spending 4 days drawing homestuck; boss battle edition™

listen im never gonna stop laughing at this exchange i love kanaya so much

Finally finished this

Yeah, and one thing I'd also say about the "rebelling against character arcs" thing is that's never really established in the story. Like, character arcs are never presented as the Bad Guy, or something oppressive to struggle against; they aren't put forward as some antagonistic narrative being imposed on the kids by the villain.

Rather, pre-Cascade, what the kids will do is presented as what they've already, in that situation, chosen to do. They’re the causes of their own difficulties, and their development against those difficulties is, again, their own. There isn't fate, just choice seen through simple causality within a nonlinear time environment. And Post-Cascade you don’t really have that set up either; there’s... not... really... ANY kind of relationship story and plot wise established between the kids and structural elements of the plot(leaving aside that “Character Arcs” can be emergent and reader-driven as much as intentional). I mean, you’ve got Vriska and some other ghosts rebelling against being dead and the idea that being dead makes you irrelevant, but that’s not really explored too deeply and Hussie chooses to go another way with it by making the “victory” of dreamers, dead and alive, being learning to accept that they don’t have to have an active hand in the plot to be happy. Which is a good message in itself! But that’s more something Vriska needed to learn; not really something central to Jade or Jane’s personal issues.

And honestly, what did Jade really do, growth-wise, through HS? The part she was given in the Final Flash, trying to mediate between the Becs and getting smacked down, just paints her as the frivolous wrong-headed caricature that inattentive fans have always mistaken her for. And exactly how would the person who was actually involved in trying to keep the Rings away from Jack in B1 not understand the necessity of removing and destroying the rings? I mean, for what it was I liked the ending, but to argue it was “the best”, “the only”, or “the most satisfying” way to go is kinda off base :T

Why "The Characters Escaped The Comic" Is Not a Satisfying Ending for Homestuck

There’s this one theory about the ending going around. That theory being that the reason Hussie thumbs-downed LE, the reason the animation cut off before the final battle, and the reason the door on the platform turned white is that the true purpose of the House Juju was just to end the comic, “freeing” the characters from the narrative.

There’s enough evidence to suggest that maybe that’s what happened. I’m not interested in disproving the theory,  just because Act 7 was vague enough on the details that, really, anyone’s theory is equally valid. What I do want to talk about is why that ending fucking sucks.

It’s strange because the main cast escaping from the time loops and causal obligations of Paradox Space was the ending I wanted. Always have. I remember a dark shadow settling onto me in Act 5, realizing the crushing inevitability in everything these characters did. No one’s choices mattered. There was no free will. Everything they did had already happened. That feeling of hopelessness is supported by the narrative – Rose’s attempt to thwart the narrative and destroy the Green Sun turned her into the very author of its hold over reality. That bullshit feeling of being “suckered” by the narrative was cut with the victory of Jade literally breaking through the fourth wall. But even that was fore-ordained. More causal bullshit. The kids never truly had control over their destinies, and they knew it.

Wait. So why is Act 7 as an escape from the narrative unsatisfying?

It has to do with agency.

Hey, let’s change gears and  talk about the ending of a movie from the 90s. What’s more Homestuck than that?

I actually love this type of ending a lot, and here’s a movie that fucking nailed it. The Truman Show, for all of you way younger than me, is a movie about a guy whose entire life is a narrative. As a baby, he was chosen to be the star of a pioneering new television show. Truman’s lived his entire life in a dome, surrounded by actors who are paid to be his family, friends, and coworkers. The director manipulates his life by introducing elements as plot twists and drama. Ultimately, Truman realizes that his world is fake and ties to escape from it.

In the final scene, Truman reaches the edge of the dome. The director reaches out to him like the booming voice of god, telling him that, yes, his entire world might be artificial, but it’s also safe and familiar. The world outside is frightening and nothing is certain. Truman decides that, despite understanding this, it’s better to be in control of his own destiny. He makes his choice, takes a bow, recites his catch phrase, and leaves the dome. The movie ends immediately here, because there are no cameras to document what happens from there. Awesome, ambiguous ending that nails its themes.

The key word in what makes it so good? CHOICE.

Okay. Back to Homestuck.

I started getting nervous last year when Arquius began to release the grist hoards. I was struck by the fact that I didn’t know why the kids were actually trying to make this frog. I couldn’t remember them talking about wanting to beat the game. I never got the sense that they particularly wanted to be gods of a new universe. They always just seemed to  be fighting for their lives, thrown from one crisis to another and swimming against the current. Pages upon pages upon pages of dialogue, and I can’t recall one single time when any of the eight kids talked about what happened after the game, not even with the trolls, who had actually done it before and did have some feelings about it. The thing was, Sburb was never the enemy. Paradox Space was. And making a new frog seemed to play right into what Paradox Space wanted. One more universe to seed and eventually destroy, continuing the cycle forever.

Thematically, everything was leading up to an ending where the characters overcame the grip of Paradox Space and made their own destiny. But instead, they killed some bosses and made their frog.

There’s no reason why this frog is different. We aren’t given any indication that this is a special frog. It was made the same way as any other frog. The kids just did exactly what the narrative wanted them to, smiling vacantly up at old Bilious Slick and then going through the door, ostensibly walking into yet another Paradox Space controlled universe and seeming, somehow, entirely satisfied with it.

Why do they look so fucking happy? What did they actually accomplish, here? Maybe the House Juju did release the kids from the confines of Paradox Space. Maybe its entire purpose was ending Homestuck, which took away Lord English’s power. But that’s a bullshit, unsatisfying ending, because it happened entirely by accident. Vriska thought it was a powerful relic that would destroy Lord English. And the kids? They didn’t think jack shit. They didn’t know what the Juju would do. They didn’t know Calliope intends to collapse the sun. They didn’t know ANYTHING.

In the final moments of Homestuck, the characters we’ve spent seven years and ten thousand pages with end the narrative the exact way they started it: with absolutely zero control over their destinies. Only now, they seem perfectly happy about it.

It doesn’t matter whether they escaped the comic or not. A victory without a choice is just a fucking coincidence. And the only choice they made was to walk through that damn door and start the cycle all over again.

This makes good points, but I have A Different View(below the cut to spare your Dashes u_u):

detail shot of vriska being deservedly sad because i did real, not half-assed rendering, goddammit.

Maybe if you sit here long enough someone will tell you what a 8ig hero you were.

trying to unpack how i feel about vriska here in the year of our lord two thousand sixteen. the way im interpreting the ending is that she was excluded from the new universe. in her eyes she was right all along. she proved herself to be the most important character. but she didnt get rewarded with everyone else. when the other characters entered the new universe they left behind lots of stuff. all the things they had been led to believe were their destinies or part of their character arcs. they chose to leave that all behind and just live their lives instead free from the influence of paradox space. they escaped the narrative. but vriska was always so wrapped up in her ego and her place in the story that she couldnt leave it behind. a true thief of light, she fought her way back to relevance and got to defeat lord english like she always wanted. but when paradox space went down it took her with it.

really i think this echos what happened to her at the end of act 5. she made the decision to go off and fight the bad guy alone, kind of spitting in the face of paradox space cause she knew she wasnt supposed to, but shes the thief of light and she can control her own destiny. she got killed for it and left behind as the others escaped the universe to go somewhere new. this is really the same shit different universe. and i dont like how terezi didnt get much screen time past [s] remember but i think we can infer that this time she wont blame herself. she knows now shes strong enough to go on without vriska. she knows it was just something vriska had to do and there was nothing she could have done to successfully stop her. since [s] remember terezi is able to see the greater pattern: vriska will leave terezi every time, but terezi never needed vriska.

In honor of Spades Slick

1001/1000 Clocks Destroyed

who’s this douchebag we forgot forever in the veil

upd8 art

Something’s bothering Terezi and I don’t like it.

How Lord English’s Defeat Was Achieved

Whilst talking to a friend I was suddenly struck by a realization that I think explains the precise nature of how Lord English was defeated. I’ve already spoken a little about how the destruction of the Green Sun should not have depleted his Clockwork Majyyks, and therefore shouldn’t have made him any more invulnerable. Here is my take on what I think happened, and how it explains not only the ending, but the entire plot of Homestuck (seriously).

I’ve already spoken a fair bit in the past about Homestuck’s underlying themes in relation to the comic’s name. At first, when taken literally, “Homestuck” appears to be named for only a very small portion of Act 1, when John is literally “stuck in his home”. He is able to leave later on, so he’s no longer home-stuck, right? Now, my take has always been that this depends on your definition of “home”. Homestuck is a story about people leaving behind “homes” of various scope. John leaves his house, yes, but then he leaves his universe, his session, and ultimately his fundamental reality behind. He becomes unstuck from canon itself. From what more is there left to become “unstuck”?

Let’s remind ourselves what the “treasure” juju does. I mean, obviously we know that Caliborn initially used it to seal the souls of the beta kids, and then later Vriska deployed it against Lord English. But what else does it do? John put his hand through it and it became distributed throughout the canon of Homestuck. This is an ability with a very specific scope; he is distributed not throughout reality, but throughout Homestuck itself. There’s a reason why it is shaped like the Homestuck logo; the ultimate weapon is a gateway to Homestuck.

Lord English cannot be destroyed by conventional means, he can only be defeated by the exploitation of glitches in Paradox Space. So far, the glitches in Paradox Space we have seen have taken a very specific form also; metacanonical altering. Caliborn jams sparkle dust in the game cartridge, and .jpeg artifacts appear across the comic. John sticks his hand in the the juju, he gains the ability to use a retcon glitch. This is how one “glitches” Paradox Space, they interact with the narrative itself; with Homestuck itself. The juju allows one to do this, and this is why it’s so powerful.

Here’s my hypothesis. The weapon/treasure juju does not have three different abilities, it has one. We’ve been seeing it as 1. being able to trap four souls, 2. being able to impart retcon abilities, and 3. having an offensive ability to be used against Lord English. In reality, these are all one ability! The ability to act as a gateway to the Homestuck canon!

Caliborn did not seal the four kids within the juju! He sealed them within Homestuck. This is why the comic is called “Homestuck”! The kids are literally trapped within the narrative by the power of the juju. But, this power is also how Lord English is eventually defeated! Here is what happens in the [S] Act 7 flash.

Homestuck is ending. By that expanding convention of the Kids, John in particular, escaping their bonds, then there is one more bond for them to break, one more door for them to pass. They need to leave the comic itself.

This is what the white juju with the door represents! The door on the Kid’s side leads out of Homestuck, whereas the door on English’s side leads in.

The kids will get to live on in a happy life beyond the narrative, possibly in the extracanon epilogue, the Paradox Space comic, not to mention fanworks. English will not. Caliborn gaining his power is shown at the moment of his defeat because his timeline is cyclical, marked by two circumstancially simultaneous events; his birth and his defeat. Similarly, the kids leaving Homestuck and Lord English “entering” it are two circumstantially simultaneous events orchestrated by the juju. Lord English has become trapped within Homestuck. While the comic may end for the kids, and they can move on, English is forever trapped within a loop of destruction, held by the bounds of canon.

The reason the juju flashes with the kids colours is because it is preparing to release them, but not to fight English, it is preparing to release them from Homestuck itself, by the comic’s ending.

This is why the comic had to end right after this moment, because otherwise the kids would not have escaped and English would have more canon scope throughout which to dominate.

This is why the juju is white, this is why the Act 7 curtains are white. White is the colour of Homestuck itself, as shown in the text for the logo displayed in the flash in act 1. The white curtains close on the comic, the white juju acts as the gateway into canon.

Perhaps the Green Sun had influence that reached beyond the canon (Paradox Space comic)? If this was the case, the English can no longer use it to access anything outside the canon, because Calliope destroyed it.

This is what Homestuck means. The clue was hidden in the name all along. This was a story about four kids who had literally been trapped inside their own story, and escaped it, trapping their unkillable villain inside it as it ended, meaning that he could spread his destruction no further. Of course Lord English can no longer cause harm within Homestuck, if Homestuck itself has ended! What an appropriate way to defeat an undefeatable villain in a comic where fourth wall breaking and metacanonical interactions with the main narrative are such an integral plot device.

Here is Hussie, deciding to kill off Lord English the only way he can; by ending his own comic. If the ending seemed abrupt to you, this is why.

That magnificent bastard.

OOH

okay, this is a really excellent bridge between the two camps of ‘how deep and clever to subvert everyone’s expectations like that, we can’t complain,’ and ‘what an incredibly shitty and unsatisfying bullshit ending to just drop every important bit of plot on the ground and walk off, we’re going to complain about everything’. 

the curtain falls and the lights go out not because we actually reached the end of the play, but because the actors found the exit door backstage. and also, probably, the theater’s on fire. 

i guess we can all go sit in the camp of ‘this was clever as fuck and i’m mad as fuck’ now. 

#wait does this mean vriska trapped herself in the comic as well?#if so#AMAZING#PERFECT CONCLUSION FOR HER

….. wow, YEAH. Vriska trapping herself in the confines of the story is actually…. pretty dang perfect??? I am gonna have to sit on this and think about it for a while.

Also, this whole interpretation of the ending and of Homestuck gives me a lot of feelings that I probably wouldn’t have if this were any other story. The theme of “the characters getting trapped in their own narrative and finally breaking free” just wouldn’t have the same impact if this weren’t a story that has been told over the span of seven years, if Homestuck hadn’t become, in some ways, this albatross hanging from the necks of the fans and (I can only imagine) the creator. Homestuck is ridiculously lengthy and convoluted and epic in a way that few other stories manage to be, so for the kids to finally, finally escape the narrative (and especially for this to come after the THREE YEARS that the beta kids spent traveling between sessions) is actually a huge deal. Because I mean, damn. What a narrative to be stuck within.

i love this SO MUCH. 

like zee says above, if this was anything but homestuck, anything other than an enormous, multi-faceted, years-spanning beast with hundreds of AU’s, head-canons, and fanworks, i would call bullshit. if it wasn’t a story that incorporated the 4th wall as a plot device, the creator as a character, and didn’t take place within a systematic meta-textual video game world, i would call bullshit. but…the heroes escaping the canon being the ending works so well for homestuck it’s almost stupid? no one has ever told a story this way before. makes sense it wouldn’t end like any other story either. 

i’m not saying that this means it’s not disappointing that certain conversations never happened, that arcs didn’t play out, that things that were set up fizzled out, but what Andrew Hussie is fucking brilliant at is grabbing hold of a million tangled threads and lashing them into something gorgeous and bizarre, that has us all standing there going wait, was he planning this all along?  

In case anyone was wondering why the house turned white at the end…

The three sessions are the primary colours of light. When you add them all together, you get white.

also, the three orbs that calliope creates that turn into the black hole are cyan, magenta, and yellow, which makes black.

OOoooooh that’s such a good point! I didn’t notice that!

The colours on the new universe’s frog are also yellow, cyan and magenta.

OK I’ll stop reblogging this soon, I promise, but @princessshooshpap made a really good point…so I went and actually checked. It’s damn near impossible to pause the animation at the right frame, so this was as good as I could get it: 

SHE IS LITERALLY MAKING THE ABOVE DIAGRAM WITH THE THREE ORBS TO MAKE THE BLACK HOLE

If that doesn’t support the idea that these colours are important in the HS universe, I don’t know what does.