I've heard that Hussie does this later on, but I am interested to see the other people caught up in their own versions of SBURB.
That gets really interesting in the troll session, but Jade and Dave alchemising things is just... you'll see. It's like fucking Christmas up in that joint.
It may. Consider how many other beta players there seem to have been going by the game walkthroughs. Most probably failed, but how many do you think entered the Medium? I'm guessing "more than none."
It really is. I have heard a lot of people say that just showing that animation to a prospective reader out of context is a sure-fire way to get someone interested in Homestuck without spoiling too much, and I would be inclined to agree under many circumstances.
I love how sad and weird Rose's relationship with her mother is. I mean, I wish it were better because I feel for both characters, and I especially wish that Rose understood how screwed up her perspective is, but that doesn't make her bizarre, paranoid assumptions any less funny.
...you know, in revisiting the first few acts, it seems obvious to me now that the designated players from each universe created by SBURB reflect numerous aspects of the personalities of their world's creators, who are their spiritual ancestors as much as their own ectobiological parents.
I mean, the little nods are everywhere: Eridan's "vv" quirk and wizard fixation, Kanaya's sartorial craftsmanship, Gamzee's clowns and bad rapping, Karkat's dreadful movies, Nepeta's cat motif, Equius' statues and robots, Sollux' programming and apartment complex, Terezi's stuffed animals, Aradia's archaeological expeditions... Tavros, Feferi and Vriska's contributions are more subtle, but consider John's "aww, shucks" attitude or Jade's flighty enthusiasm or Dave and Bro's insane competitiveness.
Oh man reading this thread sends me into dangerous fits of nostalgia
I think I might be getting more out of this story on the second read than the first. I know about your... nostalgia thing, but trust me: It's a whole new ball-game.
Like what I just mentioned about the resonance between the troll session and the human session, for instance. I would not have caught all of those details in that way the first time around.
I think that Homestuck's detractors could easily get as much mileage out of declaring it a postmodernist piece as its rabid fans. I mean, setting aside the insane ouroboros that is the latter part of Act 6, the in-jokes and cross-references and cut-outs are exceptionally self-indulgent. But at the same time... they aren't, because the self-indulgence is self-aware and funny. But then, "funny" is subjective, and a lot of people don't vibe with this kind of humour. But whatever.
But then, I really like that the characters have their own stupid in-jokes that they actually find funny, and they're actually funny and have context. It's very real, and hard to do in most fiction, but Hussie really knows how to use the Internet as a medium to convey things like that. And it's endearing and speaks to the characters, too, which is a plus.
^ Even Vonnegut said that the guidelines of minimalism and restraint are meant to be ignored so long as you know how to be minimal and restrained.
You know what? I think that one of the biggest reasons that I love this comic is that it and the Lamezone comics (and House of Leaves) helped drill into me that gross sprawl can be beautiful if everything feels like it adds up or at least has thematic symmetry, and that hypertext and format warping can help make that sprawl feel coherent and vivid and make it feel like it has a purpose and a power.
There are many parts where I understand where people have an issue or two (or a baker's dozen), but I feel like the constant reversals of reversals are more purposeful than they immediately seem.
I think to take issue with the small stuff is hugely counterproductive. Homestuck is all about the big pictures, and in the big picture Homestuck is a wonderful thing.
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Not there again yet, as you are well aware, but I do love the whole concept of there being more than one session actually happening at once.