Homestuck.XYZ 2.0

You're all being so NEGATIVE today!! Everyone say nice things about our favourite webcomic and why we love it so much and keep coming back to it, even if we don't like where it went, wound up, or is going.

This is a competition by the way. I'll be awarding everybody points based on the daringness of their post. Bonus points if you're complimenting Act 6/Post-Canon/things that are usually shit on

For me, I love the complexity of the world that it's built in. What starts as a few simple rules becomes an incredibly well thought out, pre-planned, unprecedented level of world building while still, for the most part, maintaining a unique sense of humour, style, and class. I wish other forms of media were as ambitious as Homestuck is, and I can't wait for a future where the people raised on the writing and style of Homestuck finally go out to make their own, fully-fleshed work, improving on Hussie's roots and hopefully succeeding in the places that Homestuck didn't quite make the landing on

No.

We're having way too many threads

Homestuck good

On a real note though, Homestuck has been a very enjoyable story with very enjoyable (for the most part) characters and a really rich fandom.

I love how the early parts of Homestuck has the main joke be "These kids LOVE EACH OTHER A LOT and TELL EACH OTHER JOKES and that's hilarious" because it's an oddly roundabout way of demonstrating genuine compassion and bonds by having these dumbass little kids joke at each other and poke fun at Dave's webcomic or accuse Jade of being psychic.

Prospit, Derse, and Skaia are the most interesting thing about Homestuck and I was on board to watch how the game would unfold and what quests and trials and tribulations these characters had to go through. Also, the Carapaces fucking ROCK.

I like acts 1-5
that counts as positivity right?

Hussie has stumbled but the stumbles allowed him to realize Homestuck was too big even for him. And thus he created his fandom version of the Avengers. For non should be alone.

I do adore Homestuck (mostly on Act 1-5). It held a special place in my lifetime memory.

The unique storytelling with a particularly clever pacing (there are moments where we went "hahaha you silly beings" into "whoa that's deep" then into "OMG WTF IS HAPPENING"), the compelling and memorable character designs; the beta kids, beta trolls, guardians, ancestors, the felt, etc., the tons of meme materials, the intriguing worldbuilding (even if there are still a lot of holes here and there--though, that's what made the fans interested to dig more about it), the complex yet realistic conflicts among the characters (especially when they fought each other while they supposed to work together to save the world), and... did I mention the musics?

If it's not because of John's piano refrain, maybe I'd not really like to continue reading it. Maybe I'd never know the trolls well without Karkat's Theme and Gamzee's Dark Carnival.
If it's not because of the such memorable music pieces, I'd not go back re-reading it and remembering what an epic adventure lore Homestuck was.

And that's how I appreciate it, the reason why am I still making fanmade contents about it. The internet masterpiece.

(Maybe I'm being a bit exaggerating about the music, but welp, I am a music person, and Homestuck's soundtracks are important to me. I can imagine and feel how the trolls were struggling each other just by listening to Karkat's or Gamzee's theme.)

Btw I enjoyed the friendsims, too (yeah, even Pesterquest!). It's nice to read narrations that focused more on each characters, not to mention with better looking sprite arts. I still enjoyed Vriska's route that showing more perspective from her (about her lusus, her friends, her flarping (and the "trans-codes" aren't that obvious, though)). My favorite routes so far are Jade's, Karkat's, Vriska's and Equius'. I'm still waiting for more--especially Nepeta and Eridan's route.

Homestuck is probably my favorite work of fiction EVER. The plot(s) and the mediums it's told through make it extremely unique, and absolutely the first and only of its kind in human history. I'm not great at coherently communicating my thoughts and opinions, especially when I've got a LOT of them, but my basic thoughts are:

• The various settings, such as The Medium, Alternia, The Planets, Dream Bubbles etc. are unique and creative

• The mechanics used, such as multiple timelines, time travel, doomed and alpha timelines, god tiering, etc. are ALSO unique and creative, and the timelines specifically are what got me interested in the multiverse theory

• The characters are well written and interesting, with believable struggles and complex histories

And now for some of the lesser liked things about Homestuck that I happen to like:

1. Game Over/The Retcon

I really loved Game Over, AND The Retcon. The Retcon less so, but I still liked it. I liked seeing such direct devastation. But I've gone over my opinions on both The Retcon and Game Over in separate threads, so I'll condense what I liked about them to this:

• Game Over showed how brutal the game can be

• Game Over ALSO set up nicely for a narrative rewrite (The Retcon)

• The Retcon showed timeline shifting in action, something particularly fascinating to me

• The Retcon brought back Vriska, which I have grown to be happy about

I haven't talked as much about The Retcon as I have about [S] Game Over, so I'll say a little bit about it. It's true that it's a bit of a cheap way to progress, and it really sucks to see these character we've followed for so long die and be overwritten as if it were nothing, but I still like The Retcon, because it shows things I find personally interesting, such as the extent of John's narrative powers, or how the small (and sometimes painful) things that an individual does can be the very difference between doomed and alpha. Maybe that's just me being a timeline nerd and getting my fix from The Retcon, but I think it was really cool to see.

2. The Epilogues

This one is kind of bittersweet to me, but ultimately I think I like them? I definitely liked Meat, mainly because the fight with Lord English was reminiscent of Game Over to me, which, as previously mentioned, I like. The Epilogues also showed everything fitting together. It connected a lot of dots that had been left open, like how the house juju works, or how Terezi was faring in the outer ring, and what she was even out there for in the first place. Plus nonbinary Roxy! That's pretty fuckin' epic! (although I can't remember if nonbinary Roxy was from Meat or Candy)
While I can't condone all of the terrible shit that happened in The Epilogues, it did set up for Homestuck^2, which has given me my first taste of upd8 culture, so I feel like I should be at least a little grateful for that.

3. Pesterquest

Trans Vriska. Need I say more?

No, but seriously, I think Pesterquest is awesome. I'm not even sure this one is particularly disliked? I've heard a lot of backlash against particular parts of it, (see above) but I can't tell if that's just the norm at this point or not. Regardless, I'm putting it here.
Aside from that though, I really like seeing pre-game life for the characters. I've got a lot to say on the matter, so I'll write about only the two routes I liked the most.

3.1. Karkat's Route

Karkat's route in Pesterquest was AMAZING! Oh my god! Seeing pre-game Alternian life for him in particular was SO fascinating. Seeing JUST how prepared he was for drones finding him was both intriguing, and saddening. Let me list off some things I liked/found interesting:

• Seeing more of Karkat's empathy towards other cherrybloods. We see ONE single instance of this in canon, when Karkat finds out that Jack Noir has red blood like he does. And that's it! I was always sad that we never saw more of that, so seeing that in his route was nice.

• Seeing how extremely on edge Karkat always was. One particular moment really solidified his intense paranoia for me. The reader is listening to Karkat speak about something, when he stops. This canonically LOUD dude stops MID SENTENCE. Why? Because he heard a drone. A drone that the reader could barely hear while straining to hear it. Karkat is living with his eyes on the door at all times, and his route really showed that.

• Learning that the drones have thermal vision, AND that Karkat combats that by hiding underground. I had always wondered how he evaded capture for so long, and now I know why.

• And finally, seeing that Karkat's lusus was not only aware of the danger of Karkat's existence to himself, but actively helped him survive by A. digging him his hiding spot to mask his heat signature, and B. sacrificing himself when the drones find Karkat and the reader.

3.2. Vriska's Route

Oh boy, Vriska's route. This one sparked a LOT of controversy from what I saw and heard from my friends. Despite that though, I liked Vriska's route a lot. I loved seeing the autistic coding, I loved seeing the trans coding, I loved seeing just how life was for her back before the game. I could have done without the "Vriska did nothing wrong" thing, but otherwise I think it was really good! Hearing Vriska talk about Terezi... Oh man. That hurt. Vriska is so fucked up. And seeing how she really feels about feeding her lusus? Ouch. I'm tired of writing stuff though, and my fingers are starting to ache, so I'm gonna just let that sit there. I liked Vriska's route, do I really need to say more?

4. Conclusion

Homestuck good. Homestuck very good. Ultimately it's up to the individual reader to decide in their own view whether Homestuck is good or bad, but I personally have made the decision that it's good. Incredible, even. Unique, and completely it's own thing. I doubt anything truly like Homestuck will ever surface again, it's just Like That, and I'm personally glad to have been a part of it, no matter how painful or heart wrenching it was at times.

TL;DR: Homestuck good. Bad parts of Homestuck also good, but only to some people, of which I am one.

Homestuck is the Iliad of the 21st century, and should be taught in classrooms!

Homestuck is overall a pretty great comic. I've read it twice, and am currently on my third(fourth?) "reread", as I'm watching RevScarecrow's let's read of Homestuck, and watching the voxus lets read while I wait for new instances of the former. Lately I've grown an appreciation for the early parts of the comic. I used to think this part of the comic was kinda boring, but It's grown on me, seeing the kids do dumb things in response to some commands that internet people submitted back in 2009. My favorite parts of the comic are Act 3, the intermission, Act 4, A5A2 and possibly A6A1 to A6A2, I know lots of people like to knock on act 6, but there's some really great moments in it (such as [S] end of A6I1, and the whole sub-story about the condy's water apocalypse, even [s] collide is a banger that ranks almost up there with [s] cascade). Also I have a bit of a hot take here, but I actually think A5A1 is kind of boring, it's text heavy, kind of slow (mostly just people talking) and to me it feels like a slog when contrasted with A5A2. Perhaps this is due to the fact that we go from [S] Descend and sburb session madness to meeting a bunch of new characters I'm not yet invested in. The weirdest part of this opinion is due to the fact that trolls are also my favorite part of the comic. To me, they really start to shine in A5A2. Of course, A5A2 also ends with one of my favorite flashes: the 15 or so minute long minifilm known as "Cascade".

Homestuck is probably going to stay with me forever. I love the comic and I think there's something enjoyable and compelling about every part. It has such a unique and fascinating world and explores tons of interesting ideas, but it also makes sure not to forget about its characters. It's like nothing else I've experienced and got such a rare and unique emotional response from me.
I also adore Hiveswap, which is very different from Homestuck but I for one find it beautiful and fun in its own unique way. I had a blast playing Hiveswap Friendsim and sometimes it gave me some big ol' feels. Pesterquest has been very fun and special so far and I cannot wait to see Aradia and Tavros!

I love how the story and art built in epicness (is that a word?) as Acts 1-5 progressed. First there was Act 1 with its meandering story and sprites and jokes. Then, Act 2 introduced some hero mode and game mechanics. The trolls got their own arc, there were great villains in Doc Scratch and Bec Noir, and the main four became more powerful and fleshed-out. People died. The scope of the story grew and grew until we were at [S]: Cascade with its full-on Hussnasty-level art and awesome background music. And the merging of seemingly unrelated story threads was effing masterful.

I could also gush about Doc Scratch specifically all day, as he is one of the best pure evil villains I have ever seen in a story. He's horrible and a bit disgusting and also UTTERLY TERRIFYING, because he knows everything, including the reader's existence. He exists to bring about the birth of his master, whoever that is, and he knows it will happen. In fact, it already has. Doc Scratch is the product of early Homestuck's masterful use of dread, and he is great.

pfeffer-29 wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 30, 2019 3:13 pm

I could also gush about Doc Scratch specifically all day, as he is one of the best pure evil villains I have ever seen in a story. He's horrible and a bit disgusting and also UTTERLY TERRIFYING, because he knows everything, including the reader's existence. He exists to bring about the birth of his master, whoever that is, and he knows it will happen. In fact, it already has. Doc Scratch is the product of early Homestuck's masterful use of dread, and he is great.

Oh I couldn't agree with you more! Doc Scratch was the most insidious and frightening villain Homestuck had to offer. I STILL go a little feral inside when I remember how he fucking pulled the wool over Rose and Dave's eyes about the Tumor CREATING the green sun rather than destroying it [S U C K E R S]. When right after Cascade we saw him literally transmutate into Lord English, I was so damn excited.

I still think that the Felt have a lot of potential as both hilarious nutjob mobsters with no brains who somehow have time travel powers, AND as nefarious and genuinely intimidating monster men out to follow their master's orders. They can be both. Doc Scratch makes that pretty damn clear imo.

pfeffer-29 wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 30, 2019 3:13 pm

I love how the story and art built in epicness (is that a word?) as Acts 1-5 progressed. First there was Act 1 with its meandering story and sprites and jokes. Then, Act 2 introduced some hero mode and game mechanics. The trolls got their own arc, there were great villains in Doc Scratch and Bec Noir, and the main four became more powerful and fleshed-out. People died. The scope of the story grew and grew until we were at [S]: Cascade with its full-on Hussnasty-level art and awesome background music. And the merging of seemingly unrelated story threads was effing masterful.

I could also gush about Doc Scratch specifically all day, as he is one of the best pure evil villains I have ever seen in a story. He's horrible and a bit disgusting and also UTTERLY TERRIFYING, because he knows everything, including the reader's existence. He exists to bring about the birth of his master, whoever that is, and he knows it will happen. In fact, it already has. Doc Scratch is the product of early Homestuck's masterful use of dread, and he is great.

That is until John' gained forbidden power in paradox space.

And yea there are reasons to critique it, cause the ending of Act6 was rather messy in execution. But when John started changing the story i realized that there was another layer to Paradox Space. A peak behind a curtain we presumed was an infallible force of cosmic causality. When in reality, it bends and molds with alarming ease when one gains power over it. I don't know when Hussie decided it, but i think he had plans for something like Hs^2 for a while.

Basically it creates a rather fascinating situation for Doc Scratch to endure. The Friendsim, and i think Hiveswap in general, has implied someone with narrative powers is in control of them and Doc scratch is working for/with them. Meaning the omniscient has to deal with a force that changes the story and adapt to it. He is out of his comfort zone cause someone keeps editing the script on him.

I think that the route Hs^2 and the epilogues are going are very itnersting. MAybe it needs to be smoothed but the idea of who makes their reality and what is the true nature of their reality, of Canon, is in question.

I guess part of the issue some people have is translation. If we view Canon as Reality cause of the story like nature of their universe, then we are trying to figure out what is the nature of their universe and its bullshit.

Narrative powers are effectively reality manipulation, and it just so happens it works via story stuff. We will likely get answers for a lot of paradox space mysteries in time as the story unfolds.

Even then we should sitll be getting characters stuff to ground the story, even when we figure out wtf is going on with everyone.

I hate a lot of individual things that have transpired so far but overall?

Homestuck is the best thing that has happened to me.