: Chekhov's Gunman
  • Occeus: Mad Scientist
  • Calder: Dude, Where's My Respect?
  • Serpaz: Plucky Comic Relief
  • Sovara: Dark and Troubled Past/Designated Victim
  • Jentha: The Load
• Arc Words: Possibility, which deals with choices and alternate universes created by those choices.
• Ass Kicks You: Charmed Defalcator kills Snowman this way by accident.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Murrit and Dismas as a kismesissitude.
• Bizarre Alien Reproduction:
  • Matespritship and kismesissitude are taken much more seriously as relationships on this planet, this breed of troll is overly sentimental to a territorial degree. The choice can't be random or meaningless and finding sexual intimacy for the first time between a red or black couple essentially means an eternal emotional bond with your partner to have and to hold for life that you can't back out of easily. Prolonged separation from one's matesprit or kismesis results in withdrawal symptoms since the coupling process has physiological ramifications, and it's forbidden to attempt recoupling with another partner after the end of a relationship. That being said, this doesn't actually tie in to the reproduction process.
    • This was exploited by Acerigger Switchem, Murrit's ancestor, who constantly bonded with other trolls, leaving them to suffer the effects. He did this simply because he enjoyed seeing them suffer.
  • A few times per sweep trolls are rounded up to go to a reproduction stable to leave behind some sort of DNA for a friendly service droid who makes your stay as comfortable as possible while you decide what to give it. Anything genetic is viable, to a strand of hair to a bucket of blood or seed. Though the more you give the more dominant it becomes in the artificial grub making system.
  • Eventually that trolls strand will be rooted out and a grub will be made using their DNA and sharing their sign. The donating troll will then become that troll's ancestor and normally this will happen well after that troll is dead.
• Boom, Headshot!: Scathing Sharper is shot in the head by a gun thanks to Mimesis.
• The Chosen Ones: Prospit sees the trolls, their blank planets revolving around a shielded Skaia and their creative potential as such.
• The Constant: According to Mimesis, Jack Noir and his group are one across every timeline and world.
• Crossing the Burnt Bridge: Subverted. Taz's talk with Arcjec for the first time in an assuming two or so sweeps was anything but pleasant, she didn't leave any time to cross the bridge before she shoved Arcjec into a chair and held him down forcing them to talk.
• Deconstruction: Some aspects of Homestuck are deconstructed, for example, the Death World that Trolls live on, Repition, is not habitable in the least, with so many ecological disasters, there are about 50,000 trolls left on it. Also, Repiton is literally the only planet in existence to harbor life. This mean that there is no other galaxy or alternate dimension to flee to should it all end, and the planet has been caught in an endless cycle of repeats just to bear the conditions necessary to play The Game.
• Dem Bones: White Noise.
• Double Entendre: Most of Murrit's nicknames and insults can fall under this category.
• Dysfunction Junction: Most of the cast doesn't have their shit together to one degree or another.
• Flashback: After Arcjec is left unconscious in the mud after falling out of his window, we are given all of the information and character introductions needed before we return to him.
• Foreshadowing: Too much to list, even in Act 1.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: Intermission 2 Side 1 deals with alternate versions of the Midnight Crew, known here as the Dead Shufflers, and a transdimensional hotel filled with both alternate versions of themselves as well as the Felt from Homestuck, they're sent to devalue. It ends with everyone dead, but Scathing Sharper gets killed by Mimesis.
• Genocide from the Inside: The fate of most of the planet's sea dweller population. Calder's ancestor, apparently out of jealousy, started a campaign which ended with the slaughter of 99.9% of all sea dwellers on the planet, the numbers of which included all of the fuchsia bloods.
• Geometric Magic: Members of the Weird Al cult appear to have circle patterns tattooed or otherwise etched into their palms. Weird Al himself is the only one seen using them thus far, and the patterns on his palms change each time depending on the type of magic he's using. So far these powers have ranged from killing Dismas's lusus to TEARING A HOLE IN REALITY to get at Dismas's entry codes.
• Hentai: Murrit indulges in this quite a lot, going as far as having a "Hentai Dungeon". Though even he admittedly has come to a point where he's not entirely certain how much of it is an ironic or spiteful interest over sarcastic enjoyment.
• Info Dump: Describing troll reproduction in the middle of a character introduction, because it's very important.
• Lack of Empathy: Downplayed with Serpaz. It's not malicious necessarily, but her overly positive attitude causes her to not understand the emotions of her fellow trolls. This inability is actually caused by her lusus, Lefty, who feeds on her negative emotions.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: "But I think you already knew that much. Didn't you?"
• Magic or Psychic?:
  • Albion's spirit powers.
  • Subverted. Most lowblood powers have evolved into becoming survival mechanisms, like Arcjec's supposed ability to play dead and Dismas's pseudo-healing factor.
• Mundane Utility: The 'Ferocity Weaver'. Which is just a novelty hand clapping toy.
• Non-Mammal Mammaries: Constantly brought up.
• Oh, Crap!: Spade Slick and Crowbar share a silent one when they realize that Charmed Defalcator killed Snowman.
• Online Alias: All troll have trolltags and use the new hit messenger client 'Skorpe'.
• Pseudo-Crisis:
  • Albion's merger with her lusus to become THE TRUE ONESELF.
  DQ: *because*soon*enough*
  DQ: *i*wont*be*myself*anymore*
  • Albion then learning that her training to become THE TRUE ONESELF and save all of her friends and the salvage the planet was a lie in order to allow her ancestor to possess her.
  • The fact that none of the trolls with the exception of Murrit and Laivan know anything about this game, and supposedly don't want to learn.
• Purple Is Powerful: Expressed by GS to Murrit.
• Rule 34: Murrit having accurate body pillow depictions of all of his friends.
• Seinfeldian Conversation: Most all Skorpelogs thus far, to a played up degree.
• Sickly Green Glow: Literal in the case of The Green Sun, which is White Noise's dying heart and soul.
• Signature Laugh: "UK: >([a#a#a#e#tee#ee#ee#oo#oolmaololrofl]"

• Sins of Our Fathers: Because of the actions of his genocidal ancestor, pretty much everyone on the Planet has a reason to dislike Calder just for existing.
• Sleep Cute: Here.
• Sophisticated as Hell: The writing style. Not as bad as Homestuck, but Austinado and Sparaze sure can make a hell of a sentence.
  • Special mention goes to Doc Scratch, who writes a note for Scathing Sharper to "Fuck them up."
• Spirit Advisor: Albion's lusus, even in name.
• Star Power: Literal through the Spirit Powers of Star Children.
• Stop Being Stereotypical: Used by Arcjec when first speaking to Laivan.

AH: XDXD Who knows, with you there are infinite possibilities! XDXD

AH: XDXD Which is to say there are sparingly few and you're as one-dimensional as they come. XDXD

AH: XDXD Take a lesson in character before you decide to say something that's supposedly important to the big things you're playing up. XDXD

• Technicolor Eyes: Taz's pupils and Albion when inside The Cell.
• Title Drop: Almost.
• Unsound Effect: Too many to name. There are normal ones like KICK and SLAM and there's BIPPITY BAPPITY.
• Wham Episode: Act 2's last [S], "Ellsee: Enter" ends with most of the trolls now having entered the Medium, with only one planet left. The trolls' planet, Repiton, has now been added to the Medium as well, replacing Skaia.
• A World Half Full: The troll's planet, supposedly.