Day 1: A Young Man Stands In His Bedroom
I don’t expect Day 1 to be too eventful, but I’m also pretty wordy.
https://homestuck.com/story/3
Homestuck has this sort of weird relationship with the idea of “Started just now, but always was that way” that I think probably is pretty important to the way it tackles cultural narratives overall. Growing up, cultural narratives have a huge effect on our day to day lives, but we’re not really cognizant of them until they are right up in our faces. That’s my thesis, by the way, or at least one of them. Homestuck is a story about stories. That’s not the only thing that Homestuck is about, and it might not even be the most important thing it’s about, but that is one of the things that it’s about.
Or maybe I’m full of horseshit. Wouldn’t be the first time. More after the break.
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Indeed, given the incredibly common references to other works (lampooned in the beginning with the false attributions, made more subtle [such as the many connections with Wizard of Oz that are made, including Jade being crushed under a heavy building or following a yellow path that might have been mistaken for a spiral of bricks if one looked at it just right] or on the nose [Hussie riding a certain Falcor in reference to a scene I’ll post a picture from below] as the story goes on), it quite makes sense to say that there is a great deal of commentary going on about the nature of storytelling, and the interactions between the readers and the writers.   This also meshes extremely well with the nature of Calliope, Caliborn, and AH (avatar)’s respective parts in the plot of the story~
“ they have a pretty strong tendency to sort of create the background radiation of the comic. Like, I don’t think that John and Karkat ever bully each other about the fact that they’re mutually bad at coding, which would be hilarious,” Yes, yes it would be. I would argue that the character introductions *do* actually have quite a bit to do with the nature of the characters as a whole, though. In particular, while the gags to do with John’s slow development toward competence in sylladex usage (which mirrors his growth toward maturity and adulthood, made explicit by the fact that Wallet is his final modus), the commentary on him being an amateur magician and being interested in paranormal lore most certainly points toward his Classpect as an Heir of Breath (being a magician class, and a spiritually-aligned aspect).   More obviously, this along with his ghostyTrickster chat handle point toward his eventual role in the story as the retcanon machine that we know him quite well as by this point, in much the same way that his interest in the particular movies he is interest in very clearly points toward various story beats in the comic’s future: crashing meteors, dead parents and ghosts, Put the Bunny Back in the Box. And c. ....................... “The first of our funky gaming abstractions. Homestuck is a story about stories, and the kind of story that it’s often about (when it’s not about highly abstract cultural narratives) is the video game. Especially the point and click adventure game.” Very true; however, note the obfuscation involved: this very first story beat takes the opportunity to point the reader toward the idea that all is not as it might first appear to be, and that there are deeper themes and ideas going into play with the setting and narrative than appear to be present on their face. Out of sympathy for his /perceived/ lack of arms, the reader supposedly acts.  This is *also* an example of John being a magician--- he is metaphorically manipulating the perceptions of the reader by hiding his non-lack with the nature of his image on screen. This is further emphasized by his eventual retrieval of his /fake/ arms from the chest, which underscores at the same time his love for comedy.  Extremely tight writing, right here. Your vocalization regarding the initial annoyance and/or turn-off to Homestuck speaks quite clearly regarding the consensus that has emerged in most people’s minds, as far as I understand things, when it comes to the first few bits of the story. ................................... “I’ll never get tired of Dad Egbert. Is he the Platonic Ideal of Dadliness? Maybe. Dadliness, and more generally, Manliness, is a lens we can look at a lot of John’s character arc through.” This is absolutely the case. This is an archetypal requirement that is imposed by the fact that John’s arc acts as a sort of *base* growing up story that some of the other arcs play off and relate to in very interesting ways.  Dave’s own situation comes to mind quite immediately, with the coexistence of the two young men’s stories allowing for a very careful and intriguing analysis of exactly what it means to be a proper man, especially considering the fact that John (as a comedian and a magician) does not aspire to be/have interests in traditionally “manly” roles. The fact that he represents a child pursuing a dream that falls outside of this normal range may very well play a key role in Dave’s eventual willingness to pry himself away from his brother’s shadow, and to decide that he in fact doesn’t *want* to be that same sort of archetypal warrior, rather than being stuck in an infinite malaise where all he can do is deny that he is capable of living up to the standards his brother set.  Certainly, John seems to have been very influential in Dave’s development and emergence as an individual, to the point that his effect on him echoed across instances of the universe (into the Alpha Kids’ world), and this would definitely constitute a proper reflection of John’s role as Heir of Breath (conduit for/vortex of change and direction). ......................................................................... To my followers who are staying with me specifically for Homestuck Epilogue liveblogging:  I am very sorry that I’ve had such large gaps between posts. I will attempt to get back into a regular posting habit soon if I can manage it.  >.<










