Homestuck

[Carbo]

A young man stands in his bedroom. It just so happens that today, the 13th of April, is this young man's birthday. Though it was 13 years ago he was given life, it is only today he will be given a name!

What is Homestuck?

Homestuck is the latest, biggest and most ambitious project from Andrew Hussie, writer and artist of the acclaimed webcomic Problem Sleuth, and creator of MS Paint Adventures. An interactive comic/flash game hybrid, it has been best described by Hussie as "combining the themes and feel of EarthBound, The Sims, and Spore", and while it shows, the comparisons and attempts to describe the comic suffers dead ends due to its incredible depth and detail, with TVTropes even going so far as to say "Just go and read it" on it's Laconic page.

Homestuck tells the story of four kids who await the upcoming Beta release for a new game everyone is looking forward to, "Sburb". It's a Sims-esque reality simulator that allows for players to rewrite, alter and edit real-life environments through interface. Things are however not as it seems, when before too long our hero, John Egbert, gets thrust into a dilemma of invading imps, resurrections of long-dead relatives and discoveries of his sealed off life. Our players soon realize that they aren't playing the game; the game is playing them.

What would first seem as merely a game of a set goal without a true purpose other than surviving, it becomes deeper than that. Sburb is a warning for a threat that will challenge their world's existence as they know it. With the help of allies, "Trolls", its up to our four heroes to climb ontop of the level-system, ascend to higher grounds, reach Skaia and defeat the paradox that can ultimately set end to them, and possibly even the universe.

Homestuck mainly takes place in three periods of time: The Present, where the kids attempt to build towards Skaia and take on the big bad, Jack Noir. The Future, a post-apocalyptic setting in the year 2422 on the deserted planet Earth focusing on Exiles who contact and helps set up events in The Present by timetravel communication. And finally, The Past, which details the sessions of The Trolls, setting up the plot's premise.

Please note; spoilers will undoubtedly be extremely frequent in this topic. Time traveling and skipping between periods is extremely convoluted, and its nigh impossible to actually list anything here that doesn't have a future impact on the story or inevitably gets brought up as an important detail.

The Kids

Zoosmell Pooplord John Egbert

"You have a passion for REALLY TERRIBLE MOVIES. You like to program computers but you are NOT VERY GOOD AT IT. You have a fondness for PARANORMAL LORE, and are an aspiring AMATEUR MAGICIAN. You also like to play GAMES sometimes."

His Chumhandle is "ectoBiologist", formerly "ghostyTrickster". Has filed a pair of STRIFE SPECIBI in his STRIFE PORTFOLIO: HAMMERKIND ABSTRATUS and BUNNYKIND ABSTRATUS. He can play haunting refrains on the piano. He is the Heir of Breath.

Flighty Broad Rose Lalonde

"You have a passion for RATHER OBSCURE LITERATURE. You enjoy creative writing and are SOMEWHAT SECRETIVE ABOUT IT. You have a fondness for the BESTIALLY STRANGE AND FICTITIOUS, and sometimes dabble in PSYCHOANALYSIS. You also like to KNIT, and your room is a BIT OF A MESS. And on occasion, if just the right one strikes your fancy, you like to play VIDEO GAMES with your friends."

Her Chumhandle is "tentacleTherapist". Has allocated her STRIFE SPECIBUS with the NEEDLEKIND ABSTRATUS. She can play haunting refrains on her violin. She is the Seer of Light.

Insufferable Pri Dave Strider

"You have a penchant for spinning out UNBELIEVABLY ILL JAMS with your TURNTABLES AND MIXING GEAR. You like to rave about BANDS NO ONE'S EVER HEARD OF BUT YOU. You collect WEIRD DEAD THINGS PRESERVED IN VARIOUS WAYS. You are an AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER and operate your own MAKESHIFT DARKROOM. You maintain a number of IRONICALLY HUMOROUS BLOGS, WEBSITES, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING PROFILES. And if the inspiration strikes, you won't hesitate to drop some PHAT RHYMES on a mofo and REPRESENT."

His Chumhandle is "turntechGodhead." Had allocated his STRIFE SPECIBUS with the BLADEKIND ABSTRATUS, but his wielding the "cheap piece of shit" against his Bro turns it into the 1/2BLADEKIND ABSTRATUS. He can drop some hauntingly sick beats on his sampler. He is the Knight of Time. He is the author of Sweet Bro And Hella Jeff.

Farmstink Buttlass Jade Harley

"You are an avid follower of CARTOON SHOWS OF CONSIDERABLE NOSTALGIC APPEAL. You have a profound zeal for marvelous and fantastical FAUNA OF AN ANTHROPOMORPHOLOGICAL PERSUASION. You have an uncanny knack for NUCLEAR PHYSICS, and not infrequently can be found dabbling in RATHER ADVANCED GADGETRY. You enjoy sporadic fits of NARCOLEPSY; your love of GARDENING transcends the glass confines of your ATRIUM; and you are at times prone to patterns of PRECOGNITIVE PROGNOSTICATION."

Her Chumhandle is "gardenGnostic". Has allocated her STRIFE SPECIBUS with the RIFLEKIND ABSTRATUS. She can see events in the future ("prognosticate") in her dreams, frequently creating stable time loops. She lives with her (late) grandfather and a pet "devilbeast" named Becquerel. She can play a hauntingly relaxing bassline on her Eclectic Bass. She is the Witch of Space.

I could add the trolls here, but that would undoubtedly take ages and take up alot of space.

The Music

Homestuck Vol. 1 - 4

Midnight Crew: Dawning Dead 2

Homestuck Vol. 5

Alternia

Squiddles!

The Felt

Homestuck Vol. 6: Heir Transparent

Strife!

AlterniaBound

Medium

Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido

Vol. 7: At the Price of Oblivion

Sburb

The Wanderers

Prospit & Derse

Homestuck Vol. 8

Song of Skaia

coloUrs and mayhem: Universe A

Latest Release

coloUrs and mayhem: Universe B

So yes, I totally felt Homestuck should get a general here, it's probably one of the most engaging comics I've read and the detail to it is amazing. Love all the characters and the story, and its amazing to see Hussie keep a track over everything that happens without getting busted by convolution.

[Diogenes]

YES. FUCK YES. HELL FUCKING YES.

And a , while we're at it.

Seriously everyone should be reading Homestuck. It's hilarious, it's exciting, every character is awesome, and it continually manages to outdo itself.

Also at the most recent flash.

Aradia is alive! It's great to see her happy, considering she's been either a sad ghost or a sad robot for most of the story. I'm really curious to see how Hussie's going to handle her now...hopefully not just having her stuck there keeping Noir frozen.

And Tavros is...probably dead. He's out of extra lives and it doesn't look like he'll be walking away from this one...that'd make him the first player to permadie.

Also Vriska holding up his legs and miming a cut at the waist is the funniest goddamn thing.

 

Edited April 5, 2013 by Diogenes

[Saint Nathan]

Aradia is alive! It's great to see her happy, considering she's been either a sad ghost or a sad robot for most of the story. I'm really curious to see how Hussie's going to handle her now...hopefully not just having her stuck there keeping Noir frozen.

And Tavros is...probably dead. He's out of extra lives and it doesn't look like he'll be walking away from this one...that'd make him the first player to permadie.

Also Vriska holding up his legs and miming a cut at the waist is the funniest goddamn thing.

Technically, John perma-died like, twice now. His original body is now dead, so only Dream John is still alive. And he died before, causing a split timeline. Jade died on that split timeline also.

Not to mention Dave, who has at least two dead selves.

Tavros would just be the only one to permadie without any sort of chances to come back. And even then, we know Equius wants to try and be less "bloodist" so Tavros could get an entire robot body. Hell, Aradia is alive now, and she could go back in time and stop his death. There's plenty of ways for him to stay alive.

However, at this point, it's fairly clear that Vriska is the real villain here, and Noir is just acting the part. Kinda strange how that works.

[eXtaticus]

I got bored with mindless clicking after the first few pages, sorry.

[Diogenes]

Tavros would just be the only one to permadie without any sort of chances to come back.

Well, that's what I meant by "permadie"; to die, and not come back.

And even then, we know Equius wants to try and be less "bloodist" so Tavros could get an entire robot body. Hell, Aradia is alive now, and she could go back in time and stop his death. There's plenty of ways for him to stay alive.

Well yeah, I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's not really good writing to constantly subvert death. Players already have dreamselves as an emergency extra life, but if you can still come back even after losing both, it cheapens the whole deal. If Hussie plans on having him live, he's got to come up with something unique enough that it doesn't cheapen death, but clever enough not to feel like an asspull.

Also we don't know if Tavros can be a ghost (Aradia could already hear the dead pre-death, so she's probably a special case), and time travel would likely just end up with doomed Tavroses, which would end up dying again anyway.

However, at this point, it's fairly clear that Vriska is the real villain here, and Noir is just acting the part. Kinda strange how that works.

I dunno, I think that might be going a bit too far.

Vriska's definitely not a good person, but she doesn't seem like an outright villain. Killing Tavros is more about their fucked up relationship than being evil, and Bec Noir's creation was inevitable due to the way causality works in the Homestuck universe. And she still intends to kill Noir (or at least be responsible for his death), so she's got "enemy of my enemy" credit at least.

And besides, there's still Lord English...

[Carbo]

Yeah at this point Vriska is basically Chaotic Neutral. She's just doing whatever it takes to further her own agenda.

As for Tavros,

While he may be dead for now, there's a great chance it wont last, mostly cause if you look back at it, there's more evidence to support him actually living on than being completley offed from the story.

First of all;

If he's dead, Hussie would need to explain this somehow. As it's been established, Trollian keeps track of all individual timelines. This is how Terezi could keep track of the Daves, particularly Doomed Felt Dave. Once a character is offed, their timeline abruptly ends and goes gray since there's nothing beyond that point, and Tavros', just like all the other trolls, reaches the rift. For all we know, its synonymous with the critical moment. If any trolls will die, it will more than likely be after that moment as everything blacks out and its impossible to look.

Second of all;

This is something I think most fans are still stuck up on; Tavros' dream self may still be alive. Alterniabound occurs right after Prospit blows up, which is when all the Trolls' Prospitian dream selves die. Karkat in particular was asleep during that moment, and Tavros. Karkat didn't wake up after Prospit blew up however, clearly waking up if your dreamself dies is not a reason enough for waking up. This is why Karkat got sent into The Furthest Ring, in other words he was sleeping with The Horrorterrors.

Tavros on the other hand had no recollection of actually witnessing Prospit blow up, or Jack for that matter. He attests to have been frolicking in the medium during that point in time, but no matter how much of a Cloudcuckoolander you'd have to be it's pretty much impossible to shrug it off and say that Tavros is dumb enough to NOT notice Prospit blow up. If he'd have died, he'd sleep with The Horrorterrors along with Karkat, and forgetting something like THAT is probably way too far off than I can imagine. Remember, the only reason he has to believe that his dream self is dead is cause Karkat assumed he was on Prospit when it happened, and he just took that as enough confirmation. Tavros is way too much of a goody-two shoes to distrust his friends. There's no way he went to sleep during that time to find out either cause he was too excited about his new legs.

A likely theory of Tavros surviving is that he could be resurrected as a ghost by Aradia. If not, the only alternative I can think of is his dreamself still being alive. Remember, Hussie confirmed that there's two ways for dreamselves to act as "extra lives". The one which we've most prominently seen, is dying on a quest bed, transferring to your dream self and go into god-tier. Basically how Vriska and John got there, and Aradia under different circumstances. The second way on the other hand, is being kissed by a prince or a princess. By default, all the players are such. There is however an extremely limited time for this to happen as the dreamself slowly dies alongside their own body, which is why we saw John's dreamself bleed a little bit in JOHN. RISE UP. This is also why Hearts Boxcars was desperate about Tavros kissing Vriska, but that would also ruin her chances for god tier.

And he landed nearby Terezi who I wouldn't doubt wants to get back on Vriska, so...

Edited January 17, 2011 by Carbo

[Saint Nathan]

Yeah at this point Vriska is basically Chaotic Neutral. She's just doing whatever it takes to further her own agenda.

As for Tavros,

While he may be dead for now, there's a great chance it wont last, mostly cause if you look back at it, there's more evidence to support him actually living on than being completley offed from the story.

First of all;

If he's dead, Hussie would need to explain this somehow. As it's been established, Trollian keeps track of all individual timelines. This is how Terezi could keep track of the Daves, particularly Doomed Felt Dave. Once a character is offed, their timeline abruptly ends and goes gray since there's nothing beyond that point, and Tavros', just like all the other trolls, reaches the rift. For all we know, its synonymous with the critical moment. If any trolls will die, it will more than likely be after that moment as everything blacks out and its impossible to look.

Second of all;

This is something I think most fans are still stuck up on; Tavros' dream self may still be alive. Alterniabound occurs right after Prospit blows up, which is when all the Trolls' Prospitian dream selves die. Karkat in particular was asleep during that moment, and Tavros. Karkat didn't wake up after Prospit blew up however, clearly waking up if your dreamself dies is not a reason enough for waking up. This is why Karkat got sent into The Furthest Ring, in other words he was sleeping with The Horrorterrors.

Tavros on the other hand had no recollection of actually witnessing Prospit blow up, or Jack for that matter. He attests to have been frolicking in the medium during that point in time, but no matter how much of a Cloudcuckoolander you'd have to be it's pretty much impossible to shrug it off and say that Tavros is dumb enough to NOT notice Prospit blow up. If he'd have died, he'd sleep with The Horrorterrors along with Karkat, and forgetting something like THAT is probably way too far off than I can imagine. Remember, the only reason he has to believe that his dream self is dead is cause Karkat assumed he was on Prospit when it happened, and he just took that as enough confirmation. Tavros is way too much of a goody-two shoes to distrust his friends. There's no way he went to sleep during that time to find out either cause he was too excited about his new legs.

A likely theory of Tavros surviving is that he could be resurrected as a ghost by Aradia. If not, the only alternative I can think of is his dreamself still being alive. Remember, Hussie confirmed that there's two ways for dreamselves to act as "extra lives". The one which we've most prominently seen, is dying on a quest bed, transferring to your dream self and go into god-tier. Basically how Vriska and John got there, and Aradia under different circumstances. The second way on the other hand, is being kissed by a prince or a princess. By default, all the players are such. There is however an extremely limited time for this to happen as the dreamself slowly dies alongside their own body, which is why we saw John's dreamself bleed a little bit in JOHN. RISE UP. This is also why Hearts Boxcars was desperate about Tavros kissing Vriska, but that would also ruin her chances for god tier.

And he landed nearby Terezi who I wouldn't doubt wants to get back on Vriska, so...

I just went and looked up the Past Karkat: Wake Up thing. Tavros says "wHOA, iS THAT WHAT HAPPENED," It's not much, but it implies he knew about the Noirsplosion in some way.

Of course, at the same time, Karkat only JUST wakes up when Bec Noir attacks. Within like seven seconds he's dead. Tavros could have been awake during that seven seconds. Though, that would more than likely mean he was asleep on Prospit, so that would mean his dream self died anyways.

You never can tell with bees Homestuck. There's some minor plot point somewhere that nobody cares about or recognizes and Hussie was using it to set the whole damn thing up.

EDIT: Ah fuck I just remembered the explosion happened an hour before Karkat woke up. Of course he'd know about it by then.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Galaxy Man

[DarkOverord]

Travos stated his dreamself was dead once...

http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003836 This was after Prospit blew up no? As, 'the plan' began after Prospit's destruction...

The Rift in Trollian isn't a good example either. Karkat has left messages from AFTER The Rift

Edited January 18, 2011 by DarkOverord

[Carbo]

Karkat leaving messages after the rift (if he did, haven't kept track and I'm fairly sure that shouldn't be possible), sort of strengthens the theory. It means his timeline still continues beyond the point where its not possible to read off lifesigns.

And again, the only reason we have to assume Tavros' dreamself is dead is cause he was told Prospit blew up and went by the assumption he was on there. There's no proof that he slept in The Furthest Ring.

Anyway new update makes new ship teasing JADE x KANAYA GO

Let's have some GameBro

Edited January 18, 2011 by Carbo

[DarkOverord]

And again, the only reason we have to assume Tavros' dreamself is dead is cause he was told Prospit blew up and went by the assumption he was on there. There's no proof that he slept in The Furthest Ring.

How would he have gone from Prospit, PAST The Veil, PAST Derse, and somehow navigated Paradox Space to The Furthest Ring...?

[Carbo]

How would he have gone from Prospit, PAST The Veil, PAST Derse, and somehow navigated Paradox Space to The Furthest Ring...?

The Furthest Ring contains The Noble Circle of The Horrorterrors. If your dream self dies, this is where you get sent when you go to sleep.

[Saint Nathan]

Well shit.

Two of my favorite Trolls are dead, and the two I hate the most are either completely insane and beyond redemption, or just assholes. Or both. And they killed the other two.

Ffffffffffffffffffffffffuck you, Hussie.

The best part of this is that Karkat is sitting there watching, and I want to see how he reacts to all of this.

[Carbo]

Anyway Hussie jossed the Trollian timeline thing on Formspring now so yeah.

[DarkOverord]

Anyway Hussie jossed the Trollian timeline thing on Formspring now so yeah.

Oh.

Well now we don't have to pay any attention to them whatsoever. :V Also. There'd been no proof Travos hadn't slept since Prospit's destruction anyway :V

On more pressing matters. I'm fairly sure that Karkat and Kanaya have stuff left to do that hussie can't retcon yet (Jade basically). So hey. The Prince of not hope at all won't kill them yet!

inb4VriskaEridan

Edited January 23, 2011 by DarkOverord

[Diogenes]

Man, things are really going to shit for the trolls...and it's at least as much their own fault as it is Noir's.

Okay, let's do some inventory:

Karkat: staying in the computer room, trying (and failing) to keep shit together. He's the least likely to die any time soon, given that he's kind of the main troll.

Aradia: Recently revived into god-tier, presumably still holding Noir in place. Considering she just came back to life, and no one else even knows it yet, she'll probably survive for a while.

Tavros: Dead, killed by Vriska.

Sollux: KOed, presumably blinded (as he predicted, and as Aradiabot hinted at before she exploded) by Eridan. Like Aradia, he'll probably be alive at least long enough for the story to deal with him being blind.

Nepeta: Missing. Possibly off with Equius.

Kanaya: Planning to hatch the matriorb in the meteor. I'm guessing she'll survive at least until we see how that goes.

Terezi: Found Tavros' body (after it splattered behind her). I'd say she's too important to die, but if she goes off investigating Tavros' death, her life span may be dramatically shortened...

Vriska: Killed Tavros. Too important to the story to die any time soon (irons, fire, etc).

Equius: Missing. Possibly off with Nepeta.

Gamzee: Missing. Last seen watching Jade's house, covered in his own blood. That's...not a good sign.

Eridan: Killed Feferi, KOed Sollux. Probably going to survive for a while, considering he just turned, but if he does end up going to join Noir (and he's no longer time-stopped), I wouldn't be surprised if he's quickly bisected.

Feferi: Dead, killed by Eridan.

Man, I really want to know what Nepeta and Equius are up to...

[Carbo]

Prince of Hope lost hope

Page of Breath stopped breathing

Witch of Life is dead

Seer of Mind cant see

Its all going ass-backwards.

and Gamzee is a Bard.

Also, Gamzee's blood matched claw scratches.

I'll leave the rest of that up to you guys' imagination.

Anyway, I checked the source code and found an unused Sollux sprite.

Note the vision twofold

[Candescence]

oh gog yes Homestuck is AMAZING.

Anyway...

Good grief, a Heel Face Turn from Eridan, of all trolls?! This is turning to hell rather quickly. However... Note that Vriska wants to kill Noir herself, and Eridan wants to side with Noir, and claims to now be more powerful than Vriska. They were also once fierce rivals.

In short, there's gonna be a rather bloody battle between the two.

[Emperor Robrainiac]

I got bored with mindless clicking after the first few pages, sorry.

Pretty much this. Though I did make it to the end of the first act and if it's as good as everyone says it is, I'll give it another chance and continue.

[Carbo]

I found it very much tedious at first too and didn't think I'd get into it but I'm a massive Homestuck fag now, mostly cause Andrew is amazing at writing compelling characters.

Here's a nifty introduction guide by the by.

[DarkOverord]

Oh. Just fuck you Eridan D:

Don't do anything to Kanaya ;~;

[Saint Nathan]

Oh. Just fuck you Eridan D:

Don't do anything to Kanaya ;~;

I don't think either of them will even make a move. Eridan wants to help Kanaya with the Matriorb, but he knows nothing about it at all. They'll either duke it out for a few seconds and then move on to get shit done, or they won't attack at all and hussie just cuts to something funny.

[Diogenes]

Oh. Just fuck you Eridan D:

Don't do anything to Kanaya ;~;

Seconding this sentiment; I don't know how it happened but somehow she became one of my favorite trolls and she has things to do that aren't being killed by science wands damn it.

[Saint Nathan]

science wands

I'm not even sure how that even works. Wands are not science. They're the opposite of science. They're non-science.

Also, just realizing, Kanaya made his wand. I'll bet she knows just as much about it as he does.

[Diogenes]

Noooo

Eridan is the biggest asshole, forever.

[Saint Nathan]

Oh my god did that really just happen.

very appropriate.