Thoughts on the last Homestuck Update
Oct. 25th, 2014 12:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gaudiorCopied from my tumblr. Mercifully cut-tagged for those who don't care! Also, for anyone who has managed to remain unspoiled!
So, from his perspective, Dave went off to rescue Jade from Bec Noir and this random other-white-Bec-Noir-what-the-fuck. So he could bring back her body so Jane could resurrect her.
But what he didn’t know was that Bec Noir and PM were also trying to protect and resurrect Jade.
So he died, heroically, protecting someone from other people who were also trying to protect her.
That is so ironic.
In death, Dave achieved true irony.
Which is also ironic.
ARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH.
I am just hoping that this is a doomed timeline, because if it is, then that is even more ironic, right? That reality simply won’t let Dave do something actually ironic, and massive shenanigans with timelines and meta and John will take place just to prevent Dave from doing something actually ironic? That would be more ironic, right?
O gods, I have entirely lost track of the meaning of the word irony.
Hussie is brilliant at making you engage in his work on multiple emotional levels at once, and then thinking about what that means. I think that may be one of the main points of Homestuck. My favorite example before now was “pounceavenge!” which is simultaneously heartbreaking and funny and a cute literary trick.
But I’m really impressed with how this flash (S: Game Over) does that. I’ve been sadly scanning through the #homestuck tag on Tumblr, and we’re reacting in the following ways:
1. Oh my god no I am SO SAD about the deaths.
2. Wait, no, this isn’t real, is it? Because this isn’t the alpha timeline, because of what Aranea said about her plan and how it would create a doomed timeline, so they should all be fine! Whew!
3. Wait, but what if this is real, because maybe that whole Aranea thing was a red herring, and this really is what is happening? I really am sad now!
4. But maybe in that case some of them could be okay? I mean, John can alter reality without creating doomed timelines, maybe he can fix things?
5. Or maybe he can’t, we still have some characters left, the story could still continue like this… And we can see everyone dead in dream bubbles, they’re not really gone, they can still be part of the story…
6. But wait, isn’ t Caliborn the narrator now? So, won’t that affect events in some way? Or is he not really the narrator, just sort of confusing?
7. Would Hussie really do this to us? I mean, should we just be expecting Hussie to do this because he’s already demonstrated a willingness to hurt his fans badly? Will he fuck up the story just to make a point, or just to troll us? Can we trust him?
8. Fuck it, all I care about is fanfic anyway. They’re fine if I say they’re fine, or if Asuka or Roach or someone says they are.
or 8. Fuck it, I don’t care about this fandom anyway, this stupid webcomic doesn’t matter to me any more (i.e., it’s no longer real to me; it doesn’t matter).
So… look at all those different levels of reality there. Look at all those different emotional and critical levels on which you’re interacting with fictional characters. Simultaneously. The emotional state that that leaves me in is fascinating, and the question of “well, what does real mean?” is an important one.
All of which is to say that if Karkat is really dead, I am SO KILLING ANDREW HUSSIE OMG.
--R
So, from his perspective, Dave went off to rescue Jade from Bec Noir and this random other-white-Bec-Noir-what-the-fuck. So he could bring back her body so Jane could resurrect her.
But what he didn’t know was that Bec Noir and PM were also trying to protect and resurrect Jade.
So he died, heroically, protecting someone from other people who were also trying to protect her.
That is so ironic.
In death, Dave achieved true irony.
Which is also ironic.
ARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH.
I am just hoping that this is a doomed timeline, because if it is, then that is even more ironic, right? That reality simply won’t let Dave do something actually ironic, and massive shenanigans with timelines and meta and John will take place just to prevent Dave from doing something actually ironic? That would be more ironic, right?
O gods, I have entirely lost track of the meaning of the word irony.
Hussie is brilliant at making you engage in his work on multiple emotional levels at once, and then thinking about what that means. I think that may be one of the main points of Homestuck. My favorite example before now was “pounceavenge!” which is simultaneously heartbreaking and funny and a cute literary trick.
But I’m really impressed with how this flash (S: Game Over) does that. I’ve been sadly scanning through the #homestuck tag on Tumblr, and we’re reacting in the following ways:
1. Oh my god no I am SO SAD about the deaths.
2. Wait, no, this isn’t real, is it? Because this isn’t the alpha timeline, because of what Aranea said about her plan and how it would create a doomed timeline, so they should all be fine! Whew!
3. Wait, but what if this is real, because maybe that whole Aranea thing was a red herring, and this really is what is happening? I really am sad now!
4. But maybe in that case some of them could be okay? I mean, John can alter reality without creating doomed timelines, maybe he can fix things?
5. Or maybe he can’t, we still have some characters left, the story could still continue like this… And we can see everyone dead in dream bubbles, they’re not really gone, they can still be part of the story…
6. But wait, isn’ t Caliborn the narrator now? So, won’t that affect events in some way? Or is he not really the narrator, just sort of confusing?
7. Would Hussie really do this to us? I mean, should we just be expecting Hussie to do this because he’s already demonstrated a willingness to hurt his fans badly? Will he fuck up the story just to make a point, or just to troll us? Can we trust him?
8. Fuck it, all I care about is fanfic anyway. They’re fine if I say they’re fine, or if Asuka or Roach or someone says they are.
or 8. Fuck it, I don’t care about this fandom anyway, this stupid webcomic doesn’t matter to me any more (i.e., it’s no longer real to me; it doesn’t matter).
So… look at all those different levels of reality there. Look at all those different emotional and critical levels on which you’re interacting with fictional characters. Simultaneously. The emotional state that that leaves me in is fascinating, and the question of “well, what does real mean?” is an important one.
All of which is to say that if Karkat is really dead, I am SO KILLING ANDREW HUSSIE OMG.
--R
this comment is spoilery too
Date: 2014-10-26 06:26 am (UTC)The last update feels so unnecessary to me, like Hussie did it just to see if we'd still jump when he told us to, and as a result I'm feeling used and cheated and angry because I can't believe he killed Jake after everything else he put him through right before the gigapause. I'm so tired of this.
I'm also fresh off of watching the third evangelion movie, though, so I'm stuck in the paranoid and defensive mindset that all creators are out to mock and troll their fans. :/ then again, it's Hussie, that's not always a bad bet.
I'm still definitely not reading any more until someone tells me that Hussie has provided a really good reason why he had to punch everybody in the feelings. again. Because right now I'm not convinced that he didn't just do it for the lulz.