How Did Those Chainsaws Even Get Stuck In The Ceiling Could Somebody Who Can Fly Please Get Them Out Oh Good I See Vriska Is Already On It And Taking Them To Stab Lord English Well That Sure Is A Thing That Happened I Guess
I agree with a lot of this. It feels like the themes that the story had been building up on and expanding suddenly disappeared in the end, particularly what it means to be a self, and which self succeeds, and all that. The main issues that I can think of right now are: Spoiler: Aaah 1. We didn't get a development, particularly from the meteor crew post recon, that continually linked with their GO selves and build up on, if not a resolution of problems, the path of working on oneself. That's particularly important with Terezi's self esteem and trust issues in herself, vs her own self. The Remember Me was important and it should have just... we should have seen Terezi take this and be herself, acknowledging her dead GO self and her own meteor self. 2. Fucking Gamzee. It just. I still don't really understand the motivations, I don't have a basis to figure out where he stands, relative to anything! He becomes a joke toy, which is fine some characters are jokes, but he wasn't a joke by a long shot and for a long time. I can't love or hate him because I just can't get a grip on anything he did in the end. It isn't one of those fun mysteries left at the end which one likes imagining and comparing and debating. It just feels like somebody hid something important. 3. What did the juju do? I still don't get what it fucking did. At this point I feel like the defeat really was god tier Calliope's own thing. 4. I feel like Jade was relegated to the background by the fucking narrative, even when she was "nope Imma be awake and do things!" 5. What happened to Rose figuring out "we're not character arcs and roles, for all that they help us understand ourselves and a framework from which to start"? I mean she was having a real problem with that and roles and being Main Rose and her quest! 6. WHAT WAS KARKAT GOING TO DO. IF IT WAS GOING TO BE "be the fucking conscience" or something, at least have it be RECOGNIZED? 7. Where is Terezi 8. Where is Terezi's start of dealing with Gamzee and Vriska's effects on her life? 9. Did... Arquius just die here then? We got Dave to actually figure out things that set him on his way to be happy, he's not completely done and never will be because the idea is that human beings aren't static and never reach an end, but his arc, I feel, ended pretty well. Dirk, was starting on a bit of... coming to peace with himself and his splinters, especially talking with Dave, but it feels like we were cut off rudely from things, instead of a little transition that makes more sense with seeing him happily playing football. 10. Jake and confidence and being honest and learning and paying attention. Where does that end up? What is he learning as a Page? His potential? His wants? 11. Earth's repopulation problem re: human diversity and trolls :| 12. Jane? I guess her issues are... seem more normal and human to need that much resolution, but I feel something is missing. 13. Aradia and Sollux. Did she just... die happily after seeing the end? Did Sollux die along with paradox space? 14. Vriska's plan for the kids worked and something about that is just really fucking annoying. She got the juju and won with it, that was a good enough thing, but I wanted to see her plan find trouble... and the kids to bring their own talents and minds to the problem and defeating it, because they had it all along :/ 15. I still don't understand which timeline the 8 kids attacked Caliborn and the juju got the beta 4 in them. That said, I am really happy with how Vriska ends... basically getting her Hero thing but also simultaneously dooming herself. We got to see what she could be with (Vriska), the start of someone who could live with others and find happiness and stability... though it still hurts that she died. I love how alt Calliope brought it to an end as a black hole, the callback/symbolism/parallels are really nice, in the end, and I like what it means for our Callie, and how her role is to... to live! Because that is a good message to take, I think. Like, I felt like this was working up to a kind of theme of roles and limitations, and yet on living beyond these categories we feel we must live up to, to become our own people, like with Rose and her talks about character arcs and her personal quest.
I never read past book eight so I may be wrong on this, but didn't A Series of Unfortunate Events set up and not resolve a bunch of shit? As I recall that was done intentionally to make a point about how real life doesn't get tidy endings, but in Homestuck's case it just looks like Hussie was hoping we wouldn't remember most of what was going on, which feels like rampant disrespect to the reader.
I got salty. I am under no illusions that the "omg you just don't get it " crowd will ever read my post, but w/e, maybe it can make someone else who is dissatisfied feel validated in face of all the snobby assholes.
I think that's a little uncharitable - I don't think he was hoping we were forget so much as he was cutting his losses and running because he just couldn't anymore. It probably didn't feel real great to not resolve everything! but sometimes you get to a point where the choice is get it done badly or don't ever get it done at all.
Random question, completely away from upd8s, because I'm amidst a re-read: Spoiler: polo Do we have real evidence Dave's Bro wears a white polo? All of the sprites I'm seeing just look exactly like a regular white shirt and I for some reason cannot find an in-comic sprite or hero mode of bro with a collar. Did fanon give Dave's Bro a fucking popped-collar white polo. Or is this canon. I'm in need of assistance.
@eddie I don't think we do. Bro's neck area is obscured by his head when he's a sprite and there's zero detail there in detailed shots. idk where the collar thing started - maybe people equate popped collars so strongly with the word bro it was a natural evolution? All I know is that a polo shirt with the rest of his outfit just makes him look like a golfer to me, which kind of cuts into the surface cool dude persona.
I'm really kind of frustrated with the wy you all are looking at Act 7. To me it feels like something that needs to be savored and really thought about. A lot of thinga that happened I just couldn't pair up significance to because it's been too long, so I'm going to have to sit down and analyze it along with the MSPA Wiki for reference. And you know that's not for everyone but I really enjoy doing that. Homestuck is not an obvious story. It moves in tricks and twists and a suprising amount of subtlety. I don't think it's fair to say it doesn't fit with the rest of Homestuck just because it doesn't live up to your personal expectations. The only criticism that makes any sense to me is @Mercury's.
The answer you may not actually be looking for. Also I don't really get griping about the retcon on the basis that it's different than what came before it. It's a story. Things change in stories all the time. That's... why it's a story and not a portrait.
@autopsyblue Thanks, but I think you're being pretty rude to everyone else, here, and doing the "Well you clearly just don't get it" thing that's really, really irritating. Tastes differ, as do conclusions; please don't assume that people who disagree with you who aren't as loquacious about it as me just aren't thinking about it hard enough.
Dude, same difference. Instead of telling people they aren't putting enough effort in if they disagree, you'd be better served by explaining what you see and are satisfied with.
Dude, fuck off and stop assigning me intentions I don't have. I don't have the energy to fight you, I'm out.
Us all...? @General Eyes is shedding a tear of joy somewhere. The end of Homestuck feels very different from the beginning. The beginning was the fan suggestions-driven way of meandering around and doing all kinds of useless bullshit, punctuated by rambling pesterlogs and flavortext. Through the acts of the story, the perspective panned out. We didn't follow the minute details of characters, and it became increasingly obvious when we were not given flavortext or conversations. Hussie even lampshaded it by having the meteor crew's first reunion with John be erased from their memories, and thus not shown in canon. After Game Over, when Vriska was spared from the way Gamzee's chucklevoodoos made Terezi only see two options (one of which wasn't a choice at all), and she proceeded to influence the meteor crew in ways that prevented some of the deterioration and development we saw snippets of... we didn't really get to see how things changed. It's like the first few acts were made of green cubes solidly spelling out words, and the later acts are made of the same cubes---but have lots of empty spaces between the cubes. Like Hussie is expecting us to see the connections between them, based on the patterns of the earlier story. Some of us are stuggling to do so, and are frustrated by the way the blocks seem harder and harder to see anything out of.
Yeah, I liked the ending and I still think you're being a twit @autopsyblue. just because you and I thought about it and liked it doesn't mean that other people can think about it just as much and still dislike it.
I don't think people are really struggling to see the connections so much as they feel like the latter is a copout of doing the hard work of actually writing what can be inferred to go in those gaps.
