Land of Sincerity and Cringe

I'm eidolonYaldabaoth, pronouns are it/its, and I'm an adult. I've read Homestuck once before in 2021, but, I think we're due for a reread. My ask box is always open.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

Homestuck Liveblogging Masterpost

Just having a link to the very first entry in this liveblogging adventure doesn’t make for good navigation, so, I opted to redo the pinned post.

I’ll, of course, update this post as it goes along.

I’m not a blind reader, unfortunately. I wish I was. I wish I could scrape all the Homestuck knowledge from my brain, but, this is a reread.

I first read Homestuck from February to July of 2021, and I’m conducting my first reread right now, since I actually don’t remember much of it.

(Oh, and you probably[?] shouldn’t follow me if you’re under 18? It’s not because any illicit content is going to be on here, I just make a lot of dirty jokes.)

Oh, and, additionally: looking too much into shit! That’s me. That’s my fucking calling card and modus operandi. That’s what I do. I’m critical of Homestuck, but, I’m not applying a deliberately hypercritical and antagonistic reading to it! I love Homestuck, and it loves you. And, this is primarily a place for me to share that love.

Full Liveblog in Chronological Order

Addendums and Afterthoughts

Liveblog Intermission

Acts:

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Intermission

Act 4

Act 4 Interlude

Act 5 Act 1

Act 5 Act 2

Non-Homestuck MS Paint Adventures:

Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff

Problem Sleuth

Other Andrew Hussie Works:

Fanventures:

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

I wonder if Hussie meant anything by this when she had everyone belittle Aranea as a disposable nag, only to subsequently switch up on her and characterize her as an aggro bitch when she tries to assert her own agency.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

I don't stand by a lot of these analyses.

Unpolished as they are, I still stand by the Striderian Irony post and the Wombstucks, but, I don't stand by my moirallegiance post. Shit kind of sucked!

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

"moirallegiance is kind of cool and queer" I beg of you, do a little fucking critical reading, Jegus fuckign Chris.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

I don't stand by a lot of these analyses.

Unpolished as they are, I still stand by the Striderian Irony post and the Wombstucks, but, I don't stand by my moirallegiance post. Shit kind of sucked!

[spyder8itch]

The paradoxical nature of being a light player is either you are minimized and set into a pretty little box of zero relevance and mischaracterization or painted as an irredeemable bitch who should be punished for the crime of having self determination. The complexity that light players bring will forever set them in the minds of certain fans as either motherly and meant to be decoration in the background or destructive, meant to be destroyed for the enjoyment of simplicity and the men around them. I wonder what this could be a great metaphor for. I wonder why all the light players are women.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

004528

Karkat: Troll this worthless human.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling ectoBiologist [EB] CG: YOU ARE A WORTHLESS, BITCH ASS NIGGA. CG: YOUR LIFE LITERALLY IS AS VALUABLE AS A SUMMER ANT. CG: I'M JUST GONNA STOMP YOU AND YOU'RE GONNA KEEP COMING BACK CG: I'MMA SEAL UP ALL MY CRACKS, YOU'RE GONNA KEEP COMING BACK CG: WHY? BECAUSE YOU KEEP SMELLING THE SYRUP CG: YOU WORTHLESS BITCH ASS NIGGA. CG: YOU GONNA STAY ON MY DICK UNTIL YOU DIE. CG: YOU SERVE NO PURPOSE IN LIFE. CG: YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO BE ON MY STREAM SUCKING ON MY DICK DAILY. CG: YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO BE IN THAT CHAT BLOWING A DICK DAILY. CG: YOUR LIFE IS NOTHING, YOU SERVE ZERO PURPOSE. CG: YOU SHOULD KILL YOURSELF…NOW! EB: hi karkat!

[dingodad]

...meowrails positions nepeta as a pacifier for an emotionally unstable man who controls her life #and how alternias power structures fully enable this #erifef can be met with a similar reading too. the quadrants in general and the way they enable these sort of gendered power dynamics [...] #maybe a tldr there is that i think the fandom non-critical enjoyment of meowrails (and to some extent erifef) is very much a display of... #...the fandoms unwillingness to engage with aforementioned feminist themes even at a base level #given how big of a focus gender is in homestuck this is surprising to me sometimes. but unless abuse is in your face like it is with gamrezi #fandom seems reluctant to ever really grapple with how male cruelty impacts women in the comic (x)

@whamss GODDDDUHHHH the way i have been saying this literally for years and the way almost every other reader i have tried to have this conversation with has been too caught up with the idea of quadrants as a kind of queer/subversive romance to even begin to consider the fact that maybe girls(/lowbloods) continually being put in situations where they have to play free therapist to dangerous men(/highbloods) is like, a feature of moirallegience and not a bug... like the fact that the page that introduces moirallegience to the comic in the first place literally uses the words "obliged to pacify" and "a serious threat to society" is somehow okay because they also "complement each other's emotional profiles" which superficially sounds kind of cute. i have always compared this to the institution of heterosexual marriage like just because it is founded on some romantic notion of true love doesn't mean we shouldn't also investigate the reasons for its existence and work to deconstruct it if we determine that those reasons are unjust

[ao3femslashtop100-tournament]

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Finals!

Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket (Homestuck) vs Pamela “Poison Ivy” Isley/Harleen “Harley Quinn” Quinzel (DC)

Terezi/Vriska (Homestuck)

Ivy/Harley (DC)

Voting ended onNov 26, 2023

[doomsdaydicecascader]

#ah yeah so vrisrezi is abusive and ive only ever seen ivy/harley being cute so...

[doomsdaydicecascader]

can we really not have higher ambitions than just "being cute"? must we reduce ourselves to being taggable and rebloggable to only the most braindead of yuri enjoyers? is it not enough for women to love each other, must they also have Wholesome Moments that you can sell to the lowest common denominator? grow up, vote vrisrezi

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

Psycholonials Liveblog EOPTI

Jeuss fucking Christ, shit just got so fucking real so fucking quick, what the hell.

Unironically how a lot of people's politics operate. Equally as insane and clownish.

Good music, exciting, thrilling, might repeatedly rewatch the EOC1 animation on YouTube.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

Psycholonials Liveblog PT. I Act 1 Act 1

Holy shit, Z found their first chaser.

Percy (sorry, PERSEE) is kind of cute, I'm not gonna lie. Shame he's kind of a dweeb. I could fix him. He's probably never gotten high before.

Also, just, a small tangent.

Do people even still listen to Post Malone? Like, unironically, I don't think I've ever heard someone talk about Post Malone since the 2010s. I feel like listening to Post Malone is like saying you still listen to Lil Pump or Machine Gun Kelly, y'know?

That aside, I dunno, Homestuck's great. Homestuck entrenched itself into my mind. But, so far, Psycholonials feels like the perfect representation of the aftermath of Homestuck.

Psycholonials is the overthinking, the esotericism, the weird political journey, everything that happens both as you read and after you see the Credits for the first time.

THE HYPERREALISTIC BLOODSHOT EYES...

Also, holy shit, Z's a Derse dreamer.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

Psycholonials Liveblog PT. I Act 2

It’s interesting seeing how Psycholonials kind of handles modern references. Homestuck references predate the comic by, about, 15 years, harkening back to Hussie’s childhood and teenage years.

And if they’re pertinent, they’re typically done in an ironic, tongue-in-cheek way to mock the bad, insincere and repetitious nature of online memes. (See: the whole Tumblr shtick, the 9000 jokes, the CA+D spoof.)

All the references to shit like Post Malone, Twitter, TikTok, etc., though, at least that I’ve seen thus far, seem to be done sincerely? Sure, there’s some criticism on the toxic, punitive nature of these platforms (and, realistically, I’m sure Hussie’s keenly aware of that), but, it’s like. Post-ironic. It has the veneer of irony, especially with the deliberate allusions to cringe and meta cringeposting, but it’s ultimately a sincere examination of the modern creative landscape?

Spitballing, here, since these posts are largely written as I read.

Also, Jesus, is Abby just fucking high off her mind or is she equally as stupid and confused as I am? Regardless, I love her, and I love Z, and I'm kind of already shipping them.

Also, fucking WOW, Hussie. He's really earning the praise he's getting, right now. Z's low on spoons and burnt-out, so what does she do? Immediately fucking scroll through the discourse and misinformation factory and look at politics on Twitter.com.

And, of course, who could forget the callout post on shit that doesn't matter for shit she did while suffering a clear mental breakdown, as well as the follow-policing.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

Psycholonials Liveblog PT. I Act 1

So, Homestuck isn't happening for at least another 2 months. We're reading Psycholonials, instead.

And David Hasselhoof is already a great start. As well as Abby's gender (I'd presume the triangles denote gender) being horse, but specifically girl. She's just like me. She's just like me for real.

Also, the opening section to this music reminds me of Elevatorstuck, with a little bit of, like. I don't want to say dESPERADO ROCKET CHAIRS, but definitely some Nitram-vibes, here.

Ah, the fucked up JPEGs of real-world images. You've still got it, Hussie.

Doesn't sound cisgender.

Fucking. DAMMIT. You really can't fight the fucking Homestuck, huh!

In fact, you might even go as far as saying in this era, an individual's personality isn't much more than a composite of all the media they've ever consumed, and their favorite stuff in particular.

Genuinely a good observation from Hussie. I think it's probably most noticeable with queer people and neurodivergent people who tend to be deprived of these socialization abilities, at least offline, that their more socially desirable counterparts certainly get much more of. And that leads to things like crafting your identities/personalities through a replication of the memes you like and the media you consume.

Also, he's right, Kojima both has a really good understanding of war, and a really, REALLY good understanding of horny gay men with big asses.

Also, who among us has not had a juggalo phase in high school? For me, it was a little earlier, going back to middle school, but, I, too, will always be down with the clown 'til I'm dead in the ground.

Hussie cannot escape the Homestuck, himself. It's fair, since it was such a big part of his life, but, every time I see some allusion to it, I can't help but point at my screen.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

004495-004525

Happy Cascade Day. (Please, PLEASE ignore I'm posting this 37 minutes late.)

Why do people never talk about the Soulbot sequence? It's soooo fucking good. Look at this art, man!

I don't actually have much of an analysis in the tanks, so, this post will largely be dedicated to me admiring the art of this sequence.

For instance, Vriska's and Terezi's expressions.

Love them.

And, of course, who could forget.

FAA: a scratch

Thus ends Act 5 Act 1. I'm sorry, I've been so out of it lately. I think I'm going to privately reread Homestuck, from Act 1 to the very beginning of Act 5 Act 2, without worrying about things like "liveblogging". Afterwards, I'll share my retrospective on Act 5 Act 1.

END OF ACT 5 ACT 1

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

[S] Make her pay.

I know the animation is wonky, but, I'm a huge fan of the point in the flash where Aradia begins screaming and glares at the screen after she kicks Vriska.

Coupled with the part of Crystamanthequins with all the sirens, it makes for such a menacing portion of the flash. Vriska's fucked around enough, and now she's ready to find out.

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

004475

How many people, do you think, use the term "that's really all there is to say on the matter" not knowing it's Homestuck?

GC: M4YB3 1 W1LL ST4RT MY OWN BULL3T1N BO4RD GC: 4ND 3V3RYON3 W1LL B3 4LLOW3D TO R3PLY 4NY T1M3 TH3Y W4NT GC: 3XC3PT FOR GUYS W1TH NUBBY HORNS, OH NO, TH3Y W1LL NOT B3 4BL3 TO R3PLY 4T 4LL GC: GRUMPY K4RK4TS W1LL B3 3XPR3SSLY FORB1DD3N FROM R41NBOW RUMPUS P4RTYTOWN! GC: >:P CG: SOUNDS LAME. GC: BY TH3 W4Y TH4T W1LL B3 TH3 N4M3 OF TH3 BO4RD 1N C4S3 1T W4SNT CL34R

foreshadowing

noun

A literary device in which an author drops subtle hints about plot developments to come later in the story.

GC: K4RK4T, H3S 4 J3RK! GC: H3 H4S ST4BB3D YOU ON MOR3 TH4N ON3 OCC4S1ON! CG: SOME OF THOSE STABBINGS WERE ACCIDENTAL! GC: >8| CG: OK, WELL I KNOW FOR A FACT THE THIRD TIME WAS ACCIDENTAL.

"I CAN FIX HIM."

GC: 1T W4S WH3N 1 GOT CLOS3 3NOUGH GC: TO SM3LL 1T UND3R YOUR SK1N GC: PL34S3 K4RK4T, DO NOT PR3T3ND TH4T YOU FORGOT 4BOUT OUR L1TTL3 MOM3NT CG: WHOA CG: YOU MEAN CG: DURING CG: FUCK. CG: OK SHHHHHHHHHH SHH SHH SHH... CG: LET'S NOT TALK ABOUT THIS, NOT HERE. GC: TH1S 1SNT 4 M3MO! GC: 1TS 4 PR1V4T3 CORR3SPOND3NC3 JUST B3TW33N US, R3M3MB3R? CG: I KNOW BUT CG: DAMMIT CG: WRITING ALL THESE MEMOS HAS MADE ME PARANOID. CG: IT JUST DOESN'T FEEL SECURE CHATTING ABOUT IT OVER THE CLIENT, I DUNNO. CG: WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT IN PERSON. GC: HOW "1N P3RSON" DO YOU M34N? GC: UH OH LOOK 4T MY 3Y3BROWS G3TT1NG C4RR13D 4W4Y H3R3 GC: >;] GC: > ;] GC: >;] GC: > ;] GC: >;] GC: > ;]

The early acts are so heteronormative, aren't they? I don't have an issue with Karezi, I don't do ship wars, I think there are only a handful of ships I've actually disclosed liking/not liking on this blog.

However, while I don't doubt that Hussie probably always intended for Kanaya and Rose to get together, the early Acts of Homestuck are oversaturated with M/F ships. It's only during the troll romance exposition that the concepts of queerness are even introduced, explicitly, to Homestuck.

While it recontextualizes Kanaya's interactions with Rose (for the people who didn't immediately clock it as flirting), it's also interesting that you really don't see, at least to my recollection, the idea that boys can like other boys/girls can like other girls in any explicit regard until the start of Act 5 Act 2. (I don't think we even saw the former get taken seriously until Act 6.)

Well.

You know. Most people did see that second part, and that's invaluable, but, don't forget there were idiots who thought Kanaya fucking liked Tavros, and that's why she was crying. Hussie had to beat you over the head with the fact that Kanaya's a fucking lesbian. even though transfem tavros is based as fuck and works so well

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

004471

I like Dragonsprite.

She's cute.

DRAGONSPRITE: sniff sniff DRAGONSPRITE: hey terezi! DRAGONSPRITE: heeeeeeeyyyyyyy! DRAGONSPRITE: hiiiiii terezi! DRAGONSPRITE: hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! DRAGONSPRITE: sniff sniff sniff DRAGONSPRITE: heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!

[eidolonyaldabaoth]

004452-004465

It's always fun revisiting the panels I held near and dear, now aware of the greater context behind them.

> Thief.

The entire "Snowman conversing with Vriska" sequence is what my girlfriend showed me to convince me into reading Homestuck. While I don't remember what I said, I remember being so interested by Her design that I acquiesced to reading it, even though there were so many false starts.

> You will need to be strong.

> There is important work for you to do.

I also thought she looked a little fucking weird. I can't believe I was such a misogynist. SMH. Shame on me.

I think I've already made the infertility Wombstuck analysis.