- For other uses, see Candy (disambiguation).
Candy is a recurring food and symbol throughout MS Paint Adventures.
Candy also forms one half of a "meat/candy binary" in Andrew Hussie's theory of storycraft. As expanded upon in his commentary for Homestuck: Book 3: Act 4, in this theory meat represents “exceptionally violent, high-octane, game-changing” content, which began to become more and more prevalent in Homestuck after [S] Jack: Ascend
.[1] While the exact significance of candy in this framework beyond the fact that it contrasts with meat has not yet been expounded upon, its name suggests more saccharine and sentimental storytelling, a dichotomy played with in Homestuck's Epilogues.
In Problem Sleuth[]
A bag of candy corn.
Candy appears throughout Problem Sleuth and serves a variety of purposes.
Besides the candy corn considered precious by Problem Sleuth himself, candy is also used as ammunition for candy weapons conjured by Pickle Inspector
; in Andrew Hussie's words, "in the imaginary world, candy is especially deadly to demonic creatures"[2], a single shot from a tootsie roll shotgun doing “massive damage!!!” to a beast, and a shower of candy being able to almost completely finish off a wounded Demonhead Mobster Kingpin. Candy armor of varying scales presumably provides additional defense from demonic attacks.
Problem Sleuth is expertly able to place pieces of candy in his mouth so as to imitate the appearance of a vampire. This skill comes in handy for the Gambit Schema transformations, which utilise candy heavily.
Due to his diabetes, the consumption of candy causes Mobster Kingpin's blood sugar to rise, bypassing his natural defenses. He is at his most vulnerable when his blood sugar is at its critical limit; however upon reaching his final form, he surpasses this weakness entirely.
In Homestuck[]
Betty Crocker's Fruit Gushers are a favorite of John Egbert, and he receives a box of them from his father for his birthday. Their shape is frequently compared to that of various kinds of grist. A flavor with healing properties can be created through alchemisation with Nannasprite's slime, and these healing properties can be reversed by combining them with the Ink of Squid Pro Quo.
Betty Crocker seemingly manufactured similar candies on both Alternia and Earth, with a box of Orange Creamsicle Colonoscolypse “FRUIT TROLLUPS” resembling Fruit Roll-Ups in Alterniabound being credited to “Troll Crocker”. Orange creamsicles are of course a candy shared by both planets which only an “4WFUL C1V1L1Z4T1ON” would neglect to invent, much like cotton candy.
Cherubs have a special affinity for candy, with candies littering the floor of Calliope and Caliborn's room. Their personal jujus take the form of red and green lollipops, and combined have the power to activate Trickster Mode, which, like Problem Sleuth's Gambit Schema, is a transformation heavily featuring candy. Alongside their various lollipops and spiral candies, the twins are also in possession of a “lifetime supply” of special stardust, which cherubs “consume each day to fuel their laughter.”
The “==>”s use to progress forward through Homestuck appear to double as a kind of candy which Doc Scratch keeps a “healthy supply” of as part of his role as host. Hussie finds them delicious.
Midnight Crew[]
Like Problem Sleuth's candy corn, Spades Slick, Diamonds Droog, Clubs Deuce and Hearts Boxcars all keep a favorite candy item underneath their hats. Though these have no combat purpose and are not directly utilised in any transformations, Slick's licorice scotty dogs do bear a passing resemblance to a transformation undergone by one of his alternate selves.
According to Meenah Peixes, the scotty dogs were also a “DELICACY” on Beforus. Doc Scratch kept his apartment well-stocked with them much like his “==>” candies, and Hussie had Ms. Paint make a soup from them to aid in Slick's recovery after Cascade.
In The Homestuck Epilogues (Dubiously Canon)[]
Taking after Hussie's binary of storycraft theory, the two volumes of The Homestuck Epilogues are entitled Meat and Candy. The timeline depicted in the Candy volume begins
with John Egbert munching on a piece of “strawberry swirl mint”, having decided to eat candy instead of meat on his picnic with Calliope and Roxy Lalonde. The Candy volume ends with a look into the timeline of the Meat volume, wherein Rose Lalonde eats from a bowl of candy specially made for a robotic palate, which would takes like some combination of battery acid and wasabi on a human tongue.
References[]
- ↑ Andrew Hussie. "[S] Jack: Ascend, if memory serves, was posted exactly one year from Homestuck's start date. What an absurd amount of content I produced in that year, especially when you consider the animation stuff. Good thing I slowed down after that, right? No, I kept doing the exact same thing for the next several years. Yikes, sounds bad... So about this animation. I think this one marks the start of Homestuck's trend thereafter of dropping exceptionally violent, high-octane, game-changing animations out of nowhere. There are so many like this from here on, right up to the end of Act 5. Only then does the number sort of taper off. But from this point on I just sorta started shoveling more and more red meat into the story's maw. This stretch is where I was starting to get a feel for this type of sensationalistic storytelling content as something I'd later code as (mostly for my own internal purposes) as "meat," in the meat/candy binary of storycraft theory. I really shouldn't talk about this yet, though. It's too soon." Homestuck: Book 3: Act 4, p.233.
- ↑ Andrew Hussie. "Let's refresh our memory that in the imaginary world, candy is especially deadly to demonic creatures. All the training, the hours of intensive gameplay, everything you have ever learned in Problem Sleuth. It all comes into play in one insane, endless boss battle." Problem Sleuth Volume 5: Sepulchritude, p.176.