Heart Game Write-Up Part 1

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Rose's Heart Game was here! I'm still finishing up threads but the majority of the changes have been made, so I feel comfortable writing it up now. ALSO IT'S TWO PARTS BECAUSE A LOT OF THINGS HAPPENED and I went way overboard with ~symbolism~!! This is part one.

Summary:
Rose's heart was, for all intents and purposes, designed to act largely as a fix-it heart. For people who've been playing with her as close CR or just following her threads (or for me, playing her) it's very obvious that from her first Doc Scratch memory she's been handling negative feelings very poorly.

BASICALLY ROSE HAS BEEN TURNING INTO A BIG MISANTHROPE and letting anger and frustration control all of her actions and that's not. . . good. So I set up this heart game to fix that! That's why there was a final boss who was totally beatable, and ~dangerous clues~ leading to her.

Entrance Hall

You stand in a small, semi-circular room, covered in mirrors from the floor to the ceiling -- though the top of the room is so far away that it’s covered in shadow. When you look into them, instead of your own reflection, a confident and familiar girl stares back at you.

In front of you, there’s a wooden door with a jagged, angry crack down the middle. And behind you is a black space just large enough for a person to fit through.

The entrance hall, as image Rose told Dave at the very end of his time in this room, represents the wall she puts between herself and strangers, the polite distance between herself and others. This is the room that most people start out in if they meet her for the first time; it’s also the room that most people can’t leave, because Rose likes to keep people far away from what she’s really feeling.
The crack in the door represents Rose’s desire to overcome this emotional removal, but the fact that it’s just a crack and not a complete break (and the room’s not gone either) means she’s still got a long way to go.

Rose's whole goal here was to distract you from your main purpose unless A) you were already MAJOR CR with her (so...Beatrice/Ventus/Dave/Battler/John etc) or B) you asked her the right questions to get the door unlocked. This NPC represents the "polite facade" that Rose puts on when talking to people for the first time, as well as the one she defaults to when something uncomfortable is happening to her.

• The crack in the door gave you this Ven and Rose memory, and unlocked the door!
• The dark space was literally an "under construction" space in Rose's heart and therefore if you went through it YOU DIED -- which simultaneously introduced the NPC of Davesprite and also sets you up to better understand Rose's fear of dying and how important death is in Homestuck!
• THE MIRRORS were how Rose ideally wants you to view her! But because of the power the memory in the crack was having on the room, she wanted them to be smashed.

CHANGES
- Dave and Dirk smashed every single mirror. Rose no longer has any walls to hide behind when talking to people. He literally smashed her poker face to pieces! Every emotion she has will now be very, very visible to both friends and strangers. Because the door is still in place, she'll still be able to deflect conversations when she doesn't like them/when they bother her/etc, but you'll now be able to tell when they do.
- Rose now feels that she can open up a little bit more to Dirk, who smashed one mirror, and a LOT to Dave, who smashed the rest!
- Dave also charmed the Image Rose which means that she feels like she no longer has to hide things from him at all. . .good??
- Dirk guessed the meaning of the room kind of, which means he also gets an added "maybe Dirk can help me when I have problems I can't explain" bonus.
- Star and Ventus touched the crack on the door! Rose now feels like she can trust them when she has problems with letting people understand her emotions (not that...much changes, when it comes to Ven).
- Mirage. . . added a whole extra room to this room?? I wasn't intending for that to happen but now Rose feels comfortable opening up to people from Aather! She actively wants to meet people rather than doing her creepy Rose thing and lingering around long enough hoping they'll become friends with her.


- Mirage also unlocked the NPC Davesprite, who is a symbol of protection and duty! Because he asked Davesprite to come with him, Rose now automatically feels compelled to protect Mirage from harm (physical, emotional, otherwise) and will probably be PRETTY SERIOUS about doing so. Don't mess with Mirage. :|
- John asked Image Rose, who was a symbol of Rose's polite exterior, to come along with him. This means she no longer thinks John can accurately understand her problems -- and while she'll have a hard time hiding them, he'll be the one that she most tries to hide all her serious feelings from because "he just won't understand what I'm getting at".

The Antechamber

The room you enter is large, with vaulted ceilings. Light filters in from high windows, making the room seem airy and pleasant. However, you can sense that something’s not right: there are cracks in the floor that are covered with black vines, and places where glass has fallen from the windows.

In front of you, there are three circular platforms on the floor. On the one on the right stands Dave Strider, looking impatient; on the left, a pleasant-looking girl with long black hair and buckteeth waves at you. The platform in the center is empty.

Behind these platforms, three large doors stand waiting. They’re marked with different symbols: behind Dave is a red gear, behind the empty platform is a large sun, and behind the girl is a swirling pattern.

NPCs:
- Dave is fidgety and a jerk, Jade’s cute and adorable! They’re both looking for the third person who’s supposed to be standing there but she’s not there what a butt. She missed her own heart game. (Spoilers, the Rose that's missing is True Heart!) You can talk to them and they’re pretty interesting, but Dave can only tell you where to go on the Time side and Jade on the Space side. Neither one of them knows what’s behind the Light doors.
- SECRET BONUS UNLOCK NPC: If you try destroying the floor some more, John will show up to tell you WHOA HEY NO because no no Rose doesn’t need to be any more fucked up right here please :|b If they resist then it’s an auto-kill stab to the back and they wake up in the ENTRANCE HALL. No one did this, but John and Dave did meet up with John on their own because they wondered where he was/called his name!

Mostly this is just a good way for people to get to know Rose’s inner feelings because she will always begin and end with her friends. It sets the stage for how important her friends are in her life and how they’re good stabilizers for her. It’s also a good central area from which to travel to further parts of the heart. No memories here, just NPCs who can’t really be affected.

Initially, these doors were selected...
John, Tavros, Ventus, Rin, Dave and Soubi went through the Space door. The Space door was associated with the present/future! Rose will be more inclined to go to one of them when she has Aather problems.
Mirage went through the Light door -- this door represented ultimate knowledge and duty. Mirage is now kind of associated with being smart!
Star stepped on the platform meant for True Heart and went straight to the Wardrobe. This route represented self-perception, and so now Rose will see Star as pretty self-aware.
Dirk went through the Time door. Rose will be more inclined to go to him when she has problems with memories from home.

Mirage dropped glass on the vines -- these cracks led straight to the Cue Ball area, which is why there was glass floating around in there! This also helped to clear up some of the flakey darkness from this part of Rose's heart. She has a lot more trust in her friends again, and Mirage is seen as someone who can help with her problems when it comes to friendships. . .

Tavros and Ventus made BFF with Jade which would change their relationship to something more positive if…their relationships weren't already positive to begin with SO they stay the same!

Dirk kissed Dave I.
So Dave represents the past bleeding into the present and desires/goals. I'm. Not really sure what that does? I wasn't planning on anyone kissing the NPCs? At least not these NPCs. (I had planned for death but not this.)
I GUESS KISSING DIRK IS A GOAL AND A DESIRE NOW??

The Wardrobe

There’s clothes, and they’re everywhere! Organized by every color of the rainbow, there are dresses, skirts, pants, blouses...anything a young teenage girl would wear at some point, this wardrobe has it. Stuffed in some drawers are the bottom are even some lacy underthings, though nothing too scandalous. There’s even a gigantic, antique vanity mirror with assorted pieces of makeup sitting on it, lined up with great care.

Tucked in a recess, there’s a door with a picture of a book on it. However, there’s a small note on the door in purple script: “Find the key, please. I’m missing it.”

This is Rose's pride and vanity! Or, in other words, her self-perception and how proud she is of her accomplishments/what she thinks she's good at doing.

THE KEY WAS TO PUT SOMETHING ON be it clothing or makeup. Because Rose is proud of her intelligence, and she carries the pride with her wherever she goes! The door to unlock leads straight to The Library, which is where Rose's Intelligence is.

Star was the only person to visit this room -- organizing the ~lacy underthings~ helped Rose work through some of her stubborn pride in relationships.

Since the door is now unlocked between the Wardrobe and The Library, Rose feels prouder about her academic and intellectual achievements, and also like she can use her knowledge more to her advantage in games and conversations.

The Library

Bookshelves line floor to ceiling walls, with large windows on one side of the room to provide adequate lighting. Looking out of them you can see a gorgeous expanse of land, with neon-colored rain and rainbow waters flowing everywhere. A simple door is set in the wall between two bookshelves in a kind of nook. There are comfortable armchairs around for people to curl up and read a book in -- but you’ll find that one of them is taken up by Rose, resplendent in a Peridot green god tier outfit, about ten books laying on her lap and around her chair. She looks up a little bit.

"So you found me. Congratulations. I’m glad you asked the right questions...it wasn’t that hard, was it?"

But maybe, just maybe, you get a little feeling of doubt.

This is where rose keeps her knowledge! I had more to say here but the NPC is cool and sassy and knows everything about the heart. Basically she is the stubborn librarian. However, she doesn’t come out of this room because Rose likes to keep her knowledge close. The books are all stories about people and chronological records, etc -- also some wizard porn because why not.

Not much changed here. Star was the only one to visit, so Rose associates her with intelligence and asking good questions. Now that the door's open, Rose feels compelled to share her knowledge when prompted.

Rose's House, Downstairs

The first thing to notice is how dark it seems to be -- the power flickers, and there’s an eerie red glow coming from the windows, which are rather large. A crackling can be heard coming from somewhere, as well as the opening and closing of doors...but no one comes out to meet you, and the effect is overwhelmingly lonely.

The house is gigantic -- high ceilings with minimalist, white furnishings. To the left is a gigantic living room with high ceilings; to the right is a modern kitchen with a low counter and some magnets and pictures on the refrigerator. Right in front of you is a staircase with no railings, and a lever.

Rose's house, downstairs, was split into three different rooms that operated differently from one another depending on what was in them. This was the kitchen, the living room, and the KEEP OUT! room. There were also levers here and in Rose's room that you could pull one after the other to take you to Peridot.

No matter where you looked out the windows, you could see fire encroaching on the house. It never got any closer, because that part of the heart isn't something I was ready or willing to play as it's very closely tied to some memories Rose hasn't gotten back yet! That's why the door was locked. If you'd tried to kick down the door and succeeded, you'd have died. :')

Kitchen:

In the kitchen there are alcohol bottles, blue gushers, and smuppets scattered around the counters; on the fridge, a gigantic framed picture of a picture of four kids is displayed proudly up top.

To the right of the fridge, there’s a door leading outside -- the glow from the windows is the strongest it’s been so far.

The Kitchen represents the place where Rose keeps the things that she worries about regularly! Because in canon this is where she fights with her mom frequently and this is a source of tension for her.
• The picture of her four friends are her worries that she won't be the same when she goes home.
• Blue Gushers were her impressions on her friends from home.
• Smuppets are both sexuality (as this is something Rose thinks about increasingly as she gets memories from home!) and relationships.
• Alcohol is her dependency on outside objects to handle stress -- particularly alcohol has she very clearly has a genetic disposition to it!
• Inside the fridge were things that she worries about the MOST -- relationships with the Smuppet and then the Book, which was titled "Rose: A History." This represented her life at home and what exactly happened to her and her friends.
- Also there was some takeout but it was just takeout. Because this is Homestuck and sometimes things happen and you just go with it.

Living Room

There are a few items in plain sight: a knitted cthulhu princess holding a violin sits on the couch in the center of the room, a pony right beside that, and a bronzed vacuum cleaner on a high pedestal. Dominating the room, however, is a 20-foot statue of ZAZZERPAN THE LEARNED. There’s also a door off to the side, marked with a sign that reads “KEEP OUT!” in curly, purple script. ]

The glow from the windows is stronger than before.

This is where Rose keeps things she's publicly interested in! Which makes sense with canon because again, this is the canon placement of her pony and her wizard stuff etc. Touching any of the things in here would have gotten you a memory.
• Cthulhu: "Play a haunting refrain on the violin" and also knitting deer.
• Zazzerpan: "She only collects wizards to spite you." And also the desire to sit down RIGHT NOW and write wizard porn.
• Pony: "Be the pony. Trample Mom." if you touch it. IF ANYONE HAD RIDDEN IT you would've gotten "RIDE!!!" which was Rose's starter memory! (I'm really sad no one did this :( )
• Vacuum Cleaner: "A mother will do whatever is best for her children." This is all of her concerned about mom feelings and mom love.

KEEP OUT!

A computer stands in front of you, with up and down arrows and a keyboard. There is a single chair in front of it, but no one seems to be around to kick you out.

The screen currently reads CHARACTER NAME: ____ OF _____

This room represented Rose's tendencies to characterize people by certain ideas or representations. Basically, this is her "boxing" area of the heart! If you changed what Rose had you as initially, you changed what she sees you as in the real world. Because impressions and categories are very, very important to her. Everyone got their own title in here, and you could change it using the keyboard. You could also type help or type to ask questions which people figured out pretty quickly though Star's guidance.

TITLES:
Tavros -- Page of Breath (not changed, though he thought about it!)
Dave -- Knight of Time
Dirk -- Prince of Heart
John -- Heir of Breath
Ventus -- Heir of Light
Mirage was originally the "Prince of Void," but then changed his to Maid of Hope! This means Rose will see him as a powerful force of growth rather than a powerful destructive agent. Altogether he will be associated with more pleasantly.
Soubi -- Mage of Time
Rin -- Knight of Space
Star -- Witch of Heart

and then from the test run:
Battler -- Knight of Heart
Beatrice -- Mage of Light

CHANGES:
Kitchen--
Mirage took the picture of the Beta Kids and inventory'd it! Rose will no longer worry about whether or not she'll be the same back at home as she is here in Aather.
Star organized the alcohol in the cabinets! Rose feels less like she needs to depend on outside stimuli to deal with her problems (but it's not completely gone, just hidden).
Also, Star inventory'd the "Rose: A History." and moved all of the smuppets in the Kitchen (including the one in the fridge!) to the living room. . . this means Rose no longer worries about her past and her memories, and also no longer worries about her relationships OR her sexuality at….all! Instead, she LIKES relationships, a lot! They're good! Yeah!

Living Room--
Tavros touched the Zazzerpan statue, which means (besides traumatizing him forever) Rose thinks she can trust him with her more uh. Intimate wizard writing.
This is where the smuppets ended up!

KEEP OUT! was only changed by Mirage, but was accessed by Star and Tavros too. Not much changed here, except for Mirage's title which was already explained.

Rose's House, Upstairs

The scenery shifts around you, and you find yourself standing in a very messy room. Papers peek out from underneath the bedding and the bed itself, books are scattered between the closet on the far wall and the cabinets immediately to your left. There’s a pile of knitting in the center of the room, and a charger for a computer -- but no computer to be seen. Instead, there’s another lever like the one back in the hall.

Here, the same vines from the antechamber have broken through the window -- black and angry, they crawl protectively around some of the books and around a well-loved stuffed bunny sitting in the middle of the bed. Unlike the others, these seem actively hostile, and are aggressively attempting to take over the room.

Rose's room represents all of Rose's secret interests, or the interests that she considers unpleasant for polite conversation! It also includes some of her super secret dere cuddle feelings, like the bunny with John's feelings all over it.

If you took a nap in the bed, you would end up dreaming in the Cue Ball, where you could see what was going on with True Heart, who was being held captive! You could also read a lot of porn. I did a lot of ad-libbing for the fanfiction parts, but I was pretty prepared to write Battler/Beatrice, Battler/Beatrice/Raven, Ven/Emil, Josh/Ven, Rose/Dave, Rose/Dirk/Dave, Flynn/Dave, Cass/Naha, Naha/Tempa…the list goes on. :)

Dirk took the power source, which, if you had returned it to True Heart, would have gotten you a key! There were a lot of things you could take to True Heart that would've merited you a key to the true heart room, and that was one of them. He also destroyed the vines, which made them retreat out the window -- there's no longer any Darkness or anger polluting Rose's secret interests.
Poor poor Tavros read some of Rose's porn which won't do anything necessarily except Rose will feel like she can share. . . but Star, Mirage and Tavros organizing and putting things in their proper places means that Rose's interests are a little less scattered! She's more likely to do things with them that are purposeful. Also leaving the cat and the bunny on the bed means her feelings for Jaspers and John are really comforted and supported.
Mirage taking the scandalous piece of paper out of the room (which was actually…Rose/Dirk/Dave porn oh my!! i was ready) means that Rose feels like she can share her scandalous daydreams with people sometimes.

PART TWO I'M WRITING UP NOW it will include Aather/Peridot/Sterling/The Beach/Inside the Cue Ball/The Throne Room/True Heart.

If you have any questions on this part you can ask here or wait for the other one I don't care either way!