Hemostuck

Fanfiction
Title:	Hemostuck
Author(s):	Tamsyn Muir, roachpatrol
Date(s):	23 September 2011; Completed 16 July 2013
Length:	128,677 words, 3 works
Genre:	Slash, Bloodswap
Fandom:	Homestuck
External Links:	AO3 Tumblr
[S] Hemostuck: One Song Glory by roachpatrol
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Hemostuck is the Bloodswap AU fanfiction collaboration series by urbanAnchorite and roachpatrol. It is also illustrated by Roach. It is one of the most well-known and broadly recommended Homestuck fic, the two main works of the series having over a thousand kudos. The ratings vary across the 3 fanfics, but the series can be considered Mature for content. Each work has a different POV character and is told in second person.

It has been implied across blog posts and asks that Hemostuck consists of more stories than the three published ones, but these remain unpublished WIPs. Roach has linked to Google Docs containing ficlets and drabbles within their Hemostuck tag. The Hemostuck Tumblr further worldbuilds the AU through answers to asks and posts.

Roach declared Hemostuck unfortunately 'over' when a fan inquired after the PLW rewrite: "aw, i’m sorry, dude, but that rewrite is never gonna happen, taz escaped to the wilds to live on roadkill and cup ramen, and i kind of got busy with other stuff, like not writing much of anything lately. hemostuck’s pretty much over and done with! it’s a bummer but that is fanfiction for you."

Hemostuck is sometimes confused with another bloodswap AU, the fan adventure Be the Sea Dweller Lowblood by ckret2 because it also reverses the Hemospectrum and stars Eridan Ampora.

Summary

As described by Roach:

Hemostuck is an AU co-written with Urban Anchorite, where the Hemospectrum is reversed.

In this universe there are no Horror-Terrors, hence no Gl'bgolyb, hence no big psychic monster to crown Empresses on the crazy and violent end of the gene pool. Instead the warmbloods– who can actually manage to cooperate for more than five minutes at a time– have long since taken command of the race’s affairs, and our twelve protagonists are growing up in a society that has very different priorities from Homestuck canon.

Aradia Megido is the Empress Elect, in line to become the guiding light of the Alternian Empire. Tavros Nitram is her Grand Premier, the shield to her sword. If they survive the first ten sweeps of their lives until their cohort’s Ascension, they will be able to take command of their entire race and enact all the reforms that they are increasingly convinced are desperately needed.

And Hemostuck is the story of those ten sweeps.

The Fisher Prince

Summary: In which Eridan Ampora, seven-sweeps seadwelling ne'er-do-well, goes to market for his moirail, gets caught up in a political intrigue, is sent on an errand by his employer who is not coincidentally his kismesis, partners up with his kismesis' moirail and blunders into exactly as many problems as a fishtroll would expect. Includes two major fight scenes, religious blasphemy, zombies, some inappropriately passionate kisses and an inordinate amount of blueblood thugs.

The first installation is a prequel to the main body of Hemostuck and is narrated by Eridan Ampora. It is written jointly by urbanAnchorite and roachpatrol. It introduces and sets up the characters and relationships that are explored in the following fanfic.

Lost Teeth Like White Jewels

Summary: In which seven and a half sweeps old Karkat Vantas, member of her Imperial Luminesce's Threshecutioner Corps, takes his moirail's kismesis out on an errand, encounters a variety of problems to do with sea monsters, becomes involved in excruciatingly complicated relationship tangles with his moirail's kismesis' inclade and ends up flipping as many tables as he does quadrants. Contains two ocean-going fight scenes, one lusus, distressing incidences of clown cultism, his lawyer, and absolutely no interactions with the quinity whatsoever.

The second installation is the main fanfiction of Hemostuck, the longest in the series, and is narrated by Karkat Vantas. It is written jointly by urbanAnchorite and roachpatrol.

With Ghosts Who Wait

Summary: Sollux Captor, eight sweeps old and extravagantly quadranted, attends a party, observes a shocking breach of etiquette, and retires to indulge in activities of a personal nature with his concupiscent partners. Contains three fantrolls, one ashen clusterfuck, and an unquantifiable degree of sloppy makeouts.

The third installation of Hemostuck is written solely by roachpatrol, gifted to urbanAnchorite. As explained in the author's note:

UrbanAnchorite would like to let everyone know that she had no part in writing this and if anyone congratulates her on it she will lie down sadly and snort asbestos. Roachpatrol would like to let everyone know that urbanAnchorite is an idiot, and this fic would not have been possible to write without her. Also, urbanAnchorite smells frankly unconscionable, and should never be trusted with small children or dogs.

It is a oneshot PWP and can be considered an epilogue to the series. It is narrated by Sollux Captor.

Pretty Little Windstorm

There was another work in the AU, originally published as part of the series on AO3, but deleted soon after the main installations went up. Pretty Little Windstorm was written by Roach and was narrated by Tavros Nitram. It was taken down for revisions, but the rewrite was never to be posted. As a result, it is not considered part of the Hemostuck 'canon'.

Roach posted a Google Doc link to the deleted original after multiple fan requests.

Characters

The main characters of the series are Eridan Ampora, Karkat Vantas and Sollux Captor.

Eridan Ampora, the Archagent

He is Sollux’s spy and kismesis. He lives with his moirail Feferi in a shipwreck called the Corbenic, which had been Dualscar’s flagship. He spends most of his time on land versus being at home with Feferi, with whom he maintains a marginally profitable export business selling cultivated cuttlefish as Fleet aquarium pets.

Karkat Vantas, the Threshecutioner

He is a member of the Threshecutioner Corps and their primary liaison with the Empress-in-waiting. He is considered a limeblood, a subterfuge he manages with the help of his moirail Sollux and his matesprit Terezi, but in reality is a mutant. He is often traveling on Threshecutioner business, but works with Sollux at the palace a lot too.

Sollux Captor, the Master of Information

He is essentially Hemostuck Alternia's Spymaster and manages the security of the Empress-in-waiting. It is Sollux’s business to know everything about everything and protect her from assassinations, both planet-side and from Upstairs. He is an obsessive workaholic and is often berated for it by Karkat.

Side characters that appear in-text in the series are listed below.

Feferi Peixes

Eridan's moirail and the lowestblood troll in the AU, she lives and stays on the Corbenic raising cuttlefish. She can speak to ghosts in the deep and is possibly feral or insane. She wields the trident as her weapon of choice and is the only troll capable of swimming into ocean deeps.

Gamzee Makara

Feferi's matesprit and Eridan's in-clade, he is a clown cultist and wandering bounty hunter for lowblood coastal villages that can’t afford to call in Social Enforcement. He’s an illegal follower of the heretical, hedonistic cult of the Subjugglators. He stays with Feferi and Eridan after meeting them.

Terezi Pyrope

Her Luminesence’s Mistress of Protocol, and also a rising star of a Legislacerator in training. She is Karkat's matesprit and Sollux's best friend. She and Sollux help to maintain Karkat's subterfuge as a limeblood.

Listed below are other characters in the AU who do not appear in any of the three published fics, but are mentioned in-text and described on the blog.

Aradia Megido, Her Imperial Luminescence, Empress-in-waiting

Considered the daughter and manifest will of the God of Heat And Clockwork, who is the godhead of justice and civilization. She reigns over Alternia in general and her Capitol in specific, but is not actually ever allowed out of the palace in actuality due to security reasons. When she comes of age at the tenth sweep Ascension she will go up to the reigning Empress’s court in space and depose her in a duel. Then for the next ten sweeps she will reign over the entire Alternian Empire. She lives in the lowest suite of the palace, just above the Mother Grub’s brooding chambers.

Tavros Nitram, Her Imperial Luminescence’s Grand Premier and moirail

Considered the son and secondary manifest will of Heat & Clockwork. Maintains a secondary, private dedication to the God of Wind and Shade, who is the godhead of freedom and fortune. His job is to enforce Aradia’s desires and defend her honor and her person. He’s been relentlessly trained to be the best duelist on the planet because of this and is also great at jousting. He’s got robot legs in this AU, too, because he was injured in a FLARP accident with his best friend Vriska when they were five sweeps. If Aradia were ever to die he would be in charge of managing absolutely everything, which no one wants. He lives in the tallest tower of the palace with his lusus Tinkerbull.

Nepeta Leijon, Bounty Hunterminator

Works with Terezi and Karkat a lot as all three branches of Social Enforcement frequently intersect. Travels a great deal on business, maintains an independent cavehive in the foot of the mountains, and also crashes with her moirail Equius at the palace. Somewhat like Karkat, she’s higher-blooded for her chosen career than is usual, and could have gotten a parliament seat with a guaranteed governorship post-Ascension if she’d wanted it. But she didn’t. She’s professionally dedicated to Frost and Frogs, but maintains a willing spirit and an open heart towards all faces of God.

Kanaya Maryam, Mistress of Fashion

Fashion is pretty important in highblood circles and as clothier to the Empress in waiting, Kanaya’s the main trendsetter. She’s in charge of designing the outfits for Aradia and Tavros and she tends to work with Terezi and Aradia on shaping social policy as well. She lives in one of the towers above Sollux’s dungeonsuite and they share a courtyard; she also maintains a flower garden in that courtyard for his bees. She, Sollux, Tavros and Aradia grew up together. She was a jadeblooded dedicate when she was young, and lived under the palace taking care of the laying mothergrub and the supporting virgin mothergrubs, but gradually moved up to live in the palace proper over time as the mothers went back into hibernation. She apprenticed under the adult Mistress of Fashion, and then took over her job upon the adult Mistress’s mysterious death at seven sweeps. She’s a passionate dedicate of the Goddess of Light and Rain.

Vriska Serket, wandering blade

Tavros’s disreputable but steadfast best friend. She’s pretty intensely dedicated to Wind and Shade and thus has all the luck etc. Very intimately involved with both the blueblood Capitol gangs and the various wild confederations, she’s a jack of all trades. She has a rocky, volatile, standoffish relationship with nearly everyone, but especially Terezi and Aradia.

Equius Zahhak, Master of Technology

He is Aradia's matesprit. His primary duty is the care and maintenance of Tavros’s robot legs, and after that he takes care of all the machines in the castle, as well as partnering with Sollux to work on developing and maintaining a technological edge over the older cohorts. He’s painfully shy about his hemocaste, and mostly stays down in his subterranian workblocks with his lusus Aurthour, building machines and taking them violently apart.

Fan Reactions

Hemostuck is considered one of the definitive fanworks of the Homestuck fandom. It has been highly praised for its immersive worldbuilding and characterization, as well as lauded for its professional quality of prose. Fans also cite it as an exemplary fanfic for portrayal of quadrant romance, as it mostly focuses on moiraillegiance (pale romance) and kismesissitude (black romance). It inspired a trending tag for Hemostuck fanart and was discussed heavily on Tumblr, often in posts or asks with the authors. Most readers end up recommending the AU to their fandom friends; and oftentimes the fic was already known by fans by name, even if they had not read it, because of fanart.

The series has also been criticized for the woobification of Eridan Ampora. Many fans disliked the Eridan/Kanaya ship, though since it was never put into the story in-text, people eventually forgot.

i will adore hemostuck to death, it is fucking amazing and aksjdfkdj

@Zarushin

Regular Homestuck made me kind of hate Eridan and not really care, but the Hemostuck fanfic gave me a lot of Eridan feels

@KeaporaG

hemostuck is so fucking good, the worldbuilding and characters are amazing

@kismetnemesis