tuffgreg:

ok so hiveswap is totally accessible even if you havent read homestuck. basically the only confusing things are the trolls, which are the main alien species relevent to the plot. here’s the things that might be confusing

• trolls basically just use more complicated words for simple stuff, which is kind of The Whole Joke Of Their Existence. things might seem confusing but they’re just using a bunch of synonyms with more syllables. like, just bust out your thesaurus, it’s pretty easy to figure out what stuff is but there’s a lotta SAT words
• their native planet is called alternia, but they only live there until they come of age, which is around age 15, which is 7 alternian sweeps. after that, they get drafted into the troll military and go off to conquer more alien planets to add to the massive alternian empire. shit’s rough, yo
• instead of parents, trolls are raised by big animals they call their lusus. it’s pretty cute… most of the time.
• trolls have a caste system based on blood color – red is the lowest status, pink is the highest, and the rest fall on the spectrum in rainbow order or w/e. purple & pink-blooded trolls are royalty, but they’re also aquatic and have gills and stuff. the caste system is one of the major pillars of troll culture, and it permeates pretty much every aspect of their society. 
• pretty much all the technology is made out of bugs but there’s never really any explanation for this, you guess is as good as mine, dude

overall it’s pretty accessible, from what i can tell, but i’ve been entrenched in this homestuck junk since i was fourteen so i legit cannot tell what’s understandable from an outside perspective anymore. i’m just way 2 used to elaborate homestuck bullsh*t, i’m sorry