Wreckstuck
, written by Archive of Our Own user faith begets faith, is a lengthy series of worldbuilding fics about the alternian empire in Homestuck. It is an ongoing series with four different stories. In order, they are Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan, and Derelict.
- Flotsam - Tells the story of how the alternian empire became entwined with the Mother Grub and how they became an empire.
- Jetsam - Tells the story of the institutionalization of the hemospectrum and the Signless' rebellion.
- Lagan - Tells the story of how the adult trolls were sent away from their planet once they came of age.
- Derelict - Tells the story of the empire's final days and what happened to the troll who survived the Vast Glub.
Has been taken down, but the text has been archived and can be found here.
Wreckstuck provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Zillah (a renowned and physically-strong blacksmith for the rustblood army), Phylis (a small but courageous fighter and inventor), Dhraid (a former slave who took control of her owner's army after the meteor shower), and Alilah (a seadweller with incredible physical strength and the eventual empress of Alternia).
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Spyros calls Phylis "Girlie", and she calls him "Big Brute".
- Phylis calls Harlow "Dreamlord" instead of his actual title a fair amount of time.
- After the End: The vast majority of the story takes place after the Great Catastrophe in chapter three of Flotsam.
- Animorphism: Albali can transform himself into a cloud of green and white moths.
- Anyone Can Die: The entire Pact save Alilah dies by the end of Flotsam.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension:
- Nearly all of The Pact can see how Alston and Harlow's bickering is less than one step from black romance, and Alston himself admits that if the rest of the city wouldn't riot at the thought of a violetblood and a limeblood being kismesises they'd be together romantically.
- Harlow and Alilah as well, though Harlow finds it even harder to keep things platonic with her than with Alston.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: Wreckstuck's tumblr blog confirms that Ignatz mates with the Great Mother at some point. Ignatz, for reference, is an adult male troll; the Great Mother... can be described best as a giant insect.
- Big Bad: The Winged Empress in Flotsam.
- The Big Guy: Spyros is one to the group in Flotsam, with both his strength and height (huge).
- The Blank: Doc Scratch, referred to as The Guardian, has a blank white sphere for a face as in the source.
- Blood Knight: During the time of the old ways, rustbloods were known for being warriors who never backed down. In addition, Spyros is quite the powerhouse, himself.
- Cliffhanger: Ulyses' chapter ends with one.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Ignatz isn't all there in his head, partially from hearing the voices of trees in his mind before he was hatched.
- Combat Hand Fan: Dhraid uses fans as weapons.
- Crapsack World: Alternia. Most of the discord comes from the constant war and violence from its people.
- Deal with the Devil:
- Dhraid makes a deal with the Witches so that her city remains standing long after she's passed away.
- The Pact makes a deal with Doc Scratch to allow trolls to have children again after the Great Disaster.
- Despair Event Horizon: Linnea's reaction to Zillah's death, as she reacts by mourning for dozens of sweeps.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Harlow and his family see the future in their dreams, and use that knowledge to guide them.
- Eldritch Abomination: Gl'bgolyb, Alilah's lusus, is a Horrorterror, a gigantic and incredibly powerful being not from this world. The Great Mother as well.
- Empty Shell: Tyrell has essentially no emotions or capacity to care about others after the death of his witch, due to him being created to be her vessel.
- Evil Overlord: Flotsam is partly about Alilah's journey into becoming one. The Winged Empress was one from the start.
- Friend to All Living Things: Ignatz, who cares more about plants (and to some extent animals) than other trolls; he can even talk to trees.
- Genius Bruiser: Linnea.
- Gentle Giant: Linnea is arguably the most peaceful member of The Pact.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: After Alilah falls apart after Zillah's death, Dhraid slaps her and tells her to focus on avenging her, not crying.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Alilah once she becomes Empress, gradually losing her sense of compassion and mercy for other trolls. The Winged Empress as well, who orders the deaths of thousands and who nearly kills Alston.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Harlow's mother allows herself to die so that the Pact can summon Doc Scratch.
- Ignatz gives up all his strength to create a tunnel of plants that the Pact can travel through safely.
- Dhraid steps in front of Alston so the Winged Empress kills her instead of him.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Spyros is huge even for a purpleblood, and easily the biggest of The Pact, while Phylis is small enough to be mistaken for a child and comfortably ride on his shoulders.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: Alilah initially doesn't understand the importance other trolls place on 'clothing', though Alston intervenes and gives her the clothes of his favorite sister before it becomes a spectacle.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Alston is rude, vicious, and mean to nearly everyone, but he does have a heart buried deep down somewhere. Maybe.
- The Leader: Harlow is seen as a sort of authority figure in The Pact, as he is the one who organizes the building of the city in the beginning few chapters of Flotsam.
- Like Brother and Sister: Harlow and Dhraid are extremely close friends, and they're both grateful that things aren't complicated by being romantically interested in each other.
- Made a Slave:
- Dhraid and her family are made into personal slaves after her father, a general, badly screws up in the war and is executed.
- Alston is sold by his father into the service of another family to secure to their alliance, which he never forgives him or the rest of his family for.
- Maligned Mixed Marriage: In Flotsam, due to the war and hostility between the different troll castes, any quadrants between trolls of different blood colors is a universal taboo.
- Meaningful Name:
- Zillah - "The Blacksmith", she ran a forge during the time of the old ways and created weapons for The Pact.
- Ignatz - "The Nurturer", was a very kind and innocent person.
- Phylis - "The Architect", created many things.
- Harlow - "The Dreamer", was a well-known prophet. In addition, he is referred to as "Dreamlord".
- Linnea - "The Scholar", owned a vast library and had a well knowledge of many things.
- Spyros - "The Reckless", was absolutely destructive and a brutal fighter.
- Alston - "The Spiteful", is often shortened to "Spit", which perfectly captures his rude personality.
- Alilah - "The Undying", is very hard to kill. "Aliah" itself is the name of an in-universe goddess of the abyss.
- Nerves of Steel: Tryrell had no reaction and no fear when the meteors began to fall and the rest of the city began to panic; his cool head and ability to command the psychic trolls was what saved it from destruction.
- No Body Left Behind: While fighting the Winged Empress, Alston releases an electric shockwave so powerful, it causes Linnea, Ulyses, and everybody else still alive to be vaporized, alongside the landscape, animals, corpses, plants, and buildings.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Linnea gives one to a dragon, smashing it's head in until it's just a bloody pulp in retaliation to Zillah's death.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Phylis is tiny, but her speed and intelligence make her a formidable opponent.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Spyros goes into one against the goldblood army after Phylis is killed, killing dozens to avenge her.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Alilah conquers the Winged Empress's empire and claims it as her own.
- Sacrificial Lamb: The violetblooded soldier who is the POV character of chapter two, meets Aliliah, finds out her circumstances as a loner living in the depths of the ocean... and then is brutally killed by Gl’bgolyb at the end of the chapter.
- Self-Duplication: Phylis can create projections of herself made of Hard Light, though the more copies she makes the less solid they are.
- Shock and Awe: Alston has electrokinetic abilities.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Phylis and Spyros' feelings for one another; neither ever have any interest in anyone else.
- Slave Brand: Dhraid's sign is the mark of her owner, though after the meteor shower she claims it as her own.
- Smug Snake: Alston and Tyrell.
- Spider-Sense: Spyros' hornbeds tingle right before something bad happens, and he has outright supernatural instincts on where to move to avoid whatever it is.
- The Stoic: Tyrell has very few emotions at all, and shows even fewer.
- Stronger with Age: Trolls' psychic powers get stronger with age, with Aston, a 600+ violetblood, being one of the strongest in the world.
- Summoning Ritual: Kinda. Doc Scratch arrives to Alternia after Harlow's mother mashed together two halves of a white sphere containing the members of The Pact's blood.
- Switching P.O.V.: Every chapter starts with a point of view from a different character.
- Swallowed Whole: The Pact gets swallowed by a giant Sand Worm in chapter 6 of Flotsam. Alston's powers keep them from being dissolved by its stomach acid, and Phylis comes up with the plan to escape by cutting it open from the inside.
- Telepathy: Both Albali and Mandee can read minds, though Mandee is the only one with scruples about it. Tyrell, for his part, is one of the very few who can block them out.
- Uncanny Valley: The Great Mother's vessel, while less terrifying than how she actually looks, is still unnerving for how it looks almost like a troll, but with all the details wrong.
- Wham Line:Alilah: Zillah is dead.Phylis: I'm dying, Spyros. I'm going to die when the sun sets.
- Winged Humanoid: The Winged Empress is a troll with the rare mutation of functioning wings.
- Worldbuilding: The central premise of the four fics.
