Many ongoing gags (or "callbacks") occur multiple times in the MS Paint Adventures.

Contents 1 Gags in Multiple Adventures 2 Problem Sleuth Gags 3 Homestuck Gags 3.1 Midnight Crew Intermission

Gags in Multiple AdventuresEdit

• "Retrieve arms". Based on the fact that character arms are often not drawn when by the character's side. This command is often the first command given to a new character when they appear. This is a pun based on the word "armament" or weapons.

• "What Pumpkin?" The appearance of pumpkins, which originated from Jailbreak. As pumpkins are rather elusive, it's often very difficult to actually tell if there has ever been one in the room. This may have been caused by Jake English, who appearified several pumpkins after discovering his Transmaterializer.

• The word shit is used often, giving extra adjectives to adequately describe how shitty the command is. Sometimes the Shit is good, as in "Pose as a team, 'cause shit just got real"; or sometimes the Shit is bad, as in "This is just Complete Horseshit".

• Gay porn: Often times the author will slip in some gay porn. Most notable is Hunk Rump. It does not appear in Homestuck but the Smuppets can be a sort of replacement, as well as Equius' pictures.

• Black Inches: Having first appeared in Jailbreak (title does not need explanation), this is referred to multiple times Homestuck, such as Club's Deuce's smut magazine (a parody of sorts where "Black Inches" refers to licorice). Snowman's whip bears the same name, and Jack Noir's most powerful attack (Red Miles) is a subtle tongue-in-cheek reference to the magazine. In fact, color/distance pairs make several appearances in homestuck, also including Blue Fathoms and the Yellow Yard.

• "First, be the pony. Second, ..." A command from Jailbreak makes an appearance in Homestuck. It is eventually used successfully.

• YOU (VERB) THAT (NOUN) THIS INSTANT!: This cry of rage has so far appeared twice, originally in a Problem Sleuth donation comic and more recently seen in Homestuck: Act 5. It was first uttered by Ace Dick while playing a game of Hunk Rump: The Gathering. In an attempt to get Problem Sleuth to hurry up and finish his turn, he begins to urge PS to tap the ass card. When Problem Sleuth refuses, Ace Dick screams ""TAP IT! YOU TAP THAT ASS THIS INSTANT!". In its second debut Hearts Boxcars tries to get a doubt-filled Tavros Nitram to get up and kiss Vriska Serket. When Tavros refuses (due to his inability to stand up), Hearts Boxcars flips out and roars "YOU KISS THAT GIRL THIS INSTANT!" Most recently, Doc Scratch has commanded Aradia's anscestor to "render herself in a more symbolic manner this instant."

• "This is incredibly...": In Problem Sleuth, several of Pickle Inspector's actions have been described in this manner. It has also been seen in Homestuck (more than once)(and again here) and the Midnight Crew intermission. A common variant, "This is incredibly silly!", usually involves jousting, but occasionally doesn't.

• "X: Land already": Used in Problem Sleuth and Homestuck to switch perspective to a character who has been falling, usually while other characters have been the focus. Has been used for Problem Sleuth twice, Nervous Broad, Hysterical Dame, John, Jade , Tavros and Roxy.
• Auto-Parry. At first just a sight-gag in Problem Sleuth as Ace Dick fails to parry so much as take the blow full on, it morphs into a series of terrible puns in the Homestuck universe such as "Auto-Perrier" and "Blotto-Parry" when Rose Aggresses her mother. Dave also later uses "Auto-Harley" against Jack Noir.

• "X has been slain.": This has been used numerous times in Problem Sleuth, and once in Homestuck.

Problem Sleuth GagsEdit

• Weapons in Problem Sleuth may be exchanged with something else, also known as an innocuous double. The next frame typically gives an explanation of why it's ridiculous to think the character ever had such an object in the first place. This extends to the Midnight Crew, who keep all their items as decks of cards, and even appears briefly in Hivebent as one of the trolls' weapons. Later it's revealed that Lord English's CAIRO OVERCOAT also has an innocuous double.

• "Punch <noun> in snout to establish <adjectival noun>": Ace Dick from Problem Sleuth is prone to expressing himself through violence, and tends to exert his Emotions in this fashion. Oddly enough, it usually results in him gaining allies. Recently ported to the Midnight Crew Intermission.

• "Ride <noun> like a mechanical bull": A command often given toward objects that clearly should not be ridden like a mechanical bull.

• "Throw down hat in disgust": A command common among the male characters establishing their disgust in recent events. It doesn't matter whether they are good or bad, nor how much they try and resist, or even if they are alive or not, sooner or later the hat will fly! This gag was extended to Homestuck, as well as the Midnight Crew intermission. Jane recently threw hers down in such disgust that she managed to level up as a result. Her hat appropriately shares in the glorious spoils.
• Busts: Typically placed in Problem Sleuth, busts are seen obstructing pathways, as Busts-R-Us is a Legitimate Establishment, and are constructed to look like several movie celebrities, most notably Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Snoop Dogg. A combination of busts has been created: the Bowen Stilson Dogg. This gag made a lampshade appearance in a Homestuck page as Dirk attempts to exit his room.
• "Fondly regard...": Since Godhead Pickle Inspector refuses to do anything other than "Fondly Regard Creation", many commands are given that use a word that sounds very similar to "Creation". (For example, "Fondly regard crustacean" or "Fondly regard cremation".) His rule seems a little loose, though, as GPI does fondly regard some crenellation, although it certainly could be considered part of his "creation." The same may apply to his beloved children. In an extra, GPI actually obeys a command to "Fondly regard donation", but, of course, that's non-canon. Bucking the trend a bit, Wayward Vagabond holds a certain appeal for the desert night over Exile Town. Gamzee and Jane both Fondly Regard the miracle of a new beginning.

• Trying to use Sepulchritude. Problem Sleuth has had to hold off on using Sepulchritude many times, until it is finally used.

• "I don't know why you haven't thought of that": Some actions occur on their own, and the action notifies the player that they most likely should have thought of this MONTHS ago, or that something is so simple that the player shouldn't question its obviousness.

• Flip the Fuck Out: Occasionally a character in Problem Sleuth (or, on one occasion, in Homestuck) will Flip the Fuck Out. Weasels from Problem Sleuth mainly do this when they get agitated.
• "Fall in a more <adjective> manner.": This has been used multiple times for Problem Sleuth (Fall in a more hard-boiled manner), Pickle Inspector (Fall in a sillier manner), and Nervous Broad (Fall in a more nervous manner).

Homestuck GagsEdit

• Idiotic thoughts: When characters are first introduced in Homestuck, they get insanely idiotic thoughts which normally consist of acting like an animal and besmirching their surroundings via some bodily discharge. They usually get these thoughts after trying to retrieve their Arms. Though those thoughts often got cancelled, Jade goes ahead with hers. Dave doesn't do it but it is mentioned here as well as done by Brobot Here.

• THIS IS STUPID: Used first by John, then other characters, whenever they realize something is particularly stupid. The first time he began to have a mental breakdown when he realized that Betty Crocker, his sworn nemesis, manufactures Fruit Gushers, but quickly stopped when he realised that THIS IS STUPID. It was later invoked when he ignored Dave's advice about skipping to the seventh gate and blasted off anyways. Karkat is doing the same gesture when entering Trickster Mode after he woke up. It happens again later in Daedric when Karkat has a mental breakdown after reading John's bucket-delivered letter over the idea of Troll/Human sloppy makeouts.

• Dropping things: In Homestuck, picking up things or taking them out of the Sylladex can cause other items captchalogued in there to eject, often violently and in a hilarious fashion.

• Level Up for Slaying the Imp: In Homestuck, objects used by Rose to smash Imps are given their own ranking on the Echeladder. These objects include John's Fridge, his bathtub, and the old copy of Colonel Sassacre's.

• "You figure you've left him hanging long enough.": In Homestuck, both John and Dave have left various things "hanging". In one of John's cases it is used figuratively to mean that he needs to high-five the Kernelsprite; John also regards his sprite's hanginghood after he and Nannasprite kick some Ogre ass; in Dave's case, it is meant literally in reference to the hanging puppet in his way.

• "Be the other guy": A command used to semi-force the story to focus on another character. It was first used in Jailbreak (though not perfectly) and later appeared in Homestuck to make the story shift from Dave's perspective to John's. Also used for other characters. Also used in the Midnight Crew intermission, where the command never gets the desired result.

• "Sweet Catch": Appears when one of the main characters catches something at very high speeds.

• Misquoting: The narration will often include a quote, only to attribute it to the wrong person. This happens in the cases of Walt Whitman (A Francois De La Rochefoucauld quote), Mark Twain (a Shakespeare quote), Charles Barkley (a T.S. Eliot quote), John Keats (a Snoop Dogg quote), and Charles Dutton (another Shakespeare quote). There was also One in Karkat's ~ATH Handbook Attributed to Troll Will Smith (A John Oxenham quote).

• Psyche: Before something cool is about to happen, AH suddenly shifts the story to focus on another character. The first time this happens is when Rose first leaves the observatory to confront her mother, which is interrupted with "OH PSYCHE" and switches to Dave's introduction. Worthy of note is Andrew's X2 DOUBLE PSYCHEOUT COMBO and, eventually, an attempt at a 5X CLIFFHANGER COMBO and the cause of an UNPSYCHE. On this page there's a PRELOADER PSYCHEOUT luring the reader into thinking it's Dave's Strife page when in it is really Jade's.

• "<Temporal noun> in the <Past/Future>, but not many...": This expression is used a lot of times in Homestuck, to change the story's current time to go to the past or to the future, as the story occurs in both simultaneously.

• "Lousy goddamn stupid <noun>.": So far, every kid save for Dave has voiced his or her disgust for something in this manner. Sollux Captor, in a similar but not-quite-the-same manner, and in a 2X DISGUST COMBO, expresses his distaste for lousy stupid goddamn psychics and his window. The Farmer also said this about the mushrooms. This also has a lesser version involving "Lousy stupid" in situations that do not warrant swearing.

• "That's really all there is to say on the matter": Dave and John will often summarize their situation quickly, then say this. That's really all there is to say on the matter. Additionally, when Vriska forces Tavros to jump off a cliff, he types "That's really all there is to report on the subject of me getting hurt" while in the same pose as Dave when he types "That's really all there is to say on the matter." Dirk has also used this when talking about his love for puppets. It happens again after Jake fought and lost against Dirk's robot.

• BLUH is commonly used as an all purpose reaction to...well, almost anything. Rose, John, Jade, Kanaya, Feferi, and even Spades Slick have expressed their thoughts about someone or something using some sort of BLUH. Trolls claim to be unfazed by our human bluhs. See Scribble Mode.

• "IS THIS YOU". Used by Terezi to attempt to troll Dave Strider by sending him pictures of various badasses males that bear a sort of resemblance to him. One instance led Dave(sprite) to compliment Terezi's trolling methods, although he could have been trolling her in turn. Thus far, it has been used several times in two different conversations.

• Haunting Refrains: In Homestuck, when musical instruments are present in a scene (string instruments in particular), a command to play a haunting refrain is often chosen, and accompanied by a simple flash video. This actually originated in Problem Sleuth, when Problem Sleuth was commanded, but refused, to play a haunting tuba refrain because the tuba in question was encrusted with filth from years of neglect.
• Wear the <article of clothing>, Be the <title>. Used on Rose, John and Roxy. When used it often involves a certain pony.

• "Resist Urge to <verb><noun>": a recurring gag in which the character is close to an item that may be tempting to use or touch. This usually ends in the character failing to resist the urge, but not always.

• Huge Bitch: A gag that has so far appeared 4 times throughout Homestuck. It first showed up in the Midnight Crew Intermission. The next was in Homestuck: Act 4, in a big flash page. The next appearance is in Hivebent just before Vriska's introduction. The most recent instance mirrors the second one. (The trolls' session's Jack Noir acts the same as the kids' session one). With the appearance of this gag comes a scribble of the targeted person. So far, only the Black Queen / Snowman and Vriska are considered a huge bitch. Huge bitches also say "BLUH BLUH" (see above). More recently, as Rose was busy being her typical cryptic self and left John hanging to deal with 2 trolls, he refers to her as a HUGE WITCH.
• He is already here: An ongoing gag in relation to Lord English, referring to his ability to travel to any time and place he wants. First used when discussing the virus that will summon him into the universe, it is later used when Lord English confronts the Handmaid, in which Lord English asks "How do you expect to outrun me WHEN I AM ALREADY HERE?" When Lord English appears in Andrew Hussie's manor, our beloved author notes that Lord English is always already here.

• Stunning revelation: Used in Hivebent to reveal something important to overall plot when it seemed otherwise. So far used for Aradia Megido's all-the-time death and (unsuccessfully) for the fact that the trolls have one session and not two. In fact if the Game Master (Andrew) has to state that something is a shocking twist, it probably isn't. For example, Dad's room turning out to be perfectly ordinary.

• "You cannot hope to beat <X> in a <Y>-off. He/she is simply the best there is": You cannot hope to beat Egbert, Tavros, Aurthour, or Kanaya Maryam in a prank-off, a8scond-off, butler-off, or snark-off, respectively. They are simply the best there are. Happens again in Act 6 Intermission 2: "I think you'll find that when it comes to striving for a reasonable approximation of legitimacy, we are simply the most barely adequate there is."

• Toilet displacement: In Homestuck, newly connected Sburb players who are still getting used to the interface seem to have a serious habit of ruining the client player's bathroom, in almost every case. The toilet (if we choose to use that hoity-toity, blueblooded term) is usually first to go, followed later by the bed and occasionally the bathtub. It's also a note to say that only females seem to do this and have some sort of toilet moving fetish. Rose, Jade, Terezi, Aradia, and even Kanaya have all done this.

• Drinking something one is not supposed to: In Homestuck, one gag would go that a character would try to drink something that only looked tantalizing, only to retch in disgust and find out otherwise. So far, this has happened to John with his "apple juice" (in Dave's imagination), Rose with one of her Mother's martinis, Kanaya with the blood of her just-deceased Lusus, and Feferi with some Troll Tab. The last one is Roxy when she drank her martini, much like Rose but not not with the same reaction. Eridan would've also done this with Faygo, but he considered it unnecessary since it's just soda. "We all need to settle down here."

• "ALL THE (NOUN)S. All of them.": Appears all over Homestuck: Act 5 in most of the instances where Trolls are speaking of ALL of something. ALL OF IT. First shows up when Sollux is introduced. It frequently involves Vriska, but has also been used by Feferi, Eridan, Karkat (talk to Vriska) and Sollux. Also, the variation of "None of them" occurs where it fits better.

• Headdesk and the beating of the back of the head. This happens twice in Homestuck. By Karkat during a flash animation and by Eridan during a normal panel.
• Words beginning with "A": Sometimes fancy words of this kind are used instead of words which would be used usually in their place. John Egbert's computer has an "Actuate" button instead of a "Start" button. During Strife, the kids can select options such as "Aggrieve", "Aggress"(-"passive"), "Abjure", "Abscond", "Abstain", "Abuse", "Accuse", "Assail" or "Assault" (Jade, while firing at Bec, can choose "Arraign", "Arsenalize", "Artillerate", "Armamentify"... or "Arf".)

• Oh nooooo... with various letters repeated. Fairly self-explanatory. Please make sure to read it in the proper tone of mental voice. First instance: Jade hears from Karkat again, the first time from our perspective. Second instance: Jade is thwarted one more time by a Pumpkin. Third instance: Dream Jade's reaction to the accidentally impaled crow. Another example: Nepeta's comment on her Shipping wall to the possible matespritship pair of Karkat and Vriska. Happens again when Jake accidentally kills a fairy bull. This time doesn't count.

• A recurring introductory set of lines: An introduction from a troll, a reaction with multiple o's (or zeroes) from the victim, the line "So I guess A is finally the B you C everything D," followed by an emoticon. Three examples, in the order in which they appeared in the story line, are as follows: A conversation between Karkat Vantas and Jade Harley, where A=TODAY, B=DAY, C=FUCK, and D=UP; A conversation between Kanaya Maryam and Aradia Megido in which A=Tonight, B=Night, C=Blow, and D=Up; A conversation between uranianUmbra and Jane Crocker, where A=today, B=day, C=make, and D=better. It is also notable that, in the first and second of the exemplary pages, the phrase "is there nothing I can do to change your mind?" is given after the emoticon.

• "Immutable Fact I am Stating... Does not mean": Karkat tells John that all troll kids hate all human kids during an attempt to communicate helpfully with him and calls John an idiot so that he can clearly explain why he is not trying to be mean to him. Terezi later assures Rose that she is being helpful, but friendship just isn't taking place. Kanaya informs Aradia that, although it is immutable that Sgrub will be terrible and although they are not on the same team, she will still be helpful.

• Vriska being annoyed at having to follow explanations by keeping notes and running out of ink and pens and paper, etc.
• Irons in the Fire: Used by various trolls throughout the comic, much to the dismay of Karkat, who was the first to use it. It is formally addressed by Karkat on several occasions, usually after saying "Don't you dare say it", or some other variation.
• The x2 Double Facepalm Combo, first used by Rose in the Mausoleum, then by Karkat at his computer, and later not quite accomplished by Spades Slick. In [S] Flip, Terezi pulled off a x3 Triple Facepalm Combo, with the aid of Cal (pap). The gag is later subverted with Doc Scratch's Facepalm x0 Combo.
• Bonk: Several times in Homestuck items have struck someone on the head with a satisfying BONK.
• ROBOSLAP, ROBOSLAP.
• Reunite with loving...: Originally used to fondly regard Con Air, but has now extended beyond that.
• Naming and renaming previously named non-speaking characters (usually flipping their gender in the process). Seen with Vodka Mutini (aka Dr. Meowgon Spengler), Casey (aka Viceroy Bubbles Von Salamancer), Liv Tyler (aka Terry Kiser), and Jaspers (aka Frigglish).
• "This <human/troll> <emotion/disease> called friendship" is mentioned multiple times, with frequent debate over whether friendship is actually an emotion or not.
• Characters have been prone to making piles of objects related to them, like Jade's Squiddles, Rose's scarves, Gamzee's horns, and Eridan's wands. The only unique case is Vriska, since while she does have piles of dice and 8-balls lying around her hive, she was not the one to pile them, rather Kanaya who was simply cleaning her room. However, she is shown to have a pile of boondollars/bucks from her FLARP conquests in her secret room.
• The sound effects 'shoosh', 'pap', 'nak' and 'doof', not always in appropriate places.
• Amusing alternative spellings - 'bunp', 'sign' (for 'sigh'), 'jegus', etc.
• STRIIIIIIIIDDDDDDEEEERRRRR!!! Shouting Dave's surname with additional letters to express anger. Rose shouted it when she was trying to enter Sburb, and John at his Fraymotif Shop.
• PCHOOOOO, and variations of it, being used as a sound effect/CAPTCHA for anything rocket related, like a rocket pack or rocket shoes.
• Characters carrying five or more computers around with them, like sensible persons.
  • Except for John, who simply does not know any better keeps firing them out of his Sylladex, losing it in a sea of oil or keeping it in his Sylladex after giving it to someone.
• "It's hard, being [blank]. It's hard, and no one understands". Repeated on several occasions.
• "I am the [blank]. It's me." Repeated on several occasions as well.
• "Who's this douche bag?" Recurring reaction to unfamiliar faces, like Bing Crosby. Especially Bing Crosby.
• "Acrobatic fucking pirouette": Several characters use this phrase, or a variation thereof, to describe how they are going to flip out if an annoying event continues to happen. It is a dramatic exaggeration of the phrase "fly off the handle." First used by Dave when he was getting fed up with Bro's weird puppets. These are also used to dismount in an ironically ungraceful manner from certain objects. Dave does this off a sword, and Gamzee off his one-wheel device.
• Characters riding some kind of mount like a bucking bronco with the caption "YES. FUCK YES. HELL FUCKING YES." The first two examples, involving John riding Maplehoof and Eridan and Feferi riding seahorses, are crudely drawn, while the third, involving Andrew Hussie riding Falcor the Luckdragon, is presented in the normal style (and with "Hell yes" instead of "Fuck yes" for the middle statement). Possibly an offshoot of the "Ride X like a mechanical bull" joke from Problem Sleuth.
• "That didn't stop...": Used in situations mentioning something that has not been shown in the story in a decent amount of time, such as "That didn't stop being a thing that was real or anything" or "That didn't stop being true."
• Shaving cream is initially expected to be flame-suppressant by both the Authority Regulator and John. However, John is quickly made to revise this expectation drastically with the revelation of OH GOD HOW CAN SHAVING CREAM BE SO FLAMMABLE. Later, examining the flagpole in John: Enter Village references the selfsame flammability. This gag does end up as a Funny Aneurysm, however, shortly before the end Act 5 Act 2.
• Butler island: Dave was served like a dude on butler island during his strife with his brother. Sollux later predicts that he will get 'hii2 a22 2erved two hiim twofold', liike two dude2 on doublebutler ii2land. Later, Dave becomes like a dude on butler island; i mean, a dude who happens to be one of the butlers, since he became the server player for both Rose and Jade. Also, Jake worries that he might get served like a dude on butler island if he lets his guard down. Unfortunately, this worry reaches fruition.
• Taking a legendary infinite X. As seen with Dirk Strider taking a legendary 'infinite' shower. And Jane hoping that Dad is having one of his legendary infinite carwashes.
• Destroying time-related devices: Spades Slick spends much of the Midnight Crew Intermission breaking the 1000 clocks in The Felt mansion. He later destroys Doc Scratch's clock, marking a total of 1001/1000 clocks destroyed. Arguably, this is paralleled by Jack Noir, who upon arrival in the Trolls' session fights a thousand-strong army of doomed timeline Aradiabots. Since they are robots of the Maid of Time, they are feasibly describable as "time-related devices". In other words, 1000/1000 Aradiabots Destroyed. Then the alpha Aradiabot blows up – in a sense also destroyed by Jack, as it's caused by Aradia's ascension when he destroys the Trolls' Derse – making it 1001/1000.
• Make-believe time is over: Difficulty with coping with (or rather accepting) the death of a cherished one, repeated throughout the story in a very similar pattern.
• Unreal Air: Dave, Gamzee, and Jane have all been seen with objects that are called Unreal Air, Unireal Air, and Unreal Heiress.
• Someone crumpling paper in anger: Dave, Terezi, Jack and the Draconian Dignitary have all seen crumpling paper in anger.
• Tearing things out of their chests and pounding them with robotic arms: This has been discussed on two occasions so far: by Vriska for her cerulean heart and much later by Dirk's auto-responder for brobot's uranium heart. Both cases were followed by robots enacting it; first the Aradiabot in removing her robotic heart and then beating it to a pulp, and then by Dirk's brobot in removing what is likely uranium from its body, smashing it to pieces, and promptly exploding.
• "Everybody out of the god damn way. [You/I] got a A full of B, a C full of D, and an E full of F." First happens with Clubs Deuce in this page of the Midnight Crew Intermission (where A=hat, B=bomb, C=fist, D=penis, E=head, and F=empty). Later done with Roxy in this page of Act 6 Act 2 (where A=lab, B=cats, C=skirt, D=scamper, E=head, and F=vodka). Karkat later bursts into the lab in this page of Act 6 Intermission 2 yelling this gag out himself (where A=LAB, B=HUMANS, C=MOUTH, D=YELLING, E=TORTURED PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE, and F=TOTALLY HYSTERICAL EMOTIONS AND UNAIRED GRIEVANCES AT PRACTICALLY EVERYBODY).
• Kanaya getting knocked off the lab's teleporter pad as someone else teleports from the other end. First by Eridan in Kanaya: Return to the core. Later by Karkat on this page. Kanaya lampshades the recurrent nature of the gag the second time around.

Midnight Crew IntermissionEdit

• Backup clothing: in the Midnight Crew Intermission, the Midnight Crew has backup hats, and Lrd English has a backup CAIRO OVERCOAT.
• Destroying clocks: See above.