Homestuck

DaveKat

Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas

The cool-kid human who hides everything behind irony and the troll who hides nothing behind anything spend three years on a meteor becoming Homestuck's canon endgame couple, confirmed in the post-Game Over timeline. Karkat's romcom obsession meets Dave's deflective rambling in a relationship that broke both species' romance frameworks. DaveKat remains the most-written ship in Homestuck's enormous archive.

13,000 works

What is DaveKat?

DaveKat is the fan-given name for the romantic pairing of Dave Strider and Karkat Vantas from Homestuck. With over 13,000 works on Archive of Our Own, it's one of the most popular ships in the fandom.

Why fans love DaveKat

It transcended troll quadrants and human labels alike — the meteor gave them three years and the fandom took forever.

Most Popular DaveKat Fanfics

The highest-rated DaveKat stories on AO3, ranked by kudos.

1

Looks just like the sun

Complete

by messageredacted

“Holy shit,” you whisper. Dave joins you at the window.There are no stars left in the sky. Nothing but blackness and a faint soap bubble sheen.“Is that a dream bubble?” Dave says.And then it swallows you.  Update: Now with a VERY NSFW illustration by Renaris.

6,885 kudos 12,231 words ~49 min read Explicit
Dream Bubbles Caliginous Romance | Kismesis Flushed Romance | Matesprits
2

Within, Without

Complete

by reinkist

Dave just wants to be left alone. What's the point of anything when what's broken can never be completely fixed?This is the story of Dave Strider and Karkat Vantas, on the longest journey of their lives.

6,149 kudos 78,311 words ~314 min read Mature
Meteorstuck Depression Social Anxiety
3

M.C. Escher that's my favourite MC

Complete

by Unda

Dirk has a plan, when he's 18 he's going to take Dave and get him the fuck out of their terrible lives and start over. Until then being the barrier between Dave and Bro is his only job, his soulmate is just going to have to wait goddamnit. Dave has a plan, it involves getting internet famous and not

5,551 kudos 635,159 words ~2541 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Child Abuse Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism Alternate Universe - Soulmates
4

Your Interpersonal, Intergalactic Relationship: A Beginner's Guide

Complete

by sicklekind

A beginner's guide to playing hopscotch, overcoming internalized homophobia, and falling in love with your alien best friend. Disclaimer: results may take up to three (3) years to appear.

4,610 kudos 8,242 words ~33 min read Teen And Up Audiences
How-to Manual Educational Developing Relationship
5

So It Goes

Complete

by TGP

They managed to win the game somehow. He's not really sure of the details, but it's not all it's cracked up to be. He's stuck in an unfamiliar body with a thirteen year old little brother who's terrified of him. Somehow, he is sure this is his fault.

4,455 kudos 56,845 words ~228 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Endgame AU Angst Dirk is trying to undo Bro's Damage
6

Lousy Stupid Goddamned Pretty Troll Boy

Complete

by mercurialMalcontent

John introduces his best human friend to his best troll friend. Maybe the three of them sit down to watch romcoms, maybe they're just hanging around a lab in the veil, but whatever the circumstance, Dave has trouble paying attention to the conversation at hand. Karkat is good looking and distracting

4,413 kudos 7,967 words ~32 min read Explicit
Movie Night Flirting Unresolved Sexual Tension
7

House of Dirk

by imarriedacherub

A sitcom about completely normal and well-adjusted newlyweds Dirk and Caliborn attempting to make a good impression on their son, Dave, and his boyfriend, Karkat.

4,230 kudos 13,570 words ~55 min read Not Rated
Sitcom Alternate Universe May or May Not Be the 50's
8

Doc Scratch's School for Supernaturally Gifted Adolescents

Complete

by medical

One minute you get a mysterious message from a man who types all in white like a jackass, and the next thing you know you're being whisked away to a mystical school for kids with superpowers. If you weren't Dave fucking Strider, this sort of thing might bother you.

4,029 kudos 231,085 words ~925 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Humanstuck Alternate Universe - High School Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers
9

Don't Forget the Sun

by Weevilo707

Karkat Vantas always accepted the fact that he was not going to live past nine sweeps. It was just a certainty of his sad, miserable life. At least, that was until his friends found out and decided to hatch a plan to get him out of the Alternian empire. A plan that actually worked.Now, he was strand

3,807 kudos 204,539 words ~819 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Hurt/Comfort Sadstuck sorry about that
10

Shameless Dave/Karkat Porn

Complete

by Asuka Kureru (Askerian)

The thing about Karkat Vantas is, he might be a pompous, noisy windbag with an inflated opinion of his own importance, and if he was suddenly struck down by some kind of vicious troll laryngitis the universe's total amount of chill and quiet would suddenly go up three levels...But turns out he's als

3,692 kudos 3,637 words ~15 min read Explicit
woohoo porn Light Dom/sub Xeno
11

Growing Pains

Complete

by Miko

Man, Dave thought getting through adolescence was a pain in the ass for HUMANS. He had no idea how good they have it, until he saw what trolls got to go through.

3,638 kudos 14,232 words ~57 min read Explicit
12

So It Goes: First Contact

Complete

by TGP

UNSG Moreau had not been a science fiction fan before getting involved in politics. He is even less of one now that real live aliens have contacted Earth.Otherwise known as a bunch of non-game humans suddenly have to deal with Trolls.

3,566 kudos 52,281 words ~210 min read Teen And Up Audiences
International Incident Karkat is a terrible ambassassin Sollux is also bad at it
13

Drop It Like It's Hot

Complete

by orphan_account

"They just watch," John says, kicking the mop bucket into the broom closet after a hard day's asteroid-cleaning. "I guess chores are like a spectator sport for trolls? It's pretty weird! But... that's trolls for you!"

3,450 kudos 870 words ~4 min read Mature
xenosexuality
14

Paging Dr. Vantas to the alien experimentation bay

Complete

by reinkist

"The point," Karkat says, balling up the cape and tossing it over one shoulder, "is that I'm curious as fuck about your horrific alien biology, but you never take off any clothes, or let me see anything, really.""Oh, man," Dave groans. "There's nothing to see, jesus."

3,264 kudos 3,296 words ~14 min read Explicit
Meteorstuck PWP Light Dom/sub
15

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

Complete

by MutantofTime

Karkat starts his heat cycle and Dave becomes more culturally aware. Best bros or not, desperate times call for desperate measures. Screwing your best friend? That's definitely a desperate measure.

3,096 kudos 8,582 words ~35 min read Explicit
Sex Oral Sex Mating Cycles/In Heat
16

hey there bright-eyed mister melancholy

Complete

by attentionmerrymakers

This is why you are sitting in Can Town making your fifty-sixth scale replica of a sheep.

3,091 kudos 2,338 words ~10 min read Teen And Up Audiences
17

The Calm Is Terrifying When The Storm Is All You've Known

Complete

by HappiKatt

There were two kinds of trolls who went to Earth: rich shitheads with too much money and free time, and desperate assholes who couldn’t survive on Alternia, even with the best efforts of the young Condesce. Karkat hated the planet almost immediately, but with his home planet too dangerous for mutant

3,045 kudos 178,722 words ~715 min read Mature
Other Additional Tags to Be Added Character Death no-sburb au
18

Midnight on the Demon Patrol

by Asuka Kureru (Askerian)

Fighting fire with fire is okay in theory but Detective-Summoner Dave L. Strider figures trying to summon corporeal demons to the mortal plane to fight other demons is likely to backfire spectacularly. Sadly for him his inner Knight gets the vapors at the thought of letting anyone else play guinea p

2,971 kudos 233,688 words ~935 min read Explicit
Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy Dubious Consent Demon Summoning for Fun and Profit
19

Astronomy in Reverse

by PunkZucchini (orphan_account)

Dave and Karkat are intergalactic pen pals, originally paired together for an extra credit school outreach project. Now, three years of correspondence later, they're best friends... and Karkat is finally immigrating to Earth.

2,906 kudos 53,841 words ~216 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Intergalactic Pen Pals Friends to Lovers Language Barrier
20

>Dave: survive three years on this rock

Complete

by MadSeason (naive_wanderer)

Growing up on a flying meteor is hard work. You know this from experience.TG: dude what is this piece of shit you just sent meCG: TO PUT IT IN YOUR HUMAN TERMS:CG: IT’S A FUCKING LOVE STORY, DAVE.Well, it's a bit more than that.

2,813 kudos 61,007 words ~245 min read Teen And Up Audiences
interpersonal relationships Friendship Slow Burn

DaveKat Fanfics by Length

Pick a reading commitment — from one-sitting one-shots to 100k+ epics:

Characters

Dave Strider
Karkat Vantas

Common DaveKat Tropes

Browse curated DaveKat fic recs by trope:

Frequently Asked Questions

What does DaveKat mean?

DaveKat is the ship name (portmanteau or nickname) for the pairing of Dave Strider and Karkat Vantas. It's used by fans to tag and search for fanfiction featuring this relationship.

How many DaveKat fics are on AO3?

There are over 13,000 DaveKat fanfiction works on Archive of Our Own.

How can I read DaveKat fanfiction on my phone?

Download Fanfict Reader for iOS to browse and read DaveKat fanfiction with a beautiful mobile interface, offline reading, and custom themes.

Read DaveKat on the go

Fanfict Reader is the best way to browse, search, and read AO3 fanfiction on your iPhone. Download for free and start reading your favorite DaveKat fics today.

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