Pesterquest -Jade’s route and first quadrant of volumes, The End
Aw man, how long I waited for this picture to show up, not only because I’ve been awfully spoiled on Twitter, but also because!!!! They’re together, and happy!
And I have many feelings right now!
Let’s first take a look at the Victory end panel, then have a general talk about the whole 4 volumes:
Among all those pillows, plushies and squiddles, our four friends are having a good time, the best of times.
Rose is painting John’s nails, which is adorable and nice. Painting someone’s nail shouldn’t be a gendered activity. I liked to do it before, but I’m kinda allergic to some of its chemical products :/ But look how John is surprised and delighted! :D
Bec is snoozing, all peaceful and watching over them.
Jade and Dave have a great time drawing and talking about their fursonas! Omg I’m so glad that Pesterquest made true the one thing that missed in Homestuck’s canon, dave’s picture of his fursona, Awkete Purrmusk. It’s magnificent and I’m very grateful. Thanks to Courtney Brendle for Rose’s and Jade’s ending illustrations :)
I wouldn’t say that John’s volume was plain, more like innocent and lighter. It made me realized that I missed John cheerfulness and naïvety a bunch. Dave and him pestering each other was really nice and a nice touch in this volume. And even though! The “Vague existential crisis” end felt a bit heavy. Making us vaguely uncomfortable. It’s a call back to John’s mussing at the beginning of Homestuck. This feeling of emptiness, like it was missing something. A slight approach to John’s depression, which was sadly left unexplored. Everything linked directly or indirectly to the epilogues make me feel nauseous and wary. So it was a nice call back and it prepared us for the next volumes’s themes. A well-balanced story.
Also, I wish that John could be more careful with strangers, a lesson we have all to learn u_u
Rose’s volume was already more deep and into delicate matters, such as child neglect and alcoholism. We didn’t fixed the problem, but making Rose talks about it did her good. It taught me a lot about Rose. The way to win her heart (friendlily) wasn’t to talk about her interests but rather go straight to the subject, but letting her initiate it. It’s complicated and fascinating, exactly fitting for Rose. And I think it was a good introduction of her issues and personality for those who started with Pesterquest without having reading Homestuck beforehand. And!! We’ve got to see the mutant cat (McWhiskers) and adult Roxy! And I was so glad!! Her route was short but enough by itself, with nice references and realistic pictures! A well-balanced volume too!
Dave’s volume was the first well-crafted one. A huge row of applauses for James Roach, who is usually a composer and did an incredible job writing Dave’s route. It felt emotional, real, unnerving, funny, sad, and overall very satisfying. Different but interesting themes were addressed. Bro’s overprotective behavior and abuseness, toxic masculinity, internalized homophobia and denial regarding sexuality. The environment was there, it was palpable. I felt so many things and it left me with a temporary crisis, but it was worth it! I was rooting hard for Dave and was very invested in the story. Good job! Also the “Get that bread, son” end was mmmmmmmm, delicious! Unexpected but very welcome!
Now Jade’s volume, it’s the one that shook me the most emotionally, it took my heart, make it vibrated slowly but sharply enough to make me puke (not literally don’t worry). It was a very long road, full of roller coasters, up and down. It was traumatizing, I was already sick so it wasn’t really a good idea to Liveblog for ~5 hours ^^’ It addressed many good things, Jade’s distress, her bottling up things for way too long, her heroin complex and sacrifice/suicide ideals, and her dark side including her hysterical behavior, that can be briefly seen in Homestuck. It hit me hard, I was about to give up but then I remembered two things, that I didn’t give a fuck about rules and that I wanted to make her happy. I did so she could open her eyes and allow herself to be happy. Her being with her friends, seeing the whole gang reunited was just perfect. I wouldn’t have it any other way. My canon.
And it was good. Very moving and long. If you can handle it emotionally, then it totally recommend y’all to play it. 9.5 because Cal was there. But otherwise chief kiss mouah~
I’ll post the credits on the next post!
[Click here for the Chumroll bonus and the credits! =>]
