I saw a post yesterday talking about The Odd Gentlemen and how they, not only got away with some of the Kickstarter money, but that wasted Hussie’s time and it all ended with him losing a good chunk of the Fandom. I’d be adding this on top of that post but I was on mobile and I didn’t really feel like typing all this by tapping there, but...
EITHER WAY. I agree very much that the Gigapause was devastating to the Fandom as a whole, and everything was delayed way too much, however, the fatalist light in which this post was put really made me dislike its entire premise. They mentioned how Hiveswap would never have a fraction of the following it’d have had otherwise, and other pretty sad and pessimistic views on how Hussie might be doing. But I believe that’s not exactly the case.
First of all, bigger or smaller Fandom, Hussie loves his fans, but over that, he absolutely loves his work. There was an AMA about Hiveswap a while ago saying how Hussie had already spent all the Kickstarter money and the project was continuing being paid from his own pocket, that there had been such huge cliffs to push through in the making that it was a miracle he was still determined on finishing the game.
But this is Hussie we’re talking about. Homestuck, Hiveswap, in the way he’s always spoken about how the Fandom grew and became its own things, the playful teases to the Fans, the way he spoke about Act 7, he’s got passion. He’s absolutely in love with this project, and it’s very much passion driven. Kickstarter Money or not, Stolen or otherwise, taking 2 or 5 years, with him determined to push through, I don’t think it was ever a doubt the game would come to be sooner or later. Would ‘stubborn as a mule’ count as an equine pun befitting him? My point is, while it’s sad all he had to go through, and even if the game didn’t get as much following, this is Hussie we’re talking about. As long as we’re there to check it out when it comes out and (hopefully) manages to catch our attention and makes us invested in it, it’ll all have been worth it.
The other point that made me feel a bit off, however, was the way they spoke about how Hiveswap would now have none of the following it could’ve had. However, need I remind you about Undertale? Like, yeah it might seem almost like begging to a friend, or feeling hopeful, but Undertale blew up and is still kinda blowing up, Toby Fox made quite the masterpiece, and it’s very likely, with his involvement, the popularity of Undertale will directly affect Hiveswap’s popularity. For better or worse. At the very least, I wouldn’t be surprised if Toby Fox not only makes the game more popular, but actually brings more people to Homestuck.
Specially now that it’s over, and as Hussie said, reading it all down at your own pace knowing there’s no ‘upd8′s’ to wait for was almost the intended way to read it. It’s only now that Homestuck, as a complete story, is showcased at its best.
