needlekind is the signature kind abstratus of Rose Lalonde (on both sides of the scratch), who at one time loaned it to John Egbert for the purposes of scratching Beat Mesa; both Damaras also wield needles.
The needlekind abstratus covers various kinds of practical needles, ranging from those used in knitting to those found on record players, but they can also be used channel magic much like wands. In this sense, the exact distinction between needles and wandkind is not clear, with needles having been referred to as wands (or even “NEEDLEWANDS”) on various occasions. Generally speaking, needles come in pairs while a wand is a singular rod, and wands presumably lack the knitting and record playing applications of a needle. The way in which magic flows from a needle also tends to evoke yarn.
It should be noted that the actual magic properties of any given needles are ambiguous. Though Rose initially comes into magic by combining needles with a statue of a wizard, which Andrew Hussie suggests "carry the IDEA that they are magical, and so [...] yield real magical results",[1] Doc Scratch implies that all wands are “useless toys” and that such a “mundane combination of objects [couldn't] grant a child such an alarming mastery over dark forces all at once”, but rather merely channels the power of the Horrorterrors using Rose for their own devices. Later, Rose's use of needles during fraymotifs indicates that she might also use them as part of her own control over her Light aspect, which would be consistent with the Handmaid's Time-based “clockwork majyyks”.
Knitting Needles[]
Location Found | Rose's room |
A birthday present to Rose from John, who thought she needed a normal hobby.[citation needed]
Rose first employs them in Strife against her Mom, threatening to electrocute herself by shoving them into an open electrical socket.[citation needed] In the Land of Light and Rain, she continues to wield the needles effectively in combat, using them in conjunction with balls of wool against both Imps and Ogres.[citation needed]
They can also, of course, be used to actually knit things, like the head and arms of Rose's Eldritch Princess, her laptop cozy or parts of the bunny she gifted back to John.[citation needed]
Post-scratch, Rose also used knitting needles to brutal effect against fascist politicians.
Needlewands[]
Formula | Wizard Statue || Knitting Needles |
Cost | 1000 diamond, 2000 chalk, 3000 garnet, 500 gold |
A pair of needles created with the Alchemiter. Rose has not used these in battle since their creation, as she made the considerably more powerful Thorns of Oglogoth by combining them with her Grimoire immediately after creating them. Just after creating them, the wizard statue used to create them is seen charred and broken (possibly because Rose destroyed it with the needlewands after their creation).
Thorns of Oglogoth[]
Formula | Needlewands && Grimoire |
Cost | 6000 iodine, 5000 chalk, 4000 amethyst, 3000 gold, 666 tar |
An item alchemized from the Needlewands and the Grimoire for Summoning the Zoologically Dubious. These seem to be powerful weapons, capable of punching holes in caulk liches from a distance, parrying attacks from Bec Noir, and even creating force-fields out of energy. They're also quite useful for burning and exploding things.
While it was inevitable that Rose would receive thorns, the description of these ones notes that any sane adventurer would drop them and flee. It was speculated that the Thorns have a negative effect on Rose psychologically, seemingly changing her behavior. A similar theory was brought forward by Kanaya, who was concerned about Rose's allegiance with The Noble Circle of Horrorterrors and her frequent and almost brash usage of dark magic in tearing apart her own planet.
It was implied by Doc Scratch that the Thorns themselves are essentially powerless, that the abilities were rather innate to Rose and her descent into Grimdarkness, exacerbated by the influence of the Horrorterrors. However, Doc Scratch never directly implied this, but rather asked questions that led Rose to this conclusion. This may be because he was avoiding a direct lie, and the Thorns really are as powerful as originally suggested.
Later in Openbound, Meenah Peixes finds them within a chest in a dream bubble; they were apparently discarded by Rose.
666 tar being used in the recipe may refer to the devil's number, tying in with the grimoire.
Quills of Echidna[]
Location Found | Echidna, Uber Bunny's Inventory |
The Quills of Echidna are weapons first seen strapped to the back of the Uber Bunny. They are literally the Quills taken from Echidna's thorny back,[citation needed] making them powerful legendary weapons in the same arena as Hephaestus' Fear No Anvil, and likely played a part in her own “monster magic.”
The Quills of Echidna are needed to scratch the giant scratch construct to initialize the scratch. Jade Harley receives a set of Quills directly from Echidna through a series of shenanigans. John later uses one of them to activate the scratch. They are shown to be of enormous size in their original state and during Cascade have to be mounted on an arm above the Beat Mesa while John moves the Beat Mesa with his Breath powers.
Of note, the Echidna of Greek mythology was the mother of all monsters, and thus the name may be a reference to Rose's interest in the occult. Additionally, the real-life animals called echidnas have hedgehog-like quills, making the name a multi-layered reference.
Damara Megido has been seen with a smaller version of the Quills that she was able to hold in her hands, and used them to scratch the A1 session. Rose Lalonde has been seen using them to deter Gamzee from his berserking using a light discharge similar to Eridan Ampora's science stick. She is seen fighting the Condesce with them in Collide.
Cue needles[]
Location Found | In The Handmaid's hair |
Miniature pool cues worn in the bun of her hair were also used by the Handmaid as stabbing weapons and to channel clockwork majyyiks.
Thistles of Zillywich[]
Cost | 1 zillion zillium |
Location Found | Dirk's Roof |
The Thistles of Zillywich consist of one of the seven legendary weapons of cherubim folklore. The pair represents its namesake continent. It is one of two of such sets that contains more than one weapon. No further description of its origins is provided other than "Flippety dippety doo bup bup shrubber double floppy mumblescurry noodlescoop pizzabubble pizzabubble mip mip mip mip mip mip." Which may, incidentally, be a reference to the garbled text of Grimdarkness.
Although most Zilly weapons are the most powerful versions of their kind, Rose uses the Quills of Echidna instead of the Thistles in Collide.
In Homestuck: Beyond Canon (Dubiously Canon)[]
A medical needle such as an epipen can be included under the needlekind abstratus.
References[]
- ↑ Andrew Hussie. "What we gather from this is that wizards, even shitty statues of wizards, are inherently magical, and their inherent magical properties can be harvested through the process of alchemy. This is yet another reflection of the fact that in this particular fictional realm, and especially where alchemy is concerned, the fundamental ideas the objects represent are more important than the objects themselves. But magic is fake, you say? Wizards aren't real? And cheap fake wizards statues and figurines ESPECIALLY aren't real? It doesn't matter. They carry the IDEA that they are magical, and so, producing conceptual concoctions where the idea is in play will yield real magical results." Homestuck: Book 3: Act 4, p. 335. October 25, 2018.