Homestuck/Shout-Out

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> EXAMINE DOCUMENTED REFERENCES TO MISCELLANEOUS MEDIA

So many sweet references. You'd almost think it was simultaneously your birthday, AND Christmas or something.

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Film (includes Actors)

• Con Air has such an extended shout out that it's a fundamental part of the plot. Later this extends to Nicolas Cage in general.
• John has a bunch of movie posters. So do Karkat and Jake.
  • The Deep Impact poster is called back to much later when the Autoresponder talks about how he'd confess to Jake:

Poster: OCEANS RISE. CITIES FALL. HOPE SURVIVES. TT: Oceans will rise. Cities will fall. Volcanoes will erupt.

• • It's worth noting that Jake represents Hope, so in this case, he doesn't necessarily survive.
• The Past and Future trails in the Midnight Crew intermission are a reference to Donnie's visions.
• Really, would you trust a game made by SkaiaNet?
• This attic is spooky. I wish those bullies would just leave me alone. Later I am going to ride a long magic dog through the sky and fuck their shit up.
  • Considering he does exactly that, doubly so.
  • Later, a John/Jade fraymotif is named "Fantasia's Inhale". Fantasia being the name of the world inside the book (In the movie version)
• AG: Ok. Til next time, Mr. Anderson.
• This three-way standoff is a Shout-Out to the final showdown from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
  • aka The Bad, The Worse, and The SHITHIVE MAGGOTS, as one of the artists put it.
• In Jade's introduction sequence, when testing out her Pictionary Modus for her Eclectic Bass, she accidentally creates a ghost image of Johnny 5. Later, during her Alchemize-o-rama, she creates a Johnnytop from her lunchtop and the image, and also attempts to make a massive weapon from a Transformer ghost image, a powerful gun and her own personal Iron Lass suit. She makes Johnny 5.

You make... Johnny 5. God damnit. Motherfucker thinks he's alive. HE IS A TIN CAN, ROBOTS DON'T HAVE FEELINGS.

• John's dad has a picture of Bing Crosby in his room at the beginning of the game. It pops up in random places as the game progresses. Nobody ever recognizes him.
• In [S] Cascade, when Jade becomes the God-Tier Witch of Space, she gets ruby slippers and striped socks
  • Sayonara, Kansas
  • Follow the yellow brick road!
  • God Tier Feferi also has striped socks.
• OBEY. STAY ASLEEP.
• Jane becomes Inspector Clouseau and Hercule Poirot
• Jake loves Neytiri (and Diva Pavalaguna and (adult) Mystique and washed-out Lara Croft and...)
• At one point, Karkat, who is obsessed with romantic comedies and extremely foul-mouthed, orders Equius not to 'GET OFF ON PHRASES LIKE FUCK FUCK FUCKETY FUCK'.
• "TT: Why have you activated dear, sweet Huggy Bear?"
• Dirk's Auto Responder might be one to Clu from Tron: Legacy: it/he uses a red/orange theme, is a copy of his owner at a younger age, seems to be evolving in a different direction than his creator (16 year-old Dirk is planning an (ironic?) epic Anguished Declaration of Love to Jake while 13 year-old AR doesn't seem to care about romance) and he seems to be more aggressive than Dirk, at least while using the robots; plus they both have an affinity for cool headgear: Clu is introduced lounging around in a Cool Helmet while AR is actually a pair of Cool Shades.
• John is a huge fan of Ghostbusters. Later this extends to almost everyone.

Eastern Media

• Unintentionally at first, but later invoked on purpose: Dave's Bro wears "dumb pointy anime shades" and wields a katana.
• "Rose: Wear the scarf. Be the Rider."
• Dirk, what does the scanner say about the Condesce's power level?

TT: I even heard, and don't quote me on this, that she may have been over 9000. [[color:green:GT: Heavens to betsy. GT: That figure is just absurd.]]

• • Later Lampshaded:

Exactly how many panels do you want this to go on for? Over 9000? Nobody wants that. Nobody even wants to hear the phrase "over 9000."

Comic Books

• AR: Be the law.
• Terezi's interrogation scene is a massive shoutout to Twoface, with the coin that has a mutilated side (to reflect her blindness) and the fact she's playing a lawyer...
• Rose's latest outfit is all-black with a grim, white skull-like Squiddle on the front.
  • Also, Jade's Iron Lass outfit.
• John's glasses on this page appear to be a Shout-Out to the Corinthian of The Sandman.
• This page is pretty clearly a reference to a classic X-Men panel.
• Post-scratch DD's narration here.

"You are utterly astounded by how shitty their imagination is. If their imagination was a face you would shoot it. In the face."

• Abraxas, Denizen of Hope, is usually thought to be, like Yaldabaoth, a reference to Gnosticism, but alternatively, it's the name of a Marvel villain with several parallels to Lord English.

Literature

• There are two references to Vladimir Nabokov in the first living room scene: John's dad has pictures and figurines of clowns (or HARLEQUINS, as he is quick to correct anyone who would venture such brazen assumptions) and one of John's commands is to "Admire harlequins," Nabokov has a novel called Look at the Harlequins!. Then when he looks at the fireplace, he recalls the quote, "The moon is an errant mistress, and her pale fire she snatches from the sun." The quote is from Shakespeare, not Mark Twain as he thinks it is, but Nabokov did, of course, take the title of Pale Fire from it.
• This page is an apparent Shout-Out to The Postman.
• Moby Dick!
• Some of the trolls embark on a quest to destroy a ring of great power in a volcano.
  • Not to mention someone named Strider who wields a broken sword.
  • And the best broken sword in the game being the Royal De-ringer.
  • The way Jack uses said sword to slay the Black Queen is also in direct reference (exploding her by cutting off her ring finger).
• Cthulhu Mythos references can be found in the form of Jade's island (matches one of Lovecraft's descriptions) and in the beasties from Rose's grimoire.
  • The word "dreamself" is a reference to Lovecraft's Dream Cycle.
• John being killed by Bec Noir somewhat resembles Aslan's sacrifice by the White Witch.
  • The entire plot is a coming-of-age story about four young people who travel to a magical land and are drafted into a battle between the forces of good and evil. Sound familiar?
• Vriska writing I 8n't dead is an intentional reference to Granny Weatherwax, as confirmed on Andrew's Formspring.
  • With that in mind, WV?'s actions are probably a shout out to Vimes's idea of the pawns establishing their own democracy in Night Watch.
  • And a troll who can't use a bow because he keeps breaking them. Someone should have told Equius that bows aren't troll weapons.
• A character named John's best friend being named Dave is possibly a reference to John Dies at the End
• When Andrew Hussie is about to be shot by Lord English, he rattles off a list of all the things he believes in, including magic.
  • Aw fuck who am I kidding magic is fake as shit.

Live-Action TV

• WV names his Firefly Serenity.
• Kanaya's a lumberjack and she's okay, she sleeps at night and reads all day.
• GT: what does your time machine look like? a phone booth? phone booths are a popular thing for some reason.
  • And in that vein, TG: ...when some fuckwit blunders out of a magical phone booth...
    • TG: ... i'm just the timey-wimey messenger
• Sometimes you tell dad you really want poppop in the attic. He says the mere fact you call it that tells him you're not ready.
  • Not to mention that Jane has a poster of Tobias Funke from his "I just blue myself" scene hanging on her wall.
• Jane's Swanson poster is one thing, but now she's named the bunny she got from Strider Li'l Sebastian.
  • In Dirk's... "creative" re-write of a Pony Pals Book he re-names one of the character The City of Pawnee, Indiana.
• Dirk's penchant for orange soda might be a reference to Kenan and Kel.

Video Games

• TRICKSTER MODE has an unexpected Shout-Out to The Legend of Zelda.
  • Later, John's costume resembles Link's outfit in Wind Waker and he comments on it.
  • John's ascension to God Tier parallels Zelda in many ways. Most obviously, his outfit sort of resembles the Hero's Clothes, especially the hood. He now apparently has full control over the wind, and his Fraymotifs are apparently short songs that control it in undisclosed ways. Also, the fact that he is the Heir parallels the Zelda mythos.
  • While trying to cheer Dave up, Terezi calls him the Hero of Time.
    • Likely unintentional, as Andrew Hussie stated on his formspring account that "Hero of _____" can be used to refer to any player.
• Trollish is inverted Daedric.
• "In a fit of enthusiasm you SHUT UP AND JAM the bunny back in the box, executing a textbook CHAOS DUNK. Millions would have perished, if everything in the ocean weren't dead already, that is."
  • In addition, one of the songs on the "Dave, Rose: Shut Up And Jam" (which is itself a reference) is called "Octoroon Rangoon". In Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden, one of the party members is Balthios, who is referred to as "the octoroon great-grandson of LeBron James".
• Terezi's theme is called "The Lemonsnout Turnabout."
  • Objection!
• Nepeta's theme, the delightful "Walls Covered In Blood" was made with Mario Paint!
• Rose's way of yelling Dave's last name might be a reference to Half Life.
• [S] Past Karkat: Wake Up and the resulting style it introduced is essentially a huge homage to EarthBound, but other specific ones within the aforementioned flash:
  • The Chrono Trigger time portal gets used.
  • The portrait sprites were explicitly based on Disgaea .
  • Vriska's quick battle sprite is a shout out to Paul Robertson (NSFW), of Scott Pilgrim: The Game fame.
  • Gamzee's constantly dances, similar to shop keepers in the Secret of Mana.
    • Not to mention he's jokingly acting like an innkeeper and charging people to rest in his pile of horns.
  • Entering Trickster Mode plays (most) of Totaka's Song.
• The Sims (with the house-building and item-placing) and Spore (with all the Space Compression planetary hijinks) are also cited inspirations. Particularly in naming "Sburb", by Word of God a "deliberately ugly word reminiscent of the name of a Sim game".
• Wayward Vagabond's Dream Sequence features a shout out to how spells are displayed in Final Fantasy games, as does Dave and Jade using Adagio Redshift, and Jack's use of Red Miles.
  • The shop from Final Fantasy VI makes a cameo appearance in AlterniaBound's Trickster Mode screen, and ends up in the story itself later on, as part of Gamzee's trap for Terezi at the end of Year 2/Disc 1.
• Proton Cannon!
• The 1/22/11 flash has a reference to M. Bison when Eridan throws his cape before his battle against Sollux.
• A recent page has Terezi posing very similarly to how Miles Edgeworth does.
• Your guardians are... in another castle.
• The song about Zillyhoo bears similarities to the Halo main theme.
• [S Seer: Ascend] has the appearance of one Troll Guybrush Threepwood.
• The symbol for Heart looks like a half filled heart from The Legend of Zelda game (it also bears a strong resemblance to the Crest of Love).
• Roxy's use of travel with FENESTRATED PLANES is quite reminiscent of Portal, as well as being a Mythology Gag to Problem Sleuth.
• The flashes at the start of Act 6 Act 3 are a shout out to Myst, according to Hussie.
• Likely unintentional, but Aradia is the Maid of Time.

EarthBound

The entire series is more or less an extended shout out to the Mother trilogy, most especially EarthBound. Although there are some Shout Outs to Mother 3, they seem to be accidental more than anything else, as Andrew has never played it. As such, compared to other franchises there is a significantly higher density of shout outs to it than anything else

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• The title "Homestuck" can be construed as a synonym of EarthBound.
• Fraymotifs in particular look to be at least thematically similar to the music combos of MOTHER 3.
• Both Homestuck and MOTHER 3 ascribe significance to frogs
• The dream selves might be inspired by Magiciant. John's ascension to God Tier is reminiscent of Ness's power-up after conquering his Nightmare.
• John, Rose, and Dave each have the same hair color and physically resemble three of the EarthBound protagonists: John resembles Ness, Rose resembles Paula, and Dave resembles Jeff. Jade doesn't exactly resemble Poo, but they also share the same hair color.
  • Speaking of similarities, Rose can be thought of as a Darker and Edgier Paula Expy, while John is practically a straight Expy of Ness. Dave and Jade split the traits of Jeff and Poo: Jade lives isolated from the other characters like Poo does, but wields guns like Jeff. Meanwhile, Dave uses a sword, which was one of the only weapons Poo could equip.
    • The Alpha Kids end up being closer, though whether that was intentional or simply a result of reflecting the aspects of the Kids is unclear. Roxy and Dirk fit Paula and Poo almost to a T, while having elements of Jeff in that they're inventors.
• John's chumhandle initials are EB - as in EarthBound.
• If Acts 1-5 were inspired by EarthBound, Act 6 has a heavy Mother 3 vibe to it with a Crap Saccharine World, corruptive technology, and a Time Skip with dramatic changes. Crockercorp can be thought of as a rough analogue for the Pigmask Army, with subliminal messages instead of Happy Boxes. The Imperial Drones are like the Pigmasks, while The Condesce bears a few similarities to King Porky Minch in that she is an immortal time-traveler and sidekick to an Eldritch Abomination.
• "Rambunctious Crow" is reminiscent of "Spiteful Crow", an early-game Goomba with a penchant for stealing players' items (or Sburb beta).
• In Act 6 Act 2 we learn that underneath his hat, Dad is bald. Just like Flint.
• This panel has an Instant Revitalizing Device ^{[dead link]} in the corner; oddly, while it's clearly the EarthBound variant in that it's not stamped with a Pigmask logo, it otherwise has the colour scheme of their MOTHER 3 incarnation.
  • And it's used as a Mundane Utility by Dave to make coffee.
    • Dave is getting a cup of coffee before Rose launches into exposition, which is likely a reference to this scene.
• Word of God instance: Hussie has stated that of her extensive gaming repertoire, Roxy's favourites are EarthBound and Pikmin, two titles he himself particularly enjoyed.

Other

• A dinosaur from the Dinosaur Comics website's background appears momentarily here. Ryan North thinks it signifies something more.
• Gamzee gets pretty excited by CLOWNS OF A GRIM PERSUASION WHICH MAY NOT BE IN FULL POSSESSION OF THEIR MENTAL FACULTIES, and loves his MoThErFuCkInG MiRaClEs.
  • This gets Lampshaded and turned into Nightmare Fuel when Gamzee actually learns about Insane Clown Posse and decides THIS! IS! BLASPHEMY!
• Gamzee: A DoUbLe mEtApHoR AlL ThE WaY, AcRoSs sKaIa :o)
• Kanaya kindly requests that you Deal With It
• Karkat's freakout during his conversation with Doc Scratch is a shoutout to Tough Guys Don't Dance.
• Vriska herself could be a shout out to Dungeons & Dragons. Besides being a FLARPer, her lusus was a giant spider, and she could easily be described as a self-serving, back-stabbing bitch. If that doesn't scream Drow, I don't know what does.
  • Probably unintentionally, she also strikingly resembles Lelouch, without a Morality Pet.
  • "Drow" and "Troll" were originally both names for little fairy-goblin things, derived from "Trow". Homestuck trolls also all have grey skin and dislike the sun and bright lights. I think there's some influence there in general.
• Quoth Dirk's auto-responder: "It seems you think I am a fucking douche". At the very least, it feels like it carries that Office Assistant type vibe.
• Roxy's MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE fetch modus may be a reference to The Police, since that song and "Roxanne" are two of their most famous numbers.
• The Green Sun and troll society's sexual standards both seem to be a reference to Exalted
• The end of Act 6 animation's URL ends in the letters "DOTA" which presumably stand for Death of the Author, since, well, Hussie has just been killed by Lord English. Death of the Author is also a famous 1967 essay by Roland Barthe. In it, Barthe suggests that the author has no authority over the text, the true meaning of which is created uniquely in each reader's mind according to their own impressions as opposed to the intentions of the author. Kinda appropriate considereing MSPA's reliance on audience participation, fixation on cultural references and exploring the boundaries of fiction and reality. And of course, Hussie's self-inserted character's inability to control events at this point in the story.
• http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006758

TT: Ok, well it's not like it's that important. Just a super obvious thing that'll probably occur to you later when you're looking in the fridge you don't have, at which point you'll feel like an idiot.

• The Midnight Crew are actuall named after a song by Eddie Morton. It's actually sampled at the very beginning of Jack: Ascend.
  • And now one of the flashes is set to a cover of that same old song.

Western Animation

• The beginning of the Midnight Crew's introduction resembles the beginning of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' opening credits.
• It's implied that Bro makes/is into saucy puppet shows.
  • Terezi: Deploy smelloscope.
• Rose's pink-and-black-with-headband look is reminiscent of a certain grim girl.
• From here:

EB: it is bill cosby. EB: he's back. EB: in laptop form.

• A few Rainbow Dash pictures can be seen in Dirk Strider's room. While he purports to have a "strictly academic" interest in cartoon ponies, he soon admits that his affection for Rainbow Dash, at least, is totally unironic.

Music Shout Outs (Limited to songs not featured in comic)

• The future refused to change.
• There is a song on volume five of the soundtrack titled Lotus Land Story.
• "Tangled Waltz" sounds like The Muppets "Rainbow Connection" at times.
• Word of Composer has said that "Scratch" from the Felt album references the final battle music of Super Mario 64.
• "Heir Conditioning", found in the trickster mode of "[S] Kanaya: Return to the core", is vaguely reminiscent of "Beloved Tomboyish Girl". A pun on air conditioning. Cirno's an ice fairy. Get it?
  • There's also some Complete Darkness in there.
• From the Alterniabound Album, we have shoutouts such as quotes from Doctor Who and phrases spoken from Vocaloid (Arisen Anew), and several audio shoutouts by way of The Jimmy Hart Version to Ace Attorney (BL1ND JUST1C3: 1NV3ST1G4T1ON!!), Pirates of the Caribbean (She's a Sp8der), and the first two generations of Pokémon (FIDUSPAWN, GO!), among many others.
  • Arisen Anew also uses the teleporting sound effect from Mega Man.
• The Wanderers album has at least a couple:
  • Gilded Sands prominently features a small part of the melody of the Stone Tower Temple theme.
  • Mayor Maynot is made of edited clips of the Mail Song from Blue's Clues.
  • Ruins Rising has piano elements from Bones' intro music.
• A concrete Mother shout-out in the music: Frog Forager sounds a whole lot like the series' Bootstrapped Theme, "Pollyanna (I Believe in You)".
  • It also sounds suspiciously similar to Final Fantasy II's Town theme.

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