guide to fantrolling

first and foremost this is not a do this don't do this set of rules
it is a this is suggested, this is discouraged/non canon set of guidelines.

"basics"

name
names are typically six by six. i.e. karkat vantas. six in first name, six in last. or to use one of mine, vixira kisela. six and six.
they typically are relevant to the character and not human names.
"Karkat comes from "Karkata," the Hindu astrological equivalent of Cancer, minus one letter." " Vantas, on the other hand, is a prostate cancer treatment drug."
Vixira's name comes from the word Vixen, specifically the Vix part. Kisela comes from the words Kit, which is the name for a baby fox, and Sela, which is the name of a fictional fox.
The six by six rule isn't absolutely necessary by any means, it just tends to look nicer and is more "canon".
I've noticed with the canon twelve that all the girls' names end with either the "ee" sound or an a. Terezi, Nepeta, Aradia, Feferi, Vriska, Kanaya. Not necessary either, just kinda cool, and somewhat feminine sounding.

Ancestor names are usually eight letters long. exception is Grand Highblood, and part of Mindfang's.
Vixira's is the Assassin. "the" is not included in the eight. "the Sufferer", "the Disciple", etc.
That said ancestors' fate are also tied in with their descendants' fate. like the deaths of the Mindfang and Redglare. Mindfang was killed, we're led to believe, by the Summoner. Vriska killed Tavros. Redglare was killed indirectly by Mindfang, while Terezi killed Vriska. so on and so forth.
(I haven't developed my trolls' ancestors enough to expound on their interactions)

A troll's lusus isn't normally named, but it can be. ____mom and ____dad are fanon nicknames, and aren't really actually used in the canon. the concept of a "mom" and "dad" are foreign to trolls.

design
trolls have black hair, grey skin, yellow eyes and orangered/red, orange and yellow horns.
These typically do not change. albinos are discouraged because it is a mutation, which would lead to the grub being culled.
hair colour: can vary with streaks of blood colour. it's not known for sure whether these are permanent or dyed.

Lowblood trolls especially wear mostly/all blacks and greys, and their symbol on their shirt in their blood colour. Trolls typically think fashion is stupid, but a fashion-oriented troll isn't taboo either. wearing clothes of their blood colour is also fine, like my troll Cigney wears a dark green shirt.

basically don't overdo it. accessories are okay but most trolls think fashion is dumb.

blood colour
blood colour. this is the easiest thing to break canon on. never mind that hussie said there's only the twelve normal colours. I personally don't abide by that.
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0…
here are the twelve known canon colours.
Luminosity should be about 50%. the luminosity varies, but stays fairly constant with blood groups. anything much brighter (like karkat's 100%) is mutant and should be avoided. Karkat's mutant blood is supposed to be a HUGE rarity and there is a good reason he hides his blood colour: he'd be culled in a heartbeat if he was open about it. Mutant grubs will show their blood colour on their little grubby bodies, and would almost invariably be culled. Mutations are not treated kindly in Alternian society.
Also, white, black, monochrome and rainbow blood are impossible.
Colours are canonically only between Aradia and Eridan. Feferi's colour is impossible unless you're in an AU, because only the Condesce and her heiress can have that colour.
Jadebloods are rare, and thought to be primarily female. However, this is not 100% fact and therefore it is okay to have a male jadeblood.
Not all jadebloods are daywalkers though.

lusus
Lususes, Lusii, whatever you want to call them, match their charge in blood colour and general power. Like Glubglub (Fef's lusus) would never go to a lowblood. Seadwellers and just-shy-of-seadwellers (Gamzee, and this part is typically/wide headcanon) have aquatic or semiaquatic lusii.
Lusii shouldn't have "superpowers" so to speak, except with the case of one like Glubglub, and that would really only belong to a Tyrian blood.

ability
Limebloods and lower are typically the ones to have abilities (limebloods are included in my personal headcanon). A limeblood's powers would likely be weaker than a maroonblood like Aradia. Vriska is the exception, not the rule, and even hers was limited to lowbloods.
Don't make it something outrageous. What we've seen in canon is telekinesis, an ability to commune with animals, and the dead, hearing the voices of the dead, and mind control. Terezi's doesn't really count, as she was taught that by her lusus.

mutations
The only acceptable mutations that I can think of would be more than a pair of horns, though this should be rather rare, as Sollux's are mentioned to be freakish, and wings. The wings is a personal headcanon drawn from the fact that the Summoner had wings for no apparent reason. It could be inferred that he was born with them as a grub, and they stayed with him. This may be something that is highly sought in Alternian society, one of the very few mutations that are tolerated.
Mutantbloods and albinos will almost invariably be culled. If you want to have one, you should have a very good reason for it.
Albinos will still have blood colour, they won't have white blood.

hive
The complexity of one's hive tends to correlate with the colour of their blood. Highbloods have fancy hives (Vriska's castle, Eridan's marooned pirate ship), while lowbloods have simpler hives (Karkat's, Sollux's, etc.). Hives are also built when the troll is very young, so they kind of reflect the whims of a child as well. It's totally okay to put your hive somewhere a little strange, like in a tree, or in a cave, underground, etc.

trolltag and quirk
trolltags should relate to the interests of the troll, or something about its personality or sign. they are two words, such as carcinoGeneticist. it's kinda cool to stick to the GCAT theme going on in canon, but not necessary.
QUIRKS oh golly. quirks are tough to begin with, and should relate to your troll as well. random quirks are weird and can be hard to read. for example, my troll Vixira capitalises all Vs because of how her sign looks (upside down A, which looks like a V with a - through it), and is soft spoken - uses all lowercase otherwise. She also encloses her text in a "roll of film" [ like this ). the [ being the canister and the ) being the torn edge of film.
Fraven has a slight growl to his text, which comes through by doubling or tripling Rs. He also precedes his text with a sabre, his strife specibus.
your quirk should be readable. If you show it to a non homestuck friend and they have  hard time reading it, it's time to simplify.

sgrub related stuff
okay i really have no beef with fansessions. at all. in fact I'm planning one! for mine, one of my trolls is a technopath, meaning he can commune with technology, and used this power to steal copies of the game from the canon twelve. realistically, their session would be null, but I haven't decided whether or not it will bear fruit. we'll see.
it's not totally necessary to have a reason for possessing the game. I don't really care, and it's kind of a minor detail in the long run.

titles
Titles are single syllable words and follow a Class of Aspect format. ie Heir of Breath. and yes seer is one syllable shh.
It's totally okay to make up your own classes and aspects but I personally encourage people to stick with the single syllable rule. That's why, for Vixira's, i picked Flame over Fire, as fire is two syllables and flame is only one.
titles are meant to be a challenge! It's not totally known what these challenges are, and UU is explaining their roles in more detail, but there are passive and active classes, and that vastly effects how the player is able to use their aspect-given powers.

god tier
a character can reach god tier after maxing out on their echeladder, dying on their Quest Cocoon (Quest Bed for humans) or being transported there soon after death, and only if their dream self is in some way alive. Or at least that is what we've seen in canon.
within the Green Sun were "extra" (?) Quest Beds for Dave and Rose, which they died standing on, allowing them to ascend.
And Aradia's case. Her dreamself was apparently asleep on a Quest Cocoon at the center of Derse the whole time and when her dream self died as Jack destroyed Derse, she ascended immediately, like a boss.
(basically if Hussie wants a character to god tier, he'll make it happen)
God tier outfits are static across same classes (ie all princes, all heirs, all maids, etc.) and only vary across aspects in colour. However, characters can alter their god tier outfit. my fantroll Fraven would dislike the pantaloons of his Prince god tier outfit, and therefore would swap them out for his old black pants. The general colour theme is also static throughout each aspect, but placement of various colours may vary. Shoe colour seems to be pretty much a personal thing, as Rose's shoes are blue, while Vriska's are red and they're both heroes of Light. Dave and Aradia both have black shoes, though.

wings
wings can resemble symbol and/or horns, or not not. Vriska's relate to her, but don't particularly look like her symbol, while Feferi and Eridan's do, and even Aradia's to some extent.
Their colour is the same general colour of the troll's blood, in different shades.
uhh there's no big rules on wings, except that they're insect based. So bird/angel/demon/dragon wings are kind of a no-no.

lands
lands typically follow a Land of ____ and ____. Nepeta's Land of Little Cubs and Tea was so Hussie could spell LOLCAT haha.
there's no huge rules for these either, except Heroes of Space have Land of ____ and Frogs, and Heroes of Time have something to do with clocks, watches, time, etc. Land of Heat and Clockwork is pretty obvious. Land of Quartz and Melody is more subtle. Quartz is used in timepieces. My Witch of Time presides over the Land of Ice and Rhythm, such as the rhythm of a clock (tick tick tick). Her land constantly ticks as well.
These typically relate to the player or their title. Land of Wind and Shade. Land of Light and Rain. Heat is probably because Dave's element is fire.

derse v. prospit
this is another your choice thing. think of your character. the prospit dreamers tend to be more internally good (even Vriska thought, in some twisted way, she was doing right by Tavros), while Derse dreamers have a "darker" side - not to say they'll be evil, but just... it's difficult for me to explain my thoughts here.
like I put Vixira on Derse because of the devolution she goes through once entering the game. she becomes more violent and rash. This is her darker side coming out.
Also consider that Prospit dreamers can see visions of the future in the clouds, while Derse dreamers are whispered to by horrorterrors.
Just think of your character and what would fit them.
Also, Prospit is all about destiny, while Derse is all about free will. There's a tumblr post that explains this better, and when I find that I'll post it.
Also, in a session, I do not believe Derse v. Prospit dreamers have to be balanced.



again this is not a definitive Do this Don't do that, Don't have fun type of guide.
it's just
suggestions. guidelines. follow them or don't, it makes no big difference to me.