- For the post-scratch version of this character, see The Dolorosa.
Porrim Maryam is the Maid of Space and Kanaya's dancestor.
Her name comes from Porrima, the traditional name of the star system Gamma Virginis, which resides in the Virgo constellation. It is also the alternate name for Antevorta (one of the Carmentae, who are Roman goddesses of childbirth and prophecy, and patrons of midwives).
Not much is known about her, aside from anything revealed in Act 6 Intermission 3.
Biography
From various bits of dialogue, one can glean that she has an interest in fashion, has had a fair bit of experience in the more concupiscent aspects of troll romance, and has better mastery of her abilities as a rainbow drinker than Kanaya. Additionally, she seems to be something of a feminist, as she is concerned with female oppression and gender equality. A bit more about her personality can be gleaned from Aranea's expository remarks (In Openbound):
- “The Maid of Space was of course our all-important Space player and Stoker of the Forge, but as you know, we never made much progress on the frog breeding front, or really any aspect of the game before the reckoning. Way too disorganized, way too much teen drama. Much of that drama of course centered around Kankri, and Porrim tended to be the one to keep him out of trouble. This relationship persisted in their lives on Alternia, which... unfortunately didn't work out too well for her in the end.
On Beforus, well before her drinker abilities had awakened, she grew up in the caste almost solely devoted to tending to the mother grub, hatching the young and proliferating the brood. The jade bloods were also an almost exclusively female caste, and she began to resent the roles she was hatched into, designated for both her classes and gender. She challenged these roles wherever they existed in Beforan society, as well as where she found them woven into our session, in kingdoms, class assignments, consort culture and the like.
But over the sweeps in our failed session, she found within herself a renewed interest in the duty that came with her bloodline, which was of course the persistence of our people, a burden her descendant now must bear.”
Personality and Traits
Porrim has a sort of motherly personality, though she seems to believe in "tough love". She is also flirtatious (Kankri refers to her “tireless 9mnidirecti9nal s9licitati9ns”), promiscuous and eager to gossip. Much like how Kankri is a parody of Tumblr's social justice bloggers, and Meulin is a parody of Tumblr fandom bloggers, her character is a parody of libertine "alternative fashion" enthusiasts and sex-positive feminists on Tumblr. Her concerns about gender equality in Beforan society are presented at least somewhat more legitimate than Kankri 's societal concerns, but like Kankri, she may be over-analyzing things.
Relationships
Her romantic relationships with her fellow players have generally been frequent, numerous and brief. Porrim refers to trolls “passing thro+ugh the well-greased revo+lving do+o+rs” to her quadrants, and Kankri refers to her “innumera6le flushed 9r caligin9us flings”. In a conversation between Aranea and Meenah, it is revealed that she had a flushed (and possibly, as it is hinted, sexual) relationship with Aranea, lasting about half a sweep. Her fast avoidance of explaining a possible innuendo about Latula causes Meenah to ask if she has also been in a relationship with her. This, however, has neither been confirmed nor denied.
Porrim is fond of Kankri, but is infuriated by his willingness to consider every form of persecution as an issue except her own. She seems to act as a sort of mother or protective older sibling toward him, trying to coddle him and keep him out of trouble, much to his annoyance.
Trivia
- She is one of the few A1 trolls whose name was not suggested in the name suggestion box for their descendant. It could have been derived from Poryam, suggested by CasMat.
- Coincidentally, it sounds like the Jewish holiday of Purim, which celebrates the the deliverance of Persian Jewish people from destruction, and is often accompanied with masquerading in costume, perhaps a link to her predilection for fashion and why she was one of the first to attend the
MINISTRIFE!!!Costume Party.
- Coincidentally, it sounds like the Jewish holiday of Purim, which celebrates the the deliverance of Persian Jewish people from destruction, and is often accompanied with masquerading in costume, perhaps a link to her predilection for fashion and why she was one of the first to attend the
- Just like Kanaya, Porrim seems to have an interest in fashion, as shown by her conversation with Meenah about Kankri. It is also shown that, like Kanaya, she makes clothing, when she admits that she created Kankri's sweater.
- Interestingly, while Kanaya is referred to as “the vvillage twwo wwheel devvice wwhen it comes to auspisticing” by Eridan, though it seems as if Porrim is the village two wheel device for more concupiscent endeavors.
- She is the first character in Homestuck (not counting Dirk's depiction of a nurse Roxy) with any drawn cleavage.
- In Latin, one translation of the word "Virgo" is Maid, which might have associated with her title as Maid of Space.
- Her quirk resembles the venus sign, which is associated with feminism and females. The former is likely a reference to her views, while the latter could be an allusion towards Kanaya Maryam, her post-scratch descendant.
- It could also be read as "o positive", the blood type, alluding to her nature as a rainbow drinker.
- Finally, it may also be looked at as an ankh, an Egyptian symbol for life and, in modern culture, is often associated with goths and vampires.
- According to a conversation between her and Meenah, she did not achieve god tier before her death in the pre-scratch session.
- Her title, as the Maid of Space, is part of a progression. Whereas the pre-scratch titles are Witch of Time, Maid of Space, Sylph of Light, and Thief of Life, the post-scratch titles are Maid of Time, Sylph of Space, Thief of Light, and Witch of Life.
