Please Do Note That Its the 28th Of September As Of The Time Im Writing This And I Have Not Completed Homestuck (~7300/8126) And Thus What I Will Proceed To Write May Be Proven Wildly Wrong In The Future So I Ask That You Not Be Too Judgemental About Next Months Post
SILKSONG
Eyup. It's time... So, I played a bit of Silksong the day it released, of course having to wait an hour because steam servers kept crashing and I accidentally put two copies of the soundtrack into my cart, but I did accomplish my goal. And it was really good!! I don't really remember how far into the game I got, so I'll just talk about my gameplay itself rather than the circumstances affecting when I'd be able to play :D Anyway, the game was awesome. Like, the wait was so worth it. The game is so incredibly beautiful and has some of the most detailed and well-written characters and worlds I've had the pleasure of looking at in a while (I realise I sound like a damn Nintendo Life guy but I promise I'm just speaking from the heart here). I sure did get frustrated as hell at this game, but looking bad, it really wasn't that bad. I just get tilted very easily. The difficulty has some issues, yes, but personally, they didn't really bother me that much, compared to most. Two of my friends say that Skarrsinger Karmelita is unbalanced/total bs/otherwise unfun, but she was actually one of the few I didn't really tilt at. Her theme is also just so delightful. At the risk of losing like half the length of these blog posts, I'm going to avoid describing every detail of the plot / just looking at the ending (at least not without discussing the characters first). In this case (and also Homestuck's) I will delve into only the ending and stuff I care about in detail, and I will NOT forget to mention any characters. Last month's blog was a disgrace.
Shakra..................... God she's awesome. She's like if Undyne was never racist and wasn't a cop. Her song is catchy and she's really strong and she's a butch and she's a lesbian and so is Hornet and urgh!! I love her. Her quest was really sad but I'm glad her mom got to live her life to the fullest and was so strong the only thing that could take her was the natural cycle of decay. Urgjhhh. I was a Lace fan for a few months before the game released, seeing her in-game and how she acts made me love her character even more. Her dialogue at the start of Act 2, at the Cradle fight, in Act 3, she's so snarky and sassy but is also realllyyyyy troubled and has mommy issues. Seeing her laughing and being joyous in the true ending made me :D. The initial ending of the game is pretty empty, in a cool, symbolic way. It just feels kinda empty, and you feel like you're missing something. Which you are! You're missing like 15 hours of content, in fact. Wowie! So, once you do like a ton of stuff (mostly stuff that you'd be locked out of once you start Act 3), you can start the "Silk and Soul" quest, where you get a bunch of shit and blah blah let's get to the GOOD part. As said before, Hornet's perserverance and Lace's dialogue are soooo awesome and sad and it's awesome, Lost Lace is a delight, the entire questline is awesome, The Knight and Hornet siblings stuff at the end made me say fuck yeah to my screen, God I love this game. Well worth the wait :3
UNDERTALE (10TH ANNIVERSARY)
First, the newsletter. Polymikes!!!!!!!! I adore them. So much that "polymikes" is my @ on tumblr. Anyway their scene was delightfull and Pluey's so cuteee and Tony's Homestuck thing was cool to read! And the streams....... urgh... I don't really have the words to explain it atm so I'll just copy 2 excerpts from my diary. "toby finally following up on that one old tumblr ask ("old ruins"), hotland buildings, more sprites of the green fire npc, berdlys mom, real ut noelle sprite, mettatons new sprites (god hes cool), that random waterfall area i havent really looked into much yet, that fucking normal gaster door (and the theory that this version of ut is the original (yes spamton was always meant to talk about spamtennaslop)), the sans shit, THE SCIENCEPEOPLES (platonic) CRUMBS, alphys being based on egbert, undyne being based off of the trolls, toby's character negative trait thing, the toriel super duper homestuck typing quirk that is contradicted by the very line that was on-screen, like omg im going insane. berdlys mom makes so so sadddd what was she like to himmmmmmmmmmm was she neglectful to himmmmmmmmmmmm was she a flawed parent that im gonna fall in love with like all the rest rughghhjgjgjgj ty tonyyyy" & "OH MY GOG. TOBYS COMM3NTS ON F4NWORKS 4ND TH3 UN1V3RS3 B31NG 4S B1G 4S YOU W4NT 1T TO B3. H1S TH4NKS TO 3V3RY F4N. TH3 CH4R4 STUFF. 1 LOV3 UT. L1K3. TH1S GOT M3 OUT OF WR1T3RS BLOCK PROB4BLY. TH4NK YOU TOBY YOUR3 GR34T. S4NS F1GHT 4ND NUZZL3 SC3N3S TOO!!! >:] 1M R34LLY GL4D TOBY M4D3 THOS3 3D1TS TO TH3 4SR13L D14LOGU3. 1V3 R34LLY B33N F33L1NG SC4R3D OF H4V1NG TO GROW UP, 3SP3C14LLY 1N SUCH 4 TR4NS1T1ON4L ST4T3 OF MY L1F3." eyupp ALSO GERSON HUMAN MAGE YURI THAT WAS AWESOME
HOMESTUCK
Okay this is what I really wanna talk about. Even though this could be a bit shorter than last time, this has SO much more love put into it. I've said that like 4 times but I don't lie so you can trust me. I will reiterate that I do not want this to be a story summary so I will only talk about the themes I love then talk about the characters. Eyup.
THEMES
I'm a sucker for time loops, existentialism, queerness, friendships, family dynamics, and dreams and Goddddd does Homestuck have a lot of them and Goddddd does it portray them well. Dave's argument against time travel (now fake because of other unrelated epic time powers) he explained to Jade was just. Woahhh and it in all the context of his stock market-crashing loops he made with terezi to start off the whole thing with trolls talking with humans like. If that didn't happen, literally EVERYTHING would be different. #ThankYouTimeTravel
And all the dream bubbles; alternate selves, doomed timelines; the versions of you that did better than you, only to be killed because of it; the fact you basically have no choice in anything, because it's all predetermined—it's just so cool. It handles it sooo well. And Karkat's apology to Jade and Kanaya and the other Beta Kids for fucking their world up. Urghh.
And dreams. Jade is so me. I dream a lot. Like, I've had about 7 different dreams today. I've dreamt basically every day this entire month. Sometimes I go weeks without dreams, but sometimes I'm just like this. I think it's awesome. My dreams are all so convuluted and somehow interconnected and have a narrative, despite their nonsensical qualities and often non-existent basis. I just know some things sometimes, that I shouldn't. Dreaming is so cool, and reading Homestuck has helped me really tap into my creativeness.
JOHN & DADBERT & JANE
I'm sorry Jane I didn't mean to just lump you in with a bunch of people like that I just wanna include stuff about Nanna here... Anyway. John! His relationship with Vriska is so fun, and I adore their dynamic. Terezi killing Vriska (Vrisrezi...... no.....) then the trolllog with Vriska talking to John through Rose... and rufuhfhfhfh... The dream bubble thing with John going off on Vriska and stuff... It makes my Spider8reath heart ache... Yes, John was right in a way... but man.......... I'm pretty sure I've talked about John's dynamic with the beta kids before but idk maybe not. It's kind of hard for me to describe how I feel about most of them. Like, how in-depth should I be with these blog posts, really? It's like 30 minutes until I go to sleep so I really gotta do this quick. So I guess everything's here gonna be shallow as hell. Unfortunate :p. Jade and John's friendship is sooooooooooooooooooo awesome. Jade's sadness and loneliness and the Act 4 end and the Act 6 Act 6 alpha (?) timeline Jade... Her missing John and Davesprite was so sad :( Awjfjgjjf. I wanna know more about their misadventures on the ship and the planets she brought along and stuff and omg. Rose and John are besties and I'm too tired to say much else I lOve heiothrThem. Dadbert loves John soooo much. I like how in the Homestuck Pilot John's like eugh my dad loves me I gotta kill him. Addendum: I feel that his good childhood made the genuine stuff that made him feel bad at other points was fake. June is also so alone in her parental grief, because unlike Rose Dave and Jade, the post-scratch counterpart of her parental figure is not in a similar situation. Jane did also lose Dadbert at one point, but it's just not the same. And John was never raised by her, so he can't even look at her in context. And neither can she :( [End of Addendum.] His weird zappy powers were funny and also really cool thematically (why didn't I talk about this more) (more in the Terezi segment I guess??)
Jane! She's so coolll and her as Nanna is fun. Her talking to fedora freak (??? idr) about her backstory and stuff like aww she's so filled with love but can also get fucking pissed. Like with how Jake kept making everything about him and Dirk in their conversations for 5 months straight while talking to someone who at one point loved him so like yeah that was like fuckin tortureous for Jane I imagine. And getting tormented by that Caliborn and his disgusting creepy inappropriate misogynistic abhorrent revolting comments on Jane like. I fucking hate Caliborn so much you cannot imagine. But Jane is so fun! Issue is, I'm stopped at a part where she'd get a lot more development, so I don't have much more to say. Her robot self was funny and Gamzee should gut himself. Not much else :B
JADE & JAKE
I already talked about Jade last segment so whoops. But there's still a lot more! Just, not as much as in the last one. Her dream self having evident changes from her actual self is interesting. She's a lot more forgetful and silly in her dreams, and a lot more... burdened by sadness? As seen by her sprite self, who Jade initially crashes out at. Her gradually losing her patience was really funny but also really sad. Like, that's just her. A part of her she hates and denies as being herself, but remains true. They fuse at the end of Act 5 Act 2 though! And that's awesome :> I'm interested in seeing what happened between Davesprite and Jade, though idrk if we will. I think something a lot of people get wrong about her is her façade. Yes, she's silly, but she's also really troubled. THAT, is what she's masking. She is silly! But don't make that like, her whole thing, or overcorrect. Her issues make her her! I can't even begin to understand the feeling of having to taxidermy my only parental figure, and proceeding to live alone on an island for 13 years while pretending he's still alive because I crave the perceived normalcy of having authoritative figures. Speaking of issues. Grimbark Jade is like, brutal. She's just like, really fucking violent like what she said to Roxy was insane. Maybe that's her doggy traits coming into play? But I did like her :D (also god was [s] jade: enter good its my favorite flash ever)
Jake! He's #UglyMedias and loves Dirk who's problematic so he doesn't even deserve a segment. Okay but like genuinely I don't have much to say. His old man schtick is funny and him saying the corniest goofball shit when levelling up was funny but I think he's like the least developed out of all of them. That or I'm just stupid. I'm sorry Jake. (Breaking my rule of not adding shit into my old posts (it's Oct 2nd so that's a teeny bit hyperbolic) by saying I like Jake now. His shyness and insecurities and seeing him in the context of his Beta self make him a lot more interesting! His lament over feeling inadequate and a horrible friend are awesome. Jake isn't white people's balatro anymore :D)
ROSE & ROXY
Hoo Boy. These're the characters I identify with most. So, starting with Rose! She's a lesbian smart nerd who can be silly as well as serious. A lot of people struggle at getting this balance correct when portraying her. She's sarcastic as hell, (just like her girlfriend aww), and a wizard fanfiction writer. She's insecure about her writing which is really awesome to me because I'm just. Literally her. Her relationship with Dave is the greatest. They just exchange shitty jokes with each other and God they're cool. I'm unsure if I should move this over to the next section but Dave playing wingman for Rosemary solidified him as the GOAT for me. Rose also being a Pepsicola fujoshi in the pilot was really really funny to me I'm glad they did that. Drunk Rose is hilarious but also tragic. Like, dude............. she's 15 and already drinking when she's stressed. At least she's gonna start working on it though! When she becomes alive again, that is :[. The Rosemary kiss was the best fucking thing in the world that shit was soo adorable and made me so happy I've literally been shipping them since Act 3. Look at them... Omg...
Roxy!!! She's so full of love for everyone. She is the nicest person, EVER!! Her little book she wrote drunkenly was really fun and her love for cats is heartwarming. She's so adorable. Her relationship with Jane is really cute and they're besties asf which makes sense because so are Rose and John :D. Dirk doesn't matter. I like how she's the one to bring everyone together emotionally and she's pretty good at it! She's very supportive of her friends and people she deems cool. One of the actually cool things Dirk has said is that Roxy is the real leader of the group. She's just uniquely awesome. Her relationship with Calliope makes me so sad :<< they were such good friends and they'd even be cute asf romantically but Caliborn just HAD to win because. Ugbhhh kys dude. I want them to meet again in a dream bubble and hug. Please... But Roxy isn't without flaws. Her Beta self is neglectful to Rose, and the few ways she shows love for her daughter is seen as mind games by her. Mom loved Rose. She really did. She's just not a good mom. Yes, these are different things and can coexist. I do not know much of the circumstances regarding how Mom came to raise Rose, but I do not imagine they were ideal. Rose's death scene in the doomed timeline was so saddening. I felt so fucking bad. But at least this will never happen again. #ThankYouJuneEgbert2011.
DAVE & BRO
Dave! He's really really funny. His façade he puts up is disheartening cuz like he's awesome without his façade. It's all just Dirk's fault. Of course. From the moment Dave was put in this world, Dirk strived to just make him and extension of himself. And Alpha (as in: post-scratch) Dirk chose to do that with the glasses themselves, since there was nobody around. Heroes of Heart often exist in stated of splintered self, and I guess that manifested in Dirk as this. The ironic schtick, smuppets, being "cool", beating the shit out of him, the cameras, etc. They're all just so horrid. As a person and as a parent, Dirk is like 5 times worse than Roxy. Though, he does also have good qualities. I'm just projecting my own angst here. He's still shity though. (but I like the angst potential of him and Jake and he can lock in sometimes ([S] Descend, [S] Prince of Heart: Rise Up). He just makes me uncomfortable because of my Dave-like qualities. (Another addendum: this was all about Beta Dirk. Alpha Dirk is still a teen, and shows struggles with morality and not being shitty. He still has a ways to go, though, but I believe he can lock in. (Not really LMAO I've been spoiled))
I am glad Dave becomes more of his real self in Act 6 though! At that point he's kinda just chilling with Rose Karkat and the Mayor and the effects of Dirk's abuse have healed. His relationship with Rose is awesome to me, their conversations are such a fun read every time. Dave and John, too. Dave trolling Karkat for like 3 years straight and Jade even commenting that he's been spending too much time with him after he crashes out in a very Karkat-like way. They're soooo funny...
ALIENS (CONDENSED INTO ONE SEGMENT FOR MY SANITY)
MEOWRAILS
They have the best moirallegiance in the entire webseries. Maybe ever. Nepeta jumping into Equius in "[S] Make Her Pay." was so cute. I remember writing about how sad I was about Nepeta not being able to join the team she wanted to because of Equius. But oh my God that is not even close to the worst thing to happen to her. Like, all her friends kept dying and then her platonic soulmate did, and she tried to get revenge and died too. Then she's one of Lord English's first victims?? Like, what the hell man. And in (one of) her sprite form(s), Fefeta (whose friendship with Roxy was adorable!!), just up and exploded. Pleaseee give her a break. Also I just watched Shayy's Homestuck Let's Read (session 11) and oh my God I didn't remember just how bad Equius was. He's like, a racist, classist, fetishist, scumbag. His only redeeming quality is being Nepeta's Moirail :p
VRISKA & TEREZI
So last post I was like "maybe Vriska had a reason for doing all that" and like, yes, she did, but that doesn't mean it was a particularly good one. Unfortunately, what Terezi did was fully in the right. As foreseen by the Diddy Blud himself, Vriska would've inevitably fulfilled Terezi's fear by leading Noir to their hideout. No matter how much it hurt, or how hard it was regretted, it was the only choice, as is customary in Paradox Space. It is really unfortunate though. The only thing you can do is just fester in your feelings for a while. Aranea even says the universe could just fuck you over and make you and the person you want to talk to never in each other's dream bubble. Ergh. Speaking of Dancestors, Terezi's lament over not feeling as cool or unique as them, and Karkat's words of encouragement, were really epicsauce (im running out of adjectives). Despite how much I make fun of him in my head and love making up scenarios at the expense of him, he's matured to be a really cool guy, who cares a lot for the people around him. He's a good leader. Fuck Gamzee oh my God can he just jump into a pit of fiery molten piranha-infested pool of lava. He's literally the reason for most of Doomed Terezi's anguish, and beat the shit out of her continuously like omfg kys. I hope Terezi just goes all in next time. Not blaming her, of course. I'm just saying. Anyway, Vriska. Her crashout at John after he talked about her behavior and the sheer amount of 8's... Ergh... Aranea's weird manipulation of everyone including Vriska is also noteworthy. And I thought Meenah was a good influence on Vriska and that they were good friends, but... I think Meenah might be a Diddy Ahh Blud. Also JuneVrisRezi is so peak
KANAYA MARYAM
When her appearance was shown in Act 3, I was like "wait homestuck has yuri", and turns out, I was correct. Kanaya outside of Rosemary is also so fucking awesome. She loves sunlight, she's a seamstress (has seam in the name so its like a top tier hobby), and she's a cool friend. Her concern for others' well beings is pawesome and her theme is so cool and her portraits are adorable and she's a lesbian vampire and her Dancestor is literally the only good one (other than Meulin Meulin is also the best) like dude... I identify really hard with her for some reason and I just can't put it into words. Know that despite my few words on her, she's one of my favorite characters of all time. I literally write like her on my homework sometimes. She's the besttt Also addendum: check this thread out. It's pretty informative on Kanaya's flaws with handling her Vriska thing. (She's not evil she's 13)
ARADIA & SOLLUX
theyre cute and silly x3
FEFERI PEIXES
shes the cutest ever i love her
KARKAT VANTAS
hes goofy and his monologue about ruining earth was really cool to hear and urhgj man ive said everything already
DANCESTORS
They're all problematic!!! Aranea is a manipulative weird diddy ahh blud, Meenah is a racist stereotype, Kurloz is a Gamzee ahh blud, Horuss is UGLY, Rufioh acted horrid to Damara, Damara is a SMOKER (more on her in the next postt), Latula is FAÇADEFUL, Cronus is creepy as all hell and is also really ableist, Kankri talks down while pretending to be the best person ever, Meulin is actually adorable and cool, Porrim is awesome and friendly, Mituna is awesome and I don't like how people infantilise him, UrGH!!
EXILES
PM's so incredibly badass. Being the only one to surive Jack's massacre (The Mayor lived because he's the best and should be loved and is in fact loved but that was with the help of my goat Feferi), and taking initiative, and tailing Jack for THREE YEARS STRAIGHT without pausing. She's the greatest. WV is also awesome and adorable and I'm so glad he's so adored by everyone. Awwwwwwww. AR is finee idk... he wasn't really given any more development since I wrote last post. WQ was awesome but died immediately :P damned Jack. Jack's cool and evil as shit and also distrubing in Earth B, Diamonds Droog / Draconian Dignitary is cool, Clubs Deuce / Courtyard Droll is kinda cute, Hearts Boxcars / Hegemonic Brute is lame and I'm glad PM killed him on Earth A, buririkg long story short PM's awesome :B
CALLIOPE
She's the saddest cherub ever. She hates her appearance, is insecure, has issues with romance, has to live with a shitty evil brother, and such. Yes, she has an adequate supply of food, and has tons of reading material, and has real friends, and has hobbies to keep her company, but that doesn't make up for shit. In the timeline where she gained a god form, she had no friends. I cannot imagine how God Form Callie felt. Being so alone for so long, with the possible knowledge this was not meant to be. Callie was integral to the entirety of Act 6. She was the one who got Roxy and Dirk to talk to Jane and Jake. She's Roxy's bestie and they should kiss. They totally should omg. I'm so right. I'm so glad that once I'm done with this I can get back to seeing her mess around with Jane and Jade!! Okay I'd have more to say but this is long enough already. I'm sorry. :P
ADDENDUM SHIT
Okay So Since A Lot Of This Was Rushed Because Of My Incessant Desire To Not Do Anything Im Going To Just Put Everything I Missed Into This Little Section And Hope Its Not Too Moronic Or Otherwise Barbaric
DOC SCRATCH
best pedophile in fiction. his ruse was cool n all and his little like scheme of ruining alternia and evilly adopting damara and summoning caliborn was cool yeah
SNOWMAN
forgot her in the exile section prolly cuz she wasnt really a main exile. shes only in the intermission and [o] i think. anyway the blackrom between alternian jack and snowman was cool i guess but like im right here. shes also just incredibly badass shes like if pm was evil and also held the fate of the universe in her hands. theyre sooo cool