My general idea was... okay, fantasy AU where all the species exist, magic instead of super-tech, no SGurb. Dirk creates Hal with magic somehow, and the cherub kids are living in disguise among the trolls and are seeking a way to split into separate bodies. Logically, the same thing could create the sprites. But the sprites kind of creep me out. Hal doesn't so much because Dirk chose to make him, and since he is a copy of Dirk he would presumably understand the thought process which led to it, but being forced by circumstance into making duplicates of yourself is pretty disturbing and unfair in my eyes (which in canon it was of course supposed to be but I don't think I could write it very well). Merging back together so they get their original life back and aren't relegated to being Not The Real Dave seems fair to me but concerning in terms of what it says about individuality, but then in canon they just ended up merged with entirely different people instead which is probably worse... Generally I wanna write a comparatively happy fantasy and I am not good at getting into weird philosophical shit.
hmm I mean Davepeta and Jasprose and Fefeta and all them are....sort of their own people at that point, depending at least on how well the two people put into the sprite function together--Erisol, imo, was still like two separate people because they barely meshed at all, but Fefeta was sort of her own person and spritesploded when becoming overwhelmed by people separating her 'halves', so you could always just....make them their own people maybe? maybe they get created through some magical accident or something but then become their own people?
The combosprites honestly give me the creeps. Like I said, weird implications regarding individuality. (SU fusions bother me less because they choose to be that way. The sprites didn't.) I was thinking of Nannasprite as an actual ghost, maybe I should kill Dave and Jade and have the sprites be their ghosts? I'm not sure that's any LESS creepy though.
Thinking about the "take the most simplistic version of a character’s problems and change the character into the sort of person who would not have these problems" explanation of Tricksters. The OP of that post suggested Tyrian Karkat as the obvious solution to his problems. What are your thoughts on everyone else? Equius suddenly has decent motor control? Is Eridan super attractive or suddenly uninterested in relationships? I gotta admit for a writer I'm really really shit at putting words to describing characters or pinpointing the non-obvious issues they face...
personally I’m inclined to put Eridan at “uninterested in relationships” because....for him to be super attractive to everyone, that requires an effect on people around him, including those who may not be trickster? otherwise, the problem remains. and I mean, the trickster kids were all “BABIES AND MARRIAGE!!” but that only effected each kid themselves, and then they all just....happened to be on the same page. Karkat, imo, would still be a mutant—he just wouldn’t CARE anymore. I mean, trickster mode can’t really change your DNA and presumably that’s what dictates blood color. so I’d make Karkat a mutant, but he’s just....fine with it. he doesn’t give a fuck anymore. maybe he straight-up stops being concerned with survival, because that is the real motivator behind his fear around his blood color. also, are we going with the assumed headcanon of ‘Heart players are unaffected by trickster’ because...Nepeta.
Also trickster DNA might change blood color - it's not unlikely that it changed skin tone, so. Even if it doesn't change DNA it can change appearances.
Yeah, I'm fairly sure it did change Jane's skin tone; I interpreted the CAUCASIAN joke as meaning she wasn't Caucasian when she wasn't Trickster. Even if I was high, I wouldn't go round yelling how I suddenly felt something I'd always been. Oh dear. Before Tricksters became canon it was popular to portray them as evil and violent (and I still guiltily love those) and they seem to lose all inhibitions. Would Trickster Eridan just go round killing all land-dwellers on sight?
I mean, canonically none of the kids...have a race or skin tone. I think that was the joke—Jane isn’t Caucasian, but she’s also not anything. and imo skin color isn’t quite the same as blood color anyway—I mean, you can tattoo or paint skin. you can’t do that with blood. there are ways to change skin color without altering DNA, but not so much for blood color.
....also now I’m trying to picture the insanity that would be trickster trolls, and I’m just I need this and also am terrified
i tend to play trickster karkat as just straight-up lacking the self-preservation or inhibitions to give a shit about his mutation (or his romantic entanglements) this means loudly announcing his blood color to people who don’t know it, repeatedly insisting he was sooooo dumbbbb before, so dumb, this is great, are you listening? did you know he’s always had blood color to match the trickster theme? isn’t that HILARIOUS? and eventually ending up at the bottom of a terrifying neon cuddle puddle, because, like, fuck quadrants, right? he’s had a crush on almost everyone at some point, might as well kiss them ALL!
If we take it as just removing inhibitions, then CODDLE ALL THE THINGS. Turning her into the kind of person who would not have her problems... I'm picturing her forcibly physically restraining any of the other trolls who attempt to be violent, since her problem was Eridan wouldn't let her pacify him and Alternia was probably not going to take her peace-and-love rule well.
i play it as a very simplistic solving-of-problems rather than just removing inhibitions—karkat’s got romantic issues and terror over people finding out his mutation, so hey, can’t worry about that if everyone knows, right? and you can’t worry about vacillating in circles around someone if you just give up that whole silly pretense in the first place and get your mack on! problems solved! i’m not sure about feferi in detail, but whatever she’s like, i’m scared of it
well, her problem was ALSO that Eridan wasn't listening to her at all and wasn't reciprocating by trying to help her with her problems, and also all the murders he wanted to do. but idk how to fix that with Tricksterin.
Hence, now becoming the kind of person who would physically and perhaps violently prevent him from doing so. Her being Trickster wouldn't change him, it can only change her.
If we wanna get dark, I'm picturing her physically injuring Eridan to keep him from harming anyone. Tricksters are creepy and trolls are raised in violence... Thing about Lord English that came up in the Hiveswap thread. His sexism doesn't manifest in wanting to force women to be weak; it comes in wanting them to be as powerful as possible and for him to have power over them. Condesce collected powers like Pokemon and ruled a multi-galactic empire, Handmaid changed the course of troll history numerous times... He wants them to be both powerful and on his leash, in order to make himself look better. I think that's both a much more interesting and much more insidious form of misogyny, and I think I need to do something with that with a villain in my own stuff.
Terezi deserved better character development. Spoiler: discourse The thing I would have done with her would be for her to rethink her concept of justice upon realising a friend of hers was at risk of death just for existing, and maybe the Alternian way wasn't really just. As it is, it comes across like she just likes killing people and we're supposed to ignore that because she doesn't want to kill the characters who have a name.
