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-{
- "blogspot": [
- {
- "id": "soul-money",
- "html": "\n\n\n
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\n
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\n Not long ago, a determined cabal of MSPA readers, quite unsolicited,\n leapt from the shadows and accosted me. Brazen was their\n skulduggery,\n waged in plain daylight. These rowdy toughs were not armed with\n whirling\n chains or brass knuckles or snug leather vests or sporty kerchiefs\n or\n fishnet ANYTHINGS, primarily I guess because they were not male\n strippers. They WERE however armed with the most daring accoutrement\n of\n all: generosity.\n
\n
\n They made a donation of $150 dollars\n American, a gift which came with a pretty firm stipulation. I was to\n use this money to\n
\n hire a man to create my celestial soul\n portrait.\n In this way, I could have my soul properly beautified as well as\n immortalized. This would be accomplished by a guy named Erial Ali,\n who\n would surely have it on authority from the celestial deities\n themselves\n which way would be optimal to set my soul aflame with rainbows and\n random forehead lasers, and how many shitty space dolphins would be\n ideal to stick up in my grill.\n
\n
\n But there was a catch, and no,\n that catch amazingly wasn't simply the 150 bucks it apparently\n requires\n to drop a few reduced-opacity rainbow gradations, mediocre masking\n effects and augmented saturation adjustments on a photo that your\n unemployed neighbor took of you in the back yard. The real catch was\n that Erial seems to demand to speak with you on the phone before he\n Photochops your bad high school portrait with resources mined from a\n Google Image Search of the Hubble Deep Field. I guess maybe to get\n to\n know your soul?\n
\n
\n Either way, I knew this phone call was going\n to\n be intense. I actually got kind of psyched for it, for a while. I\n practiced a modified form of enthusiasm, the kind that was basically\n genuine enough to trick his soul-sweeping lasers that scour my aura\n for\n traces of irony. I was prepared to throw out a lot of buzz phrases\n in a\n really excited way, like I was really eager to see how he would\n \"blitz\n my chakras\". I was going to say \"blitz my chakras\" a lot. I'm\n serious\n about that. It was going to be my go-to line. Like, dude, just go\n apeshit on those chakras. I'm not paypalling you a Benjie and a half\n for\n a bunch of weaksauce chakras. I want a chakra you can hang your hat\n on,\n WHILE you fry an egg on it, and makes you HIGH just in the amount of\n time it takes you to go Google whatever the fuck a chakra\n IS.\n
\n
\n But then I chickened out and just did the damn soul\n portrait myself.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/soulportrait_before_th.jpg\"/)
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/soulportrait_after.jpg\"/)
\n
\n In\n the end, it wasn't really about not wanting to have a weird\n conversation with some strange dude in a robe. Yeah that was a\n factor.\n But let's get real here. I can Photoshop that guy under the table. I\n mean literally, I can literally make it appear as if he is squatting\n under a table in Photoshop. By doing the soul portrait myself, I am\n simply delivering a superior product to my devoted followers. I\n don't\n know what sort of rubbish Erial would have made. The fact of the\n matter\n is it would have been a costly and tedious exercise in\n disappointment.\n You're welcome for me not putting you through that,\n everybody.\n
\n
\n The\n bonus is I get to keep the cash. Well, I just sort of decided this.\n I\n didn't really ask. But I have a longstanding tradition of\n misappropriating funds donated to me by people for\n
\n some really specific, peculiar\n purpose.\n
\n
\n I refer to such funds as \"Olive Garden\n Money\".\n
\n
\n I'm\n going to use all of this money to fund a series of trips to the\n Olive\n Garden, and I will document each visit carefully and report my\n findings\n to you. I will even\n
\n let readers decide on my menu selection via\n polling.\n
\n
\n I\n don't really like the Olive Garden that much, and my grave adherence\n to\n this franchise under these exceedingly precise circumstances doesn't\n make much sense. It's hard to explain. Maybe impossible.\n
\n I have a chronicled history with the\n restaurant,\n or at least a history with TALKING about it, which is what makes\n this\n all so maddeningly stupid. But maddeningly stupidly WONDERFUL. And\n sometimes, just sometimes, truly wonderful things are just\n downright,\n ball-numbingly idiotic.\n
\n
\n While you were reading that\n paragraph, awful Italian music started playing in the\n background.\n
\n
\n But\n the bottom line is, this Olive Garden money was first soul money, so\n really my soul is financing this enterprise. My soul will be\n subsidising\n gargantuan mouthfuls of cheesy shell shaped noodles or some sort of\n tangy-sauced shellfish entre I wouldn't order in a billion years if\n left\n to my own devices, but I might have to if my hand is forced. I'll\n probably leave a signed copy of my soul portrait along with the tip.\n My\n soul is making this happen. When you think about it, where would be\n without my soul? All of us?\n
\n
\n The answer is we'd all be so far\n up shit creek people would start naming bad smells after us.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n\n I've\n been meaning to type up something illuminating the process behind HS\n since the end of Act 2. I tend to stay pretty tight-lipped about it\n in\n the news section, since I'd honestly rather spend time making it\n than\n yapping about it all day. But hey I still realize that now and then\n I\n should strive to descend from above the stage, perched on my\n moon-shaped\n swing with my legs all a kickin' and swayin', and with ukelele\n cradled\n to my bosom, let you folks in on my FEELINGS.\n
\n
\n But I just\n couldn't\n get up the gumption to sit down and COMPOSE with a capital C, and\n some\n other capitalized letters, some serious self-contained literary\n piece on\n the subject. So instead I just opened up a Q&A session in the MSPA community\n and this is how it went.\n
\n
\n Some of these answers\n are pretty long. I guess because I like to pretend what I do is\n complicated and nuanced.\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Are\n user commands really affecting all that much? Other than the occasional\n \"Squawk like an imbecile and shit on your desk\" command.\n \n
\n
\n They are, but their influence is not always\n obvious.\n
\n
\n A\n command is actually a pretty superficial thing. It is only supposed\n to\n influence the present panel through a single atomic action. It\n shouldn't\n serve the function of aa command like \"Plot: Take a certain\n direction I\n have in mind.\" A command can't try to do too much, but they often\n do.\n With this sort of thing, there will always be tension between the\n author\n and the suggestors, whose main purpose is to leave their distinctive\n personal stamp on the story, and as a result, often resort to the\n outlandish, the overly elaborate, or the non sequitur. These are\n fine to\n embrace in small doses, but they are poison to a cohesive story if\n resorted to regularly.\n
\n
\n Consequently, actions of a more\n straightforward variety become favored, and the appearance which\n follows\n is that the user voice has been diminished. This is compounded with\n a\n great abundance of commands. A simple example. The hero approaches\n three\n doors. Which will you choose? Obviously all three doors will be\n suggested with a large enough pool of suggestors, plus plenty of\n clever\n non sequitur \"option D\" commands. Knowing this, which door the hero\n goes\n through was always up to the author, whether he pre-planned it, or\n merely delayed the decision until the suggestions were made.\n
\n
\n This\n principle is in play even with more complicated examples. A room\n full\n of objects. What will you do? For all intents, every possibility\n will be\n suggested. When the author knows he will have the field of ALL\n POSSIBILITY to choose from, it begins to mirror a more conventional\n writing process. That is what a writer does. He sits at his desk,\n combing through the field of all possibility in his mind, and\n arrives at\n the specific. This situation naturally leads to more pre-planning,\n and\n the greater appearance of marginalizing user input. But it is not a\n slight to the user. It is the nature of the creative process,\n rearing\n its head through this format.\n
\n
\n Any remark like \"This story is\n not\n user-driven enough,\" I believe is code for \"This story is not\n haphazard\n enough.\" The wild and unusual commands are the ones that really make\n it\n feel like a gaggle of whimsical readers is in charge, imbuing the\n narrative with a sense of freedom, a feeling that the hero could do\n truly anything. The essence of freedom in this sense is the\n uncompromising subjugation of restraint. It is possible that this is\n also the exact opposite of what a good story requires! Regardless,\n the\n truth is almost all the commands are user suggestions, even the\n vanilla\n ones, which soften the voice of the user. Some are commands of a\n certain\n type I was looking for in advance, to push the action in a direction\n I\n had in mind. That is fairly unavoidable. To avoid it all the time\n would\n be unnatural, like a lobotomization of the creative process for the\n sake\n of maniacal adherence to a gimmick. But probably more often than\n not, I\n select commands on a whim, without any such narrative\n agendas.\n
\n
\n I've\n kicked the tires on this format pretty aggressively. I've done the\n \"pick the first command no matter what\" thing, with its stream of\n consciousness results. I've kept the command selection more sedate\n and\n rational at times. And there are some stretches when I'm practically\n oblivious to the suggestion box, such as one or two week periods\n where\n my sole focus is on intensive animation chores, and the last thing\n on my\n mind is \"How can I get the readers more involved at the helm of this\n story??\" At times there gets to be a point where, with a story of\n this\n scope, the author can start to hear himself say, \"Oh great guys,\n just\n what I need. More funny ideas!\" The format, if nothing else, has a\n way\n of turning the author into a firehose of ideas, or at least it seems\n to\n for me. It sounds counter-intuitive, but eventually the best way to\n advance a story starts to be seeking strategies to curtail the\n endless\n stream of novelty, and slow the idea machine down a bit. I've done\n this\n at times by diminishing the influence of commands.\n
\n
\n The\n introduction of the Wayward Vagabond as the command voice was an\n example of this. More on that topic later.\n
\n
\n
\n How much do you have planned in advance right now?\n \n
\n
\n It's\n hard to quantify. It helps to understand what planning actually\n means in this context.\n
\n
\n When\n you do something like this, it seems like the attitude of many\n readers\n is that the action should be almost entirely extemporaneous, or at\n least\n be sold to feel that way. Otherwise, why bother implementing user\n input\n at all? When evidence of planning becomes exposed, it carries the\n appearance of cheating in a way. Like an improv comic, who largely\n relies on the appearance of being off the cuff for his act to feel\n authentic. If the audience catches on that some of the material was\n prepared in advance, or that the go-to jokes are applicable\n regardless\n of what suggestion is shouted from the crowd, it loses\n something.\n
\n
\n But I'm not actually that concerned with this\n issue. It's not a problem. Just an observation.\n
\n
\n The\n long and short is, some very big picture stuff is planned in\n advance,\n and has been since page 1. In particular, various SYSTEMS were\n planned.\n Systems related to how the game works, how items are manufactured,\n how\n the environment is manipulated, aspects of the virtual universe they\n enter, and the ultimate purpose of the game. These are systems, but\n systems alone do not a plot make.\n
\n
\n When it comes to plot\n elements,\n very little planning is done, and practically none at all before\n page\n 1. A good example of the story taking an unanticipated turn is the\n post-apocalyptic elements, which I really had no idea I'd be getting\n into from the start. It felt like a necessary dynamic to add to the\n gaming system to help raise the stakes in the story. It was actually\n influenced by the various apocalyptic movie posters in John's room,\n and\n the discussions they had about them. Those were not planted in\n advance\n as foreshadowing, because there was nothing yet to foreshadow.\n Retroactive foreshadowing is a pretty common occurrence with\n projects\n like this. It often solidifies the illusion of planning. This was a\n case\n where some trivial nonsense I injected into the story turned out to\n be\n extremely relevant. Sometimes that happens with my own nonsense,\n sometimes it happens with reader-supplied nonsense.\n
\n
\n But\n assuming\n there is some element of planning - and there is - the only issue\n remaining is how far in advance does story planning occur? That's\n why\n the subject of planning vs. extemporaneous story building is tricky.\n Plans don't exist... UNTIL SUDDENLY THEY DO! For example, there was\n a\n time when Jade (then known as \"GG\") made casual reference to having\n a\n pet, and a grandfather. These simple facts become a lock in the\n story,\n and it would be months until those details were elaborated upon. In\n the\n passing months, while I attend to other parts of the story, I have\n no\n choice but to dwell on those things she casually mentioned, and\n think\n about who they are, and how they fit into the bigger picture. This\n is\n certainly a form of planning, and the reader was witness to the\n plan's\n conception. And though technically, plot details which are sat on\n and\n incubated for months can no longer be considered extemporaneous, the\n ideas sure were extemporaneous when they were first\n mentioned!\n
\n
\n This\n is exactly how most things end up being \"planned\". A concept is\n dropped\n on the reader, and then goes into hiding for a while. I think about\n it\n in the shadows. But even then, I deliberately keep the planned\n aspects a\n little vague and open-ended, so they can be modified to fit the\n details\n of the story when the time comes. This was especially evident when I\n started replaying certain Pesterchum conversations, from the other\n character's vantage in the past. At one point Dave was complaining\n about\n puppets. You could only picture what was going on at his end. In\n fact, I\n didn't even know, and I didn't really want to know. I let his\n narrative\n catch up to that point, then molded the events to match his side of\n the\n conversation. Again, the illusion of planning arises.\n
\n
\n That's\n what I do with every concept introduced. I try to keep it a little\n generalized and flexible, something I can return to later with more\n refinement, and mix with user input. That was the driving paradigm\n behind all the game systems. Everywhere you look with the game\n systems,\n you see inherent flexibility. The ability to combine items with\n other\n items. The ability to prototype a Kernelsprite with anything, twice.\n The\n ability to manipulate a house in almost any way.\n
\n
\n The\n philosophy\n here is two-fold. The obvious side of it is, it allows readers a\n more\n built-in means of influencing the world we create here. But the less\n obvious motivation, and maybe the more important one, is that it\n helps\n spark the imagination of the reader. The story, ultimately, can only\n go\n down the path it goes down. But before it does, the reader can\n understand these game mechanics, and speculate on all the\n possibilities.\n What sort of objects would you combine if you were playing the game?\n What would you prototype with? What kind of villains would that\n create?\n There are millions of different versions of the game that could be\n played, a unique instance for each player. This is all theoretically\n supposed to be part of the fun.\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Have you ever gotten ideas from the forum but not the suggestion box?\n \n
\n
\n Yes,\n and in fact it's safe to say I get most ideas from the forum\n community\n at this point. At least more of the major story changing ideas come\n from\n there, while the suggestion box plays the role of driving the\n page-by-page action.\n
\n
\n When I integrated the suggestion box\n into a\n forum instead of a comments page, thus sparking a pretty vital\n community\n of story discussion, it changed a lot about how I interface with\n user\n input. Discussion and speculation about the story is much more\n engaging\n and nuanced than user commands can be, which are generally along the\n lines of \"Do this. It will be funny.\"\n
\n
\n There have been a few\n times\n where I've read theories people are throwing around, and I'll just\n run\n with it in the story. Most often it will be a case where I was\n vaguely\n entertaining the same notion, but hadn't yet committed to it, and\n seeing\n it vocalized as speculation tips the scale in the idea's\n favor.\n
\n
\n One\n example I can think of is when people were trying to guess what\n Jade's\n grandfather's interests would be. People often try to make guesses\n about\n this sort of thing, because I tend to establish a lot of patterns,\n like\n each guardian having a kooky collection, each kid having a certain\n primary weapon and instrument, each kid potentially corresponding to\n a\n future desert-dweller, and so on. I then either adhere to the\n pattern,\n or disregard it, almost arbitrarily. This keeps readers on their\n toes.\n But in this case, people guessed quite a number of things, including\n knights, mummies, and game trophies. I ran with those three, plus a\n pretty strange wildcard interest on top of those to mix it\n up.\n
\n
\n It's\n hard to think of a lot of good examples of this though, possibly\n because all sources of inspiration have sort of blurred together. It\n gets hard to trace back to the origins of many of the\n ideas.\n
\n
\n
\n When\n did the Wayward Vagabond come into play? Was it something vague like \n \"there's some dude in the future who accidentally stumbles his way into \n these events somehow\", or was he almost entirely just made up as things \n went along ala the segment we \"played\" as him? Did you only decide \n things about him playing part in a grander chess metaphor when you \n started working with Nanna's exposition? Did you always know that he \n ended up where Rose once was?\n \n
\n
\n That's a lot of questions! I'll group it all under what I'll dub THE WV\n UMBRELLA.\n
\n
\n WV\n was introduced, indirectly, at the beginning of Act 2 as another way\n to\n experiment with the format. Though the reader didn't know it at the\n time, WV was issuing the commands instead of the readers. All the\n readers knew was there was a funny voice controlling John, and that\n the\n suggestion box was locked. Or put in a more story-relevant way, the\n box\n had been \"blown up\", a consequence of the meteor impact. The image\n in\n the box was\n
\n replaced\n with a crater, and in the weeks that followed that crater\n underwent gradual\n
\n geological changes.\n Of course, only those who looked inside the suggestion box were\n privy\n to this aspect of the story, but that progression of images would\n resurface again at the end of Act 2.\n
\n
\n The main purpose of the\n WV\n command experiment was to take a step back from that tension of the\n author-user dynamic for a while, and see how that went. The tension\n being primarily in the struggle to control the direction of the\n story.\n With a fictional character at the helm, you not only have a voice\n that\n can be more cooperative with advancing the plot (even though he\n didn't\n sound that cooperative), but also can be a more distinctive and\n unified\n voice of an actual character, with his own yet unknown agenda. It\n stayed\n that way for about a month I think. It was interesting for a while,\n but\n in the end I decided it wasn't the best way to drive the story in\n the\n long run, so I reverted to business as usual.\n
\n
\n But the plan\n with\n WV, from the first command he issued, was that eventually he would\n become a playable character. I thought he would be playable (i.e.\n taking\n user commands) while the kids' actions remained buffered in that\n way.\n Of course it didn't quite pan out like that. They all became\n playable at\n once, each with his/her own suggestion box. But the difference with\n WV\n was that I made a concerted effort never to plan anything about his\n story arc. In fact, I've been pretty religious about keeping\n everything\n that happens in the post-apocalypse arcs as unplanned as possible. I\n don't think about it until I have to. So WV's story evolved very\n organically, entirely through cues from reader commands, much like\n the\n beginning of Problem Sleuth. But unlike Problem Sleuth, he existed\n in a\n world full of already well established story elements, so the\n whimsical\n material sort of collided with the more intricate storyline that had\n developed. So I could use his slapdash shenanigans to continue to\n expose\n layers of the mythology behind the greater story, like the chess\n metaphor and the kingdoms, all sort of indirectly through chalk\n drawings\n and cans of Tab and such. His arc was one of the more fun to execute\n for this reason.\n
\n
\n His involvement was pretty spur of the\n moment, a\n way to drastically mix things up. There was no grand architecture to\n it\n at all, other than \"he will issue commands, and then later, users\n will\n issue commands for him.\" But given that, I'm surprised by how his\n involvement made Act 2 feel like a fairly cohesive piece overall. It\n began with him finding the underground bunker in a wasteland. We\n knew\n nothing of him other than what a few cranky directives indicated\n about\n him. We watched him learn and develop, and later, in interacting\n with\n him directly, he supplied some reasons to like him and root for him.\n And\n finally at the end of the act, he blasts off in that bunker he found\n to\n open the act, and we see sequences that tie back to the end of Act\n 1,\n such as the meteor collision with John's house, and the geological\n evolution of the crater that taunted anyone who tried to make a\n suggestion for a month.\n
\n
\n Of course, these sequences raised\n more questions than they answered. After all, it was only Act 2.\n
\n
\n
\n Do you have any idea when you plan to wrap up Homestuck, or are you going to let it go until it reaches its natural conclusion?\n \n
\n
\n Originally\n I thought it would run for a year, like PS did. From 04/13/09 to\n 04/13/10.\n
\n
\n But\n that seems unrealistic now. It has taken a lot longer to get the\n story\n revved up than I thought. This is largely due to experimenting with\n and\n taking the time to master different media, like Flash. But also due\n to\n the more general and universally applicable principal: EVERYTHING\n WILL\n TAKE LONGER THAN YOU THINK IT WILL, ALWAYS. I never planned to run\n PS\n for a year from the start. It just worked out that way. If I had, it\n probably would have taken two years.\n
\n
\n What I'm thinking now\n is,\n 04/13/10 will still be a key date. The story will build to something\n critical on that date. But then it will keep going for a while\n longer,\n to allow it to wrap up more naturally. Whether this is for another\n year,\n or less, I can't say. But I'd rather it not be more.\n
\n
\n
\n Do you know how Homestuck's going to end? And what do you think the next adventure might be?\n \n
\n
\n I\n definitely don't. And I'm not even sure if there will be a next\n adventure.\n
\n
\n The\n nature of this site's output is very fluid. The execution of content\n is\n quite different from what it was even one year ago (though still\n stylistically similar). Exactly one year divides\n
\n this\n update\n \n and\n
\n this\n update.\n
\n
\n If\n I was showed the latter example one year ago, and was told to\n produce\n stuff like that in any sustainable way, I probably would have said\n that\n sounded kinda crazy! But that was before this self-imposed gauntlet\n of\n working with Flash and figuring out more efficient animation\n strategies.\n
\n
\n But\n watching the site evolve to support that type of content has me\n thinking it will just keep evolving. The broadest purpose of the\n site is\n to serve as a sort of accelerator for my abilities as a creator. At\n least in retrospect, that is the purpose it's served. By the time\n I'm\n ready to move on to a new adventure, the footing may have shifted so\n much, it may not even be an \"adventure\" as we know it. Regardless,\n I'm\n sure there'll be something to follow, and I'll keep producing\n content.\n
\n
\n Unless I decide to be a douche and just up and quit.\n We'll see.\n
\n
\n
\n When did the first defined concept of homestuck hit you?\n \n
\n
\n At\n some point during the last few months of working on PS. The\n inspiration\n centered around a simple scene I had in my head, and not much else.\n I\n pictured a kid playing a game in his room, while another player\n manipulated his room the way you edit an environment in The Sims. I\n pictured the kid being able to manipulate the other kid's\n environment\n too, but it wasn't long before I latched on to the potential\n conflict\n present in one kid strictly being at the mercy of the other. Over\n time I\n came up with other game mechanics to complement this, and add some\n degree of purpose. In this time I also developed this image of a\n story\n template that combined an RPG like Earthbound with games like The\n Sims\n and Spore. Even now that still seems like a pretty good way to\n describe\n Homestuck, though the story didn't unfold the way I pictured at all.\n
\n
\n
\n I\n also designed all four characters shortly before I started HS. I didn't know much about these\n characters\n at the time, other than some really vague personality profiles.\n Users\n named them as they were introduced.\n
\n
\n
\n Did you have names to refer to the characters before they were named by the users, and what were these names if there were any?\n \n
\n
\n No,\n but they did always have their Pesterchum handles before they were\n named.\n
\n
\n
\n Was 'Homestuck' the only title you had in mind for Homestuck, or were there other titles you considered but decided not to use?\n \n
\n
\n The\n only other candidate I considered was \"Sburb\", which was a sort of\n deliberately ugly word reminiscent of the name of a Sim game. You\n could\n either liken it to Sim-burb, or to Spore, another crude 5-letter\n word\n beginning with S. But for that reason, that it's kind of crude and\n really awkward to say, I thought it was best left as just the name\n of\n the game in the game.\n
\n
\n Besides, Homestuck better follows the\n templates of the previous adventure titles, like\n Jailbreak.\n
\n
\n
\n If I remember correctly, the designs we have for the kids were your second attempt. If so, can we see the first designs?\n \n
\n
\n I\n don't know if I still have the sketch. Probably not. Basically,\n picture the kids as they are now, but with squarer heads.\n
\n Like\n the thugs from PS. It didn't look right.\n
\n
\n
\n Did\n you ever compensate for the age jump from 10 to 13 after the failed \n beta, or do you still kinda think of all the characters as 10?\n \n
\n
\n First of all, the beta was a success in\n that it helped illuminate what a horrible idea it was to do 100% of\n the pages in Flash.\n
\n
\n To\n provide background on this, I started HS on 4/10 at first, using\n this\n method. I gave up, restarted on 4/13, with less frequent\n interspersals\n of Flash. Through the arbitrarily designated significance of the\n starting date, it went from a story about 4 10 year olds to one\n about 4\n 13 year olds.\n
\n
\n To answer: not at all. The age never mattered.\n There's a tradition in cartooning of ignoring the age of a child\n when\n considering his/her demeanor and degree of sophistication. See:\n Calvin\n and Hobbes. Cartoon kids will act according to their age when it\n feels\n relevant. Other times, they won't.\n
\n
\n Maybe the biggest\n difference\n in the hop in age is the very slightly added plausibility to\n speculation\n on any romantic angle between them. This is very important for fans\n who\n aspire to, and are busy even now, shipslashing these characters into\n oblivion. I have done the world this service.\n
\n
\n
\n Are you happy with the level of user input as it is? Do you wish there were more commands? Less commands? Less stupid commands?\n \n
\n
\n I\n want the commands to be only what they are going to be. There's\n always\n going to be a lot of absurdity to sift through, and sometimes, to\n run\n with. That's part of the process.\n
\n
\n
\n Do\n you intend to introduce a whole bunch of characters like in PS, and if \n it's not too specific, will the TrollSlums become significant?\n \n
\n
\n I'm\n sure there will be plenty more characters when all is said and done.\n I've got ideas for what to do with the trolls, but as with\n everything,\n these plans remain vague until proven specific.\n
\n
\n
\n You make a lot of story and update decisions on the fly. Are there any you've regretted?\n \n
\n
\n No.\n The stakes just aren't high enough for regret to be a factor. The\n flow\n of the story is always kept loose and pretty light. Once I've\n committed\n something to canon, it becomes a feature of reality. It doesn't need\n to\n be judged. Only built upon.\n
\n
\n I can see if you are a creator\n and\n you are laying down some SERIOUS SHIT, like a really brooding\n vampire\n story, or a romance novel or something, the author may operate with\n a\n sense of anxiety that mistakes can be made. I will probably never\n create\n anything like that.\n
\n
\n
\n How do you\n deal with the inability to go back and change details from earlier in \n the story? Do you ever have good ideas that you have to scrap because of\n something that happened earlier on?\n \n
\n
\n This question is related to the one above. It's a non-issue. Once\n it's cemented in the story, that's it.\n
\n
\n I\n am never disappointed in not getting to use a good idea due to\n conflict\n with the facts. First, because ideas that conflict with the facts\n never\n actually occur to me. Second, because ideas are a dime a dozen. I\n have\n too many as it is.\n
\n
\n
\n I know you don't plan out much beyond the most barest of bones, but at what point do you take something and really roll it out?\n \n
\n
\n \"Roll\n it out\" could mean a lot of things. The biggest variable here I\n think\n is how far in advance. Once a certain concept is committed to, it\n becomes inevitable to follow through with it via some sort of plan,\n but\n it's rarely that far in advance.\n
\n
\n Like with the WV sequence,\n he\n draws a chess board, and eventually it becomes clear to me he is\n going\n to play a simulated game of chess. So I think \"Ok, he's already got\n 16\n cans over there which can serve as the major pieces like knights and\n rooks and such. I'm going to need another 16 pawns, so I'll stick 16\n cans of Tab in the other vault.\" That's a plan committed to in\n advance\n by days, or a week, or whatever it was.\n
\n
\n But then knowing\n that,\n it's a little deceptive what was planned that way, and what wasn't.\n You\n might think I stuck the oil and chalk in the room to manufacture\n those\n outcomes, the chess game and the wall drawings. Not true at all. The\n oil, chalk, amber and uranium were stuck in the room strictly as\n parallels to the four types of known grist. The fact that he used\n them\n in those ways was a convenient bonus, and could possibly be viewed\n as a\n happy coincidence. Honestly when I drew the firefly in the amber, it\n never occurred to me that it would be released and become a cute\n ally.\n
\n
\n You\n could look at these stories, HS and PS mostly, as huge strings of\n these\n happy coincidences. When I recognize the potential for those kinds\n of\n connectivity, I try to make as much hay out of them as possible.\n
\n
\n
\n The\n kernelsprites seem like a great potential way to let input radically \n impact the course of the story. Do you have all of the prototypings \n planned ahead already, or do you intend to leave at least some of them \n up to reader influence?\n \n
\n
\n There have been significant\n allusions in the story that certain prototyping outcomes are\n inevitable.\n Will this pan out? We'll see. Nothing is set in stone.\n
\n
\n But\n this was always an area where I'd intended readers to have\n significant influence, and I'm sure it still will be.\n
\n
\n
\n Were the Guardians already planned (with designs?) along with the kids, or were they designed later?\n \n
\n
\n All\n the guardians were drawn a day or two before they first\n appeared.\n
\n
\n
\n And for the really big things (lets say the flash), what's the averageish storyboarding time for it?\n \n
\n
\n Never\n more than 10 minutes. Spending too much time on storyboarding feels\n like wasting time I could be spending on the \"real\" work.\n
\n
\n Time\n spent on actual execution of a Flash animation on average is a day\n (or a\n night, more typically). The one requiring the most time was the end\n of\n Act 2 animation (obviously, I'm sure), which took something like 3\n or 4\n days. It's hard to say for sure, because I was making the WV\n countdown\n animation that preceded simultaneously.\n
\n
\n A cruel irony for me\n personally is that the longest hiatuses the site has to endure are\n periods of time over which I am working the hardest.\n
\n
\n OH WELL.\n
\n
\n
\n How much better at Flash would you say you are now than when you started?\n \n
\n
\n Good\n enough to use it. More than can be said when I started. Speed is the\n primary dividend of experience for me. It may seem like I'm getting\n better with the quality of the animation at the same time. But if\n this\n is the case I think this mostly results from increased speed. When I\n learn how to save time, I always tend to apply those time-savings to\n producing things that are increasingly elaborate. The latter half of\n Problem Sleuth documented this phenomenon with animated\n GIFs.\n
\n
\n
\n Do you plan to use the same kind of sound effects shown in the first strife page of John for future flash updates?\n \n
\n
\n I\n think I'm done with the SFX. They're sort of a pain to create and\n add,\n and I'm a bit neutral on how they enhance the experience. Later on I\n might completely change my mind though. Who knows.\n
\n
\n
\n What is your favorite color?\n \n
\n
\n I\n am equally suspicious of all of them, though we begrudgingly\n collaborate through an uneasy truce.\n
\n
\n
\n Did you learn from personal experience, or did someone else warn you about stairs bro!!!!\n \n
\n
\n I\n fell down some stairs once as a child and have been warning people\n ever since. It just keeps happening.\n
\n
\n
\n Are\n there any aspects of homestuck that were consciously modeled on \n real-life experiences you've had? i.e. Do you have a grandmother who \n would always bake you cookies, etc...\n \n
\n
\n My dad has always\n been exceptionally doting like John's, and even to this day he tries\n to\n give me food in quantities and scenarios which defy rational\n explanation. Similarities end there though. He's worn a tie maybe\n once,\n and has never thrown a pie at me.\n
\n
\n A lot of the Pesterchum\n dialogue is based on my own experience with messaging. Particularly\n Dave's style is modeled after a chatting style I've cultivated with\n a\n number of internet friends. Some of his conversations have been\n lifted\n word for word from my own chat logs, modified somewhat for\n context.\n
\n
\n
\n So, I know about the EarthBound parallels, kind of, but what about Mother 3?\n \n
\n
\n I\n haven't played it. I hardly play any games these days, and all of my\n gaming knowledge is flash-frozen from around 2005 and earlier. This\n I\n imagine is how creators become popculturally dated. They get to the\n point where they spend so much time making stuff, they no longer\n have\n time to interface with popular media of any sort. I figure I have\n another decade before all my frozen references start seeming\n legitimately stale, and not in a cool retro way.\n
\n
\n Guess that's\n all I gotsta say for now!\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n (I thought I'd record the explanation of the\n
\n Homestuck \n shirts and prints here, for a little bit of posterity and\n persistence.)\n
\n
\n Ok,\n so this is all a little different from the usual stuff for sale.\n Instead of just slapping humorous or story-relevant stuff on a shirt\n (which is all well and fine, don't get me wrong!) I sort of wanted\n to\n take the opportunity to let this stuff tell a little story, and add\n some\n depth and detail to the Homestuck universe.\n
\n
\n There are two\n character shirts available,\n
\n John's and\n
\n Rose's. But the shirts have their own little\n backstories, which are conveyed in corresponding prints, also\n
\n for sale.\n
\n
\n I\n think the stories sort of speak for themselves through those\n graphics,\n but I'll go ahead and overexplain anyway. John's shirt, which of\n course\n appears to be Slimer from Ghostbusters, is actually a depiction of\n an\n Asian knock-off of Slimer called the\n
\n GREEN SLIME GHOST.\n Rose's shirt was once a depiction of a character from a fake cute\n cartoon show which I totally made up called \"Squiddles!\". She then\n went\n about defacing this shirt to make it look mean! The shirt itself\n actually appears to be defaced, with ink missing around the eyes and\n mouth area (but it's a pretty subtle effect, because the ink color\n is\n very close to the shirt color).\n
\n
\n The cool thing about\n
\n Rose's print is you can get either the faux-Lovecraftian defaced version, or the\n undefaced version (so you can deface it yourself!) Just make sure\n you\n select the option you want underneath: \"LOVECRAFT MY SQUIDDLE!\" if\n you\n want the defaced version, or \"DON'T LOVECRAFT MY SQUIDDLE!\" if you\n want\n it unmolested!\n
\n
\n So there you have it. The story of the shirts,\n and some sweet merch all rolled into one.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n I did this\n
\n Penny\n Arcade fan illustration a while ago, which will appear in their new book\n coming out (which I can't seem to find a link to any info on, but I\n guess just keep an eye out for it!)\n
\n
\n The fact that this\n drawing\n will appear in the book is as good as any reason for you to buy it.\n And\n among \"any reason\" I suppose is the fact that it's a very funny\n comic\n that makes you laugh.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/PAillustration_thumb.jpg\"/)
\n I\n would like to do some more fan art soon for other comics I like.\n Though\n I cannot promise these works will appear in books! They will at\n least\n appear in this blog. And soon, in your heart.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n I used to do an\n
\n awful lot of blogging\n \n .\n But those days are behind me.\n
\n
\n Or are they??\n
\n
\n The answer\n is yes.\n
\n
\n But\n now and then I get the impulse to dredge up material from those\n archives, whose web facades and database machinery have long since\n deteriorated. I have done this a couple\n
times already,\n but this is only the tip of the iceberg. It's sort of selfish of me\n to\n horde those articles, so I have resolved to slay the dragon in my\n bosom\n known as Avarice and release this treasure unto you all.\n
\n
\n In\n this\n case, that treasure was plundered from several adventures I embarked\n upon through the world of dumb internet banner and popup\n ads.\n
\n
\n The first was\n
\n An Offer You Can't Refuse, first transcribed\n in the heady times of 2006.\n
\n
\n The second, authored more than a\n year later, was\n
\n Come With Me on a Magical Journey Through the\n Internet!\n
\n
\n There's\n plenty of other stuff I will release later, in lieu of writing\n actual\n new content (GOD FORBID). But some of it is pretty exciting. Among\n the\n essays are excerpts in which I voice a\n
\n strong desire\n \n to accost host\n of Food Network's\n
\n Unwrapped\n \n ,\n Marc Summers, with a bright red ping pong paddle. There are also\n numerous articles about Jimmy Buffet, and how he was almost my\n father,\n and how I hate him and his music and everything he stands for, but\n especially the stupid books he writes sometimes.\n
\n
\n And a lot of\n other stuff. But those will wait for another day.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n I'll explain my thinking on first using Flash, then switching back\n so\n fast we all achieved powerful and enchanted new WHIPLASHQUIP: FULL\n PLATE\n OF THE NECKBRACE TEMPLARS.\n
\n
\n Here is a summary of what actually\n happened first.\n
\n
\n On April 10th, I launched the new story,\n
\n \"Homestuck\",\n made entirely in Flash. My plan was to complete the whole story\n in Flash, adding interactivity, music, and stuff like that. I\n completed 8 pages.\n
\n
\n This\n turned out to be way too much work. To put this in perspective,\n doing\n these 8 relatively simple pages was MORE DIFFICULT AND TIME\n CONSUMING\n THAN ALL THE\n
\n SEPULCHRITUDE ANIMATIONS COMBINED. I am not\n joking about that!\n
\n
\n I\n don't know if this says more about my inexperience with Flash, or my\n proficiency with Photoshop (in which all PS work was done). Probably\n both. I don't mind dealing with Actionscript, really. It was the\n whole\n environment I had trouble with. It felt very unnatural to draw in,\n and\n difficult to manage everything spread across multiple time lines and\n movie clips. Even doing simple things was like pulling\n teeth.\n
\n
\n So in order to prevent the story from grinding to a\n halt down the road, I just switched back to Photoshop and\n
\n started\n over.\n I kept the Flash version online, and recast it as the \"Homestuck\n BETA\",\n which now appears to have been \"released\" three days prior to the\n current version. You could even call this a happy coincidence that\n appears to have been planned, since it echoes an aspect of the\n story, in\n which the beta for a game was released three days prior to his\n birthday.\n
\n
\n But I guess MSPA tends to be full of these sorts of\n coincidences which make you wonder what was planned and what wasn't.\n But\n here I am telling you it wasn't planned! I should really work on\n being\n more mysterious.\n
\n
\n (You will also note, the age of the\n character\n jumped from 10 to 13 in this three day span. This is, for mysterious\n reasons, because the \"magic number\" for this story is now 4/13\n rather\n than 4/10.)\n
\n
\n Perhaps ironically, the Homestuck beta, which was\n never supposed to be a beta, genuinely did serve as a beta! I had a\n chance to test out some things there, and when I realized it wasn't\n working, I pulled the plug. But I got to establish the Flash page\n infrastructure on the site, so now I can use Flash pages whenever I\n want.\n
\n
\n And I intend to! Sparingly. Mostly for when I want to\n include musical elements, which was really my biggest reason for\n switching to Flash in the first place.\n
\n
\n The bottom line is,\n the\n adjustment I made now feels right. Overall, I like the look better.\n And\n the production is virtually effortless, a process streamlined over\n hundreds of pages of Problem Sleuth. This will allow me to update\n with\n crazy amounts of pages as usual, which I think you will agree is a\n very\n important thing. Maybe the most important thing!\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n So I guess it's time to get serious about this.\n
\n
\n The first\n matter\n of business is related to music and sound. As I've hinted at before,\n I'm\n going to take a stab at a Flash production this time. This means\n I'll\n be incorporating music and sound effects on some of the\n pages.\n
\n
\n Here's the catch: I am not actually a musician and\n have no particular talent for the craft!\n
\n My\n plan is to have the music be reader-created, through a collaborative \n process. If you are proficient in the field of music or sound, and would\n like to participate in this process,\n \n please email me!\n \n ***\n \n I will send you the information you\n need to do this!\n
\n
\n ***\n The response to this was great! Thanks to everyone who contacted me.\n I'm sure that's enough participants for now, but if this changes,\n I'll\n let you all know.\n
\n
\n (A note on sound for the next adventure:\n music/sound will never at any point be critical to following the\n story!\n So it's still fine if you check it out at work without the volume or\n such.)\n
\n
\n That's the main thing I wanted to mention. If all goes\n according to plan, there will be a new story on the front page\n tomorrow.\n
\n
\n -------------------\n
\n
\n A side note:\n
\n
\n Many\n have wondered if PS will be printed in a book at some point.\n
\n
\n I\n can't say when for sure, but there WILL be a Problem Sleuth book.\n Probably released in multiple volumes on account of acute hugeness.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n I thought about doing something funny on my site for April Fools, but\n then I didn't because I don't really have time for that nonsense!\n Instead I thought I'd regurgitate this article from my old blog I posted\n on 4/1 last year about how big corporations like to play these really\n limp-wristed April Fools gags on us now.\n
\n
\n But then I reread it\n and thought it was kind of long and boring. It sort of spun out of\n control at the end into a rant about how stupid \"funny commercials\" are.\n I thought I'd post that snippet alone, because man, I really hate funny\n commercials!\n
\n
\n Originally posted: 04-01-08\n
\n -----------------------------\n
\n
\n I\n fucking HATE funny commercials. I deeply resent the arena of humor being\n hijacked in this way. It makes me sort of hate the universe of humor\n itself, somehow. I almost find it distasteful to participate in the same\n discipline in which thrives such a loud and broad display of clumsy,\n floundering suck. I guess this phenomenon has its roots in the\n coronation of the Superbowl as the great custodian of funny commercials.\n These commercials are popularly alleged to be as much of a draw to the\n high ratings event as the game itself, and I guess this just got\n corporations thinking; why not make every day the Superbowl? And they\n did. Now every day is like a fresh, highly competitive Superbowl of\n unfunny bullshit.\n
\n
\n I could go on about \"funny\" commercials and why\n I hate them forever, but who has the energy for that? (Especially after\n we've all eaten ourselves into a wheelchair from the customary April\n Fools feast.) Occasionally there are some genuinely funny commercials. I\n just don't care. All the unfunny \"funny\" ones ruin the funny \"funny\"\n ones completely. I'm tired of waiting for the shoe to drop in the\n 30-second bullshit vignette on Glade scented candles. I'm tired of\n \"funny\" moments being punctuated by awkward pauses of silence (while we\n all laugh, I guess. And then meditate on Werther's Originals.) I'm tired\n of people getting hit in the groin with a can of Green Giant corn, or\n backed over by a Hertz rental car, and hearing them shout \"I'm ok!\" in\n the fading moments. I don't want to laugh, and the attempt to inflict\n this reaction on me is causing me pain. There's a good chance I am\n watching the show I'm watching for this very purpose, to be made to\n laugh. The creators of this show are ostensibly good at causing this\n reaction.\n
\n You aren't\n \n , Holiday\n Inn.\n
\n
\n It's not that I want commercials to be funnier, up to the\n standards of the few that are funny. It's that I want them all to stop\n being funny. Do you remember a time when not every commercial was trying\n to be a damned Farrelly brothers movie? I do. They just said, \"look, we\n sort of have this product...\" and played some catchy music. They were\n benign. Ignorable. Corporations have forgotten their role in the social\n order. I don't want them to be cool, or to be my friend, or to make me\n laugh. Corporations should be stodgy, blunt, and humorless, and if it's\n not to much to fucking ask, mildly nefarious.\n
\n
\n Now we can look\n forward to them latching on to pranks. Oh boy! And as with \"funny\"\n commercials, they will seize them as competitive advantages (re: adhere\n to them unwaiveringly as competitive upkeep). Thus will begin the kind\n of obnoxious one-upsmanship we see with funny commercials, with\n companies trying to be ever edgier, ever more surprising in their\n April's gotchas. Coke isn't going to take it lying down when Pepsi\n reveals in April, 2012 that 30% of all Pepsi cans the previous year\n contained moderate to major amounts of fetal tissue floating in the\n liquid [PSYCHE]. Let us begin a great arms race. Not one of munitions\n and warhead stockpiles, but of whoopee cushions and chattering\n teeth.\n
\n
\n -----------------------------\n
\n
\n END DIATRIBE\n
\n
\n Anyway,\n I wonder which big company will play pranks on us this year and bag a\n few chuckles from the dude sitting behind the desk at CNN during a 30\n second spot? Last year it was Google uniting with Virgin and pretending\n to colonize Mars. Hehehehehe! Nice one guys!\n
\n
\n Edit: I just went\n there immediately after I typed that expecting to find some fun stuff,\n and sure enough, I knew it was a gag before I even\n
\n clicked\n it. Damn, I just got SO PUNKED actively seeking out that joke I knew\n would be there before I went there!\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Wait, there are more people I wanted to talk about!\n
\n
\n KC Green\n draws outstanding comics. His myriad of websites are all among my\n favorites ever. Please\n
\n go\n to his site and visit his odd collection of satellite-websites like\n horribleville and gunshow and please read all of the comics there at\n once.\n
\n
\n I bumped into him on the street the first night of the\n weekend when everyone was roving around the town under varying\n magnitudes of inebriation and chilliness. I recognized him and proceeded\n to orbit about his radiant, molten core of affability, but I did not\n introduce myself. Later in the evening I mumbled my name, and he\n recognized it, and offered a hug to celebrate the recognition. It was\n not because he was inebriated; the beverage in his hand was a root beer\n you see. Neither was it on account of chilliness. He's just a hella nice\n guy!\n
\n
\n I also met Zach Weiner, which was another high point. He\n does\n
\n SMBC,\n which is a comic that has the uncanny ability to be EXTREMELY FUNNY on\n EVERY SINGLE OCCASION IT UPDATES, which is JUST ABOUT EVERY DAY. Zach\n was also all hells of cool and drew me a picture of a llama with a brain\n in a jar for a head. I'll keep it folded in my breast pocket for the\n rest of my life, until one day it takes a bullet for me. The very bullet\n which passes clean through it and into my heart, rendering me not alive\n anymore.\n
\n
\n There was also a gentleman named John Keogh who does a\n comic called\n
\n Lucid\n TV, which I had not read before. I just checked it out and it is\n quite funny! You should check it out too.\n
\n
\n This encounter was\n precipitated because he said hello and told me he liked my work. Not\n MSPA in this case, but a comic I used to do a while ago called\n Humanimals. I'm always impressed when someone has heard of Humanimals\n before, and I am downright flabbergasted when people tell me they\n actually like it.\n
\n Here's\n a sample if you care to trespass into...\n
\n
\n I'll shut my\n flowery trap this once. It is a comic about nude men with hooves and\n udders and stuff. They work in an office and they are always happy.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n I went to a weekend gathering for webcomic authors and enjoyers alike,\n and good times were had! You could say it was authoritatively\n enjoyed.\n
\n
\n Speaking of authoritativity, the event was spearheaded\n and organized by\n
\n Meredith\n Gran, who does a really great comic about a young octopus who lives\n in New York City, trying to make it out there. Ok, that is not what the\n comic is about. But you should go read it and see what it is\n about!\n
\n
\n My accomp-hort\n
\n Cindy came along and took some pictures. We didn't snap a lot, but here are a\n few which you may use to waft some of the ambiance into those gaping\n nostrils you call eyeballs.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/webcomweekend01.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Here\n I am bookended by the dynamic damefella duo, Emily and Joey, who produce\n the comic that is called\n
\n a softer\n world. These are really cool people to hang out with and talk to and\n stuff! Here Emily rifles through her mad wad of Benjies, or at least I'm\n pretty sure those are Benjies. Cause that's what we're all about here,\n knocking down sick bank and leafing through our pimpin' hustle-bucks.\n Joey is the sort of dude who seems like he is always on the verge of\n either beating the shit out of you, or giving you a hug, in a precisely\n equal distribution of probability.\n
\n
\n Oh yeah, up there I think is\n one of those moments where I was talking to someone while pretending to\n be\n
\n Ryan North,\n poised in front of all his dinosaur merchandise. He would pretend to be\n me too, and brandish vivid tales about how he drew a lot of pages about\n a guy who likes candy corn or something, and possibly wore a hat at one\n point. Our marks were none the wiser to the ruse. You see, we play\n pranks as a thing we do.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/webcomweekend02.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Here\n Chris(\n
\n !!! ) and\n Joey and Ryan prepare for a panel discussion, comparing notes on how to\n be a hilarious bunch of outrageous motherfuckers.\n
\n
\n By the way, is\n Dr. McNinja great? Uh let me think.\n
\n
\n
\n YEAH,\n IT IS.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/webcomweekend03.jpg\"/)
\n
\n I\n eat cake which is\n
\n shaped\n like a pork chop. You will have to take my word for it that that was\n the shape of the cake. Ryan is holding an alligator head for some\n reason, which is confusing.\n
\n
\n Ryan is a really nice guy. I think\n being a really nice guy might be his super power or something. It's kind\n of a dumb super power and it makes it really easy to defeat him in the\n martial combats.\n
\n
\n Also one of his powers is being very\n
\n TALL.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/webcomweekend04.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Eventually\n I sat in the proximity of my own shit and pretended to not be Ryan for a\n while. I drew some stuff for people who liked my comic. (But not sick\n burns, I saved those for my foes.) Everybody who approached me was\n really cool. What can I say, everyone who likes my stuff is amazing\n almost by definition.\n
\n
\n
\n Jeffrey is the grand arch-magnate of\n
\n Topatoco and is an exceptional human being as well. He and I once drew crude\n frogs that wore capes, once upon a slippery era long-sopped by time’s\n absorbent sponge. The Topatoco HQ is quite an impressive compound and\n looks like a wonderful place to do business. Jeffrey probably has one of\n the sweetest gigs in the world, possibly second only to what I do, which\n is basically nothing at all. I mean I draw stuff sometimes, but\n whatever.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Is me.\n
\n And\n anyone who chooses to stand up for diversity, strong civic spirit, and\n multi-cultural harmony in the community.\n
\n
\n When I\n
\n originally\n included this mural in Problem Sleuth, I found it on the internet\n and thought it was particularly striking. I had no idea at the time that\n it was physically located about 15 minutes from where I lived, in\n Cambridge MA.\n
\n
\n Naturally I had to go celebrate its existence as\n well as my physical proximity to it by standing in front of it. Intrepid\n fellow diversity enthusiast Tyler came along too, and here you see him\n
\n somewhat\n nonplussed by the mischievous stowaway clinging to his hapless\n personage.\n
\n
\n Prior to discovering the mural was local, I had\n wondered how to get information on the artist in order to give credit.\n
\n Now\n that is possible. Let us all bask in the majesty of David\n Fitcher's painterly vision.\n
\n
\n There is an amazing amount of these\n \"cultural urban murals\" in the Boston area. Fichter's work is apparently\n everywhere, including two striking works of genius less than a block\n from my residence. I'll take a photo of those too some time.\n
\n
\n But\n there is a lot of lesser talent glomming on to otherwise respectable\n city surfaces as well.\n
\n Mr.\n Galvez's heart is in the right place, I suppose.\n
\n Fichter's\n stuff may be a little thematically silly, but at least it's very well\n executed. Galvez's shit is just fucking pandemonium. The composition is\n an airy, rambling hodgepodge of disagreeable-looking horseshit. These\n grotesque harbingers of diversity at once frenzy to stoke my nightmares,\n or whatever you call the type of dream you'd like to shake by the collar\n and backhand repeatedly. Where do I start with this thing?\n
\n
\n 1)\n I've never seen a man employ a conductor's baton and rollerskates to\n assist him in his quest for spare change.\n
\n
\n 2) Affable street\n walkers hustle up a buck on the lemon-lime road. Any takers? How about\n the kid to the left with the broken foot and the overalls 20 sizes too\n big for him?\n
\n
\n 3) This Village People understudy wears on his face\n the one emotion, regardless of race or creed, with which we are all\n intimately familiar: profound shame.\n
\n
\n 3.5) Random-ass black woman:\n check.\n
\n
\n 4) \"What should I do with all this empty, blood-red space\n in the background? How about I just sprinkle in a few malingering\n ragdoll dipshits?\"\n
\n
\n 5) It was probably a perfectly nice old lady\n this was referenced from. The decision to use this *particular* photo of\n her, and make her a dominating 9-foot fixture in the mural: DUBIOUS.\n She's probably been dead for years. Her legacy: BOUNDLESS, SOUL-PUMICING\n TERROR.\n
\n
\n 6) Is this some sort of black trucker vampire? Is this\n child in danger? I might suspect so, but she looks so sinister herself\n that she's likely his netherworldly superior.\n
\n
\n 7) I don't... I\n don't even know.\n
\n
\n 8) Punk rockers are a culture too. Get him in\n there. It reminds us that despite appearances, deep down we are all\n alike: harrowingly one-dimensional.\n
\n
\n 9) Other cultures can at\n times be quite flamboyant! This man has passionate feelings in his\n bosom, and they must take the shape of rhythm come hell or high water.\n He'd sooner cut out his heart than cease wailing on his bongos. If\n someone snuck up behind him and pulled his hat down over his head, can\n you really say you'd have the maturity to not laugh at his expense? The\n answer is no.\n
\n
\n 10) Fanciful headwear on a black woman:\n check.\n
\n
\n 11) Is this a culture? What sort of culture is it?\n Caucasians who wear togas while playing jazz? Are we saying that\n embarrassingly drunk people comprise a culture unto themselves? Memo to\n this guy: you are fired from Diversity.\n
\n
\n 12) Disturbing\n encroachment on chubbykid moneyshot: check.\n
\n
\n 13) And these people?\n Perhaps this man is a poor caricature of Ray Romano? I am going to guess\n that this family is vaguely Mediterranean due to the bit of chest hair\n poking out from the man's shirt to the right. The hairy dude also seems\n to be rather oily. Is it really TOO much to ask that our murals\n celebrating racial diversity not be subtly racist too? Additionally --\n the woman appears to be trying her best to not cause me physical harm\n with her facial expression. She is not succeeding.\n
\n
\n Also to the\n upper right, it looks like camera glare has obscured the Indian family\n riding their fucking magic carpet, thus sparing you a joke about them.\n THIS TIME.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n 03/10/08 - 03/10/09.\n
\n
\n 3 detectives\n
\n 365 days\n
\n 1621 pages\n
\n 1915\n images\n
\n 142 megabytes\n
\n 45,000 words\n
\n 0 sacred urns toppled\n
\n 0\n mystic ruins desecrated\n
\n 0 hallowed tombs defiled\n
\n
\n A couple\n hundred people tuned in on the first day. A couple hundred thousand\n tuned in on the last.\n
\n
\n The beginning was humble in ways that go\n beyond a simple reader count. Humble might not even be the right word.\n The word's blade might need to be dulled further -- from something used\n to slice butter, to something used to ladle paste into the mouth of an\n infant.\n
\n
\n I was wondering what sort of story to make, so I drew a\n detective on a blank canvas. Then I thought he should be in a room, of\n course. Probably a detective's office, because that's where detectives\n usually are. He needed a phone and a gun. Clearly those two items would\n alone suffice, I thought. The wall over there looked a little blank so I\n drew a safe. A window for ambience. A door for exit, which may or may\n not have been locked; I wasn't sure yet.\n
\n
\n What I was also\n oblivious to was the two other detectives who would show up later, and\n to their adjacent offices. I was oblivious to the world of imagination,\n and the desk-made fort that would be its gateway. I didn't know the\n window lead there either, and I didn't know you could only get to that\n place I didn't know about if it was plugged in. I didn't know about the\n candy in his pocket, the dames in their dollhouse, the kingpin in his\n ship, or the weasel in his palace.\n
\n
\n Those I's would be dotted by\n your suggestions, and the T's would be crossed by my reaction to them.\n It was a storytelling game of cat and mouse, and you presumably just\n finished reading the aftermath of our year-long, Tom and Jerry-style\n rampage through the house.\n
\n
\n And if at the beginning you told me I\n would have a group of characters fight a single giant monster every day\n for almost six months, I would have told you... well, I would have told\n you that sounds awesome! But then I probably wouldn't have done it.\n Because I would have known I was going to do it. And what fun would that\n have been?\n
\n
\n It's hard to believe it's done, I'm sure mostly for me\n personally. If you do the math, you'll note I produced an average of\n more than 5 images per day, every single day for that year-long stretch.\n In retrospect, it was a matter of routine inseparable from day to day\n existence. I didn't notice the effort, and I didn't notice the year. It\n wasn't a labor. It was just what I did.\n
\n
\n But I guess it's more\n than just a shift in habitual momentum. There's a note of melancholy.\n These detectives won't be up to their antics anymore (unless I make\n deliberate exceptions to their retirement, of course). It seems strange\n to me that these characters have become so well defined in my mind, even\n though they've never uttered a single word. It was never supposed to be\n that way. It was just supposed to be about a cruddy-looking dude in his\n office.\n
\n
\n But that said, I'm pretty excited to get working on\n something new. And maybe, if you're not all that busy, we could take the\n first step of this amazing new journey together.\n
\n
\n Thanks for\n reading!\n
\n
\n - Andrew.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Then take a number.\n
\n
\n Jeffrey-
OC/
WIGU-Rowland and I\n both got ours at the deli counter of weird coincidences involving\n crudely drawn amphibious superheroes. My immediate thought was this was\n like an especially shitty or an especially awesome episode of Lost.\n Maybe it is both.\n
\n
\n The year was 1986, and\n as\n he tells it, Jeff's 11 year-old mind conceived of a hero named\n Superfrog (no space).\n
\n
\n Flash forward to the year 1990, a time when\n my 11 year-old mind would independently duplicate this feat, and bring\n into the world -- again -- a hero named Super Frog (but with a\n space!)\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/oldart1.jpg\"/)
\n
\n This\n cover stirs visions of a an intrepid young lad soldiering through that\n night sky with a thin, purple magic marker, thrashing in every\n conceivable direction like a crazed raccoon trying to escape an empty\n swimming pool. But it looks like he eventually and quite understandably\n muttered \"fuck this\" and stomped off to plunder the kitchen for some\n delicious Slimer-themed\n
\n Ecto\n Cooler Hi-C.\n
\n
\n You'll note some striking similarities between\n my and Jeff's work, aside from breadth of ambition.\n (Amphibition?)\n
\n
\n They both dwelt on swampy planets. Though mine was\n supposed to be Earth, since my story followed a Superman template. I\n figured he might as well since he shared a prefix with that hero. Jeff's\n looks like it fits into more of a Star Wars mold, which would make\n \"Amphibia\" somewhat akin to Yoda's swampy planet I guess.\n
\n
\n Also\n note that while Jeff's planet was plagued by a \"terrorist group called\n MEGA\", my story was published by MEGA comics. This is obviously a word\n one dare not leave uncapitalized. Also both these frogs had really cool\n underground lairs.\n
\n
\n But I'm afraid that's where the similarities\n end.\n
\n
\n 11 year-old Jeff's handwriting is actually better than mine\n is today, let alone the grisly marks which I pawned off as letters at\n age 11. You'll also note Jeff could actually string together a pretty\n decent sentence. \"
But,\n Amphibia was not without its evil forces…\" Note the fairly\n sophisticated use of the double negative to take a little something off\n the sentence for rhetorical purposes. He could have taken the easy route\n and said \"Amphibia had so many evil forces!\" Or, \"Amphibia had all hella\n evil forces up ins, yo!\" if he wanted to produce a tone of jocular\n irony. (Although I doubt that sort of irony had been invented yet in\n 1986.) The point is, he wasn't using language as a blunt instrument to\n say what he wanted to say.\n
\n
\n Whereas I took that blunt instrument,\n used it to murder a family of four, and hid the bodies in my garage.\n
\n You will\n observe this sample.\n \n
\n
\n It's actually hard for me to believe an\n 11 year-old did this. To me it doesn't look very far beyond the reach of\n a 6 year-old. Where does one even begin dissecting this?\n
\n
\n Ok, the\n Dr. Claw-style boss wants his henchman with an upsettingly phallic hat\n to go down to the \"science plant\". Where they do science. He wants him\n to steal some science. Fair enough. Then he instructs him to take a\n \"disgise\", and we shortly receive a humorous payoff. His disguise is\n simply a jacket. Ha ha, right?\n
\n
\n Maybe. Except that I explicitly\n remember that I did not intend for this to be a joke. I was serious.\n That was his serious disguise.\n
\n
\n Then at gunpoint, or maybe tube of\n Ben-Gaypoint, he commands the aardvark fellow to surrender the main\n project. Like, the main science thing they do. He wants him to hand over\n the big science thing. But it turns out he \"already launched it\". He\n launched all the science they were working on into space, and he is\n sorry about it. Maybe if the snake with the dick hat got there a little\n earlier, all that science would still be there.\n
\n
\n Then later on in\n the comic when I got tired of all this storytelling bullshit, I went and\n
\n drew\n a\n map. This was my first hack at a comic, and I don't think I\n actually even liked comics. All I really wanted to do was design the\n next Super Mario Bros. game and mail it to some Japanese developers. I\n actually tried to do this several times, and I just assumed whoever\n looked at it would be blown away by my ideas while making little hushed\n noises of polite awe in that distinctly Japanese way.\n
\n
\n When I was\n 11 my teachers thought I was [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed. This isn't some sort of joke to\n make you laugh. This is actually true. For a while thereafter I resented\n the accusation. But looking back on this work I'm starting to think they\n might have been technically right. Whatever the case, I don't know why I\n ever had the notion that I was artistically inclined before age\n 11.\n
\n
\n But in looking through this archive of relics, it's pretty\n clear my artistic development took a major leap in the following year.\n
\n I did\n this\n drawing when I was 12. Ok, so it's obviously inspired very\n heavily by Rob Liefeld's work in the early 90s. Still, looking back on\n it I think it's probably better than anything\n
\n Liefeld\n ever did. I even came up with a kickass signature brand for that\n year, \"DREW92\". WHOA, COOL DUDE!!!\n
\n
\n Then from there it appears my\n artwork enjoyed\n
\n pretty\n |\n
\n brisk\n |\n
\n strides\n through the rest of high school. Actually that first image there seems\n somewhat reminiscent of a Problem Sleuth villain, even though I drew it\n about 15 years ago.\n
\n
\n My and Jeff's stroll down Super Frog lane is\n reminding me the more things change, the more they stay the same. Don't\n believe me?\n
\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/before_after1.jpg\"/)
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/before_after2.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Mob\n boss villains separated by two decades.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/before_after3.jpg\"/)
\n
\n You're\n eventually supposed to grow out of shit like this, right?\n
\n
\n I don't know why I didn't scan the rest of Super Frog. The samples\n above are from an archive consisting of photos I took about five years\n ago. I'm not sure what my thinking was at the time.\n
\n
\n I'll see if I\n can dig up the original book and scan all of it. If I do, I'll post it.\n But I'll be trailing behind Jeff's documentation of his old comic, which\n I suppose is only fitting. He was always ahead of the curve on this\n Superfrog/Super[space]Frog business.\n
\n
\n Oh, also\n
\n another\n guy cropped up who did a Superfrog (Super-Frog, with a dash!) when\n he was a youngster.\n
\n
\n Look, if you are 11 and you are a boy, here's\n what's up. You're going to be drawing a COMIC. That comic will be about\n a FROG. That frog is also gonna be SUPER. This is what your DNA will\n tell you to do, and if you don't do it there's probably something wrong\n with you. This is what SCIENCE says will happen, and this can be\n verified, assuming some dumbass doesn't go ahead and launch that science\n into space first.\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n I'm really just reposting this article from my old blog so\n \n Byron can link to it\n in his new blog.\n
\n
\n Originally posted: 06/24/08\n
\n ---------------------------------------\n
\n
\n
\n Tim Russert and George Carlin both recently passed away, and it is\n time to honor their memory with the somber gravity that can only be\n conveyed by that\n \n sappy\n acoustic version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.\n
\n
\n It is also time for us to acknowledge that their very real souls have\n moved on to the very real afterlife, where their transient physical\n identities will persist relentlessly for all eternity.\n
\n
\n As such I have put together this collage in memoriam as is the stoic\n tradition of this blog [EDIT: RE: MY OLD BLOG]. So keep a seat warm\n for me, George. I can’t wait for your bit on the 10 words you can’t\n say in heaven! And Tim, keep giving ‘em hell! ;)\n
\n
\n
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\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/russert-carlin.jpg\"/)
\n
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\n
\n
\n Ok so here's what up.\n
\n
\n I was recently embroiled (am still\n embroiled???) in this exotic prankster's feud with\n
\n this guy who draws\n dinosaurs saying things. Ok he doesn't really draw them but anyway.\n It was fun (is still fun???) but then due to some mental handicap\n specific to the needlessly officious I deleted some of my earlier\n
\n prankins\n \n because the news section\n was getting a little long in the tooth. VERTICALLY SPEAKING.\n
\n
\n It\n was like a great venerable redwood and I was sort of like an especially\n angry Paul Bunyan, or just some really terrifically huge dude with an\n axe who hates trees, and possibly harbors disdain for the very concept\n of HEIGHT ITSELF.\n
\n
\n So I did this and dusted my hands but then some\n people started yelling at me.\n
\n
\n So I'm like, ok, I guess I can put\n it all back up somehow, even though that stuff I deleted is gone\n forever. I don't exactly have a\n
\n stout archival repository\n \n for every frivolous little EPIC FUCKING BATTLESCAPE AMONG WORLD CLASS\n PRACTICAL JAPESTERS that happens to flutter through the perfumey breeze\n of my life.\n
\n
\n I promised I'd take a crack at reconstructing what I\n said, and in the process probably charting new frontiers in the realm of\n dubious fidelity.\n
\n
\n Anyway why don't we take this thing from the\n top. Ryan said this once upon a time, and I have emboldened the key\n point.\n
\n
\n
\n February 4th, 2009: Andrew \"MS Paint Adventures\" Hussie has been putting together some videos with his friend Jan van den Hemel where they re-edit some Star Trek: TNG footage into hilarious short videos. They're great, you guys! I recommend watching them in order because it is comedy gold that builds on itself really nicely.\n \n Andrew Hussie is quickly becoming the only person whose house I park outside at night. I just want to watch him eat his dinner.\n \n\n
\n
\n And\n I was tickled he said it, but then I went on to say (probably) something\n like this.\n
\n
\n Ryan, you're not fooling anyone sitting in your car,\n sort of ducking down behind your dashboard like that. [I think I\n probably mentioned something about opera glasses, or goggles here, which\n he retrieved from his glovebox. I'm not sure why I would suggest he keep\n such a thing in his glovebox. I think my motivation was probably to use\n language to cast him as a bit of a lithe-fingered fop. I'm going to go\n ahead and assume that I was successful in this respect, and blow my\n whistle while hoisting my arms for the touchdown sign like football refs\n do whenever they're in the vicinity of a sick burn.\n
\n
\n Also I\n mentioned something about how I was eating a turkey sandwich or\n something. Oops, I should probably return to my \"voice\".]\n
\n
\n Ryan, I\n am eating a turkey sandwich or something.\n
\n
\n Ok, Ryan caught wind of\n all that PRETTY QUICK.\n
\n
\n
\n February 5th, 2009: UPDATE: Last night Andrew had a open-faced turkey sandwich with a glass of water. He took a bite and chewed, frowning at his dinner. He sprinkled some pepper on top, and took another bite. The sandwich appeared to satisfy him now, and he dispatched it quickly, drinking the water all in one go at the end. Impressive. He then reached for his empty glass, turning it upside down and using it like a microphone. I couldn't hear clearly, but it sounded like he was reciting \"Baby Got Back\", sitting there at the dinner table. I felt like he was putting on a show for my benefit. I got suspicious - did he know he was being watched? But then some water slide down the glass onto his lap and he jumped up, brushing his slacks down and running out of the room, cursing. It was that little detail that made the whole evening worthwhile.\n \n
\n
\n I\n said something kind of complicated in response to this… wait, oops, hang\n on…\n
\n
\n Ryan. I'm going to say something kind of complicated in\n response to this. The basic gist of it will be that while you are\n distracted by my outrageous domestic broadcast and its embarrassing void\n of self-awareness, I took the opportunity to deploy a servant through my\n cellar door and into the yard and had him shove a whole can of cookie\n dough into your car's tailpipe.\n
\n
\n CHECK AND MATE, prank\n buddy.\n
\n
\n Alright I didn't say that last part, but in just\n transcribing it now, oh man. It was just so sweet how I did that to his\n car.\n
\n
\n Ryan didn't really see it that way though.\n
\n
\n
\n February 6th, 2009: Okay, so I guess Andrew has, like, a butler? Who he pays to stuff food into my car's exhaust pipe? And that's fine, that's cool. We all need jobs. But when I drive home and my car stalls out a few minutes in and it's because the tail pipe is blocked with chocolate-chip cookie dough, it's not that awesome. Andrew's house is at the end of a deserted lane surrounded by a bunch of fields, and now I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere.\n \n
\n
\n
\n So I walk back to Andrew's place - takes about 20 minutes. I ring the doorbell. No answer. I knock on the door. All the lights are on; I know he's home. I go round back and I stand in the dark of his back yard and I can see him there in his living room. His soggy slacks are spread out on the couch. His underpants are tasteful. He's rapping again. It sounds like - yes, it's Rapper's Delight. Andrew's really belting it: \"Have you ever went over a friend's house to eat / And the food just aint no good? / I mean the macaroni's soggy, the peas are mushed / and the chicken tastes like wood.\"\n \n
\n
\n
\n I've never realized how much of that song is about food.\n \n
\n
\n At\n this point I don't actually need to make up an approximate ridiculous\n reply, because I can submit word for word the ACTUAL RIDICULOUS REPLY\n which I typed. On a KEYBOARD:\n
\n
\n Ok, well it seems Mr. North didn't\n totally appreciate the\n
\n Pop n Fresh emissions test I had old Snootington\n slip into his muffler. Some people just don't know how to take a\n joke.\n
\n
\n
\n February 9th, 2009: I woke up parked outside my house. Andrew was nowhere to be seen. My shirt was folded neatly in my lap and I was wearing a very nice pair of suspenders. Someone had written on my chest: \"Human Hug Factory\". I couldn't remember, but I knew - I know - that everything will be alright.\n \n
\n
\n As\n I slip back into \"hypothetical reply\" mode for some reason again, I'm\n caused to wonder by Ryan's tone if he is treating my submission to Urban\n Dictionary as a sort of sweeping denouement to our grand mutual\n Prankisode.\n
\n
\n I could hardly fault him if his intent was a\n \"rhetorical wind-down\", a sort of genteel \"that's all, folks\" in the\n manner so comfortable and form-fitting to men of North's class and\n distinction.\n
\n
\n Could it be that this borderline-psychotic\n transcription poses as the final blunt thud on the horse's soft carcass?\n Or could it be the calm in the storm before North's next ferocious\n gotcha?\n
\n
\n Oh Jesus.\n
\n
\n I'd better get back to my mansion and\n order those goodfornothing butlers back to their fucking battle\n stations…\n
\n
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\n\n
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\n
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\n
\n Recently I helped a friend edit some episodes of Star Trek: The Next\n Generation. I've collected them all\n
\n on this web page\n here.\n
\n
\n Some other things of note: Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher)\n from the show has seen them and\n
\n written about it in\n his blog. The videos have also appeared on TV, a on a\n
\n G4 broadcast called Attack of the Show. (It is\n mentioned in item number 4 on that clip.) They went as far as getting in\n costumes and sort of \"acting out\" the scenes from the\n
\n particular episode they showed. Cool!\n
\n
\n A\n few other notes on this, and some FAQish sort of stuff...\n
\n
\n These\n were edited by
\n Jan Van den Hemel, who's obviously\n pretty awesome at this. I helped him make these by writing these sort of\n \"scripts\", suggesting how to arrange clips, what lines to dub, and what\n sort of visual effects to try out. I also usually supply the, uh,\n
\n
external resources. Jan supplies a lot of input\n to the \"scripting\" process too. The result I think is a pretty effective\n fusion of our senses of humor, but of course all the technical editing\n gravitas is pure Jan.\n
\n
\n We will probably keep making these videos,\n as long as it stays fun. We'll keep doing Star Trek for a while, but\n will likely also try using samples from other TV shows and movies later.\n
\n
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\n
\n Exactly one year ago, I purchased a painting of a horse.\n
\n
\n I chronicled this remarkable tale in my old blog. I repost the major excerpts from this adventure here today for posterity.\n
\n
\n ------\n \n
\n
\n
\n Posted 12/17/2007\n
\n “Fundraiser 07-08: Need for the Steed”\n \n
\n
\n A\n lot of webmasters such as bloggers or webcomic authors have fundraisers\n from time to time. It’s usually for something like a new computer (they\n are upgrading so they can better bring YOU content. How benevolent!), or\n some other piece of electronic equipment, or maybe even a medical\n procedure.\n
\n
\n This practice is of course self-indulgent bullshit. If\n you need money for something, go get a job and save the money yourself.\n Shaking coins from your readership like a piggybank at the threat of\n suspended content or hiatus is a crass move indeed.\n
\n
\n Unless you\n have a really good reason, that is. Like me.\n
\n
\n Today I am launching\n a bold fundraising campaign, “Fundraiser 07-08: Need for the Steed”, to\n obtain the monies necessary to purchase this incredible\n painting.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/flamingsteedpainting.jpg\"/)
\n
\n A\n while ago I discovered this artist simply named “T”. I was instantly\n smitten.\n
\n
\n I “reviewed” (i.e. fawned over) the work at an earlier\n date. I have supplied an excerpt from this review here.\n
\n
\n
\n Everything about this painting is fucking amazing. Oakland Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski fending off a wild, flaming black steed, in a mystical snowcapped mountain setting. I don’t know if it’s the concept alone, which itself is obviously mind-blowing. Maybe it’s also the curious, vaguely-humanoid musculature of the horse. It has a man’s bicep and triceps, and some very suspiciously man-like back muscles. Or maybe it’s the flaming mane, which on closer inspection, doesn’t resemble flame so much as synthetic orange puppet hair. This steed is either from hell, or has recently escaped Fraggle Rock, and is ready to tear the entire NFL a new asshole. But he didn’t count on bumping into Bill Romo (understandably, since he was bucking around the middle of the damned Himalayas).\n \n
\n
\n I\n wrote that several years ago, and before I catch myself extolling the\n grandeur of the painterly genius of “T” again, I’ll just get to the\n point. A couple years ago around the same time of year, a little before\n Christmas, I wrote “T” an email offering to purchase the painting. In\n addition to gushing about his work with strategically vapid and\n obsequious prose, I offered him $50 for it. This offer was more than\n fair, I thought. He however declined, saying he simply could not accept\n any less than $400 for it.\n
\n
\n Ok, so obviously I thought this guy\n was out of his fucking mind, turning down good money of any quantity for\n this ugly piece of shit. But that was probably just the anger of\n rejection talking. I would get over it.\n
\n
\n Recently, I offered to\n buy the painting again, hoping he might have forgotten about his\n hard-line stance and come to terms with the unsellability of his putrid\n work (oops, there I go again with the bitterness. I have good reason\n again though.) I was prepared to offer another $50, maybe go a little\n higher if necessary. It’s turning into a kind of Christmas tradition.\n This is how all of the finest holiday traditions begin, I think. Through\n hostile adherence to something pointless and mildly\n excruciating.\n
\n
\n This is how the latest interaction went down.\n Here’s the pitch I opened with:\n
\n
\n
\n ———–\n \n
\n
\n Hello,\n \n
\n
\n
\n I am writing you in regard to this beautiful painting\n \n
\n
\n listed on your website. [link to painting]\n \n
\n
\n
\n Would you consider selling this?\n \n
\n
\n
\n A long time ago I wrote you on the same subject, but\n \n
\n
\n it seemed the paintings were unavailable if I recall.\n \n
\n
\n
\n I am hoping they may be available now! What would you\n \n
\n
\n charge for the above piece?\n \n
\n
\n
\n Thank you for your time.\n \n
\n
\n ———–\n \n
\n
\n Personally I think it\n was a pretty well composed pitch. The tone is right, and I think I\n tailored my demeanor to seem just convincingly stupid enough to\n genuinely like this [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed painting (which I do!). Notice how I\n downplayed his vicious prior obstinacy by referring to the paintings as\n “unavailable if I recall”. Master stroke. Also I didn’t come out firing\n with a dollar figure, mainly because I didn’t want to scare him off\n right away. I needed to ease him into the fact that I am still only\n willing to part with $50 for this abomination.\n
\n
\n Anyway, this was\n his reply.\n
\n
\n
\n ———–\n \n
\n
\n Hey Andrew,\n \n
\n
\n
\n Thanks for checking back. I do have a price on the painting it is $425. A few people have e-mailed me about buying it for less, but I would rather just hang on to it. I like the piece a lot and haven’t painted anything since it. It was to be the first in a series of sports fantasy paintings, but I have gotten side tracked with my job and other family things so I haven’t started painting again. I will get back to it soon. So, if you want it for the $425 it is yours, if not, I will keep it on my wall.\n \n
\n
\n
\n Thank you\n \n
\n
\n T\n \n
\n
\n ———–\n \n
\n
\n I grope for language\n to describe my reaction. Nay, a single word.\n
\n
\n LIVIDITY.\n
\n
\n $425??\n So it seems he actually\n
\n raised\n \n the\n price over the years. Oh, and PARDON my skepticism at the implication\n that he has received other offers over the years for his idiotic shit.\n He is probably only vaguely recollecting the ONE time it happened. From\n ME.\n
\n
\n Naturally, I swallowed my indignation like the bitch I am. I\n just need that painting, and obviously it’s going to take more fancy\n footwork to pry it from his grubby, miserly hands. I responded, and this\n was my first sentence.\n
\n
\n
\n Wow, it is very cool that it is still for sale! I would\n \n
\n
\n really love to have it.\n \n
\n
\n Notice\n how easily I slip back into character. Whatever obscure pocket of\n personal acumen this is, I seem to possess it in spades. I probably\n could have been one of those spies who entrenches himself in Russian\n territory, uncovering intelligence on nuclear sites. Except instead of\n nukes, I would be disarming the Russian aristocracy of all their shitty\n paintings of horses, and vanishing with them into the\n night.\n
\n
\n
\n $425 is a lot of money for me. But I think your work\n \n
\n
\n is good and you deserve to be compensated well for it.\n \n
\n
\n If\n his heart wasn’t made of stone, it would melt at this line. I am playing\n up to his megalomaniacal belief that his work actually has value,\n combined with voicing a sad state of affairs for myself, like I am a\n charity case. For all he knows, I’m like Tiny Tim with a crutch, holding\n up my tin bowl, and instead of asking for gruel, saying, “Could I please\n ‘ave a paintin’ sir, preferably an NFL-star-battling-horse themed one,\n sir?” These sentiments would tickle any artist starved for positive\n feedback for his ghastly work, assuming he wasn’t totally deranged.\n Unfortunately, his heart is made of stone, and he is deranged.\n
\n
\n I\n went on in that reply, trying to strike up a deal, but he didn’t\n respond. I was prepared to dish out more toadying remarks, too, like\n seriously encouraging him to take up painting again, and saying I would\n love to see him continue his series of sports fantasy paintings. This\n has the added bonus of being true. How about Terrel Owens putting a\n unicorn in a headlock while forging through an enchanted jungle? Or star\n kicker Adam Vinatieri kicking an ogre in the groin near a dark wizard’s\n castle? Or quarterback Tom Brady kissing a male elf atop a bubbling\n volcano? This series would be fucking dynamite, and I’d love to own the\n whole set (as long as I didn’t have to sell my kidneys for it).\n
\n
\n Anyway,\n if I want this painting, obviously the only thing I can do is pay the\n full price for it. And I think you will agree, it would be ridiculous\n for me to spend that much of my own money on it.\n
\n
\n That’s where YOU\n come in!\n
\n
\n So\n
\n pony\n \n up with\n the donations guys, and soon you will enjoy the vicarious delights of\n owning a completely unique work of art, through me!\n
\n
\n If you\n donate, I will do something for you. I’m not really sure what yet. It\n depends on the size of the donation. If it’s only like $5 or $10, I\n might just write you a detailed thank you note. Maybe I will email you a\n custom sketch or a comic too, we’ll see. If you make a bigger donation,\n like $50, you can feel free to be more demanding with my time, like tell\n me to draw you a comic and mail it to you. I don’t know, but I’ll make\n it worth your while. Come on guys, let’s work on this together!\n
\n
\n Of\n course the biggest reward is the giving itself, and knowing you are\n contributing to a cause much more worthwhile than something lame like\n upgrading my computer. YAWN!\n
\n
\n The donation thermometer is ready to\n skyrocket!\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fundraiser1.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Caveats\n and provisos: In the event that there are some donations, but the target\n is not reached, I reserve the right to spend the donations on whatever I\n want. Like dinners at the Olive Garden. I also reserve this right should\n the target be reached, but I no longer really feel like buying the\n painting.\n
\n
\n
\n
\n ------\n
\n
\n So as you can see from the above “progress bar” graphic, the donation figure steadily climbed to $145. This was very promising, but it was still a long way off the mark, and I was beginning to suspect I would fall short. I was already contemplating the succession of succulent Olive Garden feasts I would be using that money to finance. The kaleidoscope of savory Mediterranean flavors had begun to work its powers of affordable, family-dining hypnosis on me.\n
\n
\n But not so fast.\n
\n
\n Early in January of the following year, this is what happened.\n
\n
\n ------\n \n
\n
\n
\n
\n Posted 01/07/2008\n
\n \"WE FUCKING DID IT!\"\n \n
\n
\n Ladies\n and gentlemen…\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n VICTORY.\n \n\n\n
\n
\n TLDR -\n Yesterday, two incredible guys, both named Paul, independently of each\n other donated the full remainder needed to buy the painting. Yeah, you\n may want to read the story. It’s fucking epic.\n
\n
\n How was this feat\n possible? Needless to say, the magnificent achievement’s brick and\n mortar was the charitable will and good grace of you, the readers. Alas,\n noble though your efforts were, they were not enough. Standing on your\n shoulders, I only reached halfway up the wall, a far cry from being\n allowed to glimpse the pleasure gardens of painterly depictions of\n unbridled equine savagery waged against professional sports legends.\n
\n
\n It’s\n at this point in the story which I smile and tap my pipe on the heel of\n my shoe. My gaze becomes abstracted, my eyes shimmer. I am no longer\n with you.\n
\n
\n I am crumpled under the barstools of an unaccountable\n dive somewhere. I marinate in puddles of liquids to which I myself\n contributed not moments ago. I mumble incoherently with my lips around\n something—I think, and pray, it is a bottle. Slurred words wander from\n the drowsy orifice, and occasionally stumble from a runny nostril.\n “Horse”, was it? “Romanowski”, did I say? If the other disinterested\n patrons of the bar strained to listen, they might have made out the\n phrase “epic mountaintop struggle” as well.\n
\n
\n I thrash. My\n delirious convulsions become more pronounced. Feverish visions pester\n me, like an overzealous carnival employee lurking, poised to frighten in\n a shoddy haunted house. My breathing is heavy. “No… horse…” I say. “I\n can’t… linebacker…” I wheeze. At once I sit upright, and shout, “I will\n never own that painting of a horse attacking a champion of the\n gridiron!!!”\n
\n
\n There was a voice. A rich, amber-throated sort of\n vocal honey.\n
\n
\n
\n “Yes you will.”\n \n
\n
\n My eyes\n find a pair of shoes. Cream-colored, polished like the ivory bust of an\n African prince, presented as a gift to European royalty. Draped over\n them, cuffs belonging to pants, also cream-colored and well pressed. I\n look up. And up. This man had no end! His elegant form broadened as it\n ascended, and was stopped, nay,\n
\n commanded to halt\n \n by a pair of shoulders so sturdy, a banquet for a devout Catholic family\n of fifteen could be served on each, and the settings would not jostle an\n inch while a pious,\n
\n severe\n \n grace\n was conducted by the patriarch. Hanging on these shoulders was a coat of\n immaculate cut, and a slightly different cream color. Other colors of\n cream accented his tie, shirt, and kerchief, and above all those was a\n bronze, manly face. His smile was wide and serene, his eyes winter blue,\n deep with kindness. He wore a cream-colored hat.\n
\n
\n The room hushed.\n Somewhere a utensil fell onto a piece of glass or ceramic. Everyone\n knew.\n
\n
\n It was Paul Elsewho.\n
\n
\n “But… but sir. I can’t buy it.\n I haven’t the monetary discretion for the painting.” It was the\n sniveling blither indigenous to the tongue of the truly\n pathetic.\n
\n
\n “You do now,” the man said, clicking a ball point pen,\n which now busied itself above a checkbook. “You can and you will buy\n that painting of a steed grappling with an Oakland-area\n athlete.”\n
\n
\n The words resonated from his amber throat. I knew any\n words from it would be true. He handed me the check for $155 United\n States dollars.\n
\n
\n Even though I know in my heart the assurance of\n this man stretches further than that of the U.S. Treasury for the merit\n of the currency he gives me, my craven mouth cannot help but persist in\n its loathsome habits of doubt. “But sir… what if it’s\n
\n still\n \n not enough?”\n
\n
\n That’s\n when the door exploded off its hinges, as if punched inward by the\n searing daylight. The light was then blocked by another imposing form,\n its silhouette boasting the contours of an exquisite physique. “\n
\n That’s where I come in,\n \n ” boomed\n the rugged, gravelly voice.\n
\n
\n I clutched the garb of Paul E. and\n hid behind his confident frame. I quivered like a reprehensible bit of\n cowardly gelatin. Through the tears, I saw who it was. Everyone did. It\n was the legendary Paul W.\n
\n
\n He tossed his scarf over one shoulder.\n The tables in the room lifted an inch off the ground with each\n astonishing footstep. The bartender hid. Paul dropped a sack full of\n valuables, which made a noise like a gypsy’s cart smashing into a brick\n wall. Printed on the bag was “$155”. As I opened the bag, a gleam of\n golden yellow illuminated my wonder-stricken face.\n
\n
\n The mighty\n Paul W. caressed his stubble thoughtfully while giving me a stern look.\n The corner of his mouth turned upward, ever so slightly, and he winked.\n “Yeah, that oughta do you just fine,” he said. A man in a bowler cap\n sitting in a dingy corner must have rubbed him the wrong way at that\n moment. Paul W. turned to the man and, with a ferocity in his eyes\n typically recalled only by dead lion tamers, said, “What the fuck are\n you looking at?” The man’s head exploded.\n
\n
\n Yes, the other Paul was\n right. It\n
\n did\n \n oughta do me. It\n did oughta do me\n
\n just fine\n \n .\n These two noble, charitable, magnificent men entered my life and changed\n everything. They asked for nothing in return. Indeed, what does one give\n the man who has everything, and everything to give? These two radiant\n titans of masculine virtue, they are perfect. They are gracious\n perfection itself. I feel emboldened as I am flanked by my two Pauls, my\n saviors of brawn, my dapper hulks of sapient mettle. I can do anything\n with my Pauls. My arms interlock with theirs, and together we spin\n pinwheels into the night. Spinning, spinning, laughing, and\n spinning.\n
\n
\n I speak to you as a man who has had his faith in\n humanity not merely restored, not merely gutted, refitted with high-end\n parts and refurbished, but as a man who has had humanity itself, in the\n form of two exquisite Pauls, invest its faith in me.\n
\n
\n I speak to\n you as a man who has just purchased a painting of an orange-haired pony\n flicking its hooves at a strapping pigskin warrior.\n
\n
\n I speak to\n you—\n
\n
\n
\n VICTORIOUS.\n \n
\n
\n
\n
\n ------\n
\n
\n I promptly took the money and ran like the black-sinewed, scarlet-maned wind. I ran to T’s Paypal page and bought his astonishing work of art.\n
\n
\n All that was left to do was for me to sit back and wait for my painting to come in the mail.\n
\n
\n And sit back and wait for my painting to come in the mail I did.\n
\n
\n And come in the mail it did.\n
\n
\n ------\n \n
\n
\n
\n
\n Posted 01/18/08\n
\n \"Total Victory\"\n \n
\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/horsevictory1.jpg\"/)
\n
\n If\n you’ve followed me on this journey, from the harrowing setbacks at the\n start, to the stunning success of the fund raiser and ultimate\n validation of all that is right with humanity, then you know how\n important this day is.\n
\n
\n This is a victory not for me, but for us\n all. It is a spirited, flaming-maned buck against the petulant voice\n which tells us our dreams can’t come true, and we are just wasting our\n time.\n
\n
\n Dreams do come true. Your wildest wishes can happen. Magic\n is real. Fairytales are sobering nonfiction, and your bravest fancies\n are a rock-fucking-solid lock. Hold fast to your dreams and soon you\n will hold them over your head like the beating, dripping heart of the\n enemy commander.\n
\n
\n When one commits his entire being to an idea or\n an outcome, never relenting or wavering, he cannot be stopped. It is not\n a matter of stating firmly, “One day, I will have that painting.” It is\n a matter of stating, and believing, “That painting is already mine. The\n momentary separation between myself and the painting is incidental to\n the reality, and of no consequence.” When one compresses all his drive\n and concentration onto the head of a pin for one goal, it can no longer\n be considered a goal. It is a conclusion manifest in the furling\n parchments of reality itself.\n
\n
\n So I urge you to celebrate this\n victory with me. The road was long and rocky, the potholes numerous. But\n in retrospect, any perceived suspense was merely destiny’s sleight of\n hand!\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/horsevictory_photochop1.jpg\"/)
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/horsevictory_photochop2.jpg\"/)
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/horsevictory_photochop3.jpg\"/)
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/horsevictory_photochop4.jpg\"/)
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/horsevictory_photochop5.jpg\"/)
\n
\n
\n AND\n SO ON\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n (Since Christmas is in the air, I thought it would be a good time for a redux of this article posted in my old blog. It is probably the only thing worth salvaging from that blog and in this season of sharing I feel it is important to share it with you.\n \n )\n
\n
\n I\n hate Fancy-Santas. Unlike the archetypical Santa, the cliché with the\n bright red suit, white beard, and unassuming accessories like black\n boots and mittens, the Fancy-Santa tries to be more than the cliché. He\n drapes himself in ruffled velvets, expensive European leathers, peculiar\n hats, and often can be found carrying around armloads of weird things,\n like a wreath, or a swan, or a fucking bush.\n
\n
\n But what’s worse is\n his attitude. The Fancy-Santa acts like he’s too good to be a normal\n Santa. While a normal Santa is jolly and friendly, the Fancy-Santa is\n aloof and acts like a complete prick. He likes to think he’s mysterious,\n tiptoeing through the woods, occasionally pausing to cast an abstract\n gaze into the northern sky. What mortal could dare to even fathom the\n grand majesties behind his ice-blue eyes and gaudy attire? What mortal\n could afford one of his bullshit dolls or figurines?\n
\n
\n You’ve\n probably seen a Fancy-Santa slowly rotating on a QVC broadcast for about\n $900, while a spokeswoman gingerly strokes his velvet robes. She uses\n words like “beautiful” and “exquisite” and “precious”. To her, the\n Fancy-Santa resembles everything good and decent left in her life, a\n life looted of joy by a succession of boorish ex-husbands. There is\n nothing boorish about a Fancy-Santa though. He is thoughtful, dignified,\n elegant—the perfect gentleman. And the perfect catch for a lonely\n middle-aged woman, if she could just find him in the fucking woods\n first. (protip: set a bear trap)\n
\n
\n Still don’t know what I’m\n talking about? You’re lucky, then. But I’m afraid your good fortune runs\n out here.\n
\n
\n This is a Fancy-Santa.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta1.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Just\n look at that asshole. Who the fuck does he think he is? What is he so\n happy about?\n
\n
\n Listen, you imposter. You are not Kris Kringle. Put\n down the wreath, take off your silly robes, and go home.\n
\n
\n They are\n always decked out in an absurd plethora of ridiculous shit. He’s got a\n small crystal tree. You know, in case of an emergency. And some kind of\n weird lacey doily hanging from it. Also, a list for authenticity’s sake,\n because—ha ha!—he’s got to confirm which children are naughty or nice.\n As if he’s going to be giving children jack shit.\n
\n
\n If you ever run\n into a Fancy-Santa like this, the only proper recourse is to splash your\n eggnog in his face and pull down his pants.\n
\n
\n Next. Get a load of\n this horse’s ass.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta2.jpg\"/)
\n
\n There’s\n always a vague implication that Fancy-Santas are a kind of rugged\n proprietor of the wilderness. A great mystical outdoorsman, oozing\n communion with nature. He is a noble champion of the woods and all its\n critters.\n
\n
\n Bullshit!\n
\n
\n He’s a glorified bum. Just because he\n lives in the woods doesn’t mean he owns them. And just because animals\n are stupid enough to sidle up to him doesn’t mean he won’t eat them and\n then use their pelts to craft another luxurious hooded robe. I imagine\n happening upon a Fancy-Santa skulking around in the woods is sort of\n like seeing Bigfoot. Except Bigfoot probably has the decency to at least\n dig a hole before he takes a shit on the ground.\n
\n
\n This next one is\n a better example than the previous two, and I hate him all the more,\n because he takes himself more seriously.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta3.jpg\"/)
\n
\n It’s\n hard work being such a monumental bullshit artist like a Fancy-Santa. It\n helps to look grave and stern, as if you are burdened by crushing\n mountains of hidden wisdom. Secretly, the only wisdom he guards is an\n array of handy pointers on how to get fleas out of a beard.\n
\n
\n I\n guess the unspoken hook to a Fancy-Santa is that they’re supposed to be\n magic. Like a fucking wizard. They really look like wizards, but with a\n Santa twist. I think the Fancy-Santa thing is really just a way for\n wizard freaks to get their jollies (yes, that was a Santa pun). But they\n can do so through the safety of mainstream Christmas orthodoxy.\n Similarly, the same middle-aged women who like wizards possibly like\n them because they remind them of Santa, the great paternal emblem, and\n perhaps hence, the “perfect man”. This perhaps further is the disturbing\n central pivot point for some weird fetish or visceral attraction\n programmed into the female mind set to erupt in middle age. The\n wizard/Santa allure is deep-rooted stuff, and expresses itself in many\n ways. I wonder if it explains in part the popularity of Harry Potter.\n Dumbledore was sort of like a Fancy-Santa. I wonder if J.K. Rowling\n collects Fancy-Santas. Of course, Dumbledore was proven to be gay, which\n on further reflection may be a critical part of the mythos. It makes\n these ideal mystical men unavailable, furthering the complex of\n unattainability. Come to think of it, now I’m sure all Fancy-Santas must\n be gay too. They are FANCY, after all. The rouge cheeks, the playful\n smirks. It’s all adding up. They’re a bunch of nomadic fags whisking\n through the snow.\n
\n
\n But in reality, they aren’t even really all\n that magic. Because they’re stupid frauds. I mean, what can they really\n do that’s all that great? Maybe give you a sly wink, and when you turn\n around again, he’s gone. BIG FUCKING DEAL! He’s a self-absorbed jackass\n who would never use whatever lame powers he has to help anyone. He’s\n certainly not delivering presents. The real Santa doesn’t mess around.\n He’s got a whole army of slave labor devoted to making toys, and\n actually has the means to deliver them. A Fancy-Santa barely bothers\n with the pretense. He might get around to giving kids presents if all\n the children on the earth happened to live in the fucking woods with\n him, maybe in a two mile radius. But they don’t, they live in houses\n like normal people. Whenever a Fancy-Santa carries around toys, it is\n just for show. If you see him walking around with a teddy bear, I can\n guarantee you that in the near future, rather than give it to a\n youngster, he will burn it for warmth.\n
\n
\n Then there are ones like\n this, which are doubly infuriating. This dude thinks he’s Gandalf the\n White. Jesus Christ, he’s so fucking pure, I bet every time he bends\n over, a flock of white doves flaps frantically out of his\n ass.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta4.jpg\"/)
\n
\n It’s\n passed off like he’s the Lord of Winter or some bullshit. If you ever\n see an idiot like this traipsing around, the proper thing to do is\n approach him from behind and push him into a pile of snow and then run\n away.\n
\n
\n This one is riding a fucking bear. Go to hell,\n numbnuts!\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta5.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Look\n at the absurd hat on this one. And what exactly does he think he’s going\n to do with that sled full of toys? Who’s he trying to kid? Even he has\n to feel too much shame in his reprehensible appearance to parade that\n sled around in public. Anyway, I doubt he could push that thing more\n than a mile through the woods before suffering from cardiac\n arrest.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta6.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Then,\n as if standard Fancy-Santa fare weren’t dreadful enough, there are these\n themed ones. This one is sort of hobo-themed. This wayward wintry\n bindlestiff gazes vacantly into the clouds as if wondering where it all\n went wrong.\n
\n
\n The answer is of course the moment he decided to\n become a Fancy-Santa.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta7.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Surf’s\n up!!! There are few pleasures that compare to the experience of wringing\n sea water out of a puffy white beard.\n
\n
\n This Fancy-Santa seriously\n needs to just go fuck off.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta8.jpg\"/)
\n
\n Even\n the Orient is getting in on the act! This Fancy-Santa is absolutely\n terrifying. I can’t tell whether he embodies the spirit of Christmas, or\n the malice of a dark Asian emperor. I’ve never seen a Santa, or any\n holiday figure, who I suspect would beat the shit out of me with one\n hand while he used the other to sip calmly from a bowl of\n soup.\n
\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fancysanta9.jpg\"/)
\n
\n That\n is all I have to say about Fancy-Santas for now. But there is a lot more\n to say on the subject, and when I uncover more of these vile and\n stomach-turning truths about these frauds you can be sure that I will\n post all the dirt here.\n
\n
\n Maybe come Christmas morning the true\n Saint Nicholas will have left something to this effect beneath your\n tree.\n
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\n Submit a comment to this post to make a suggestion for the latest\n \n
\n\n MSPA\n \n\n
\n story.\n \n
\n
\n
\n You can also leave any other sort of comment about the site here. That's cool too.\n \n
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\n\n POST YOUR COMMENT\n \n\n
\n
\n
\n Some notes:\n
\n
\n - Keep it short! I tend to clip all suggestions to be about 60 characters or less.\n
\n
\n - Maybe this is obvious, but\n \n only\n make suggestions for the latest point in the story!\n \n Posting the suggestion \"shoot safe\" when I am 800 pages past that point doesn't make the slightest bit of sense!\n \n
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\n because some fat soaking monster will eat you\n
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\n sometimes when you want to get your nacho on theres some shit you just dont need so this is a shoutout to that
also this is a 10 part series maybe
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\n i was watching good luck chuck because i hate myself but thats another story
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\n
![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/danebarf.jpg\"/)
\n
\n this guy is hideous i wonder why i never noticed how ugly he was until i saw this movie. the problem may be exaggerated by contrast with jessica alba on the same screen cause she isnt too hard to look at at all. but damn.
\n he has a strikingly hateable face. i get the same feeling when im watching some movie magic behind the scenes thing and one of jim hensons wizards shows off some latex goblin head he made and sort of beams with fatherly pride like he outdid himself with this one.
i think his whole demeanor and his tired shtick and his rubber limbed histrionics dont help. i was kind of thinking while watching this hog slop that dane cook is really like a very very poor mans ben stiller crossed with a very very poor mans jim carrey.
which is weird because those guys are ALREADY poor mans versions of some other guys but i cant really think of the guys now. maybe they dont actually exist but rich folk are just kind of waiting around and hoping
which would make dane a guy slated for the utterly fucking destitute. dane cook is like part of an emergency relief care package for a third world nation. but then it turns out they dont want him
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![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/daneyuck.gif\"/)
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\n dane dont make any more movies\n
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![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/tonyhawwwwk.jpg\"/)
\n tony i got your back bro\n
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![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/sweetcred1.jpg\"/)
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i dont know this just seems vaguely derivative\n maybe what i mean is i wish i was the one who made that website. why is it the best kind of irony is always the unintended kind. dammit this candy slinging jackass doesnt even realize what a fucking genius he is. because hes too fucking stupid. stupid enough to think that a bunch of street savvy, weird-face, head-ass looking motherfuckers is a one way ticket to selling a goddamn tsunami of candy
\n i dont know where to begin with this thing its like trying to shake the hand of a really fat guy, what do you even grab
ENTER KIDS' ZONE... fuck i could write a graduate thesis on this garbage, im repelled just by the sheer audacity of its hydranecked powergrab for my contempt. at least KIDS isnt spelled with a Z maybe they havent figured out how to do that in england yet. no not with the queens english, but of course in one fell swoop they use that same silvery tongue to titillate the devils squirming asshole.
\n ok hang on... panning through the grisly multimedia trainwreck of an intro oh ok SKIP... and music off... ok
\n i wonder if that music was from THE STREET. probably fucking jacked right the fuck off some fly homie's boombox
\n now we need to MEET THE SWEET CRED GANG obviously as soon as fucking possible cause i dont know how i slept a fucking wink without this posse of smug cunts taking me to school. how should i wear a hat oh ok backwards? whoa whoa slow down are you sure itll even FIT that way. we are talking about the same thing right, a HAT right. ha ha
\n lets talk about SIMON
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\n
![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/sweetcred2.jpg\"/)
\n
\n ok i cant even say for sure if \"cool\" is even what they were going for here. reminds me of like in movies when they try to dress a drunk guy up to stand in as someone respectable to pull off a ruse, or maybe a dead guy like weekend at bernies. or like a dude who pretends to be a rich person butler to steal shit and if they find out they'll fuckin cut his dick off. i dunno. shit.
\n what im saying is that simon looks mentally handicapped and someone dressed him that way in the morning. dressed him \"cool\", skateboard check backwards hat check. i guess im saying simon is mentally challenged and he does skateboard stunts for applesauce (re: falls down)
\n the more i look at his head the more it resembles... i dont know
\n something indecent.
\n his head is like... imagine cauliflower-eared genitalia in a hat. imagine if you shaved someones pubic area and if what you found underneath could make a face at you. it would basically be simons face
\n the cartoonist i guess believes the lowered eyelids stylistically commands confidence but what he doesnt realize is that attribute massively amplifies the horrifying nature of the already latently grotesque. imagine if a dead guys nutsack had eyes and the eyelids lowered at you leaving little doubt: that sack KNOWS THE SCORE. fuck
\n oh man he LOVES: working on his skateboard moves and downloading GREAT VIDEOS... wait but where? grandad's gramophone or some uncool shit like that? NO AN MP4 PLAYER. thats how cool he is he doesnt even BOTHER with mp3 players like what the kids these days are probably using he skips right to fucking 4.
\n also hes not too keen on homework and i cant say i blame him, oh also he doesnt like not having money, and i mean damn son who DONT like being no broke ass mothafucker???? whoever wrote this shit needs to step on a rake in a comedic fashion
\n oh yeah hes 11 years old rounding him out to be the juviest wiggeriest little turd ever to politely request a beatdown via dipshitty smirk. oh ever notice how if a cartoon guy has a skateboard the wheels will NEVER be on the ground EVER.
\n im wearing myself out with this garbage and theres so much more filth to paw through.
\n what was wrong with the guy who made this. he was digging deep trying to get at some truth about young people i guess to \"connect\" with these little cretins who snap up his candy. i picture him rooting around in some chitinous cavity in his skull with a mean little seafood fork all digging and prying but instead of pulling out the truth all hes doing is yanking out little white fleshy bits that go awesome with butter.
\n ill talk about this later
\n the black guy oh god i gotta talk about the black guy
\n oh my god and look they have desktop wallpaper??? just point me to the nearest pantheon of dicks so i can suck every last one for it\n
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\n no not the game. just the guy. ive never played a tony hawk game.
\n ive never met tony hawk either. ill just go by mostly photos of him.
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![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/tonyhawk1.jpg\"/)
\n
\n look at this goofy motherfucker. it looks like kevin sorbo had a savage face collision with james woods. note that i didnt say they had a \"love child\". people who use that phrase are fucking assholes
\n you would never get the idea he makes a ton of dough scooting around on a wheeled-up piece of wood made for little boys. hey haggard dude. yeah you with the goonish facial proportions. can you go nab me some sick air?? and while youre up there why dont you find a real job
skateboards havent been asserted as legitimately cool since probably michael j fox outmaneuvered biff in the fifties and fed him a world of cowshit i think to prevent himself from fucking his own mom. that and bart simpson. but bart simpson was never cool, no one ever actually thought he was cool even in the thick of their early ninties delirium. he never actually said anything clever and now that i think about it he was vaguely effeminate, which would be fine i guess but it betrayed his wafer thin eat my shorts attitude. maybe 20 years of having your lines delivered by a woman will make that happen. seriously even the idiots in the 90s werent really sure what eat my shorts meant. its like they were aware it was a fucking dumbass thing to say on some level albeit dimly, and let some shitty characterization slide cause it was a funny show. dear matt groening being a \"cool kid\" means more than hating school and dishing out mediocre sass over the span of 7 presidential terms. i dont know this character is so old already maybe i should start ripping jughead a new asshole or maybe lil abner while im at it. what the fuck am i even doing
then i think for approximately two years in the 90s people thought rollerblades were cool, and then someone splashed a pitcher of cold piss in all our faces and woke us the fuck up from that nightmare. a guy lumbering around on rollerblades makes it look like someone fucked with frankensteins shoes in his sleep as a practical joke. if youre wearing rollerblades you might as well shuffle down to the pawn shop and fork over your dick cause you just became so frightening to women theyll start handing out pink ribbons en masse to promote you-awareness.
basically anybody who gets bent out of shape about anything that has wheels needs to be whipped briskly across the cheek with the wishbone of a huge flightless bird
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![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/tonyhawk2.jpg\"/)
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\n heres another one
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![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/tonyhawk3.jpg\"/)
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\n i dont care about this suddenly\n
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\n you see a bunch of fat wet animals and then you go home
\n who gives a crap\n
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\n this was my favorite part of the movie. bruce is talking to morgan freeman because he cant make jennifer aniston fall in love with him for some mind boggling reason
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![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/blog/brucealmighty.jpg\"/)
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here if youre interested\n
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andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234563189",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234563782",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234575405",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nhe's a fictional character\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234577094",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nmarshmallow peeps instead of candy corn\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234580723",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nit sounds like you are a little too skeptical.
\n
\ntldr; BELIEVE IT\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234581697",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni dont think i care for your tone\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234581898",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234582875",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ngummy bears yellow cake and ribbed condoms\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234584861",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni stopped reading at the comma\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234585235",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234586019",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234587648",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthey are not troubled times for nobody but you so the answer is no.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234588589",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni should start using the delete question feature\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234589763",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ntreat it respectably while its stern father is watching\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234591218",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthe implied mutual exclusivity turns my stomach\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234591774",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthis is a ruse i do not know you\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234593868",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyes but i need currency and clockticks of which i aint got much of neither\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234595692",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\noh my god please this question is SiLlY!1!1!
\n
\n(how big is the unicorns horn?)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234599252",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nvery many of the flash pages have been seriously influenced by the music, and sometimes songs lead me to do flash pages i wasn't planning on doing in the first place.
\n
\nmost other sources of inspiration: yeah pretty much the hammerspace thing\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234601348",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni say this truthfully and with the greatest respect to you:
\n
\ni consider the premise of the question to be childish and on the whole philosophically bankrupt\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234601934",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nare you a minor or a puppet?
\n
\nboth?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234607135",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nimagine a brillo pad the size of the universe. now imagine that instead of steel wool it is made of the agony of all living beings.
\n
\nnow imagine that pad being dragged across god's brain for the full perpetuity of existence.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234612972",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nwhat would break the tie? i need to know how to be better than everybody, forever. maybe we can help each other out.
\n
\nhow to be brilliant: make something awesome then blame it on your brain.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234616377",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni would use my powers to call one of my homies and say yo dogg you gotta drive me to the hospital because i just did something fuckin [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ED with a pogo stick. ha ha no dude i'll tell you when you get here just hurry man i'm hurt pretty bad\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234621870",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyeah well they gather dust in the wallet so i figure might as well get some use out of them\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234622148",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthis is terrible to read\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234623086",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nelves will fuck any hole as long as its owner is asleep\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234623463",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni use more punctuation.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234623661",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234623801",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234624031",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234625123",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni never tie my shoes. i leave them tied hard and slip em on and off like slippers. only sane way to wear shoes, period.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234626987",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nbyron never calls and neither do i. we are both perfectly misanthropic in precisely the same quantity.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234627135",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234627645",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nusually beer but mostly for lack of imagination\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234628360",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nim being fine and everyone likes me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234628628",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234628980",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ndumb theory, stupid question\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234631744",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nstop tricking me into having an opinion on this man\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234632686",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nbest question yet.
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\ni think maybe 4 years ago.
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\nwhen i was there i wasnt family and they gave me my money back\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234633517",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni think they all need to try to commit suicide a few more times before i reach a verdict\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234634775",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234636528",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ndammit
\n
\ni wish that wasn't a real thing\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234636886",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\n..................................................................................\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234638298",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni dont really ever do any hardcore art these days.
\n
\nconsequently i find myself malnourished.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234642710",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyes.
\n
\ni demand there be nothing ambiguous about the accusation.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234642913",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234644072",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nseems like there are logical fallacies with your simile\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234644396",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234644569",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234647930",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nindignation over furries is a tad stale.
\n
\ni'm not any more hotheaded about them than i am about candy corn or puppet butts\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234648714",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nusually 1 day, but a pretty solid day\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234650442",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyou can't just subtract a code though. you can make some determination about a number of POSSIBLE codes that could result from subtraction.
\n
\n#NERDY ANSWER YOU DIDN'T WANT\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 7, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234651021",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nit means i cant travel back in time to make fake blog posts\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234652464",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthe sweet bro quotes were a...
\n
\nDISTACTION
\n
\ni HAVE the endless vortex of self-reference\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234652981",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni thought he was a nice guy, and kind of short
\n
\nthen he stood up\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234653857",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
\n
\njust gonna bask in this one for a while
\n
\nfuck all y'all with your other dumb questions this guy is way better than you.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234654229",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthey were mentioned; warnings, issued.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234654709",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234655255",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
\n
\nreally i would be drawing now if not for this\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234657089",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nnot really, but a secret agenda for sneaking other sbahj quotes into HS is to make those a little more popular too so that particular quote is not the only one i hear all the time.
\n
\n#it's working
\n
\n#why am i using hashtags\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234658362",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nboth make excellent bait.
\n
\nthanks for the tip, mr. child predator.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234658741",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni dont know probably from real life old dudes sitting on mountains\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234658866",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234660831",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\njeff's a cool guy i dont get sad about nothin of the sort\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234662194",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ntheyre basically just me talking to myself with judicious modifications in rhythm and diction, like a multiple personality disorder via webcomic.*
\n
\n*pompous douchebag answer\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234662599",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni dont know how to do this\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234663709",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nit really will come out pretty soon.
\n
\nreally really really.
\n
\ni mean not \"really soon\" but \"really as in im not lying about this\"
\n
\nits taken forever to get it off the ground and its my fault for dogging it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234664667",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ndoing things blows. dont even get me STARTED on places.
\n
\nfuckers think they OWN locations and shit\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234665515",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni have on numerous occasions contemplated revisiting it.
\n
\nim sure i will again.
\n
\ncontemplate, that is.
\n
\nfinish it? no.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234668149",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nis this michi?
\n
\nrecently i decided that this was one of my favorite panels for some reason
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003339
\n
\nprobably just because of the sheer amount of information it contains, particularly for those unfamiliar with it all\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234669829",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni really like Doctor, which was a huge multi-artist remix collaboration and got to be very fine-tuned by the end.
\n
\nLiquid Negrocity too from the MC album.
\n
\nPlus a WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHERS.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234670596",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nTEAMWORK IS THE ANSWER\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234670967",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni dont know. the fans seem to want it to be orange so i guess thats what it is\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234671380",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234673569",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthere's a very good chance i just won't finish it. it takes too much time to make a fully rendered graphic novel.
\n
\neffortwise 30 finished whistles pages = 500 mspa pages.
\n
\nive decided getting more story done in less time is better.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234674518",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234688613",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni figure answering stupid questions when you just start using formspring is the equivalent of getting really excited about apps when you just start using facebook.
\n
\nLET THIS BABY HAVE HIS FUCKING BOTTLE\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234690160",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nonly as much as my own yet-unrecorded ideas.
\n
\nwhich is to say, none, until actually committed to a page.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234690363",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234690834",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nwhy are you so great at posing questions?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234691305",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni have answered ever single question submitted thusfar.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234691867",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nnot without typing it all somewhere and i kind of dont feel like it, sorry\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234692518",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nerotic cake webcomic artist\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234693685",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthey make way more money than me off the music so they should be buying me fancy lobsters on a bed of filet mignon\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234694034",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthis is pretty much all i do\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234694635",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni guess prospitians and ______ites.
\n
\nwouldnt you like to know what the latter word is\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234695206",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nnah.
\n
\nwait...
\n
\nis this true???\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234695731",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nANOTHER BULLET DODGED
\n
\nWHOOSH\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234695877",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\njust a good lookin dude
\n
\nright here\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234696426",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni'll be milling around there.
\n
\ni will be putting the NEATO in
\n
\nincognito\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234696617",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyou can not
\n
\ni am sorry\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234702224",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyou were misinformed
\n
\nprobably by some filthy dicktickling wizardfucking assface\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234703177",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ntrying to impress people is a hollow pursuit
\n
\noh wait youre doing it anonymously through formspring??? whoa wait i take it back\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234703614",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nif someones popping boners on my lawn im calling the cops\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234703691",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234703937",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234704245",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nok this is the last one of these really awful ones i answer\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234704731",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nits on the floor propped up against a wall about 10 feet away from me right now\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie234705071",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nright..........
\n
\n...............
\n.....
\n
\n
\n..........
\n
\n
\n
\n...............
\n
\n
\n.........
\n
\n
\n...................
\n
\n
\n.......
\n
\n
\nNOW!
\n
\n(probably wont go to sleep yet though)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256915952",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nmostly through porn ads. and a huge amount of that goes to server expenses because im cool enough to deliver enormous flash files to a quarter million people every day or something like that.
\n
\nbasically people need to buy more shit from me.
\n
\nand i need to sell more shit to people.
\n
\nthat i am not a millionaire is your fault and mine. together we make the arrangement work.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256917816",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nI THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK.
\n
\npeople will wish i deleted this question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256920284",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nzero to both ends of the question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256920638",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256921851",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni just found your question on the queue and answered it 3 days after you submitted it.
\n
\na bunch of others i deleted tho\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256923182",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\na wizard fucked my mom\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256927724",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256933996",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni don't not give a shit if my readers are smart. i want them to be smart, despite my apparent efforts to destroy their brain cells.
\n
\nmy dealings with the community has lead me to believe they are more intelligent than most internet browsing fare by a wide margin.
\n
\nbut then again there's enough goofy nonsense in problem sleuth to draw the memeholics so ???????\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256935974",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyes [horse sedatives]\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256940468",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nits really hard to stop those intent on brandishing a word.
\n
\njust look at the flap over the R-word
\n
\nnew englanders dont want to give it up because they feel some pride in using it i guess?
\n
\ngod i hate new englanders
\n
\nbut im fine with the R-word. that has nothing to do with it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256944538",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni have to copy/paste that url, can you just tell me what it was?
\n
\nanyway, thanks, and you're welcome!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256952378",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256953807",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nphotoshop. all animated gifs done in photoshop too.
\n
\ni only use flash for flash pages.
\n
\neven then a lot of times i animate stuff in photoshop and just import the frames in.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256954698",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nworking on this. shouldnt be too long.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256956204",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni consider the kids a-racial.
\n
\nthe only race they obviously definitely arent is black.
\n
\nwhich is very racist of me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256961329",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nive never made a story decision specifically to debunk a theory.
\n
\nother than that, i dont know.
\n
\nits sort of hard to be surprised by an idea when comes from you.
\n
\nunless you have the writerly equivalent of tourette's syndrome.
\n
\nkids playin a game doo dee doo SHIT METEORS
\n
\nactually it was sort of like that. so maybe.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256961718",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256965803",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ndo i?
\n
\nim starting to worry im coming off as a little ornery answering these questions
\n
\njackass\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256971942",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nsometimes my plans (bark) are bigger than my ____ (bite).
\n
\ni wasnt sure what word to put in that blank there.
\n
\ni had this idea a while ago that i would make polls to determine prototyping. such as:
\n
\n- wizard statue
\n- princess doll
\n- maplehoof
\n
\nor such
\n
\nand then run with the results. but that somehow seemed like too much trouble.
\n
\nit wouldnt have been too much trouble if not for that fact that i was up to my neck in animation chores. the inclusion of flash pages, while it may seem like i slip them in there gracefully, is sort of an albatross around my neck in some regards. the effort involved tends to crowd out all sorts of cool ideas i would be implementing otherwise. promoting additional democratic storybuilding mechanisms is just one example of such a casualty.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256975742",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni always update the second a page is ready to go. and often (USUALLY) before it is ready to go, and i have to mutter obscenities while i fix typos.
\n
\ni dont usually make a lot of typos in general, but with mspa i am a typo machine for some reason. maybe because in most cases the text is sort of an afterthought.
\n
\nlike ill make an image and then say oh damn i guess i should SAY something under this thing.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256976686",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\noh god no
\n
\nim out of hawaiian strongman super hero concepts for one thing\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256979391",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nits just one of those things that would be REALLY COOL, but on the whole would take too much time and not really serve the story to justify it.
\n
\nfor every weird idea in mspa there are at least 10 that i decided not to implement for a similar reason.
\n
\neven then, i still implement too many extraneous ideas.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256984133",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nVERY RARELY
\n
\nbut i find it suspect that the latest version is all that slow on any computer.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256985436",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nas soon as my livestock coffers are sufficiently flush\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256987170",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni really dont have time to do anything other than browse now and then. people would be angry with me if i did so at the expense of updating, which is what would happen.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie256989626",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyes, mostly because im curious to know what an ace of spaces card looks like.
\n
\nsounds...
\n
\nCOSMIC\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie257017381",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nwell as is the case with a lot of these questions i guess ill first say thanks thanks and more thanks.
\n
\ni dont have formal writing experience or training. not creative writing anyway. plenty of technical writing experience though. my trainin's in 'puters.
\n
\nive never thought of myself as a writer at all. more of a storyteller, during loftier musings, and a joke teller all other times. writing is one tool i use to tell stories at the moment. its a craft ive improved, semi-deliberately, only for the sake of improving the storytelling process.
\n
\nin typing out that reason it sounds weird. is there any other reason to do so? when i listen to aspiring writers talk about stuff i often get the sense theyre in it for more than that. like theyre trying to heal some hole in their aura which is preventing them from truly BEING A WRITER. i dont know.
\n
\ni think writing in voice is pretty simple. its mostly about consistency. choosing a set of parameters and committing to them absolutely. it can even be a shitty set of parameters and a crappy character. but if you keep hammering away at that voice, people will say, damn thats some pretty good characterization there! i mean... they might be WRONG. but theyll SAY it.
\n
\nthe advantage in being so obstinate with the profile you choose is then any deviation you make will be very noticeable. this is to your advantage, if you can control these deviations with purpose and precision. such deviations can serve as the pillars for character development. they cant happen without the consistency first. and ironically, without the consistency, they DO happen. for the wrong reasons. because you fucked up.
\n
\nsyntax is not a typical part of voice in most works but its one ive latched onto aggressively in HS and perhaps solidifies the illusion of strong voice. in fact ive become so conscious of syntax-voice, i noticed for some reason when answering these questions ive gravitated towards an ad hoc syntax, no caps, no apostrophes, otherwise punctuated. i am fearful of deviating from it. because it will mess with your heads if i do. and mine.
\n
\nSee, look. Instant syntax upgrade. It's hard to believe this is even the same person talking!
\n
\nInconsistency can be one of great calling cards of utter trash. Glorious inconsistency, artful inconsistency even, I think is something to behold. It's like a window into a defective mind. These are principles I employ in SBaHJ. They interest me for some reason. Will this sentence end with a period? No, looks like it won't. But this one will. Why was that particular word misspelled? Why not just misspell every word? That would make no statement. It would invite no speculation into a uniquely defective thought process.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie257018080",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni just chose a random question to say no more questions for now. goodnight.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264757574",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nhe's a compelling muse. i'm moved by his commitment to a single small sample of dinosaur clip art. also his passion for taking humorous ideas and conveying them through funny remarks. he's sort of like a word clown. the only of his kind.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264801061",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nit's sort of sad to think about, but i don't believe i've improved my drawing skill one iota since starting mspa. animation skill, yes. (as in, from zero to something)
\n
\n
\ni've always purposefully drawn well beneath my actual skill level for the sake of speed, and occasionally digging a little deeper whenever i feel like it. to really IMPROVE, i would need to be pushing the envelope artistically much more than i have been.
\n
\nthe only reason it looks like i've gotten better between jailbreak and now is because i switched gears from \"i don't give a shit\" to \"i sort of suddenly give a shit\"\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264834806",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni don't know. the only thing i'm really caught off guard by is how much longer it's taken to make progress in HS than i thought it would. (flash gets the blame)
\n
\nthe main reason i've included MC in HS so heavily is because i came SO CLOSE to just giving up on the HS idea at the beginning and running with a much easier to implement non-flash MC adventure. but then i made some modifications to my approach, decided to use flash stuff more rarely, and stuck with HS.
\n
\nso in an alternate universe right now, i'm doing an MC adventure, not HS. which is literally what's going on in HS when they tune into MSPA.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264848955",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni do sleep. probably too much actually. because it prevents me from updating as much as i'd like to.
\n
\nalso i draw fast.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264860872",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni suspect a lot of forum members are asking me questions here.
\n
\nwait, are you guys saving all your REALLY GOOD questions for a forum Q&A????\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264871286",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264907018",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni would guess it's sort of obvious to anyone really immersed in this stuff that it would be dave. but that's not a coincidence, because his style most closely approximates my own internet chatting style. he's pretty much an exaggerated trollish wise ass version of my own previous web persona iterations. i draw from this reservoir of experience in crafting his profile.
\n
\na handful of his conversations are lifted almost word for word from some of my own old chatlogs, with some minor context adaptations. very minor, because actually the subjects of those conversations helped me craft the content of the story.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264914128",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264925603",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni don't know, it's one of those ideas that was fun to execute and would be fun to revisit, but then there are JUST SO MANY things like that. i think sometimes in a story that exhibits the sort of density that HS has, it's got to be good enough just to put a funny idea out there, play with it a while, and then let go of it forever.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264940710",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nno, the trolls we nowhere close to being on the horizon when i started. like many many other things.
\n
\nand i haven't designed any of them other than those already seen in the story. most things, almost everything in fact, are not designed until the very moment i need to draw them. the four main characters are one of the few exceptions to this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nFeb 24, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie264985018",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthis is the sort of question i like to wordlessly invite as the nuances of the game systems gradually present themselves.
\n
\nthey are questions for your imagination to answer.
\n
\nand later, just maybe, the story will too. or maybe not.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 4, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie265035491",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nthere's nothing all that special to it.
\n
\npersonally i find it hard to believe that anyone who struggles to update their comic/whatever in a steady fashion actually cares about it all that much.
\n
\nenjoyment of the process is the first and most important thing.
\n
\nand then there are the details, knowing your limits, exactly what you want to accomplish, etc. i'm focused on creating the maximum impact with the most efficient expenditure of energy. max impact in this case means most story output conveyed as effectively as possible. that formula has gotten pretty streamlined with mspa.
\n
\nthen, once you've nailed the formula down: WORK ON IT AS HARD AS YOU CAN\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 4, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie265056627",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni just wanted to get them processed fast so i could start drawing.
\n
\nthe results of a micro-democracy are stunningly similar to those of a macro-democracy. hence the use of polling in politics.
\n
\nif there are more important polls in the future i'll open them up to the bigger population.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 4, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie265068711",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nit depends* on how many fancy transitions and dissolve-wipes you used between the pages
\n
\n*FAVORABLY depends\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 4, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie265126813",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nat first it was all jan doing the hands-on editing while i sort of \"directed\". then later as we built up more steam i did some hands-on editing too, and we sort of each did our own thing, mixing and matching clips and ideas.
\n
\nbut then i found less and less time to work on it as i spent more and more time doing mspa stuff. i estimate i've done twice as much drawing for HS so far as i did for all of PS, if not more (i did a lot of editing at the same time as working on PS) it's fair to say that HS killed the editing projects.
\n
\nwell, that and i had some computer issues that made it tough to get editing done. also jan had to look for jobs and stuff. boring life shit getting in the way of cool things a lot of internet nerds feel entitled to having fed to them for free forever, as usual.
\n
\nbut we'll do some more later for sure, when we free up the time.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 4, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie265213041",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\ni followed a link somewhere to this one recently
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/extras/ps000021.html
\n
\nand didnt even remember doing it. i found myself laughing at it as if it wasnt even written by me.
\n
\nthis happens to me from time to time, when i stumble on old stuff that i cant for the life of me remember doing. and then i feel ashamed for laughing at my own shit.
\n
\nthis is a plight of the irretrievably self absorbed.
\n
\nalso note that page was a clear precursor to some of the game mechanics in HS.
\n
\nsame with the brief interlude in PS wherein punchcard alchemy was conceived http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=000794\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 4, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie265252093",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nOH MY GOD GO REFRESH THE SITE NOW HURRY GO GO GO\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 4, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie265268734",
- "timestamp": 1268006400,
- "html": "\nyour law abiding demeanor with respect to waterfowl upsets me and i find it to be pâténtly offensive.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 4, 2010 - Mar 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289616984",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\ndoes a schwarzchild radius have anything to do with a restraining order on a pedophile?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289632858",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\nthere's another one coming out pretty soon.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289651983",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\nno but let's pretend i did know this because that would have been so cool if i did.
\n
\ndoes he have one arm too?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289656615",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289666764",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\nit does sound kind of stupid, but no biggie.
\n
\nyes i use a tablet, and the line size changing you refer to is probably on account of its pressure sensitivity feature. also yeah i do it on purpose, but also yeah i am kind of magic too.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289673227",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\npretty soon. i'm waiting to drop a little more music via flash page first before packing it all up in a new album.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289683700",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\ni don't really do guest comics because as weird as it might sound maintaining a perpetual flow of content no matter what is not actually the point.
\n
\nbut i might have byron whip up some horses for you guys anyway.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289705905",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\ni might if i knew what your expectations were.
\n
\nwhat i really do is just picture something boring that could happen, and then to do something that isn't that.
\n
\nso maybe the moral of the story is that people tend to have boring expectations???\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289739410",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\nnot really at all. i've never read a lovecraft book.
\n
\nif i've dealt with anything lovecraftian it has much more to do with echoing the cult fascination with his work that seems especially lively in the furrows of the internet. and maybe hot topic too.
\n
\ni mean the bottom line is all that \"fluthlu\" stuff is just me being silly yet again.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289746372",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\nmaybe the fact that you can't figure that out is one of the reasons why you find the relationships interesting!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289773278",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289859996",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\n\"writing\" sure is a weird verb to apply to problem sleuth. but ok we'll run with it.
\n
\ngenerally i don't reach much further than the boundaries of my existing knowledge base for ideas. just because it's much faster that way. and if i'm doing \"research\" to get ideas, what would i even read? maybe pay a visit to the idea wing of the library?
\n
\nhomestuck has actually involved a fair amount of research, but usually a very specific and targeted kind. sometimes i can't believe the sort of things i find myself looking up for story purposes.
\n
\none example was when i was making the [S] Ascend page and started poring over GPS coordinates of real places in the world. like scouting out locations in the adirondacks park in new york for various waterfalls for a plausible location of rose's house. i settled on a pretty big waterfall called \"rainbow falls\" and found the exact gps coordinates for that and plugged it into WV's station terminal when he was taking off. the name of the falls became sort of relevant later, because when rose entered the medium her house then straddled a literal rainbow waterfall. i also looked for plausible coordinates for jade's island, and found this weird patch in the pacific ocean that looked like it had been edited out by the government or something. maybe it was! or maybe it was just a shallow, boxy look reef. didn't really matter, i was just looking for something mysterious. john has a real world location too. in fact, his real life address is a house that's for sale. he lives by a lake in washington called pipe lake, which his father probably chose for obvious reasons.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289884018",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\ni've though about doing something like that, but every time i think about it i just wind up saying screw it and just knock the pages out.
\n
\nsome day.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie289913802",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\ni've never seen primer, but i bet it's pretty hard to understand!
\n
\nbut if what you allege is true, then it may be even more remarkable when you take into account that no one has actually traveled through time yet.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie290125526",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\nto tell you the truth it's statements like this that just make me want to stop using reader commands forever.
\n
\nthere are many types of objections like this pertaining to the format that get dredged up which are based on a complete misunderstanding about how user input works.
\n
\nfirst point: when there are hundreds of commands, you have nearly every absurd idea imaginable to choose from. so what criteria should i use to select? how about ones that sync up better with ideas i've had, and help move the story? you suggest i do just the opposite. so i should ACTIVELY SUFFOCATE my own ideas in favor of RANDOM DUDE X's ideas, even though there are hundreds of RANDOM DUDE X's all making noise at once, and there is no particularly strong case to be made for any above the others? following your advice not only makes no sense from a creator's perspective, it would actually sabotage the story in the long run.
\n
\nsecond point: reader commands are great for the story's early climb, establishing some elements, making something out of nothing, etc. they are not good for wrapping things up. in the early going, there is a huge amount of granularity to the action. pick this object up. put it over there. walk through that door. and so on. you just can't finish a story with these micro actions though. at some point you have to start speeding up, and tying loose ends. reader commands don't do that though. they will always speak in the language of micro actions, because that is pretty much the only thing a mock-player can do.
\n
\nthese are the remarks of someone who has spent HUNDREDS of hours thinking about these issues and trying to make it all work. people who say stuff like \"give it back to the fans!\" obviously haven't even spent a minute thinking about it. The fans were only ever in control in a limited way, and everything takes shape at my discretion. people just get really carried away with the whole \"reader driven\" idea and form these weird fantasies about how it works, and then take umbrage when my decisions are in violation of this fantasy protocol!
\n
\nreally the only thing i don't like about the format is it seems to lend itself to these misunderstandings.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie290177724",
- "timestamp": 1268179200,
- "html": "\nits some gundam lego thing.
\n
\nalso the johnny 5 image was a toy too.
\n
\ni have no plans to ever include an image of a robot that is not a toy or model.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Mar 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie290189569",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nive been considering ending it on 8/26/10.
\n
\nbut who the hell knows if that'll pan out.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie290244755",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nthe spirograph in flash is a single curved line.
\n
\nmultiplied by 10, each rotated radially around the center.
\n
\nthen those 10 are copied, pasted, and flipped horizontally.
\n
\nwhen i animate it, i only animate one line.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie291875963",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ni guess i was talking about non-intermission stuff.
\n
\nobviously the intermission was all about guys traveling through time. and dying a lot.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie291878267",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nyikes no way!
\n
\ni don't think i'm really cut out for spending a lifetime on one thing as a cartoonist. even working on something more than a year is starting to push it.
\n
\nalso a 10 year adventure would be 16,000 pages. i don't think anyone wants to read that.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie291888861",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ni have no idea why you like this thing!
\n
\ni always tend to assume at least 99 out of 100 people will want nothing whatsoever to do with HS, whether due to its complexity, or its peculiar format.
\n
\nand i keep being surprised that so many people keep tuning in. then again, i'm also surprised by how popular Lost is, when you might expect a show of such complexity would scare people off.
\n
\nmaybe what i'm discovering is people actually like complexity, and will even gravitate toward it, as long as it isn't a total train wreck. if you unapologetically tackle high complexity head on, and pull it off somewhat, it seems like people respond well to it. sure they may not understand it. (and if you've ever heard people speculate about Lost, they definitely don't) but they like it.
\n
\nas for fluidity, i really don't know. that's not a property i'm cognizant of while working. i just try to make sure every page has some purpose, whether it's just funny or amusing, or advances the story in some way. the most important page is always the one i'm working on. i never put out pages just to take up space or kill time. i think if a story manages to be a succession of meaningful, entertaining events, then that fluidity happens automatically.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie291892421",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ni've always tended to go to sleep late, but HS has pretty much nullified any sort of predictable sleep pattern i used to have.
\n
\nmost nights i go to sleep between 4-6 AM. a lot of the flash updates have kept me up to even sillier hours, like 8, 9, 10 AM. and a fair number of times i just never bothered going to sleep at all.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie291896173",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ni commiserate with him.
\n
\nthere are lots of great things i just don't have time to read either.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie291904651",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ndepending on how legit it was, i'd do it in a heartbeat.
\n
\nby legit, i mean it's got to have a budget with a plurality of digits on the left side of the comma. really, 2 commas would be ideal.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMar 7, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399071418",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 2, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399071917",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 2, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399078471",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nforum members came up with the name quite a while ago\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 2, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399079583",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 2, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399082029",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nok
\n
\nwhoops shouldnt answer ones like this\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 2, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399083154",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nwrong!
\n
\ni wrote something \"SERIOUS\" about sbahj recently. here it is, pasted from elsewhere.
\n
\nIt's clearly rooted primarily in jackassery which no doubt is not for everyone but it's presence in the story does have an ACTUAL LITERARY PURPOSE.
\n
\nIt is an invention within the universe for the kids to reference amongst themselves endlessly. Friends on the internet do this all the time. Instead of using memes from reality, I made this one up as a satirical project of one of the characters. The strip provides the core of memes that fuels much of their banter, and that core is added to as I (Dave) make(s) more comics. Certain memes upon reaching a critical density begin to accumulate an entire vocabulary to slip into during casual banter amongst those familiar with it. That is what has happened, and the density is such that the vocabulary has even permeated the narrative itself.
\n
\nThose who don't care for SBaHJ much or merely \"put up\" with its presence in HS most likely are not appreciating the fact that it is mostly another device employed for rigorous universe building. In no way is its attachment to HS just a vehicle for hocking it as one of my asinine side projects. If it strikes many as a viable standalone form of entertainment it is only because it has that effectively served my purpose for it, which is to build this universe.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 2, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399083382",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nsuch a thing does not exist therefore i do not have one\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 2, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399083937",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nnope i draw them with my eyes open\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 2, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399087599",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ni remember people asking me similar things about problem sleuth
\n
\nthat said i dont have an answer\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399089999",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399093938",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nthen maybe you shouldnt be looking at so much damn porn in public all the time\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie399096523",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nthe fastest gif-jitter frame rate i use is 20 fps\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400211538",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nprove you wrong that it would be an interesting twist?
\n
\nthat would be pretty easy because it would not be an interesting twist.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400228149",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nat the beginning of HS i put the word out i was looking for musicians, and about 40 or so got back to me over a day or two.
\n
\nmany of them kind of drifted away from the project or never made much in the first place, leaving behind a smaller core of very enthusiastic and talented participants, which is responsible for most of the music in HS so far. i added a few more people to the pool recently, since over time some more great musicians (mostly from the community) were clearly excited to make music and participate, so i said sure why not.
\n
\ni wish i could use all the great stuff they make. but that's why i want to put out more albums, to get more of their work out in the open.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400232503",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nactually the answer is neither
\n
\nit is because snoop is so proud of john\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400269965",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ni doubt the story will ever address the details of their bonding process. if anything, it may touch on how they all met in the first place (and has already sort of, with john's time traveling package to jade)
\n
\nmost of the story so far has been a window into a group of friends whose relationships have already been well established for years and already have strong bonds of friendship. many things they say and allude to points to this strong preexisting bond.
\n
\npart of introducing the trolls to the story has been taking on a new challenge, which is to document the process of the group of four kids making new friends (albeit in a pretty unusual fashion). we know the personalities of the four kids very well by this point, so now we're getting to see how those personalities mesh with new people outside their social bubble, and how in their own ways they're sort of reversing the antagonism of these self appointed adversaries and turning them into friends, even in spite of everyone's best efforts to avoid that outcome.
\n
\nas always, friendship prevails.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400273739",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\npeople do this? if so i had no idea.
\n
\nsounds cool to me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400274581",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400282682",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nthe formspring software is actually a big pile of shit and i can only take using it in small doses. also i'm busy.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 4, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400291787",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400296977",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nair ball dude!
\n
\nthese are god's most beautiful children.
\n
\nexcept wizards. they're these aloof filthy fucking beggars and gotta be hosed down like civil rights protesters.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400301406",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ndividing your question up into two parts was kind of silly.
\n
\nhere's an answer to your question. highlight the text below to reveal the hidden spoiler.
\n
\nSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
\nSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
\nSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
\nSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
\nSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
\nSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
\nSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
\nSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400318551",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\n3514 (as of the posting of your question) is not homestuck's page count. it is the total number of pages in all the stories in mspa.
\n
\nHS is currently 1667 pages long.
\n
\nto A your Q: nah\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400331844",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nno.
\n
\nall of my psychological problems are quite shallow; it's low hanging fruit.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400355608",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400356923",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400478762",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\non some level i agree, but to scrap initiatives like that entirely goes against the grain of the experimental nature of this thing. (also in this case my \"team\" is really just me and gankro. there wasn't THAT much more effort involved than usual, save his coding efforts done mostly in tandem with the art.)
\n
\ndramatically speaking, it would have been more powerful to arrange a hard wired animation set to cool music, and dictate exactly what the reader is supposed to see and learn about the story. but the downsides are you sacrifice the curveball element, and fail to push the envelope on the medium. i prefer keeping these upsides, even if just in small doses.
\n
\ni found it kind of interesting to see the variety of reactions to that page, specifically that there appears to be a class of people who are grumpy about the concept, when faced with having to do something themselves to drive the story. which is a somewhat understandable reaction. if you go to a movie and all you want to do is tune out to what's on the screen and let the director do all the driving, you'd probably be perplexed or irritated if a controller popped out of the seat in front of you half way through and you had to control the characters for a while. but that's not quite what you're signing up for here. anything goes, and the only reason i don't do stuff like that more often is due to the labor involved.
\n
\nbut when i see that sort of reaction to it, it makes me think i should be doing it more. people get comfortable with the status quo very easily, even when that status quo itself isn't all that old (i've only been including these heavy duty flash animations in mspa for less than a year). meandering outside this comfort zone gets people agitated, and the more people get agitated the more i'm tempted to think i'm on the right track, or at least further exploration is warranted. sometimes a good idea has to be really rammed down people's throats for them to understand it's a good idea, because you'll always have to surmount their curmudgeonly resistance to innovation, and as always, the preposterous love affair the masses seem to have with mediocrity.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400492703",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\ngo to \"search\" and browser-search for \"pesterlog\". it will serve the exact same purpose as such an icon.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400533561",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nhere's something else to note about it:
\n
\neven though the interactive pages seem like a RADICAL DEVIATION in common storytelling practices, they're really not.
\n
\nmany of us have played hundreds of hours of RPGs like final fantasy doing the same thing, running around, talking to everybody in a town, making sure you don't miss anything.
\n
\ni guess it's less unnerving in an RPG because that's A) what you're expecting to do, and B) what you're doing CONSTANTLY through the whole game, with little pockets of story progression interrupting now and then.
\n
\nso keeping a reader/player comfortable is mostly about conforming to their expectations, and staying within the established parameters of the medium.
\n
\ni guess i'm not that concerned with reader comfort! this isn't a luxury automobile. it's more like a rickety jeep, serviceable on an outrageous safari.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400575974",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nsometimes, but i don't think i ever stop drawing. just now and then while i'm drawing i probably form an expression of befuddlement or disgust at my present behavior.
\n
\none example i guess was when i was making the dutton panel:
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003278
\n
\nand i had to make a \"doodle\" that looked like a whimsical random sketch, but the tablet interpreted as a dutton head. so i think i wound up drawing about 30 or 40 quick random sketches on top of dutton's face before i got one that looked right, and i'm sure at some point in the process i stopped to think what an odd practice this was for a person to be engaged in out of context. (or even in context)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie400843516",
- "timestamp": 1270684800,
- "html": "\nhow many questioned have you done drunk?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 5, 2010 - Apr 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie448962933",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nis this a formspring q-bot asking this? if so, why do formspring bots exist? it doesn't make sense to me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 7, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie448967036",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni don't know, some people like her, but then again some people like all the other characters too.
\n
\nanyway what's not to like about a femme fatale?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 7, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie448976198",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nwhoa that is definitely not a question that makes sense!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 7, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie448980558",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nthey were absolutely not even remotely planned from the beginning or anywhere close for that matter.
\n
\nwait let me copy something i wrote from somewhere else that might be informative.
\n
\nit's about the DNA letters, the pesterchum name abbreviations, and how that led to the trolls.
\n
\nThe DNA connection began well before I ever even thought of the trolls.
\n
\nI named EB, TT, TG, in that order. I noticed an unfolding pattern with the latter two, and then named GG to solidify this pattern.
\n
\nI assumed EB was just a special case for whatever reason, much like he is in other ways. For instance, the other three all have close birthdays in December, while his is in April. I figured very early on that he would have an alt account to complete the pattern, but hadn't developed the plot device to explain the alt until the trolls surfaced.
\n
\nThe DNA connection with GT, TT, TG, GG I also noticed early on, and in fact largely precipitated the existence of the trolls, and was the sole reason for there being 12 of them. (12 remaining DNA letter combos, and some people theorized there would be 12 based on this before it was clear how many there were.) Additionally, the fact that there were 12 was what prompted the zodiac connection.
\n
\nIt may also be interesting to note that for GT, TG, TT, and GG, the like-letters are girls, and differing letters are boys, which correspond to chromosomes XY (male), and XX (female). Trolls do not follow this pattern because, first, there are only AA and CC left which would mean only 2 girls in the group ( :C ) and second, they aren't human, so their chromosomes probably work differently. For now, all we know is the girls begin with G, but the logic probably needs to be more elaborate than this if there are any more girls in the group.
\n
\nThere is further rationale for John's defection from the pattern, from GT to EB, which possibly will never be explained in the story. What caused him to defect was the trolls, a group ostensibly lead by CG, whose name obviously implies cancerous disruption within a genetic system, or a DNA code. His cancerous influence causes a defect in the full string of genetic characters, from GT TT TG GG | CG GC GA AG AC CA TA AT TC CT AA CC to EB TT TG GG | CG GC GA AG AC CA TA AT TC CT AA CC. This is the nature of cancer, to corrupt genetic data. There may be additional relevance to the fact that John defected to ectoBiologist, the name of a pseudo-science sounding similar to carcinoGeneticist. In fact, I believe this will prove to be relevant later on.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 7, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie448993239",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni thought i was going to do EVERY CONVENTION this year. it was going to be THE YEAR OF THE CONVENTION.
\n
\nbut then i realized how hard it is traveling. i don't really want to do a lot of conventions anymore. i'd rather just stay at home and draw really. because i suck.
\n
\ni will be going to, in this order, roflcon and TCAF. and then possibly SPX and... MAYBE??? APE.
\n
\nthen next year i might go to like one convention.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 7, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449003122",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nsomewhere between 6 and 12. not counting time hijinks.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 7, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449006602",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nthis might sound lame, but i had the idea for the self-insert a long time ago, and decided then if i did it, i'd make myself wear the sepulchritude shirt. i think i decided that when that shirt was newer and more of a novelty.
\n
\nBUT.
\n
\nit actually sort of makes sense, since the 4th wall thing came on the heels of jack noir's rise to power, which visually is quite reminiscent of a reverse-sepulchritude transformation. or an evil sepulchritude.
\n
\nthe shirt even has black wings (inky wings per the inky theme of the attack) which is actually even more in keeping with noir's transform than PS's. so it's not like it has no symbol-relevance.
\n
\nas an artist/storysmith i tend to think about stuff like that as much as i can. which is another way of saying i'm good at rationalizing random decisions i make.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449009797",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni don't want to yet. i'll think about doing so later.
\n
\ni've been enjoying the process of making up commands myself for the time being. the crazy thing about this whole thing is that i really only care about keeping the process enjoyable for myself.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449033702",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni would just like to take this opportunity to say again what a horrible piece of miserable shit the formspring software is.
\n
\n(this has nothing to do with the question. i chose a dummy question to say this.)
\n
\nseriously, who coded this? are they a quarter of the way through php for dummies yet?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449035609",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nwhoops shoulda been born a day earlier, sorry buddy!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449052347",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ntext adventure game convention.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449058239",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nwhereas the word \"origional\" clearly remains typo-free!
\n
\nlet's consider a world for a moment where your expectation for a certain outcome is the precise reason why that outcome has not come to pass.
\n
\nCONSIDER THAT WORLD. CONSIDER IT I SAY.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449059780",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nnope, not any whatsoever. honestly i was always quite put off by the idea of getting into animation.
\n
\nunfortunately i was dragged kicking and screaming into the discipline by the allure of creating something really really cool.
\n
\ni did all the kicking, screaming, AND dragging.
\n
\ni am mildly schizophrenic.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449065992",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni was drawing since i was born which is an answer i always consider a little insipid so i wish i hadn't just said it now damn.
\n
\ndrawing on computers is just something you have to force yourself to do until you're good at it. it's an ugly process kind of like making sausages.
\n
\nwhat the fuck no that's a delicious process. i stopped making sense suddenly.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449072377",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni always have a different haircut. i never know what to say to barbers. i just shrug in the chair and walk out looking like sort of a goofball.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449077319",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nhahahahahahahahahahahahaha\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449080536",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nseveral years ago i offered to help him maintain his website and he said ok. i did so because he made the best comic that has ever existed, indisputably.
\n
\ni haven't had much time to keep up with maintaining his site lately. then again he hasn't had much time to make comics either.
\n
\noh but he's going to put up a new one fairly soon, along with some kind of mysterious animation project.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449081761",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nsometimes people think i'm referencing things when i'm actually not. i don't actually know what you're talking about.
\n
\nsorry!
\n
\nmaybe i shouldn't have said anything. i should learn to just let people be happy about stuff sometimes.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449083519",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ndave, who is basically me. i am that cool. fact\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449088736",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nit was 200,000, if stats are to be trusted, which honestly i have no idea if they can.
\n
\nthat's about how many people are tuning in every day now.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449092286",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nnope. they were completely nameless til readers named em.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449093271",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nabout a solid day of typing, and sort of messing around, procrastinating all that typing.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449095601",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nGC's... no longer than anyone else's. except for the extra \"syntax burden\", which is pretty minor.
\n
\nmost of the character writing is fairly stream of consciousness for me. i write pretty fast and don't edit much.
\n
\nthe ones that are most time consuming are when i have to think of complex mechanics beyond mere funny conversation. like when trolls are talking to the kids from different points in the timeline, influencing past/future conversations in various ways.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449101880",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni don't know, but it's pretty mysterious. it happens all the time. the most important lesson i have taken from working on mspa is that i am sort of magic, like this weird little man from a very obscure pocket of irish mythology called a \"leprechaun\".
\n
\n(look it up! it's a real thing.)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449103599",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni think pride stopped being an active concept for me once i got in a groove. hence i was probably most proud of the first strife john had with his dad, which at the time seemed pretty radical. it now feels pretty old hat and each one i do is just another plank slotted into this story's platform. a sense of pride and accomplishment will come again when i can roll a ball bearing across that completed platform without any bounces or skips.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449131350",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nbut this was true even in the first page of problem sleuth.
\n
\ni just have a website with a dumb nonsensical name.
\n
\nsort of like a PRETTY FAMOUS search engine that you might be familiar with and perhaps use EVERY DAY.
\n
\n(askjeeves.com)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449140861",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni browse there now and then but i stay busy enough that i can hardly even keep up with my own forums.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449149109",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nalmost anything can be caused to make narrative sense.
\n
\n>fit round peg in square hole
\n
\n\"why, you are quite certain the hole is circular, and always has been.\"
\n
\nwow, what point did i just make there?? even i'm not sure.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449173803",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nshort term planning of things like that happens, and it seems really whimsical at the time of the idea, but then execution of the ideas gets delaaaaayed, and then suddenly the plans seem not so short term anymore. (from my perspective. from your perspective, these things still seem like bombshells i guess.)
\n
\nboth of those concepts mentioned were thus planned as such more than a month in advance i think, and i just hung on to the ideas until they were ready to spring.
\n
\nbut then there are little adjustments that happen in the execution which i don't plan, and just pull out spontaneously. often this involves scaling back an idea because it's a bit too complicated to depict in the hot frenzy of grinding out a flash animation. a lot of times i think i have more time in an animation to squeeze more events in, but in reality, it's really easy to chew up the minutes of a song with a few simple cinematic events, and you turn around and you're out of time.
\n
\nthat phenomenon leads to a lot of the density present in the animations. segments where seconds are going by and things are flying by so fast you barely notice all the detail coming together to tell the story, so you have to replay it a few times to get it.
\n
\nbut that's fine, it's part of the format being forged here. in a video game cut scene, you don't really always have the luxury or inclination to go back and replay it. here you do, and replays are actually a fairly critical part of digesting everything.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449175612",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nthink of this not in the abstract of a real game like sburb existing, but a real story being written wherein such conditions were true.
\n
\nevents would conspire to make the outcome interesting.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449186772",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nwhen i was playing SF hot and heavy i took some amount of pride in being able to beat anyone with anybody.
\n
\nlike sidling up to the machine and letting the cursor wander around until it settled on dhalsim and listening to the guy next to me snicker with his uninspired choice of ryu or whatever.
\n
\nthen whoops here's your ass dude.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449198939",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\nprobably can town, but not even because of the town itself. it lead to WV identifying himself as a mayor, which lead to the civic role themes for other exiles, and the fact that those themes carried over to their former roles in the kingdoms, which became the vehicles for certain plot objectives.
\n
\nthe references to gushers were also completely command influenced.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie449207438",
- "timestamp": 1273276800,
- "html": "\ni animate entirely around the timing of an existing piece of music.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nApr 15, 2010 - May 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550109350",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nit depends on how you define important.
\n
\nbut he'll be back. or that is, appear for the first time. at some point.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550113230",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\na lot more planning has started to take place since i stopped taking commands. there's a pretty decent amount of stuff planned at this point.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550162338",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nHere is something I wrote about 5 years ago, back when the whole topic was more novel to discuss.
\n
\n
\n
\nHow to be Funny on the Internet: Lesson 1
\n
\nThe Internet is nothing if not a boundless population of aspiring comedians. They utilize this uncensored medium as an incubator of sorts for their abilities as humorists before exploding onto the standup circuit. While this will is universal, being a natural humorist is far from it. Luckily, I have a roadmap that will guide you towards the appearance of being funny on the Internet, if strictly adhered to.
\n
\nMention Ninjas.
\n
\n“A blur of black in a dim room. As the emperor ponders his koans, he cracks an eyelid. But it’s too late. Who else could make off with ancient scrolls and the lion’s share of a kind emperor’s spine before the shutter has yet swung closed from entry? If your answer was ‘not a ninja’, you’re fucking [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed.”
\n
\nNinjas are evidently hilarious. Particularly if alluded to in a manner that might be construed as tongue-in-cheek. But not completely. You don’t want to come off like you’re making fun of ninjas, because it is common knowledge that they are awesome.
\n
\nIf you are unlearned in the vicissitudes of cyberspace, you may find this confusing. I will try to explain. The first thing to realize: ninjas are awesome. There is nothing not awesome about them. They are practically the archetypical embodiment of awesomeness. So what exactly is so funny about them? Actually (and this is what may be hard to understand), nothing at all. When a ninja is invoked in any context, the response promotes the illusion that something humorous was said. But what has actually occurred is a mutual celebration of ninjas’ all-around awesomeness, kind of like an “implied high five”.
\n
\nBut wait, there’s more. You don’t want to get too wrapped up in how awesome ninjas are. That would be comedic seppuku. This will breed an attitude of reverence, and you begin to take them too seriously. Taking things seriously is nerdish, and very unfunny, especially on the Internet. You will become the target of ridicule, rather than targeter. This is why you must take a step back, and strike that intuitive balance between reverence for, and an outright mockery of ninjas. The joke becomes the fact that they are awesome, and they become MORE awesome because they are the joke. Place them in curious juxtapositions, mix them with references to pop culture. You’ll get the hang of it.
\n
\nAnd one final thought. Once you have digested all of this, and then mastered it, realize this profound scrap: the joke is actually the joke. Meditate on THAT.
\n
\nMention Pirates:
\n
\nPirates are also hilarious, and mentioning them will make you hilarious as well. This is for a similar set of reasons that make ninjas are funny. They are awesome. But awesome for different reasons. True, both classes share themes of danger, deadliness, and being generally badass. But while ninjas convey stealth, precision, and cunning, pirates evoke a sense of adventure, bravado, and foolhardy swagger. Their passion for buried riches is legendary, and they are not too proud to sing and dance either, provided a steady flow of rum. Mentioning pirates will conjure visions of all these things, and your friends will be enamored of your ruggedly adventurous sensibilities.
\n
\nBut as is the case with ninjas, your deployment of pirate references must also be tongue-in-cheek. You don’t want to come off as actually being into pirates seriously. That would be idiotic. Again, it’s like a verbal high five in celebration of pirates and what they represent. Consider a literal high five for a moment, between a couple of guys. It’s not about the momentary slapping of skin. It’s a symbolic gesture celebrating good times. If it were actually about the touching, the feeling of the other male’s skin on yours, and that’s what you liked about the high five, your mate would quickly become uncomfortable as you prolonged the gesture, caressing his palm. He would think you were gay. This brings us to the next point…
\n
\nCall Things “Gay”.
\n
\nBeing associated with homosexuality on the Internet, particularly being called “gay”, is to be avoided. On the other hand, calling people and things “gay” yourself is a good way to help you in your quest to be funny. It lets people know the following:
\n
\n1) You aren’t too politically correct to humorously equate homosexuality with something negative. This is not to say you dislike gays or the practice of being gay. You just know how to stay loose and have fun, you know?
\n
\n2) You clearly have opinions on things, particularly dislikes. Hating things, or more importantly, appearing to hate things, is a really excellent way to create the illusion that you have interesting thoughts, and a complex set of criteria for evaluating things for quality. This will intrigue people, who may secretly fear that your outlook on which things are gay might be more sophisticated than their own. Who knows, you may get some converts to your (largely fictional) set of values.
\n
\nCall Things “[EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed”.
\n
\nIf you don’t see why this word by itself is milk nostril-evacuatingly side-splitting, you’re fucking [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed.
\n
\nConversation Exercises:
\n
\nActor A: “Hey man, that website you showed me the other day was so gay.”
\n
\nActor B: “You must be [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed. You’re so [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed, your grandmother was raped by fucking pirates.”
\n
\nActor A: “Don’t say shit about my grandmother. She WAS a pirate. Trained by secret ninjas to do some totally un-gay moves on [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed gay people like you.”
\n
\nActor B: “I’d appreciate you not bringing my sexual orientation into this.”
\n
\nActor A: “Sorry.”
\n
\nActor B: “You know, I think you’re right. That website is pretty gay.”
\n
\nLesson Summary:
\n
\nThe themes in this lesson you have noticed, and indeed the key most Internet-driven humor, are:
\n- Mentioning things. By mentioning funny things, you seem funny.
\n- Use 2 hilarious words a lot.
\n- Communicate poorly developed opinions with those words.
\n
\nWith a little practice, these rudimentary skills will be yours. Try using Google to dig up a picture of a ninja for your e-journal. Use the word “gay” to describe the next movie you see, even if you like it. Oh man, I’m laughing already!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550205525",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nEvaluated left to right.
\n
\nAdding || to the mix was kind of necessary to keep the hole patterns from whittling down to nothing, as would be the case if you just kept &&-ing everything.
\n
\nNot that most people care about this, or even understand it really.
\n
\nComputer people frequently harp on the fact that it should be the bitwise '&' and '|' operators rather than the boolean '&&' and '||'.
\n
\nWhich I guess is technically true. But the first and most important point is I didn't like how they looked as single characters. Especially '|' looked stupid to me. The double chars are more expressive, and perfectly understandable if you're a coder, and meaningless if not.
\n
\nBut aside from that, what's to say &&/|| wouldn't have that meaning in this application context? It's completely up to the author of a language to draft the meaning of operators. Various chars can have many different meanings across different languages. They often do.
\n
\nCard A && Card B in this universe simply means, for each bit, evaluate Bit A && Bit B.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550215371",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nI think they're cool.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550227579",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nNope.
\n
\nI didn't even know about BSUaJG until somewhat recently.
\n
\nI first mentioned Barkley in this page, attributing him to a poem.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002207
\n
\nThen much later I found out about the game, and it seemed like a pretty good idea to reference it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550234853",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nI do now.
\n
\nBut it looks like they will probably all sell out as it is.
\n
\nMaybe you should hurry up and get one!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550243476",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nThe motivation is mostly to keep the story moving, and get the huge amount of ideas I have out into reality before they languish too long. Given those demands, there's really no time to waste.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550251962",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nA bunch of Spanish speaking dudes got five days into May and flipped their shit about it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 07, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550300327",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nJack is clearly a special case. While the kings and queens abide by certain rules and let the battle play out with certain order and discipline, Jack is more aggressive and ambitious, and more dangerous for that reason.
\n
\nWhich is not to say he's more powerful with a ring than a queen is. A ringed queen could certainly be a very powerful entity, who sits back on the throne for a long time until she's ready to put herself in the action, much like a queen in a real game of chess. What makes Jack more troublesome is his temper, and his will to break the rules.
\n
\nPart of the purpose of the intermission was to covertly begin characterizing a villain through a back door approach. We learned a lot about his character, even though it wasn't even technically the same character, and never suspected we were getting a primer on the key villain who would rise to power. This was the plan.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550327685",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nWho knows?
\n
\nWith the exception of PM and the White Queen, there has been no indication any white agents will be especially consequential.
\n
\nThe white kingdom appears to have a more passive posture, as if playing defense. The black kingdom is on offense, and therefore more aggressive by nature. As such, it's more likely that nefarious key players will emerge on the dark side specifically to cause trouble, like Jack and co. If Prospit were more active in the espionage game (at least in this session) we'd probably have seen corresponding white agents in the spotlight.
\n
\nBut anything can happen.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550339476",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550345862",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nI've never been that high in my entire life.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550356223",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nIt just looked better. If it was smooth, it would just be kind of a boring black circle.
\n
\nThe other designs I thought benefited from the upgrade though.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550366887",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nI generally see almost all the fan art, but poring through fanfic is something I seriously don't have time for.
\n
\nI'm sure there's some good and funny stuff though.
\n
\nProbably some bad stuff too! But then, it wouldn't be fanfic without it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550372684",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nDavesprite was prototyped after Dave entered the medium. No effect on monsters/ring-wearer.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550379091",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nI browse haphazardly through the several thousand in the queue and answer sort of at random.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550425816",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "\nI don't know about having a magical brain, but I don't keep many notes at all.
\n
\nI have an HS.txt file, which contains every command in the story so far. That's where I write the commands and below-image text before I post it all.
\n
\nThat file also contains the chum handles of kids and the trolls, their corresponding colors and zodiac signs, the names of all the Felt, a few GPS coordinates, and that's about it.
\n
\nI never take anything like \"plot notes\". I just tend to remember all the details. I wrote the whole recap from memory.
\n
\nI don't even have a very good memory. I forget stuff all the time. But when it comes to story details, I just remember it all for some reason. Which is probably why the thing reads like a chronicle of a million callbacks. Almost every page is calling back something from earlier in the story, whether it's some obscure item or a turn of phrase used by a character or the narrator. Most of this nonsense is just readily available in my rapid recall cache, so it all gets pounded repeatedly.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550443464",
- "timestamp": 1274918400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 26, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550456315",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nI haven't given much thought to the trolls and their pre-game lives/culture/society outside of their present relevance to the plot. I keep all that on a need-to-reveal basis, even for myself.
\n
\nThere'll be more development of those things as we go. I'm sure I'll take some cues from readers, as well as use my own ideas.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550474095",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nThere has been absolutely nothing done with my stuff that I haven't already seen done to other people's work in far more offensive and copious supplies. It's completely expected. Embraced even.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550488999",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550495338",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nPhotoshop.
\n
\nIronically, I couldn't make it anywhere near as terrible looking if I used Paint.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550512875",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nI didn't break the 4th wall in Bard Quest! I think you need to go back and read BQ another three or four hundred times.
\n
\nAlso I said it was a terrible idea, but in fact it secretly was a great idea.
\n
\nThe fact that it was a great idea is what inspired me to do it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550529531",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nProbably Sepulchritude.
\n
\nBut really if Flash were a factor in that story it would have changed everything. There would be entire scenes and concepts that never took place at all in the static story.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550555861",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nWork on it really hard for several years without expecting it to be popular.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550589194",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nDraw/write with left, do practically everything else with right.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie550632567",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nFollowing up on your webcomic question answered two slots down...
\n
\nTrying to \"get it out there\" when your site is only one comic deep shows a misapprehension of the medium you are stepping into.
\n
\nNo one is going to care about a webcomic that consists of only one comic, no matter how good it is. And at this early stage, putting emphasis on the attention your work will receive before any substantial work is done will be a severe creative detriment.
\n
\nPopularity will always be an inscrutable cross product of novelty, quality, dedication, and luck. Unless you catch crazy lightning in a bottle, it will take at least a year to discover how your formula pans out, probably longer.
\n
\nDon't even bother looking at your stat tracker. Focus on making something good.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551920517",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nProbably more so.
\n
\nLess distractions.
\n
\nThe humanity ruse was a.......
\n
\noh never mind\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551930195",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nThe ones in the store are all that will ever be left ever!
\n
\nYou guys think you have all the time in the world to buy stuff but you really don't.
\n
\nIf you see something you want to buy you should do it right away to avoid future frowns!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551934199",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nYeah that sure is a question invited by that animation isn't it!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551943582",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nLast summer I was looking into making an MC flash game with Gankro. Of course that proved to be too much work so the idea was quickly discarded. But these were the villains I drafted for that purpose. I later adapted them to the intermission. But had them lying around way in advance, so they made it onto Dave's wall.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551962327",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nThe thing is, AND and OR have graceful, easily understood means of being achieved through physical punch cards, by overlapping or double punching. How would these more exotic methods be achieved? You could of course go through the motions of computing them, calculating the new code, typing the code and punching it, but it loses the simplicity of original basic idea that lead to the combinations in the first place. Would going through such machinations just to invoke these more obscure operations actually be interesting? Probably not.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551964449",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nI can't believe how stupid old philosophers were.
\n
\nThe older the dumber.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551967305",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nHow can kids put shit on cards?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551971060",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nWHAT DO YOU GOT
\n
\n(please don't say a dick please don't say a dick please don't say a dick)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551995299",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nI can't decide what syntax to use.
\n
\nnot all the consonants are the same
\n
\ntoo many cases and voewls\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie551996724",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nI've watched Lost but I thought the last episode was kind of dumb.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 10, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie552018174",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nThere are exactly two words I pulled out of the thesaurus for that. coriaceous and adumbratives.
\n
\nWith the first, I was just wondering if there was a totally ridiculous fancy word for leathery. It turned out there was.
\n
\nWith the second I was looking for an old timey word specifically to nounify for that purpose. The correct form, the adjective, means foreshadowing. In the noun context, I guess it's some vague assortment of wizardly prognostication talismans? I can't claim to be an authority on this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 14, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie552023304",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nKind of like Batman perched on the precipice of a building.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 14, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589028607",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 14, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589029922",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nThe way the word is actually pronounced.
\n
\nnwär\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 14, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589031821",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nIt wasn't on the wall at the time. It was in Dave's sylladex. He used it to make a cool suit and stuff.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 14, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589032369",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nHow do you know so fewer than me?
\n
\nWHAT'S YOUR SECRET\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 14, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589032816",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 14, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589038901",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nNanna is a paradox clone of herself.
\nGrandpa is a paradox clone of himself.
\nBro is a paradox clone of himself.
\nMom is a paradox clone of herself.
\n
\nJohn is a clone of Nanna and Grandpa's ghost slime mixed together. So is Jade.
\n
\nRose is a clone of Mom and Bro's ghost slime mixed together. So is Dave.
\n
\nJohn and Jade are biologically related, in the same way siblings are. Though they are not literally siblings. We saw how they were \"born\".
\n
\nDave and Rose are the same way.
\n
\nJohn is not related to Rose.
\nDave is not related to Jade.
\n
\nThere is no evidence to suggest nanna, grandpa, mom, or bro are related to each other in any way. They are all clones of themselves, sent back in time to become themselves.
\n
\nParadox clones.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 19, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589039370",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 19, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589041299",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nYes, I quite often exhibit prejudice.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 19, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589043574",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nThey are extremely important to the story, and will become more so.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 19, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589044518",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nIN ABSURD QUANTITIES AND WITH HASTE\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 19, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589045409",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nIt takes two to screw.
\n
\nGet your lecherous head away from my innocent updates.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 19, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589047771",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nOk, I will answer this one.
\n
\nSo you say your pal wants to draw something shitty in a school newspaper?
\n
\nI hope he sports a musket and a coonskin cap, because that, my friend, is a PIONEER.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 19, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589049263",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nNo, but I did play that game.
\n
\nIt was really long and fucking impossible.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 19, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589049851",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nYou put things on cards and stick them in your plain and serviceable brown wallet.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 21, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589051196",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 21, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589053783",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nHorses and jesters are both hilarious.
\n
\nThey symbolically represent hilariousness.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 21, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589060495",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nThe only thing I would describe as tedious would be setting up a Flash file from scratch, getting the preloader ready to go and everything. I don't mind working long hours on an animation, but I kind of want to get right into it, not spend an hour setting it up.
\n
\nRewarding? I don't know. Everything is rewarding.
\n
\nI enjoy writing the pesterlogs. Probably because it's relaxing. I sit here and go tap tap tap. Instead of ranging around with my stylus like a wild animal, hitting the undo button, and muttering to myself now and then. Writing is easy. Sometimes I think I'd rather just be a writer, and I could say \"I'M A WRITER\" when people asked me.
\n
\nBOY would they be impressed!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 21, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589061074",
- "timestamp": 1275350400,
- "html": "\nIt'll come up pretty soon.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 21, 2010 - May 31, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589067047",
- "timestamp": 1275955200,
- "html": "\nProbably. But any time I come up with backstory stuff and think it won't be necessary, it just finds a way in there anyway.
\n
\nThe fact that nanna and grandpa were raised by Sassacre (before he died) and Betty Crocker was an example of this. It was a funny backstory idea I had quite some time ago, mainly in the form of joking with myself, and said \"There's no WAY I'm going to work that in!\" And yet here we are.
\n
\nAnd somehow when it happens it still manages to feel like it's an important part of the story. At least for me.
\n
\nOne of the things I am most proud about in Homestuck is the fact that I have managed to elevate Betty Crocker to a position of critical relevance to the story.
\n
\nI think creators probably tend to be proud of really stupid things about their stuff a lot of times.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 23, 2010 - June 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589074139",
- "timestamp": 1275955200,
- "html": "\nIt's really hard to say.
\n
\nMaybe it just hasn't been at all.
\n
\nI've thought that the closest thing to being true is that Lost is very much the sort of story I would try to write if left to my own devices, in terms of structure and complexity and involvement of scifi and the supernatural.
\n
\nExcept it would be funny, and not as heavy handed and dour all the time.
\n
\nAs it turns out, I AM left to my own devices! And HS is the result.
\n
\nAlso I thought the final episode was very good.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 23, 2010 - June 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589074958",
- "timestamp": 1275955200,
- "html": "\nIt doesn't sound like you know what a pun is!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 23, 2010 - June 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589075631",
- "timestamp": 1275955200,
- "html": "\nI liked it too. It is like a wrapper for a fancy chocolate bar.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 23, 2010 - June 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589077017",
- "timestamp": 1275955200,
- "html": "\nI STRICTLY FORBID THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
\n
\nJust kidding, that's cool.
\n
\nI request that you make it so that you have to roll LOTS of dice, ALL THE TIME.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 23, 2010 - June 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589105791",
- "timestamp": 1275955200,
- "html": "\nNo. But there were similarities between the two pairs for aesthetic reasons, and some other reasons I guess. Bifurcation in broad personality type. The 4 character designs were drawn before page 1, so things were very loose back then. I left it open, and the cross-similarities between pairs, specifically between Jade and John, led me to get some steam behind the idea that these two very vaguely had \"something to do with each other\".
\n
\nWhat they had to do with each other was something pieced together very organically over the development of the plot. We saw they shared identical towers on the same moon. The logic that they had something to do with each other naturally led to the same principle for Rose and Dave. They got a moon too.
\n
\nThis sort of stuff is all so gradual, and pieced together from so many smaller events, it's hard to pinpoint exactly when an idea originally took shape.
\n
\nBut the idea that they all had that origin was not pulled out of thin air. It was in the works for a good while, and a lot of foundation was laid for it. I would say it had its beginnings when I first introduced the concept of ectobiology, in Rose's next door lab when she made an unsuccessful paradox clone, a two headed cat. The thoughts weren't far off then, like \"Maybe this weird way of cloning someone is how the kids were made? Maybe for that matter they created themselves?\" Doesn't get more paradoxical than that, and thus wholly in the spirit of the fictional science, and in the spirit of the slowly rolling thunder that is this work's accumulating cache of themes.
\n
\nBut I think was sold it for me was when I got the idea to mix the pairs of slime from their respective guardians. The whole weird mess struck me as an especially novel origin story, and the thought of making these 8 babies all at once was just ridiculous enough to be irresistible. Not just because of the mad science/time travel/paradoxical novelty, but because of the new light it put the characters under. Especially the guardians I think. These weird automaton-like authority figures, mostly obstacles in the early going, are quite probably very much like the kids, just at different stages in their weird lives (i.e. the ones where they lose their facial features). They're all kind of like siblings in a way, even if not all biological. (Though some are!) And I think you could pick up on that from some of the early interactions, that for instance Rose was likely a very similar person to her mom. Her mom just happened to be an adult!
\n
\nThe origin story also lent a lot more relevance to John's designated handle, exctoBiologist. This was never something that was supposed to be significant at all. It was some funny word that tied into his interest of ghosts, and Ghostbusters. (The word was also lifted from an old comic I wrote.)
\n
\nBut now that seems like it was extremely important from the getgo, like it was all FORESHADOWIN' AND SHIT. But of course it's just yet again me connecting another one of these million dots to some others, when the dots were never actually meant to be connected.
\n
\nI think very few major developments are pulled out of thin air, even if they appear to come from out of nowhere. There is almost always some foundational work for it. These things arrive through the series of details which lead to their cognition in the first place. You can always trace it backwards and find the clues that were pointing to it all along.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 23, 2010 - June 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie589136910",
- "timestamp": 1275955200,
- "html": "\nmaybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe
\n
\nWe already saw how Bro met Cal though. He's sleeping on him right now!
\n
\nCal's origin: came from Bro's future little brother's (i.e. biological son's!) dreams, dreams which were spurred by his anxiety over sharing an apartment with...
\n
\nTHE VERY SAME PUPPET.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nMay 23, 2010 - June 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667466104",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nI'm not sure I understand. Do you want me to point the homepage to a more recent page? I like keeping it at the beginning for newcomers.
\n
\nIf it's just \"did you know how crazy it would get\" the answer's yes. That was always the intention. Perhaps not intention so much as grim understanding. I was going off the advancement of PS as a model, and expected to duplicate or surpass that degree of escalation from the very start.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 7, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667479333",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nAct 4 just finished. I think it will likely be 3 more acts. It's easier to make calls like that now that I'm not bogged down in user suggestions.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 7, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667486989",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nIt always seems like more to me, but I think it's only two. That one, and the one where they talk about Little Monsters and Howie Mandel piss, which was a conversation I had with Michael Firman.
\n
\nhttp://www.firmanproductions.com
\n
\nMy idea was to integrate a lot more, but it turned out to be easier to serve the story by making them from scratch. You know, actual \"writing\".\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 7, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667489220",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nA reasonable guess is he still believed the bunny was under his control.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667492325",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nOh no! I don't know. I think you should ask Topatoco. They are friendly and helpful.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667501872",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nIt really seemed to be an equal amount of work for me somehow. I was just working on it nonstop for days, in spite of the extra art I had available.
\n
\nIt did make the end result much nicer looking though. They included drawings of detail I never would have attempted myself while trying to knock out such a huge project.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667513110",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\n????????????????????
\n
\nWhy don't you try it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667514853",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nThey were just awful.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667516937",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nYes, they are part of a game called Homestuck, which you, the player/reader, are reading/playing.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667519330",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nI don't know. How many goddamn super powers do we need to see??\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667526015",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nThere is at least a slim chance I presently occupy any condition you can imagine, I suppose.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667537206",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nIs misspelling the name of various syndromes the type of Tourette's you're afflicted with?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667543137",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nA Tesla knockoff didn't author a giant joke book that's been haunting the pages of this story since act 1 though. So no that would be dumb.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667546361",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nI think 7.
\n
\nI don't know if this is something with formal act structure. Acts were just what I decided to call them instead of chapters.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667558097",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nI don't read any roleplaying whatsoever.
\n
\nOne, it's too time consuming.
\n
\nTwo, I think in general it's potentially a bit toxic for authors to be reading RPing of their stuff. It seems like there's always potential, no matter how you steel yourself against the terrible writing, for contamination.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667561220",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nI don't know, I guess. It always seems like there's been some variety of issues with it. It does the job and I don't want to spend any energy fixing it or thinking about it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667565270",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nI'm swapping out some songs from old pages with new ones, for some uninteresting reasons. The new songs will be available in a new album.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667567776",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nI don't know how really good I am at either, but I do both.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667569197",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nMOMxDAD
\n
\n???????????????
\n
\n!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667571203",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nGankro does lots of cool stuff on his own without me telling him too. We'll see what stuff he cooks up in the future.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667574533",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667576385",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nSometimes a couple hours.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667590274",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nIf they only had 7 gates, the 12 players couldn't cycle all the way through them. If that was a necessary condition, it would have to be more.
\n
\nOther than that point of logic, this doesn't seem like the format for a definitive answer on it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667598169",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nSame way PM got there. He took a shuttle shortly after, and followed PM. He saw PM get clobbered by HB, and went to recover the scepter she dropped, while she had her hands full chopping off HB's head.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667600441",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nI don't know, you asked this question three days ago. Did I top it??\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667603977",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\nOn 6/12 or maybe 6/13. These things often run later than planned.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667607838",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nLet's go on this journey of discovery together. A federal prison will be our Emerald City.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667613082",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nSince CG first mentioned it in a chat.
\n
\nOne idea I tossed around to make that happen was the death of dream Jade.
\n
\nI don't think I tossed around many others, actually.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667620451",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nThere was no name preceding the command for EOA3 either: [S] Enter. In that, many entered, generally speaking. In EOA4, many descended, in various ways.
\n
\n\"I just had a friendship aneurysm.\"\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667626789",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nThat is so ridiculous!
\n
\nFor one thing, Jade's glasses have a bridge between them. What did you suppose that was?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667632337",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nYes.
\n
\nIn the most basic way, I also knew how it would end before page 1.
\n
\nBut it's more specific now.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667636881",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nThere seem to be a lot of questions that resemble this template!
\n
\nAll I can respond with is something like \"thank you for thinking I am awesome.\"\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667637765",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nNope. Other than those tallies appear somewhere in the act.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667645551",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nI did like Lost but let's face it HS is a pretty different animal.
\n
\nOn a broader note it helps to realize that sometimes people who make stuff that you like will also like things that you don't like and that's ok.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667649418",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nI'm pretty keenly aware of how much dust I've let the far future arc gather, but it's kind of made up for by the fact that there's been such heavy focus on the stories of those same characters during their pre-exile lives.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667652887",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nI made him chop a meteor in half and also a bunch of other things. Plus he wears pointy shades.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667655728",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nIt wasn't a decision it was a foregone conclusion.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667670818",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nThere is absolutely not going to be a long boss battle in HS like there was with DMK.
\n
\nI kind of regret that that is the inevitable expectation people will have.
\n
\nWith PS, the emphasis was on general gaming satire, and the neverending boss battle was part of that. There was no major plot to satisfy, other than escaping an office, and defeating this monster.
\n
\nHS has a complicated plot. It is an actual story, and will be wrapped up the way actual stories are meant to be. Will there be service to the gaming parallels present in HS too, as there were with the strife pages? Sure. But an infinite boss fight serves no purpose in this context other than to aggravate an audience. It was ok in Problem Sleuth because there was nothing more to it than that. The battle was a purpose unto itself, strung together with the ridiculous and the surreal and the absurd.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667680557",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nIt would probably be like that dumb ant movie starring Woody Allen.
\n
\nWhich is to say A COMPLETE FUCKING NIGHTMARE
\n
\nActually I don't even remember what that movie was about. Maybe it was ok.
\n
\nMaybe better than that movie about Bees by Seinfeld. What's with these retired comedians making movies about bugs???\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667683346",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nJack Noir was named by a reader.
\n
\nI do however take credit for selecting the suggestion!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie667690734",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nThis sounds like the name of a fat horse at the Kentucky Derby.
\n
\nI think this will be the last question I answer so that this one stays at the top for several weeks.
\n
\nGoodnight folks!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698134138",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nNo! It's possible to make art that is so bad that it doesn't even effectively serve the purpose of being bad art.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698135938",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698136812",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nThanks for feeling that way!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698137859",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nHe's an herbivore.
\n
\nPlus it's not true. He ate a rotting pumpkin, and the top of a fresh pumpkin.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698139352",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nMaybe.
\n
\nBut I think it's perfectly within Dave's character, and within the spirit of the blog, and within the spirit of blogs in general, to abandon it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698142149",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nIt's not so bad. Mainly just a lot of people talkin about stuff. Kind of like all over the internet.
\n
\nBut it's really busy and hard to keep up with.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 8, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698143291",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nThe dark orange. Then medium then light.
\n
\nWOWEE that's a specific question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 12, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698144950",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "\nI've browsed it a few times. It's pretty huge!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 12, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698146033",
- "timestamp": 1277251200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 12, 2010 - June 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698149288",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698167482",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nLots of small subtle things, many of which I can't remember.
\n
\nSome of these big ideas are like a slow rolling thunder instead of a lightning bolt. In fact, maybe all of them are. It's really hard to pinpoint where exactly major developments originated from.
\n
\nI think it started from the very simple fact that the two pairs of kids looked similar, and had some profile similarities. And then there was the fact that John's nanna looked to Jade, and her grandpa looked like John. This begged the obvious question, are nanna/granpa actually Jade/John sent back in time??? Which is so obvious, it would be stupid if it panned out like that. So i think creating an explanation for that presented a challenge. An explanation that was somewhat original and completely unexpected, but made sense and used the existing parameters of the story.
\n
\nThere was also a ridiculous drawing I did which was a satirical crack pairing of Rose's mom and Dave's bro, just cause the idea of those two together seemed so absurd. But that actually may have influenced the outcome too.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698173128",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nI guess I have to shoot for 1024 next or fall short of awesome?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698179195",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nMore the latter. I just arranged then in what I thought was a reasonably compelling order.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698186927",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nSomewhere else on the planet.
\n
\nUnless I'm just not getting the question. Why does it matter whether shes on the ground? Gates take you to different locations.
\n
\nThat's like being on top of the Empire State Building, and needing to fly to L.A. So you go downstairs to go to the airport. But the moment you get to the 1st floor, you say, damn we can't go to L.A. now! We're on the ground already!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698190437",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nHis spine was swiftly harvested by a resurgent Troll Cobra Kai.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698200793",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nI've heard of it and I've read some snippets. It does seem a bit dense and kind of heavyhanded though.
\n
\nAt the risk of raising myself above a great and accomplished novelist, I kind of like to make my stuff fun to read.
\n
\nBut maybe I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Maybe the book's a riot!
\n
\nP.S. I'm not saying stuff's got to be funny to be good either.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698205594",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nIs it really so surprising one could enjoy one and not the other?
\n
\nThey do spring from the same muse I guess. Albeit a muse prone to radical mood swings.
\n
\nBut they are completely different things.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698206661",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nWhy do you pollute God's creation with your curiosity?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698212267",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nI would be a really terrible ambassador for what has a future in digital comics, even though I myself have been particularly feisty with the medium.
\n
\nAll I can say is what there's a future for in my work. And it probably isn't 3D.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698218698",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nI try to make every character likable in some way. Accomplishing this for a character who was immediately established as a juggalo struck me as a serious challenge.
\n
\nI often put myself way, way behind the eight ball with some of these challenges I set up for myself.
\n
\nHomestuck itself is the ultimate eight ball.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698226077",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\n413: A story about 4 13 year olds. Plus lots of other stuff. 4 members of the MC. 4 suits, 13 cards per suit. John's birthday, story start-date: 4/13. Etc.
\n
\n6/12, start of act five. A story about 12 6 year olds (in troll years).
\n
\nIs ICP ever REALLY a nice touch?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 16, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698236562",
- "timestamp": 1277424000,
- "html": "\nI posted 10 pages today.
\n
\nNot record breaking I know.
\n
\nBut is that not sufficient???\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - June 24, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698239173",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nYou can see for yourself by checking out the Project Wonderful stats. (click the price under banner ads)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698239681",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nParties are stupid!
\n
\nJust kidding.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698242663",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nNo way!
\n
\nOther than knowing that the format and story framework will likely undergo earth shattering revolutions.
\n
\nThere is no way I'm going to do something quite like Homestuck again.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698244763",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nCome one man you are probably a dude, and dudes can't have babies. Let's get real here.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698251110",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nIn a way I've almost become weary of the topic simply due to the extended overabundance of curiosity relative to the intrinsic appeal of whatever those powers could possibly be.
\n
\nI like how I preceded that remark with \"simply\", as if the point I just made was remotely simple.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698253592",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nA lot of people will think you're pretty silly if I answer this question, mainly because I would be bumping it for them to read.
\n
\nWhoops, sorry!
\n
\nGoogle ICP.
\n
\nWait don't!
\n
\nWhoops, sorry!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698254565",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698255687",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698256810",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698258935",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nActually getting into the details of the astrological personality traits and applying those to the characters struck me as a really uninteresting idea. But it did occur to me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698261480",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nWait, you were there? Did you time his journey with a stopwatch?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698265808",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nNo. Some of the trolls share certain personality traits with some of the kids. But there's no formula for it. And it's certainly not as simple as \"She's the troll-Jade!\" and such. That's not how I view it, or how I planned it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698269398",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nWhy did you use a bunch of different letters and words in your sentence? What's up with that? And look! What's that curly thing at the end? The one with the dot under it?? <- Oh shit, there they are again!!!!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698285212",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI guess some of my answers seem testy. Mainly I take opportunities to make humorous remarks, and occasionally, I APPEAR to do so at the expense of another. This is an illusion though. I think everyone's great.
\n
\nIt isn't really a deliberate act, but neither is it how I behave in the real world. I have had a long creative career on the internet. Most of it in the shadows, and much of it established in the tradition of trolling the wide eyed and unsuspecting. The good kind of trolling. The funny kind. Some of that comes through in my current work, and more recently, somewhat literally.
\n
\nThere really is no 4th wall AH character, as is separate from the narrative voice throughout the entire story. That is me, or more specifically, my internet voice. The characters are me too, but I suppose are aspects of my personality that are hyper-accelerated for characterization purposes. If they get a bit sassy at times, and they do, and my narrative voice gets sassy at times, and it does, it shouldn't be a surprise that I do as well.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698300013",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nThis question is 5 days old. I have not seen another question about it posted more recently!
\n
\nIt's amazing how what seems like a big deal gets forgotten so quickly. People have already more or less forgotten there were ever different songs. In a couple months, the song swaps will be a point of obscure trivia. The whole topic will fade into the lore of the site, known by few and regretted by none (except maybe one person).
\n
\nI was never under any impression swapping them was the wrong thing to do, or that the new songs were inferior. They were always great, and sorry to say, complaints fell on deaf ears. I'm sort of pathologically unshakable on decisions like that, or really any creative decision.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698309765",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nOk horses are HILARIOUS.
\n
\nThey're like these big snorting muscular monsters with these huge faces, and they often freak out, and we RIDE THEM. That's INSANE.
\n
\nPuppets are funny for some reasons I guess. It's really hard to describe. Like people decided they wanted to make these... smaller fake people? And make them talk and do things. And on their quest they fell ass backwards into the uncanny valley. It's actually kind of a tragedy when you think about it.
\n
\nThat was the worst fucking essay I ever just wrote.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie698327381",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nYour question can be the chicken sandwich question. \"The Chicken Sandwich Question\" will be the new name for the last question I answer, and leave at the top for weeks.
\n
\nI definitely don't like Cage much, nor do I hate him. But I also wouldn't describe my employment of his service as ironic. It's similar to irony, but it's a concept that I truly think eludes verbalization. You would need to sift the mists of my subconscious, and treat the yields to a prolonged, unpleasant examination.
\n
\nTo extract a more practical slice of the issue for the microscope, early in the story I decided I needed something really ludicrous to harp on repeatedly, and ALSO for that thing to prove to be, through a deliberately circuitous path, immensely critical to the plot. This was the bunny. I guess you could say Cage was along for the ride.
\n
\nIf the question is \"Why the bunny?\" the answer is, because there is nothing you could possibly select to be the critical linchpin of a story that is more stupid than authentic memorabilia from the film Con Air, specifically the stuffed rabbit that Cameron Poe gave to his daughter at the end. You can try to think of something dumber, but you won't succeed.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750575980",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nBrown.
\n
\nNot really, I just thought that would be a funny answer.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750580681",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750584766",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nThe only thing that needs more cowbell is a cow.
\n
\nCows that can sneak up on you make me nervous.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750584848",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750586280",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nOof! Bad crop of questions today.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750593561",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nNoooooo. Sprites are quite a pain in the ass to draw. I never feel like an artist when I draw sprites. I feel like a pixel engineer.
\n
\nWhenever I need to draw something new, and it isn't sprite-based, it's because I'm essentially taking the easy route. Drawing a character with more realistic proportions in cool poses and settings and stuff is relatively effortless compared to sprite work, and doing stuff like zooming 400% so I can fuss over a couple pixels so someone's fingers don't look like total garbage.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750602874",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nAre you talking about the alien-looking font? (Elder scrolls)
\n
\nYou're not supposed to be able to read it genius!
\n
\nIf you're talkin about something else then......
\n
\n??????????????
\n
\nYou mean diif3r3nt 2YNT4X liik3 THIS 2tuff?? Not really a font.
\n
\nI don't understand things people say sometimes.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 17, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750605790",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nIn Photoshop you can take any brush and use it in pencil mode, which gives you the hard edges. I used a more transparent brush in pencil mode, and just built up some colors on top of black.
\n
\nThen I duplicated that layer, amped up the contrast on the copy, and faded in and out over a series of frames.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750621030",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI haven't watched much TV lately. I watched all the Star trek series into the ground, but I was never much of a trekkie. I don't really think Lost was an especially nerdy show. it had a huge audience full of really regular joes who just liked mystery. I liked Arrested Development a lot. Might actually be my fav all time show.
\n
\nI'm probably not nearly as nerdy as my work makes me seem. I hardly ever play video games or anything like that. Or read nerdy books or play rpgs. My readers could probably nerd me under the table (a table littered with dice and rulebooks!)
\n
\nI admire them for this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750623676",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nNope. Looks great though, and I always thought the artist was good, from his days as a web comic artist.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750625096",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nIn the world of comedy, the result would be a series of humorous escapades.
\n
\nIn the world of reality, the two gumshoes would catch wise INSTANTLY, and there is a reasonable probability that physical violence would ensue.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750628080",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nIt always existed.
\n
\nAnd yet, it was also initialized by John's entry.
\n
\n!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750632350",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI don't think this is true.
\n
\nAnd it wouldn't bother me if it was.
\n
\n(Oh snap, followup question CUT OFF AT THE PASS)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750632994",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750638626",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nMaybe.
\n
\nMaybe there's nothing to overcome. Maybe using different media to translate a work will diminish it in some ways, but augment it in others. That would be fine.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750642854",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nMaybe you should wait til you're not so amateur at juggling before you get all high and mighty about my plans to utterly defile your noble discipline through my work!
\n
\nAnd it will happen, watch.
\n
\nFuck yeah, jugglin is going FUCKING DOWN.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750645153",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nThey're too cool for school.
\n
\nAnd also, too fictional.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750646840",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nThe reader is invited to write his or her own rap to complete the conversation.
\n
\nMuch as some toys invite children to use magnets to draw moustaches made of iron filings on cartoon men.
\n
\nIt's \"fun\".\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750648991",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI don't eat cake slow enough to process flavor.
\n
\nImagine footage of a firehose, played backwards, and sped up.
\n
\nThat is my mouth. And cake.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750651887",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nSHRUG
\n
\nThings take time. Time budgeting always seems to backfire.
\n
\nIt'll be 7 acts total, and I'll stick to that. The key point is the light is visible at the end of a heretofore interminable tunnel.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750677397",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nSaying they've hardly even started is just nonsense. They've come a long way.
\n
\nWe can look at his through our obsessive gamer goggles and say \"man they've only gone through 1 gate! fuck that!\"
\n
\nOr we can look at it through our storyteller goggles (i.e. my goggles) and realize shit like that doesn't matter. Are we REALLY going to sit there and believe progress will be meted out through the rigorous, literal gaming logic presented? Are we going to go through every gate, watch every subquest, slay every monster and gain every level?
\n
\nOr is it going to become increasingly less granular, as the trend has shown? Leapfrogging over the unnecessary, the logic and mechanics already wrung of their story mileage through the intensive granularity early in the story? How could I rationally proceed without doing this?
\n
\nWe see evidence of this in the troll arc, as we hop way into the future and back into the past pretty often, making use of all these facts we know, about the game and about the storyline. There's not much to hide or suspend about the way the game works, because we already know. There's not much drama inherent in guarding their future events heavily, because again, we were brought into this with knowledge of where they wind up, and how a generic game session works. The point is to draw out all the characters, show some facets of their story in ways that illuminate aspects of their characters, and ways that help tie their story to the main arc. It all has a purpose, and that purpose can't be fully known until we get there.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750677834",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750678787",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI don't have a puppet fetish. Puppets are gross ugly little men.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750679403",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nNo, it won't be a \"troll act\".\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750701724",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI guess if the winding road through Homestuck has yielded anything like a formal policy on Flash stuff, it's that I really don't want to fire up Flash at all unless I'm going to make it COUNT.
\n
\nI think early in HS I was still figuring out what role Flash would play, and I was still operating under this idea that I would sprinkle in lots of quirky little Flash pages here and there to complement the static stuff, as a compromise to the original idea that every page would be Flash.
\n
\nVery gradually, this model shifted. It's really nothing like that at all anymore, and the real power of Flash in this format, for this particular story, I think has been revealed to be in adding serious cinematic power to the major moments, and not littering the more run of the mill content with funny little Flash tidbits and short musical interruptions. Not that I think the early content that had that stuff was bad. Not at all. It was all a great part of this thing's evolution.
\n
\nThat stuff doesn't really feel right for where this thing is now though. Like strife pages, mini games, 20 second musical interludes, etc. And effort is a factor here. There comes a time when effort has to be conserved to make sure everything that's happening is contributing constructively to an ultimate conclusion. Doing something like a strife page now would feel like WAY too much of a diversion when looking at the effort required. That wasn't a factor on the slow build up to this though. In fact doing stuff like that was part of the point of the build. To find out what this mixed media story experience could be. So pushing boundaries with Flash for some not especially critical content was perfectly suitable.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750707956",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nGetting 12 characters out of the woodwork, even if some are examined a bit more superficially than others, is apparently a pretty serious undertaking. Ideally, each introduction will not be quite as formulaic as the trend presently appears, and this will present opportunity for acceleration.
\n
\nBut I still think it might be another 3 weeks or so with this arc, to put out an estimate with a safe margin. It's just astonishing how quickly time moves versus the rate of artistic production.
\n
\nEVEN MY RATE.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750709461",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nWell the truth is, if I weren't doing this now I would be sleeping. So it's either say this to you, or be asleep.
\n
\nOH GOD....\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750710742",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI was pretty cagey about saying it would last a month. I always knew it was likely to overflow, and that's pretty surely gonna be the case.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750713956",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI think the fact that they went through those trials was pretty good evidence that you only get to make one apple/bottle/egg etc, for whatever reason.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750715242",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI don't understand the second thing you said. It doesn't make sense.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750718044",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nNot really. I think the main thing is I would have a real hard time writing a character who I didn't personally like, or at the very least, find interesting. So in order to make it so I don't hate writing someone's lines, I make it so I like them in some way. And in doing so, I guess often other people do as well.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750726722",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nI don't know, honestly a lot of these trolltags were just silly throwaway phrases to match up all the leftover ACGT initials. I never thought I'd introduce most of them. But it's been one of the fun things about it, taking that initial phrase and building something around it to make it logical.
\n
\nWhen I originally thought of the phrase \"gallowsCalibrator\" for instance, I pictured some guy, someone probably much more generically malevolent. Then I'm sure I thought, pffffffff, never gonna introduce THAT guy.
\n
\nAnd yet, the greater story purpose for the trolls has always remained the same, and has not yet been revealed. I just thought that purpose would be delivered through a more generic, unseen vehicle of internet trolls bugging kids through messages. But I was wrong.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750738682",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nMaybe just make a cool flash intro to better suck people in.
\n
\nAnd promptly disappoint them in ensuing pages, and somewhat mitigate the impact of such content which arrives later.
\n
\nSo yeah I guess that's a bad idea.
\n
\nA big part of the experience of reading it I think is this liftoff it achieves with its gradual escalation in every respect, in story and format.
\n
\nThe fact that it's just so \"straight\" at the beginning, and comparatively bland, is a major part of that stage setting, and something I was very much cognizant of while making it. Much to the lament of those so eagerly anticipating a new story that would instantly echo the magnitude of the final throes of Problem Sleuth.
\n
\nI can't say a blame anyone who is deflected by the early story for its lack of fireworks. But they are also missing out on an intended effect the work is meant to achieve through its up front banality. This is an unavoidable tradeoff.
\n
\nI'm not even answering your question anymore, I'm just talking to myself.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750740231",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nEhhh she's not that creepy.
\n
\nI think creepy is a really overused word. Kind of like random.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750740485",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750741990",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nHe's not sad, he's always smiling. Maybe you shouldn't project your own emotions on handicapped people.
\n
\nIt's racist.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750743814",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nWhen did Europe steal the Great Lakes from us?
\n
\nI smell a war brewing...\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie750745112",
- "timestamp": 1278547200,
- "html": "\nYou would get something that resembles a queue of formspring questions waiting to be answered.
\n
\nCHICKEN SANDWICH QUESTION.
\n
\nLATER.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJune 30, 2010 - July 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780920155",
- "timestamp": 1278720000,
- "html": "\nWhy don't YOU go move the 10 ton skull off the doomsday scale??? Oh, not so easy, is it!
\n
\nAnyway, what would be the point? Disarming the device in some way wouldn't have helped the egg hatch. From a young troll girl's perspective, it's just some diabolical ancient contraption rigged in the woods, probably meant to stay that way forever. Why mess with it?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780954157",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nThis is a really odd question. I'll accept the premise for a moment, and start rambling.
\n
\nI think I actually remember when I realized I WASN'T funny. It was a really long time ago, maybe when I was in high school. And I drew some dumb bullshit comics of some vaguely humorous nature and assumed they were objectively funny because they were meant to be. They were \"funnies\". And those are automatically funny.
\n
\nBut then a little later I took a look at those comics. One series was about a singing snail, and I guess there were some others. And I thought, \"Holy shit, this isn't funny at all. What was I thinking?\" And then later, gradually, I put a more concerted effort into understanding what is funny. I think it was a pretty slow climb. It was also a gradual process of becoming less of a dumbass. Dumbasses think stupid shit is funny, and that can be a major handicap.
\n
\nThe biggest key to being funny is to not be a dumbass. Really stupid people have a hard time being funny (intentionally). The smarter you are, the better the odds you have of being funny. Note that sometimes you run into really smart people who aren't funny, or lack a sense of humor. But note, this is VERY STRONG evidence that they are not nearly as smart as they appear to be! In my view at least.
\n
\nWhen I equate humor as a product of intelligence, I mean it is primarily a product of awareness. The more you are aware of, and the more insight you have into a myriad of things, the more you will be able to successfully illuminate absurdity, and the more clever ways to accomplish this you will be able to conceive of. Awareness lends itself to an agile imagination. This is why stupidity is such comedic poison. Awareness of the world and that from which you draw your satirical muse is deadened by the mind-blunting forces that are associated with stupidity. These forces primarily are a lack of concentration and dedication, and inalertness to all that surrounds you and all content you are exposed to. As well as being quick to judge and label whatever does manage to get through the pinhole. Those are brain killers and comedy killers. They lead to hackneyed work at best, and incredibly awful, prejudicial, bigoted stuff at worst.
\n
\nNow I don't mean to say I'm a real smart guy and that's why I'm funny, or EVEN VICE VERSA. I'm just pointing out that, in thinking back, becoming less obtuse and deepening my understanding of as much as possible was a turning point in beginning to understand what is and isn't funny.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780955459",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780956887",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nGod there are so many questions.
\n
\nI clicked on this one just to say that.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780958791",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nI've read a bit of the MSPA articles. Some tidbits are insightful.
\n
\nBut I've never gotten sucked into its vortex like so many have.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780959543",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780966720",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nNo. They're on Alternia.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780967179",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nI'm still not even really sure how popular it is.
\n
\nI did always think from the start that the basic gimmick of the format had a lot of viral potential.
\n
\nBut now looking back, I feel like the bulk of the readership has fallen into orbit on account of the preposterous amount of content I've generated in a short timeframe, plus the overall electricity and media volatility of the whole thing in its totality. I picture a great many gawkers gathered around a storm, and most of them can't decide whether what they're looking at is spectacular or horrifying. But they can't look away, and then more gather around to see what everyone's gawking at. And then THEY'RE trapped too.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780971872",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nCharacter design is the most whimsical thing for me. For many of them, I don't have a clue what they're going to look like until I'm drawing them.
\n
\nSometimes it feels like I'm channeling a design. I'll draw it, then look at it, and say, oh, so that's what that guy looks like. Actually writing the dialogue is a lot like that too.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780979296",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nFelt, no. They were just green guys with powers. And I thought of their powers on the fly.
\n
\nTrolls...
\n
\nComing up with them is the easy part. Introducing them through the \"Homestuck fomula\", one after another, giving them distinct personalities, roles in the dynamic of the full ensemble, roles in the short story arc to drive the action, distinct voice, chat syntax, appearance, lusus, room, house, weapon, modus, game world, all presented through a fictional alien culture I'm building on the fly simultaneously, and doing it in such a way that's fairly engaging and won't take FOREVER
\n
\nis challenging.
\n
\nBut I guess that's why I decided to do it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780980161",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nSometimes one, sometimes the other.
\n
\nI should probably always do the latter for efficiency's sake.
\n
\nBut sometimes I just like to see how it looks as I'm typing it.
\n
\nTYPOS ABOUND\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780982282",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nBecause this one has....................... dialogue???
\n
\nI'm not sure why I bother answering some of these. They are like wiggling worms on a hook, and then suddenly I am in the fisherman's boat.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780983129",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nThe average time between completing an image and posting it is about ten seconds.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780984866",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nGamecube.
\n
\nIt's the last one I played with any regularity.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780995992",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nI guess I could make a chart. Then again there's all sorts of stuff out there I have nothing to do with, keeping track of it. MSPA wiki, tvtropes articles, material circulating in the forums...
\n
\nSome people say they wouldn't mind a whole act of troll stuff, or even a whole year.
\n
\nThen again, some say it's already too much of a diversion from the \"real story\".
\n
\nSo as usual, tough to please everyone. All I can say is, this arc is serving the exact purpose it needs to serve for the bigger picture, and it'll take exactly as long as it needs to take. If the issue is it's too much of a tangential slowdown from the main story, all I can do is point to the fact that all of Homestuck is constructed almost exclusively of meandering garden paths. Even though these are new characters in a completely different place and time, there's not much new here. This sort of thing has happened before. Introducing WV in act 2 seemed like a massive detour at the time, but later its tremendous relevance was illuminated. In hindsight, I don't think impatience has ever been warranted or vindicated. It all eventually gets tied together, usually pretty maniacally, and sometimes explosively, if given enough time.
\n
\nWhoops there I go again, talking about stuff that has nothing to do with the question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780997145",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nThe atomic number of arsenic is 33.
\n
\nOn pt. no. 2.
\n
\nSometimes stylization takes place, and it's no big deal. Then we all shrug.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780997612",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nYes, it has to do with the color of their blood.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780999131",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nNah I don't take breaks.
\n
\nBut really, what else is there to do?
\n
\nThat said it looks like I'll take a week off soon on account of travelin's.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie780999429",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781012207",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nI was thinking about this recently, and I have decided that this sort of complaint is really stupid. Let's break it down and look at the facts.
\n
\nCG: TYPES IN CAPS.
\n
\nNo problem there. Totally readable.
\n
\nAT: mOSTLY CAPS, oNLY FIRST LETTER IS LOWER,
\n
\nAgain, perfectly legible.
\n
\nAA: swaps the letter 'O' with zer0es
\n
\nIf you told me this was hard to read, I'd call you a liar.
\n
\nAC: :33 > talks like this. uses some cat puns
\nAG: Uses the num8er eight instead of B. B's are pretty rare.
\nCT: Uses percent sign instead of an X. Also rare.
\nGA: Capitalizes First Letter Of Each Word
\n
\nNone of these are the slightest bit challenging to read.
\n
\nNow the \"hard ones\".
\n
\nTA: 2peak2 liike thii2.
\n
\nArguably the toughest one to parse. But he doesn't actually have that many conversations in the grand scheme of all this.
\n
\nGC: SW4PS L3TT3RS \"AEI\" with \"431\"
\n
\nAlso somewhat challenging. But we really had a long time to get used to her speech pattern. Plenty of conversations before the troll arc. The letters are caps, matching the size of the numbers for increased readability (deliberate).
\n
\nParsing these is just a matter of flipping a switch in your head, on just a few characters, which bear pretty strong resemblance to those they stand for.
\n
\nNow I understand if this still isn't ideal for perfectly comfortable reading, and I wouldn't want to read a whole book like that for instance, but when you take into account the \"hard ones\" will occupy probably less than 20% of all dialogue, this whole issue is just dumb.
\n
\nI can't roll my eyes hard enough at complaints about this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781012579",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781013909",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nLot's of people don't even know what a valid troll name is.
\n
\nI still get plenty of suggestions for names that don't fit the accepted model.
\n
\n(Which is first and last names each being 6 letters long.)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781020665",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nPeople ask me about ads from time to time, and I should point out that I often go for many days without even looking at my website, aside from the brief glance required to get new pages up. Ads come and go without my awareness, approval, or faintest concern.
\n
\nI hope I might dispel the notion that I am manicuring a tidy brand here with this website. I mean, maybe I SHOULD be. But I'm not. I'm just making some cool images and a cool story and dropping pages here every day.
\n
\nSlutty cartoon nuns don't get my feathers ruffled any.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781022361",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nYes, it's in my head.
\n
\nI feel like I've answered this 10 times already.
\n
\nI need to remember to make an updated FAQ page that no one will read.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781023535",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nThis question arrived in the queue yesterday.
\n
\nYou're probably starving!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781027547",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nI'm suddenly convinced this question was posted to deliberately annoy me.
\n
\nAt this point I pretty much despise the suggestion box.
\n
\nBut this probably has to do with the fact that every time I open it, it breaks the website and I can't even POST the drawings of all the cool suggestions people are in such a frenzy to overwhelm me with.
\n
\nBut aside from that, I think it was a brewing antipathy. Brewing and smoldering.
\n
\nHere's a riddle: what isn't all that funny or enjoyable?
\n
\nAnswer: a million ideas at once.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 9, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781028913",
- "timestamp": 1279152000,
- "html": "\nI had them lying around.
\n
\nI used to write formal artistic critiques of such work.
\n
\nSomeone had to.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 12, 2010 - July 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898002954",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nWho can say!
\n
\nWe know there were lots of unique things about their session. Any difference can have an effect on the outcome.
\n
\nPerhaps there is one soldier (WV) who always has a rebellious attitude in every session. Perhaps in some sessions this manifests in rebellion. Perhaps in others, nothing comes of it.
\n
\nJust like there will always be a Jack with an eye toward mutiny. In some sessions he will succeed. In others he won't. It seems likely he will always try, at least.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 12, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898005348",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nLike the actors on the posters in Karkat's room.
\n
\nRATHER ATTRACTIVE.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 12, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898008973",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nSounds like the players would win the game and white would win the war.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 12, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898041222",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nJohn is adorable because he is honest and heroic and nerdy and a good friend.
\n
\nI named all the trolls (their trolltags) as a fun exercise some time ago, way before I needed them all. It was like a puzzle. I had the 12 remaining DNA letter combinations, and had to think of a zodiac-pertinent handle for each. Which is easy at first, but gets more challenging when you start winding down to only a few signs and letter pairs left.
\n
\nLike, ok, I've got CC left and have to think of something reminiscent of pisces. HMMMMM.
\n
\nIt was fun playing with the logic that tied a name to a sign. It would have been dull if everything was a straightup pun. Sometimes the word concealed the sign in it. terminallyCapricious contains capric, i.e. capricorn. gallowsCallibrator contains libra (I also believe this word pair evokes the image of a scale, in a way. A scale of nooses.) Others neither involve wordplay or a hidden word, like adiosToreador. But there is no way you could mistake that for anything but taurus.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 12, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898050673",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nOn Alternia, it came from the ruins. The code for the game was contained by the sequence of hieroglyphs on the walls.
\n
\nIt's pretty heavily implied this is also true for the ruins on Earth. It's also pretty heavily implied Jade's grandpa had something to do with the development of the game, since he was the first to explore those ruins.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 12, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898059853",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nI don't think I have a schedule.
\n
\nAny time I engage in any sort of scheduling it seems to backfire.
\n
\nAll I know is act 7 will be the last.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 12, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898090039",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nOnly those that will play the game.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 12, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898135176",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nI repurpose vast quantities of graphics.
\n
\nSometimes it is for speed. And sometimes (as in that case) it was actually slower to do it that way than it would be to just draw it from scratch.
\n
\nThere is an idea which is behind reusing visuals like that, much like I reused the shot of Dave lying on the ground using his iPhone to show a crippled Tavros doing the exact same thing.
\n
\nThe idea is tied to the huge volume of textual callbacks, reusing phrases from the narrative and bits of dialogue, tweaking them sometimes. This happens probably more than anyone realizes. You could possibly read the story ten times and not catch them all. Nothing is safe from reuse. The thing is a litany of a thousand refrains, visual, verbal and conceptual.
\n
\nSo what is the idea? I don't feel like elaborating on it THAT much now, because I would probably type forever. Basically, it's about building an extremely dense interior vocabulary to tell a story with, and continue to build and expand that vocabulary by revisiting its components often, combining them, extending them and so on. A vocabulary can be (and usually is) simple, consisting of single words, but in this case it extends to entire sentences and paragraph structures and visual forms and even entire scenes like the one linked above. Sometimes the purpose for reiteration is clear, and sometimes there really is no purpose other than to hit a familiar note, and for me that's all that needs to happen for it to be worthwhile. Triggering recognition is a powerful tool for a storyteller to use. Recognition is a powerful experience for a reader. It promotes alertness, at the very least. And in a lot of cases here, I think it promotes levity (humor! this is mostly a work of comedy, remember.) Controlling a reader's recognition faculty is one way to manipulate the reader's reactions as desired to advance the creative agenda. In this case I'm not exactly sure what that agenda is all the time, and in truth there probably isn't any serious agenda there. This story, though at times seeming diabolically put together, is still pretty light reading after all. if anything I'm just striving for a certain pitch in density with the all the multithreaded symbolism and endless internal reference. Think of it as a symphony and everything I've referred to as belonging to a vocabulary are really just notes, working together in a really complicated harmonic structure.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 20, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898135703",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 20, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898138099",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nYou're lucky you saw what you did. It's private!!!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 20, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898140954",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nYou mean like jail time? Nah.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 20, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898148902",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nThat's not really true. I usually go to sleep anywhere from 4-7 am and usually wake up anywhere from 12-5 pm.
\n
\nWhen I wake up at 5 I'm like oh shit this sucks. Those aren't very good days. Because there is no day.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 20, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898149915",
- "timestamp": 1280361600,
- "html": "\nNo you posted this question too soon.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 27, 2010 - July 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781029376",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781029630",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nThere is absolutely nothing I don't love about being strong.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781030315",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781033749",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nI think a lot of people are in your shoes and it's probably kind of irresponsible of me to produce something that lends itself addiction through such erratic daily updates.
\n
\nBut then I look through a lot of these questions and I wonder... do these people even understand what they're obsessed with?? This doesn't make sense!
\n
\nNothing makes sense. I'm going to drive all you people insane, and you won't even understand what's happening to you. We're all going down together.
\n
\nSayonara motherfuckers.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781034378",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nHorses can go kiss my ass.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781035062",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nOk. Actually... can you make it 300?
\n
\nSend me an email.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781050221",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nDo you actually think it was a real expression of my personal disinterest in a plot point, or the story as a whole?
\n
\nI mean was it really SO COMPELLING that it demanded a straight dramatic sale? The last guy to consider the dead all along hook to be really earth shattering stuff was M. Night circa 10 years ago. Yikes, sorry just a dash of genre savvy wiseassery RUUUUUUINED that for you.
\n
\nNot all of these plot points are especially grandiose in my mind, and are not to be treated with velvet gloves at the expense of losing the light tone that pervades the whole thing. When I feel like a plot development really is major and demands some dramatic clout surrounding it, I treat it more seriously. I think the \"Check.\" moment when the bunny defended John from Jack was a good example of that. There are some others.
\n
\nBut the big ghost-all-along reveal... nahhh. Besides, if you didn't see it coming, it's still plenty exciting if you can somehow manage to summon the fortitude to not let the joke ruin your day.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781051115",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nSince before the act.
\n
\nWhen I forming ideas for the characters, I defined her as \"the dead one\".\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781055306",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nNo. The objective here is to introduce the characters, and not much else. What happens in their session, the details etc are not as important (to some extent, because we already know the overall outcome). But finding out who they all are is the mission, and doing that requires the substance of a storyline, and a logical sequence of events, whether past, present or future.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781058239",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nI don't know. To be a founding father implies others will follow.
\n
\nDoes it look like anyone else REALLY wants to do this? Kinda doesn't look like it to me.
\n
\nI suspect most artists are loath to reach for the ten foot pole they'd use to touch the ten foot pole they wouldn't want to touch this with.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781060112",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nIt was already too much to handle 1 or 2 acts ago, according to contingent X.
\n
\nPlease note contingent X is still reading. And worrying.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781062548",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781065512",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nThat emerged more slowly.
\n
\nI did assign all their chat colors quite a long time ago. But matching the colors with their blood was a new, pretty spontaneous idea.
\n
\nMostly centered around the fact that it created a good explanation for why carcinoGeneticist was the gray aberration in the rainbow. He's opted for blood anonymity.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie781071123",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nThe bottom line is there are just too many.
\n
\nI scan up and down and I just answer kind of at random. There are some good questions I should answer which I undoubtedly missed. And there are some stupid ones I should have ignored but answered.
\n
\nI think I answered too many not that great questions this time.
\n
\nBut please enjoy reading them below anyway.
\n
\nchicken
\n
\ns a n d w i c h
\n
\nq
\nu
\ne
\ns
\nt
\ni
\no
\nn\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie897983666",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nA curly ram horn is actually a pretty complicated object. I draw fast and loose and a lot of times emphasize gesture and stylization over precision. If you're looking for rigid fidelity to a couple of loopy horns I am afraid you're barking up the wrong tree!
\n
\nThey curl whatever way looks best for the scene.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898160239",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nHow do you know it does? If I'm recalling right, every single gate surrounding it has lead to earth. it's just a matter of when.
\n
\nSome go in the past to bring important things to earth, to set everything up. Like the kids, the guardians, the ruins, and the game itself.
\n
\nMost go in the present when the game is being played. Probably to provide the kids with motivation to escape into the game, and get the whole paradox party started.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 27, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898161214",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nWhat a silly question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898163949",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nIt's been an accident the whole time.
\n
\nWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS.
\n
\njk heheh\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898172386",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nTrolls have different standards than people.
\n
\nHe does appear to have an interest in issues pertaining to troll romance, as clearly does she. Maybe they've had lots of conversations about it in the past and bonded over it in some way?
\n
\nWho knows what happened in the past with all these crazy troll boys and girls. I sure don't.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898175141",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nI write it because I enjoy it and assume everyone else will and take pity on those who don't.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898177407",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nJohn's dad never had a good dental plan at the office.
\n
\nJade's dog didn't either.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898182376",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nWe humans have one symbol to denote our extremely simplistic, linear view of romance: <3
\n
\nTrolls have more than that.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898189214",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nYes they are pretty good, but it's dumb that they are closed on Sundays. Someone forgot to tell them that this is FUCKING AMERICA.
\n
\nP.S. this is not the chicken sandwich question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898190273",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898197088",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nI've heard a few and some are pretty good, but honestly I have trouble listening to even good ones. For some reason none of the pesterlogs feel right to me as real dialogue. This is probably because they were always meant to be true to life chat logs, typed not spoken. If I were writing what was meant to be spoken, I would write quite differently.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898242584",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nShe has a pretty good nose.
\n
\nAnd if there's any ambiguity, she could take off the glasses and lick them.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898242917",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 28, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898245345",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nBecause that is not how the planets are arranged.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 30, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898250561",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nShe probably didn't have the slightest clue what a prankster's gambit was until that bucket was on her head.
\n
\nIn fact, she still might not.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 30, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898254629",
- "timestamp": 1280707200,
- "html": "\nBut everything we are about to do next is exciting. It is always exciting. I'm excited.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 1, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898256555",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898263480",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "\nThings take time. If I introduced her earlier then other stuff would be pushed back. Then you'd be like why'd you wait so long to do that other stuff???\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898264525",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898270105",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "\nOk. I'm writing this down.
\n
\nOTP. Book it!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898272994",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "\nThey got awesome new outfits. Was that not enough???\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898273845",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "\nNo, and I don't disagree. But we need to consider some TRU-FACTS;
\n
\nYou could never launch into a story like this cold turkey. You could but it would be really difficult, forcing people to swallow a lot at once. I do think in some way Hivebent stands alone reasonably well, but part of what makes it compelling is the massive pre-education the reader had on the way up to this point. There are so many complex concepts that can now be taken for granted, while we explore a completely different story with new characters, without spending time developing those grounding concepts which is what we were doing for much of the preceding acts.
\n
\nAnd yet those concepts are still being elaborated on all the same, through this totally new context. Part of the point of this (the MANY points) is to continue to develop the game they're playing, and demonstrate its incredible flexibility and how many ways it could possibly go. By showing an example of extreme difference, 12 players instead of 4, prototyping a bunch of monsters instead of silly things, how many different fanciful worlds there can be and how the political scene with the kingdoms can play out so differently, we're given a much better sense of this than when we were just told it. Showing this helps the reader continue to extrapolate through imagination the various ways this game could go, and also helps put in perspective how the kids' game is going and how off model they are.
\n
\nThere's a lot of purpose to this arc beyond serving as a cool tangent. Every step of the way we are constantly altering our perspective on what the main protagonists are facing. And when we finally come out of the woods of this thing and get back into the kids' story, our perspective will be completely different from where we left it. And I'm quite sure whatever unique energy is building in the Hivebent story, that will carry over to Homestuck proper when we pick it up again.
\n
\nBut all that said, I think it's cool to be able to tell a story like this in the middle of something fairly unlike it. To essentially inject a humorous scifi world-building tale, follow the complex lives of alien kids on a planet without adult supervision, raised by monsters, all playing a game over the internet. That's a fun premise, and it just wouldn't be the same if not nested inside a bigger story that already did so much of the dirty work. It would be a lot harder to pull off by itself.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898278544",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "\nThey are so strong you don't even know.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898279220",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "\nI never thought about it and kind of don't want to.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie898293310",
- "timestamp": 1281225600,
- "html": "\nIf this doesn't qualify as a chicken sandwich question then you can bread and bucket me and offer me to the Colonel in exchange for greasy-fingered genital stimulation.
\n
\nSpeaking of which, I can't help but think the scenario you describe is just another plausible route to achieving a Colonelsprite.
\n
\nThat's the end of the big heap of questions I answered just under this one. Read them merrily and be wizened.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJuly 31, 2010 - Aug 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie963052079",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nIt isn't entirely prohibited. If you look at the page where Rose was trying to move the bed John was lying on, the bed is jostling a bit, and so is John.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 7, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie963052837",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI figured it was his own blood, saved up over time.
\n
\nPerhaps with some generously donated by Aurthour mixed in.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 7, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie963055318",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nEven if not, he could certainly transport and strand him in another galaxy.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 7, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie963059184",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nThat sort of smut is usually kept away from minors on Alternia.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 7, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie963060996",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 11, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976251162",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nWell, spelling it right is the first step.
\n
\nI pronounce it pretty close to the way you do.
\n
\nfuh-ferry
\n
\nSimilar to how I pronounce Terezi.
\n
\ntuh-rezzy
\n
\nRE: Her last name, Peixes. I don't really know. These things can be open to interpretation. It's Portuguese for fish I think, and has something to do with the Pisces constellation. I think it's pronounced something like PAY-shez in Portuguese, but that's not necessarily the definitive pronunciation key here. It's up to you.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 13, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976252801",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 13, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976256572",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nSure they can. Troll poker at least.
\n
\nIt's a pretty emotional game.
\n
\nMaybe the gamblignants played it? Sure, let's say sure.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 13, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976275339",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nMaybe we'll understand more about this topic later? Or maybe not!
\n
\nThe words aren't hard to remember if you know their roots. Just like real words.
\n
\nkismesis = kismet + nemesis
\nmatesprit = mate + esprit
\nauspistice = auspice (auspicious) + armistice
\nmoirallegiance + moira (myth figure tied to fate) + allegiance
\n
\nPortmanteaus are fun. MSPA remains an incestuous slurry of morphemes.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 13, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976277182",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nMaybe it's more interesting if it's not spelled out.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 13, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976291119",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nThere aren't actually that many other methods to use. If the purpose is to show scale, then one way or another, you need to compare the big thing to a smaller thing of known size. You can either do this with zooming, or chop out all the zooming and cut to the chase. But in the case of the sea monster holding the whale, the whale was so comparatively small you couldn't see it, and it no longer conveyed the sense of scale. The zoom was necessary in that case.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976292834",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI'd say both keep 'em pretty busy.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976297708",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nOf course it was adorable. The monster wasn't, but the action was. She was feeding her seabeast-mother a tasty snack, and she was wearing cute goggles and stuff. Adorable!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976304350",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nThe grown up trolls go off to war.
\n
\nIt would be suicide for an alien race to stage an attack on the home world.
\n
\nAlso the home world is probably too deep in the heart of their empire for that to be realistic. Any threat to their race would have to be internal.
\n
\nHypothetically of course.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976306022",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976309688",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nYoung humans don't look like adult humans either.
\n
\nDoes John look anything like Bill Cosby?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976310155",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976334608",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nYes, but stupidity isn't limited to fans. It's a more serious epidemic.
\n
\nhttp://www.journalfen.net/community/otf_wank/631170.html
\n
\nStupidity is real. It's not made up. This is not the Bigfoot we are talking about. I have seen it shitting in my back yard. I can't take a snapshot of a serene woodland glade without its slouching hairy silhouette pocking up the lens. The stories are true. Legends are real.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976335361",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976337467",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI had it planned out most of the time, but I think I surprised even my self with how big it turned out to be.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976339069",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI think I'm going to retire the concept of the chicken sandwich question.
\n
\nLet's face it. It doesn't make any sense.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976342981",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nThis is a pretty leading question!
\n
\nIt's also pretty flattering though I guess, so thanks.
\n
\nAlso that shitty painting is currently in the trunk of my car for some reason.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976344579",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nThey bring film crews with them in space.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976351896",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI know.
\n
\nIt's a different kind of thing though, and it's fun when it's accepted and embraced on its terms.
\n
\nWe just got to roll with it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976353250",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI can't think of anything I care less about than this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976357293",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI don't know. We don't know that about the kids either. It's not that important.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976378503",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nIt's both. And MSPA is still largely a game parody. That didn't rally go away. Maybe diminished somewhat as other elements have been emphasized over strict parody.
\n
\nAre these things really tropes, though? Is a game cursor wandering over a screen a trope?
\n
\nMaybe it will get to the point where every imaginable subatomic bit of information that can be understood by human awareness will be regarded as a trope.
\n
\nIt's pretty amazing what tvtropes has managed to accomplish. It now monopolizes all information and conceptualization in its most abstract essence. Not even google and wikipedia combined could pull that off!
\n
\nC.S.Q.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie976630852",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI'm only using this question to make fun of myself for making the typo in the question below - \"rally\"
\n
\nHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
\n
\nDumbass.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie984286197",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nIt's both. And MSPA is still largely a game parody. That didn't rally go away. Maybe diminished somewhat as other elements have been emphasized over strict parody.
\n
\nAre these things really tropes, though? Is a game cursor wandering over a screen a trope?
\n
\nMaybe it will get to the point where every imaginable subatomic bit of information that can be understood by human awareness will be regarded as a trope.
\n
\nIt's pretty amazing what tvtropes has managed to accomplish. It now monopolizes all information and conceptualization in its most abstract essence. Not even google and wikipedia combined could pull that off!
\n
\nC.S.Q.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie984306727",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nIt's both. And MSPA is still largely a game parody. That didn't rally go away. Maybe diminished somewhat as other elements have been emphasized over strict parody.
\n
\nAre these things really tropes, though? Is a game cursor wandering over a screen a trope?
\n
\nMaybe it will get to the point where every imaginable subatomic bit of information that can be understood by human awareness will be regarded as a trope.
\n
\nIt's pretty amazing what tvtropes has managed to accomplish. It now monopolizes all information and conceptualization in its most abstract essence. Not even google and wikipedia combined could pull that off!
\n
\nC.S.Q.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie984311254",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI'm only using this question to make fun of myself for making the typo in the question below - \"rally\"
\n
\nHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
\n
\nDumbass.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie984330000",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nI'm only using this question to make fun of myself for making the typo in the question below - \"rally\"
\n
\nHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
\n
\nDumbass.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1000769846",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nWhy is Formspring posting multiple copies of questions I'm answering?
\n
\nHave you ever noticed how some of these faddy little widgets on the internet get really popular, which immediately exposes the quality of the coding? Formspring must have just been some dude's college programming project. Same goes for Twitter.
\n
\nWait I've probably bitched about this before. Never mind.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 14, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1000771830",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 22, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1000792014",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nCause it's funny!
\n
\nThe fans think it's funny too.
\n
\nAt least the ones who aren't dummies do.
\n
\nAnd secretly, we are all really only laughing at the ones who are.
\n
\n~_^\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 22, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1000830808",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nThank you for liking the way I tell stories.
\n
\nBut I have been telling stories that have been strung together using a great deal of material that is exactly like this.
\n
\nDidn't you notice??
\n
\nKudos on the wherewithal you showed by failing to be trolled. But that wasn't the sole intent here. It was a form of theater. A farcical pseudo-trolling. The intent was to humorous dividends!
\n
\nIn this regard it was a stunning success.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 22, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1000843168",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nhmmmmm I'm not sure.
\n
\nWhy don't you send an email to this address about it.
\n
\nwhatpumpkin@gmail.com\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 22, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1001292582",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\nYou know, there has been some buzzin' about it and what not, but I think the truth is it was never actually that controversial.
\n
\nI've sampled reactions to it all over the place, and it always stuck me as quite a small pocket of the overall audience that ever had any dissatisfaction with it. The same was also true at the beginning of Homestuck. It was a very different thing, and a few people here and there got really restless about it, and swore up and down that MSPA had crested with Problem Sleuth. And of course these sentiments were not in the least bit vindicated in the long run, once we stopped being up so close and personal with the tree of Act 1, and got a little distance from the forest that is HS. I've regarded the vocal minority's present dissatisfaction as the exact same thing. It hasn't deterred me in the least, and even though the recent \"AH trolls the fans\" thing seems like a strong rebuke of this dissent, it's really very mild one, if one at all. It is meant as playful and humorous.
\n
\nNow on the FLIPSIDE of this, there is significant group of people that really liked the change in direction this arc presented. In fact, rather than functioning as a drag on the readership's interest, I have observed the opposite. The troll stuff has been like pouring rocket fuel on the fandom. Daily traffic has only gone UP since it started. More people than ever seem to be energetically buzzing about what's going on, debating the merits of the characters and the nature of the alien world, drawing more fan art than I could ever possibly keep track of, creating troll personas and stuff like that. These are not the typical results of making a mistake in a story's direction.
\n
\nOn the subject of, \"Was the troll arc, and to some extent the existence of the trolls altogether, really an elaborate set up as a long con to troll the readers?\"
\n
\nYes and no. There is a little truth to it, in the sense that creating alien kid characters who were both internet trolls, AND literal trolls could very well have been a kind of racial avatarization of my own semi-trolling tendencies as an author, which had been on display well before their appearance. Psyche-outs, cagey self referential stuff and the like, it's all a little spunky, and I remain aware of this, and this stuff does fall into a certain class of trolling. Totally granted.
\n
\nBut all that became much more tangible with the introduction of the trolls. Everything about the trolls was always at least a little antagonizing with varying degrees of playfulness, both to the other characters, and to the reader as well. Their text is a bit difficult to parse (Not impossible! Just enough to make you aware of additional reading effort.) They are all a little ornery, and as it turns out, excessively emotional. Their role in the plot is one of bumbling sabotage and interference with the protagonists. And finally, in maybe the most trollish display yet, their entire introduction through a \"detour arc\" clearly is a bit agitating to anyone eager to see some of these cliffhangers resolved. It's entirely in the spirit of the indentation they have already made on the story. The reader can either fight it (trolls win!) or roll with it and embrace it on the terms it's presented. (Trolls still win.)
\n
\nAnd even within the arc, there are numerous explorations of the trolling theme, like addressing topics that are sure to get people worked up. Examining topics like juggalos, furry fetish porn, shipping, and intricate studies on sci-fi romance, ultimately spiraling into soap opera plot dynamics and character interactions, heavy with conversational drama and teenage histrionics. It's all fuel for getting readers riled up a bit, and if you read it and get this itchy, agitated feeling in the back of your mind, that sensation is called \"being trolled\".
\n
\nSORT OF.
\n
\nNone of this should be taken literally as a head-on attempt to troll the reader. It's just not that black and white. The purpose here is still entertainment, and humor, and advancing the plot in ways that have not become clear yet. I think in working on the troll stuff I have learned a little about my own policy toward satire. It's never absolute. Everything I mock is always embraced in some way. The juggalo character, Gamzee, is a good example of this. When he was introduced as a juggalo, people could see the writing on the wall. Here we go, time to do the juggalo shtick and laugh at how ridiculous juggalos are and their weird trashy culture and everything. And we did do that, to an extent! But after the initial !?! moment of revealing a juggalo and getting all hot and bothered about it, that material actually began to be incorporated at face value. It was folded into his character profile, and he turned out to be a pretty lovable guy who likes clowns and a particular beverage, and embraces the memetic affiliation juggalos have with miracles as a form of spirituality. In no way is the character a referendum on how ridiculous and lame juggalos are anymore, or how much we should all think ICP sucks. In fact, in a weird way, he starts to embody a CELEBRATION of those elements. Which to be honest, I think is a pretty good way to handle satire. The same is true, in varying degrees, of the inclusion of fandoms' zeal for shipping (Nepeta), weird horse porn (Equius), LARPing, delving into highly emotional, overwrought romantic intrigue, and so on. All of it is handled in a tongue in cheek manner, as satirical fodder, BUT ALSO played totally straight in some respects, as raw material to define the characters and build the story in a way that takes the elements at face value. With MSPA I am always on the lookout for raw material to manipulate in esoteric ways, and its usually garnered through satire. But then I ride that material pretty hard, and before you even know what's going on, it's not satirical anymore! Ask yourself this: at what point did John's love of Con Air cease to be a mockery of the film, and became more of a SHRINE to it? Hard to say.
\n
\nThat doesn't mean we lose sight of the fact that this stuff is ridiculous. It's still plenty ridiculous. The juggalo movement still strikes me as awfully silly, and so does overzealous shipping. The thing is, we can mock stuff and that's fine. It doesn't mean that stuff demands excessive scorn, or can't be treated as a legitimate topic to roll with in a story. So I think drawing your own horse porn is pretty weird. But who am I to say that's REALLY so terrible? I'm not better than anybody. I'll poke fun at it for a while, but then I'll just roll with horse dicks with a straight face for a while too. Maybe have a beer with them. Turns out they're a good bunch of dicks when you get to know 'em!
\n
\nAnd pretty clearly, all of this is followed through with acute self-awareness, which is probably just a kind of handicap I have to live with. I just can't help but be aware of everything I do and all the reasons I'm doing them and apply intense scrutiny to those reasons, and it's very hard for me to feign obliviousness. I guess I'm not that interested in trying. As such, MSPA has always been a pretty meta thing, and from time to time we'll blur into things like troll Andrew. I try to keep it fun. Personally, I find it funny. Spiking Cal is probably one of my favorite pages at this point.
\n
\nBooyeah.
\n
\nOh yeah, also the wolf. I like the wolf page.
\n
\nAaaaaaaah.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nAug 22, 2010 - Sep 7, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093880933",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nYes, probably.
\n
\nBooks have been strutting around like they own the place for a while now and someone needs to take them down a peg.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093884129",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nI shit I didn't mean to answer it.
\n
\nFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
\n
\n........
\n
\nI'm kind of having a hard time deciding what questions to answer here.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093885119",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nI did draw those.
\n
\nThey are illustrations for some wizard fanfiction I wrote some time ago.
\n
\nI am actually being serious about this, even though it's hard to tell.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093889605",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nHow long is three months really?
\n
\nThree months is actually not a long time. Think of all the stuff that doesn't manage to get done in three months.
\n
\nIf HS was a thrice-weekly comic, in three months I would have made 36 comics! That's not that many.
\n
\nInstead I made almost 600 pages and a 3 minute animation. Time was swift but the pace was furious. What's more important, chronology or page count in estimating the dent an arc puts in a story?
\n
\nI'm beginning to think I don't really have a point to make in answering this question.
\n
\nTo answer the first part: will it be a two year comic? It's already been running for a year and a half, so uh... yeah??? Probably longer, really.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093889980",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nI spend all of my spare time drawing HS, and spare time is all I've got.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093901866",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nSBAHJ like anything undergoes artistic evolution. It will gradually stray from original purpose to explore different artistic statements.
\n
\nDo you really believe the goal is to strive for anything approaching realism at this point? To mimic a poorly constructed comic done in earnest?
\n
\nWhy does it seem like I'm trying too hard? It seems that way to you because you clearly have no idea what I am actually trying to do.
\n
\nWhat if the model for the first few strips had persisted, and I'd adhered to it religiously? Would it have stayed funny? For how long? What latitude is there for testing the boundaries of those parameters? These are the types of things that people who aren't artists have a hard time grasping before they find themselves tapping away at a keyboard.
\n
\nThat said, if you want to see forced, you should check out much of the fan-drafted SBAHJs. Most of those people seriously have no idea how to dial it back.
\n
\novgf loik att tehse typoess ev reywheere@2!!11\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093905581",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nI am answering SBAHJ related questions tonight for some reason!
\n
\nYes, it's a simple callback to this page.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003746
\n
\nCompare with.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004477
\n
\nThere are a number of lesser reasons for this which might be difficult to express concisely. But the primary one is a bit of subtle foreshadowing to the ensuing animation.
\n
\nNotice the parallels between Skaia and the sun, the location they are both anchored to, and the character looking directly at it in the latter instance.
\n
\nDoes that mean Terezi has some weird cosmic correlation with Sweet Bro? Nah. The parallel isn't perfect. It was just a silly thing that occurred to me to do.
\n
\nPrimarily because it was funny.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093905792",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093906756",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nBecause it's funny.
\n
\nAnd because they use our alphabet.
\n
\nHaven't you noticed??\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093907013",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nFUCK
\n
\nfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck
\nfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck
\nfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck
\nfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck
\nfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093909992",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nYou mean porn? Man, who cares about porn.
\n
\nI certainly don't look at any of it though. No longer than it takes to dispatch it from my browser upon incidental discovery.
\n
\nReally bad fanfiction is somehow more offensive to me. If I read more than a couple sentences of it I immediately feel a little tainted as a writer. I kinda believe that bad writing is something you can \"catch\".
\n
\nAlso really overwrought SBaHJ fan comics. Those are worse than porn too.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093911546",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nDude honestly I don't know a damn thing about anime.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093935286",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nI'm not immune to criticism nor do I regard my work as perfect at all. It has plenty of flaws and by and large I know what they are.
\n
\nUnderstanding these flaws already might make me seem \"immune\", or at least indifferent to criticism. I can't recall being blindsided by an intelligent criticism which hadn't already occurred to me myself. Usually I look at a decision from a lot of angles, examine the pitfalls, and often proceed in spite of the pitfalls for whatever reasons I have. There are always reasons behind these judgments. Also a lot of what happens with MSPA is a learning process based on experimental approach. Experimentation is often what informs decisions against more universally sound creative judgment. But when the dust has settled after a certain experimental phase, I generally have all the faults with it well in hand, and many of them were anticipated. I can see myself what worked and didn't work so well. By the time a critic comes knocking they aren't telling me anything new. I've already spent ten times longer thinking about it than he has. Probably longer. Anyone trying to school me on this stuff frankly is just barking up the wrong tree.
\n
\nImplicit in this is that I often agree with critics, especially if they really \"got it\". I agree qualitatively. What I don't agree with is critical editorializing. And example of a qualitative observation would be \"this is a bit wordy\" to which I respond \"yes I agree.\" Where we differ is when the critic feels the need to say \"and that's bad bad bad you should stop stop stop!\" to which I reply \"no no no!\" Because obviously I already thought it through and accepted the consequences of that decision. It is what I wanted it to be, and exactly what I thought it would be, pitfalls and all, for reasons I can articulate if needed. Demanding critics want more from you though. They wish for concessions to their point of view. It seems more emotional than logical.
\n
\nMany critics are very naive in this sense, and these people I would not even regard as real critics at all. More like just complainers. They leverage their dissatisfaction under the guise of criticism, and if their grievances are dismissed, the creator is accused of being deaf to criticism. A little like suitors spurned by a woman will accuse her of being icy. Creators have a responsibility to vet their critics, to know how deep the critic's appreciation and understanding of the material is first before putting value on their advice. To understand whether the critic is capable of quality thought and observation. To apply a critical process to the critic itself. Some critics believe they themselves are immune to criticism! Not all opinions and perspectives are equal, and it's dangerous and incredibly stupid for creators to treat them as such. Would you take advice on how to improve your life from a [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed person? You see, we actually do this every day. We vet those who would counsel us on our daily lives, who we would trust to guide us in the right direction.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093942628",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nOh hey thanks! They are definitely fun to write.
\n
\nThey took a little longer than normal logs, but mostly because they were just longer. The fact that there were multiple participants from varying points on the timeline, including past and future duplicates of the same person, added a little complexity. But by now I'm pretty used to sorting through that kind of stuff.
\n
\nBut that complexity does breed longer logs, I found. It's hard to have them serve their purpose without making them longer.
\n
\nThere'll probably be more of these later.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093944150",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nThe fandom really took him for a ride as a redhead, but let's face it, it would make a lot more sense if he was blonde since that's what Rose is.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093945665",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nI always thought of MSPA as a pretty temporary thing in the long term. I really can't imagine it becoming ossified as this WEB BRAND for like a decade or more. That idea is really unpalatable to me for some reason.
\n
\nSo yeah I have no idea.
\n
\nWebstuff, TV, movies, books, games... really I'm open to anything.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093947328",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nNo not at all.
\n
\nThere was only one sure thing I knew when starting HS. That was that this thing would go batshit insane in ways I couldn't begin to imagine. In fact, it was practically the mission statement.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093948312",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nI woudn't want to, even if I could snap my fingers and make it happen.
\n
\nActually, Ascend was a pretty nasty job even by my animation standards now. Those time-lapse landscapes were pretty brutal.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093953142",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nNot how much it's grown, which it's obvious, but how it changes in nature so subtly and gradually.
\n
\nReaders during PS had a certain energy reflected in the nature of the story. Hard to describe. Very meme and gag driven, but that's a bit simplistic.
\n
\nNow the readers have a very different energy. The kind of readership that seems to be resonating with some of the soap opera qualities of the Hivebent drama, which is something so far afield of PS it's ridiculous.
\n
\nAnd the really funny thing is there is a HUGE amount of overlap between these two groups of people. They have just gradually modified their appetites for the type of entertainment being dispensed.
\n
\nNot everyone has though. Some stormed off in a huff when they saw John fuck around in his room for two solid months, or when we watched a bunch of alien kids get really emotional for three months. (although they are all still secretly visiting the website! shhhhh)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093955125",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nI remember that, and it was in the mix of influences for sure. I recall there were others speculating about sun-staring as a cause. It's one reasonably obvious thing to speculate. What else is there? Daggers to the eyes... hot coffee spill? I don't know. The practical list is probably underwhelming.
\n
\nBut the \"what\" isn't all that interesting. It's the \"how\" that required a little thought and ingenuity.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1093975262",
- "timestamp": 1284076800,
- "html": "\nYou seem to be making this more complicated than it is.
\n
\nFirst of all, if you stare at the sun for a while, you go blind. Even if that's not 100% technically true, that's the reality everyone understands. You don't need to be especially photosensitive.
\n
\nWhen Terezi stared at the sun, her real self went blind. This is a simple fact.
\n
\nWhen her dream self stared at Skaia, this is open to interpretation. Does staring into the heart of Skaia for a while cause your dream self to go blind? Maybe staring at it in conjunction with your real self staring at the sun is what does it? OR! Maybe staring at Skaia doesn't make your dream self go blind at all. Maybe her dream self went blind simply because her real self did, and like she explained to Karkat, her mental self image kept the blindness in her dreams because she wanted to be that way, because it helped her continue to connect with her lusus and learn a new way to see. There are a number of ways to look at this.
\n
\nThe psychic relay that made her sleepwalk also involves some subtleties. (Though this wasn't actually part of the question.)
\n
\nVriska commandeered Tavros's mind to get him to use his psychic powers. That's pretty obvious. He then communed with Terezi's dragon. The dragon then connected with the mind of sleeping Terezi. But what happens then does not appear to be straightup mind control, as Vriska usually employs. Terezi was happily sleepwalking along, not proceeding with the zombie shuffle that mind control victims usually exhibit.
\n
\nIt seems that the dragon's psychic ability was used to influence Terezi in a more subtle way, without issuing firm commands. More like a suggestion. It suggested in her dream that she get up, look into the sky and open her eyes. This is simultaneously implementing Vriska's revenge ploy by getting her real self to sleepwalk and look at the sun, as well as implementing the dragon's primal intent to get Terezi's dream self to become aware of Skaia and wake up. Her unhatched dragon, as a sort of mystical guide, presumably is aware of Skaia and her fate, and continues to act as such as it teaches her to see while blind in her dreams.
\n
\nVriska simply used the dragon's unharnessed impulse to do this as a matter of convenience, working under the constraints she had. She may have had this contingency prepared in advance even, much like Terezi had a plan prepared to take Vriska out utilizing Scratch.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 09, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1157808973",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nYes. Sitting with McNinja + Nedroid fellows.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158290610",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nSince before Homestuck started.
\n
\nHS was always going to be a story about an extremely elaborate creation myth. As elaborate as I could conceive. In the HS reality, Sburb/Sgrub is the means by which universes procreate. Planets and civilizations are the seeds from which one or many new universes will blossom if the players succeed, at the expense of the life on that planet.
\n
\nThis was always what Homestuck was about. This revelation was carefully guarded, although there are plenty of clues. It has taken 4.5 acts to understand the \"what\" (as well as some of the \"how\" along the way.) The rest of the story will be about exploring the rest of the \"how\", as well as determining whether the players succeed.
\n
\nI've answered numerous times that the conception of HS had its roots in loosely combining the themes and feel of Earthbound, The Sims, and Spore. That was a formula concocted many months before I began the story, well before Problem Sleuth was finished. The story still strikes me as staying very close to that original vision. Only now does the Spore component seems like it makes more sense. \"Sburb\" was always a word that was supposed to be reminiscent of \"Spore\", tweaked to reference the house building element as well. Spore is about universe building, and more specifically, life form and civilization building, but from the microscopic to the macroscopic. Sburb is the reverse. The goal is to create a universe all at once after overcoming an extensive series of challenges, and as is implied, the universe fleshes itself out with galaxies and systems and planets and lifeforms, ready and waiting for entry by the victorious players. The ultimate reward is for the players to enter the universe they created and do as they see fit. They are essentially the gods of that universe, and that is what the trolls are to our universe.
\n
\nThe trolls were always meant to serve this purpose. Before I conceptualized them in any way at all, their primary description was \"the group of players who created our universe by successfully completing Sburb, and who would interact with the kids in some way and help them understand the purpose of the game\". Logically, the other group of players would have to be aliens, since they are not only from a different planet, but from an entirely different universe. This began the thought process that lead to making them trolls, and then specifically, internet trolls who would harass the kids, but ultimately support them as the group of veteran players who understood what was going on better than any of the kids. This was mainly solidified because I thought the concept of our universe being created by a bunch of cantankerous internet trolls was a funny idea.
\n
\nBut at the time I didn't expect to get as deep into their story as I eventually did. I figured I'd touch upon it in some limited way, and only introduce a handful of characters, and just keep trucking along with the kids. But as their story became more entangled with the kids' story, it felt more necessary to just go all the way and get into their adventure, not just to better contextualize and characterize them all, but as a sort of accelerated primer on the entire game objective itself. The story is certainly about four kids and their adventure together, but also at its heart, it is about this esoteric creation myth, and the troll arc became a good way to establish the true objective while getting a foothold of the scope and magnitude of it all. We got a different look at how another session could go, with a much different player count and personality ensemble, and all the ways that could contribute to variations in this highly flexible game, and ultimately what the point of all this is. All this diversity and flexibility in the game's unfolding presumably has a bearing on what type of universe will be created. These ideas will be explored in detail over the remainder of the story. There's a lot more to come.
\n
\nThe deeper I've gone into involving the trolls in the story, the more it seems to me they were never an element I could really just shrug off in favor of focusing on \"the real story\". The process of going through their story has had an effect in showing the nature of the game that could never have been achieved without going down that road. Without it, I'd have to resort to a more mundane expository means of revealing the game's purpose. The Felt intermission, which certainly seemed tangential (and surely was) still served an important purpose by helping us invest in the villainous nature of Jack Noir. Without that, his future actions would have much less meaning. Similarly, the troll arc has served to more thoroughly \"characterize\" the entire purpose of the game, and give it much more meaning going forward. Furthermore, the troll story is inextricably entwined with the kids. Actions of the kids had influence over the way the troll adventure unfolded, and therefore the way their own universe was created (Rose's gamefaqs, the scratch they create, just to name what we know of). The kids' adventure is obviously heavily influenced by the trolls through direct communication, and therefore the trolls have a hand in causing the kids to do whatever it was they did to impact the troll's adventure, and so on. Willingly or not, they're all working toward the same outcome, toward creating our universe, and the universe the kids are trying to create, and whatever trouble puts all that in jeopardy. Remember that both the kids' and the trolls' chum handles are needed to make the full set of ACGT combinations. They are not two unrelated groups of players as they first appeared, nor are their universes unrelated. Sollux's shades, the ~ATH code, etc help illustrate this, that they are bifurcated, interwoven realities.
\n
\nEven Act 5 is a microcosm of this idea. It is a bifurcated act. Act 5.1 is the troll half. Act 5.2 is the kid half. 5.2 even begins with two sets of curtains, red and blue. Blue symbolizes the troll universe, red symbolizes our universe. First we crossed through blue, then red.
\n
\nOne last thing I'll mention about all this. The whole creation myth angle of Homestuck was almost entirely inspired by the ludicrous creation myth in Problem Sleuth, the way GPI used his imaginary time traveling duplicates to create all the matter in the universe. I think that was one of my personal favorite ideas to come out of that story, in terms of scope and absurdity. So when I was considering ideas for the next story, I thought it would be fun to develop that topic further, but with a little less absurdity and more depth, sophistication and complexity. And for the creation myth to exist as the centerpiece of the game purpose and story.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158350215",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nIt's a real shirt. In his letter to Jade, he said he got her the blue ghost shirt for her birthday, at the same time as when he got his own green ghost shirt. So he was wearing a different shirt before that. We just didn't know what it was.
\n
\nTurns out it was a spade shirt. There is not a huge amount of significance to this other than 1) he likes magic and card tricks, and all the Harry Anderson stuff in his room reminds of this, 2) it is the symbol favored by Jack Noir, the bad guy he's destined to face in this game, and 3) it is taken by Karkat as an omen that this kid he just discovered was meant to be his kismesis. Hate at first sight.
\n
\nBut then he switched to his ghost shirt on Jade's birthday, which was also when he resolved to change his handle from ghostyTrickster to ectoBiologist, just after Terezi trolled him for the first time and threatened to kill him.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158410794",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nIt seems abundantly clear to me that this is Karkat discovering John for the first time. Nothing about this would make much sense otherwise.
\n
\nTo make it any more clear, I think I'd have to use subtitles.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158470624",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\n\"So, the trolls are in our universe now?\"
\n
\nNo. What the hell gave you that idea?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158562058",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nIt's a pretty uninspiring soft drink experience. Not outright offensive or anything.
\n
\nActually, the red stuff is pretty offensive.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158566711",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nThat remains to be seen.
\n
\nEarth sure looks like a nice planet compared to Alternia though.
\n
\nBut who says they have to go to Earth? A universe is a big place.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158647790",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nThe trolls probably wouldn't answer your prayers even if they presided over us unfettered.
\n
\nBut they aren't literally gods. They would certainly feel like it, having made the universe and then going wherever they wanted, existing as very powerful warriors from all their battle experience and high grade gear.
\n
\nThere are other entities and forces in this multiverse reality that could be seen as more god-like. The many instances of Skaia, for one. Whatever it is, exactly. The more sinister outer gods. Omnipotent beings like English, Scratch, Snowman, Bec. The mysterious frog god briefly mentioned, \"Bilious Slick\". All this stuff alludes to a pretty lively scene beyond the grasp of mortals. Players of the game appear to be just more pawns in the process of perpetuating reality. They're heroes, sure. And their stories likely wind up being the most interesting in this reality. But they're still just a bunch of mortal kids.
\n
\nBut we do see evidence that their story elevates them to godhood in the mythology of the people who eventually populate the universe they create. The constellations in our zodiac are just arbitrary looking star clusters, but people in our history saw them as symbols of the 12 creators, and built a whole mystical framework around their story. The specifics of the story may have been lost over time, or may never have been known. It could just be that the way our universe was created is imprinted in their subconscious, and it surfaces symbolically in their stories.
\n
\nThis was actually my line of thinking in writing Rose's wizardfic. If you sift through that dense excerpt, you find it's about 12 evil kids who played a role in influencing every dark event in history. My intent was that this was her subconsciously echoing the creation story of her own universe.
\n
\nYou could also extend their influence to the personality profiles of the characters. There are a lot of similarities between the profiles of many of the trolls and the kids. Some trolls seem to share traits with more than one kid. This is to be expected to some extent, since some of the profile elements are pretty broad. But in some cases the crossover is harder to ignore, and this could be attributed to the Alternian heroes laying the psychological tracks for the heroes that arise in the universe they create. But that said, I didn't want to get too carried away with this idea, and just make the \"Dave version\" of the trolls, and so on. So I drew similarities at times, and exaggerated differences at others, hoping to strike a balance.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158677748",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nSure it's implied at times, but you could make just as good an argument against it.
\n
\nThe zodiac thing is completely irrelevant. There is nothing special about the constellations, as I answered below. The people of Earth assigned the meanings to those stars. Any planet in the universe could have a similar zodiac, but with different looking constellations. Perhaps all of them do.
\n
\nMaybe Earth is the \"paradise planet\" mentioned once or twice. Maybe they could have settled there. Are trolls really prone to settle? Maybe if they were successful, they would have conquered instead. It's all a moot point obviously.
\n
\nEarth is less special as a place the trolls are destined to settle, and more special as a place where the kids were born. The kids who would go on the adventure that would be completely tangled up with the adventure the trolls just went on.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1158778979",
- "timestamp": 1284940800,
- "html": "\nNope!
\n
\nThat's all the questions I'll answer for now.
\n
\nOn the subject of this question, let's look at some...
\n
\nHIVEBENT STATS
\n
\n98 days
\n635 pages
\n737 images
\n1 three minute flash animation
\n70,000 words
\n
\n7.5 images per day
\n714 words per day
\n
\nHivebent definitely went at a faster clip than usual for MSPA, in both image and word output. The word count spike seems especially pronounced.
\n
\nBut this was a deliberate effort, and not really just for the sake of a more compressed, sweeping story.
\n
\nA while ago, months before Hivebent, I had the thought that I wanted to allow words to tow more of the load in what has been mostly a visual format (MSPA as a whole I mean). The trend had already been present in HS, with increasing importance given to pesterlogs to drive the story, and I've found the consequences to be interesting, and not really expected from the onset of HS.
\n
\nSo Hivebent represents more of a verbal push, I guess in part as a media exploration. It's not too inaccurate to describe it as a very vividly illustrated e-novel. I understand of course this is not what 100% of all readers have a strong appetite for, and that's fine with me. Reading through HS and then hitting Hivebent is a little like suddenly encountering thicker atmosphere in flight. The rate of progress slows, it demands a little more attention, and then when you get through it, the pace picks back up. (Probably!) Overall, I'm satisfied with how it turned out, and it reads pretty much how I thought it would. It just lasted a couple months longer than I projected, because I will absolutely never be able to pin down an accurate time estimate on a story arc. I have resolved to stop trying, ever.
\n
\nText-heavy visual storytelling is something I've thought about recently beyond the scope of this arc, and I think there are some interesting possibilities to explore. Perhaps I will, but I doubt what I'd have in mind would be compatible with the MSPA format. Perhaps after HS. We'll see.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nSep 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336166268",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nIs nature really so utilitarian? When you look at all the crazy diversity in earth biology, can you really say that only that which is strictly necessary is what exists? Why do some birds develop such elaborate mating dances when simpler ones would suffice? Choose your own example.
\n
\nThere's plenty we don't know about their biology, nor will we ever. There are lots of possible explanations. Vestigial genders. An unknown role gender still plays in reproduction, noncomparable to anything on this planet. Choose your own explanation.
\n
\nThe real answer of course is because it makes the ensemble more fun and more relatable to us.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336324975",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nWhat's the deal with the phrase \"what's the deal with\"? The deal with it is what you see and read. That's how it is.
\n
\nWere you expecting absolute reversion to earlier story progression rhythms? You were wrong to do so. What is it about this story, this format, or this website which would make you anticipate static, unevolving patterns? Is there criticism and disapproval buried in your question? [Yes.] That's cool. But if you've made it this far, you should now be familiar with the concept of storytelling in a state of perpetual flux. Your observation strikes me as a little obtuse.
\n
\nI believe the reader is well prepared for every shift in the nature of the story's unfolding. There are primers on what to expect along the way. Very early, when we first met Dave, we began a humble exercise in non-linear pacing. Conversations he had with John and Rose, then revisited from an earlier timeframe from his perspective. Some nonlinear revisitations with Jade's story as well. It wasn't just messing around. It established that time was something to be tinkered with in this story, more intensively as we progress. The MC intermission was a primer on complicated time travel dynamics taking center stage in the story. It was a tangent, quite silly and convoluted, but very good preparation for the concepts to follow, which have dominated the story since. The troll arc was a very aggressive primer on completely off the rails nonlinear story progression, which has somewhat extended beyond it into the main story, and will continue to do so. All of these primer concepts are now firing on all cylinders at once. And the word primer is the title of a very complicated time travel movie, which I have not seen yet. I imagine watching it would serve as a decent primer for reading Homestuck.
\n
\nThis is what the story is. There is no \"real story\" I need to \"get back to\" as you imply.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336335601",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nOk sorry about that. I'll get them back up soon, but we ran out of most of them. So it was sort of impossible to sell them. Patience.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336339977",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nThey are red because I selected the bucket tool, and then selected #ff0000, and then clicked her eyes.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336352373",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\ncomputer brain
\n
\nMy wall is reserved for majestic horse posters exclusively.
\n
\n(yeah right, you fuckers wish! i don't actually care about horses ok, they're stupid)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336359846",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nMost likely, in total, less than once.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336360737",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336379904",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nI don't think it's that newfound. I gave John the Wise Guy suit, what... almost a year ago?
\n
\nPlaying dressup with your characters will always be one of the guilty pleasures of being a creator. But also, it's pretty in keeping with RPG games this thing draws from. Characters are always getting new sweet gear as they advance.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336387106",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nThere is no process. Ideas are constant. Execution is what takes time and concentration. The two things happen simultaneously.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336407780",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nPrimarily because it was confusing to new readers. Many people we genuinely duped into believing this thing was playable somehow, and confused for a while before finally figuring it out. Kind of unnecessary.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336410401",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336418873",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nOh god I have too many to name.
\n
\nships ships ships ships ships ships ships ships ships ships
\n
\nI even ship formspring questioners.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336439810",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nI don't know. At this point I'm probably just withholding those details to bug people.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336440546",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nI don't know. At this point I'm probably just withholding those details to bug people.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336456163",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nIs there any particular reason why sometimes their shirt designs are backwards?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336463446",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nDONT YOU DARE
\n
\nJust kidding yeah that would be cool.
\n
\nAnd thanks.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336481882",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nSearch Dave: Accelerate
\n
\nThe community is always a good resource for helping out with nagging little things like that.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336542352",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nMaybe he wanted to see who the thief was? And after he got killed, he decided to cool it on the time travel. Like he said.
\n
\nzzzzzzzzzzzz
\n
\nEvery \"gotcha\" is always wrong. Why do people even bother??\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336546308",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nMight happen. Stay tuned.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336549494",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nWhy would I care about listing myself there?
\n
\nAnd yeah I make enough money off this not to have a job.
\n
\nBut for whatever it's worth, I've never actually had a job.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336576962",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nThanks!
\n
\nPersonally, I think you should go back and read the troll arc. Every last word. This story thrives on details, and virtually no detail is irrelevant. Skipping some will only erode your full comprehension and appreciation for what is happening.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336592600",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nIt just looked cool, and it kind of mixes it up. Also I happened to have more detailed zodiac icons from making the shirts, so I stuck em in there.
\n
\nSometimes things are just that simple.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336607944",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nMy mom got divorced from my dad 20 years ago.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336611004",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336632461",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nThat would be so uncivilized of them.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336641433",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nHe didn't have a princess on hand to kiss his corpse and wake him up.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336651172",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336672839",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nNobody is harder or easier to write than anybody.
\n
\nExcept Dave, who is the easiest. His logs are the closest to stream of consciousness writing for me. It often takes me as long to write his lines as it takes for my fingers to hit the keys.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1336689382",
- "timestamp": 1287187200,
- "html": "\nThis question is BULLSHIT there IS NO SUGAR IN TAB, that's the whole POINT, you STUPID IDIOT.
\n
\nHaha, just messing with you. Here let's read all about TAB.
\n
\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(soft_drink)
\n
\nOk I'm out. Later.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 15, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1419932323",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "\nI did.
\n
\nHomestuck is the name of a story hosted on a website called MS Paint Adventures. It is written and drawn by me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1419935459",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "\nWhat are you talking about?
\n
\nThese characters are talking directly to each other in a radically different story format.
\n
\nThis is a new rule, not a broken one.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1419936115",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "\n!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1419936883",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1419976215",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "\nPossibly, verging on probably.
\n
\nBelieve it or not, this was supposed to be an \"easy one\". It got a little out of hand with feature sprawl, as should be painfully predictable to me by now.
\n
\nThe primary purpose of this idea initially was to create a simple, fun format emulating RPG gameplay, particularly the sort of moments where you explore a village, talk to as many people as you can, and start piecing together clues for the game's story bit by bit. I thought it would be a good way to load up on a lot of cross-interaction between many different characters without resorting to a huge linear dump of extensive pesterlogs. And it was successful in this sense. I just thought it would be easier, involving a few character sprites, a few room tiles, a simple adaptation of Alexis's existing Flash engine, and a whole lot of writing by me (that part still turned out to be true).
\n
\nBut in the end I think it was worth it to go a little extra further with it and come closer to capturing a more immersive feel to playing an RPG like this. Learning about story details in this manner is something so many people are very familiar with. Anyone who's ever even casually played RPGs has spent many hours doing it. And yet it feels strikingly novel to me in this context, encountering a page like this and switching your mindset on how you're being fed information necessary to advance the story. Suddenly the burden is on you to take action and piece the full picture together yourself. It's a little like doing detective work. Which is exactly what it's like exploring a village in an RPG. The various NPCs lurking around town are always alluding to things, rarely being all that explicit. Alluding to some peril in another town which might ring a bell if you've already visited that town, or will ring a bell later when you eventually do. Or talking to a person on one side of town whose story connects with a person on the other side. It's a pretty interesting angle on storytelling, that is to say, having to account for the reader's free will over data intake, which is a complete non-issue outside of interactive media, and one we probably take for granted as a story building method because we're not really thinking of it that way when playing a game. The purpose is to explore and advance, not to be led through narrative as we're accustomed to in other formats. And yet, after fully exploring a town, the end result is similar to having read a coherent story. You proceed armed with details and references which will prepare you for later story events.
\n
\nAnd it does seem to be a pretty effective way to paint a portrait of a situation. Even more so when you aren't mining information from flat, monologuing NPCs, but established characters having back and forth conversations. It's probably hard for me to be objective about this since I'm up to my neck in it, but after playing all the way through, I get the feeling that even someone who knew nothing about the story or the characters would have a pretty good sense for what was going on after running through it all. They're aliens, stranded on a meteor, hiding from a demon, discovering another race called humans with their computers, conversing with their past/future selves, each with allusions to a distinct backstory, many characters with clear types of preexisting relationships with each other, and so on. There's really a ton of information conveyed through this, directly and through inference, without any exposition, and all absorbed very rapidly through a universally friendly, accessible format.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1419977595",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "\nI drew almost nothing for this. The character portraits which you're probably referring to were all independent interpretations by the contributing artists.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1419983476",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "\nTo mess with people, to do something that made no sense whatsoever, and to be funny.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1420009780",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "\nOnly the details I want to provide, which is to say, include in the story, are relevant.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1420012602",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "\nThis has never happened once.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1420015389",
- "timestamp": 1288224000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1438432364",
- "timestamp": 1288396800,
- "html": "\nNah, it's just stylization.
\n
\nThe purple eyes maaay be literal? The white hair isn't.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1439193329",
- "timestamp": 1288396800,
- "html": "\nIt's not what it's supposed to evoke. You've made the classic blunder of mistaking your point of view for objective reality.
\n
\nIt's fair to say the style just doesn't sit well with you, and that's true of some other people as well. But entangled with this issue is that it's something new and unexpected projected against something much simpler, as well as against everything we're used to seeing.
\n
\nThere will always be those who are squeamish about sudden changes, and those people will absolutely never cop to it. They will always suggest their dissatisfaction is not because a thing is different, but because a thing is BAAAAAAAAD, and they'll have their laundry list of points to prove it, and they'll come packing hyperbole just to make sure you're TOTALLY convinced.
\n
\nThe bias of anti-change corrupts the critical faculty. This story is built on perpetual change and evolution. This is a drill I'm very familiar with. So I have a hard time taking detractors seriously, and as usual, put a lot more stock in my own judgment.
\n
\nIt gets particularly ridiculous when fielding issues about the merits of an art style from people who obviously know nothing about art. The truth behind the situation is some folks got \"squicked\" by the contextual delivery of a different style, and then rationalize the reaction by identifying all these problems with the art completely independent of the context in which their reaction occurred, through the lens of someone who's never given two shits about serious artistic analysis.
\n
\nSo maybe there are some iffy things going on with anatomy? Stylistic misfires in the features? Alright, maybe this is fair to discuss. Even though really breaking down one of these images is sort of missing the bigger point here, this is what I had to say about one drawing for the record.
\n
\n-----
\n\"Is it a clinic on human anatomy? Of course not. Sort of an absurd standard to hold it to. It is, like many drawings, a balance between accuracy and stylization. It's a slightly exaggerated \"gawking pose\", because of course the laptop is on the ground, and she's presumably now sitting on the ground and stooping lower to see it. It furthermore conveys body language I thought was appropriate for A) a gangly awkward teenager, and B) someone nonplussed by a ridiculous internet conversation.
\n
\nThere's a bit of wonkiness to the stylization mixed in with the amped realism. The edges are chewed up a little more than usual. Stray pixels and 1-pixel lines dart in and out of forms. This is not an immaculate presentation, and by design. But the anatomy is roughly accurate regardless, for what it is. The virtual spine does indeed connect with the base of the virtual skull where it should, given the posture. The face, from a semi-realistic comic stylization standpoint is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The mouth is conveyed as slightly open through minimalism.\"
\n-----
\n
\nThis is getting down to the artistic issues in an intelligent way, and you may agree or disagree, but like I said, this is sort of missing the bigger point. For one thing, in what has been an obvious exercise in visual/stylistic volatility all along, to hold yet another emergent style to such scrutiny or as something that doesn't belong strikes me as a little petty in the grand scheme of things, as a willful misapprehension of the nature of the work, and as just another instance of \"change allergy\" rearing its head. Just another missed opportunity for that omnipresent group of people who can never manage to just roll with something when it's introduced rather than gnashing their teeth about it, eventually get used to it, and then later pretend they were down with it all along.
\n
\nBut this isn't even what bugs me about it. You can dislike a drawing I did. I don't care about that at all.
\n
\nWhat I find really irritating is when troglodytes from the internet chirp up and bombastically suggest their judgment is better than mine when it comes to the aesthetic direction of this thing, or really any kind of direction for that matter. It's like they managed to forget whose judgment brought the thing they presumably enjoy to where it is in the first place. I don't like it whenever I get the sense that Homestuck is a sacred cow in the mind of a reader, and if I do something \"wrong\", I'm kicking that cow. It doesn't belong to you. The cow is mine, and you are enjoying its milk at my discretion.
\n
\nVehement detractors will almost certainly contribute to my inclination to continue to produce what upsets them, likely more so than I initially intended, and this has been the case since the start of Homestuck. Bored by sylladex shenanigans? Get ready for a lot more fucking around. Impatient with the troll arc? Whoops, time to slow it down! Uh oh, don't like detailed drawings that much? Hmmmmmm.
\n
\nIf I actually manage to jettison the disgruntled parties from the readership, I consider that an added bonus. Like spiking the football after the touchdown.
\n
\nThat dude dancing in the end zone over there? That's the MVP.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1440411789",
- "timestamp": 1288396800,
- "html": "\nI guess I just believe in sticking to your guns as a creator. It doesn't mean you completely ignore what people have to say or fail to take it under advisement, but pandering and caving into critics for fear of diminished appreciation is the wrong way to go. Staying the course with your vision doesn't mean you'll do everything right, but if included in that vision is serious, concerted exploration, you can only benefit as an artist. Adversaries to this cause should be regarded as villains.
\n
\nThere are two ways to do the \"obstinate douche bag\" thing as an artist.
\n
\nOne is in vehement defense of stagnation. Some artists I've encountered do this, and it's completely indefensible. It's as low as you can get, creatively speaking.
\n
\nThe other is in vehement defense of exploration. This is just the opposite. This is a posture everyone should strive for, and these artists are the ones people should be most inclined to offer their attention and support.
\n
\nThat's just how I feel about it, and I come from a zero-BS standpoint on it all. This isn't a job for me, and I'll never modify my approach to protect a bottom line. If it was just a job, I guarantee I wouldn't spend every waking hour doing it. It's kind of a strange personal mission I'm on, which I happen to make money from, and that's cool. People are welcome to come along for the ride.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1440459264",
- "timestamp": 1288396800,
- "html": "\nLike you suggest, the two things are one and the same.
\n
\nThe \"trolling the fans\" thing is deceptive though. Because I disagree with them that the things they're complaining about are bad. So I am only putting more attention into elaborating on something which I thought was a cool idea in the first place, and in a way, simultaneously challenging them to change their minds on the subject. It's like a trial by fire. You have to come around and learn to appreciate the thing you took issue with before you earn your right to enjoy the rest of the story, and similarly, a challenge to me to perhaps make it work for them through the elaboration process.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1442175837",
- "timestamp": 1288396800,
- "html": "\nI think it's better not to over-complicate the symbolism behind when a drawing style is used.
\n
\nIt's not that swapping styles has no meaning at all, but attributing a more serious rendering style to a sudden examination of SERIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES or whatever seems really heavy handed to me, and doesn't interest me that much.
\n
\nIf you look at older pages, the more dynamic style was implemented during more dramatic moments, sure. But it was also used for some pretty casual moments. The criteria here just isn't that rigid or clear cut, and I wouldn't want it to be. There's kind of a subtle ebb and flow to when the styles get switched up having to do with my whim, which can also be viewed as the pulse of the story.
\n
\nRight now, the introduction of these styles doesn't mean a whole lot, other than making the simple statement that they are now in the fold. I'd rather they come in under the radar like this than ushered in with a serious event. Like WHOA SHIT ROSE JUST DIED or something CHECK OUT HOW SERIOUS THAT IS, AS ILLUSTRATED BY THIS MORE SERIOUS DRAWING STYLE. That would brand the style too heavily as a utility meant to carry out serious business, and that's not what I want.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1442189631",
- "timestamp": 1288396800,
- "html": "\nWorking the pixel sprites into the fold obviously came on the heels of the interactive RPG page. That page served all the obvious purposes is was meant to, but as a bonus, introduced another style I can resort to now and then, even in static pages. It's in the story, the precedent is set, so there's no reason not to go with it sometimes. There will probably be a rationale any time I go with it. As an iconic style it can communicate different things than the other styles. For now, I've just resorted to it as a fresh look.
\n
\nI also used it as sort of a springboard to launch the more detailed style exploration. The main thought process was, if one hyper-simplified style was just introduced, why not another one on the opposite side of the spectrum? Hence the transition from one to the other, and now back and forth and dancing in between through subsequent pages. It's sort of a study of two extremes now in the arsenal as I move forward. The older styles between them will surely be more common moving forward, but this juxtaposition is a statement meant to get you conscious of the style decisions, and the overall stylistic nature of this story.
\n
\nAnd that nature is, slowly but surely, revealing to us that it can be anything, at any time. Its nature is to accumulate visual complexity/diversity to eventually match conceptual complexity/diversity.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1448528805",
- "timestamp": 1288483200,
- "html": "\naaaaaa formspring is one big feedback loop
\n
\nConsult this answer buried in the archives.
\n
\nhttp://www.formspring.me/andrewhussie/q/1093935286
\n
\ntldr; I accept criticism, even enjoy it. All I ask is the critic demonstrate he knows what the fuck he's talking about first.
\n
\nAlso excavate from that response my views on the \"emotional critic\". I've actually come to regard this type as a pretty loathsome creature.
\n
\nAnd yeah I get that a lot of this probably sounds pretty bombastic. But I imagine if I were the one reading such answers I'd find it all pretty entertaining. Wouldn't you? And/or: don't you???
\n
\nPEACE OUT ON THIS ANSWER\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1448530817",
- "timestamp": 1288483200,
- "html": "\nheheheh. yeah, kinda.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nOct 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488663404",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nYup, thanks. This is my diagnosis too.
\n
\nBlonde.
\n
\nSUCK IT GINGERS\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488666299",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488668314",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488678033",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nNot that often. But when I do, it is practically the only research tool I use.
\n
\nAre there even any alternatives???
\n
\nOh yeah, tvtropes, urban dictionary and encyclopedia dramatica, I forgot.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488685540",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nThis awful person spammed me with like a million questions about food.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488696006",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nIt should be considered that Dave was subconsciously drawing SBaHJ on his walls for years, and Terezi presumably observed these drawings beforehand which may have influenced her own drawing.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488720589",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nI keep the art asset demands pretty vague. Basic descriptions of backdrops, characters doing things etc, without being explicit about what's going on. Contributing artists can infer things, but don't understand the full picture until everyone else does.
\n
\nThen I assess what I've got, fill in a lot of the holes with my own drawing, particularly story-critical stuff, and assemble it all quite organically.
\n
\nThere is no storyboard. I piece it together 100% linearly, on the fly, with decisions surrounding events and timing informed mostly by the music.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488816677",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nNever been asked. A movie would be cool though I think.
\n
\nIt would have to be so different though as to be almost unrecognizable, other than what exists at the heart of the story. Which is about the four main characters, their relationships as internet friends, the themes involving coming of age and discovery through this fantastical game setting, and that's about it.
\n
\nSo much would have to be slashed, unless the thing sprawled into a monstrous trilogy, or N_logy. Most likely the casualties would include: everything about the trolls, everything about the post apocalypse exiles, vast amounts of fucking around with game mechanics, and probably even the kid/guardian relationships. It would require a complete redelivery of the concept of the game as a mechanism of creation myth.
\n
\nThis comes with the peril of being regarded as heresy, but I wouldn't view it that way, because like I said, it is an utter impossibility to capture what this is precisely through cinema, just as it would be through a book. But reformatting the work to fit different kinds of media I think is a challenge I'd embrace. I don't regard the exact details of the story as it is now as something all that precious. I think there are fundamentals beneath all that which are more important. I always saw HS as an exploration of young people developing relationships over the internet, which is something a lot of people reading it can relate to, and a concept sort of under-represented in fiction of all kinds. I've explored that from a lot of angles so far, at first with the kids amongst each other, delving into existing relationships, and then with the trolls, which has been an exploration of forging new ones, and in particular one of making friends out of adversaries. There's a lot more to HS than just that obviously, but if there's anything which it's been about through and through, it's modern kids relating to each other from afar, developing as people and growing up.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488829609",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nBoth are flattering and symptomatic of the same thing - inspiration to create. When it comes to striving for a particular reaction to your work, that's about as good as you can hope to achieve.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488839605",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488870439",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nI really have no idea.
\n
\nIt's Welsh.
\n
\nI could have gone with Caledbolg, another name for the Aurthurian sword, but there were a couple things -fwlch had going for it.
\n
\nOne, it translates as \"hard break\", which I thought was thematically appropriate.
\n
\nTwo, it's a shorter phonetic hop to Caledscratch, a name which is thematically on the money for THAT sword. In fact, that was named in advance knowing the sword that produced it would be called Caledfwlch.
\n
\nAnd in fact, the whole legendary piece of shit gag was something I planned to do down the road, the moment Dave originally broke his cheap piece of shit sword.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1488945571",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nI don't know if this really qualifies as a theory though.
\n
\nPractically speaking, we use three dimensions to plot coordinates and make measurements in space.
\n
\nWe use a fourth dimension as well if we want to include time in those measurements. This is done all the time in even very simple physics, as well as 3D modeling. It's practical, not theoretical.
\n
\nWhether time TRULY, ACTUALLY IS the 4th dimension seems to me like more of a metaphysical consideration.
\n
\nActually I just remembered I did a science fair thing on this subject in middle school.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1489016201",
- "timestamp": 1288915200,
- "html": "\nWhat's going on here is a bit of a mythology melange.
\n
\nThere's Arthurian legend, but it's also getting mixed in with the blatant lord of the Rings stuff, with the broken sword slashing magic rings off the hands of evil overlords, magic volcanoes, quests to protect the ring, the great big blazing sun reminiscent of the Eye of Sauron which has become a symbolic refrain itself, and even Dave's name: Strider. But of course, I'm sure Tolkien's stuff had its share of Arthurian influence in there as well. It's hard to escape those archetypes when you're dealing with that material. Hell, maybe it was even part of the whole point for him. I don't actually know that much about LotR.
\n
\nNow, does all this MEAN something?
\n
\nI don't have very lofty purposes for it. It's fun to connect an elaborate fantasy tale, especially one as whimsical as this, with points of mythology entrenched in modern culture and universally recognized. These are symbols we all recognize, and in this case sort of stand in for the grandeur of a multi-threaded quest which will not necessarily ever be at the forefront of what we're shown, or what the story treats as most important.
\n
\nYou might notice as you read that quest details are never all that important. There's a lot of stuff that's glossed over, conversed about casually, or even flippantly. Sometimes the characters even mock the quest details, making fun of the silly and useless puzzles they're meant to solve. That's because the quests are a backdrop to the more relevant focus of the story, which is the characters and their relationships, and the much heavier plot events that transcend the quest details. Like Noir's insurgence or Rose's commitment to game breaking. All the most important plot points have to to with the subversion of more conventional quest elements.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 04, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540477437",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nWhy Squiddles? I don't really understand the question, but I'll state the obvious. Squiddles I guess are a sort of candy coated representation of the outer gods. Not literally. They are a brand in a fictional universe. A cartoon show. They were not necessarily conjured into existence by the gods, via dark conspiracy either. It's more likely that humans created them as an echo of their subconscious awareness that these gods exist, and present them through this cute, approachable facade.
\n
\nAs for the song, it it's the other way around. This animation likely would not have ever been made if the song hadn't existed for some time already.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540483072",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nWhat isn't there to understand? Unless you're not following the story.
\n
\nJade was asleep. Her dream self is dead, so she can no longer dream on Prospit. This is what she dreams instead. She dreams of the gods in the furthest ring, and meets Feferi there, who is simultaneously napping on the horn pile. She did so deliberately to encounter the gods and prove to everyone they were harmless, after her dream self was killed with the destruction of Derse in the troll session.
\n
\nDave was also asleep. But his dream self is still alive, on the moon of Derse. He earlier had told Rose he'd take off his shades and look into the sky to observe the gods. He presumably caught a glimpse of Jade's dream, or at least the gods in general.
\n
\nThen Jade woke up.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540483313",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540484975",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nNo. Feferi's lusus was killed, and subsequently prototyped. It also doesn't look much like the final god, other than having tentacles and a beak. Many gods have these features.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540487656",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nPS book 2 and a SBaHJ shirt out very soon, perhaps this weekend.
\n
\nThen two more shirts at Topatoco to follow: Jade's shirt, and Dave's long red sleeve broken record shirt.
\n
\nThere'll also be some more non-Topatoco designs in a little while, a la the troll shirts, including a restocking of the troll shirts themselves.
\n
\nThere will be SO MUCH STUFF.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540488626",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540491881",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nThey are having the same dream. Much like two people asleep on Derse can wake up and meet each other.
\n
\nThere isn't much weird time shit to this concept. The furthest ring is outside the boundaries of either session's chronology.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540496716",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nI've thought about some kind of nav system, but all things considered I'm fine with the simplicity of \"open and watch til it ends\".
\n
\nFor one thing, a lot of the animations involve Flash \"movie clips\" all bundled together which makes implementing pausing a huge pain in the ass. I wouldn't stop using these either. It helps speed of production.
\n
\nThink of it like going to a movie. You go into it knowing you have no control over the flow of entertainment. In fact, it never even occurs to you. And everyone has always been fine with this.
\n
\nI'm also cool with the fact that Flash doesn't play on a lot of portable devices. Seems to me it's preferable that people park themselves in front of a proper display before watching these things.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540503427",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nIt was really terrible. Also I didn't staple or bind the pages together. I just handed in like 30 pages all in a big loose pile.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540513989",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nWhy do you believe I ever did? I don't, and didn't.
\n
\nIt's hard to underscore enough how ridiculous I and most creators I've talked to find this notion that being high is the wellspring from which all bizarre, absurd, or otherwise creative material must necessarily come from. For the most part, there's a very significant difference between quality work and pot addled horseshit.
\n
\nIt's not that I think all drugs are JUST SO TERRIBLE on principle. But including them as a staple to the creative process is usually a serious detriment to the work in my view.
\n
\nBut in looking at your question again, maybe you didn't hold this view anyway. Nonetheless, it's a topic that rears its head now and then.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540516711",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nFor the most part this is true. But movie clips are very touchy organisms, and I'm not completely convinced pause/playing some animations at certain frames won't mess up the timing. I'm standing by my \"watch til it ends\" recommendation.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540516886",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540523953",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nI'm probably not nearly as big a word geek as it seems. I know plenty, but at the same time a really tough crossword puzzle would probably eat me alive.
\n
\nI find it more interesting to make words most people know work in interesting or novel ways through combination and context than indulging in a lot of lexicographical obscurity.
\n
\nTo put it another way. Whenever I read a really peculiar word I've never seen before, my eyes don't light up. I'm more inclined to just say \"Who cares.\"\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1540524662",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\nThe \"GAME OVER\" isn't that literal. It's just a silly thing.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1556960424",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nShe's talking about puppet hair.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1557015348",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nThe Midnight Crew was not a canonical element of Problem Sleuth. It started in a series of donation commands, and I thought it would be fun to elaborate on them in this story. This began with their appearance on the MSPA website in the HS universe, which John and co. could read on their computers. The original rationale was that this is what MSPA looked like in an alternate universe, because I considered doing a Midnight Crew story for MSPA after PS ended, instead of HS.
\n
\nThen this idea was further elaborated on when the MC was revealed to literally exist in a different universe, the one which the trolls lived in, and was the predecessor to our universe. In the HS universe, MSPA is a window to the story of the Midnight Crew taking place in the troll universe. In the troll universe, MSPA is the window to the Homestuck story taking place in the human universe. (though technically, they are windows to somewhat bastardized versions of those stories)
\n
\nThis idea was developed in tandem with casting Jack and the agents as key villains, and constants between sessions, in the same sense that Bowser is the same villain throughout the various Mario games, though he experiences a different fate depending on which game you play or how you play it.
\n
\nI never liked the idea of including canonical Problem Sleuth characters (aside from Snoop Dogg) in Homestuck. And the more popular appeal the idea seemed to have and the more people asked me about it or theorized about it, the less I liked it for some reason. At this point it's safe to say it just isn't going to happen.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1557049577",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nThat's probably true, but I don't think I'm that analytical when I create, i.e. write or draw. When I start working, I dive right in without thinking much, and don't stop til I'm done. I work pretty fast because of this.
\n
\nThe end result is something complex through gradual accumulation, in a way that I try to make maniacally self consistent. But it's all built upon ideas that I spent a good deal of time thinking about and connecting before executing. Not moments before drawing, but in the days, weeks or months preceding, while I'm doing other things like walking around and running errands. Since all the key ideas already exist on sort of a road map in my head, executing becomes a pretty simple exercise, and allows for a lot of whimsy and snap decisions, as long as those decisions aren't in violation of the big picture.
\n
\nSuffice to say, there isn't a lot of analysis that goes into the process. But the result is something that can be analyzed quite extensively.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1557114668",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nIn the context it was used, most likely flushed.
\n
\nThere's a lot of evidence that while all the quadrants are regarded as important, there's more emphasis and emotion surrounding the concupiscent one (those related to reproduction, as our concept of romance is), whereas the pale quadrants seem to be regarded as \"the boring ones\". Which is obviously a relatable set of circumstances for humans, even if the vernacular and cultural implications are different. So if they're talking about this stuff in a heated way, it's most likely about hearts/spades rather than clubs/diamonds.
\n
\nAnd on a side note, while we can certainly examine this stuff in a serious way as if engaging in a fictional sociological study, I feel it's important not to lose sight of the fact that this material is always meant to be rooted in humor. That's one of the big reason it exists in the first place, to set the stage for these ridiculous situations and absurd relationship dynamics and conflicts, with silly terms being thrown around leading to confusion. Much like a romantic comedy uses romantic tension we all understand to create ridiculous scenarios. This uses scifi romance principles to do the same. It's essentially a scifi romcom, but unlike a romcom which will usually at some point, if not frequently, place the romance ahead of the comedy for a sappy payoff, that's not what's going on here. I'd rather that humor always be in the forefront for HS. The details of troll romance, and all romance issues really, aren't meant to be taken all that seriously. It's all supposed to be pretty silly stuff. Romance is a foil for humor, to some extent character development, and little else.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1557126491",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nI have probably several thousand photoshop files with stuff on separate layers for the most part.
\n
\nUsually I know exactly where to find something. Sometimes it's tough to track down something I'm looking for. On occasion, impossible.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1557199956",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nHS is getting old enough by now that the exact genesis of particular ideas is becoming hard to remember.
\n
\nBut here it was likely a progression by asking a series of logical questions, surrounding a key initial idea.
\n
\nThe idea being \"punch card alchemy.\" Then I say, ok go, make that work.
\n
\nIf each item is represented by a uniquely punched card, then combining them means combining the cards in some way. Overlapping and double punching is a simple enough conclusion.
\n
\nBut then, what do you do with the cards?
\n
\nPut them in a machine.
\n
\nWhat machine? What does that machine do?
\n
\nIt... makes something.
\n
\nMakes what?
\n
\nHow about a totem? Also uniquely representing an item.
\n
\nWhat do you do with the totem?
\n
\nPut it on another machine that reads it somehow, and creates the item.
\n
\nAll of this is both arrived at, and united by the themes I wanted to use to tie it together, which was various types of wood shop devices like lathes and miters, and other types of technology like old IBM card punchers, more modern laser scanners, and internet security gateways like captcha systems. And to have it all function as this sort of itemsmithing equivalent to something vaguely reminiscent of Platonic idealism. It was always meant to convey a truly esoteric forge, something a little otherworldly and in a way kind of sterile in aesthetic, like they were these odd modules of creative potential dropped from heaven. Or something.
\n
\nBut the story's focus on that seems like a long time ago now, and since exploring that in depth and playing with it, we've moved on to a lot of other fun ideas and plot points, while those themes fell in the background, to be revisited very occasionally. Mostly now the whole system serves as something the reader understands already, and items are manufactured without illustration or mention of the process. And sometimes, without mention of even the manufacturing. Increasingly, items just show up in the story without fanfare. That type of granularity is no longer sensible at this stage. We have bigger fish to fry.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1557207904",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nLot's of stuff, depending on when the \"not expecting\" was taking place.
\n
\nExiles, trolls... cartoon squids?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1557211245",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nI really...
\n
\ncan't...
\n
\ntell...
\n
\nIf this is a joke. I'm trying, but I can't.
\n
\nI am sorry.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1557216865",
- "timestamp": 1289606400,
- "html": "\nIt went missing for a while.
\n
\nAND THEN I JUST FUCKING FOUND IT ALL OF A SUDDEN.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1565982892",
- "timestamp": 1289692800,
- "html": "\nI'm not sure that either qualifies. The whole leitmotif thing got pretty blurry after a while, the more songs I piled on. At this point I just go for cool music that I happen to develop a particular idea for without thinking about cementing any leitmotifs, like I once may have intended. But often you'll hear familiar themes in these pieces anyway.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566016098",
- "timestamp": 1289692800,
- "html": "\nDo I? I guess it seems that way.
\n
\nThe thing is, if you make up a whole lot of nonsense, you have to make up names for everything. Portmanteaus are one route I take, like echeladder, sylladex, kernelsprite, kismesis, incipisphere, etc. Some are a really obvious slamming together of two recognizable words, some are a little more obscure, jumbling together simpler morphemes, or more basic roots of language. And when you think about it, there aren't really many other ways to come up with names for stuff than combining the atomic elements of language.
\n
\nAnother route to take which is more straightforward is just using a simple existing word to name a concept, and I do that pretty often too. Grist, denizens, underlings, consorts, the veil, the furthest ring, and the names of all the planets, which are about as simple as it gets.
\n
\nAlternatively, you can just make up your own nonsense words, which is an idea that's a little unpalatable to me for this project. I think that's a bit of a slippery slope to full blown fictional language building, which to me seems anchored to a much more severe kind of universe building endeavor than I wish to engage in.
\n
\nThe closest things to nonsense words might be names like Skaia, Derse, and Prospit, but even those are more like veiled portmanteaus. Skaia pretty obviously is sky+gaia, Derse you could view as an amalgam of dearth (scarcity) and terse (curt, abrupt, a word that could characterize someone like Jack), and Prospit is obviously prosperity and whatever myriad of words the suffix \"it\" might invoke. Perhaps esprit, which is a word in the mix of the matesprit portmanteau. So really this is just another way of saying that things in fiction that sound like nonsense are often portmanteaus in disguise.
\n
\nTroll names also sound like nonsense, but A) they were reader suggested and B) most of them have roots in other languages, usually pertaining to astrology. Of course since I was the one who selected the suggestions, my aversion to pure nonsense for this project had something to do with this outcome.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566018225",
- "timestamp": 1289692800,
- "html": "\nWhat is a noggie?
\n
\nIt sounds like a regional word for a particular type of sandwich.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566041679",
- "timestamp": 1289692800,
- "html": "\nYou can see her in several existing panels. You tell me.
\n
\nThe fat Feferi question negated your second question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566043562",
- "timestamp": 1289692800,
- "html": "\nI just found my new favorite word because I can't STAND those fjord humping sons of bitches.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566063912",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\nIf 10 pages of smoldering romfic about this isn't sitting on my desk by tomorrow I am going to have a nervous breakdown.
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n(a serious note: if some joker actually sends me this I won't even open it)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566075782",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\nSOMEONE IMMEDIATELY SENT ME SOME FAN FICTION ABOUT THIS. THIS IS SO SURPRISING.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566079647",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\nHi, and thanks.
\n
\nI don't watch anime of any sort.
\n
\nIt's not that I have anything against it on principle. It's just that I'm not from Japan.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566080242",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\nI don't feel like updating right now, and frankly, I will probably go to sleep soon.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566080992",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\nShe will be my bride.
\n
\nDo not try to come between us.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566093526",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\nNot really. It's actually quite awful to be honest.
\n
\nI always thought one of the stupidest scenes in that was when John Malkovich made the little model of the junkyard to describe his plans to the other felons. Why was that necessary? It was stupid, and the plan was stupid.
\n
\nAlso why was Chief O'Brien from Star Trek such an asshole? What was even his problem? What was up with that.
\n
\nAlso sometimes I forget that A) Steve Buscemi and B) Dave Chappelle were in that, and it makes the movie worse whenever I remember.
\n
\nBut it's one of those movies that I always watch hypnotically whenever it comes on tv. There are a bunch of really terrible movies that are like that, defying explanation. Twister was always like that, and this could easily have been a film on John's wall. Also, and this is a source of deep personal shame, Jerry Maguire is like that too. I really can't explain this, because it is literally one of the worst films of all time. I think it might be that Tom Cruise is weirdly hypnotizing through his aggressive intensity.
\n
\nNote these are all movies from the 90s because I completely checked out of popular culture in the early 2000's.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566095008",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\nThis is a visual story.
\n
\nYOU CAN SEE THE FUCKING CHARACTERS.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1566107121",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\nFat people take longer to draw because there is more of them to draw.
\n
\nI do disservice to their true carriage in order to save time.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 14, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585028014",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nNobody hates me. Literally no one, I am universally adored.
\n
\nThere are a lot of nice if not obsequious questions I get which you don't see that often because it's usually just me going THHHAAAAAAAAAAAANKS repeatedly, which isn't all that interesting for you to read.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585029976",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nThey count as ten words each.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585035658",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nI stand there generally contemplating what sort of fucking idiot actually thought these things were a good idea.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585038434",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nMight be another couple weeks.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585040665",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nYes, Jack had unfinished business with bro.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585041324",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nPossibly. We'll see when we get there. I think 6 is a good guess at this point.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585045405",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nIt's a variation on an expression which I think is funny, \"crazier than a shithouse rat\". Or alternatively just \"shithouse rats\".\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585047558",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nIt would probably mean I would have to throw the breaks on MSPA completely to focus on whatever that was, which to be honest, would kind of bug me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585049496",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585051371",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nI don't like blogspot that much and it deters me from updating it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585056806",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nKinda.
\n
\nIn the same way that the generic dad aspects were cobbled from various fatherly archetypes and mom was cobbled together similarly.
\n
\nSeriously the guy is a cool dude with a hat and a sword and pointy shades and a t shirt and a skate board sort of thing. And a puppet.
\n
\nHe was not RIPPED STRAIGHT FROM THE ANIMES.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585059286",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nOnly the fat ones.
\n
\ni.e. all of them\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585060769",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nYes.
\n
\nThe denizens are actually fat camp drill sergeants.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585062019",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nYour son fucking disgusts me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585066023",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nRationalizing a biological reason for the trolls to have breasts is the single most critical literary endeavor humanity has ever faced.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585068283",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nI'm not answering any more fat questions.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585070596",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nI don't know if I ever explicitly said he created it.
\n
\n\"Had something to do with it,\" sure.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585071599",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nIt's fair to say it explores a lot of things.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585073602",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nMy vague reluctance to attend the Olive Garden has slowly but surely transmuted to full blown terror.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1585105087",
- "timestamp": 1289952000,
- "html": "\nOh hey you rephrased the question you just asked.
\n
\nIt is an exploration of those things, like post death consciousness (or more commonly, the afterlife), but a lesser exploration. Elements serving as more of a backdrop for characterization, things the kids have to think about and deal with.
\n
\nDream selves in Homestuck are sort of a lot of things at once. It embodies some degree of awakening myth. A \"truer\" self to get in touch with and realize by overcoming something. It is also in a way the afterlife, if the correct measures are taken. It also provides a deeper and more mystical mechanism for the classic extra life in a video game. It is a means for a player to glimpse greater purpose and destiny, as well as the future. And it is even more things than this, which have not yet been developed or revealed.
\n
\nOther post-death themes are explored but mean different things in different cases. The sprites have more to do with resurrection than a study of afterlife issues. It's application here centers around providing players with guides, elders before them who are wiser, or in various ways more knowledgeable. In a classic sense, a grandmother has such wisdom. Less conventionally, a battle hardened future self does as well. A loyal, long dead cat may as well, in the tradition of an animal totem. Death is what separates an elder from an ancestor. Extrapolating, the game provides a means for its players to tap ancestral wisdom for guidance. And though this may be the intent, obviously it can be exploited in a wide variety of ways.
\n
\nResurrection as a theme on the microscopic level is in play with the sprites. Macroscopically, it's invoked through the reseeding a dead civilization from the dust, as the exiles are charged with. And in a sense, with the creation of a new universe as well, wherein the players are able to resurrect their extinct race.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 16, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603085971",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603096135",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nSome people manage to make good use of the space allotted to ask me intelligent things.
\n
\nOthers, not so much.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603102479",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nI'm usually distracted when I answer these questions. I often answer questions here to kill some time, while I do a variety of other things to achieve the same purpose.
\n
\nTheir are times when I don't notice misspellings which happen to allude the browser's spell check feature.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603109153",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nText, because it's easier.
\n
\nHere are the facts everybody.
\n
\nWriting is easy.
\n
\nDrawing is hard.
\n
\nI think if two people collaborate on making a comic, one writing, the other drawing, the writer should be forced to serve as the artist's butler to even the score.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603116011",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nHomestuck's really just a warm-up for something else. Kind of like how Problem Sleuth was a warmup for Homestuck.
\n
\nThere's not much of a chance of it becoming cemented as an opus, or casting a shadow from which I cannot escape. That outcome is up to me, and the degree of focus which I put into the next project.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603121481",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nWell...
\n
\nIt's definitely not the first thing you said.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603130728",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603131186",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603135376",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nSome pretty basic stuff, but also a lot of elaborate, off the wall stuff.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the more elaborate the request, the cruder the sketch by necessity.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603139613",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nIt was a mighty yellow horse dick.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603146170",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nI have never once seen a fat person attempt anything heroic that did not involve a well stocked buffet table.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603150492",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nDid you show her the Dutton page?
\n
\nI think you need to show her the Dutton page.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603165072",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nWhy do people apologize if a question has already been asked? Like I am going to be SO PISSED OFF.
\n
\nI don't have a favorite film.
\n
\nTo be honest, I think \"favorite things\" are kind of dumb. They're sort of for little kids when you think about it, like a favorite color, or flavor of ice cream. Grown ups don't give a shit about that nonsense.
\n
\nExceptions can be made for when the thing is so much vastly superior to everything else, comparisons are laughable. Like MSPA > all websites on the internet.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603172236",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nYes, but your question is ok because at the end there is a surprise noodle.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603173173",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nI don't care about your opinion on the animes.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603177390",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nIs that the one where you couldn't save a file bigger than a gigabyte or something?
\n
\nHow ironic.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603188379",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nThere is no time in the furthest ring. What two events can be said to be occurring \"at the same time\" when the time is \"nothing o'clock\"?
\n
\nIf they met each other in a dream, it is because a god blew a dream bubble and decided that they would both share it during those particular naps.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1603191467",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nI am making the kind of thing I would want to read. I am making the kind of thing I wish existed, but doesn't. Yet.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611397437",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nIt's a mystery.
\n
\nWe'll get back to this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611398695",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nI don't know what this is or what to think about it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611399116",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nThanks, I hope what I drew was really awesome.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611400134",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nNo.
\n
\nHe could break it though.
\n
\nAnd by break it I mean beat the shit out of Will Smith and Kevin Kline.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611400974",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nThis question is not nearly as interesting as how wide they are.
\n
\nDiagrams forthcoming.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611401677",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nI don't know. It's one of the many things about the troll story that just isn't all that important to zoom in on.
\n
\nFor now.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611402595",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nPap and shoosh are extremely versatile.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611403170",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611409822",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nI don't think HS would work well as a novel. All the dialogue occurs through chatlogs, and something about printing chatlogs amidst novel prose doesn't sit that well with me. Maybe it could work, but offhand it sounds a little gimmicky. In its present form, I think it can get away without being regarded as gimmicky, and more of a media exploration, simply because its format is so hard to pin down. The exploration itself is inseparable from the format.
\n
\nAs I've said, I do think it could make a pretty good movie though, if heavily revised. But the ideal format for translation would obviously be a game. Obvious to me, that is. And maybe now you as well.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611411219",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nBecause you never answer mine.
\n
\nI'm waiting.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611413916",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nA bunch of different things I'm sure. I do remember being on a kick where I wanted to make games, and thought it would be SO COOL to make like THE RADDEST RPG EVER, and by raddest ever I probably envisioned something slightly more advanced than Final Fantasy III.
\n
\nWhat I do now is obviously so much better than that dumb dream.
\n
\nPast me was so dumb. The only guy dumber than past me was even paster me. What a collossal idiot THAT guy was.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611418140",
- "timestamp": 1290124800,
- "html": "\nIt means bro stealthily arranged him that way, and then continued with the sword duel.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 18, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611444770",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "\nSometimes I'd prefer the story move along faster.
\n
\nIt may seem like it updates a lot, and it does. But there's a difference between high content output and rapid story progression. Content output can consist of fleshing out details, silly gags, and characters shooting the breeze, which while advancing them as characters, doesn't always do a whole lot to advance the plot.
\n
\nStory progression tends to involve the most dirty work. It involves various conceptual upheavals, lots of new drawing, and care put into selling those developments dramatically, or in whatever other ways are important. Practically speaking, stuff can get bottlenecked behind those developments while we wait for the creator (me) to be ready to present them. The most obvious manifestation of this is with Flash animations. I can't do them at the drop of a hat (well, not always). Things get a little spread out while I prepare for such events, and some of that preparation is just psychological. There are stretches where I'd rather just relax and draw \"normal\" pages, and I use those periods to set the stage for more major impending developments, arranging the pieces and often accumulating new details as a side effect. There is a very practical ebb and flow to all this, and the consequence is a story that probably seems more drawn out than it needs to be at times.
\n
\nBut that's fine, because part of the point is to make something that is fun to read, given any local slice of it you sample. The meandering journey was part of its makeup from the start, by design. As a vehicle of compelling story delivery, by no means was this ever supposed to be an efficient, well oiled machine.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611446567",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "\nIt takes every ounce of willpower I have to suppress my furious sexual attraction to the morbidly obese. Please do not rattle my cage.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611448239",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611450357",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "\nTrollian determines it. It is like an operator, directing the transmission to the appropriate time. It \"knows\" when the conversation was supposed to take place. Neither the kids nor the trolls have control over this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611476075",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "\nI think all the best movies I've seen too many times. Like Back to the Future. It's like watching wallpaper now. Nothing registers. So they don't really spring to mind as BEST MOVIE EVERSSSS.
\n
\nThe last two movies I saw in a theater were Scott Pilgrim, and before that, Inception. Both were good. I wish I could say great, because I really wanted them to be great. But weirdly, they both suffered from the same problem. I thought they both tried to jam too much stuff into too little time. Especially Inception. Like, times a thousand.
\n
\nInception was perpetually educating you on the premise. It was literally doing this until it ended. It's too bad, because it was full of fantastic concepts. Would have made a good TV show, to spread all that out and give it the exploration it needed. Only if done well though. Like the new show Walking Dead, which is taking a very cinematic concept, and spreading it into a series so it can take its time with everything, and I think it's great so far.
\n
\nI love convoluted ideas, but they need the space to be sold properly. This is why HS is almost 3000 pages right now. But especially for movies I think, that breathing room is essential. You need to spend time with the characters and feel who they are. I remember NOTHING about the characters from Inception, except that I guess Leo Dicaprio was soldiering around in another film with a big cross on his back, and bags under his eyes. The dude sure is sportin' some anguish these days! His plight was mostly invisible to me, because I was focused on solving The Premise Riddle, and also maybe it just wasn't all that strong when it came down to it. The whole haunted by the dead wife thing. There was Ellen Page who played the role of some sort of prodigy who could make buildings fold over on themselves, and then became someone you didn't give a shit about for the rest of the movie. Because there was NO TIME to. We needed the investment time. You can't pull giving a shit out of thin air.
\n
\nActually the best part of that movie was probably her whole building warping scene, with the suspenseful moment that followed where the dream crowd began catching wise to her presence, and then killed her. That's what the movie should have been, I think. Focusing more on the mind thriller aspect, playing up the Hitchcockian moments, instead of the dreadfully generic, watered down Matrix-style action scenes. When they started up with the James Bond style skis and snow mobile chase, I literally said out loud \"are you serious?\" The zero-threat NPC shoot-em-up action scenes were the worst part of the movie by far.
\n
\nAnd weirdly, I thought the action scenes in Pilgrim were the best parts by far!!! That really surprised me. The fight scenes were incredibly cool, and felt very cinematically original. The rest, as I said, felt like too much all at once. Felt rushed, crammed, a taaad gimmicky, and somehow squeezed the charm out of the story that was present in the books. In the books you got to spend time with the characters, and the pace was your reading leisure. It was fun. In the movie you blistered through the plot points while silly Zelda noises crept out of the woodwork to remind us all how much we all like old video games. I know it probably sounds insane for a story about battling 7 evil X's, but I would have axed at least a couple X's to spread it out. Yeah, it's heresy, but Scott Pilgrim isn't a religion, it's a story, and a story has to be delivered effectively in the medium given.
\n
\nI guess, though you wouldn't expect it, I have purist sensibilities when it comes to film. This is why I say I would so heavily slash HS, to the point of vandalization, in adapting it to film. Film needs SPACE and TIMING to be an effective experience. So I would adapt the story to accommodate the purest FILM EXPERIENCE. Please note that as HS now stands, it is accommodating what I regard as the purest INTERNET EXPERIENCE. Something of a media freeforall, heavily user-engaging and unpredictable. But I like traditional components in cinema that have already been charted thoroughly by great filmmakers. Look at the space and timing in the Coen brothers' movies. Lots of attention given to individual scenes, isolation of moment and atmosphere, examination of character. No Country for Old Men took a very off-beat story and presented it extremely well through those methods. David Lynch also did that well, though I guess his movies were just a bit too wacky for my tastes. They were still well made though. Which isn't to say you have to duplicate these filmmaking styles to be successful in my view. Nolan, who did Inception, also did The Prestige, which was fantastically executed. It did everything I was talking about the right way to deliver what Inception attempted to, a truly diabolical story (though still basically simpler). Prestige was an A+ to Inception's C.
\n
\nLook at that.
\n
\nMovie reviews.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611477881",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "\nAre you making me an offer?
\n
\nDon't fuck with me kid.
\n
\nI said scram!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611481218",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "\nGet some fucking exercise, shitlard.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611482145",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "\nI'm not saying it would be terrible or anything. I guess it just doesn't interest me at the moment.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611482269",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1611484327",
- "timestamp": 1290211200,
- "html": "\nNo risk. I don't know what's risky about making something cool.
\n
\nUnless you're quitting a day job and you got kids to put through college, which I didn't/don't.
\n
\nI never noticed an escalation in effort over that time span, until the first time I spent all night on a Flash animation. Now of course that sort of expenditure is a matter of routine.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 19, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690515332",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nNo, that would be stupid. Less is more in this case.
\n
\nBec Noir.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690531520",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nHe ditched the fancy hat and cat cheek tufts for practicality reasons. He wouldn't look much like Bec with his pointy ears shoved under the hat, and the much bigger dog cheeks just replaced the cat cheeks. The mutation is a bit of an overhaul, arguably due to the prototyping subject factoring in as an overwhelming influence.
\n
\nSince it was a design overhaul anyway, I ditched the tentacles, probably mainly because they're a pain to draw all the time. He's a little sleeker this way. And regardless, he could probably \"conjure\" them again if he wanted, being omnipotent and all. This spectacle likely involves green pyrotechnics, and heavy masking effects.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690535765",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nI specifically finished before sunday so that I would not have to weep in the horn pile.
\n
\nThat phrase was always code for \"the day I will be working on it if it's taking too long.\"\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690612468",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nThis animation (Jade:Enter.) certainly had some twists, but at the same time had some reasonably predicable outcomes.
\n
\nOn the Bec prototyping: people have been theorizing about this for months. It was a popular theory for a long time, and one that picked up steam as evidence gathered for it. From a certain perspective, it was \"obvious\", and will especially seem so in retrospect, through rereading.
\n
\nBut sometimes the most obvious thing is also going to be the most awesome thing, and there's just no way around that. And sometimes, ironically, the obvious thing happening can seem a bit shocking because of its obviousness.
\n
\nThis outcome was planned for a good while, maybe for about a year actually. And since then, I've laid the groundwork of clues and story logic that points to it. But after a while, it became clear that it would be a very guessable scenario in terms of what could happen purely from the standpoint of stakes-raising. So as I got closer to the reveal, I dropped a lot of goofy red herrings and engaged in silly forms of misdirection, to the point where it became sort of a gag unto itself. So while many may have theorized this outcome, by the time we were on its precipice, we were up to our necks in so much bullshit, I don't think anyone could be 100% confident about it, even if they still maintained the hunch.
\n
\nThe fact that Jack was the demon in the troll session was another \"managed guessable\". Lord English served as the red herring villain in that session to deter speculation to this effect. English was described as an indestructible demon. The trolls also described their adversary this way (though note, this is a perfectly understandable way to describe Jack in this form, especially since they didn't yet realize it was Jack). The obvious conclusion was that the trolls were dealing with English, and this is what most people guessed. In fact, this appears to have been sold so well, that some people have taken Bec Noir's entry into the troll session as proof positive that Jack = English!
\n
\nWhich is not to say that he definitely isn't. But there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in this flash which constitutes proof that Jack is English. Lord English is an indestructible demon (who also wears a very large coat many sizes too big for Jack). Jack is also an indestructible demon. Nothing yet confirms they are the same demon.
\n
\nThere are clues that point to Bec Noir as the trolls' adversary as well. In Alterniabound (Karkat: Wake up.) Karkat has a hunch he knows who the demon is, but doesn't want to jump to conclusions yet. He'd just seen the demon in a dream, which we just saw in the Flash. There he notices the resemblance to Jack Noir, which he hadn't noticed in the first encounter. Karkat tells Terezi that if he's right, they both get to tell each other \"I told you so.\" What he means by that is, Terezi gets to say she was right all along about Jack being bad news. Karkat gets to say he was right about it being a bad idea to exile Jack (because at the time, it's quite understandable for Karkat to presume it was the same Jack he met, rather than one from a different session.)
\n
\nThere were a few people out there who theorized both these things in tandem (Bec prototyping, Jack = demon). But that's what happens when you leave clues lying around. Someone out there will guess right. But if you don't leave the clues, developments have no plot foundation. The solution is to misdirect as well as you can, in a way that's entertaining. Red herrings abound.
\n
\nIf you go back and reread everything, especially parts of the troll arc, and the troll/kid logs, you see tons of clues pointing to all this, and very careful language about the demon, what the kids did wrong, etc, to conceal what would eventually happen, while not contradicting it. But in totality, it all added up to this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690617240",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nRead question below.
\n
\nThe formal answer is \"inconclusive\".
\n
\nThat said, you can speculate anything you want, as long as you realize that Lord English probably should be able to fit into this coat without looking like an idiot.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003153\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690631791",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nI think we have enough context for you to be able to answer the question yourself.
\n
\nWe know the black kingdom opposes the game objective, which is to create a universe. They are the opposing force to creation, and perhaps more generally speaking, existence. As features of a game, they are \"programmed\" to be that way. This should tell you a lot about Jack's basic nature, or any Derse agent. He was born to be a psychopath.
\n
\nAlthough Jack appears to be a special case, seeming to be the most foul tempered agent, probably more so than either the king or queen. He also has problems with authority in every session. This appears to be part of his programming, causing him to be the agitating influence in a session. If something goes wrong in any given session, there's a good chance he's what went wrong, and maybe this is by design.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690636919",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nOnly half a callback.
\n
\nThe first half was during Jack: Ascend when he grew the wings in the first place. His transformation was always supposed to be a little reminiscent of the Anti-Sepulchritude.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690659280",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nShe did no such thing. Read again, starting from here.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004503
\n
\nShe describes a demon, but never says anything directly connecting him to Lord English. Only offhand references to make you think that's who she's talking about. Such as calling the rift a \"scratch\", which brought the demon into the session, where Scratch is the name of the guy who's job it is to pave the way for LE. Sure seemed like she was talking about LE, didn't it? That was intended.
\n
\nThe truth is, there's no evidence at all to suggest the trolls have ever even heard of LE. Aside from Scratch making reference to his \"employer\" when talking to Vriska. Didn't sound like she cared though.
\n
\nAdditional trivia:
\n
\nNote that Aradia appears to be talking to Scratch on this page. http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004505
\n
\nShe asks why he (we now know, Jack) is here. Scratch indicates it's none of his business.
\n
\nWhat do you make of this?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690679251",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nNeither of these things were verified to be true.
\n
\n1. We still don't know what the scratch does, other than being characterized generically as a rift in space-time, and the thing that causes the demon (Jack) to enter the troll session.
\n
\n2. The scratch was not caused by the prototyping. There are many facts which make this clear. In the future, John is wearing his blue outfit while talking to Karkat for the first time. This is just before the scratch, as indicated on the Trollian timeline.
\n
\nWe know that the kids have around 24 hours between this future moment, and the start of the reckoning. Jade's entry was not too long after the start of the reckoning, perhaps several hours. It could be in the neighborhood of 20 hours after Jade's entry when the scratch happens. Until then, it appears Bec Noir will be skulking around the kids' session, until the scratch happens, which somehow unleashes him into the troll session.
\n
\nNo word of God here. This is all in the story.
\n
\nWhat we saw in the animation was Jack fighting with bro and co, getting prototyped, and then a flash-forward to him entering the troll session. It was not a literal sequence of events.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690691922",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nI declare that this is officially his name in your fan fiction.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690694934",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\n1) He is a dog. Omnipotent, not omniscient. He did what was necessary to save his master, the frog temple, and to a lesser extent, Earth.
\n
\n2) He is also a dog who happens to have been genetically engineered by an agent of Derse.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690698166",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nIt has not been explained.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1690698778",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\nUmbral Ultimatum by Toby Fox.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 27, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1697244265",
- "timestamp": 1290988800,
- "html": "\nI didn't forget. He's sort of a special case, being the first guardian and all. When Aradia prototyped with the frog head, it also had a tail. I guess frogs are a special case too.
\n
\nUsually I'm pretty religious with rules I set up. But occasionally judgments are made to bend the rules slightly in not especially plot significant ways, for stylistic considerations or whatever else. The only real problem with doing this is I'm left open to the ASPERGERS GOTCHA TRAP.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1697381013",
- "timestamp": 1290988800,
- "html": "\nEven though we saw the result, I think there's still some element of mystery left as to why he prototyped himself.
\n
\nCould he have diverted/destroyed the meteor without doing so? Probably.
\n
\nThe word \"omnipotent\" has been thrown around, but we don't know how literal this is or what the extent of his powers was. He could do some crazy things pre-prototyping, sure. But could he fire a huge green laser? We have no idea. It looked like his powers were passive, for the most part. Teleporting anywhere, and being able to teleport anything anywhere. It's reasonable to think he could have redirected it into the sun or such. Maybe he had a good reason for not doing this, and blowing it up instead?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1697821268",
- "timestamp": 1290988800,
- "html": "\nThe entry items for the trolls is one of those topics that was left to the imagination, and it's likely this will always remain the case.
\n
\nEntry items as a whole were never supposed to be THAT significant as a game detail, but in looking back on the four items we've seen, there's a lot to talk about.
\n
\nEach one is symbolic in some sense of a departure. And each has things in common with some of the others.
\n
\nJohn's is the simplest, and rooted in the most obvious myth, which is taking a bite of an apple from the tree of knowledge. It makes sense for a number of reasons. It represents the most significant departure since it kicks off the whole game. It's also very easy to \"solve\". There's no puzzle element to it. They get progressively more complicated.
\n
\nRose had to break a wine bottle on her house, just as ships are christened. And though not seemingly a part of the challenge at first, the trial involved losing the bottle and having to take a leap of faith to retrieve it, and well as rely on a friend (Jaspersprite) to help her complete the trial. This was required of Jade as well.
\n
\nDave had to wait for an egg to hatch. The symbolism of the egg, like the apple, is pretty obvious. The challenge here was to do nothing, to have patience for several hours and wait for it to hatch. And though it seems like a simple challenge, it proved difficult for Dave, and would be a significant trial for one who was to become the Knight of Time.
\n
\nJade had to destroy a Bec piñata. There's plenty that could be said about piñatas. You could even be as superficial as noting they're used during birthday parties, and opened to celebrate birth. But I think it's more interesting to study it from the vantage of the symbolism surrounding the destruction of effigies, and the implications this has for the Bec prototyping and Jack assuming his powers. Her challenge was to destroy it while blindfolded, and only by shooting it in the head. Several previous chat references had been made to this outcome, which was similarly foreshadowed by their strife dance together. The symbolism of killing her dangerous dog to enter (i.e. a step toward growing up) borrows notes from the Old Yeller story, but in this case, it's a dog that can't die (though nevertheless would assume a death-like state through prototyping). Also included in her challenge was taking a shot in the dark (much like Rose's leap of faith) and relying on her friend who redirected the bullet through his own head, the very friend she was attempting to slay in effigy.
\n
\nThis is easily the most complicated of the entry puzzles, very thick with symbolic meaning, and is probably my favorite part of this animation.
\n
\nAlso note all of the items are, in a way, edible. The boys have directly edible objects, apple and egg. The girls have objects which contain edible goods; the bottle and piñata contain wine and candy, and both needed to be broken. Dave's was actually a little of both, a food product, and a container for that product which needed to be broken (i.e. hatched). John and Jade's items both came suspended from a tree. Each item had significance to the player, if loosely. Jade's was obviously quite personal. Rose's related to her mother's drinking. Dave had been plagued by crows. John's is the only one which seemed generic, although there was a tree outside his window which seemed to be a fixture of his life. His wasn't especially personal since it was the simplest trial, and something most generically befitting of entry and mythological departure.
\n
\nEach trial can be summarized more simply:
\n
\nJohn: Loss of innocence.
\nRose: Leap of faith, trust in a friend.
\nDave: A lesson in patience.
\nJade: Shot in the dark, killing a friend for its own good, and greater good.
\n
\nAlso, and this was one of those unplanned things which I noticed:
\n
\nA - Apple
\nB - Bottle
\nC - Crow's egg
\nD - Dog piñata\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709555034",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nIt only states that Scratch works for him. Which is to say, Scratch stated this himself.
\n
\nIt does not say all first guardians work for him.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709559575",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nHe didn't do anything. The transformation was automatic, as it was the first time it happened.
\n
\nWhen I said \"He ditched [them],\" I wasn't being literal about a decision he was making. Spoken more technically, I meant \"his body ditched them in a natural response to the mutation he was undergoing.\"
\n
\nWe've all seen powerful dudes evolve into different forms a thousand times. They aren't making choices about their transformations. Come on, we all know how this works.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709561490",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nLooks pretty dead to me.
\n
\nWhy not take Cal? Makes a good trophy. It's a totally sweet puppet.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709561875",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nBut...
\n
\nNobody gave a shit about Qui-Gon Jinn.
\n
\nNor should they have.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709564369",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nIt is 100% guaranteed that when someone uses \"penultimate\" correctly, he will be falsely accused by someone of using it incorrectly.
\n
\nIt was used to mean \"second to last.\" As is its definition.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709566913",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nThat cursor was revisited later when Jade was introduced.
\n
\nThe current continuity is always compatible with the older continuities. But sometimes certain systems and patterns are suppressed or ignored for long stretches of time, for whatever reason. Usually to place the focus on other things. It stays that way until those old patterns are revisited. Like when it turned out that some of the trolls seemed to be responsible for the very early failed name entries for the kids.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709567559",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nThe guardians and kids were drawn more than a year before I came up with the concept of a lusus.
\n
\nWhat sort of delirium would cause you to think I would answer your second question?
\n
\nThe amount of unanswerable questions I get is truly ridiculous.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709570910",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nI defy you to picture a centaur wearing that coat and not be struck pleasantly by what you imagine.
\n
\n(aurthour = english canon canon canon go nuts everyone)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709574599",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nHe was already revealed. You probably weren't paying attention.
\n
\nRemember the mushroom farming salamander?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709576069",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nWhat does it actually mean to \"be a fatalist?\"
\n
\nProbably just means being some sort of douche bag.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709577651",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nYes, Jack Noir plucked him naked shooed him away.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709583013",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nI probably shouldn't have been so rude to a child. Children (people under 25) are very naive and often take things too seriously. You would think I'd have learned my lesson, but here I am sassing up youngsters all over again.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709585838",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nThank you; I never have problems committing to work on this site. But it helps that I don't tend to divide my time between other projects.
\n
\nExcept for SBaHJ.
\n
\nFrom my observation, there are two things which cause artists to become deterred from completing their projects.
\n
\n1) Self doubt.
\n2) Video games.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709590812",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nIt's about a day later, not a month.
\n
\nThe shades OBVIOUSLY shattered when Maplehoof's corpse released the Vast Neigh, put on the Cairo Overcoat, and became none other than Lord English himself.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709595951",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nMost monitors don't have the horizontal resolution to properly convey the grim reality of her astonishing girth.
\n
\nWe will be married at Sea World.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709606180",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nLand of Lawns and Thumb Fractures
\n
\nHe is the Douche of Tears\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709607195",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nI didn't read the trollmance section, it was too long.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709628528",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nWhat it lacks in unanswerability it more than makes up for in boringness.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709637273",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nHe was always meant to be a \"chess guy\", and that probably had more to do with his king hating than being a mayor. His interest in democracy was similarly rooted in this character trait, so it's probably more correct to say the mayor command was adapted to those circumstances, and then elaborated on. Included in this elaboration was the civic roles for all the exiles, leading to the nature of their back stories in the medium.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709639586",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nToday I posted 14 pages. Seems like enough to me. If I do anything other than this right now, it would be going to sleep.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1709646818",
- "timestamp": 1291161600,
- "html": "\nI don't recall to what extent Bec influenced the concept of a lusus. I'm pretty sure there wasn't the direct line of inspiration you might expect. But I am sure that as it was conceptualized, the similarity between the way trolls are raised and the way Jade was raised definitely occurred to me. This is something that has been touched upon a number of times. One of the many culture clashes in dialogue that have been made possible by learning about the trolls' world in detail.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nNov 30, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1738875195",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1738905458",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nDeclaring myself an atheist would make me sort of a douche bag, because it would mean I was under the impression that anyone gives a shit.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1738907347",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1738910561",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1738916804",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nThere will be a long expository treatise on this subject.
\n
\nStay tuned!!!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1738921976",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nnobody's as smug a prick as that smug prick mother fucker
\n
\nbetter ingredients. better pizza. kiss my ass.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1738968399",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nIt was sorta both. The whole paragraph references TNS. Which was a book published on the year of my birth. I have just now decided this is really relevant for some reason.
\n
\nPlease note that when the Cosbytop sinks in the oil, it is a direct and OBVIOUS reference to this scene.
\n
\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y688upqmRXo
\n
\nCosby succumbs to the sadness, leaving John heartbroken and alone.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1738991773",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nLet's not get carried away with the Anti-Sepulchritude thing. That is not literally what it is.
\n
\nOften, ideas are drawn from other ideas without requiring an explicit, canonical link drawn between them.
\n
\nHe has a sword, wings, is driven by a dreadful green energy, and is evil. The character transforming in question is Jack Noir, whose alter ego is Spades Slick, who was the non-canonical evil counterpart to Problem Sleuth. That's all there is to this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739013694",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nThe only other obvious color choice would be their blood color.
\n
\nBut that's not possible, because it would have given away Karkat's blood color.
\n
\nSo trolls all have boring gray eyes. While we have our boring red blood. Trolls get fancy variable blood colors. We get fancy variable eye colors. Each appears to be inclined to type with their fancy eye/blood color.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739064478",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nExactly. That's why the timeline in which she killed John was not the alpha timeline. Because it resulted in such a paradox. As such, everyone from that timeline was doomed. (Davesprite, future-dream Rose)
\n
\nHowever, paradoxically, those same doomed people from that timeline were critical to the events of the alpha timeline. The alpha timeline, and Bec Noir, could not have existed without that doomed timeline. In fact, the kids wouldn't have even been \"born\" without it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739070690",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nFor the same reason that Act5_2 opens with blue and red curtains, and why blue and red correspond to the troll and human universes respectively. It's a bifurcated act.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739191127",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nBecause it would have been meaningless and confusing at that stage without all the setup.
\n
\nAlso, Sollux didn't exist yet, whose vision twofold was the basis for this red/blue bifurcation.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739194233",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nCut a hole in the side of my house and have her lifted out via crane.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739197546",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nSnowman has an electric violin, and Lord English conducts with a little pool cue baton. Other than that, no.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739202138",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nIf you watched TNS you would know it wasn't facetious.
\n
\nMaybe Adventure Time was influenced by TNS? (Probably not.)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739433343",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nNot having a song available is never the reason for not doing a flash. There are always many on hand.
\n
\nI'd prefer to be careful about pushing the drama pedal too hard. The dramatics are still ebbing somewhat after Jade: Enter. Not every major development needs to be delivered that way. Static panels have often portrayed significant developments. Sometimes they do so more effectively in some ways. For one thing, they allow the written narrative to come along, jokes and all, whereas flashes are necessarily mute presentations.
\n
\nAlso, I didn't feel like it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739435542",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nThat's not how I used the suggestion box.
\n
\nThat's not how I'm using formspring either.
\n
\nI see questions.
\n
\nI answer them.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1739438320",
- "timestamp": 1291334400,
- "html": "\nI maraud the hapless centaur for his wealth of poultry.
\n
\nThe centaur frowns.
\n
\n/CSQ\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 02, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757949371",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757953225",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nIt looks like I just got asked this question about 50,000 times.
\n
\nFor some reason, the more times I am asked a question, the less inclined I feel to give a forthright answer!
\n
\nI'm going to file this one under draw your own conclusion.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757955001",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757956892",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nWhy not?
\n
\nThe story has been filthy with frogs so far.
\n
\nThey mean something.
\n
\nWe don't know what yet.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757967270",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nThe whole curtain motif was Nick's design, and I'm pretty sure I stole it from him to use as act dividers.
\n
\nI MIGHT have been the one to propose the curtains=closed php feature though. I don't really remember.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757981041",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nOnce again, we have reached an impasse. A crossroads, if you will, where YOUR ANIMES collide with MY STORY.
\n
\nHere is the thing.
\n
\nMSPA is a body of work encompassing thousands of ideas.
\n
\nThere are many thousands of animes, also encompassing thousands of ideas.
\n
\nThere is bound to be some overlap.
\n
\nI also have supernatural powers when it comes to coincidences involving the animes. This should not be overlooked. I have a sort of anime communion. It is my gift.
\n
\nI am the Anime Whisperer.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757986186",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nI was all set to provide a very thorough and enthusiastic answer, but then I read your parenthetical caveat, and deflated.
\n
\nSorry.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757995170",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nhonk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk honk :o)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1757998485",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nNot for a while.
\n
\nIt will be
\n
\nTHE LONGEST ACT\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758005679",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758009259",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758013161",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758027624",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nThat was after the intermission you doofus!
\n
\nThat's what the issue was. Why the red curtain at the beginning of the intermission was red, rather than blue. Sollux showed up 600 pages later.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758035489",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nOh man.
\n
\nOH MAN.
\n
\nThis comic just got BUUUUUUUUUUSTED.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758042876",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nNo, merely my sworn rival.
\n
\nShe is not big enough for the two of wait what the fuck am I saying.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758046104",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nLadies and gentlemen...
\n
\nTHE PLOT HOLE BUSTER.
\n
\nThere he goes. Will we ever see him again???\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758053127",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nIt is her birthday (crashday), and John is the youngest. This was established in the ectobiology arc.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758055751",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nNot before the 10,000 page squiddle intermission and then the 100,000 page fedorafreak intermission.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758058928",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nWhy don't you just embrace all the boners they are giving you, and stop bothering me about it?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758064933",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nIt's nine solar sweeps or nine hundred pounds.
\n
\nWhichever comes first.
\n
\nPS --- yurning???????????\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758071952",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nHow could the celebration of these fine, upstanding African Americans conceivably be construed as racist?
\n
\nWhy do you implicitly advocate keeping the black man down?
\n
\nSeems a little racist to me, frankly.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758091214",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nI subscribe to the movement which gives white power to black people.
\n
\nWhite people have spent so long being great, I think it is finally time to spread that greatness around to the other races so they can have their turn.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758093658",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nCharles Dutton was the first Son of Skaia.
\n
\nHe is my father.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758098633",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nWhen examined objectively, a fedora just seems like such an elaborate object to keep on your head. It doesn't make any sense.
\n
\nThis is the chicken sandwich question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758241173",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758244183",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758248686",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nI don't know.
\n
\nI thought about irons and hammers like, really really hard for a while.
\n
\nI don't know how ideas happen. They are magic, without the fakeness.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758253119",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758261439",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nNo just stop, it is so so bad.
\n
\nThere is only one rung below Little Monsters, and that is the rung where the Garbage Pail Kids movie from the 80's resides.
\n
\nThe very existence of that movie is sincerely corrosive to my will to live.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758263164",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nThat sounds like a word that gets used a lot by people who don't have a strong grasp over the animes.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1758267761",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nTHE JIG IS UP.
\n
\nHOMESTUCK
\n
\nJUST
\n
\nGOT
\n
\nB
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nU
\nS
\nT
\nE
\nD.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778118385",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nHe doesn't talk. He is a mysterious dog.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778122686",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nWhat made it more inscrutable just now?
\n
\nIf anything, Becsprite blowing up the mail lady's computer 2000 pages ago and 413 years in the future actually made things more scrutable.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778123760",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nIntense flashing images do not bother me, because I am not a pansy.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778125020",
- "timestamp": 1291680000,
- "html": "\nWhat a waste of time!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 06, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778140921",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nHave you ever played an RPG?
\n
\nMany (most??) split XP among party members for contributing to a battle, even fruitlessly.
\n
\nAlso, one time John leveled up for just making some babies.
\n
\nThese rules aren't all that rigid.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778145721",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nLooks like it was just them. Aradia dug it up, and Sollux hacked it together with his codes. Doesn't seem like they shared it with anyone outside the group.
\n
\nProbably better that way. Trolls are a nasty race. If there were thousands or millions of players, probably most of them would have been successful. That is a lot of universes created and run by evil aliens.
\n
\nHumans by and large are wimps, so the vast majority of the other players failed, if not all. (This was hinted at by lack of solid documentation on gamefaqs, other than Rose's. ) In that sense, the global proliferation of the game was logical, to improve odds of some group being successful. This is how procreation works most of the time. Safety in numbers.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778146757",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nI think we both know the racisms are in play here, as usual.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778151922",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nYou can't see his eyes up close as a baby.
\n
\nRose's eyes are purple, but they have remained uncolored in all panels but one, for stylistic reasons. Much the way they don't have noses most of the time. Or arms.
\n
\nThis should be so obvious.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778152152",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nThey are all mine.
\n
\nUser input is extremely sparse these days. Troll names were the last instance. And they were the first instance in a long stretch of time before that.
\n
\nAt one point, probably well over a year ago, I thought about using polls to determine some major plot developments. Like what Dave or Jade would prototype with. That vague idea was one reason I littered a lot of weird things around their houses (remember Dave's collection of dead shit???), not only as red herring material, but to leave it open to this democratic solution if I felt like going that way.
\n
\nI didn't though. It seemed like too much trouble, and such plot developments have a way of pushing themselves off into the distance. By the time they come around, it's just more natural to have already planned what should happen and act accordingly. The reward for that sort of gimmick is very limited.
\n
\nAt one point I even considered making a fake poll for Jade's prototyping. It would have looked real, but I would have ignored the result and done what I did. But even that would have been too much trouble for little reward. It might have been kinda funny, but ultimately.......................................
\n
\nNah.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778153428",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nNo.
\n
\nThey are in fact both typos of each other.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778154442",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nIt's a really simple reason.
\n
\nI wanted to get through the troll arc as quickly as possible.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778158040",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nI like to think Kanaya just sawed his legs off while he was sleeping, and then asked Equius about it after the fact.
\n
\nOops you thought I was BUUUUUSTED but then it turned out YOU were the one who was that.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778161367",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nI think by David Malki ! you probably meant Ryan North.
\n
\nAnd I think by Andrew Hussie you probably meant David Malki !.
\n
\nAnd by \"have an intense rivalry\", you probably meant \"made a cool book together\".
\n
\nOne of my hobbies is turning people's sentences into other sentences, which are different.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778164158",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nRadiation is harmless. Kind of like lava. Why doesn't Dave melt when he's hopping around on gears?
\n
\nThe answer is because these dangerous things are actually harmless in cartoon stories. They are also green and red respectively, just in time for the holidays.
\n
\nI THINK OF EVERYTHING\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778167160",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nAre you saying Dave wears prescription shades?
\n
\nOr even more troubling...
\n
\nAre you saying Ben Stiller wears prescription shades??????\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778172113",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nI don't know. I should point out though, if you weren't a new reader, it wouldn't occur to you to ask this. It is just a fact of the universe. I invite you to begin taking it for granted. It's a wonderful feeling. Maybe the best feeling you will ever have.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778176407",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nI would characterize the feeling as INTENSE LUST.
\n
\nNow go.
\n
\nBack to your shipping boards.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778183950",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nSharing his blood is not by itself a way to win his favor, because of course he hates himself.
\n
\nHe bonded over it with Jack because he liked Jack better than the kids, who he saw as the source of all his misfortune. He thinks Jack is a cool badass who goes around stabbing people (i.e. Karkat mostly). He became like a father figure to him, and mistreats him just as a true Alternian father figure should.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778186160",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nThe croc had his iShades.
\n
\nDave put on his regular shades.
\n
\nDave is so fast, he can wake up, instantly recognize he's not wearing shades, and put them on in between animation frames.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778195373",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nWhy would you attribute a lot of joking around and sarcastic remarks to genuine negative emotion? That's awfully literal of you.
\n
\nI treat many questions humorously and assume many people will be smart enough to solve my joke riddles. But some aren't that smart obviously, and this only presents more opportunities for humor.
\n
\nLook at me giving you a hard time here. Does this mean I don't like you?
\n
\ncome
\n
\nOOOOOOOOOON\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778197168",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nA quick and clever way to find them would be to go to the search page and search for every instance of tinyurl.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1778200318",
- "timestamp": 1291766400,
- "html": "\nYou just shooshed the chicken papwich question.
\n
\n.....................................................
\n
\nCONGRATULATIONS!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 07, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818484180",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nHe is the Prince of Hope.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818487475",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nThey aren't even plot holes though.
\n
\nThere are no plot holes.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818492115",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nThat's not an error. That is Rose's sense of humor at work.
\n
\nDoes html even support a <black> tag? Does any language, other than various slapdash custom scripts out there?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818494631",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nThere is no Humanimals guy.
\n
\nThere is only me.
\n
\nAnd my children.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818496139",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nI have a good memory for ridiculous bullshit and I use these powers to make a silly cartoon.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818497563",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nI find this question offensive.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818498508",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\n1) No he isn't.
\n
\n2) No it wasn't.
\n
\nF\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818502013",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nAre you implying that it has been running long?
\n
\nIt has been running for a year and a half.
\n
\nPeanuts ran for 50 years.
\n
\nCharles Schultz was a fucking idiot.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818506339",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nI would rather consume Italian food in the stall of a smelly men's room.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818508840",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nThat shit is lying around everywhere in the veil. Why wouldn't it be? The technology is pedestrian compared to the other equipment there.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818510140",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\n12/25/10
\n
\nHO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO
\n
\no<|:o)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818511101",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nOH MAN DON'T GET ME *STARTED* ON THactually I don't give a shit.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818514563",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nA guy who likes to kill cute cartoon squids.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818518421",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nHow do you know Jade's is a girl?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818519375",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nThe correct answer is who really cares.
\n
\nFrankly, his hair looks white in the comic to me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818521920",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nI don't even know which update you're talking about, silly.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818522905",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nHe needs the white king's scepter. Defeating the white king is equivalent to defeating his army. Like chess.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818530214",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "\nIt's implied he and Rose have discussed some of these topics before. Both of these characters have sort of \"gotten away from us\", as far as their visible narrative goes. Whereas with John and Jade, we have kept a pretty close eye on everything they have been up to since they were introduced.
\n
\nBetween Dave entering his gate and when he went to sleep in the gold ruins, there is much unaccounted for. Same with Rose after destroying her gate. It only gets more out of hand for Dave when he time travels more, i.e. becomes future Dave with the red sleeves. He's obviously been through a lot, and there's no way we'll ever grasp the totality of his experience. It's safe to say he knows a lot more than black suit Dave, but unless something's explicitly stated in the story, we can only guess.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818530628",
- "timestamp": 1292025600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 10, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818531769",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818546830",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818546985",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818547276",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818549029",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nI foresee BIG THINGS for doof nak.
\n
\nI have just financed a new yacht with the projected doof nak dividends for this fiscal quarter.
\n
\n8)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818549175",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818557651",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nAre you calling the green sun fat? Kind of rude.
\n
\nAlso it is safe to say who cares about black holes and physics, since time and space work differently out there. What is gravitation other than the influence it has on time and space? From an Einsteinian perspective (aka the right one) NOT MUCH AT ALL.
\n
\nAlso it's a cartoon in which a shitty wizard figurine turned a knitting needle into a superpowered wand.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818577373",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nBut satisfying demand has nothing to do with how much I update.
\n
\nI updated the same amount when I started Problem Sleuth, when like 100 people were reading and wondering why the key would turn into a gun.
\n
\nMore actually, because the drawings were lousier.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818577995",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....................................................
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\noosh\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818579459",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nYou do not understand what a cartoon is.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818581363",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818585714",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nThat is ridiculous, at one point Dave himself was up to his neck in a pot of water being pelted with vegetables.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818589743",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nDutton had the spotlight. Snoop was just showing the big man a little respect.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818591407",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nHumans prototyped a harlequin. Trolls didn't.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818593505",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nWhy doesn't it suit him?
\n
\nIt's a lame title that complements him as a grade-A douche.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818596996",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nI am calling the police.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1818599043",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\nThat is clearly the green sun on the floor.
\n
\nBusted, I think not.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 11, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836068087",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nThat's cool, thanks. I probably am getting a lot of \"WHAT'S UP WITH VRISKA????\" questions. I haven't even scrolled down to look, so I'll just answer this one in a general way.
\n
\nWhen examining The Case of Vriska Serket, it helps to zoom way out on the story for a moment. Rewind all the way back to act 4, when just a few trolls were lurking around, and behaving as little more than a nuisance.
\n
\nWhen I was about to launch into the Hivebent arc, I thought one cool opportunity that presented was to introduce a very major character out of nowhere, who we had literally no foreknowledge of other than one shot of a strange looking horn cropped off panel. The entire profile of this character was always meant to be \"someone who is in some way involved with practically everything\", and the scorpio sign seemed suited to this. This aspect of her profile was conveyed up front in her introduction, and hammered repeatedly with almost every scene she's been in. Hivebent was a good introduction to the ways in which she entangles herself nefariously with everything, and slowly but surely, this has been revealed to be the case in the main plotline. It was unclear before, and indeed unclear that this was even a question that needed to be answered, because she had not been introduced yet. And personally, I think there's something kind of exciting which that proposition injects into a story.
\n
\nBefore Hivebent, most of the trolls were portrayed as incompetent at trolling. And when the roster was expanded, the question was begged: are any of these trolls any good at trolling? So part of her profile was also to serve as the ultimate troll. Karkat was an effective troll insofar as he was loud and angry and obnoxious, but that's about as far as it went. Vriska was designed to be a good troll in the purest sense of the word. She gets people legitimately riled up. Both in the story, and even more importantly, outside it. There is no other troll, or really even any other aspect of Homestuck, which generates more debate. This was intentional, and continues to be.
\n
\nNow if over time it begins to seem she's behind more and more of the negative plot developments, she could certainly start to be regarded by some as a one trick pony, from a plot-impact standpoint. But there's a lot to consider here. First of all, very simply, sometimes a story is going to have that \"evil mastermind\" character, who by definition is responsible for things to an extent far beyond what first appeared. This I think is a generalized enough concept to qualify as a basic story building block to adapt in creative ways, and is not so specific as to encroach on cliche territory. The mastermind is a sort of archetype, and she's revealed to be one such instantiation, with her own style and set of motives.
\n
\nAdditionally, everything she's done is just logical with respect to everything we know about her. She is presented with a room full of computers tapped into the session which unleashed their nemesis on them. She has 6 hours to do whatever she wants. Given everything she's done before, the thought that she wouldn't use her time to maximize her influence on that session in every way she can imagine, and every way which suits her megalomaniacal point of view, is pretty implausible. Of course she's going to secretively wreak havoc. We are just systematically discovering how she went about it. This was an ENORMOUS question begged by the Hivebent arc, considering her relevance there. Which was, now that we know about her, what was Vriska's role in the kids' session? This is a really striking point of curiosity, especially since we had never heard a peep out of her before Hivebent. It turns out, surprise surprise, that she had more influence than even the \"main troll\". The difference was, while he was very loud and stormed through the front gate (backwards), she kept a low profile and was more devious. And if we somehow discovered this WASN'T the case, it would actually strike me as a pretty bizarre development with no real meaning or purpose.
\n
\nAnd going back to the point about \"zooming out of the story\" for a moment, when judging these things it helps to examine the difference between reading this serially vs. archivally. These are extremely different ways to read a story, and radically affect your perception of developments. Reading all of act 5 might take a few hours, but doing so live takes months, along with which comes a lot of intense scrutiny and speculation. So while you're reading live and it turns out Vriska's responsible for more shenanigans, the reaction can easily turn into \"oh here we go again with this\", because you're absorbing it in slow motion. Her antics become sort of codified in the rolling serial myth of the story. Whereas reading in one shot, I think all this comes across as more of a reasonably paced revelation of exactly what's going on, in a way that makes sense and ties stuff together. If you just read the story starting today, you didn't even know who Vriska was until a few hours ago!
\n
\nIn act 4, there was a lot of intrigue built up. And a secret question could have been asked. What if there was an unseen mastermind behind a lot of this? How did that happen, and why? And what if we find out all the answers in the next act, in ways we were never imagining? If you were to entertain such questions at the time, I think it makes for an exciting revelatory process. We are in the thick of that process now, albeit in slow motion.
\n
\nAnd this doesn't mean we should take her at her word when she says she's behind \"everything\". That's obviously how she would view it of course. But to take that literally would be to underestimate the complexity of what's going on. There's a lot happening, and really she's just another cog, even if it's a major one.
\n
\nShe gets a lot of screen time because she's a major character now, and as I said, that was in fact built into her profile before I even drew her. If you're wondering why we camp on her when there are so many other nice trolls to dwell on, well, sorry. There are major characters, and there are minor ones. If you're waiting for me to fire up NEPETAQUEST 2011, don't hold your breath.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836111097",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nShe isn't the main villain, nor do I really see her as much of a villain at all, conventionally speaking.
\n
\nShe is a major character, with a series of striking strengths and weaknesses, whose every action appears to have antagonistic consequences.
\n
\nDoing things which oppose the goals of the protagonists I don't think automatically makes a character a villain. It makes them part of the ensemble, which in totality creates challenges for the heroes. The other trolls also made a point of antagonizing our heroes. Could they be regarded as villains? Where do you draw the line in a story between troublemakers and real villains?
\n
\nJack Noir is a villain. That's pretty clear cut. Maybe one good way to define a main villain is whether stopping him will allow the heroes to overcome all their major obstacles. I don't think Vriska qualifies, by that definition.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836318576",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nNot really. If anyone's a \"Parody Sue\", which is already an entry in TV tropes, it would have been Jade in the early going. But even then, I don't think I'd really call her that. I think it's a little lame to be aware of tropes while writing a story and almost use them as a palette, or a checklist. Like, ok, I'm gonna do that and that and that! I just saw her as cute, silly character with lots of answers at that point in the story with SOME traces of satire directed at \"Sue types\", who eventually had the rug of all her advantages pulled out from under her and now has to go through a process of discovery like the others. Not every peg needs to be crammed into some trope hole, even if it seems vaguely apropos.
\n
\nVriska, if anything, would be a further distortion of a Parody Sue, like an \"Evil Parody Sue\", and even then, in a kind of meta way. She lives her life as her own self-aggrandizing, wildly powerful self-insert character, always comes out on top, and never suffers consequences. She even sort of mocks her own intent on this on a meta level by \"self-inserting\" into the kids' story and influencing their events, as she said. And when I say \"she mocks\" I guess I mean \"I mock\". I'm usually pretty aware of a lot of tropes even though I've made nothing close to an exhaustive study of tvtropes.com, and I'm much more inclined to include tropes by warping them rather than deliberately decorating the story with a lot of straightup instances. Though obviously using them is often inevitable, since these are atomic storytelling building blocks we're talking about here.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836320774",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nYeah but that one answer was really the answer to like ten questions all in one. One of them hypothetically might have been yours!!!!!!!!!!!!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836334226",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nThere are some injections meant for serial readers. That doesn't mean I'm catering to serial readers primarily. I'm not. That would not be good.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836340402",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nThanks.
\n
\nBut I'm not as good as them.
\n
\nBut I do like to entertain a fantasy where one of those guys tries to make a Flash animation. They would have sucked SO BAD at that.
\n
\nHahaha, suckers.
\n
\nThis is Shakespear......
\n
\nWHATS A COMPUTER
\n
\n@___________________@
\nduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836342938",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\ni have no answer i'm just bumping this up top\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836349002",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nI have used a quirky, broken Wacom Intuous 3, 9x12, since the beginning of Homestuck, and an even quirkier, brokenner Intuous 2 for the entirety of Problem Sleuth.
\n
\nOne of these days I will buy a new tablet that is not broken.
\n
\nMy minimum commission rate is five thousand dollars.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836353278",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836363947",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nBack on the serial vs archival perception issue, here's something kinda funny to put it in perspective.
\n
\nIn the grand scheme of things, Vriska did some stuff to the plot that got people hot and bothered, and filled hundreds of pages of forum threads with discussion about it. There was a time that happened, and many things were said and grievances were aired.
\n
\nIt was called \"Sunday\".
\n
\nAnd then there was a lot of other shit that happened.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836470699",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nSometimes the direction of the plot clashes with people's fan fiction, and that hurts their self esteem.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836472540",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nHella bux in bonerz, pass it on.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836473857",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nIt's actually hilarious though. Every bit of it is hilarious.
\n
\nThere is not a single moment in which I was not personally chuckling when writing Tavros's sad sack conversation with Jade.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836476162",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nI appreciate your suggestion that I appear youthful, but the truth is I would likely be arrested as a child predator the moment I set foot on to your campus, sorry.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836477919",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nOh fuck, Homestuck's leaking like a sieve, EVERYONE ABANDON SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836480812",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nBut none of those things were plot holes.
\n
\nJade's narcolepsy wasn't a plot hole.
\n
\nDave getting killed by DD wasn't a plot hole.
\n
\nDang.
\n
\nWhen stupid people get in front of keyboards, THAT'S WHEN THE MAGIC HAPPENS\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836481423",
- "timestamp": 1292198400,
- "html": "\nAre you serious? 1am is like noon for me.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 12, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836514556",
- "timestamp": 1292284800,
- "html": "\nWait, that's what I did???? See look at this. More fan fiction.
\n
\nPlease, for the love of god, try to graduate from junior high school soon. The world cannot handle the tremors of your pubescent thunder.
\n
\nIn the meantime, please discard your keyboard. It will serve as nothing but a gateway to limitless public humiliation and sorrow.
\n
\nB)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836517769",
- "timestamp": 1292284800,
- "html": "\nRetcon? You're getting carried away.
\n
\nRecent events have revealed her to be responsible for exactly two more things than we were previously aware of.
\n
\nJade sleeping a lot.
\n
\nDD killing Dave.
\n
\nLet's look at the first one. We had a girl who fell asleep a lot, inexplicably. We had an evil troll who liked to put kids to sleep as her primary means of influence. HMMMMM.
\n
\nWith Dave's death, her involvement was actually reasonably foreshadowed. We knew Vriska was responsible for killing Dave at least once, according to Karkat, per her feud with Terezi. Now we know how. Could it have been foreshadowed MORE SO before Hivebent? Maybe... but how, and why? All we knew was DD went to Dave's place to get the journal, in the exact window of time it was on the toilet. How did he know it was there? Some mysterious \"anonymous tip\" I guess. Now we know the nature of that tip. I'm struggling to think of a way in which additional foreshadowing would have actually improved this event.
\n
\nOther than that, her being \"behind everything\" was a statement made by her, an exhibit of bravado. We have no evidence regarding what else she's influenced.
\n
\nBut yeah, looking at those examples you're totally right. I'm just WAVING MY RETCON WAND AROUND, WEEEEEEE.
\n
\nRecasting in the light of new understandings is not always the equivalent of retconning.
\n
\nI should point out there isn't much dissatisfaction about this really. I've just been cherry picking a few questions which strike me as stupid.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836521772",
- "timestamp": 1292284800,
- "html": "\nI am not a jerk, I like to joke around.
\n
\nDo my jokes disallow varied views?
\n
\nMy jokes would be pretty dangerous if they did that.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836522084",
- "timestamp": 1292284800,
- "html": "\nDave went back in time to catch DD in the act.
\n
\nThat was a MISTAKE!!!
\n
\nThat Dave became doomed. He died. The timeline he left behind also became doomed. It was the timeline he disappeared from, never to return.
\n
\nThe three other kids in that timeline then proceeded with their adventure without Dave. They were also doomed.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836533443",
- "timestamp": 1292284800,
- "html": "\nThere are plenty of answers below which reek of eloquence. Should I repeat myself every single time? Occasionally I select a question for the sole purpose of talking smack with a doofus. Because it's funny!
\n
\nkinda like
\n
\nright
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nnow
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nB)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1836534527",
- "timestamp": 1292284800,
- "html": "\nYES, THIS GUY KNOWS WHAT'S UP!!!!!!!
\n
\nJust kidding, y'all. His is just one of many varying legitimate points of view.
\n
\nThank you, though.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 13, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1887999199",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nThe desynchronization of sound streaming on the timeline is one of the most terrible things about Flash and the programmers should feel ashamed of themselves. I always remedy this problem by making stuff late in the timeline happen just a little later than it's supposed to, by progressively wider margins. But hey maybe there's some better answer to this than I'm aware of.
\n
\nLol at everybody coming here to read answers about the story only to find me talking about lame Flash technical stuff.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888001708",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nMaybe.
\n
\nOr...
\n
\nJohn just died. From WV's perspective: game over.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888006123",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nRose talked about this. The battlefield would not undergo its next transformation. The final form of the battlefield is necessary to create a universe. Without it, you can't win.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888006555",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888020658",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nNo. The Medium is the generous ring of space surrounding Skaia, and bound by the Veil. It's where the planets orbit. As it is in between these two things, it is literally the medium, as in the space in the middle.
\n
\nThe Incipisphere is all of these, Skaia, Prospit, the Medium, the Veil, and Derse, stopping short of the Furthest Ring. It is in fact a bubble in the Furthest Ring.
\n
\nParadox space is even broader. It encompasses everything, including the Furthest Ring, all Incipispheres ever, and all universes.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888035285",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nIt's both.
\n
\nJohn is using his dream self as an extra life, like Sollux did.
\n
\nBut it's also something we haven't seen. He was not resurrected in the same manner. Sollux was kissed by a princess, and his dream self woke up and took over as the \"real\" him, with no additional benefits. John died on his quest bed, which clearly leads to a much more elaborate resurrection. His dream self is taking over, but now as the fully realized Heir of Breath.
\n
\nVriska knew this would happen, and it's heavily implied she went through the same process. In fact, she practically stated it outright. We don't know the details yet.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888049006",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nWe saw what happened to John's real body at the end. It's still lying there on the quest bed, bloody and dead. It is now a corpse forever. It did not combine with the dream self. The dream self is an independent entity which wakes up and walks around when the player goes to sleep, or in this case, dies on his quest bed.
\n
\nWhen that happens, you may notice the dream self also wakes up on a corresponding quest bed on the battlefield. With a little inference, we can gather that since players have duplicate quest beds on the battlefield, that this is likely how players are normally supposed to get to the battlefield, rather than crashing into it via moon.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888112877",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nWhile simultaneously realizing that everything I do can always be better in every single way, regrets and rear view gazing are excluded from the process deliberately. This is storytelling in hyperspace. Everything is done with the intent to make something as good as it can be, as loose as can be, and as FAST. FAST. FAST. as possible. Lamenting decisions is at odds with this approach, and would be irrational. If I allowed room for second guessing, then I'd be doing something completely different.
\n
\nYou can isolate any single thing from this, written or drawn, and conclude that with a little more time, some more drafting, editing and revision, it would improve. Such are the benefits that more conventional productions enjoy. They are how works of entertainment become polished. But that's not the mission here. There is virtually no editing going on here at all, at any stage, from conception, to typing, to drawing, to animating, to posting. The most written editing I'll do is tweaking a phrase or two after copy-pasting the text from the doc into the browser while updating. Drawings are never drafted or revised. It's always done in one shot. I don't storyboard the animations, and often don't really have the full scene sequence in mind until I'm nearly done. It's very fluid. It's all part of the challenge this represents to me in totality, and an aspect of its experimental nature.
\n
\nCould it reach another level with a more intensive editing process (or one at all)? Of course. With enough concentrated reexamination, I'm sure the thing could be smoothed to such a seamless literary state, it could enter Earth's atmosphere without catching fire. It could certainly be more illustratively maniacal too. But editing is a time sink. Even a little is too much, because the top priority by far is speed. To bring as many ideas to coherent realization as quickly as possible. I get the most out of visuals with the least effort, and even though it doesn't look like I'm using all my artistic ability to make this, I do use my full experience as an artist to understand how best to optimize. Strong, simple shapes and silhouettes, dynamic composition, attention to color choice, minimal splashes of animation, all those things go a really long way for making striking visuals without requiring much effort.
\n
\nIt just occurred to me recently that I haven't even reread the whole story in more than a year. (It's too long! Who has time for that.) There was a time in the early going, when it was a couple hundred pages, I'd reread it now and then to develop a feel for how it read, and help solidify my thoughts on the new project and develop ideas for where I wanted to push it in its fledgling state. But after rolling for a while, rereads became unnecessary. I maintain all relevant story data in a part of my mind which I'm sure has adapted itself to be completely useless for any other task besides keeping track of Homestuck. (Though I will say, mingling amidst community discussion does help keep some details fresh in the mind.) The only time I go back to an earlier page is to verify a particular phrasing or such, or to check out a panel as a drawing reference. Other than that, I'm not sure if I've reread more than 10 consecutive pages in a year. That would be rear view gazing.
\n
\nBut having said that...
\n
\nMaybe I'll give it a full reread in the near future, just for the hell of it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888116874",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nHe'll be around.
\n
\nWhen he's least expected, and most unwelcome.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888119310",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nI never talked as a kid, so there is pretty much zero overlap.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888127051",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nCool! You should never allow the lack of content to get in the way of production, much like you should never let the truth defile a perfectly good anecdote
\n
\nI wonder what it's like to have writer's block?
\n
\nThe day I get it will be the day a billion horses die in deafening unison. Don't go outside that day.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888130410",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nOk, I just clicked \"More questions\" like 6 or 7 times, and all the questions on the page were still asked within the last hour.
\n
\nHonestly, I don't even read 1/20th of the questions submitted.
\n
\nSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYY\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888132803",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nBecause it wasn't wind.
\n
\nIt was THE BREEZE.
\n
\nAlso Walt Whitman was an ignorant sack of shit.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888134677",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nI vaguely remember reading this exact question posted several days ago.
\n
\nWhat the hell is wrong with you?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888148392",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nDave isn't me, that's stupid.
\n
\nHe says funny things, the sort of things which I myself tend to say on occasion, because get this - I'm writing his lines!
\n
\nBut even on those finite grounds, I guess that makes him arguably some class of author-insert avatar, doesn't it? Or it would, if there weren't literally already one of those somewhere else in the story.
\n
\nHere's the thing on that. Ordinarily author inserts are embarrassing glorifications of themselves. But with Dave, I had to take a little something off. Because in reality, aside from the fact that I don't wear shades, I am considerably cooler than Dave. This is a fact of the truest proportions. Consider that all of his remarkable achievements (SBaHJ) are in actuality my own, while the scope of my real life credentials eclipse his considerably (time travel notwithstanding).
\n
\nSometimes it is actually physically painful being this cool. I preemptively welcome your compassion, and monetary patronage.
\n
\n<HUGE> 8) </HUGE>\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888149912",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nWho are you?
\n
\nIt's kinda funny when people ask me \"follow up\" questions as if I'm keeping the slightest track of who's saying what.
\n
\nAnyway s'cool.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888150163",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888157233",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nSpeculation abounds.
\n
\nAll we know are the facts of what we saw.
\n
\nJohn was stabbed; killed.
\n
\nShortly after, his dream self began bleeding from the same wound.
\n
\nAnd then, this became irrelevant, as his resurrection completed itself.
\n
\nWe don't actually know why. Often we have a reasonable amount of information to make inferences regarding things that go by silently in animations. But other times, new mysteries are presented in animations. This is not a case where we \"should\" know why this is happening, if only we could identify the pieces which explain it. It is unexplained phenomena.
\n
\nWe'll have to wait and see.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1888161636",
- "timestamp": 1292630400,
- "html": "\nIt's still lighthearted.
\n
\nIt is in fact relentlessly lighthearted, even in the midst of serious drama.
\n
\nThe villain is a FUCKING DOG WEARING SUNGLASSES.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 17, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935264514",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nYeah but a story doesn't have to be just one thing. What's so hard to understand about that?
\n
\nThere have been other heavy moments. Bro died, dream Jade died, etc. Neither those moments, nor this one, nullifies the thousands of absurd jokes already littering this story, and those still to come.
\n
\nThis little segment was a bit of a Hivebent throwback. (If you can really \"throw back\" to something that happened over the summer.) Hivebent was still pretty silly, but it was darker and a bit more psychologically charged than typical HS action. This sequence taps into the Hivebent melodrama again, and steps it up a bit, since of course the story is moving forward and raising the stakes, as it should be.
\n
\nAnd all that aside, there's still some humor present here if you take a step back. Understanding the full context, we see that some pretty silly cartoon mobsters from the future are simultaneously urging a confused boy to kiss/kill a girl. Believe it or not, that's actually a pretty humorous scenario!
\n
\nBut that said, I'm not going to pretend this whole thing isn't completely fucked up. Of course it is. That's the point.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935301133",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nI WISH
\n
\nThose are brief spikes in price that only tend to last an hour or so. Typical rates are way lower.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935311996",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nYes, that's right.
\n
\nYou all asked me really insightful, pertinent questions.
\n
\nAnd this is the one I chose to answer.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935372047",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nWe've only been printing around 100 of each design when stocking shirts. More than that would require a significant setup and staff to ship out in a timely fashion, beyond what I have now which is just my friend Cindy shipping them out herself.
\n
\nNext year hopefully I will be able to put things in place to satisfy demand. Having to dealing with significant demand for this stuff caught me a bit off guard, because until quite recently, it wasn't really like that. Also, what modest sales there were, Topatoco handled for me, and I never had to think about it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935451929",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nThere are only two ways we know of that the dream self can serve as an extra life.
\n
\n1) The corpse must be kissed by a prince or princess. (Please note, they are technically all princes/princesses of their respective moons.)
\n
\n2) The player must die on their quest bed/cocoon, in which case their dream self takes over while upgrading to god tier on the battlefield.
\n
\nThe dream self also takes on the critical wounds sustained by the real self, but in a delayed fashion. Note how dream John began bleeding a little while after he was stabbed. These wounds are healed upon resurrection.
\n
\nPresumably the dream self will eventually die from the same wounds inflicted on the real self, but after a time delay. This would suggest the player has a pretty brief time limit to complete their resurrection.
\n
\nWe've only seen three examples of this. John and Vriska, who both died on the quest bed/cocoon, so the time limit didn't matter.
\n
\nSollux was also resurrected after being kissed by Feferi. This means after he died, she made the trip between her world and his in QUITE A HURRY.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935493605",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nThere's more than one word to the title though.
\n
\nThief of Light means she can take luck from others. This makes her lucky.
\n
\nSeer of Light would better translate to \"understander of fortune\". Whatever that means!
\n
\nBut we should note that it's pretty questionable how well Rose has been keeping up with her personal quest duties.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935575110",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nI didn't intend to completely rip on it. It's a pretty entertaining site in some ways, and definitely in moderation.
\n
\nOne of the worst things about it is not necessarily the site, but the influence it has on the way so many people discuss entertainment. Dropping trope names starts to become a substitute for original ideas and critical thinking. This also leads to flagrant misdiagnoses of what's going on in a story as some pretty bland minds struggle to shoehorn everything they see into a defined trope.
\n
\nIt's like religion. Silly people forfeit original thought and substitute it for reference to excerpts in scripture. TvTropes is the holy scripture for anime nerds, and less caustically, just a bunch of young people who don't really know any better yet.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935644220",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nNo.
\n
\nReally, imagine me sitting around thinking, I gotta come up with some means of taking the edge off all these future bloodbaths I'm planning. I know... rainbow blood!!!
\n
\nThe hemospectrum was just an idea that grew quite organically, something that wasn't part of the picture at all until after Hivebent was underway . It turned out to be a pretty good detail to fuel some of the dilemmas and intrigue surrounding the trolls' story, as well as just something kind of fun and unique about their race. Hivebent was in part about fleshing out the details of the race and setting them apart from humans, in a fairly traditional sci-fi world building sense. All grounded in humor of course.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935654977",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935708588",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nThat would be PRETTY LAZY of me wouldn't it.
\n
\nThe trolls had a long and eventful adventure. Karkat took Jack's regisword and used it to make a regisickle. We can infer that at some point they managed to duplicate and/or steal the queen's lance. The queen either kept her original copy of the lance, or stole it back, or it got sent to Alternia via the exiling process, just like the Queen did to become Snowman. At which point Snowman recovered it.
\n
\nThere are so many possible ways to explain this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935720317",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935785516",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nAnd once again, my Formspring account has been befouled by references to your favorite animes.
\n
\nDiscworld?
\n
\nYou just KNOW that's got to be made by somebody Japanese.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935810243",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nIt was cloudy and I couldn't see it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935830348",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nIt's the Midnight Crew adventure I didn't do.
\n
\nIn the Homestuck universe, MSPA is currently running that MC adventure.
\n
\nAnd in the troll universe, that adventure is actually taking place, on post apocalyptic Alternia.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935850888",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nMy plan at the moment is to make Act 7 serve as pure wrap up. Perhaps consisting only of several significant animations.
\n
\nIf that is that case, then Act 6 would function as the last \"normal\" act.
\n
\nBut you know how these things go. Plans can change.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935882564",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nHahahaha and the dumb guy to correct me turned out to be you!!!
\n
\nCan I get a no shit up ins.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935898145",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nPlease submit a list of your top ten favorite animes, and a brief essay on what makes each one so amazing.
\n
\nThen we'll talk.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1935906671",
- "timestamp": 1293062400,
- "html": "\nOh god it's another dude taking me serious.
\n
\nI have read several Discworld novels.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 22, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936949694",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nThis joke makes no sense.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936962937",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nI don't actually hate the animes, I just sort of shrug at them theatrically for hilarious purposes.
\n
\nThe animes represent a wide body of entertainment which includes some good stuff, as well as an absolutely incomprehensible amount of shit. Like anything.
\n
\nAny smart guy could have concluded that's how I felt about it though, without me saying so. Drawing rigid conclusions from a pool of ambiguous, tongue in cheek remarks is foolish. Rigidity in perception is the hobgoblin of a shallow mind. This hobgoblin's visage is the portrait of inadequacy, and he casts his mischievous leer at you from the other side of the looking glass!
\n
\nAnd thus it was the animes taught you how to be a better person. Thank them kindly.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936966625",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nThanks, I like it do.
\n
\nDoesn't it sort of make you wish you had horns, so you could put a hood like that to practical use?
\n
\nI mean, it doesn't really make ME wish that, because I am a 31 year old man.
\n
\nBut I could understand if it made some other people wish that.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936968992",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nShe'll have to bring it to the tailor to have it let out.
\n
\nWAY out.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936970365",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nNot really. Those are the only types of questions I ever receive.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936972340",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nI don't know, do you see any wings on Karkat's movie posters?
\n
\nI guess maybe it's possible troll actors get their wings clipped...\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936975000",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nThis entire line of thought could be so much more PG than people seem to want it to be.
\n
\nAll that's required to reproduce is an ectobiology lab.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936976881",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nWe'll see, these things take time.
\n
\nDunno about the \"windsock\" part though.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936982772",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nYeah, stop reading anime.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936984057",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nWe've been over this, it's a surprise noodle.
\n
\nMaybe I just dreamed we've been over this...\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936993978",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nI don't know. Ok pretend you're me, and you read this submitted question:
\n
\n\"HA HA, good joke man! I completely GET your jokes. Keep it up!\"
\n
\nAnd then I'm like,
\n
\n\"Yeah!\"
\n
\nEveryone is bored. Naps ensure.
\n
\nOh wait, you said you knew the answer already. See, even this answer was a waste of everybody's time.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1936997224",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nHer consorts were Pooh Bears.
\n
\nThey were reaching up their fat fuckin pooh paws for some mother fuckin honey.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1937008696",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nBut I don't want to answer them all.
\n
\nThen this would be Homestuckipedia Live Jam New Millennium Edition, a trough slopped to overflowing with noncanon minutia.
\n
\nSNORE!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1937027982",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "\nIt's hard to communicate how inferior the term query hook is to surprise noodle. They are in completely different universes.
\n
\nQuery hook is not a term I would ever come up with, nor would I ever endorse it.
\n
\nIf the entire realm of interrogative remarks were World War II, surprise noodles would be the mighty Nazis, while query hooks would be the lowly Jews.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1937045545",
- "timestamp": 1293148800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 23, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985779003",
- "timestamp": 1293580800,
- "html": "\nSollux macks twofold. We do not see his activity very often because it is TOO HOT FOR THE WEB.
\n
\nHe doesn't do much in the story because he is a supporting character. He is the guy who stuff happens to, rather than a guy who does stuff. Until further notice.
\n
\nThis again raises the issue of supporting characters vs. major characters. Sure he would be a stronger and more interesting character if he had the screen time to allow it. But we must imagine this SHADOW PLOT wherein he occupies this time and does interesting things, and all the existing pages and action which that must necessarily be crowded out in favor of developing him that way. Is it worth it? Maybe, if you are a huge Sollux fan. But in this dimension, that is not the role he plays in an otherwise very busy story, and that's just how it is.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985790170",
- "timestamp": 1293580800,
- "html": "\nIt isn't really that confusing. All you really need to know is there are three events which happen NEARLY simultaneously.
\n
\n1) Eridan's computer blows up (because of Rose).
\n2) Aradia blows up for reasons unknown.
\n3) Derse is destroyed by Jack, causing Feferi's bubble to go black, and Nepeta to wake up.
\n
\nTechnically, 1) happens first. Shortly after, a bit less than a minute, 2) happens. 3) happens in a nebulous stretch of time over that duration. He destroys Derse presumably in a similar manner to how he destroyed Prospit. There is some degree of time lapse involved.
\n
\nBut these are details. All you need to know is they all happened right around the same time.
\n
\nAll of these key events were mentioned/shown in [S] Past Karkat: Wake up.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985799660",
- "timestamp": 1293580800,
- "html": "\nAlways?? I didn't realize one could be so tapped into the update schedule surrounding these particular characters.
\n
\nIn this case though, I had actually written the whole log, and had a file saving mishap. I then had to rewrite it all from memory, which took twice as long, because it was pretty tedious, and I was somehow convinced the original log was better.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 28, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985831864",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nSee notes a couple questions down.
\n
\nPinning some of these key events to a concrete timestamped schedule has sort of opened a can of worms, which I deliberately springloaded into the can and fired into my own face. I guess I am inviting the challenge for myself to make all this hazy troll timetable stuff more definite?
\n
\nBefore I could always decide that a troll could do something or talk to someone, and there would always be a built in fudge factor dictating when it actually happened. And that worked pretty well. I built up quite a lot of events and conversational itineraries that way. But now that it's all out there, I guess it's kind of a personal challenge to see if I can make a little more sense of it (without being excruciatingly rigorous that is).
\n
\nSo now we have some key times on a countdown to zero, which we can place some critical events on.
\n
\n10:25:00 - Jack arrives in troll session. Trolls escape to veil, spend about 4 hours messing around doing who knows what.
\n
\nMinutes before time below: Tavros gets legs sawed off, Karkat faints.
\n
\n06:12:00 - Prospit is destroyed. Dream Karkat etc are killed.
\n
\nShortly after that, Terezi smells explosion, goes downstairs, discovers money transfer from Dave. Thus learns about humans. She and other trolls (notably Vriska) get a head start on messing with kids while Karkat sleeps,
\n
\n05:12:30 - One hour later, exactly halfway through countdown, Karkat wakes up, learns about humans, begins campaign of trolling.
\n
\n04:13:00 - Jack destroys Derse. Eridan's computer and Aradia blow up. Feferi stays asleep while dream-dead, shares dream bubble with Jade. Later wakes up, talks to Jade about it.
\n
\nKnowing this basic structure, we can fill in a lot of events around this loosely, between and after the key points. For instance, at 4:13, it seems Vriska and Tavros have not left the room yet for their confrontation. Eridan has yet to get his wand. And so on.
\n
\nWe also know that shortly after the expiration of the countdown, Terezi has the conversation with Dave in which she told him to wire the money back to her, 6 hours and 12 minutes ago from her vantage. This suggests she has not stayed completely linear in her interaction with Dave. (Which would make sense, considering how much time traveling he's been doing.)
\n
\nWe also know that Karkat is around after the countdown from one of the memo timestamps.
\n
\nIt's a big puzzle!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985833140",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nYeah but you aren't busy makin' it, so it sounds like you got some time on your hands!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985840074",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nDon't even try to pretend you're the guy who originally said that. You just aren't, come on.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985844004",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985848293",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nNo you are wrong. All non-fat characters are being cleansed. This is my dream.
\n
\nI weep tears of lard into a bucket of chicken.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985851822",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nDisuku Worodu by Pratchett San\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985854272",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nSollux had two dream selves.
\n
\nAradia had none.
\n
\nProspit: 7 towers.
\n
\nDerse: 5.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985856156",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nThis is where the game stops being fun.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1985861168",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nSURE IS A FUN THING TO SPECULATE ABOUT
\n
\ni wonder if such was the authorial intent
\n
\nWAIT THATS ANOTHER THING TO SPECULATE ABOUT
\n
\n:0??????\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994562401",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994582715",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nNo.
\n
\nIf you have brown hair and brown eyes, dose that mean there is a lot of hair in your iris???
\n
\nNope. It is because the eyes and hair are saturated with a common ingredient called melanin.
\n
\nTrolls' physiology is saturated with a similar ingredient, specific to their position on the hemospectrum. It heavily colors their blood, and tints their tears.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994597816",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nMaybe it has jumped the shark?
\n
\nIt is also possible it has jumped your personal shark, while many other people's sharks remain happily unjumped.
\n
\nSometimes people mistake their personal sharks for the global shark. It doesn't sound like you're doing this though, which is pretty cool.
\n
\nOtherwise you would have said \"Why isn't Homestuck any good anymore?\"\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994603706",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nI have no idea how many of them are hard core anime fans.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994625802",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nWhat am I even doing to troll people anyway.
\n
\nI guess I'm losing track of what trolling actually means.
\n
\nDoes it mean being hilarious?
\n
\nGUILTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
\n
\n8^D\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994645281",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nExactly. It wasn't supposed to go down that way.
\n
\nWhich is why it was a doomed timeline.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994694485",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nThey are in the cache of concepts yet to materialize in the story. They will materialize when it is appropriate.
\n
\nHS has been riddled with concepts introduced, and then buried in hibernation for extremely long periods of time. Then when they finally resurface, they seem like they've been around forever!
\n
\nLike John's green package from Jade. The story played keepaway with the reader, dangling that box out there for a very long time. And now, it and its contents, the bunny, have functioned as an indispensable aspect of the plot for quite some time.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994799183",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nIf you believe the moments are designed to wring every drop from your emotional rag, you are mistaken, and are engaging with events on a pretty shallow level.
\n
\nThese are not even foreshadowed events, per se. They have been explicitly forecast. Doomed Dave WAS going to die. Aradia WAS going to explode. We knew these things, and their patent inevitability should tip you off that these deaths were not meant to trigger what you seem to be looking for.
\n
\nThere are many things we know in advance, and the intrigue surrounds discovering how, rather than if or what. And mixed in with this, there are many revelations not foretold as well. This seems to me to be the best way to assemble a story dealing heavily with not only time travel, but nonlinear construction.
\n
\nAnd if you care to adjust your dials to the actual emotional frequency of what is going on in a story, maybe you should consider this. Sometimes emotion is not conducted directly to the reader by a death, through a first hand sense of shock and loss, but peripherally through the other characters' reactions to that loss! Consider a biographical film of a famous person's story who is known to die tragically. Is there no room for emotion surrounding the inevitable?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994826964",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nSometimes I make recaps, but I haven't in a while.
\n
\nRereading helps.
\n
\nI don't know! Maybe engage with the community discussion? Details oft forgotten crop up routinely.
\n
\nIt's hard to know exactly what to prescribe. I'm not in your [READERS] position.
\n
\nAll I can say is, if there was only one thing to be said about how one should go about absorbing this thing, it's this.
\n
\nHomestuck is something to be not merely read, but studied.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994846980",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nThe kids already enjoyed some very maniacal timeline plotting in the early going. In a way, it was a form of orientation to the type of insanity that would follow. We had timestamps on their computers, pinning down exactly when certain conversations took place, even though at that point all these events were relatively mundane. But then it all loosened up significantly as each began entering their session.
\n
\nTimelining the troll events more strictly presents a more novel challenge. Doing so for the more recent kid events would be fairly trivial, and I doubt I'll bother.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994850939",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\n??????????????????????????
\n
\nI just busted open a can of chef boyardee surprise noodles.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie1994902027",
- "timestamp": 1293667200,
- "html": "\nKarkat has not taken his old role. That part of the question honestly makes no sense to me.
\n
\nBut to answer the first part,
\n
\nOf course.
\n
\nJack is now essentially omnipotent, still angry, and has very little to do anymore but fly around challenging worthy opponents to duels, and when he's out of those, simply kill people and destroy things.
\n
\nWhat defined him as a character, and really any character, was his interactions with others, mixed in with some devices of limitation. Like what was expressed through his rivalry with the black queen before killing her.
\n
\nWhat he has become is more of a force of nature villain. Like a terrible dragon that must be slain by the heroes. In such a story, you don't particularly expect much striking characterization from the dragon. And yet it remains a legitimate adversary to continue challenging the heroes and drive the story. His rise to omnipotence can be nothing other than corrosive to his former portrait as a character. And yet, he's still presumably the same guy, so those character qualities could resurface any time, if the circumstances permit.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nDec 29, 2010\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2016019616",
- "timestamp": 1293926400,
- "html": "\nhttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=formspring
\n
\nIt's happened before that googling formspring brought up my account at the top of the list, but then that stopped being the case for a while. Now it's up there again? I don't get it.
\n
\nDon't any other notable people use formspring?
\n
\nMaybe it's because I say \"formspring\" a lot when I answer questions, and that gives google's botmatrix a huge boner.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 1, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2024875884",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nI agree that they could be dispensed with, and yeah I'm not SUPER interested in catering to the uninvested.
\n
\nBut the bottom line is, no matter what, a lot of people are just going to not get some shit in a story like this. Even the invested, and at times, even the astute! They are there primarily as a courtesy, entirely skippable to the uninterested.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025059682",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nNah, it's fine the way it is. You say I could take a different approach because *some* people don't like something? Oh no! Who would have thought a certain quantity of people wouldn't like something! I've got to make sure that never happens, ever, I don't know what I was thinking.
\n
\nSo ok, 4th wall stuff.
\n
\nSometimes I catch people wrinkling their noses at the goofy 4th wall stuff. Now, I'll roll my eyes as much as the next guy at some really inappropriate 4th wall bending in places it doesn't belong. Probably the benchmark for where it feels appropriate and complements the story is something like Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Who doesn't find it charming and hilarious whenever he lowers his shades and sasses us through the silver screen, while Cameron kicks his dads car into a forest to the score of \"BOW BOW..... chicka-chickaaaaaaaa\"? Nobody is who. But taken beyond that, in works of more serious dramatic magnitude, or just really mishandled in some types of comedy, people start groaning.
\n
\nSome people are inclined to give these things more latitude. Others are more strict.
\n
\nBut regardless of where you are on this spectrum, I kinda have to wonder how cement headed a guy has to be not to see that if ever there was a time such antics were permissible, it would be through this particular format, and this particular story. Remember what sort of thing you're reading? Seems like I've got to remind people sometimes.
\n
\nFirst of all, let's acknowledge that regardless of how immersed you are in whatever's going on, this is a story built almost entirely out of ridiculous gags. The preceding stories were too. PS warped the 4th wall in similar ways, and this is the tradition through which HS was conceived and delivered. It's light, it's loose, and above most other considerations, humor prevails.
\n
\nBut there are even more important reasons than this. The entire nature of the story/format is one of blurriness between reader, player, author and character. It began with readers issuing commands to characters, and me the author parsing them, and the character responding with action to both parties. It is at all times a fluid dialogue taking place between these story entities. And at all times the author's presence is quite palpable, even without the actual AH avatar present. The narrator's voice is pretty unapologetically my own, and I think that's clear to the alert reader. He quips with the player and the character alike. But it goes even further than this. As the story progresses, these player/character roles become even more malleable. Characters in the story actually control OTHER characters, through the exact same text command vehicle which drives the whole narrative! The whole thing is utterly saturated with such meta qualities, and picking out the single generically unpalatable author avatar as the deal breaker in all this is pretty petty, and reeking of less than comprehensive appreciation for the themes. The story is about players and characters watching and controlling players and characters watching and controlling players and characters, in screens in screens in screens. Server player monitors client player. Exile commands session player. Trolls from one session mess with those from another. People are commanded psychically, through reader input, through the reader's keyboard arrows at times, through the narrative volition of ==>, and through author mandate. People are spied on through crystal balls, fenestrated walls, Sburb windows, chat clients, future command station terminals, dreams, clouds, and finally, yes, a 4th wall through which we have access to the author, who's very presence in the story was already keenly felt REGARDLESS.
\n
\nAll of this considered, even if you're of the mindset of \"NEVER NEVER NEVER\" on 4th wall shenanigans, it's still beyond me how you couldn't see that if one and only one story/format combo was to get a free pass on this, it would be HS. Everything written above is quite honestly approaching the threshold of the unassailable.
\n
\nBut sticking to your guns on that stance is most definitely a safe position to take.
\n
\nSafe, and also WRONG.
\n
\nSafe and wrong. Wow, what a terrible combination!
\n
\nI have trouble imagining how ashamed I would feel if I ever lumbered under such a grueling dichotomy.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025129964",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nWhat is poooke? Chopped liver?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025133654",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nNope, all I do occasionally is connect a dot or two which are irrefutably logical to connect.
\n
\nLE enters at the death of a universe. Logically, he has to travel back in time if he wishes to inhabit that universe. There are hardly any alternatives.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025147817",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nNot really, there are people who don't like it on principle. I know this because I have read their reservations. Not a HUGE amount, but they're out there.
\n
\nThe objections you mention OTOH are trivial. It is 1) unfunny and 2) self indulgent? Ok! Again I marvel at my inability to craft jokes which are universally pleasing to the global population.
\n
\nIs it self indulgent? Well, here is what it is on its face. It is another vehicle through which I deliver jokes, in a body of work largely comprised of me delivering jokes. That delivery is happening, IMO, in a way that is immaculately in keeping with the original spirit of the work, though you may hold a different view. Please read further down for details.
\n
\nBut... IS it self indulgent?
\n
\nYes.
\n
\nSuch was confessed up front in the series of 4th wall interludes. Humorously.
\n
\nThen laughing happened.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025161732",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nAuAuAuAuAuAGH, how BUSTED can i even GET??????noodlesnoodlesnoodles
\n
\nSometimes I'm a little loose with language and give certain words a wide berth, like a really slack lariat I'm fixin' to rope some skittering rhetorical calf I got my eye on. It makes sayin' things more fun, ok Mr. Gotcha Buckaroo?
\n
\ndi·chot·o·my
\n
\n2. division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: a dichotomy between thought and action.
\n
\nI was sort of implying being safe and being wrong were creeping up on mutually exclusive territory. Understanding this should accurately calibrate the amount of despair you should feel if you ever find yourself being both those things at once.
\n
\n;-)
\n
\n(i just made the little clicking noise with that wink, you know the one that makes winking cooler)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025163457",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nVriska went on a diet and I immediately demanded a divorce.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025166432",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nyes yes yes yes yes more questions like this plz
\n
\njust kidding don't flood my FSbox you goons
\n
\noh who am i kidding you will anyway\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025202268",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nWe just need to slather a layer of common sense on the issue here.
\n
\nReasonable topic for applying misdirection:
\n
\nWho is LE? Is he someone we already know? Has he yet to be introduced? Was he the demon the trolls were hiding from? And so on.
\n
\nThese are all topics worthy of red herrings and storyteller's artifice to mislead from the truth.
\n
\nA silly topic:
\n
\nIf LE, a time traveling demon, appears at the end of the universe, how does he get to the earlier parts of the universe where he was running a mob?
\n
\nIf with the same beguiling smirk and flourish of the hand I say \"AHH, WOULDN'T YOUUUUU LIKE TO KNOW???\"
\n
\nThen I'm frankly kind of a tool.
\n
\nThe time traveling demon did, IN FACT, travel through time. Cat's out of the bag!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025207504",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nI don't know if I agree they're all interesting though, because in order to be interesting, perhaps by definition (maybe my personal one), those characters need to be used often enough to draw out the interesting qualities.
\n
\nBut I do think that any character introduced, even very marginal ones, should always hold the potential to become interesting. And ideally, that potential should be evident.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2025217517",
- "timestamp": 1294012800,
- "html": "\nNo I pretty much always keep an ultra tight lid on top secret facts like fedorafreak turning out to be bilious slickOOOOOOOOPS abort abort abort\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 2, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034566859",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nI like to think that the exchange between Jades is equal parts sad, cute, and funny.
\n
\nIf you read it and thought so too, you win the prize!
\n
\nThe prize is the satisfaction that comes with possessing the singularly correct way to interpret a thing.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034569351",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nThey all visited the abode of hup and poooke for dinner.
\n
\nIt was a noisy and silly dinner.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034573692",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nThis sounds like one of those great ways for me to turn out to be in jail.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034576718",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nMiracles? Yeah I know it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034588140",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nThank you for saying I'm charming, and saying it is a bonus.
\n
\nI don't know. Aren't all RPers silly? Show me an RPer who isn't silly and I'll show you a dude who just doesn't have his heart in it.
\n
\nI can't say I've ever actually \"read\" much of the RPing. It's more that I've glimpsed it, sampled its colorful aroma, and moved on to something else.
\n
\nProbably much the way some people absorb the dialogue in Homestuck.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034592703",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nNothing is ever much of an indication of anything with any certainty.
\n
\nLook at that, you just got socked in the face by profound wisdom.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034593757",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nGross, what a weird question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034651999",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nI actually seek them out. But not the fake ones. I usually know when some spotlight glutton is faking a gripe to steal an answer out of me.
\n
\nA gripe of any degree of legitimacy represents a challenge. The challenge is to crystallize the truth behind the defense, which is the same as the truth behind my original actions themselves, even if no defense is really needed. When someone is virtually flawless, like myself, leagues of the curmudgeonly and the inadequate do him a great service by presenting their straw men. It is through the methodical and public evisceration of these proud ersatz fellows and the humbling of their puppeteers that his infallibility shines through.
\n
\nThe devil is really just a straw man presented to God through which He makes a show of His true supremacy. A foil of His own clever and surreptitious invention, because He is a Smug Piece of Shit.
\n
\nAnd now having said that, I will put my ear to the ground and listen for the pounding hooves of the [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed cavalry.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034655794",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nA screencap of this formspring question in the next update?
\n
\nIs not the answer.
\n
\nBecause you can always get more meta.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034660705",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nThe only thing I enjoy ironically is irony.
\n
\nAnd Con Air.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034674317",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nTRY HARDER TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. I want to see GAME FACES, people.
\n
\nNo but really, we got kind of a <thing> going on here.
\n
\nNannasprite: HOO HOO HOO
\nJadesprite: BOO HOO HOO
\nCalsprite: HAA HEE HOO
\nDaveprite: sup
\n
\nEH??????????????? oh forget it.
\n
\nBut for real it actually made some people cry.
\n
\nYes, that is right. Several excerpts of dialogue, wherein one character quite frequently literally said \"boo hoo hoo\", actually caused people to weep.
\n
\nThat is the true punchline of the moment. That tear rolling down your cheek. Cherish it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034677999",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nAll I know is everything I do in my real life is canonical.
\n
\nLike when I bought those groceries the other day?
\n
\nThat TOTALLY happened.
\n
\nSeriously, they're in my fridge and everything.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034680397",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nThey don't have noodles on Alternia. Earth wins forever.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034682642",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nThe trunk of dad's car contains 10 crates of shaving cream, but nobody ever found them.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034684470",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nI think the combination you're looking for is auto-erotic.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034686621",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nDon't even fucking try.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034754769",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nOOPS ohhhhhhhh damn, yeah there is a sloppy little pair of conjunctions taking a shit in my sentence in that long thing I banged out at warp speed. *BEET RED* Ok you can blow the smoke off your red pen and twirl that thing back into its holster. And then the Gotcha Buckaroo climbed onto his horse with its raging case of Horse Asperger's and galloped away.
\n
\nIsn't it funny how I did something dumb and yet you're the one getting owned?
\n
\nHahahahaha.
\n
\nAlso I don't really think I'm a master of the language. I just sort of use it. It's just that other people tend to wipe their asses with it. And they don't even do a very good job with that. Like they shuffle out of the bathroom with their pants around their ankles and the assisted living professional just shakes her head.
\n
\nWait you're one of these fakers aren't you. You didn't REALLY have a problem with this, right?
\n
\nGOD DAMMIT\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034758106",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nI honestly forgot that years were even something you had to say.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034763120",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nYou got it backwards. CdS has a restraining order against him.
\n
\nThis is - and I'm being perfectly honest - the most fascinating unseen subplot Homestuck will ever have to offer.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034798619",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\nIf I am using a false name, then I am either a teenage hacker, or a professional wrestler. But alas, I am neither. My days as THE BEEF APOCALYPSE were left in a sweaty ring long ago.
\n
\nI don't know where these other dipshits get off calling themselves things they aren't.
\n
\nOk that is the last question, I am DONE with this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 3, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2034913720",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nI did sign a prenup but she ate it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044206368",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nThis is the power of the visual callback.
\n
\nSome people scratch their heads over them and wonder what's the deal. This is not actually THE deal with them, but it demonstrates something they can accomplish.
\n
\nWhat has happened here is a secondary, hidden joke has been told in parallel with the events taking place. Because these frames are direct mods of earlier panels conveying a similar scene but a totally different situation, the reader, if alert, remembers exactly what should come next. Hence we have an \"extra\" joke in addition to all the obvious points of humor. You are caused to imagine these two are about to kiss, and that is funny and absurd.
\n
\nThis cannot be accomplished nearly as directly without the visual callbacks. But this does not mean every time we see such a callback, there is a similar joke being cracked. It's not quite that simple or literal.
\n
\nBut using them frequently is important for setting them up for use in situations like this. You can't really just pull one out of a hat without establishing the tendency to do so. The callbacks have been woven into the fabric of normalcy first, to the point where they hardly raise an eyebrow anymore, while still demanding your recognition when they happen.
\n
\nHaving established them this way, there are other more subtle purposes they can serve as well. Not just jokes. Sometimes they illustrate contrast in situation. Like when Davesprite defended sleeping Dave, that panel was reused when future Dave stood over sleeping doomed Dave, contemplating whether to kill him. Pretty contrasting moments, and the callback invites such reflection.
\n
\nSame with the Jadesprite callback. It wasn't just the joke being communicated. It also echoed the first time it was used, when Dream Jade slapped Dream John trying to wake him. Now situation is somewhat reversed. Dream Jade (Jadesprite) is being slapped by Real Jade. That character's role in the scenario has transmuted from heroic to pathetic.
\n
\nNone of this reads at all, or is put in the spotlight for consideration, without the callbacks.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044264681",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044266465",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nIntuos 4. Just got it. And amazingly, it isn't broken.
\n
\nUnlike every tablet I have used to draw MSPA before it.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044279884",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nProlonged excessive emotion is the difference between someone who is sympathetically distraught and someone who is grating to the nerves, possibly due to genuine mental illness.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044281941",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044284054",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nZazzerpan did the windy thing.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044285734",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nIf anyone ever pulls it off, I'll ask them.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044293166",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nThank y...
\n
\nwait
\n
\nwhat?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044300114",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nSomeone asked me a dumb fat Feferi question and it ballooned out of control from there.
\n
\nLike Vriska's grandiose waistline.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044305732",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nHONSESTLY,
\n
\nI have gotten worse, from a pure illustration standpoint.
\n
\nThe cover to Volume 6 is an example of my more conventional illustrative style. Which is not to say the quality diminished. But that graphic took me significantly longer than it would have several years ago.
\n
\nIt's just not the saddle I'm used to anymore.
\n
\nOTOH, I can knock out a Flash animation faster than I ever thought I'd bother being able to.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2044311393",
- "timestamp": 1294185600,
- "html": "\nI just wanted to use this dumb question to laugh at my typo \"HONSESTLY\" below.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 4, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2054319670",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nI get this question a lot.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2054320228",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nI copped to HONSESTLY didn't I?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2054327007",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nI'll try to spread the angery spootlight around more next time.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2054330527",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nI was kinda tired today so I didn't do much.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065350212",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nAll you have to do is stop taking your medication.
\n
\nThen, when you wind up on the news, everything can be traced back to this formspring question.
\n
\nThe beautiful cycle of culpability will be complete.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065354196",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThese are the words of an insincere troll, and I will not take them seriously.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065396458",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nHonestly I never even set the price, not now, or then.
\n
\nJeffrey at topatoco did, as he does for the shirts and really all the products. I just sort of shrug and go along with his decisions, and he shrugs back. This is how things go between the creators and topatoco often. It's quite an elegant ballet of mutual shrugging.
\n
\nBut really, I think we should be clear on what a \"personalization\" is. It is a sketch, not a commission. A sketch is something I can do quickly, whereas a commission is not. I would love to be able to do every outlandish idea people have, and would certainly do so in smaller quantity. But when I get requests of an extremely diverse nature, often involving many characters at once, and have to do hundreds of those, that is actually somewhat mind destroying after a while. The consequence is a radical reduction in quality of the sketches.
\n
\nWhat is better I think is to do what I am doing. Which is to draw a single character, do a better job with each sketch, in a way that allows me to satisfy many people without requiring the mental gymnastics of processing hundreds of endlessly specific ideas involving 2-20 characters at once. So it's not that the price didn't drop for a lesser service... it's that the original service was underpriced!!!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065398272",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nChrist is actually the Gamzee analog of real life.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065407497",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nMy \"down\" days literally do occur less than once every year.
\n
\nI am not even joking about this.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065427522",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nI'm not so sure that it is.
\n
\nThere is an exact way that A5 is going to wrap up, and there's a lot of dangling stuff that needs to be wrapped up before it wraps up.
\n
\nA5 is just a huge, huge thing and there's no escaping that. It could be bigger than the entire Problem Sleuth adventure when all is said and done. It is the result of cracking open the ridiculous amount of potential accumulated through the first 4 acts, and cashing all those plot checks.
\n
\nBut I'm feeling quite sure A6 won't be nearly as big.
\n
\nAnd A7 ideally will be shorter than A1.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065436860",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nFor every single question submitted, there is a witty response that can be crafted for it.
\n
\nExcept this one.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065461708",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThe funny thing is I didn't even write that blurb.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065468622",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nDo you feel you are being pandered to?
\n
\nStop that. You must suppress these feelings.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065485967",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThe whole thing is just a big fucking accident.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065501786",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nI am going to begin pandering to this pedo immediately.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065511545",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065515716",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThis happens ALL THE TIME.
\n
\nDude what's up with the characters not having arms sometimes?
\n
\nThat's me asking a dumb question.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065526725",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nSo he needed a visual reference first?
\n
\nI don't think you're giving credit to the way a typical 13 year old kid's mind works.
\n
\nCreepy is a dumb word to apply to this gag anyway.
\n
\nI know some people out there are probably \"creeped out\" though.
\n
\nThey're called fucking idiots.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065528688",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nI actually drew the latest sequence of panels before I drew page one of HS. Everything since has been elaborately funneling the story toward this moment.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065531725",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065535201",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThe elderly are easily deceived. Try stealing grandma's pills, she won't even fucking notice.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065550661",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThat's giving me way too much credit.
\n
\nI had a secret agent round them up for me real quick.
\n
\nI do think they're all great and hilarious tho.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2065552813",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nOnly if you fail to stifle the usual metamorphosis which transforms reasonable youngsters into stupid fucking pieces of shit.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2069763635",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nLook at it closely. It's a sticker on the wall. It ripped when he removed the panel.
\n
\nThe sticker is actually the label from the container of motor oil he found in the room some time ago.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2069897849",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nWhat was the point of posting this question fifty times?
\n
\nOk guy. Here it is. The absolute BEST CASE SCENARIO unfolding before your very eyes.
\n
\nI answered it. My answer isn't even all that funny.
\n
\nAre you satisfied?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2069981332",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThis question started out stupid and went down a big loud rollercoaster of dumb.
\n
\nWhat are you like my pompous wealthy aunt.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2070014042",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nIt helps that I myself am not 13.
\n
\nReal 13 year olds aren't very good at anything.
\n
\nExcept video games maybe?
\n
\nI remember thinking I was pretty hot shit at Mega Man when I was 13.
\n
\nI might have been delusional though.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2070104963",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nPeeing in your pants is not a talent!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075410123",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\ni was JKing around, 13 yo's rool the skools\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075445260",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075481179",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nI can't think of a better reason why he would have a Spanish trolltag.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075510454",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nEvery page exists for the sole purpose of that dumb joke I keep making.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075536653",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThey progress in rainbow order, following the order of the zodiac.
\n
\nExcept Karkat's.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075551297",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nShe is primarily PM.
\n
\nThis stands for three things. Peregrine Mendicant, Parcel Mistress, and Prospitian Monarch.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075640716",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nJust so everyone is up to speed, this is the aggregation of all the formspring memes we need to be pounding repeatedly.
\n
\nFat Mexican Vriska has nice ass, and I am presently married to this woman. I feed her a steady diet of surprise noodles, finish crumbs, and every day I must pry her monstrous carriage out of bed with a shout pole. From time to time, we seem to endure various forms of marital strife.
\n
\nPlease adjust your useless questions accordingly.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075822161",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nEGBERT = 6
\nHARLEY = 6
\nSTRIDER = 7
\nLALONDE = 7
\n
\n6 + 7 = 13
\n
\nbuuuuuuuuuusted\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075833361",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nboner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner boner\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075955751",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nNotice how the hand is also about twice as big as the other hand. Quite the mutant hand!
\n
\nOr, it could just be that the arm is proceeding into the foreground, causing perspective to alter the relative dimensions. Add in a slight stylistic forcing of the perspective for a dash of dynamism, and there you go.
\n
\nUnderstanding some things about art goes a long way in having certain questions not occur to you in the first place. Like why horns are solid orange sometimes, or why sometimes characters don't have arms.
\n
\nKind of like when I learned stuff about science, I finally stopped asking why I couldn't see atoms, even if I squinted real hard.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2075981994",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nThanks.
\n
\nYes.
\n
\nKind of.
\n
\nI came THIS CLOSE to just linking Humanimals just now.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2076015276",
- "timestamp": 1294444800,
- "html": "\nEveryone who has a bar code was cloned that way.
\n
\nIn sci-fi symbolism, bar codes = cloned. Or otherwise manufactured or processed.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 7, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087456918",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "\ngoogle morse code
\n
\ngoogle morse code translator\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087732930",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "\nOh wait a couple people are still puzzling over this? Ok.
\n
\nAuthenticating your drawing isn't a simple matter of taking a photo of someone posing like your character, and if the photo matches up with the drawing perfectly, then everything checks out.
\n
\nThere are other things in play, such as
\n
\n1) Stylization
\n2) Dramatization of perspective, through devices such as lensing effects
\n
\nAnd the two are related. Dramatizing perspective contributes significantly to the parameters for stylization. And not understanding this leads to some dubious observations.
\n
\nFor instance, let's look at this cat in a fish eye lens.
\n
\nhttp://www.instructables.com/image/FMW0YNUX9OEP2819DD/11-Super-Wide-Angle-Digital-Camera.jpg
\n
\nIf you converted that to a line drawing without knowledge of the lens, suddenly hopy shit that paw is huuuuuge, and way stockier and more exaggerated than could be accounted for by foreshortening. You could explain this, and there would always be someone out there who wouldn't care. They'd say, no it's huge dude. Look at it, it's huge. That paw is huge, don't even start with me.
\n
\nMy drawing isn't being fisheyed, but there's a similar principle in play. Perspective is accelerating in the space through which the arm extends. It's not super dramatic lensing, but its enough to offset expected foreshortening.
\n
\nCombine that with the anatomical stylization of the figure, which is on the lanky-limbed side to start with, and you get what's there. Don't think it looks cool? Whatever! Looks good to me, but then, I know the vantage from which it's meant to be parsed.
\n
\nIt would be a shame if all art had to forfeit things like dynamism in perspective, anatomical stylization and things like that because people not familiar with these principles regard their yields as defective.
\n
\nAnyway now that all that's been explained to death I guess it kind of ruins the drawing? Kind of like an overexplained joke. But maybe we learned some stuff?
\n
\nThe funny thing is, I think people with more knowledge on art ironically tend to be MORE permissive of certain deviations in approach, like off template anatomy or perspective, if pursued with otherwise keen fundamentals and an intelligent eye toward aesthetics. It's the people with less knowledge who pick and fuss over stuff that just isn't really the \"big problem\" they think it is, even though they think they're packing hella standards. They don't have the knowledge to fully contextualize what they're observing, and they can't properly articulate their reservations, so they often resort to exaggeration, and QUITE often carry a pretty sour demeanor about it!
\n
\nI call this Picky Little Bitch Syndrome.
\n
\nIt's not just art. Every field has its PLBs. Movies, books webcomics...
\n
\nAnd calling a PLB on being a PLB only makes them grumpier, which only further cements the diagnosis. For instance, any grumpy response to what I've said here will serve as a convenient admission to PLBhood! TIA.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087738138",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "\nOh you know.
\n
\nPeople be confused yo.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087740532",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "\nSTAY TUNED TO FIND OUT!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087744039",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "\n-.-- . .- .... / - .... . .-. . ... / -. --- / .-- .- -.-- / .. .----. -- / - .-. .- -. ... .-.. .- - .. -. --. / - .... .- -\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087758804",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087761362",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "\n1 + a mouthful of ugly consonants\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087818488",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "\n^^^
\n
\nPLB
\n
\n^^^
\n
\nJK
\n
\n
\nI haven't started on them yet. Likely will tomorrow.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087820454",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "\n^^^
\n
\nPLBPLBPLBPLBPLBPLBPLBPLBPLBPLBPLBPLB(TY)\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2087841334",
- "timestamp": 1294617600,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 9, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2107662848",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nWe don't really know what she is or isn't doing. All we know is she and WV are sharing a dream.
\n
\nDream rules have never been that easy to pin down. We only know what we know about dreams and dream selves after facts have accumulated over a long period of time. WV's dream sequence doesn't seem to fit into the existing model, and we can't expect to figure out how it fits into everything right away, if it does at all.
\n
\nIt does seem the sequence was more like a \"normal\" dream, full of symbols and foreshadowed peril. Vriska, for whatever reason, deliberately or otherwise, shared this normal dream, and was able to understand some things about its context, and the role WV is supposed to play. Perhaps her psychic acuity was a factor. Perhaps her godhood status was as well. All you can do is speculate.
\n
\nWe do know that she is dreaming without a dream self, and without her dream self having been killed. She is her dream self, having resurrected to reach the god tier. We didn't know anything about how such a character would dream, but here's a glimpse at some evidence.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2107852990",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nNah, not really. There is no getting or gotten cause it's already done.
\n
\nIt complemented a pretty brief, mysterious dream sequence in a way that matched the scene's symbolically cryptic nature. Dreams in works of fiction often communicate their messages in such ways. Like the strange backwards-speak in the Twin Peaks dreams.
\n
\nWe had ten short passages, presumably narrated by dream Serenity, calling back to this excerpt.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002697
\n
\nAnd then four short lines by fairybug Vriska, hijacking the blinkspeak to have her say.
\n
\nAnd that's it!
\n
\nBeing genuinely aggravated by this is a nice way to discover how boring you are. Kind of like being aggravated by the trollspeak was.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2107860924",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nI'm not sure. Depends on how many are piling up. Maybe a couple more days?\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108059801",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nIt is the name of Jack's planet wrecking attack.
\n
\nIt has always been the name of the attack, but not mentioned as such. Though it was mentioned somewhere in Hivebent, without being tied to the attack specifically.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108117915",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nThe Sburb loading screen.
\n
\nBut I was pretty inefficient with Flash back then. Now something like that wouldn't take nearly as long.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108589631",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\n^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
\nWorst kind of PLB.
\n
\nSo ok my snarky stuff is all fun and games until I say something you disagree with?
\n
\nI'm not \"pretending to be a huge tool.\" A lot of my responses include an edge because it is funny and entertaining and probably most people agree. I have stated this, hence there is no pretense. Would I behave that way in real life? No, because that would be sociopathic and deranged.
\n
\nHow dumb do you have to be to not get that? Oh I see you actually believe you are HOT ON THE TRAIL on blowing the lid off a REAL LIFE DOUCHE BAG. Quick, take a blurry photo of me before I scurry off into the woods!
\n
\nBut it was already clear you are not the king of perspicacity because you are in full PLB lockdown mode. When given a series of reasonable and logical remarks at odds with your perception, you become stubborn and hostile. This is because it is painful when you discover you're on the wrong side of the truth, and the response is only natural.
\n
\nI imagine it is an even worse feeling to discover you're on the wrong side of not stupid.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108603543",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nBut it is.
\n
\nBlack Inches is Snowman's weapon. Red Miles is Jack's.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108626222",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nBut it is a dream. It is not literal. It is a loose collection of symbols and memories.
\n
\nBut I guess maybe you're being a joker? Oh hell I don't even know anymore.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108642150",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nI'm going to be sick.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108750425",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nI can't, she is obviously in charge of the story now.
\n
\nHer ascension to Fairy Vriska strikes me as a pretty decent distillation of who she's always been as a character. Impish, ubiquitously meddlesome, and kind of annoying.
\n
\nYou could say that a character's ascension to godhood is meant to be the full realization of who they are, and prepares them to function as a demigod in the universe they create. Vriska's true form is that of a pesky, murderous luck fairy, and has been the only one so far to exhibit the god-like influence made possible through realizing this potential.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108786017",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nEXACTLY
\n
\nDude's gonna be in a BIGTIME huff over that. Book it.
\n
\nBut that's the point. He's gotta check himself and chill the F out.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108873160",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nYeah but I similarly address a wide variety of topics, not just that one.
\n
\nIf the question is essentially, why dignify a troll with a response?
\n
\nThe answer is that they are impervious to dignification of any sort. So I am just having some fun here.
\n
\nBig deal!\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108875465",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108888127",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nJohn's a kid in a blue hoodie with sweet wind powers.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108905361",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nNo of course not. Fans are great and if they wanna fanboy/girl all over the place then I think that's cool and flattering.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2108941425",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nAt this point 90% of all FS questioners are some variety of troll or another. With no exaggeration.
\n
\nIf someone's trolling me insincerely with some irritable sounding nonsense, I *think* I usually know when that's going on. But sometimes I'll answer as if they were being totally serious to add a fresh new layer of bullshit to this stupid dance we're all doing together here.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2109229865",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nIt doesn't impact my impression of the fanbase.
\n
\nBut my responses probably influence their impression of me.
\n
\nThere is a lot of adoration that gets slung my way, so maybe it's for the best that it's somewhat counterbalanced by some people out there thinking I'm a HUGE JERK.
\n
\nThis is probably the best way to maintain stability in the universe.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2109457444",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nTHANK YOU.
\n
\nI mean that sincerely.
\n
\nRegarding the question below this one...
\n
\nvvvvvvvvvvv
\n
\nYOU SEE WHAT I MEAN??????\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2109593442",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nI saw the end result of that, but never saw the thread.
\n
\nYou're right, it is sickening.
\n
\n( <3 )\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2109640131",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nWhat can I say, I have a very expansive sense of humor.
\n
\nAlso those things don't need excusing, cause they were all pretty good, whatever they were, and the humor behind them didn't justify them, but drove them in the first place.
\n
\nBut quite frankly, you sound like a bit of a dick to me!
\n
\nAnd I doubt you are as funny as I am. So what is your excuse?
\n
\nHahahaha, oh man, that last thing I said was so great.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2109885013",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\nWell come on now I obviously agree. Unless this particular page is your first ever exposure to stuff I've said, you oughta know that.
\n
\nI've copped so many times in so many different ways to the imperfection of HS and its function as something basically exploratory. Trying things out, seeing what works and what doesn't and learning from it. And also sticking up for the decisions and process that created it, imperfect though they are.
\n
\nThe problem is all that shit gets buried deep in Formspring and people forget, and it's not archived like a blog so it's hard to find again.
\n
\nI think your point is one of improved diplomacy more than anything else. As an ambassador for my work, especially in the FS format for whatever reason, I'm pretty off the rails.
\n
\nWhenever you're dealing with a serious artist, there is a decent chance you are dealing with someone who doesn't always care to be polished in diplomacy. I've heard that Picasso was kind of a dickhead. He probably didn't cut a whole lot of slack to someone who said, hey Pablo you stuck the eye in the wrong place, fuckass. He was a very important artist and had all these BIG IDEAS and the net result of it all was something great. Maybe his personal volatility was part of that package?
\n
\nAt the same time, someone would be perfectly justified, then and now, to say, hey Pablo, that painting looks like shit. I mean, some of his paintings really seriously did look like shit. And he would be equally justified in calling them PLBs for not \"getting\" it, and he probably did. He probably had his own term for those sons of bitches. He would be justified in doing so because he knew that everything he did, even the shitty stuff, was part of something bigger, even if only in his warped mind.
\n
\nBut that said, and everything said below, maybe this is all getting a bit distracting. That is, talking about myself and my views on my work and my views on the views of others. It is possibly getting JUST A LITTLE tedious, and maybe it's time to reel in the purpose of my Formspring exploits.
\n
\nI mentioned a lot of stuff was getting buried. Maybe answering 1000+ poorly archived questions is getting into ridiculous territory. Maybe it's time to delete all the questions, clean the slate, and start new with a modified focus.
\n
\nWhatever imperceptible benefit typing this is having, I'm sure as hell not DRAWING right now, that's for sure.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 10, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2117230064",
- "timestamp": 1294790400,
- "html": "\nThanks for saying that, and also about the formsprings too. And also for being grateful I don't do porn? You're welcome.
\n
\nThis is still by and large the type of question I get, and even most of the \"troll questions\" tend to be playful and harmless.
\n
\nThe picture I paint with some of my question selections is probably pretty different though. Why is that? A strange form of theater I guess. Probably some people think it is unsettling, but that's because it does too good a job at rendering a great pit of hostility beneath the surface. Such is the power of having complete control over the flow of information. This is the advantage the media enjoys, and which is why they can keep a lid on important and completely true conspiracies from being known.
\n
\nI was kind of wondering if I went too far in any of my recent answers. Feeling mildly concerned about this, I reread everything I wrote, and I am pleased to report in the light of a new day that I have been 1000% exonerated. My FS answers remain as lucid as ever - coherent, informative, humble, and at worst, transcendentally hilarious.
\n
\nAnd if anybody was wondering, the comparison of myself with Picasso below was in fact a strikingly successful attempt to place myself on the same level as one of the greatest and most acclaimed artists who ever lived, if not significantly higher. In no way was the comparison made simply because everyone has heard of him, to make a separate point. If that were the case, ideally I would have selected a very bad and unfamous artist to maintain a pleasing veneer of humility. This is the most important thing an artist should ever concern himself with, we all agree about that.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 11, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2119675960",
- "timestamp": 1294790400,
- "html": "\nIn a few days or so. You might not see much til then.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 11, 2011\n\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "andrewhussie2121900583",
- "timestamp": 1294790400,
- "html": "\nBecause I didn't actually know what I was doing.
\n
\nI was either not aware of the low quality setting which displayed vectors as aliased, or I didn't think it looked that great. I don't remember. I was also not even remotely aware of how much easier it would be, as well as aesthetically preferable, to just import loads of GIF graphics and animate those in Flash.
\n
\nThis speaks volumes about how all of HS has been approached. There I was, preparing to embark on something I knew would last at least a year, planning to do every page in an application I knew practically nothing about. Adjustments were made, as they have been the whole way through.
\n
\nLaunching into HS has been like partaking in an extreme wilderness survival challenge. I parachuted into the middle of the jungle with no equipment except for Picasso's stupid blank-loaded pistol. The beta was me unloading all the useless rounds into an angry tiger on the first night.\n
andrewhussie\nresponded\n\n\nJan 11, 2011\n\n\n
"
- }
- ],
- "mspadventures": [
- {
- "id": "question2123465717",
- "timestamp": 1295136000,
- "html": "\nThis is the Formspring account for MS Paint Adventures, dot com, the website.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com
\n
\nThe old FS account, andrewhussie, has been discontinued, having\ncollapsed under the weight of 1200+ unnavigable, unsearchable questions,\nmost of which were silly and wildly \"off topic\". (re: there was no\ntopic.)
\n
\nI have saved all of those questions and will comb through them at some\npoint to select the most interesting ones and display them elsewhere, in\na manner that is easy to browse, an arrangement they did not enjoy in\nFormspring's ponderous and entirely nonexistent archival system.
\n
\nI will also try to keep things more OT with this account, and address\nstuff that people presumably give a shit about, and try to keep the\nnonsensical haggling to a minimum, as well as avoid bringing to light\nquestions of no substance. All of that was done with a spirit of\namusement, though some people surely disagreed with its humorous merit.\nThey were probably right! What do I know.
\n
\nYou may now ask me a question. This account is like a new Chia Pet fresh\nout of the box, and you have the privilege of applying the disgusting\ncoat of mud to the orange ceramic surface, getting grossed out, and\nregarding your purchase with a deep sense of remorse.
\n
\nYou may also liken the account to a new kit of Sea Monkeys you just purchased for\nsome baffling reason. That's fine too.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to mspadventures,\n\nJan 11, 2011 - Jan 15, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2123506783",
- "timestamp": 1295136000,
- "html": "\nI am presently working on a Flash animation, as should be\npainfully obvious from the answer to a question which no longer exists.
\n
\nI will probably be finished in several days.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 11, 2011 - Jan 15, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2171676693",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nShe did have an extra life. She had a dream self all along. It\njust wasn't in a tower. It was sleeping in a crypt in the center of\nDerse, which essentially functioned as her Quest Cocoon.
\n
\nShe is a special case with respect to having a dream self (like Sollux\nwas, who had two), and also with respect to the god tier resurrection.
\n
\nThe same rules couldn't apply to her, since she's the only character\nwho's been dead since long before beginning the game. She couldn't\nresurrect the usual way because she was already dead.
\n
\nSo she has a different set of rules to suit her unique circumstances. We\nwere lead to believe she didn't have a dream self, because she was\ndead, and because she didn't have a tower. But she was in the crypt the\nwhole time, on her sacrificial platform, looking pretty corpse-like. Was\nher dream self dead too? There's no need for a definitive answer. But\nit would be reasonable to view her slumber as a state of undead-like\nstasis, like a vampire in a crypt.
\n
\nHer resurrection demanded that her dream self be killed on the platform.\nAnd so it waited there for the entire session until Jack destroyed\nDerse, and was consumed by fire. This woke her up, and restored her to\nlife for the first time in years. Her robot exploded as her soul\nun-disembodied itself. She then attained the god tier as the Maid of\nTime.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 15, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2172625978",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nAt countdown mark 3:14, Vriska woke up from her nap. It is not when she impaled him.
\n
\nAt mark 2:41, he landed, DEAD. Impaled shortly before.
\n
\nIn the half hour between, there was apparently some unseen messing\naround. Tavros perhaps squirmed at the bottom of the stairs some more.\nHe and Vriska took a moment to make a couple of useless replies to a\nmemo, on the page you cited.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004654
\n
\nShortly after that, Tavros had his unfortunate encounter with Vriska.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 15, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2172631685",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nNope, see below.
\n
\nThe monster Vriska defeated earlier fell through the same break in the\nfloor, but clearly wound up missing the platform Terezi's sitting on.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 15, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2172637564",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nBy getting killed by a guy who just ate some mind honey I guess?
\n
\nLet this be noncanon answer number ???.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 15, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2172642410",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nSure she did. She let him charge at her with a sharp object fair\nand square. However he was not martially adept enough to avoid her slap\nand counterattack.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 15, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2172660818",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThe colors are not character dependent. The ___ of Breath suit\nis always blue. The ___ of light suit is always orange. ___ of Time is\nred. ___ of Space is ???.
\n
\nJohn, Dave and Aradia's colors corresponding with their titles are\ncoincidences. Vriska's color is nonmatching, as would be Rose's.
\n
\nThe first part of the title, Heir, Thief, Maid, etc affects the design of the\noutfit.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 15, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2172664121",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nJohn is a human. The other two examples were trolls.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to GutmanFG,\n\nJan 15, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2172705210",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThey look similar because all the outfits look similar. They\nlook similar to John's as well, though his is a bit simpler. The\ndifferences in the designs are small details. Like shape of hood,\nfootwear, etc.
\n
\nMetamorphosis is clearly a significant part of troll biology, and\ntherefore ingrained in their mythology. They've got cocoons everywhere,\nand are often likened to insects through biological terms. The wings\nhave nothing (we know of) to do with troll adulthood. But have a lot to\ndo with their perception of what ascension should be, which is the\nculmination of a pupation process. Which is why some may look to fairies\nas an ideal, or rule them out as fiction on account of the ideal they\nrepresent. Ascended trolls in this game are essentially magical fairies.
\n
\nHumans do not have a good analog for this though, and enjoy no biological upgrades.\nOnly powers and fashion.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 15, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2213630970",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nA joke can be many things.
\n
\nSometimes a joke can even be an allusion to a whole bunch of jokes you will never\nget to read.
\n
\nThat joke is made even funnier by the fact that all of those\nhypothetical jokes are practically guaranteed to be really, really funny\nif they existed.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 18, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2213637552",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nHe attacked her. It was self defense.
\n
\nAnd even if it wasn't, how much stupid bullshit are you supposed to put\nup with from a guy before you're ready to run a lance through his chest?\nSeriously.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 18, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2213642358",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nYes.
\n
\nSorry I Thought That Was Obvious\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 18, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2213658548",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 18, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2213678834",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThe Tower of Babel did come to mind. There are many symbolic\naspects you could find in it, many relating to ascension. It also put to\nuse the basic idea of house building, inspired by Sim games, by tying\nit to a more obvious goal, to reach the gates, and then reach Skaia.
\n
\nObviously it's pretty easy for players to \"cheat\" and invent means of\nflying to skip the arduous climb, but as with many things, there are\nstill hidden reasons for why the building is necessary which haven't\nbeen revealed. And if nothing else, it does convey the way the game is\n\"supposed\" to be played under ordinary circumstances, with kids making\nthese insane vertical journeys through their houses, followed by\nfantastical horizontal journeys through their lands.
\n
\nAlso note that there are many, many ways in which the concepts if\nHomestuck were influenced by Problem Sleuth. The Cathedral of Syndetic\nAscension was two huge towers meeting in the middle of the universe.\nClimbing the towers was a significant quest for the four heroes in PS.\nThe consorts were always meant to parallel the silly members of the four\nkingdoms.
\n
\nAnother detail of interest: note that there was a volcano next to the cathedral\nwhich played a significant role in the story.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 18, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2225370473",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThis question would exist plentifully regardless of what animal\nwas selected. Knowing this, I don't think it's a very interesting avenue\nof discussion right now. Are we to weigh the universe containment\nmerits of frogs, vs. say, bears?
\n
\nThe definitive answer, as of now, is that any definitive answer would be pretty\nboring.
\n
\nBut there are nevertheless some reasons. And more important than the\nreasons for the decision is to notice how thematically entrenched frogs\nhave been in the story for a very long time. All the mechanics of this,\nthe genesis frog and the frog breeding stuff, was conceptualized well\nbefore the end of act 2. EOA2 was when we first saw the frog ruins,\nremember? An idol of the embodiment of a universe to be created,\npositioned where Skaia would be, surrounded by four towers representing\nthe planets. There was no basis for speculation on why a frog stood in\nSkaia's place until now. This has probably been the slowest boiling\nmystery in the entire story. After a while, I think prolonged,\nrelentless exposure to certain symbols and aspects of a myth start to\nwear down the need to justify why they exist. They exist simply because\nthey exist, like the features of fables we've all heard a thousand\ntimes.
\n
\nAnd finally, in processing the \"why frogs\" matter, it does help to\nunderstand the mentality I have in coming up with all ideas for HS. The\nidea from the start was to come up with a very elaborate, fantastical\nand ridiculous creation myth. Some ideas are quite esoteric, some are\nquite passable for more conventional works of science fiction, and some\nare very silly. Most are a combination of these. Most of the time, the\nsilly stuff is not so outrageously silly that it can't be workable in a\nserious way too when needed. That adequately describes the concept of a\nuniverse existing inside of a large frog bred and genetically engineered\nby children, I think.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 19, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2225384455",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nI don't think it was a direct inspiration, but I'm sure it crossed my mind at the\ntime.
\n
\nThis is probably how most kinds of inspiration work. I hardly ever come\nup with an idea directly inspired something else (unless it's something I\ndid, in which case I do it almost constantly.) But then after I have\nthe idea, I may immediately think of something that's kind of similar\nfrom another work. I may then modify the idea to make it more\nreminiscent of that thing, if I feel like solidifying that particular\nreference. The Donnie Darko style past/future trails in the intermission\nmight be a good example of that. Or, I may attempt to stifle\nsimilarities if the reference doesn't interest me.
\n
\nThe chocobo breeding thing always struck me as a really solid example of\na side quest in a game. Pretty tedious, definitely optional, yet\nleading to major boons far beyond the normal scope of the game.
\n
\nSo in that sense, frog breeding was always supposed to be reminiscent of\na fun side quest. And yet, it's still absolutely essential to\ncompleting the game's objective. So it's not technically a side quest at\nall. Only in spirit.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 19, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2225390224",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nSS embraced the nickname as a big fuck you to the black queen, aka Snowman.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 19, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2225397415",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThe monitor can only look at the present. You can only try to\nappearify a frog and hope for the best. If the frog appears (bad), then\nthat frog was free for the taking. If slime appears (good), then destiny\nhad future plans for that frog, one way or another.
\n
\nThe other appearifiers had certain limitations too. Like being locked on particular\ntimes and targets.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 19, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2225419319",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThe conflict between the kingdoms is regimented. There are\nrules, like in chess, though much more complex. It isn't necessarily all\nout war, except for what takes place on advanced stages of the\nbattlefield. If the queen is in power, she leaves them alone. Killing\nthem would be improper. If Jack is in power, he clearly has no problem\nwith it.
\n
\nAnd there's potentially more to it than some kind of etiquette. Though\nthe Derse dreamers are heroes, they still serve as emissaries to the\ndark gods, who presumably tend to be opposed to the goal of creation,\nlike Derse. There always remains the possibility that the Derse dreamers\nwill carry out the agenda of the gods without understanding what\nthey're doing. To kill those kids before that would lack strategic\nforesight, something a queen has.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 19, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2225432397",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThe two pairs of words are verging on being synonyms for each other, aren't\nthey?
\n
\nThat said, I don' t think I'll answer.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 19, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2225457479",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThere are actually clues about Jade's awakening in her\nconversation with Tavros, in retrospect. If you read between the lines,\nand draw from what we now know about Kanaya, you can make a decent guess\nabout what happened.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004955
\n
\nShe said:
\n
\nGG: when i was REALLY young, i was sure the doll sitting across from him did it
\nGG: and for a long time i was terrified of the evil blue girl!!!
\nGG: she sort of haunted my childhood and i had trouble sleeping for a long time
\n
\nShe complains about insomnia while young, just like Kanaya did. When\nKanaya was put to sleep by Scratch, her insomnia ended, and she woke up.\nWe also know Jade did not have trouble sleeping for very long. Vriska\nstarted putting her to sleep to test out her powers.
\n
\nMatch this up with some remarks by Kanaya:
\n
\nGA: It Was Saddening To Learn My Fortuitous Awakening Had Been The Product Of A\nNefarious Ploy
\nGA: Youre Lucky That Your Awakening Probably Had No Such Entanglements
\nGG: jeez, i hope not...
\n
\nSo it would seem Jade and Kanaya have another thing in common.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 19, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2225493226",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThere are actually clues about Jade's awakening in her\nconversation with Tavros, in retrospect. If you read between the lines,\nand draw from what we now know about Kanaya, you can make a decent guess\nabout what happened.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004955
\n
\nShe said:
\n
\nGG: when i was REALLY young, i was sure the doll sitting across from him did it
\nGG: and for a long time i was terrified of the evil blue girl!!!
\nGG: she sort of haunted my childhood and i had trouble sleeping for a long time
\n
\nShe complains about insomnia while young, just like Kanaya did. When\nKanaya was put to sleep by Scratch, her insomnia ended, and she woke up.\nWe also know Jade did not have trouble sleeping for very long. Vriska\nstarted putting her to sleep to test out her powers.
\n
\nMatch this up with some remarks by Kanaya:
\n
\nGA: It Was Saddening To Learn My Fortuitous Awakening Had Been The Product Of A\nNefarious Ploy
\nGA: Youre Lucky That Your Awakening Probably Had No Such Entanglements
\nGG: jeez, i hope not...
\n
\nSo it would seem Jade and Kanaya have another thing in common.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 19, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2257848819",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nYes, you are missing something very big, which is perspective.
\n
\nThis Flash page is an appropriate length for the purpose it served. The\nfirst Flash game involving the trolls was inordinately long, taking\nsomething like 30 minutes for a player to feel sure all possibilities\nhave been exhausted. But its length provided a good way to demonstrate\nthe format's capabilities.
\n
\nIt set a precedent for a game of that length, but not a trend. There's\nno reason to expect they should all be. These are just individual pages\nin a story after all, and my intent for the format was always to make\nthe games about this length.
\n
\nThe battle at the end did mark the end of the game. There was nothing\nmore to it, and I don't think it needed to be especially explicit about\nthat. You could try mashing the spacebar during the battle or whatever,\nand observe it did nothing. The prompt at the end to restart tells you\nit's over. What else is there to suggest there's more? Aside from an\nexpectation that since it feels like a fully functional game, it should\nbehave like one rather than what is essentially a shallow simulation to\nhit a few story points.
\n
\nBut that's one of the pitfalls of mixing these types of media. While\nflipping through pages, you switch from your \"story reader's mind\" to\nyour \"game player's mind\", which expects different things. Having played\nmany games, we grow to expect fully fleshed out, complete gaming\nexperiences from whatever we play, even if not consciously. These little\nin-story fragments can leave us a little puzzled, because they are\nincomplete, and the instinctive game player in us finds that a little\nfrustrating. But I view this as a good thing, and wouldn't seek to\nimprove it. The clash between those two mindsets of media consumption\ndemonstrates we're engaging with something unique. It's not an\nexperience you have with other forms of entertainment.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 22, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2257853801",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nHe does not have them at any time in the troll session. He did\nnot have them in Jade: Enter. We do not know what happened to them.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 22, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2257906283",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nWell let's see, it said KO'D when he hit the wall, so\nhmmmmmmmm..........................\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 22, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2257923176",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nI wouldn't call it a big decision, but it wasn't a whim. Nothing going on right now\nis spontaneous at all.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 22, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2257943429",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nIt would have been completely ridiculous to black out all the\ntimelines for the trolls who were going to die. Readers would have a\nchecklist in advance, and that would be boring. This reason itself is\nmore than enough to excuse that minor technical oddity with the Trollian\ninterface.
\n
\nBut if we really need an explanation, who's to say that feature is\npermanently enabled? Maybe there's some obscure checkbox somewhere in\nthe application that says \"Show who's dead.\"\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 23, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2258060776",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nWhy don't we keep this simple.
\n
\nIt is not about pruning the expansive character roster.
\n
\nIt is not about challenging myself to find new elaborate ways to make death\nimpermanent either.
\n
\nIt's about making something entertaining.
\n
\nEvery decision I make is with the intent to produce something\nentertaining, whether due to humor, an elevated sense of suspense,\npromoting investment in characters, advancing intrigue, or what have\nyou.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Kingrussel,\n\nJan 23, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2258082361",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nYes...
\n
\nUnless...
\n
\nI fucked up the timestamps and have to go back and retcon them at some point.
\n
\nUH----------
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH :C\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 23, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2268346037",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThe longer I do this the more I'm struck by how radical the\ndifference is between the experiences of reading something archivally\nvs. serially, both for the reader, and the author if he's prone to\nsampling reactions frequently as I do. For the reader especially, I\nthink the experience of day to day reading is so dramatically different,\nthey might as well be reading a different story altogether.
\n
\nThe main difference is the amount of space between events the reader\nhas, which can be filled with massive amounts of speculation, analysis,\npredictions, and something I guess you could call \"opinion building\",\nwhich can have both positive and negative effects. On the positive side,\nthese readers become more closely engaged with the material than\narchival readers can be, zeroing in on details and insights which might\nbe overlooked otherwise. On the negative side, I think that excess\nmental noise the space between pages allows can potentially be a bit\nsuffocating, and put a strain on the experience the material was\nintended to deliver.
\n
\nThe archival reader always has the luxury of moving on to the next page,\nregardless of how he reacts to certain events, and thus can be more\nimpassive about it. That internal cacophony isn't given time to build,\nand if there are reservations about a string of events, whether due to\nshocking revelations, or questions over the narrative merit of\nsomething, or really any form of dissatisfaction, all he has to do is\nkeep clicking to see how it all fits together, and can make a more\ncomplete judgment with hindsight.
\n
\nThe recent pages had me particularly conscious of the nature of serial\ndelivery. The whole scene was rolled out over the course of a weekend,\nfirst with Feferi, then Kanaya. When Fereri dies, this registers as one\nextremely dramatic event. Cue the waiting, speculating, worrying and all\nthat. When Kanaya dies a day or so later, it registers as a second\ndramatic event! Again the scrutiny begins which the space allows. Is\nthis all too much? How do I feel about this narrative turn? Is this\nsetting a trend for a bloodbath? Does that serve any purpose? The reader\nprojects into the future, does a little unwitting fanfiction writing in\nhis head, and may not like what he sees! All this activity becomes the\nbasis for opinion building, which is sort of the emergence of an\nofficial position on matters, good or bad, which is only able to\nflourish in the slow-motion intake of the story. That official position\ncan be a very stubborn thing, especially when it's negative, and\nseriously textures the way additional developments are regarded. It's\nreally hard to shake a reader off an entrenched position on a matter,\neven when it was formed with an incomplete picture.
\n
\nReading the same events in the archive is quite different. Very little\nof that inner monologue takes shape. And while the events are still\nshocking, and the reader may raise his eyebrows a mile high, he then\nsimply lowers them and keeps reading. In fact, because of the reading\npace, I would suggest these two deaths actually register as only ONE\nDRAMATIC EVENT! One guy snaps and kills two characters. In the flow of\nstraight-through reading especially, it is quite startling,\ntension-building, and can only serve to propel the reader into further\npages, at a pace which suspends the experience-compromising\n(augmenting??) play-by-play.
\n
\nBut like I've said, I don't think one way of reading is necessarily\nbetter than the other. Both have plusses, and obviously I choose to make\nthis serially, and I play off plenty of in the moment reactions. But I\ntend consider the archival experience more, because when all is said and\ndone, this thing has to sit on a server for years to come, waiting for\nnew people to find it.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 23, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2268348158",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 23, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2268381727",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nPeople tend to be pretty emotional creatures and I know that\nsome people shed tears over much lesser turns in a story than this.
\n
\nSo knowing that, I guess there is something a little weird about pulling\nthe trigger on an event which I know perfectly well will cause plenty\nof people to cry ACTUAL TEARS, most of which are probably perfectly nice\nteenage girls who I have no business affecting in this way at all. To\nthose people I guess I'll have to offer a real apology, because I'm not\nactually out to ruin anyone's day.
\n
\nBut when you're making a story with any sort of dramatic clout, even a\nlargely humorous one, I don't think it pays to be gutless. Both in terms\nof reader reaction, fear of sparking sadness, anger, or bad reviews,\nand in terms of being overly precious with your characters and ideas, to\nthe point where it becomes obvious you're unwilling to mess with\nanything or put anyone important in real danger, which does a lot to\nkill suspense.
\n
\nBut that's actually a pretty common way to construct a story, to the\npoint where we are all extremely used to watching stuff where heroes\nare in no real peril, and because it's so common we can accept and enjoy\nit. This also makes it more shocking and emotional when a story steps\noutside of that comfort zone.
\n
\nBut it's only emotional if people are invested in those threatened. This\nis one reason why a lot of horror movies can be so ineffective, grisly\nmoments notwithstanding. Rosters are knowingly introduced for the\nslaughter, with only lip service given to investment in characters. And\neven if approached skillfully, there isn't even much time to win the\nhearts and minds of the audience for the full cast.
\n
\nBut this is a little different. We've spent a lot of time with these\ncharacters. And if the threat to their lives seems like a sudden\ndirection, I'd suggest that doing it earlier or more gradually wouldn't\nhave allowed it to mean the same thing.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 23, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question2268455672",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nI'm not going to pretend I didn't think it was a very sad event.\nFeferi was one thing, as a pretty tangential character. But Kanaya was\nthe one that hurt.
\n
\nSad things happen in stories. Even funny ones!
\n
\nProbably the most memorable episode of Futurama for me was the one where\nhis dog waits for him on the street corner for years, until it dies.\nAnd then? THE END.
\n
\nThat was awful! I don't know anyone who ever watched that episode who\nwasn't emotionally crushed by that ending. Almost to the point where it\nwas unbelievable they made such a thing happen. I was not alone in\nspeaking to the TV: \"Futurama, what are you doing to me? FUTURAMA???\nYou're not supposed to do this, you're FUNNY!!!\"
\n
\nAnd yet, that episode was great! Even the ending was great, all things\nconsidered. In retrospect its very gesture was sort of darkly hilarious.
\n
\nI'm not exactly comparing this character death with that moment, but\njust pointing it out as an example of a piece of entertainment which I\nbelieve successfully blended emotional tones. That's what's been going\non with HS for quite some time.
\n
\nIn fact, Futurama always struck me as a really good example of something\nthat did that, and I can think of very few other examples. Futurama was\nperpetually hilarious, while doing a pretty great job of making you\ncare about the characters and what happened to them. It actually\nsuccessfully pulled off a lot of poignant moments, not just dog\nkillings. I'm trying to think of of other comparably humorous pieces of\nentertainment that worked a serious side well and not thinking of much.\nThe Simpsons, not quite. Certainly nothing of Family Guy's ilk. (ok I'm\nreally just thinking of TV shows now) Arrested Development could be a\ngood example. Certainly off the charts in hilarity and characterization,\nthough in hindsight I don't think it ever laid the drama on all that\nthick. It usually played its serious notes to set up gags, and often\nshortchanged drama by making continuity itself a gag (NEXT TIME ON\nARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: jokes jokes jokes)
\n
\nIf I had to grope for another example, I might reach back years and\nyears to something called Red Dwarf. Which was a British scifi comedy tv\nshow. But not the show, the book! The novelization of it was my first\nexposure to it, and when I was a teenager I remember thinking it was the\nfunniest, greatest shit ever. It might have been my teen goggles\ntinting it though, I really don't know how it would hold up for me now. I\ndidn't even know it was based on a show, and later when I saw it, I\nthought it was good, but not as great unsurprisingly. Oddly, the concept\nwas essentially the same as Futurama. A guy is frozen in stasis for a\nlong time, wakes up in the future. But he's the last guy alive, a la\nHitchhiker's Guide. I always liked this way better than Hitchhiker's\nthough for some reason, which I was never as gaga over as so many seem\nto be. This story struck me as not only funnier, but more heartfelt, and\nreally captured the essence of the lonely journey of the last human\nalive, alone in a giant space ship with his idiot hologram friend.
\n
\nThinking back on it, I'm probably weirdly influenced by that series in ways I'm\nprobably not even aware of.
\n
\nEND RAMBLE\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 23, 2011 - Jan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154118581221625926",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nLet's all be completely honest here.
\n
\nEvil Gamzee is the best thing that has ever happened, and will ever happen, to\nHomestuck.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154119484028782322",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nAnybody who would feel confident in expecting this would be kind of dumb.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154119975840287379",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\ncertain changes in story direction = author is upset or going crazy in some way =\nzzzzzzzzzzzzz\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154128263025812338",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nI gave them all troll handles well before they ever came close\nto being real characters, but those names always set up the parameters\nfor where I could drive the characters thematically when continuing to\ndevelop them, if inclined. So yeah, this was always a strong\npossibility, without necessarily being 100% committed to it the whole\ntime. Regardless, there was some groundwork set up for that possibility\nshould I decide to run with it, which I did, and the decision was made\nquite some time ago.
\n
\nSame with others we've seen recently. Kanaya had the theme of virginity\ndue to her sign, which when you think about it, is a pretty TOUGH\nCONCEPT to shape into coherence for a character in an ensemble like\nthis, but I worked it by bonding her to matriarchal themes with her\nvirgin mother grub lusus, and the role she inherited as progenitor and\ncaretaker of the matriorb, and more specifically, recently showing the\nfutility of that role, as the concept of chastity is not particularly\ncompatible with successful breeding. When she found the key to release\nit, it was a sign that all along it was not meant to be used, but\ndestroyed.
\n
\nEridan was originally cast as someone dangerous and genocidal, but those\nqualities were never illustrated and became easily dismissed as a joke\nas his whole character seemed to revolve around failed romantic\naspirations for so long. But they came back, reminding us they were\ndriving forces behind his profile. (His name, caligulasAquarium, was\nalso tied to his various romantic obsessions, particularly the need for a\nrival, which is bound to the caliginous quadrant, another word for\ndark.) Ultimately his dreams of genocide were realized by being the one\nto destroy the orb, which appeared to always be his intent for \"helping\nher\" with it, making his preceding conversation with Kanaya much more\ndetestably villainous than it seemed. In doing so, he destroyed hope for\nthe species. This is his final interpretation of his role as the Prince\nof Hope. Not as one who fights for hope, but destroys it. He's\ncertainly the worst kind of bastard this story has to offer.
\n
\nBoth Eridan's and Gamzee's dangerous sides were heavily masked by the\nlong adherence to their roles as one note gag characters, and made it\nvery difficult to predict these outcomes seriously. A few days ago,\nnobody at all is guessing Eridan walks into a room and kills two\ncharacters. And before this page:
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005119
\n
\nEven fewer people would ever make a serious guess Gamzee would become a threat.\nCommitment to the gag was too air tight.
\n
\nBut that's was makes the development equal parts disturbing and funny in my view.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154131915421542798",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nYeah, so it wasn't a PRECISION STRIKE ANALOGY I guess? I was\njust pointing out a sad thing in a funny show. In any case I kind of\ndisagree. I believe there was humor in that moment. You just need fine\ntuned instruments to detect it, like some of the things happening here\nnow and then.
\n
\nWhy the death scene honks? Because this story has always dealt in That\nKind Of Thing. Sometimes a sad moment is played totally straight (like\nJade's letter to John). Sometimes, or often, a sad or violent moment\nwill be accented with humor, if not played humorously straightup.
\n
\nThe bottom line is, if you have to ask, I honestly can't imagine that you understand\nmuch about MSPA.
\n
\nAnd if nothing else at all, I guess you could just read this article.
\n
\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_comedy\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154134863748823801",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nThe spectrum of opinions about everything has gotten so wide and\nso volatile, I can do nothing but exist in a perpetual full body shrug.
\n
\nConsider that
\n
\n1) This story now deals with a more diverse body of concepts than most you'll ever\nread.
\n
\n2) The readership has grown immense.
\n
\nThe net result is opinions opinions opinions opinions opinions. At this\npoint I just go bleary eyed at even the whiff of someone's problem or\nhow I'm doing shit wrong or how suddenly YES he's back on track!!! In a\nway the raging diversity of opinions helps me block it all out and focus\non the only thing that really matters, which is my own opinion on\nwhat's funny and interesting.
\n
\nI'm glad you're liking it though, and thanks.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154136648941073699",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154138511031696959",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nIt doesn't bother me, but it's definitely a real phenomenon, and\none I anticipated a long time ago when considering the possibility of a\ngrowing readership.
\n
\nI believe there are a lot of people who hopped aboard during Hivebent or\nlater, and didn't really cut their teeth on the \"MSPA culture\" from\nwhich all that emerged.
\n
\nOn the other hand, I know many of those people have been savvy enough to\npick up on it, read earlier stories, do a little homework, and start to\nfigure out why everything is the way it is.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154142160394947369",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nReally? So you're saying Homestuck is not more complex than the average story?
\n
\nWow.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154143387665071881",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nNo I didn't. I don't even know who you are or what question you asked, but no I\ndidn't.
\n
\nThat was the old Formspring account. I have yet to do that with this one.
\n
\nYou are too sensitive, and also annoying. Please get over yourself.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154144877951617363",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\n.................... I can't think of a much better description\nfor a single character who is the embodiment of ICP though.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154145400729672673",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nDid I? When?
\n
\nThat was kind of dumb of me if true.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to iamgreaser,\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154147870025488514",
- "timestamp": 1295913600,
- "html": "\nI think it can be pretty interesting how a single line in a\nstory, even one that's seven words, can dramatically alter the the\nperception of everything that just happened.
\n
\nIn this case, I think presented on the heels of the deaths, it created a\nweird blend of sudden fear, as well as a contradictory emotion of hope,\nthat MAYBE we haven't seen the last of one of these characters, even if\nthe implications are ominous.
\n
\nThere have been a couple others sprinkled about HS. I think tvtropes\ncalls them WHAM LINES or KAPOW STATEMENTS or whatever. (i am not even\nbusting on the tropes here, that's a pretty legit thing to diagnose)
\n
\nBut really, I mainly like that page because of the text highlighting\nslow-roll. It was a fun preexisting mechanism to employ for suspense.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to HoratioA,\n\nJan 24, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154148647611698275",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nSounds like someone needs to learn how miracles work.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154153875773887822",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nnonononononNONONONONONONOnononononono.
\n
\nIt is extremely hilarious to me, especially when put in the light of his\narc as an utterly useless, whimsical stoner character, and all the\ngoofy fan stuff made about him, and knowing about the turn months ago\nwhile people had no clue, and the reasons go on.
\n
\nI just think a wide range of stuff is funny. If you say I lump too much\nunder humor, it really only means we don't share the same sense of\nhumor.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to SmoothPorcupine,\n\nJan 24, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154160486852618431",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI'm not even sure I do compared to a lot of other well known internet creators, but\nit doesn't matter.
\n
\nFeelings-wise, I'm pretty much unflappable. You might as well register\nyour grievance with a brick wall. And in some cases, negative opinions\nonly fuel in-story \"rebukes\", but that has more to do with mischief on\nmy part than actual retaliation. And I am prone to finding that funny,\nwhereas OBVIOUSLY the critic will not, and will be inclined to register\nadditional meaningless grievances. It's all good.
\n
\nA statement that I think encapsulates my attitude is, all things being\nequal, which they aren't, why is this guy's opinion better than mine?
\n
\nFirst of all, the situation is very, very far from being equal. I don't\nthink much hubris is required to believe that ME vs. RANDOM INTERNET GUY\nis not close to a fair fight.
\n
\nSecond, even if the metrics tracking quality thought broke even between\nus, it is merely opinion vs. opinion. I'll side with mine, thanks.
\n
\nOpinions aren't even real things. They are ghosts made of thought. But\nlots of people on the internet, especially grumpy ones, treat theirs as\nabsolute reality. Which can be pretty funny to watch. Or terrible. Re:\nyoutube comments.
\n
\nIf you're a creative type who struggles with how others receive your\nwork, I might suggest embracing the attitude above. But before you go\ntoo far with it, you also might want to try real hard to be good at\nsomething first.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 24, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154500790164154537",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nYup.
\n
\n311 hours for Eridan was too, but it's more of a stretch.
\n
\n11 = XI in roman numerals.
\n
\n3XI -> DEAD.
\n
\nEh, maybe that was kind of lame.
\n
\nOh and by the way! 420 for Gamzee because of MARIJUANA.
\n
\nget it????????????
\n
\nHonk.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154501124106259307",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI guess I am sometimes but then sometimes also not?
\n
\nSometimes people have multiple dimensions and are capable of more than one kind of\nthing.
\n
\nI like that you like my stuff though, so thanks.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154501911809126617",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nIf you look up Expendable Character in the dictionary you would\nsee a picture of Nepeta batting around a ball of yarn while looking as\nadorable as possible.
\n
\nBut having said that I bet you wouldn't feel that confident guessing what her fate\nwill be, would you? Probably not.
\n
\nIf I have not portrayed myself as perfectly capable of making Nepeta the\nsole survivor of this comic, then I probably fucked up somewhere along\nthe way.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154502231717090653",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154505032090288475",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nNo way. That movie didn't invent time travel complexity nor is\nit really close to being the most compelling implementation of those\nconcepts. It was a pretty decent movie, but the only thing it actually\ninfluenced were those time trails in the Felt arc.
\n
\nComplex time travel stuff is something I've always thought about.\nActually, about ten years ago around the time when that movie came out,\nmy friend Jan and I (who I did the Star Trek edits with) worked for a\nwhile on a screenplay for what we were slating to be the most maniacal\nand complicated time travel movie ever. It was called Copy/Paste. We\nwere essentially working on Primer I guess, a few years before Primer\ncame out. It was pretty close to being done, but I guess we lost\ninterest. Then later Primer came out, and we didn't need to bother with\nthat anymore. Then 5 years after that I started Homestuck, thus\nrendering Primer obsolete, in a flourish of silly jokes. (????) (YOU\nDECIDE.)\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154505294347527209",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nToo obvious, and the existence of this question is proof.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154506064589515256",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI can try to be less rad for a while if it'll get your boner to chillax but no\npromises.
\n
\nHere I go: whoops, fail.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154506301076958199",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nThe preordered stuff just came in along with a bunch of extras so there'll be some\nback in the store soon.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154507979637426394",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI guess I meant it to be conchnest...
\n
\nBut I had typed so many honks recently.
\n
\nAnd let's not forget the allure of the versatile qualifier \"conksuck\".
\n
\nBasically this was a battle of spelling I could not win.
\n
\nI....... GUESS I'll change it?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154508952376213544",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nOh my fucking god.
\n
\nI just face palmed so hard I broke my DBZ scouter.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154509442623243384",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nYou are forgetting.
\n
\nAt the end, there can only be ONE.
\n
\n:33\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154510199112104193",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nConknestly, I'm actually pretty fond of the spelling, even though it's wrong, so I\nthink I'll leave it.
\n
\nI'll just call it Fef's mistake, not mine.
\n
\nShe lives under water, like she even GOES to fucking school.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154512554096356191",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI was being glib (glub) about that.
\n
\nThey are \"schoolfed\".
\n
\nWhich at this point, means exactly nothing.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154512944955162276",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI'll probably just nuke it after another 1000 questions go by, let's get real here.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154513444375130709",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nThe abrupt nature of revealing his singular outburst of unparalleled strength was,\nget this...
\n
\nANOTHER GAG.
\n
\n
\n
\nhonk ;o)\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154513773686715625",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nIt wasn't very good. Dig something up you made 10 years ago. Bet you'll say the\nsame!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154515136239927178",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\ni don't even motherfuckin know where at that kind of motherfuckin duality comes all\nfrom.
\n
\nI DON'T EVEN MOTHERFUCKING KNOW WHERE AT THAT KIND OF MOTHERFUCKING DUALITY COMES\nALL FROM.
\n
\nThat seems like a pretty nice compliment though, so thank you.
\n
\nWait, I think I just wrote some Gamzee fanfiction there. What the hell.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question154518231401405336",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nLots of things foreshadow things.
\n
\nRemember the very first time we heard from Eridan? It was a conversation with\nKanaya.
\n
\nGA: Can You Just For A Moment Entertain The Thoughts Of One Untouched By\nMegalomaniacal Derangement And Tell Me Why Id Want To Assist You With\n[Genocide]
\nCA: im not goin to vvery wwell kill you am i that wwould be fuckin\nunconscionable
\nCA: wwhat kind of friend wwould i be
\n
\nWWHAT KIND OF FRIEND INDEED.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155265057448559702",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI meant that the server which site is hosted on is frequently\nnot sufficient for the high volume of traffic the site is receiving.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155266856528145424",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nAll of the music was created by other people specifically for the comic.
\n
\nA number of artists have contributed work to many of the later Flash pages.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/credits.html
\n
\nA guy called Gankro programs any Flash page that behaves like a game.
\n
\nAnd my friend Cindy helps by shipping shirts and stuff like that.
\n
\nOther than that, it is a day to day solo grind on my part.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155267263786680772",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI'd rather not tell people how to view the site. It's better\njust to keep upgrading the technology to suit the demand as it\nincreases, and let people do as they may.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155267551113274616",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155268046003403642",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nEvery player is a prince or princess of a moon.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155270473519766872",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nNo, but I have to wonder about it simply because some\nnon-caucasian races have pretty big lips too, like black people, and\nit's considered kind of inappropriate to talk about.
\n
\nSo whenever anyone brings it up, in addition to presuming jealousy on their part,\nI'm inclined to think, \"you fucking racist.\"\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155272013705933859",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI've been trying to shake off all of my fans so hard for so long\nwith my every story decision, but they are all such tenacious sons of\nbitches. I am the mailman. You are the yappy little dog. This site is my\npant cuff.
\n
\nAs for recent stuff, if it will cause people to leave, then they haven't\nleft yet. More people visited the site yesterday than ever.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155273717197344554",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI've heard something to that effect. Someone can go ahead and\nspread the rumor that I like Adventure Time too. I'm not sure how such a\nrumor would start without me deliberately prompting it, because it\ncenters around the act of me watching TV by myself, and no one is the\nwiser.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155276543843671070",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nIn cartoon world, girls have lips and boys don't.
\n
\n#facefacts\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155278305405213410",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nWhen Fedora Freak dies in his Quest Hat, he will ascend to the god tier and become\nthe Gent of Piss.
\n
\nSTAY TUNED.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155282187044819798",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nA twitter account wouldn't be out of the question, since that is\nbasically the entire essence of the character's existence.
\n
\nBut it looks like some absolute bastard has already taken the name, only\nto neglect it direly. One month and four days before Homestuck began.
\n
\nhttp://twitter.com/fedorafreak
\n
\nLUDLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to BrightShadows39,\n\nJan 25, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155544276451751323",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI am probably conveying the impression that I am planning on\nresorting to it much more frequently in the future than I really am.
\n
\nSome people love it, and some people hate it. I wonder what conclusion I should draw\nfrom this schism in reception?
\n
\nHow about:
\n
\npf?f?f?f?f?f?f?f
\n
\nI view them as little opportunities to do funny things, sometimes\nserving as transitions both in mood and story direction, and yet another\ndevice with which to keep things light and ridiculous in a story which I\nrefuse to drag all the way on to serious turf, even if I threaten to at\ntimes.
\n
\nYou could view me as a sort of \"host\" of the story, touching on recent\nthemes in silly ways. Sometimes story's have such players - in the\nstory, but not actually a part of it. If I were to influence the story\nevents directly, that would be a different type of self insert approach,\nand one I have no interest in. If I have any impact on the story at\nall, it will be through an explicitly unobtrusive mechanism.
\n
\nI have no problem saying so, because that's not actually a point of suspense I care\nabout.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155546080396735871",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nThis scene was essential. It brought closure to Rufio's arc, who\nwas clearly the third most important character in Homestuck. He died a\ntragic figure, and the final embrace between us pushed all the right\nliterary buttons. I hope you aspiring storytellers are taking notes.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155547919225755222",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nSome people regard the zodiac realignment as having stunning implications for the HS\nuniverse. It does not.
\n
\nThe 13th sign has always existed in more obscure interpretations of\nastrology, and I have always known about it. The diehard HS theorists\nhave been wise to its existence since the trolls were first connected to\nthe zodiac.
\n
\nThis means the 13th sign has always had the potential to emerge in the\nstory in some way. It either will or it won't. That hasn't changed at\nall with recent news.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155550227972004716",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nIt's an abandoned account. Also, I suspect it was created by a robot.
\n
\n\"I'm hoping there will be a snow day today\"???
\n
\nYeah.
\n
\nBULLSHIT, \"Gabe Ludlum.\"\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155551344390872114",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155553020782867792",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI counted three in the last 320 pages. And then a 4th 600 pages behind that.
\n
\nSo I guess it's a spurt?
\n
\nI dunno.
\n
\nMaybe we should wait for a fourth before we set our watches to them.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155553154144962122",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded to KGibby,\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155560133416492787",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nAll I can recommend is you let the whole story run its course\nbefore you find it guilty of making any sort of anti-gay statement.
\n
\nI mean I'm not the tiniest bit anti-gay personally but I won't expect\nthat assurance to pass for outright dismissal of those concerns. So\nreally, just wait it out.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155561304579402119",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nONLY
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nONE
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n:33\n
mspadventures\nresponded to AchillesAndT,\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155564741106896584",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI didn't even really plan the ball dropping thing until shortly\nbefore New Year's. I just make anything fit with anything. They are\noften crimes of convenience which suggest premeditation. It is the way\nmany aspects of the story are put together.
\n
\nDropping the ball New Year's-style wasn't really enough. I also wrung a callback to\nJailbreak out of it,
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=1&p=000107
\n
\nWherein the huge pumpkin rolled off the tower and settled nearby a\nstump, which through MSPA lore has always been affiliated with suicide.\nThis subject was pertinent to Jade and Jadesprite's conversation.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004391
\n
\nThe fellows in Jailbreak even had a goddang harpoon gun, just like Jade.\nBut... I didn't get to work that in. Not every idea I have gets worked\nin, if you can believe it.
\n
\nAnd one final note, this whole thing neatly solved the problem of\nbuilding up Jade's house. I had long wondered how I might handle that,\nwith it's unusual design. I concluded the best way was to knock off the\ntower/ball part, and build up the blockier structure.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155567882804173632",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nI would probably just ragequit Homestuck.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155568345817587588",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nIt wasn't about teasing though. It was just about answering a question.
\n
\nWere their dream selves still alive? Could they be revived by a kiss?
\n
\nThe answer was no.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question155568466139582632",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question156228026261071238",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nThey don't even have faces.
\n
\nI'd posit that for faceless parental automatons who receive very little\nscreen time, they've actually been given a considerable amount of\ncharacterization.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 28, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question156229408607213957",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nWhy don't you ask me about the one ton of shaving cream?
\n
\nWas it really one ton?
\n
\nThe answer is, yes it was.
\n
\nThe weight of a can of Barbasol is 11 ounces. I calculated you'd need\napproximately a 14 x 14 x 14 cube of them to weigh a ton. Which is\nexactly what's there.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 30, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question156230153997941143",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nDid he try to captchalogue the doll with a wallet modus?
\n
\nTry thinking scientifically next time.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 30, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question156233127486856575",
- "timestamp": 1296691200,
- "html": "\nYou would be a horrible father.
\n
\nAnd if you already are, I hope someone calls Social Services and reports you.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJan 30, 2011 - Feb 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158480742924446176",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nIt actually isn't free. If you try to sign up for it, the\naccount is still unavailable, even though it suddenly appears inactive\nfor some reason.
\n
\nI felt like this was the most important question to address by far after my week\nlong FS hiatus.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158507320903496742",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nIf I want an outcome to be less guessable then I distribute the\nforeshadowed data more carefully and cryptically. Practically nobody\never guesses stuff I seriously don't want them to guess.
\n
\nOther times I leave more obvious bread crumbs to let certain outcomes be\nmore guessable to the public. With the whole Kanpire thing I think I\nwas pretty much beating people over the head with foreshadowed elements,\nincluding a brazen link to a SBaHJ comic in which Jeff appeared as a\nvampire directly below the scene of her demise. Hence her resurrection\ncould safely be conducted to a chorus of NO SHIT!s with a few smug\nCALLED IT!s chiming in for backup, oh and also some HELL YEAH VAMPNAYA\nTIME!s working their way in there. This is not to say the outcome was a\nlock, because there is always the possibility for red herrings, and\nenough of those have been established so that you can never feel\ncompletely safe with a prediction. That is their primary value.\nSeriously, it isn't just messing with people. Making a story\nunpredictable has a lot to do with showing you are capable of doing\npractically anything at any time. Sometimes you bluff, and sometimes you\nplay it straight. It's a little like a poker game. If you do too much\nof one or the other, people can read you easily. Even the silly self\ninsert stuff has benefits in this regard. Predicting what's to come in\nthe story is no different from putting yourself in the head of the\nauthor. If the author paints a portrait of himself as kind of a loose\ncanon, either through a volatile narrative, or in an absurdly literal\nway as I do with the AH nonsense, that will be the consequence.
\n
\nPart of the fun of a story is its unpredictability, and this one has had\nplenty of it so far I think. Unpredictability is a significant basis\nfor suspense, and I'm sure has other benefits we could examine. But I\nthink there is also enjoyment value in occasional predictability, or\nrather, guessability. Setting up some obvious clues, and running with\nthem to their logical conclusion. It's like throwing the reader a bone,\nparticularly those who may be prone to feeling a little overwhelmed by\ngetting perpetually outfoxed by the narrative. Another example of that\nwas Jade's penpal letter. I designed it so that the clues would scream\nGRANDPA GRANDPA GRANDPA, and of course that's what most people were\nguessing. And the guess was very much on the right track. But that\ndoesn't mean it was safe from another twist. It was her grandson, which\nis an outcome still compatible with the original clues, in a way. And\nwhile managing to be surprising, and not particularly guessable. So in\nthat sense I guess that development had the best of both worlds. Letting\npeople pick up on some more obvious clues for a change, and still\ndelivering a surprise.
\n
\nHow guessable something is also relates to how close to the event you\nget. Prior to Eridan's entrance into the room, and even during, the\ndeaths were completely unguessable. After Feferi's death, Kanaya's\nbecomes considerably more so, but still quite uncertain. After her\ndeath, all bets are off. Not only do all deaths thereafter become\nguessable, but in some cases, \"predictable\". That's because it was the\nline between a series of shocking events, and the establishment of an\nactual story pattern. The new pattern serves a purpose, as a sort of\nannouncement that the story is shifting gears, that we're drifting into\nthese mock-survival horror, mock-crime drama segments, driven by\nsuspense more than usual. The suspense has more authority because of all\nthe collateral of unpredictability built up over time, as well as all\nthe typical stuff that helps like long term characterization. But now\nthat the pattern is out in the open, following through with more deaths\nno longer qualifies as unpredictability. Just the opposite, it would now\nbe playing into expectations, which as I said, can be important too.\nThis gear we've switched to is the new normal, and any unpredictability\nto arise thereafter will necessarily be a departure from whatever\ncurrent patterns would indicate.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158518103754439526",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nYes.
\n
\nIt means \"arrow.\"\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158526393485916444",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nAfraid? No, because then I would be a fucking chicken.
\n
\nEverything I'm doing is awesome and is unequivocally the right thing to\ndo. Fear is for cowardly stupid babies who take massive dumps in their\nbaby ass diapers, thus filling them with huge piles of gross, baby ass\nshit.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158527465797486257",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nI thought about that, but decided it was suitably ambiguous.\n\"Tavros: Land already.\" could simply be referring to him tumbling down\nyet another flight of stairs.
\n
\nThe command \"-->\" you could argue is similarly spoilerish.
\n
\nI bet you saw that and said uh-oh, Equius is about to get the old arrow through the\nleg.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158528419347333972",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nNo, there are some bugs. They will be fixed later.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158529465440309375",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nThat wouldn't make whole a lot of sense in a room with no other exit.
\n
\nUnless the point of the room is to sneak into it through a vent, and\nthen transport back and forth across a span of 20 feet or so until you\nget bored.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158530985678366048",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nThis seems like a preposterous thing to do. When the latest page\nis a big Flash, why not just go camp on the index, and observe the list\nof links to the side when you refresh?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158532855037725667",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158533575904368050",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nI merely yanked the sheep's clothing off the intrinsically dreadful word.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158534148242316739",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nYES
\n
\nEVERYBODY LISTEN UP. TAVROS IS COMING BACK TO LIFE. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST.
\n
\nThank god you asked that question! It was going to eat me alive keeping a lid on\nthat bombshell.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158534481815306816",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nAnyone who would ask such a question is not a true Homestuck fan, and must vacate\nthe premises immediately.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158535322513215203",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nI was talking about specifically when the latest page is a heavy\nFlash file. Why would you subject yourself to the abuse of refreshing\nthat every time you're checking for an update?
\n
\nIt's just common se...
\n
\nthpppppbpbpbpbpbthpphhphphpbbbpthhthphth i give up\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158536794458064289",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nI just googled fedora freak. Google's auto-complete feature provided:
\n
\nfedora freak
\nfedora freak mspa
\nfedora freak homestuck
\n
\nIt's pretty cool that google gives props to ff in this way.
\n
\nIt's also worth noting that none of those searches lead to any clear answers about\nff or who he is.
\n
\nI guess I forgot the point I was making.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158538638374762123",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nThat's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
\n
\nThat's like saying a room with two doors doesn't make sense.
\n
\nLike, wait, I don't get it! You go in the room... and then you can also go out???\nWTF IS THE POINT
\n
\nThat is practically the definition of every room that has ever existed.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158538920743704722",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nHave you ever heard of a SICK BURN???
\n
\nI don't even get what's up with a lot of these questions.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158541295109833052",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nI am ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED to waffling about the engagement up until its very\nprecipice.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158544518025604640",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nI like that through formspring there appears to be emerging\nfanon-assertion that a room with two distinct points of exit is\nsomething that is necessarily less than logical.
\n
\nIt proves beyond question that there is absolutely nothing people will not take the\nopportunity to argue with me about.
\n
\nI will call it the Two Doors Theory of idiotic argumentation.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to markuspeloquin,\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158545729483211158",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nThis question carries the bizarre implication that I make a\nhabit of reading any other Formspring accounts. I find my own tedious\nenough to peruse as it is.
\n
\nAlso I think you'll find smiling at my answers more often will go a long\nway. In fact I am dismayed to scroll down and find all of my answers\ndirely under-smiled upon.
\n
\nI am going to say that if all of the answers on this page have not\ngathered at least 1000 smiles each within 24 hours, I am going a\nRAGEQUIT HOMESTUCK.
\n
\nThe clock is ticking. :o)\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158879977301894344",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nOf course it was lame.
\n
\nDisappointing? I don't think so. More like suitable for everything we knew about the\ncharacter. Which wasn't all that much.
\n
\nThis was a character who was introduced with horse porn on his walls.\nHis entire presence in the story was a gag. I think literally every\nconversation he had was centered around his obsession with the\nhierarchy, his perverse enjoyment in being bossed around by those under\nhim, and his desire to be subjug(gl)ated by his only land dwelling\nsuperior. He mentioned he didn't think he could raise a hand to the\nhighblood. When it came down to it, he couldn't, not even to save his\nlife. Such was the extent of ridiculous submission fetish. He was\ndevoted to the caste system to a fault, and he died for it.
\n
\nTo be disappointed is to crave a more challenging or heroic death. Which\nI guess is fine. But to crave a scenario in which a more dynamic duel\noccurs and he rises as some sort of hero would be overestimating the\nrelevance of an utterly marginal character, someone designed to be not\nmuch more than a really strange piece of an ensemble cast. What he\ncontributed to that ensemble was, as I said, completely centered around a\ngag, and I stayed true to the gag to the bitter end. His death was as\nmuch a sight gag as his introduction. This effectively concludes his arc\nas a minor character. (OR DOES IT????)
\n
\nI think of the big picture, and like I say all the time, I consider how\nit reads straight through as opposed to dripped out tortuously for day\nto day analysis and second guessing. In the slow motion of present\nmoment, the readers deal in countless WOULDN'T IT BE COOL IFs, but each\nof those is lacking broader vision. I'm the one keeping track of the big\npicture here, and if I happen to mention that Equius going out with a\nbigger bang would have been kind of dumb, like so many other things on\npeople's wish lists, I guess you just gotta trust me!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158880747355143258",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nCan you think of a better way to go than being subjugglated to death by a rampaging\nhighblood? I can't.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158881785575405344",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nIt's safe to say that if he twitched his neck muscles at all it probably would have\nbroken the string.
\n
\nHe was just that passive.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158882421612254487",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nIt does not sound like I locked myself out of an interesting idea.
\n
\nIt sounds like I locked myself out of your fan fiction.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158895578732862954",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nOk, imagine I didn't do the Flash.
\n
\nNow replace your question with this.
\n
\n\"Dear Andrew! How could you kill off Equius without any more parting\ndialogue between him and Nepeta? Or more funny horse pun antics or\nwhatever?? It just seemed so RANDOM! That was so cruel of you, and also\nhorrible, horrible, HORRIBLE storywriting!\"
\n
\nThese question-grievances are always no win situations. There are so\nmany conflicting objections, it's hard to take any seriously.
\n
\nAnd this isn't even addressing the substance of the objection. So you're\nsaying there is no purpose in characterizing someone who is slated to\ndie? Pardon me, but that's idiotic. You say you don't understand the\npoint in taking \"all this time for him\"? Where \"all this time\" is a\nsingle Flash page, with several conversations? Seems like overstatement.\nAs for the point of the Flash, how about fun? Entertainment value?\nHumor? Is any of this registering?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question158899822194104537",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nOh ok I accidentally made him a complex character?
\n
\nWHOOPS!!!
\n
\nEvery aspect of him was deliberate. I try to make even marginal\ncharacters as interesting as they can be with limited exposure given.\nBut they're still marginal, and he was still fundamentally a gag\ncharacter in spite of those complexities.
\n
\nI'm just sort of shaking my head here at anyone crestfallen TO THE MAX\nabout Equius's failure to stake a heroic claim on Homestuck's already\nIMMENSE plot footprint. Like, seriously? With as big a thing as this\nstory is, people are gonna hold a candle light vigil on my lawn for the\nGREAT SWAN SONG of the dude whose overwhelming gimmick was fetishistic\nsubmission? THERE ARE BIGGER FUCKING FISH TO FRY, PEOPLE.
\n
\nTime to get a grip.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question161398964569013320",
- "timestamp": 1297296000,
- "html": "\nI thought it was funny.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 6, 2011 - Feb 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159232067769501484",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nRehosting this thing is a pretty huge pain and I get pretty\neasily deterred from just about any chore that doesn't have to do with\nupdating the site.
\n
\nBy I'll get around to it soon hopefully.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159232563347483640",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nFYI David Carradine was a Sagittarius.
\n
\nI dunno how strong he was though.
\n
\nMaybe kinda strong.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to incarnadine28,\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159233750713001026",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nI should clarify I was not actually reprimanding anyone for feeling bad about a\ncertain character dying.
\n
\nI was just providing some broader perspective. Often what you want the\nmost will not actually serve a story that well, in the way it has been\ndesigned to come together.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159234502688799042",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nWell it IS a pretty evil number.
\n
\nThis is scientific reality of the most empirically measurable magnitude.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159234701805001342",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nWhere do you think she spends the rest of her 8 lives??????\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159238163624137561",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nPrimarily evil clown power I guess.
\n
\nIt's the same phenomenon that makes the Joker the most dangerous Batman\nvillain. He's just a stupid guy in a purple suit who thinks murder is\nfunny and stuff. We can't people just shoot him??? He gets away with\nANYTHING.
\n
\nEvil clown powers might be the most dangerous powers a villain can have for this\nreason.
\n
\nSome (probably everyone) may have noticed that many of the trolls are\nloosely or not so loosely related to various super heroes and villains.
\n
\nSollux - Cyclops
\nAradia - Jean Grey (including parallels with her death/resurrection to Phoenix,\nwhich augmented her powers)
\nTavros - Professor X
\nNepeta - Wolverine
\nKarkat - :( .......... he has red blood at least!
\nTerezi - Daredevil and Two Face
\nVriska - hell, take your pick from her powers buffet
\nEquius - insert strong dude here
\nGamzee - Joker, with a bit of the Two Face thing going on
\nEridan - somebody from Harry Potter
\nKanaya - somebody from Twilight
\nFeferi - insert under water hero here\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159238468692633036",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nCool thanks! I hope everybody likes it a whole lot, forever.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to flintheart,\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159238760121272293",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nGuess we'll just have to wait and see.
\n
\nFor now, I'll keep the answer mathematical.
\n
\nWe have gained negative several characters.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159268867502284664",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nHe is slashing his face on purpose. Because I didn't think the\nerotic submissive asphyxiation fetish death was fucked up enough, I\nthought a little bit of self mutilation was in order.
\n
\nI hope at this point people realize that when you punched your Homestuck\nticket, or really anything I've worked on, you were signing up for\nsomething that runs the risk of getting pretty fucked up. Practically\neverything I've done outside the confines of MSPA has been considerably\nmore bizarre.
\n
\nI'm capable of containing the impulse to do bizarre shit when I want to.\nIf you look at some big stretches of Homestuck, you will observe\nsomething that is quite tame, often cutesy, and even at times bordering\non accessible. But then, to create a well manicured and widely palatable\nproduct was never the mission here. It was about exploration, high\ndiversity of concepts and execution and all that, and I guess above all,\nfun for me personally. (and YOU!) So there are vehicles built into it\nto support my more usual fare.
\n
\nThe primary vehicle for that was Hivebent, and the entire troll presence\nin the story in general. It began with a pretty messed up premise. The\nestablishment of a colorful cast of kids from a violent race of\npsychopaths whose entire civilization centers around brutality and\nmurder, and watching how kids from such a culture relate to each other\nand come of age. Hivebent began with dark notes relative to Homestuck,\nand only got darker. The scene with Vriska and Tavros in her quest\ncocoon was an example of the escalation in fucked up shit. Present\nevents are even further escalation. It was always going to get much\nworse before it got better.
\n
\nIf you got into this story more recently without knowing anything about\nme or what I've done before, and feel the story would be better suited\nwithout the inclusion of the more bizarre elements, or the downright\nNASTYTIMES, all I can say is that's not who I am or what you signed up\nfor.
\n
\nDo you know about Humanimals? Probably most of you do. It's a comic I\ndid years ago. I still think it's hilarious, personally. If you do too,\nthen I would bet there aren't many ways in which our senses of humor\ndiffer. But to many it was disturbing, hideous rubbish. In truth, these\ncomics are probably about as unsettling as you can possibly get without\nresorting to violent or sexual content. (if it appears sexual in nature,\nthat is only your imagination at work, trust me)
\n
\nhttp://www.teamspecialolympics.com/comic.php?sec=archive&auth=Blurbs&cid=blurbs/00085-h.gif&blurb=h
\n(Edward was on Equius's wall in the latest Flash)
\n
\n[here's where this answer probably gets a bit too long]
\n
\nI'm constantly mining content from my older work to incorporate into\nHomestuck. The instances of this are hard to quantify. Let's talk about\nEquius again. Lot's of people thought he had depth beyond his gags, and\nthat's definitely true. But that wasn't what was relevant about him, to\nme personally. He was always the troll personification of everything\nlike Humanimals I ever did and put on the internet. (Hence is lusus is\nbasically a Humanimal.) I used to do all sorts of weird stuff, reviewing\nobscene furry pornography, making weird collages involving horses, and\njust a whole lot of bizarre shit that didn't make much sense, but I\nthought was funny. The whole span of these endeavors was quite trollish\nin nature, and you will agree if you peruse Humanimals. The fact that it\nputs some people off is part of what makes it funny. So Equius was that\nentire arena of trollish content, rolled into a character. That's why I\nwas STRONGLY committed to maintaining the integrity of his arc, as I\ndefined it. It was more important by far for me to adhere to his role as\nthe fucked up dude who embodies all that stuff than have him blow it by\ndoing something heroic. He believed he died a death of supreme\nintegrity. And so do I.
\n
\nDon't get me wrong, he was still a gag character. But this was the\nprecise nature of the gag, an homage to an entire vein of humor I used\nto deal in copiously. He, like some others, trolled you in life, and\nthen trolled you in death. What happened in between, you ask? Well, that\nwas just you falling in love.
\n
\nWhistles was a graphic novel I did years ago. It's another thing I've\nmined ideas from, which have specifically begun to show themselves\nlately with Gamzee's turn. And oddly, there's some of Whistles rolled\ninto Equius too. If Equius seemed to accelerate to a point of depth\nfaster than others, maybe it's because he was built on quite a payload\nof founding concepts, all revolving around perversity.
\n
\nWhistles was about a clown in a circus who was as sweet as could be. He\nloved his ringmaster, in spite of the fact that the master was a\ncannibal and a tyrant who attempted to kill him. When the circus\nrebelled against the master and beat him, Whistles flipped out, killed a\nlot of people, and absconded with the master into the desert. (nice\nclown going murderous is obviously what Gamzee imported from this) The\nrecurring theme throughout the whole comic is that every time Whistles\nhas a chance to do the right thing and rebel against his evil master, he\ncan't overcome his loyalty to him. To the point where he offers his\nstarving master his own severed arm to eat. The whole thing is darkly\nhumorous and pretty messed up. Equius imported this insane reverence for\nthe hierarchy at the expense of his own well being. Though with\nWhistles, it wasn't quite as perverse and didn't have the creepy sexual\nconnotations. (However, at one point Whistles did dabble in\nprostitution. But when he did it, it was cute!)
\n
\nI get asked sometimes if I will make book 2, the conclusion of Whistles.\nThe answer is, probably not. It's incredibly time consuming making a\ngraphic novel, and I don't know where I'll find the time. It also\nprobably just gathered too much dust for me to get into it again. But\nunlike Equius, I did plan on giving Whistles a heroic end. I always\nintended for him to overcome his obsession with his master.
\n
\nFor what it's worth, I did finish a draft of book 2's first chapter. It\nintroduces a new villain named Sugarshoe who is, get this, another\ninsane clown! If you read through this and recent HS events, it may seem\nlike I'm obsessed with this kind of thing. Not really. Like I said, I\njust borrow heavily from myself.
\n
\nhttp://www.andrewhussie.com/comic.php?sec=archive&auth=Andrew&cid=whistles2_draft/whistles2_001.jpg
\n
\nJust to wrap up this trivia binge, some other examples of old stuff I've rolled into\nHomestuck are..........
\n
\nSBaHJ. I did a few strips on a whim, satirizing someone's comics, about\none month before I started HS. I folded it into HS as it's primary\nsource of original memes to be referenced ad nauseum.
\n
\nThe whole Bro puppet obsession was largely sparked by this series of\nridiculous muppet comics I did in the forum years ago. One of the comics\nactually made it in HS, pinned on Bro's door for Dave to find. File\nthis under More Fucked Up Shit I did.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.php?24118-Cheerfulbear-PLAY-ME
\n
\nAll the wizard stuff in Rose's house, and her wizardfic writing in\ngeneral, was mostly imported from my own absurd wizardfic I wrote some\nyears ago, a pretty healthy sized book I never quite finished. It was\ncalled Wizardy Herbert, and was a very flippantly satirical story about\nkids and magic, starting out as what seemed like an unapologetic Harry\nPotter spoof revolving around a magical summer camp instead of a school,\nand then quickly launching off the plot deep end into some very\nconvoluted stuff of Homestuckian proportions. In fact, there are many\nideas mined from this story and injected into Homestuck. Any time you\nread anything about magic being stupid or not being real or anything\nlike that, that's Wizardy Herbert talking. Zazzerpan and his full\nComplacency were minor characters in WH. WH is actually extremely\nsimilar to HS, in terms of the nature of the dialogue, the blend of\nutter silliness and dramatic seriousness, and complexity. It feels like\nsuch a similar thing to me, this might be the main reason why I'll never\nquite finish it.
\n
\nCharacters from WH are on Rose's wall here. http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002121
\n
\nHerbert is the guy with the eye patch. He had a magic gun. But he could\nnever figure out how to use magic, so he primarily just went around\nshooting things.
\n
\nAnyway I guess that's enough about all that.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159444244933665031",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159444563465896362",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nNah.
\n
\nI just think bizarre and dark stuff is entertaining.
\n
\nBut not exclusively.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159444821772115814",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nWelp, I guess that closes the book on THAT comic! Thank god I am surrounded by\nexperts.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159453570935068717",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nI am prioritizing that the story continue to be entertaining and\nfunny. That is what it still is, in my view, which appears to differ\nwith the reality inside your own personal factsphere. So be it.
\n
\nBut using Problem Sleuth as a comparison is silly. Problem Sleuth had\nvery little in the way of a plot, and the characters were mute foils for\noutrageous shenanigans. The dark events, which were rare, happened in a\nframework in which investment was limited.
\n
\nThe Midnight Crew intermission would serve as a better comparison\nanyway, since it was essentially a bloodbath. But it's still the same\nkind of thing. Stick figure characters with no actual personality\ngetting knocked off left and right for laughs. If you ask I apply the\nexact same standards of \"dark lite\" to HS, I say this is not possible.\nKilling a character beyond stick figure depth will necessarily carry\nmore weight, and will be read by some as a turn for the GRIMDARK. So in\ntruth your advice is to kill no one, and proceed gutlessly, or risk\nbeing likened to a comic book from the 1990's. I suggest viewing this as\nan attempt to be edgy and therefore artistic is a pretty shallow way to\ninterpret what is happening.
\n
\nLooking back on the MC intermission again, it was a pretty prescient\nsegment. It foretold of a great deal of time travel complexity yet to\ncome in the story. It turns out there was a bloodbath in the cards as\nwell. There are many ways to examine past events and not be surprised by\nwhat is taking place now. Not the least of which is that these children\nwere introduced as members of a race of psychopathic murderers. Some of\nyour jaws still seem to be on the floor, and I guess I wonder what\nthey're still doing there.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159454191272618990",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159456307298999530",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nBut it did in fact do the F.U.S.
\n
\nIt was practically all contained to Hivebent though. Hivebent, as I\nsuggested further down, is a microcosm for all of that sort of material,\nwhich as I also said, was all vaguely trollish in nature.
\n
\nRemember how all of these characters were internet trolls in the first place?
\n
\nInside the anguished bosom of every reader still left puzzled, there is a\neureka moment yearning to happen. I swear this to be true.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question159456815506022799",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nIt takes a lot of dexterity and showmanship to keep the better part of a million\nplates spinning on sticks.
\n
\nThe plates are YOU CHUMPS.
\n
\nAnd the sticks?
\n
\nYeah I don't even know what the sticks are.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 9, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160190277804392608",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 10, 2011 - ~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160190965737360070",
- "timestamp": 1297641600,
- "html": "\nI stopped using reader suggestions about a year into HS, which was 10 months ago.\nNothing new.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011?\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160191278854727082",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nWe will:
\n
\n1) See no more ancestors.
\n
\n2) See some more ancestors.
\n
\n3) See all of the ancestors.
\n
\nOne of those things will prove to be true! I do not know which yet.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160191439261699347",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIt is a pirate hat.
\n
\nPirates love silly hats.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to johnlindrosbluh,\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160192355226381622",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nNothing is ever drawn in advance. I draw a panel, and then post\nit. Or I draw a group of panels in succession, and then post them all.
\n
\nif a chat log is involved, I write it first, then draw, then post immediately.
\n
\nIf there is a shorter more casual narration below the image, I often\ndraw the panel first, then come up with the text on the fly as I post\nit. But not always.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to kfos66,\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160198028509081794",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nThe whiplash phenomenon is not limited to your perception of\nVriska. It is a defining feature of the reading experience, especially\nlately. It's not a bad thing, in my view. One of the reasons you get on a\nroller coaster is because the experience is not exactly a gentle one.\nThey build them in amusement parks, because that is where people go to\nbe amused.
\n
\nVriska is not designed to be either definitively likable or hateable.\nSometimes when you read a story, a character does something which you\nwill take as a message from the author about how you are supposed to\nfeel about that character. When they later do something at odds with\nthat message, it can either be regarded as out of character, or\ncharacter development, depending on both the reader's perception, and\nthe author's execution.
\n
\nIn this case, everything she does, good or bad, is meant to provide a\nmore complete picture of her as a character, and more thorough context\nfor her actions. Once upon a time, a lot of it seemed purely despicable.\nBut I don't believe either extreme, despicable or sympathetic, is 100%\nsuitable anymore. What exists is a portrait that has complexities, as\nany character given a lot of time in the limelight should have. That\nhaving been provided, which side she falls on is up to the reader.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160198191709452013",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nMaybe we'll find out
\n
\n?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160198504390615657",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160198797157231917",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nfedorafreak .......... wait
\n
\nI thought you said LEAST attention.
\n
\nCome on people, time to hop on the FF bandwagon, let's go.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160199543110006854",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI once said it was maybe the most important intellectual\nactivity we could possibly engage in, to justify the existence of troll\nboobs, and I stand by that statement.
\n
\nWho says they serve the same purpose? Maybe they are glands for some\nother more alien substance. Maybe a substance useful in battle???????
\n
\n/END FANFICTION\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160199616690692057",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160199858257434799",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nThey are all precisely the same height. Check out the sprites dogg.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160201404495990969",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIt's not about authority though, people are gonna have opinions\nand stuff, which is all good. Sometimes I say what I think in response.\nThose are MY opinions, and occasionally, my facts.
\n
\nHow I feel.
\n
\nSometimes I feel like I have ruined comics for myself forever. Sometimes\nI will look at a normal comic, and think to myself, what the fuck are\nall these fucking panels doing on the same fucking page? SPREAD EM OUT\nDUDE! True story.
\n
\nIt is my fond hope that I have ruined, or will ruin, comics for everyone\nelse too. Scott McCloud wrote what I am sure is a pretty good book\ncalled \"Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art\". One day I hope to\nwrite a book called \"Ruining Comics: Forever\". It will be a 1000 page\nbook, and every page will simply be a photograph of my face.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160202374181317556",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI've said this before, but act 6 will be considerably shorter, and act 7 will be\nminuscule.
\n
\nAct 5 is what I will call THE GREAT MOTHERFUCKER OF HOMESTUCK. It is\nwhat you observe when the perfect storm of plot density and character\noverload finally materializes.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160202549985567226",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nFinal answer: all of them are all heights.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question160205295367259158",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nWell, if you have to force a punchline, then the punchline\nshouldn't even exist, should it? The whole comic shouldn't exist. By\nextension, there are entire webcomics out there that should not exist.\n(Won't say which ones tho! hehehehehehehehehehe.)
\n
\nBut really, one problem with normal comics I think is when you have\npages chock full of panels, sometimes a lot of those panels just get\nglazed over by the reader as background wallpaper, even though they may\nbe very attractive if examined, and a great deal of care was put into it\nby the artist. It's sort of a shame.
\n
\nWith each panel given focus, they demand attention and can have more\npower individually, and create more surprising statements as navigated\nthrough. This is true even if one of my panels is literally just me\nscribbling bullshit all over it.
\n
\nAnd the real HAYMAKER of this format is being able to deliver any\nquantity of text below the image I want. Anywhere from 0 to 100,000\ncharacters. I can fit entire conversations in one panel which would\nrequire HUNDREDS of normal comic panels to convey gracefully. I always\nfound dialogue-dense comics a bit offputting, wherein all the dialogue\nis stuffed into a lot of ponderous bubbles crowding out the art. With\nthis format, this is not an issue at all. Large volumes of text may\ncoexist with the art innocuously, as if you are reading a true\ncomic/novel hybrid.
\n
\nOh yeah, + animation's cool too I guess.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\n~Feb 13, 2011? - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question161373594494993361",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI like to think that describes half of what's in Homestuck.
\n
\nThe thing is, I know what you all want, deep down. I know what you all NEED.
\n
\nAnd what you need is author endorsed/written/canonized erotic lesbian troll pirate\nfanfic.
\n
\nI mean fangfic.
\n
\nHappy V-tine's.
\n
\n<3 / <}<\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 14, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question161378232900282810",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\n<}< <3<
\n
\nHmmmmmmmmmmm yeah. I'm not even sure what I was doing with that curvy bracket shit.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Unguided,\n\nFeb 14, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question161378595699194931",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nA lot of people made a lot of guesses for what the 2/14 thing might be.
\n
\nNobody guessed ancestral pirate porn.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to ApeHasKilledApe,\n\nFeb 14, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question161390975535574713",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nAll of it was an accurate historical account of events from her\nperspective. She does not need to embellish on anything because she is\nthe real deal. A very successful and nefarious troll pirate who exploits\nher powers in battle and romance.
\n
\nThis is one of those things that is equal parts serious and silly (well\nok maybe not totally equal). It is in part serious in the sense that you\ncan view it totally straight and read it as a series of events that\nliterally happened, and has implications for the story. It is also in\npart COMPLETELY FUCKING RIDICULOUS because you are truly, literally\nreading an excerpt of trashy romance, involving pirates like some Fabio\nnovel, all parsed through a grim troll culture and the strange\nmulti-dimensionality of troll romance.
\n
\nOnce all the dust WTF settles, you can look at it from a variety of angles.
\n
\nSince this is the ancestor Vriska idolizes, this is probably the exact\ntype of character she'd grow up to be, if left unfettered in troll\nsociety. If there is any departure in her inclinations, this is the\ntemplate she is departing from. We've already seen her try to do her\nMindfang impression a few times with mixed results. She tried to get\nTavros to kiss her with mind control, but couldn't go through with it.
\n
\nWhen put into the perspective of more severe adult troll attitudes, I\nthink it helps make everything the trolls have done so far seem more\nchildish in retrospect. It was hard to gauge, because adult troll life\nwas completely abstract. Hearing a little from one adult's perspective\nthrough this romfic shows how big the gap was between their youthful\nantics and what they were really trying to become.
\n
\nIt also puts a little perspective on why certain relationships are the\nway they are, seeing how their ancestral counterparts interacted (in\nthis case, Vriska and Eridan, whose ancestor was Dualscar, which was the\nname of his RP character as well). But we still only have the one\nexample to go on so far.
\n
\nAnd on the topic of Vriska reading this thing for inspiration, to me\nit's kind of got the feel of a cross between a kid learning about a\nrelative she looks up to, delighting in reading some unapologetically\ntrashy romance novel, AND the troll equivalent of stumbling on her\nparent's porn stash. Which is not to say the entire journal is full of\nsmut. But hey, there it is.
\n
\nAnd lastly, you can look at the log as further insight into the nature\nof troll romance, their near-universal bisexuality, their apparently\ncasual attitudes toward the multiple partners the quadrants demand, the\ntension surrounding the potential of hopping quadrants and the meaning\nof envy in this regard, an element of mysterious affection that still\nseems to surround the hate-based black relationships, and a certain\ndegree of open promiscuity implied by the actions here. IF YOU CARE!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 14, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question161396976141768905",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 14, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question161400261816912810",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nWe're not talking about the afterlife anymore, we're talking about pirate porn.
\n
\nNobody even remembers there is an afterlife in Homestuck anymore, get with the\nprogram.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 14, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162298773249236766",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI did?
\n
\nI made the flash in like 3 hours.
\n
\nIf I hadn't posted anything in several days, your anticipation of something more\neventful would be warranted.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 16, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162302078809575901",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI'm really baffled by the source of your confusion here, but the\nquestion seems to share a sentiment with some other weird questions I'm\nreading which demand this [S] page should have gratified them all\ninstantly in the exact way they desired, so I'll answer them\nblanketedly.
\n
\nHave you ever watched a movie? Sometimes the setup is as important as\nthe payoff. Ambiance? Tone? Suspense? Bringing to a more clear cinematic\nfocus of prior events? Any of these things familiar?
\n
\nIf we chopped up an old western into pieces and distributed it daily,\nall those cowboy actors have to put up with Formspring questions yelling\nGET FUCKING ON WITH IT CLINT EASTWOOD. WE GET IT, YOU ARE STARING THE\nDUDE DOWN. Things take time to execute and deliver properly.
\n
\nI think sometimes people think this site is this magic box that all this\nmiraculous shit comes out of with no explanation or process behind it,\nbut I do in fact have to spend time MAKING that shit. The more complex\nit is, and the more points of interest it resolves, the more time it\ntakes. You wanted a fucking battle royale? Ok, get ready for a week\nwithout updates!
\n
\nThe golden goose is a great thing for everybody until down the road you\ndiscover you are that guy wringing the bird's neck screaming at it to\nlay you some more goddamn eggs you honking piece of shit.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Stonefame,\n\nFeb 16, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162303929936283879",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI probably won't post anything until tomorrow, but that's only cause I'm kinda busy\ntoday!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 16, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162858344015500081",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nFirst she auspisticized between Gamzee and Vriska.
\n
\nThen she auspisticized between Eridan's upper torso and lower torso.
\n
\nthere were
\n
\ndeuce clubs
\n
\nB|\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162860637045691364",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nAll religion is real. Time to deal with it.
\n
\nIf you still find doubt in your bosom over this and many other spiritual\nfacts, I recommend you pray harder, and then go weep in a church until\nyou pass out.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162864049904717596",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nA dig??? Try a CELEBRATION!!!
\n
\nOf its terribleness!!!!!! <laughs happen>
\n
\nBut then, I haven't read it, so what do I know? Maybe it's great! Sparkly vampires,\ndamn what a cool idea.
\n
\nBut for the record she doesn't sparkle, she just glows like a goddamn\nlight bulb, which is WAY more awesome than Edward turning into a walking\nblingee when he gets some sun. It also makes more sense because she is a\nreverse vampire on account of being a member of a nocturnal race. And\nit makes even MORE sense because it is a dig at Twilight.
\n
\nStephenie Meyer can't even fall back on the Twilight parody excuse to\njustify her glittering vampires, because the thing she is writing is\nTwilight in the first place. I am going to email her my condolences.\nShe'll probably think I'm [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed though, sort of like how I feel about\npeople who complain about my dumb shit on formspring. The only\nsignificant difference is that I'm right, and she's boring.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162865027324352284",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIf you were not high when you submitted this question, I will\nliterally use my own physical strength to submerge a pony in a wading\npool full of bong water until it drowns.
\n
\nI am that sure.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to CarsenFox,\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162867664346182402",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI don't even know why I should possibly have to explain this.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162869139612931894",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nAny time anyone's shoes fly off for any reason I am channeling\nthe recurring scene from Calvin and Hobbes when Hobbes pounces on Calvin\nat the front door, knocking him out of his shoes and sometimes his\nsocks as well. There was another moment in HS when dad pied John in the\nface right out of his shoes. Same deal.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162871975239251777",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nLADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HAVE JUST BEEN SUCCESSFULLY HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR CRIMES\nAGAINST MY READERS AND MY STORY.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162876356407891383",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIt was intentional insofar as I was aware of the possibility of\ndrawing attention to it for humorous effect, but did not.
\n
\nThere was already a Schrodinger's Dave joke earlier, and how much lousy\nSchrodinger do we even need? That one was funnier anyway, because it was\nRicky Schroedinger's Dave, which is not actually funny to anyone who\ndoesn't know what Silver Spoons was, which is probably most of you. And\neven then, it is only funny in conjunction with Terezi's breakdancing\nSchroeder gifs.
\n
\nSo what I'm saying is the cat joke both exists and doesn't exist. It is in fact\nSchrodinger's Joke.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162876539325676441",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIt's more like 99% you rocks just to be clear.
\n
\nwait...
\n
\nyour question just officially made it...
\n
\n100%!
\n
\n
\n
\n:0\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162876883430574896",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI have this really strong hunch that people who think I pick out\ndumb questions have a really dumb idea for what constitutes a good\nquestion.
\n
\nLike guys who are frustrated that I'm talking about Twilight while\nletting their perfectly good questions about troll boners go ignored.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162879016804587231",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI am secretly trolling you by coming up with words like\nauspisticization. This is the one and only time I will admit to trolling\nyou about anything.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question162885261322124710",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nTrolls pop boners like stunt guys pop wheelies.
\n
\nI'm completely sure that's all that's got to be said.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163254286547968850",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFeb 18, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163260820405383694",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nMSPAspace is a pretty fast and loose kind of space.
\n
\nI like to think the events you described would have taken a month to convey through\na more typical webcomic.
\n
\nAnd by that I mean what I just said is definitely true.
\n
\nAlso a typical comic would not involve things that are as great as those things.\n
\n
\nBasically I am saying there is a good reason why this is the only comic that you\nbother with.
\n
\nNow let's all delete all of our non-mspa bookmarks, right now.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163272621666887208",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI think this was pretty obvious a long time ago.
\n
\nBut then, homosexuality in a society where bisexuality is the norm is\nkind of a different thing. Rather than being a swapped preference, it is\na more exacting preference. Somewhat like a fetish for a particular\ngender. When Karkat was talking to John about it, he indicated trolls\ndon't even have a word for the orientation. It's not something that\nappears to have any cultural significance to them. Which might seem odd,\nbut then, they're aliens. Maybe a way to view it is how we view people\nwith more exacting preferences, like certain fetishists. We don't\nactually have common words to describe most people like that, and their\npresence doesn't have nearly the same social ramifications which\nhomosexuality does. Humans seem to make a very big deal out of\nhomosexuality, while treating other forms of preference as barely worth\nnoting. When Karkat was <3< hitting on John, the reasonable human\nresponse was to say \"I am not a homosexual.\" But the troll response\nwould be more like \"Sorry, not interested,\" without invoking\norientation. Very much like a guy with a fat fetish isn't too likely to\nreject a thin girl by saying \"Sorry, I am just this HUGE chubby chaser,\nso I must decline.\" (CUE FAT VRISKA JOKES AGAIN)
\n
\nNot that any of this changes how we view Kanaya. From a human perspective, she's an\nunmistakably gay character.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163274003597782187",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nESPECIALLY DINOSAUR COMICS
\n
\nTHE PANELS NEVER CHANGE, HOW DOES ANYBODY EVEN TAKE THIS GUY SERIOUSLY\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163275355442935017",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nKanaya was obviously always going to be the most asskickingest\nasskicker who ever kicked an enormous butt right in its big fat ass,\nbecause I am a virgo and I obviously can't be affiliated with a lame\nuseless troll.
\n
\nAlso, it's especially fitting, because in reality I am like this huge lesbian.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163572619059164398",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nHow do we know they didn't?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163572896982147058",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nYou are actually supposed to simultaneously laugh and cry as hard as you can out of\nevery orifice in your body.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163574660741504347",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nDad did Jack a favor once by burning his silly hat, and Jack rewarded him by letting\nhim escape.
\n
\nEven if he did remember him, I think it's safe to say he considered that debt\nrepaid.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163576198780197295",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nThat was what happened when he was reading MS Paint Adventures and found out his\nfavorite troll died.
\n
\nIt was the VAST SOB.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163578006705575948",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nWhy do you expect the purpose of something that happens in a story to be instantly\nevident?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question163578779598350534",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\n\nNO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\nwait yes\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167571187008830907",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nOk, here is what I said about this in the forum.
\n
\nvvv
\n
\nHere comes the magic of logic.
\n
\nFour codes does not necessarily mean a more complicated genetic code, or some kind\nof weird alien DNA.
\n
\nSymbols are just symbols. With the MEOW code, the DNA letters were not\nliterally MEOW. They represented GCAT. M=G, E=C, O=A, W=T.
\n
\nSame with these codes, but more symbols can be mapped to GCAT at the\nsame time. Like t1CK=GCAT, t0ck=GCAT, 8rk=GCA, H34DS=TGCAT. This will\nwork as long as the total number of symbols is divisible by 4*.
\n
\nThe means of creating the code is more complex, but the code itself is not\nnecessarily.
\n
\nNot that I am expecting this to occur to most people though.
\n
\n
\n*Addendum:
\n
\nWhen I wrote that, the honk codes had not been revealed yet. So\nadditionally, honk =GCAT, HONK=GCAT. An additional 8 symbols, also\ndivisible by 4 to ensure balanced GCAT distribution. Each part is needed\nto combine to form what is presumably the equivalent of the MEOW code,\nonce translated to GCAT.
\n
\nThis makes for a total of 24 symbols to complete Scratch's code. Is this\nrelevant? Why don't I point this out. It's actually 2 sets of 12, one\nfor each troll, and one for each ancestor, who were created all together\nin their session by Karkat.
\n
\nIf you want to keep your theorist's cap on, you could then note that the\nMEOW code only consists of 4 symbols, one for each kid, but not for\neach guardian as well. It might suggest there are missing symbols, and\nwe don't know the full story about Bec's origin.
\n
\nIt MIGHT.
\n
\nOr might not.
\n
\nThis is MSPA obscurica at its finest.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167573753461502159",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nThat's only if you combine the symbols first before converting them to GCAT.
\n
\nAll of the code fragments are maintained separately in different books.\nThe books are deposited in the slot below, to the right. The machine\nknows what to do with them.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005512
\n
\nAlso note how much bigger the book slot is than the kid session slot.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003828
\n
\nThat's because the troll slot needs to be able to fit the huge ~ATH book in it.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Kavukamari,\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167574402446157321",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nThere has actually been a clue pointing to this for a very long time, \"hidden\" in\nthe name of Dave's sword.
\n
\nCaledscratch.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to bobbaganoosh000,\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167575343882866693",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nNo, not at Cal's conception. But at the beginning, that's not\nreally how I worked. I littered the story with hundreds of details,\nknowing that some of them would rise to extreme significance later. The\nbunny was one such detail designed explicitly to rise to significance,\nthough in a way left open ended. Cal was exactly the same. But for those\nwho really understood my M.O., the moment you saw Cal, you probably\nexpected nothing less from him.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to jcaserta,\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167576958085926296",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nHe is also part all-knowing magic cue ball.
\n
\nBut the fact that we now know he is part Cal may open up some\nrevelations about his character that we wouldn't have thought likely\nbefore.
\n
\nFor instance, we may now be able to parse his \"Don't turn your back on\nthe body.\" line with the understanding that he MAY in fact be a bit of a\nprankster.
\n
\nWhat is a sense of humor like for someone who is omniscient? Possibly\nsomething not easy for us to understand or recognize right away.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167578030582030733",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nThis probably means you don't have a very solid grasp on the\nalready established facts of the story, and the way first guardians are\nknown to originate as already conveyed through example.
\n
\nThings like this can have the look and feel of something that is\nconfusing. But I don't think it is actually confusing. Not\nintrinsically.
\n
\nThe only thing that is deficient it your alertness to the facts. Which is fine. It's\na big story.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167585470568502441",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nA small exception to the pattern. But we can examine a few reasons why it makes\nsense.
\n
\nAradia's quirk is to replace 'o' with '0', making t0ck. Using a '1' for\nt1ck not only balances the numerology, but adds a binary element to the\nphrase. Duality/bifurcation has always been a strong theme in the\ntrolls' session. Two teams, two sets of ruins, two universes.
\n
\nThere is also a pretty solid case to be made for why Tavros should\nrepresent 1. Aradia has always used zeroes because she had been the\n\"null character\", before her resurrection. Sollux on the other hand had\nalways been the character of duality, with his twofold curse. When\nAradia came back to life, she lost her null quality, and thus lost her\nquirk. Sollux lost his twofold curse when he went blind, and lost his\nquirk too. But he, in a way, assumed Aradia's position as the null\ncharacter, insofar as 2-2=0. He assumed her quirk. This is aside from\nthe point about Tavros though.
\n
\nIf you list the trolls according to the order of the zodiac, it starts with:
\n
\n0: Aradia
\n1: Tavros
\n2: Sollux
\n
\nThat is, if beginning with 0, which is suitable for Aradia's theme, then\nSollux is also numbered suitably as well. That makes Tavros the 1 troll\nby default. Does the number 1 have significance for his character\nbeyond this? Bet you can think of your own reasons if I left you to it.\nHere's a pretty good one for me: Tavros is so lame, he's always\nforgotten to type with the number ruling his existence, and it is only\nthrough writing this code that the quirk has been awakened.
\n
\nVriska's number is obviously 8. Scorpio is in fact the eighth sign on\nthe list too, assuming we switch to begin counting at 1 from the start\nin this case. Which we should, because we aren't actually being that\nliteral about assigning a number to each troll. It only makes sense for a\nfew of them. Some of their numbers don't even register on a 1-12 scale.\nEquius likes 100, while Nepeta is all about 33.
\n
\n8 has always been kind of a special number in HS, in the same way 413\nhas, though not hit as hard as those digits have been. In fact, 4+1+3=8!\n
\n
\n413 are Terezi's numbers. She uses them as her quirk, as the numerals of\nthe blind prophets. If we are to say Vriska is 8, then Terezi is right\nbehind her on the zodiac list, and she would be 7.
\n
\nHer code \"H34DS\" conveniently includes no 1. 3+4=7!!! There's her number, rearing\nits head.
\n
\nWhere did the 1 go? Tavros has it! It seems writing these codes while\nsleepwalking has cajoled the true numbers assigned to Tavros and Terezi,\n1 and 7, out of their subconscious.
\n
\nOk, so some of this sounds a bit like hand waving I'm sure. No single\nreason here is ESPECIALLY compelling for giving Tavros a 1 on its own,\nbut I submit that we have overwhelmed the jury with circumstantial\nevidence, and I expect a conviction.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167589402455863918",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167589913309515031",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nMaybe he's the number one troll, but never had the true self esteem to express\nit?
\n
\nSee how easy it is? To make things make sense out of thin air? Easy.
\n
\n(regarding troll numerology, 2 questions down)\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Kavukamari,\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167593473187281605",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nYou forgot honk honk.
\n
\nAll the words have significance. Some are obvious already. Some are not yet.
\n
\nAll of the words have personal significance to their authors. H34DS,\nbecause of Terezi's double headed coin she uses to decide the fate of\nothers (which, hey! has a SCRATCH in it. ehhh?) 8r8k is a word commonly\nused by Vriska, as a word meaning fortune (8ad 8r8k) and also something\nshe literally does to 8 balls. t1CK t0ck has significance to Aradia as\nthe Maid of Time, clearly. It has significance to Tavros and his\ninterest in the Peter (Pupa) Pan mythology, and the phrase is\nunambiguously tied to the ticking clock in the belly of the crocodile\nwho hunts Captain Hook. And Captain Hook has been unambiguously likened\nto Jack Noir and/or Vriska, who have both gone without an arm and an\neye.
\n
\nThe words all have significance to Scratch as well. Tick tock because\nthe guy is associated with a mob of time travelers, duh. Honk honk\nbecause the guy is essentially made out of a clown doll. Break heads?\nWell, this could mean many things...
\n
\nAnd let's file this under KIND OF A STRETCH.
\n
\nSince the thickest book by far is the ~ATH book, it stands to reason\nmost of Scratch's DNA comes from the honk code. Bec's DNA comes from the\nmeow code.
\n
\nhonk honk meow
\n
\nIs essentially John's silly translation of Karkat's (car cat's) name.\nJohn and Karkat, as the two leaders, are the ectobiologists of the team.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167594031059066970",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nHe is figuratively Lord English's puppet, yes.
\n
\nI don't even know if this answers your question.
\n
\nLet us also bear in mind what Cal was primarily used for.
\n
\nA weapon.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question167594575316158777",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nDogs are pretty simple creatures.
\n
\nTake a look at what Jack tends to think about now.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 2, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169694179457276472",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\noh look the 50th question about this typo who giiiiiiiiives a\nshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 8, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169701266631458587",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI don't have a formula for making likable characters. But I guess character\ndevelopment tends to help.
\n
\nWith Scratch, I think one of the fun things about his recent\ndevelopments is that they came on the heels of learning that he is part\nCal. His identity as a creepy pervert wasn't exactly \"set up\" before\nthis revelation. Not overtly. But if it was I think it would be less\nentertaining. We get to watch certain traits of his personality reveal\nthemselves exactly when we now have reason to expect those traits. If he\nhad them before it might have weakened the humor value of it now, even\nthough it would have been more air tight from a characterization and\nplot construction standpoint. We didn't get to say \"DIABOLICAL! So\nTHAT'S why he's a perv!\" But HS has enough of those eureka moments\nalready for us to be worrying about that.
\n
\nNot that his developments are completely off the wall either. He was\nalways a pretty self satisfied guy, with the demeanor of someone who\ncould easily be a coy prankster, who just hadn't revealed those\ntendencies yet. Much of what he said had the feel of a knowitall who's\njust messing with someone. Also, he did only talk to the girls. With the\nexception of the one short line to Karkat. He manipulated them and\nmentored them in weird ways, and eventually one might ask, why all the\nattention on the ladies dude??? So turns out that's why, sort of. Of\ncourse the original reason was more pragmatic. It was just that of all\nthe trolls, the ones most relevant and dynamic in the story tended to be\ngirls, so that's who he talked to. But later, it struck me as a pretty\namusing angle on an omniscient character to be a bit of a creeper, and\nthis is in keeping with his origin.
\n
\nRemember where Cal came from in the first place? And why he was thrown out of Dave's\ndream tower?
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003621
\n
\nBut all that said I still don't think it's quite right to regard him as\nan actual pedophile, just because of what sort of entity he is. It's\nprobably more apt to think of him as an all knowing supercomputer that\nhappens to have a gravitation toward young ladies in his programming.\nImagine walking up to the computer and if you are a boy it says, hey.\nBut if you are a girl it says WELL HELLO, DON'T YOU LOOK NICE. Thinking\nof it in these terms helps make it funny rather than outright\ndisturbing.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 8, 2011 - Mar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169702372476479790",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169703199018606773",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nWhat is up with them is that I am posting them not as frequently as usual.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169703344074416644",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIt was mentioned that Jack destroyed all 12 planets in the troll session.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169704457183992484",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI don't know about having the ending planned from the beginning,\nbut I can say that every time the scratch as been mentioned, and even\nearlier when it was referred to as the rift, I knew exactly what it was\ngoing to be.
\n
\nThe concept of the reset, though heavily disguised until now, is a very\nold one, and is completely entangled with every aspect of the way the\nstory has been constructed to this point.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169706576167333615",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nNot exactly. The Rift was just what the trolls called the\nphenomenon that brought Jack to their session. It then became known by\nits formal name, the Scratch, as we learned a little more about what was\ngoing on. We learned the rift was actually called the scratch at the\nend of Hivebent.
\n
\nThe only aspect of this that was a red herring at all was the\nimplication that the rift/scratch was some generic opening in spacetime\nthat let Jack hop from one session to another. This is what the trolls\npresumed due to ignorance. Aradia knew what the scratch was (since she\nwas the one who first mentioned it in her private memo), but she was not\nall that talkative as a mopey robot, and clearly didn't think it was\nimportant enough to let anyone know.
\n
\nWe now know the scratch isn't what transported Jack between sessions. We don't know\nwhat did yet.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169707394257945467",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nTHAT'S PRETTY SWEET
\n
\nIt will also be the 1 Earth year anniversary of Act 5.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169708717028176280",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI think the easiest way to address questions like this is to\nsay, picture every possibility that is dumb and terrible. Those things\nare exactly what I am not going to do.
\n
\nAlso, it's pretty amazing how often people misuse the term retcon. Almost as often\nas they misuse the word troll.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169709402293568434",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI thought it would be funnier to make such a mundane action more elaborately\nanimated than more important things.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169709763616085714",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nThis is a straw man. Nobody gives a shit about this.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to SmoothPorcupine,\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169710222602963397",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI have neither.
\n
\nI paid money to learn about computers approximately ten years ago.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to thebanov,\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169710593295555762",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded to joltthecoat,\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169711555091393185",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIt is a lunar eclipse. When the moon is furthest from Skaia, and\neclipsed by Derse's shadow. This is when the moon is closest to the\nFurthest Ring.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to webbedspace,\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169712451875543732",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIt just means you read a fictional story like a rational human being.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169713542805617263",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169722589604773853",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nLet's try to come to our senses here. The labor involved in\nmaking a Flash animation is pretty goddamn ridiculous. I'm approaching\nthe 2 year mark on Homestuck, and in addition to the thousands of static\npages and many tens of thousands of words, I am standing on several\nhours of animated footage. This is, frankly, ludicrous.
\n
\nNot that there is any regret in this accumulation. But after a point, an\nassessment has to be made whether such sustained high intensity is\nworthwhile, and whether it continues serving the purpose it originally\nhad. It's purposes being media exploration, pushing the envelope on\nstory delivery, and so on. The envelope can't always be pushed farther\nwhile still justifying the effort. If the effort required increases,\nwhile reader reaction inevitably flattens and adjusts to the\nexpectation, then that particular purpose is not really being satisfied\nanymore. As far as media exploration goes, I think there's probably more\nthan enough dynamism in the animated portion of this work to cover my\ninitial agenda for it (which is to say, it far surpasses it). And as\nreader reaction catalysts, they probably stopped having the eye-widening\nimpact they once had, where they were very often transforming your\nunderstanding of what this story was, and what it could be, and catching\npeople off guard by humbling what preceded it. Without that\nexperiential payload, they become a part of a pretty homogeneous loaf\nthat represents MSPA as a product, something that demands a consistent\nmouth feel when chewed, and Flash must be tasted before swallowed. This\nis a situation I am not HUUUGELY interested in committing all of my time\nto keeping propped up, and Flash animations were not actually meant to\nbe part of MSPA's Pledge To The Consumer.
\n
\nSo all that's really left, and this has been true for a while I guess,\nis whether I feel like doing a Flash and whether I'll enjoy it. I can\nsay that the end to every act will definitely involve a Flash animation.\nBut beyond that, I don't know. It's possible I might not do a Flash\nbetween now and the end of A5.
\n
\nOr I might! We'll see.
\n
\nBut what might not be fruitful is trying to read the gaps in my schedule\nlike tea leaves, and divine the nature of upcoming output. Often, in\nthe Flash frenzied history of HS's reckless climb, interpreting such\ngaps in this way has been reliable. Maybe not so much here on out!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169732769587427046",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nI understand what you mean, and thanks, but I guess there are different types of\n\"wow factors\".
\n
\nAt this point I believe the kind you are talking about is a typical\nreaction to something with strong cinematics conveying interesting\ndevelopments. That's cool and all, don't get me wrong.
\n
\nThe kind I was talking about was more palpable during ones like WV:\nAscend, where the reaction is based on lack of precedent, and the\nreaction is something like \"I didn't know this could be that.\" Some\nsuccessive ones had that feel too, like Descend probably, and the first\nAlterniabound probably did too somewhat, in that the format was such a\ncurve ball. Innovation is still possible, but like I said, there is some\nelement of diminishing returns to this kind of thing.
\n
\nI'm not saying this quality is essential to preserve in continuing that\nkind of output, but its evaporation in a project like this does steal a\nliiiittle motivation for going to the bother. Like I said, I'll do them\nif I get an idea that sounds like a fun and a worthwhile way to apply\ntime. Which actually isn't much different from how I've been doing it\nlately anyway.
\n
\nAnd somewhere in this equation is the fact that at some point this thing\ndoes have to GET MOVING, and Flash projects have notoriously\nbottlenecked story progress behind them.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169735857803127592",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "\nIt COULD be, but the problem is, you don't know anything about\nanything about anything. All you have is the banality of a story's\nfuture ghost projected by a fairly dull and overanxious imagination.
\n
\nPretty much anything can sound like SUCH TERRIBLE BULLSHIT, until you actually see\nwhat I do.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to TomMontblanc,\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question169736022601526355",
- "timestamp": 1299715200,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172260633130074430",
- "timestamp": 1300320000,
- "html": "\nThere's plenty of merchandising going on, but I honestly never\nmake story decisions with the idea that it'll make me tons of extra bux,\neven though it seems like it with all the rad marketable clothes these\ndang kids are wearing all the time. I just do what I think is cool and\nfeels right at the time. I have never once done something and said YES\nTHIS WILL SELL SO MUCH MUSIC, or said FUCK I GOTTA DESIGN A SHIRT LOGO\nTHAT'LL SELL LIKE HOTCAKES.
\n
\nSilent flashes aren't actually new. Just haven't had many in a while. Remember pages\nlike this one?
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002401
\n
\nWith these little Rose flashes, I just thought the idea would be a\nlittle easier to get across with a short flash than a series of gifs.\nThey were not really long enough in my mind before execution to warrant\nfinding a clip, or asking someone to make something beforehand.
\n
\nThe one where she looks in the cue ball wound up being a little longer\nthan I thought it would, just to pace it right, and I certainly COULD\nhave given it some track with suitable ambiance, but I sort of\ndeliberately checked that impulse.
\n
\nI just don't think that necessarily EVERYTHING is going to benefit from\nsound, even though it sure looks like that's the pattern I've\nestablished. If every time that preloader pops up, even if only to serve\na 15 second clip meant for sequential utility, and we're hearing a tiny\nmood setting score or little sound effects each time just cause that's\nwhat a flash Has To Be, then it feels like it's getting into hokey\nterritory to me. For the larger cinematic pieces, yes those absolutely\nneed sound. The mini ones? Ehhhh, not so much. In any case, the\nexpectation that sound must be delivered with flash or I risk violating\nmy rules is something I find a little bothersome.
\n
\nThe line has been pushed very far into some vague mediaspace frontier.\nBut now and then, I like to remind you that the story still includes\nevery possibility up to that line, including the more primitive things\nfar short of it.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172263532061025223",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nThere was a small liberty taken with perspective.
\n
\nIf you look at the beam of light coming out of the record, that beam is\npointing straight up. If skaia were directly above that record, the beam\nof light would lead to it. It doesn't.
\n
\nSkaia is directly over Dave's house. She is looking at it from a vantage\nsimilar to how we'd view the north star. But again, with some\nperspective liberties taken.
\n
\nThis is because it just reads better this way. Our understanding is, skaia is \"up\".\nTo go to it, you fly up.
\n
\nThe problem with topics like this is that it takes way too long to\naccurately address a thing that just isn't all that interesting.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to The0rangeMan,\n\nMar 16, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172266698240465342",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nBecause I didn't feel like it???
\n
\nKanaya's transformation/asskicking didn't involve any elaborate flash\neither. The showdown flash technically was more about the other 3 trolls\nthan her. She just rushed in and beat them all down in a big gif\nparade. Nothin too special.
\n
\nThere is always a way that a thing can be cooler. Determining what it is\nand informing the author will never be a spectacular feat!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 16, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172272892212445757",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nI don't know if it's the opposite, but it's obviously intended\nas an absurd transformation to specifically complement Kanaya's.
\n
\n\"Going grimdark\" is a phrase which itself is silly enough to qualify as a\njoke. The ramifications of such a transformation are surely on par with\nbecoming a glowing Twilight-esque vampire called a rainbow drinker. And\nyet, silly though these developments are, no one can argue they are not\nawesome as well. The result is the magic which takes place when stupid\nmeets badass.
\n
\nThe whole \"going grimdark\" thing was something discussed by readers when\nRose first started stirring things up with her dark magic. The whole\nissue was later lampooned somewhat in a conversation with John. In fact,\npractically every line of the recent updates have been callbacks to\nthis conversation.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004823
\n
\nI found the point of controversy kind of funny. It makes one wonder,\nwhat does \"going grimdark\" even mean? Is that even a thing? I guess it\nis, as long as we understand that it probably refers to the\nmetamorphosis of a vanilla character into a brooding gothic cliche, and\nthis is something played absolutely straight in things which are\ngenerally terrible. Please note it is not being played straight in this\ncase. [AND YET IT IS. WINK.]
\n
\nAlso, who here is keeping tabs on super hero references??
\n
\nRose's shirt has somewhat resembled the Punisher's logo for some time\nnow, without any reason to link her to the vigilante. Let us now note\nthe origin of the Punisher, a guy spurred to vengeance after watching\nhis family get brutally murdered.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 16, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172277639996805720",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nPratchett san and his family will be in my prayers during this troubling time for\nall the fine people of Japan.
\n
\n~CSQ~\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 16, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172590574426156034",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nYes, the interlude is called MS Paint Adventures and has been running steadily for\nseveral years.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172608966856048035",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nIt is hilarious how people think this is just messing around\nwhen in actuality it will all prove to be ridiculously significant\nlater, as usual.
\n
\nOh well, I'll just keep being over here playing Vulcan mind chess or whatever while\nall y'all play your games of tic tac dumb.
\n
\n8^y\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172634892767624061",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nI agree, and I don't even know which updates you're talking about.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172636277718411101",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nThere is a lot to it. I don't have any trade secrets at all, but\nif I did, it would probably be the process I apply to those images.
\n
\nOne major tactic: save as jpg, reduce quality to zero, but DON'T SAVE IT\nYET. Instead, screen capture the preview. Then paste that into the same\ndocument, and repeat this process for a while, until you have grown the\ndesired amount of \"loss scum\".
\n
\nBut this just keeps making the image foggier, which isn't good enough by\nitself. After that, I usually apply other effects, like strategic\nsharpenings and other misc. filters. I also use a lot of masking through\ncolor range selections, and perform meticulous alterations at the\npixel-cluster level.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172639914125465628",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nI don't think I ever drop a major development which is\nspontaneous, though points of execution almost always are, which\nprobably makes it seem more off the cuff than it is.
\n
\nSome go back before day 1. Most originated between then and now.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172651142658945909",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nSBaHJ is absolutely inseparable from HS, and has been almost\nfrom the start. If you don't understand this, then you don't understand\nHS very well. SBaHJ is like the mentally handicapped step brother of\nMSPA, requiring special attention, but no less cherished as a part of\nthe family. It was originally intended as the chief source of in-house\nmemes for dialogue, but this is ultimately a superficial purpose. Though\nit only has 20+ strips, it contains a pretty dense and internally\nconsistent language of recurring symbols and typo-driven grammars,\napplicable as a rich sub-cognitive lexicon for highlighting elusive\nelements woven into the mythology of the story which tend to be shrouded\nin the unconscious.
\n
\nMany times events in SBaHJ \"foreshadow\" what happens in HS, but this is\npractically never intentional. It is always retroactive on my part, and\nquite convenient. Like the vampire strip I drew shortly before Kanaya's\ndeath and resurrection. The correlation was convenient, and was\nemphasized in the comic as a gag. Same with the one with Bro achieving\nLIFDOFF, passing a cloud labeled \"cloun\". Soon after, John flew his car\nby a cloud that showed Gamzee in it. This was unintentional while\ndrawing the SBaHJ, but the connection was soon made in the comic\nserendipitously.
\n
\nSBaHJ as a creative process is probably a pretty accurate reflection of\nmy subconscious at work. This may be why it often ties into HS themes\nyet to develop. It is like I am a prophet of my own story, and these\nshitty comics are my cryptic messages. I submit to the trance of the\nJPEGothics, while quaking in the losseldritch throes of the artifact\ntongues. The resulting imagery is troubling, and AGGRESSIVELY PREGNANT\nwith meaning.
\n
\nThough most aspects of HS's story construction is exceedingly\nmeticulous, with multi-threaded plot connections established months or\nyears in advance, intuition plays a powerful role too, and may be even\nmore important than the maniacal, overly cerebral stuff. There are\noccasions where something will just FIT, in a weirdly perfect way, even\nthough I didn't quite intend it. I always seems to be working favorably\nwith the grain of positive coincidence. Strange things with numbers\nhappen all the time, for example, and this is certainly not because I'm a\nskilled numerologist. The troll's number is 612 because I started\nHivebent on 6/12, a tale of 12 6 sweep-olds (13 year-olds). Their names\nare 6 and 6 letters, like mine. Why is one sweep = 2.16 years? Weird.\nWhy is 6/12/11 exactly one sweep from 4/13/09, the start date of HS???\nAlso weird. These occurrences are everywhere, and I can only assume they\nhave their root in the turbulent void from which all this comes. The\nstory is in part driven furiously by high level cerebral machinations,\nand in part at the mercy of the whims of my waking coma. And I,\npersonally, am at the mercy of it all.
\n
\nAnyway, if for no other reason, this is why you should like SBaHJ, or at\nleast find it intriguing. Frankly, I am quite suspicious of anyone who\ndoesn't find it funny. I am suspicious of their judgment and quality of\nperception. This is probably because it means their minds are\nincompatible with mine on a such a profound level. They are at odds with\nmy subconscious.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to thekslice,\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172652883341254029",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172819951839637870",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nI find it much more understandable for someone to read SBaHJ and\nnot be into HS. Reading and appreciating HS is a very intensive process\nwhich requires a lot of time and concentration.
\n
\nWhereas reading HS while not studying (yes studying) SBaHJ is less\nforgivable. SBaHJ is requisite supplementary reading. If HS was a class,\nI would automatically fail anybody who didn't get an A on their SBaHJ\nexam.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Drillgorg,\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172820221130736935",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nOnly if you are the weird guy who wanted to get his sister pregnant with my genes.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172822879258315563",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nThis is not actually what I said though. There is an element of coincidence.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172823505480486640",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nIf you take a closer look at your remark you'll find it doesn't make any sense.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172828018882943258",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nAt no point did I do what you accused me off.
\n
\nBut now that your question has been selected for a response, practically\neveryone who reads it will regard you as a frothing asshole, unfairly\nor otherwise. Good thing you're anonymous! I wonder how you would handle\na significant volume of negativity directed at you? Given how easily\nrattled you seem to be, probably not very well.
\n
\nAlso, why is my ability to be an asshole steeping? Is it making tea?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172829514269752139",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nBut the silent Flashes in question are very short. There are no\nsuitable songs on hand for things like that. Shortening songs often\nfeels like butchering them to me.
\n
\nThis issue is a little more complex than just saying \"hey slap a song in there, why\nnot!\"
\n
\nPractically every song available already is a pretty long composition,\nwhich requires an intensive animation project. I prefer to be sparing\nwith those, because they are difficult. If I make a very short Flash in\nlieu of a GIF, there will not be a song ready that is suitable. I can\nget someone to make something for it in advance, but that takes time,\nand defeats the spontaneous, rapid fire nature of such updates.\nMusicians can make suitable tracks after it is finished and posted, and I\ncan go back and \"retcon\" it in. And I HAVE done this before!!! But I\ndon't know if I want to make it a policy. It doesn't feel right slapping\nsound on everything retroactively simply because I can.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172829720151366084",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nEverything I say here is true.
\n
\nUnless I'm joking.
\n
\nBo)\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172830040159980309",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nIt would make a very good song for an animation, but it is\nlooooooong.....................
\n
\nSo like a bunch of songs I like, it's either butcher it, or leave the visuals to the\nimagination.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Kizzycocoa,\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172836307309989782",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nI think there is definitely hyperbole that gets thrown around\nwhen discussing my ability, and I think people tend to drastically\nunderestimate how ridiculously good the various masters were at their\ncrafts.
\n
\nIn fact, I really don't even view myself as a writer. I view myself as\nmore of an illustrator who tells stories, and uses as many tools at my\ndisposal to do so. Writing is one. Drawing and animating are others. The\nact of telling a story is in essence writing, so that's clearly what\nI'm doing, but it's still hard to feel like this describes my primary\ndiscipline. I've always identified myself as an artist foremost, who's\nhad to push into the territory of a writer and develop those skills out\nof the necessity that follows unchecked creative ambitions.
\n
\nI also think there's the risk of media-chafing when selecting such names\nfor comparison. Those writers were established in very formal literary\ntraditions. I wonder what it would look like if you took one of the\nnames you mentioned, dropped him in this period in his prime, and\nassigned him with a project similar to this? Some satirical, slapdash,\nmedia-blurring THING, heavily illustrated and published as fast as it\nwas made with little revision? What if Vonnegut wanted to do that,\nbought a Wacom and boned up on Flash, and was TURNED LOOSE? Would he\nknock your socks off? Maybe!!! Kind of interesting to think about.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172836920957625518",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nI just thought the question was funny.
\n
\nWhy did you ask this question? Did it help your case?
\n
\nSometimes people lecture me through FS for some reason.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172838272148466310",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nIt's a form of theater, not a literal public announcement to get people to COOL\nTHEIR JETS over the issue.
\n
\nThe main purpose of it was not the assurance, but to establish the\npeculiar metric of author intervention. This means nothing right now,\nbut obviously will later.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172842978602151927",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nCalling it a strategy would probably be making too much of it.
\n
\nI'm working on a project, and I'm compelled to drop every cool idea I\nhave into it. I horse around with format, and break or bend many rules\non story construction purposefully. This includes infusing it with meta\nelements. The meta-saturation of the story continues to fuel my\ninteraction with the readers, and listening/responding to them probably\nkeeps the relationship between the narrative and the reader still\nfeeling like it is an open channel, even though suggestions have been\nclosed for a while.
\n
\nEverything going on here is experimental and vigorously informal, and this is the\nconsequence.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172850772134886453",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nWHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT that a yard could be described as THE VERY THING THAT IT\nISN'T?
\n
\nHOW IROthis is silly\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172857733219910324",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nSure. And I think this is because of the diversity in the story.\nI think if I wanted to do something more formal, that stays in more\nclearly defined lanes like strictly humorous or dramatic or such, that\nwork would be stronger because I've already tried so much with this. I'd\njust have to reel it in. There are many things going on here that you\nwould never see in such a work.
\n
\nI'm sure some look at the diversity of what's here, perceive various\nviolations in literary protocol, and regard this as evidence of\nstorytelling deficiency on my part. Which is fair, because you can only\ngo on what you see. But at the same time I do have a grasp over what\nI've made, and have the awareness to apply more focus to a work than\nwhat's projected through this wide aperture. When tightened, most of\nthose violations would vanish.
\n
\nI'm not trying to make the best thing ever here. Only something which is\nvery fun, extremely flexible, and serving to accelerate my abilities,\nmy understanding of what a story can be, and my grasp on how people\nreact to things. That is actually a valuable part of the exercise,\nwatching mass reactions in real time, on every aspect of each update.\nFrom the minutia, to the big plot turns. There is a very real component\nof this that resembles a huge social experiment. I'm not just putting\npressure on the limits of a story's format. I appear to be doing this\nwith the psyche of the readership as well. I have discovered many\nobscure buttons which can be pushed. I am taking extensive notes.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question172861364304385677",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nSBaHJ will go on forever, simply because jumping the shark is a non-issue for\nit.
\n
\nSBaHJ will or has already jumped the shark in the same sense that the\ngrapes used in a very fine wine jumped the shark during the fermentation\nprocess.
\n
\nIf you think SBaHJ is shitty now, just IMAGINE how shitty it will be\nwhen everyone is sick of it! Future connoisseurs of irony will be in\necstasy sampling the aging strip's bouquet.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to EliasGoliath,\n\nMar 17, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question177661826434099133",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nThank you, this is nice of you to say.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to LazrTyler,\n\nMar 29, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question177663301323355576",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nYes, I sure did paint myself into a corner by using the words \"possible\" and\n\"might\"!
\n
\nI should remember to avoid those words in the future so as not to trap myself in\nsuch ironclad verbal contracts with my readers.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 29, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question177668940674139264",
- "timestamp": 1301792400,
- "html": "\nIt was originally going to have another scene following the\nstair climb, but that turned out to be too much to cram into one page,\nand I thought it would have delayed the the release of the page too\nmuch. It had already been delayed enough, not only by the labor involved\nin making such a thing, but by the fact that I've been pretty busy\notherwise. This was not blasted out at the usual rate, neither by me nor\nGankro (the programmer). We both had stuff to do.
\n
\nI decided to separate the following segment onto another page to follow\nit shortly. It only seems abrupt because you cannot yet turn the page. I\nthink this should be obvious.
\n
\nIf you're reading a novel, you would never say \"man, I sure did enjoy\npage 386. Page 386 was just so awesome until it ended abruptly! What\ngives??\" What gives is that page 386 ran out of paper for words, and the\nstory continued to glide seamlessly onto page 387, for those bold\nenough to turn and continue reading. Even for those who bookmarked and\ncontinued a couple days later! Single pages do not give you all the\nanswers you want, nor do atomic story units in formats less\nconventional.
\n
\nCritical thinking is really important for navigating this website.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 29, 2011 - Apr 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question177670256498604552",
- "timestamp": 1302048000,
- "html": "\nI know, my answer this time was better, so I went back and deleted the old one!
\n
\nNobody even has any idea what we're talking about.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to snowmanne,\n\nMar 30, 2011 - Apr 5, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question177688655232538268",
- "timestamp": 1302048000,
- "html": "\nNope.
\n
\nThese key dates have actually become EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to nail as the\ncomplexity of the projects increases. Problem Sleuth was very easy to\nkey into exactly one year, because the increments were so much simpler.\nThat year-run was the precedent that began most of this milestone\nmadness, and I've kept up with the milestones for the most part, but\nthey start slipping over time. I've already blown a few and had to\nreadjust.
\n
\nRemember that [S] Descend (end act 4) was originally targeted for\n4/13/10, but I ran out of time (EXACTLY like I am now) and I put [S]\nJack: Ascend on that date instead. Descend got pushed way back because\nthere was no reason to push it so hard anymore. It dropped around June,\nthen Hivebent started on 6/12, which is now ANOTHER key date!
\n
\nThings tend to take longer than I think, whether it's a single animation\ntask, or the execution of a string of story events, which are necessary\nto complete to set up other major events like an end of act, and so on.\nMeanwhile, time just rages on. I remember thinking at the beginning of\n'11 that there seemed like plenty of time to set everything up to end it\non 4/13. Lo and behold it's already fucking april! We've made plenty of\nprogress, but it's still not there.
\n
\nTry to remember that as a key date approaches, I actually have much less\ntime to make that work than it seems. To make 4/13 work for EOA5, I'd\nneed AT LEAST a solid week to work on it, probably more. Which means I'd\nhave to get the story up to that exact precipice in less than a week\nfrom now, and frankly, I've got other shit to do. As it is, I'll be\nlucky to pull off anything of significance on the strike of 4/13, let\nalone the monstrosity that the EOA would inevitably be.
\n
\nIt'll be just like EOA4 (Descend). It'll only happen when it can feasibly, logically\nhappen.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Armanky,\n\nMar 30, 2011 - Apr 5, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question177692160777293647",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nI do not have a view on time travel.
\n
\nI also do not have a religion.
\n
\nIf you look closely, you will see these two facts are actually the same fact.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMar 30, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question180560478706098389",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nDave has always been a \"genre savvy\" character. Remember his\nwhole thing on skepticism in movies and how the dad should believe the\nkid about the vampire in the closet and tell everyone to get in the van?\n
\n
\nHe is even genre savvy about the genre which is essentially unique to\nthis story and format, and about the practices of the author.
\n
\nAlso there is no trolling involved, as usual. Trolling is practically\nnever what I'm doing when people say I'm doing it. I would like everyone\nto replace the term \"trolling\" with the phrase \"doing jokes\", such that\npeople will start sounding less ridiculous and less totally wrong when\nthey say their things.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 7, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question180560881296372828",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nI'm digging the digs, they are pretty sweet, as digs go.
\n
\nDig sounds weird when you say it a lot.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 7, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question180561023487483324",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nI am afraid this is impossible, as you appear to be some sort of cat.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 7, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question180772495119380957",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nThe terms are not synonymous.
\n
\nWhere is trolling involved when Dave makes self-aware references to the\ncallback heavy style of the story's construction? Where is the intent to\nagitate? There is no editorial subtext. There is nothing to read\nbetween the lines. There is no veiled repudiation, and I am not saying\n\"suck it bitches!\" to those who disagree with the callback saturation\n(those people don't even exist). It is merely a couple of lines of\ndialogue which are silly and self referential. It is a joke.
\n
\nIt is also not trolling when I leave something on a cliffhanger. It is\nstandard dramatic practice. It is also fairly unavoidable when there are\nmany story threads running at once. You have to switch to others at\nsome point. You also cannot answer every question at once or distribute\nevery payoff when they are demanded, or a very nonlinear story would\nbecome very linear very quickly. It is additionally unavoidable because\nthere are few occasions when you don't want to know what happens next.\nHence every switch of focus begins to resemble a cliffhanger. This\npattern has also been brought to attention through self aware humor, a\nla 5x cliffhanger combo gags and such. This does not count as trolling\neither. These are yet more gags of self reference.
\n
\nThere are some moments when trolling comes into play. When tension\nmounts in a scene and we are being lead to expect something significant,\nand then you read the word \"psyche\", that is clearly a form of\ntrolling. When I am dressed up as a troll, and copying large volumes of\ntext into the narrative specifically to spite you, the reader, and I am\nsaying \"I am trolling you right now by doing this\" it is safe to say you\nare being trolled. And even this flagrant gesture is one step removed\nfrom the act of genuine trolling, through the partition of satire. The\nentire concept of trolling has been folded into the story as another\nsource of raw material for absurd kinds of exploitation, like computer\nscience, alchemy, sprawling chess metaphors, and suit-based alien\nromance. This does not mean every joke is an act of trolling, or\nmeta-trolling. In fact, very few are. When you read a simple\nself-referential joke or have your expectations subverted in in some way\nand say HUSSIE'S TROLLING US AGAIN, you sound silly. You sound like you\ndon't understand what trolling is, or what I'm actually doing here.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 7, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question180784293633619205",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nThe hoddies are in progress. They are being produced right now.\nIt has taken a long time to get them going, because everyone is busy all\nthe time. (everyone = 2 people) But they will be cool.
\n
\nOnly the Breath and Light ones first (John's and Vriska's). Other(s) will be\navailable soon after.
\n
\nAlso there will be some t-shirts with those designs too, because...... why not??
\n
\nAlso, there will be some other stuff.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 7, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question180785520173946190",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nThe word weird sounds totally normal and fine when you say it a lot, nice try.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 7, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question182759788180965881",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nPrimarily it is that Jeffrey Rowland of Topatoco and I think\nthat making these terrible shirts is hilarious, and we are both willing\nto hinge our entire business models on the production of gag merch.
\n
\nBut this does not mean I made these shirts INSTEAD of other cool HS\nshirts. You will note that there is a separate store called What\nPumpkin. This is the store I use for the rather extensive collection of\npotential HS merch when we get the time to make/restock it.\nRealistically, there are just too many possible HS products to bug\nJeffrey with all the time, since he is servicing about 30 other webcomis\ntoo, so generally I reserve WP for these ideas, while keeping Topatoco\nmostly about PS stuff, and now it seems SBaHJ stuff as well.
\n
\nThere'll be more HS stuff in the WP store pretty soon, plus a restocking of what's\nthere.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 7, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question182810348053629836",
- "timestamp": 1302393600,
- "html": "\nI don't know. I hardly ever read more than half way down the first page of\nquestions. Too many, too repetitive, etc.
\n
\nBut through various channels, I detect certain flavors of reaction,\nranging from disappointment to frustration to something faintly\nresembling outrage, not just at the lack of an incendiary production to\nmark year 2, but also the flagging rate of output in recent weeks.
\n
\nThese reactions are far from universal, but they exist, and to address\nthem I think an education on why MSPA exists at all is in order. If you\nsee a creator who begins to languish in production of what presumably\naccounts for his day job, the impression may be that he is falling down\non the job and failing to live up to his professional commitment. So\nmaybe this is the source of indignation, re: entitlement, that some may\nfeel when my output falters. The problem is, MSPA is not a day job for\nme. It is an all consuming lifestyle. Hence, the mirage that is the\napparent ease of output for what is at times ludicrous volumes of\nmaterial is highly sensitive to even slight perturbations in my life\nsituation.
\n
\nLet me put it this way. You may work a full time job. It may be that\nsomething happens in your life that makes your job more difficult,\nbecause you are preoccupied. Your work may suffer to some extent, but\nyou can still approximately match what's expected of you, because there\nis a partition between your job and your home life. You may nevertheless\nfeel your full time job seems to dominate your existence, saps your\nenergy, and leaves your weekend respites feeling all too short. This is\nnot an experience I share, because MSPA is not a full time job. If you\nhave such a job, then I would have to RADICALLY REDUCE my workload to\nmatch your level of day to day preoccupation.
\n
\nThe actual quantities involved have always been nebulous and I never\nmade a point of keeping track, but 12 hours per day seems like a pretty\nreasonable average, since that is just shy of all waking hours. Time\nspent writing, drawing, animating, or just spacing out at my monitor\nwhile contemplating all the moving parts. This is what I did every day,\nincluding weekends and holidays, for two years, and to some extent\nanother year prior to that with Problem Sleuth. Only a few weekends were\nmissed due to conventions, and there was a single week off immediately\nfollowing the infamous \"robo smooch\", and that's it. (Most of that week\nwas spent wondering why the hell I wasn't updating...) There are other\ngaps in the archive, spanning days or a week, when I was animating.\nThose spans involved the usual work schedule, while simply omitting\nsleep!
\n
\nNot only is this an unreasonable workload to expect of anyone, it's\npractically impossible to pull it off. Maybe you can expect some\ncommitted guy out there to really buckle down and duplicate that effort\nfor a month or two. But years? Too much can crop up in the white noise\nof normal life to destabilize it. Momentum is absolutely crucial for\nmaintaining that kind of pace. I find that if I only do an hour of work\nin a day, I get ten minutes of work done. If I do 12 hours of work, I\nseem to get 24 hours of work done. This is especially true of animation.\nSuch projects notoriously take a very long time. I feel like because of\nthe crazy head of steam I've built up from years of nonstop effort, I\ncan knock out in days something that might take another animator a week.\nOr in a week what might take a month. Without that momentum, it's not\npossible. Starting up Flash cold is excruciating. Getting your head back\ninto the stride of a story wastes energy you wouldn't use if you never\nbroke stride. Without the momentum, the pace reverts to ordinary.\nGetting distracted by life destroys the momentum.
\n
\nI've been pretty zealous about deflecting the distractions, even when I\nmove, as I often do. A notable example was last year when I came back\nfrom the Emerald City con in Seattle, and found my apartment flooded.\nThe con was already enough of a time sink, so I didn't have much of an\nappetite for going into personal crisis mode. I just kind of shrugged,\npicked my computer off the lone, miraculously dry part of the floor,\ndropped it in a temporary residence, and kept drawing. I think the flood\nmess occupied about a day of my attention, whereas something like that\ncould easily take up weeks of your time and energy if you're living that\n\"normal life\". You know how it is, you come home and find water up to\nyour ankles and go aw fuck, what's ruined, what needs replacing, gotta\ncall whoever and deal with the fuckin landlord about stuff and auuuugh. I\njust didn't bother with any of that, because it just didn't seem to\nmatter, and I preferred to keep working and not give a crap about all my\nsoggy bullshit. And in retrospect, I guess it really didn't matter.
\n
\nAll of my moves have been similarly characterized by the unceremonious\ntransportation of a computer and a few boxes to a new room, in which I'd\ncontinue working as if no change took place, with no service paid to\nthe life that would be lived there, except as a workspace. I moved again\nrecently, prompted by decidedly less dramatic and less soggy reasons\nthan after Emerald City. This time, for whatever reason, I did it\ndifferently. I moved the normal way, the way I imagine normal people\ndoing when I close my eyes, whereby more than a car trunk full of\nutilitarian belongings are imported into the household, placed on the\nfloor, and never unpacked until the next moving day. I am not\nnecessarily PROHIBITIVELY busy, but like I said above, any dent in the\nmomentum, whether its a few trips to Home Depot or Target here and there\nor somehow waking up to discover I'd absconded from a shelter with two\nparticularly energetic young cats, is something that precludes a pace of\noutput that is insane and often bordering on miraculous.
\n
\nWhat I'm trying to convey here is this isn't necessarily any sort of\nbreak, or a grand announcement of a big slowdown for MSPA. I'm trying to\ngive you a sense of the reality which made MSPA heretofore possible,\nand that if for a period of time I descend from an altitude far\nexceeding the hours of a full time job, into \"merely\" those of a full\ntime job, IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY COUNT AS A BREAK! And certainly not as any\nsort of violation in a pact with the readership. Different from what\nyou're used to? Sure. But you should never find yourself in a position\nwhere you come to expect, let alone demand, that degree of effort from\nanyone, even me. If my output \"sputters\" from 10 pages a day to 1 or 2\nor 3, IDEALLY (re: unrealistically) this should not even cause you to\nvoice an internal observation on the matter! And if one is voiced,\ninstead of \"oops, looks like Andrew's slipping,\" it should be \"oops,\nlooks like Andrew's being a regular dude for a while.\"
\n
\nNot that detecting a pace change is some terrible wrongdoing, since\nclearly I've done everything in my power to establish these absurd\nprecedents, and people have naturally associated this with The Brand.\nI'd just like to suggest it would be beneficial to the reader to\ndisentangle enjoyment of the content from the torrid pace its been\ncommonly delivered. Who can say how fast or slow it'll come in year\nthree? Would my assurances even be reliable? Maybe it'll stay at the\ncurrent pace for a good long while. Maybe it'll soon hasten back to\nsomething more typical. Maybe it'll come back FASTER THAN EVER. Who\ncares??? Do you really NEED this site to be the fastest comic on the\nblock to enjoy it? Are you prepared to contend with the backlash to your\npsyche that is risked by so fervently relishing that particular\nproperty of the comic? What if it's taken away? Don't go boasting to\nyour neighbors that your slave can pick cotton ten times faster than\ntheirs. It's unbecoming. Just enjoy the fluffy yield of his furious\nhands, while you wait and pray for Abe Lincoln to gently stroke his\nbeard and relieve you of your bigotry.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 7, 2011 - Apr 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183779191219592910",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nI'm presently acting as his legal counsel.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183779672696327417",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nI don't know what a formspring connection is or why I have them.
\n
\nWait you are a spambot I think.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to FormspamBFFs,\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183780021029078697",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nNone of them will. The tiger is simply too fast.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183780576845661580",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nIt's the secret room music.
\n
\nShe fell in the secret room.
\n
\nThe song is from Secret of Mana.
\n
\nToby Radiation totally ripped it off thiefways, please send him many unflattering\nemails.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183783514565543067",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nSome of them die.
\n
\nLike Eridan. HB. Black Queen. Troll Black King.
\n
\nVillains always seem invincible until they die. It's the magic that keeps them\naround til the end of the movie.
\n
\nBut I guess by so many you mean 2? Jack and Gamzee?
\n
\nOne is billed as omnipotent. The other is a rascally clown, which by definition is\nthe most dangerous type of villain.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to MemeticMutant,\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183783832044987389",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nGamzee took them off before he killed Equius.
\n
\nTerezi recovered them at the scene of the crime.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183787144228144809",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nWhen in doubt, be sure to pronounce everything in the least affected manner\npossible, from an American perspective.
\n
\nCAR-cat
\ntuh-REH-zee
\nGAM-zee
\nTA-vros (rhymes with HAVE and GROSS)
\nneh-PEH-tuh
\neh-QUEE-us
\neh-RI-dan (combine names Erin - n + Dan)
\nuh-RAD-ia
\nfuh-FERRY
\nSAW-lux
\nVRISS-kuh
\nkuh-NIGH-uh
\n
\nThat's just how I say them. I don't actually care how you say them.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183787579370400478",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nNo!
\n
\nThat would involve sewing a ton of custom garments and would cost me and you a\nfortune, together.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183787776011961904",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nProbably this summer.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183788596606564042",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nI am not actually burnt out though. I have been careful not to say this, because it\nis untrue.
\n
\nI have simply allowed schedule clashes to disrupt critical momentum, which\nheretofore has not been the case.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183789621992255833",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nThey'll likely be cheaper.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183790379500336067",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nIt isn't over, there's so much more suckitude left to suck a big sucky dick.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183790506969425677",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\n!!!!!!!!!!
\n
\n
\n
\nOk.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183791040698807230",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\nPeople will wonder why I chose to answer this question instead\nof the more interesting ones they submitted. They will be upset with\nboth of us, just watch.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183793899507049988",
- "timestamp": 1302998400,
- "html": "\n733 days
\n3718 pages
\n300,000 words
\n5 pages per day
\nhours and hours of animated footage + gameplay\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183794418027894679",
- "timestamp": 1303344000,
- "html": "\nShe had to go. I can only have so many cats in my life.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011 - Apr 20, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183796410800438864",
- "timestamp": 1303344000,
- "html": "\nIt was a joke that made you laugh contained within a work of comedy.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011 - Apr 20, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question183797448693544067",
- "timestamp": 1303344000,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011 - Apr 20, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question184910377140643143",
- "timestamp": 1303344000,
- "html": "\nI didn't even name the Midnight Crew. The name was submitted\nthrough a donation command before Homestuck. I named and designed the\nmembers of the group to complete the request. It began here, and there\nare several others.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/extras/ps000013.html
\n
\nLike many things in donation commands (zillyhoo, doomsday dice\ncascader...) the MC was adapted into Homestuck through the elaborate\nplot devices you may recall, driven by the usual MSPA meta-humor which\nyou have grown to [feel some way about], which at this very moment\ncontinues unabated. (Remember the MC was introduced in HS as the MSPA\nadventure the kids could read if they visited MSPA.com. Then it turned\nout that MSPA was, in a way, a viewport into the troll universe, where\nthe MC was real, and consisted of Jack & co. as exiles on Alternia.)
\n
\nBut I didn't know about the Morton song until Radiation adapted samples from it into\nBlack, which accompanied [S] Jack: Ascend.
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003568
\n
\nThe song was recorded 100 years before HS began. There's not much info\nout there on the guy or the song. Would anyone be all that surprised if\nit was released on 4/13/1909?\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Cornbread617,\n\nApr 16, 2011 - Apr 20, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question184921221467503139",
- "timestamp": 1303344000,
- "html": "\nTo be fair, if I were working at \"normal speed\", updates over\nthe last 5 days could easily have been compressed into one day. I kinda\ndoubt anybody would be urging me to get on with it if that were the\ncase.
\n
\nRegardless, here is some additional perspective on the matter of the pressing need\nfor plot advancement.
\n
\nDo you recall that at one point, WV spent about three weeks fucking\naround with cans in a bunker before he finally blasted off? In Act 1, we\nwatched John launch cakes out of his sylladex for two months before we\neven discovered the story had a plot.
\n
\nThis is how this works. At times it advances through stretches of\nunremarkable events wherein characters are given space to fool around.\nThe story then continues to build on the details that accumulate. That\nis how every story on this website has been created, and the practice\nhas been adhered to religiously.
\n
\nSometimes, even in the heat of my most productive periods, these\n\"goofing around phases\" still represent a kind of decompression. When I\nam just not quite ready to ATTACK major plot advancement in the manner\nthat it would require, and it's simpler and more sustainable to mess\naround, do silly things, and keep production relatively light weight.
\n
\nI remember when WV was horsing around with Can Town, there were similar\nmurmurs of impatience, and many believed firmly it couldn't possibly be\ngoing anywhere that served the story. Nobody could know his big can in\nthe desert would blast off soon, let alone that a year later, for\nreasons they couldn't yet fathom, thousands of teenagers to smear gray\nmakeup all over their faces because of stuff that happened in this\nstory. What could possibly happen later that would cause this??? Pretty\nhard to imagine, when you're the guy in December of '09, impatiently\nwaiting for WV to eat parts of a pumpkin, drink Tab, and play chess with\nhimself.
\n
\nTo find out, you had to be in it for the long haul, as you must now be. I\nwill do what I am going to do, and one way or another, it will get\nwhere it's headed. It always does.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 16, 2011 - Apr 20, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question184923408318897908",
- "timestamp": 1303344000,
- "html": "\nThat guy is pretty cool. It's nice reading his responses to the\ncomments, which are delightfully gracious. He seems so genuinely\nenthusiastic about spreading the word about old victrola recordings.
\n
\n\"That is Wonderful. Do thank Mr. Hussie for me, and also all of you\nwonderful homestuck fans who appreciate and support my continuing\nefforts to bring my Historic and eclectic collection of early\nrecordings to a new generation of listeners.
\n
\nVictrolaman\"
\n
\nYou are welcome, Victrolaman. Keep cranking out the classics!!!!!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 19, 2011 - Apr 20, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question184926039602922324",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nCal and Ed and Scratch are certainly the names of three characters who have appeared\nin Homestuck, that is for sure.
\n
\nMore importantly, Morton has resurrected in Homestuck the love affair\nProblem Sleuth had with old jazz legends, and now this legendary\nmusician haunts us all with his spooky dead ghost.
\n
\nI forgot the point I was making?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 19, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188195165695930425",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nIt was blocked, per the journal description. Just a bit of abstraction in the\ndepiction.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 29, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188196461240949634",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nYes. Unless the lusus is killed, or any number of things that could happen to\nseparate them.
\n
\nBut ideally, the lusus stays for life, and as was implied may even play a role in\nthe troll's profession, as a mount or such.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 29, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188198045748332820",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nDisc 2 begins between act 5.2 and the end of act 5. It signals no change of act.\n
\n
\nEach dot on that green Homestuck card that contains the discs represents\nthe beginning of an act. The \"2\" is before the green dot, which is act\n6. Act 6 has not begun, nor has act 5 ended.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 29, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188198491690929378",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nI am beginning to draw them now. So pretty soon hopefully.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 29, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188199401561290002",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nYou are the name of the wifi connection in my house.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to fedorafreak,\n\nApr 29, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188200351046864237",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nYes I know exactly what they are for.
\n
\n[description below nsfw]
\n
\nThe buckets are used to contain some volume of liquid which has some relevance to\nthe troll reproductive process.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 29, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188200546543378207",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nThanks, I'm glad you like it. People made some nice artwork for it.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 29, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188201897331555216",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nNah, Seer: Ascend will be in the log list like all the others\nwhen all is said and done. Links will proceed as usual from that page.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 29, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188219540683913355",
- "timestamp": 1304208000,
- "html": "\nAll I've really been up to is not working on it 24/7. Not\nworking on a thing 24/7 shouldn't really need an explanation. Like\nnobody goes up to you and asks you why you aren't working on a thing\n24/7, because that's a nutty thing to ask someone. Unless you have\ntrained a very large population to expect this behavior from you over an\nuninterrupted period spanning three years. In which case my strong\nadvice to such a person who has done that is: ???????????????
\n
\nThe animation took 4 days or so, but really it wasn't especially long\nand something like that should have taken me about 2 days or maybe less\nif I were working in Hell Mode. But I had a lot of other important\nthings to do which stretched out the time. For instance, watching some\nepisodes of 30 Rock. I also ran some unsuccessful errands, like I went\nto the UPS Store to mail my stupid broken iPhone back to Apple, because\nit's dumb and broken and I kind of hate it. But the UPS Store's computer\nwasn't working or something, so I left. I went back again another day,\nbut it was the same story. I muddled around with some tweens and and\ncajoled a billion little image files, saved in photoshop one by one and\nimported into Flash which is technology on par with a broken iphone in\nterms of raw aggravation factor. I went to Starbucks a bunch of times\nand bought some coffee, and at one point I netflixed Robocop on the PS3,\nand wound up fast forwarding through all the scenes where he was\nsitting around without his helmet on looking weird and talking about his\nrobofeelings, because the movie wasn't really as good as I wanted to\nremember it being. I horsed around with some cats, by which I guess I\nmean coexisted with them which is mostly all you do with a pet\nultimately. The younger one has taken to nursing on the slightly not as\nyoung one, which is weird because she is like her adopted older sister\nwho is barely even much bigger than her. But the older one seems fine\nwith it and actually starts purring, because pretty much every cat in\nthe world is as least partially insane. At some point I realized I\nshould stop shitting around and get down to fucking business. I dug deep\ndown to tap into my inner reserves of determination and strength, and\nwith all of my mettle brought to bear on the task I buckled down and was\nfinally able to watch another 10 or 15 episodes of 30 Rock.
\n
\nAnd then I finished the animation.
\n
\nAs for what I did today, i.e. the day after posting it, I don't know.\nMostly sitting around thinking about how I want to execute some stuff\ncoming up next, and revising some overly ambitious plans which were\ncertainly made in the heat of labor-addled delirium. Also I did some\nother stuff. I made some pasta, and drove some cardboard boxes\nsomewhere.
\n
\nWhat did you do today? :)\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 30, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188220812011014452",
- "timestamp": 1304985600,
- "html": "\n8some?
\n
\nI know trolls can get pretty polygamous what with their quadrants and all, but wow.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 30, 2011 - May 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188223286302245852",
- "timestamp": 1304985600,
- "html": "\nThe behavior you have observed is far from universal.
\n
\nAnd how often do you really think I'm going to do this? There is only one disc\nchange.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 30, 2011 - May 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188232252113579435",
- "timestamp": 1304985600,
- "html": "\nIf you catch me answering formspring questions it means I am\ndefinitely making a point of not updating at the moment. FS is one of\nthe things I do to space out. It is where I go to ramble and decompress\nthrough various musings, and occasionally humor histrionics from\nanonymous teenagers.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 30, 2011 - May 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question188232987786123800",
- "timestamp": 1304985600,
- "html": "\nOnly I am fast enough. I get to got tiger all the time.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nApr 30, 2011 - May 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question192553069316180507",
- "timestamp": 1305331200,
- "html": "\nI am not trapped in Canada. I got back on monday night. The\ngrumpy customs guy looked at me suspiciously and considered the threat I\nposed to this nation for a little while, and then I guess finally\ndecided to do me this rad solid by letting me back into my own country.
\n
\nThe Toronto Comic Arts festival was fun and I met lots of cool people. I\nlost track of how many buckets I was asked to sign I think after the\nfourth bucket or so. One time a guy asked me to fill his bucket with a\nclear fluid he supplied, so I did, and the undertaking was filmed,\nprobably for distribution on the amateur pornography market. Some people\nkind of tried to sing to me once, and I rewarded their ring leader with\na bottle of Faygo (a crate of which was given to me as a gift. I can at\nthis point count on gifts of Faygo, Gushers, and candy corn at any\nconvention with total certainty.) The fellow opened the Faygo with\nshowman's aplomb, and the bottle snorted an angry, umbrella shaped jet\nof atrocious cola on to himself, his belongings, and all who surrounded\nhim. I showed my contrition by looking suitably horrified.
\n
\nThe convention only occupied the weekend, but in truth its footprint\nspanned 5 solid days when you account for travel time on thursday and\nmonday, horsing around in Toronto on friday, and may even span 7 days\nwhen you consider how useless a person can be on the days before and\nafter traveling extensively. So that is an entire week existing as a\nblack hole in my creative schedule on account of two pretty decent days\nin Canada. This is probably why I don't do a lot of cons.
\n
\nOn the subject of momentum killers, the preceding weekend my computer\nbroke, so I bought a new one and spent time setting it up. I don't ever\ntry to fix computers anymore. I just buy new ones, and copy my files\nover. I've learned not to fight with computers over the years. Expending\nthe energy to win these little skirmishes is not worth the years it\nshaves off the end of your life. It steals a lot of time just to\ndiagnose problems, let alone agonize through solutions. Paying for\nservice and new parts and such also takes time, not to mention money\nwhich could be applied toward a brand new computer which doesn't hate\nyou yet. You should take my advice. The next time some device gives you\nproblems, don't fight with it. Just acknowledge to the device, \"You win.\nYou are broken. You will be replaced immediately.\" This is a liberating\npolicy.
\n
\nThe thing is, a computer isn't even very expensive. You can get a pretty\nalright one for like $300 or $400. My disc drive failed. Yes, a\nscratched disc. We'll forgo mention of HS themes cropping up in my life\ncause I don't even know what to say about that. I've had drives fail\nbefore, which basically happens for no reason. It's something they do.\nIt's a good thing nothing important depends on hard drives being\nreliable. Except I guess practically all of modern civilization, but\nwhatever. So I'd have to buy a new hard drive for $100 or so, a fuckin\ncopy of goddamn Windows (which I don't even have, I always just inherit\nOS's from new machines) for like $200, and jump through all these hoops,\nor just spend approximately the same amount of money on some dumb\npre-assembled machine off a store rack that is hot and ready to go, and\nremain blissfully uninvolved with a piece of technology's staggering,\nintractable neurosis. I just copy my files over. When a drive dies, it\nnever actually spoils your data much. It only ever seems to break just\nenough to make the OS go funky, and difficult/impossible to boot up. And\nthe more you run it, the more it corrupts, which is why you stop\nimmediately, forfeit all hope of salvaging it, and buy a new computer.
\n
\nEven though that was about as painless a solution as possible, it was\nstill a significant momentum drain, and last week was pretty slow\ncontent-wise. So's this one. Momentum drags are pretty common these\ndays. That's just the shape of things, and it's all been fastidiously\nfiled under Oh Well already, so don't worry.
\n
\nTCAF amounted to about a week long black hole of output, through which\nnot only did you get to not read anything, but I was not even remotely\napplying effort toward something you will read later. That effort begins\nonly now, as I get my shit together, and puzzle over the plans I left\ndangling. These plans are usually kept rational and aloft in my mind\nthrough perpetual, feverish creative activity. They begin to resemble\nthe overambitious boondoggles they truly are when I'm forced to slow\ndown.
\n
\nWhat I'm presently puzzling over is why I decided to leave a Flash\nproject for myself to return to. Not really the best idea. But it'll be\ndone when it's done, even if the gap in the archive from 5/5 to 5/? will\nprobably seem cavernous relative to the eventual payoff.
\n
\nCheck the site again:
\n
\n<strikethru>Tomorrow</strikethru>
\n
\n<strikethru>The next day</strikethru>
\n
\n<fakehtml>The day after that</bullshit>
\n
\nThe future.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 10, 2011 - May 13, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question195850403307361249",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nI drew an initial template, and the art folks were invited to\ncontinue in that style, adding new animation frames, characters, etc.\nAll very loosely, without a lot of parameters beyond that. Eyes5 did the\nJack, myluckyseven did a Rose frame. There should be more to come.
\n
\nThis was originally going to be a Flash project, but I cancelled it.
\n
\nEverything happening now, and over the next bunch of pages, would have\ntaken place in a pretty energetic, and much more sophisticated than\nusual strife animation. Kind of like \"strife version 2\", for the second\ndisc. I planned this idea months ago, not really thinking much of the\neffort and time it would eventually require to complete. This is what I\nusually do, blithely make such ambitious plans, pay the price later, but\nfight through it with a major grind and honor the original vision.
\n
\nThis was a little different though. Not only was this meant to be a much\nmore elaborate type of animation by my own stakes-raising declaration,\nwith more frames-intensive visuals like a typical 2D fighter, but on top\nof that, the rate of output had been slowing, and the story flow was\nalready kind of logjamming.
\n
\nSo I had to make a decision. I could either apply what I now estimate\nwould have been two or three solid weeks of serious effort to make this\none pretty cool animation, and watch several 100K people sink into a\nstate of despair over the prolonged suspension in content only to have\nthe story advance not particularly far through a totally radical battle\nscene, or I could scrap the whole plan and figure something else out.\nThe latter is what you're seeing.
\n
\nSometimes these adjustments have to be made. I've revised plans before,\nand had some cool ideas I've scrapped. I was going to include another\nround in the Dave vs. Bro battle where they used their Sylladexes to\nwage a hashrap battle (which is why I went to the trouble of making Dave\ncollect all that dangerous shit in his kitchen before climbing to the\nroof). But I axed that because the battle was already taking too much\ntime to produce and bottlenecking plot advancement. That idea was pretty\neasily phased out. This is different now, because revising these plans\nmeant I had to change the way a large chunk of the story would be\ndelivered, because a lot of story components were all tangled up in my\nplans for that animation. So I had to do a lot of rethinking, and much\nof the solution is what you're seeing now, which is having the scratched\ndisc interfere with the flow of the story, and Scratch taking over\nnarration duties at an accelerated pace while he fixes the disc in time\nfor the end of act. This is in part my way of committing not to doing\nanymore flash stuff until the EOA, which itself is going to be a very\nlaborious thing and will take a long time to finish.
\n
\nThis is all fine. I don't mind turning my plans upside down sometimes,\nsince it can lead to creative opportunities for handling this stuff. The\ndisc errors, Scratch hijacking the site design while narrating, all\nthis strikes me as in keeping with the spirit of the story and the\nflexible format. Keeping the story moving is important, but it's not the\nsole consideration. MSPA for me is about working with loads of fun\nideas, both for the story itself and the way it's told. Very often that\nconsideration is at odds with pacing. I do what I can to balance both.
\n
\nThe biggest challenge in this respect by far has been Flash. I'm quite\nambivalent on its role in Homestuck. On one hand, it completely changes\nthe way the story is read and perceived, for the better I think. It\nbrings a lot of the most important parts of the story to life, makes for\nsignificant dramatic impact when needed, and goes a long way in making\nthis difficult to classify as a medium. One the other hand, it magnifies\nthe production complexity exponentially, and I'm not just talking about\nthe effort the animations require. It affects everything about my\napproach to the story. Including the whole decision making process, and\nnot in a particularly good way, at least not from my perspective.
\n
\nThe biggest way it affects the process is how it stretches the story\nout. If I'd gone through with the axed strife animation, that would be\nan obvious example, pausing the story a couple weeks to make some people\nfight. But the delaying effects can be more subtle than that. I'll have\nin mind a certain event in the story which I think should be handled\nthrough Flash. I'll know it's coming up, but I might not be ready to\nlaunch into that kind of work for whatever reason. Maybe it's too soon\non the heels of the last one or whatever. So I'll work on more static\npanels, because there is never a shortage of plot threads to address or\ndetails to develop or funny conversations to write or new fun ideas to\nput out there. And that's fine really, since I feel like it's all good\nstuff, but it definitely makes for the long road. I'm quite sure\nHomestuck would be finished by now if I'd never used flash at all.
\n
\nThere are other weird ways it factors in, like certain expectations it\ncreates. Once it gets in the readers' heads that it's a recurring device\nfor the story, they start to look out for it and expect it in certain\nsituations, compare static content with flash, consider how awesome some\nstatic panels would have been if done in flash or how awesome situation\nX will be if animated with song Y. The potential for disappointment\nlooms constantly with increased expectations. None of this is\nparticularly bad, but if you're the guy responsible for putting together\nthis story, you tend to be keenly aware of it, and it factors into the\nbig puzzle of managing it all. And a big part of that puzzle has been\nanswering the question \"to flash or not to flash?\"
\n
\nI've said before, the deeper into this I get, the less I feel like a\nwriter or artist, and more I'm like a producer, managing story decisions\nweighed carefully against cost of execution. And cost can mean a lot of\nthings. Effort needed, organizational complexity (usually most present\nin interactive pages), time delay or obstruction to story advancement,\nstuff like that. This kind of thing doesn't factor in if you're writing\nsomething more conventional, like a book. You write in exactly what\nserves the story, as you envision it. It may sound crazy that's not what\nI'm doing, but it really can't be anymore, not with these high octane\nanimations in the mix as part of the expected delivery. I have to think\nlike a producer to make that work. To understand what that means, here's\nan anecdote about Indiana Jones, which might not be quite true but\nwhatever, it's just something I'm vaguely remembering. When Spielberg\nwas going over the script with somebody, it called for a pit full of\nlions, and he said \"whoa! too expensive! let's go with snakes.\" So you\ngot Indy afraid of snakes instead of lions, because it turns out you can\nbuy crazy loads of snakes for bargain bux.
\n
\nIt would be really reasonable for him to be afraid of lions though. They\nare huge and hungry and fucking terrifying. Have you SEEN a lion???\nLions would be my quirky phobia if I was a rugged dude with a whip and\nlonging for treasure.
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nLions.
\n
\n(roar)
\n
\nWhy did it have to be...
\n
\n(roar)
\n
\nLions. :(\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 19, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question197489823865410924",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nMore technical problems.
\n
\nTOO BORING; DON'T READ.
\n
\nSeriously, don't read this. It's so boring.
\n
\nA couple weeks ago my computer broke so rather than go through the\nrigmarole of getting it back up and running I just bought another cheap\ncomputer and copied all my shit over to it to solve the problem as\nquickly and painlessly as possible so I could just keep working. That\nwent ok.
\n
\nThis as I said tends to be what I do when I run into technical problems\nrather than bang my head against the wall for days with diagnostics and\npart-swappings and repairs, and so I can just keep working and doing\nstuff that's actually important instead of dicking around with\nelectronics.
\n
\nMaybe it sounds wasteful but it isn't. I just use the old machine as a\nspare computer, after fixing it up GRADUALLY, at a leisurely pace, where\ndoing so will not present an obstacle to continuous work. So that's\nwhat I did. But in this case, I liked my old machine better than the new\none, so once it was fixed up and ready to go, I prepared to make a\nquick hop back over to old machine and keep the new one as a spare.
\n
\nExcept the hop wasn't quick, for one reason. Photoshop and Flash didn't\nwork after installation. (the whole CS3 suite, actually) Still not sure\nwhy. At this point I'm guessing the installation file got corrupted\nsomehow in all the shuffle. Of course the road to understanding you're\ndealing with a very serious problem is paved with all these excruciating\ndiagnostic measures, like uninstalling/reinstalling CS3 a dozen times\nand even reinstalling Windows a few times in 32 and 64 bit mode to make\nsure something like that isn't fucking up the works. Particularly\nmaddening since I JUST INSTALLED it on my new machine a couple weeks ago\nand it worked fine.
\n
\nAnd this kind of shit is exactly why I don't fight with computers\nanymore, I just replace them. Except that policy is really difficult to\nput into play in a situation like this, where the software is at issue\nregardless of what machine you use. But actually, I did investigate this\napproach anyway. It's just a more bitter pill to swallow because Adobe\nCS5 (their latest, solely offered version) costs literally five times\nwhat my computer cost. So I thought, maybe that's ok, maybe this is a\ngood time to upgrade even if it's ridiculously expensive. So a good\nchunk of time I spent looking into CS5, downloading the trial and all.\nPhotoshop CS5 is a very nice program, pretty elegantly designed, but I\ndiscovered it has one hideous flaw that makes it practically unusable to\nme.
\n
\nIf you use Photoshop, maybe you know about it. I'm getting the sense it bugs a lot\nof people. It's summarized here.
\n
\nhttp://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php/t-899953.html
\n
\nWhen I use Photoshop, generally I have 5 or 10 or even 20 documents open\nat all times. Actually, they're always open, even when I'm not using\nPS. This is how I work on Homestuck, I just have a ton of pertinent\nfiles open all the time so I don't have to spend as much time rooting\naround for stuff. Having all those files clog up the taskbar is moronic.\nThe \"tabbed documents\" system is just as moronic, for my process.\nTabbed web browsing is a brilliant innovation. Tabbed PS document\nnavigation, not so much, since many PS users like to be able to look at\nmore than one document at once, side by side. Not sure why the\ndevelopers thought they struck gold with this feature.
\n
\nI wouldn't give a shit about any of this if they just made these\nfeatures optional, and allowed CS3-like behavior to exist. And I might\neven make an attempt to get used to it, if Adobe wasn't asking for\nnearly $2000 for the suite (or $1700, for just Photoshop + Flash CS5).\nI'm not going to pay that kind of money on something that just makes me\nangry to use. Adobe seems to think I'll be delighted to whip out my\ncredit card for the privilege of a mandatory workflow overhaul. Think\nagain bros.
\n
\nEventually I just gave up on the CS5 idea, and after undergoing a whole\nlot more terribleness too boring to mention, I finally just got CS3\nworking again instead. So that's that dumb story.
\n
\nThis was all pretty aggravating and exhausting, and kinda made me lose\nmy train of thought on the story. Piling this on top of other recent\ndisruptions like traveling and the preceding technical bullshit doesn't\nhelp much. Constant forward motion on the story tends to be what keeps\nthe thing living in my head, and I'm finding if you stack up enough\nmajor interruptions, it isn't just lost labor time that accounts for\ndelay, but disrupted inspiration, as I have to completely regroup on\nwhat the fuck I was even thinking before shit hit the fan.
\n
\nAnd it doesn't really help that it's a fairly delicate part of the story\nwhere the point is to wrap up a lot complex stuff in some kind of\nsensible way, rather than the typical mode of casual meandering, where\nwe could hop over to some funny conversation that isn't particularly\nimportant otherwise and I could just say, There, there is your content,\nenjoy. It's really the perfect storm of built up story complexity,\ncommitment to a methodical resolution of everything, radically\nrethinking long-planned points of execution (i.e. axing huge flash\nplans, figuring out how to structure/convey them statically), and a\ndisastrous series of technical disruptions. Updates just can't push\nthrough this any faster than they are right now.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 19, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198249305826426649",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nThat was only half the problem. When untabbed, the documents clutter the taskbar.\n
\n
\nYou can set windows to group like items in the taskbar, but I don't like doing that,\nfor reasons.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 19, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198249591798271178",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nBut then I would have a whole computer I don't like, instead of just one\napplication!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 19, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198255939592161163",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nI don't. Bear in mind, the time required was only part of the equation. There's also\nthe effort.
\n
\nThe planned animation would have been a major escalation in production\nvalue. The sophistication of the animations has increased over time, and\npart of the point of this for me is to keep pushing the envelope, but\nthere are limits to how far you can go. It's good to keep pushing and\nfind your limits and test them, but realistically you'll have to pull\nback at some point. Because that is what a limit is. A line between\nsomething you can do, and something that is literally impossible.
\n
\nI'm not saying the animation I had in mind was impossible, but it was\napproaching scary territory. I just made a judgment and decided it\nwasn't worth the energy, all things considered.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 19, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198259440477038903",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nEverything I read about it indicated it was a feature, and\nconsidered desirable functionality by Adobe (which is WHACK yo).
\n
\nBut maybe this tip would have been the workaround?
\n
\nI don't know. If I'd unearthed that info while messing with it I might have run with\nCS5.
\n
\nBut really all that stuff wasn't just about how dumb I thought CS5 was.\nLong story short, I spent way too long trying to get CS3 to work, tried\nout CS5 for a bit, bailed on it, then fixed CS3. Now it's pretty much\nok.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 19, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198259804530041265",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nYep.
\n
\nThere are 2 actually.
\n
\nOne HS volume. One solo album.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 19, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198260285985815760",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nI'm always here though. That's the best thing about me. I am\nreal, and you can talk to me any time you feel like it. See?
\n
\nExcept when I don't answer your Formspring question cause I thought it was dumb or\nwhatever.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198262207878830367",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nYou are a strange and terrible person for saying these things!!!
\n
\nI didn't own Windows, or a box, or a key. It came installed on my\nprevious computer. I used to own Windows XP, but lost that CD a while\nago. I have since bought Windows 7, in order to refurbish my spare\ncomputer.
\n
\nWait, why I am telling you this?!?!
\n
\nI guess I'm holding out an olive branch to you, anonymous formspring\nguy. The ball is now in your court. Let's be best friends together.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198263569937098004",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nI don't actually buy that many computers.
\n
\nI did the same drill about a year ago when my computer broke, which is\nwhen I made the \"replace don't fix\" resolution I currently try to swear\nby. I then fixed up that old computer, and gave it to a friend.
\n
\nI also got a new machine several years prior to that, and did something similar with\nthe old one.
\n
\nIn the last five to ten years, I have spent less money on new machines\nthan someone who has recently purchased a single Apple product.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198264063526994143",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nThe lions had to be released in order to track down the elusive got tiger.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198266375561584519",
- "timestamp": 1306540800,
- "html": "\nHero of ____ is the generic term for any player.
\n
\nFor instance, John is a Hero of Breath. Tavros is also a Hero of Breath.
\n
\nVriska is a Hero of Light. So is Rose.
\n
\nBut their full titles also include specific classes.
\n
\nJohn is an Heir. Tavros is a Page.
\n
\nVriska is a Thief. Rose is a Seer.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - May 27, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198350271309447120",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nThis is a trick question, and also a stupid question. The lions will never catch the\ngot tiger.
\n
\nThe got tiger is simply the fastest there is, and no one can ever get to him.\nPeriod.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198350710767641224",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nPray that this never happens, because if it does, got help us all.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198352219748199331",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nNo, because it is governed by Homestuck logic.
\n
\nThis is the same logic which makes it reasonable for a kid to be named\nat age 13, and then go duel his cake wielding father in the kitchen.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198353019241275344",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nMe not telling you, in story or otherwise, is part of the fun.
\n
\nSometimes things like this are dropped into panels to invite you to ask\nsuch questions, speculate about it, and connect the dots yourself.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 26, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198360074257722749",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nI am of the opinion that the garments are ideal as they are.
\n
\nA truly authentic god hood, with a long, darker blue hood, and short\nsleeves, would be a costume. It would not be a garment most people would\nactually be interested in wearing on a day to day basis. Some would,\nabsolutely. The majority of interested buyers? Nope, especially\nconsidering what it would cost.
\n
\nTo manufacture such an item in a significant volume would be so complex,\nit would take a very long time, and would cost a fortune. It's hard to\nexpress how absurd this undertaking would be from my standpoint, and the\nstandpoint of good business practice.
\n
\nI am sorry the reality does not match your expectations. They would be\nreasonable expectations if Homestuck was a property of, say, Disney. And\nthe top Disney honcho could make a call to the guy in the Chinese\nfactory which Disney undoubtedly owns and say \"Hey, let's make a million\nof these.\" and have that operational agility, and ability to make it\ncost effective through outrageous volume. Unfortunately, Disney doesn't\nown Homestuck yet.
\n
\nSo what you see is the best possible shirt in the real world, but also\nby any standard I think. It is pretty close to the shirt in the comic,\nwhile still being a very normal, wearable garment that doesn't make\npeople feel like they are trucking down to the local anime convention\nwhenever they leave the house in it.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Tabletstar,\n\nMay 26, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198360347348856667",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nHe's taking a little break.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 27, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198360583622385857",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nThe much, much better question is:
\n
\nWhy don't you?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 27, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198361958741735735",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nMainly his horns were too big to fit on the jury table.
\n
\nIt's kind of like when you're shopping, and you have to buy a huge thing\nlike a giant bag of kitty litter or whatever, so you have to slide it\nin the space under the cart.
\n
\nBasically what I'm saying is, if Gamzee carried all the dead troll heads\nin a shopping cart, he would put Tavros' head in the bottom thing.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to BIGGSPONFAN,\n\nMay 27, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198362361680133069",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": "\nEvery innovation is up for future consideration until I get tired of it.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to webbedspace,\n\nMay 27, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question198745121674525554",
- "timestamp": 1307664000,
- "html": " Formspring question of the\nday
\nI am using the Formspring \"Question of the Day\" to field the\nissue that has come up about other people selling Homestuck stuff.
\n
\nWord about this was kindly spread by Lexxy, here: http://lexxercise.tumblr.com/post/5923809387/no-selling-mspa-stuff-without-andrews-permission
\n
\nHere is a thing to understand first. If you accept a commission to draw a\nHomestuck character without my permission, does that mean I will file a\ncease and desist order? Or if you sell an HS sketch at a convention,\nwill I hunt you down, kick over your table, and then muss up your hair\nand stomp on your glasses?
\n
\nNo, that would be silly.
\n
\nI just clarified what the official position is, which is that you\nshouldn't attempt to profit from my work, or anyone else's for that\nmatter, unless you have permission. It's not that I'm suddenly outraged\npeople are doing HS commissions and stuff. I've previously taken an\nultra passive attitude to all this. But the result of that, as well as\nthe result in HS's growing popularity, has been a surging culture of\ncasual copyright violation, which though seemingly harmless case by\ncase, in totality is starting to look problematic. In particular, it\nseems to be leading to increasingly flagrant violations here and there,\nthings which are more serious than a simple commission, and which I\nwould be inclined to take measures to stop. It's easy to see how this\ntrend develops. Someone notices wave after wave of HS artwork being sold\nby others, and presumes it's ok to take it a little further. And then\nfurther...
\n
\nI think it's better to address this before it turns into a bigger\nproblem. Honestly, the theoretical money I am losing is not what is\nmotivating me here. When you do an HS commission, I can't really imagine\nhow that translates to dollars leaving my pocket, other than projecting\nlosses in the very big picture if stuff like that goes unchecked. It's\nmainly a little unsettling to watch so many people at once act so\ncasually about profiting off another's IP without asking, and even more\nunsettling to imagine it spiraling out of control.
\n
\nIt may be the case that a sketch of a Pokemon sold to your friend is an\nunenforceable violation, and Nintendo will never get involved, but it is\nstill technically a violation. Please understand the fact that it is\nunenforceable does not make it less of a violation. You have profited\nfrom Nintendo's property, without permission. Which is not to say there\nare not degrees of violation beyond this which are more flagrant, but we\nshould be clear about it. Knowing that, you might decide to do it\nanyway. Or you might decide to ask Nintendo permission. (They would say\nno. I might not, though.)
\n
\nRequiring you to ask permission isn't much of an imposition. But I\nhesitate to guarantee satisfaction even if you do, because for one\nthing, your email might slip through the cracks and I might not get back\nto you. It's happened before. I've had requests like this, and some\nI've responded to favorably, while others I didn't get around to\nreplying to. Which I feel bad about, as I generally feel bad I can't\nanswer all my mail, but that's how it goes. All I can say is, if you're\nwondering, ask. I may say yes. I may say no. I may not respond. If I\ndon't, then you may use your discretion, while understanding the\nposition I have taken. If you cross a line, there's a good chance you'll\nhear from me eventually.
\n
\nI'd rather this not be about finding out exactly what I do or don't\nallow, and then just getting down to furiously attacking that wiggle\nroom I give. I'd rather it be about respect for the property of artists.\nEveryone who this affects is an artist as well, presumably. If you're\nan artist, you should care about this topic and evaluate your standards,\nbecause you are undoubtedly hoping others will respect your work and\nyour rights as well. Imagine you are at a convention, selling Pokemon\ndrawings or such. If you knew one of Nintendo's most aggressive lawyers\nwas lurking nearby, would you still do it? Is it fear of being\nprosecuted that motivates you to stop? Or is it the fact that you do not\nown Pokemon, and though it belongs to a multi billion dollar company\nthat won't feel the slightest hardship because of you, it doesn't seem\nright, because these aren't your creations? Or maybe it is less about\nrespect to the original creator, and more about taking pride in selling\nwhat you have created yourself, or at the very least, that which you\nhave been given the right to?
\n
\nAnd if the idea of selling black market Pokemon stuff makes you feel\nuncomfortable, where the owner has millions of dollars applied to a\nlegal staff interested in crushing IP violations no matter how well\nintended, then why would you feel better about selling stuff owned by a\nguy without a tiny fraction of those resources, who has heretofore shown\nnot even the slightest interest in taking action against his\nenthusiastic fans?
\n
\nThese are things for you to think about, and then act according to your\ninternal compass on the matter. I am not going to TAKE YOU DOWN if you\nsell a sketch of a troll to a friend or whatever. I'm just letting you\nknow my position, and will be reasonably content to let the fans govern\nthemselves, unless certain lines are crossed. Then we will talk.
\n
\nAs for the Formspring Question of the Day...
\n
\nEventually, before I die, I would like to somehow, some way, get my hands on that\ngod damn fucking tiger.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMay 28, 2011 - June 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207034985666869166",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nHe is not creepy, he is just a sad, bad dog. Which is the answer to your second\nquestion.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207037583761383395",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nLots of people did. And I knew people would. Which is one reason\nwhy I presented it through the mechanism of the scattered photo album\nwhich mocks the entire visual callback phenomenon which everyone has\ncome to anticipate now.
\n
\nI try to anticipate if certain outcomes are guessable. If it is, I don't\nnecessarily dismiss the idea, but I do try to do something unexpected\nwith it, if not in substance, at least delivery.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207037776368003617",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207038246205556924",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nI am the Huss of Lips.
\n
\nHahaha, just kidding, that sounds like some stupid thing one of my readers would\nsay.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207039077613075048",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nI'm suddenly wondering if there were some devoted Homestuck readers out there who\ndied between now and when it started.
\n
\nNow I'm sad.
\n
\nYou motherfuckers better not \"smile\" at this...
\n
\nOh god here come the smiles anyway. You people are awful.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207039904486559050",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nHe Auto-Harleyed with her.
\n
\nIt's safe to assume he understood Jack wouldn't hurt her. It's safe to assume she\ndoes too. Now, at least.
\n
\nDave also tricked her into slapping herself in the face with her robot.
\n
\nHe's kind of a jerk.
\n
\nBut a really cool jerk, and all the ladies want to kiss his corpse.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207040822644873306",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nThere are lots of silly things that happen in the story which don't become huge plot\npoints.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207041135862914131",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nScratch added them, because he's omniscient and knows the whole story, whereas\nGamzee doesn't. He just honks and stuff.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207056568313746460",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nI'm not hesitant about following through with long term plans I made.
\n
\nMost of these characters didn't exist a year ago. Vriska was introduced\nin July last year. I opened these arcs understanding most of them would\nlikely be closed, and every gesture has paved the way for what you see\nnow. Act five has been a great swelling of cast complexity followed by a\ngreat contraction. I knew it was going to have this overall structure.
\n
\nAnother approach would have been to treat this cast like that of a\nsyndicated cartoon, with amusing but basically static lives. Antics\nhappen, hijinks are afoot, everyone is pals and things are ok forever.\nTune in next week! I don't deny there's entertainment value in that,\nwith the content leaning on characters and relationships above anything\nelse. This is actually the reality of this work echoed by the collective\nconsciousness of fan artists, who cast all these characters in a\nperma-living state playing out amusing scenarios with each other. It's\nfun. Doesn't serve the bigger story much! Not one with a complex\narchitecture headed in a very specific direction, but fun nonetheless.\nIt would be prioritizing character far beyond the overarching story. I'm\nnot doing that. Certainly not with characters always designed to play a\ntransient role.
\n
\nThe bottom line is, I had plans, and I stuck to them. I wouldn't change\nthem midstream because I got the sense that some people would rather\nHomestuck be \"Trolls! The Sitcom.\"\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207059894279380742",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nSo because there is a right answer, I am obligated to share it?\nInstead of letting the work stand as presented, while offering a couple\nthings for people to think about?
\n
\nOh no I just caught another glimpse of the phrase post-modern moralistic\nrelativism and felt gross suddenly. Like I am hearing is the sound of a\ndumb guy yelling through the gross megaphone of a college education.\nGross! :[\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207060294294344795",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nYes. There's a good chance it would be pretty bad though. But that's ok because\n$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207060997486185866",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207062603032196636",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\n..... yes?
\n
\ngo on...\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question207067705008752445",
- "timestamp": 1309046400,
- "html": "\nWait, it's this question again! The exact same question, what are the odds. It's\nlike the question's ghost or something.
\n
\nI agree that dropping from 16 to 8 characters leaves the story direly\nunder-staffed. I mean when it was down to 14 that was already pretty\nsketchy territory. People were asking \"can hussie REALLY finish a story\nwith only 14 main characters? i know he's good, but is that even\nPOSSIBLE?\" 8 is practically a skeleton crew!
\n
\nBut don't worry, help is on the way. Soon I will launch the lengthy\nsquiddle intermission, documenting the tale of the 48 heroic squiddles\nwho played in the session which created the troll universe.
\n
\nAt first, people will bemoan this drastic departure from the \"real\nstory\" and wonder when we can get back to Homestuck proper. But over\ntime, you will grow to love each squiddle dearly. Each will be more\nexquisitely characterized than the last, and it is only then, when you\nhave welcomed them into your hearts, will the ruthless culling begin.
\n
\nThen we'll get back to the trolls and you'll be like fuck these guys.
\n
\nUntil the fedorafreak intermission comes along and bails us out. For 10,000 pages of\nhat pissing bliss.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question210925866807495725",
- "timestamp": 1309651200,
- "html": "\nGot back from being away a couple days ago.
\n
\nCurrently working on something for MSPA.
\n
\nIt is not a flash animation. It is not the EOA.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 27, 2011 - July 2, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211715478131873414",
- "timestamp": 1310169600,
- "html": "\nNot Bard Quest necessarily, just taking advantage of the fact\nthat I built the site from the beginning to allow branching paths, even\nif they all wind up back at the same place. Every other story does this.\nBQ obviously, Jailbreak has one fork that converges again, and Problem\nsleuth uses a couple really quick offshoots to handle deaths and other\nfuck-ups.
\n
\nAside from that, one of the main points of the Scratch segment was not\nonly to slip into a different gear with respect to story pacing, but to\nintroduce a vehicle to explore new methods for engaging with events in a\nstory which has accrued a vast amount of detail and complexity. The\nconsequence has been a little more detachment from the events directly\nas we experience some mediation between us and the characters through\nthis host. But what comes with that bit of extra distance from the\nstory, and bringing to fore its features as a work of metafiction, are\nthese devices for accessing this complex story which wouldn't make sense\nto introduce without letting this segment build some momentum.
\n
\nTelling the story in parallel through the header images was an example\nof that potential, and tying together the themes in the header with the\nmain content was one of the interesting challenges. And of course the\nnarrator himself is a character with a role in the story, so as he tells\nthe story he is advancing his own role in it as well. A lot more is\nbeing advanced at the same time, in a way that I think is fun and in the\nspirit of everything on the site. The scrapbook thing is another\nexample, a way of utilizing some of these silly meta-story devices which\nat first appear to be mocking the format itself, but become another\nuseful gateway into a bunch of different threads of the story at once.\nOf course you read those threads one at a time, but the feeling is that\nthey're being accessed in parallel. Using parallel story telling devices\nseemed like an interesting way to address what has become a formidable\nnumber of threads to keep track of, and also a fun way to give some\nforgotten details a little more attention which would seem like a pretty\nfrivolous diversion otherwise (like Nepeta talking to Jaspers), while\nstill finding a way to give them a little relevance to the current\nstorylines.
\n
\nIn a way the Scratch segment has been like busting open a pinata of\ndifferent storytelling devices and seeing what's there to work with. And\nhe sort of did that literally when he broke the scrapbook over Slick's\nhead, releasing all the clippings from the story, both old and new.\nHaving them strewn about the place is another semi-mocking\nacknowledgement of the nature of the story, a thing which has dissolved\ninto absolute nonlinearity, where looking into a panel at any point in\ntime, past present or future, reality memory dream or afterlife, is\nsomething which can advance the plot. Because it advances not just\nthrough unfolding action, but by what previously concealed information\nis exposed, and how it's presented.
\n
\nThis was actually one of the reasons for devising the dream bubble\nsystem. It serves a purpose in the plot, yes, but it also has flexible\nnarrative utility. The dream bubbles allow moments of the past to be\nexplored, or moments of an alternate timeline, through memories of\ncharacters in such a way that it doesn't have to be a strict flashback,\ncan be invested with more immediate relevance to what's going on, and\nallows a way for characters to talk about it. (Remember, rules for when\ndialogue is allowed are pretty strict! Dream bubbles amended the rules\nsuch that characters can converse directly when dreaming or dead. This\nis because the segments begin as memories consisting of online\nconversations, and continue from there.) It was a more effective way to\nconvey Cal's final journey and Scratch's origin, for instance. And it\nagain becomes a useful tool when examining a clipping on the floor of an\nobscure event in the past. We enter the panel somewhat like the\ncharacters do, seeing it as a memory of something that's already\nhappened, but the scene evolves as the characters remember, and soon\nthrough their interaction it catches up with the current state of the\nstory and contributes to it. Other clippings are played a little more\nstraight, like we are briefly entering a window to another parallel\nevent, then moving on. Either way, going into his clippings momentarily\nreconnects us directly with the story rather than experiencing it\nthrough his mediation. But then, the mediation allowed us to do this in\nthe first place. There'll probably be a few more of these scrapbook\ngateways before we're done with them.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 2, 2011 - July 8, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211732212809235195",
- "timestamp": 1310169600,
- "html": "\nNah, I was mostly useless on the road. I eked out those two pages preceding this\nwhile away, and that's it.
\n
\nThe couple days after returning were useless too. Took the last few days to make\nthese.
\n
\nI guess the bottom line is 30 panels still take a pretty good while to make??
\n
\nThe same was true for all those header images. If you look at the\narchive for the past month or so, it doesn't look like a hot and heavy\nupdate pace. But take into consideration that there are now 80 separate\nheader images stacked up.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 2 - July 8, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211733081449591230",
- "timestamp": 1310169600,
- "html": "\nThe last one was on the last day of the month, so we're a bit\nout of sync with the monthly album idea regardless. We'll have something\nout in a week or so.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 2 - July 8, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211733964736465769",
- "timestamp": 1310169600,
- "html": "\nThe flash page itself took about 10 minutes to make.
\n
\nThe panels themselves took a good bit longer.
\n
\nPosting it all on the site took about an hour. There was a lot of double\nchecking to do to make sure everything linked up right. It's easy to\nfuck up the posting process even under normal circumstances.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 2 - July 8, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211734140402301331",
- "timestamp": 1310169600,
- "html": "\nWe don't know yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\n
mspadventures\nresponded to jackelbeaver,\n\nJuly 2 - July 8, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question203816765505956791",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nIt would have spanned the events from a little after here:
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005677
\n
\nTo right around here:
\n
\nhttp://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005740
\n
\nWhat took place over those pages is almost a direct transcription of\nwhat would have happened in the flash. The events were conveyed visually\nand verbally to suit the Scratch narration, instead of shown through\nhigh-intensity animated visuals alone. The Scratch segment was not\nintroduced as a substitute for the animation. An \"abridged\" stretch like\nthis was going to come anyway as a device for setting a few things up\nbefore starting on the EOA animation. Axing the Rose v. Jack / Vriska v.\nJack animation (aka Heroes of Light: Strife) just meant moving Scratch\nthe segment up sooner, to use as a vehicle for delivering the full flash\nconcept without having to scrap it as a story direction, which would\nhave been a pretty significant architectural upheaval.
\n
\nNow that it's out there, we can examine the pros and cons of delivering\nit that way as opposed to flash. (But note, no matter what, there was no\nchance of that flash getting made whatsoever. This is really not about\n\"what could have been\")
\n
\nPros of flash:
\n
\n- Would have been WAY MORE RADICAL (frankly I don't care much about\nthis. the rad quotient of preceding flash material is already pretty\nhigh, and there's plenty more combustible shit to come)
\n
\n- The idea as a whole would have been delivered in minutes, rather than\nweeks, giving people the full sense of the story development all at\nonce, and limiting the drag on the serial readers' experience, and\ncorresponding vocalization of those frustrations (would have been BY FAR\nthe biggest advantage of flash)
\n
\nCons:
\n
\n- Concept as a whole may have been a bit challenging to parse with\nvisuals alone. The two parallel battles are easy enough to understand,\nbut I can easily imagine confusion over the alternate timeline concept\nas conveyed only visually. People have been confused by less. Much, much\nless.
\n
\n- Difficulty factor. Even with art contributors. There's a limit to not\nonly what I can do personally, but what a largely unstructured volunteer\neffort can accomplish as well.
\n
\n- Hiatus-induced suicide pact among readership.
\n
\nPros of narration:
\n
\n- Get to experiment with a little parallel storytelling, via the top banner. (pretty\nbig plus, IMO!)
\n
\n- Having it narrated removes ambiguity about a fairly cerebral chain of\nevents, while allowing the chance to indirectly develop Scratch's\ninvolvement in the story a bit.
\n
\n- I get to take my time with it and pretend to function like a normal human being\nfor a little while.
\n
\nCons:
\n
\n- Slow rolling the segment page by page has serial readers agonizing\nevery step of the way over every conceivable issue, on points of\nexecution, unwelcome \"story developments\", and so on. Once again,\nHomestuck is RUINED FOREVER! Until it isn't, of course.
\n
\n- If you're not into Scratch as a character or don't like his tone or\nthe whole omniscient smartass thing, then you probably aren't digging\nthe arc much. Not much to say about this. It's just a \"you like it or\nyou don't\" kind of thing.
\n
\n- Altering the flow of the story always carries the risk of agitating\nsome readers. Not only because mixing shit up = automatic complaints\n(which is definitely true), but because by accelerating the pace to make\nbroader narrative strokes, you are inviting the usual objections\nfixated on showing vs. telling. But I think there are some legitimate\ngears of storytelling which involve showing by way of telling outright,\nas long as the reader has the patience to see it through to its\nconclusion (problematic serially, as usual). It's a gear in which bigger\nstory chunks that normally are given strong magnification (like a\ndeath) are told more compactly and in succession. These bigger chunks,\nwhen stacked up, \"show\", or more appropriately \"reveal\" an even bigger\nidea which is at the true heart of that narrative stretch. It's not the\nevent which the reader momentarily feels \"should\" expand to fill the\nstage, like a death. The death that with hindsight functions as a\nbuilding block of a more complete idea which more effectively serves the\nstory as a whole, completing unfinished arcs, building on the themes\nand such.
\n
\nYou can look at story pacing like rolling a Katamari ball, with respect\nto the granularity of what has focus. At the beginning of HS, I'm\nrolling it around and picking up nickels and buttons. That's when John\nmessing around with cakes and such has focus as actual plot points. The\nball keeps rolling until points like that are too marginal to zoom in\non, and he's exploring a mysterious oily land killing monsters and stuff\nwhile we gloss over a lot of detail that in an earlier mode would have\nreceived intense scrutiny. We are picking up things like traffic cones\nand bicycles with our katamari ball, while still sculpting a shape that\nas a whole resembles a story. Hivebent was rolled with even bigger\ndenominations, maybe cars and trucks, gobbling up even bigger chunks\nlike buildings by the end of the arc, as Aradia was offhandedly\nmentioning how they killed the king and created a universe. With\nhindsight we see why, understanding the overall purpose that arc had for\nthe story, and how that particular pacing supported that purpose.\nUnlike Katamari though, the ball does get smaller sometimes, to go back\nto accommodating certain levels of detail like conversations and game\nmechanics, but it never dials all the way back. Doc has rolled with some\nof the biggest chunks yet, like buildings or mountains, casually\ndropping the deaths of characters as atomic features of his narration.\nHe clearly rolls the ball smaller at times too, when he wants. But this\nconstruction too has purpose, which needs some patience to watch it take\nshape and then hindsight to fully appreciate.
\n
\nAnd like I've suggested before, these can be pretty disastrous\nconditions for the serial intake of a story. But honestly, there is no\nother way to do it. To strive to satisfy serial readers all the time is\nto do nothing but make something terrible in the long run. It means you\ncan't do much to set up anything sophisticated with deferred payoff, as\nyou perpetually submit what will immediately gratify. I can't tell\npeople that reading serially is the \"wrong\" way to read it, because this\nis not true. But there's no escaping the fact that having pages leaked\nout so slowly radically warps your perception of what is happening,\nsometimes for the better (community discussion, noticing details etc),\nbut often aggravates (arc fatigue, rushing to judgment...) Try to\nimagine watching your favorite movie, for the first time ever, but only a\nminute at a time, every day. Sound frustrating? How often do you think\nyou might get irritated with the director for his pacing decisions? Or\nhis \"plot twists\", which are really just the products of scenes cut\nshort before fully paying off? How often do you think you might want to\ninsist he move it along? What about reading your favorite book, but only\nreceiving about a paragraph or two every day? And what if the\nauthor/director was tuned into the responses to this daily output? Is\nthere anything he could do to outrun the impatience of the reader for\nplot points he's carefully set up to be evaluated in the minute-space of\narchival read-through, which the reader labors over in the month-space\nof serial digestion? Can he do anything to deflect or mitigate their\nrush to judgment of incomplete arcs? Should he? Probably not.
\n
\nThe pages spanning the two links above provide a pretty good example of\nhow serial intake messes with perception, and of why authors tend to\nlike to finish books before showing them to you. Now that it's all\nthere, let's look at the reasonable serial reactions to some key\nmoments, and compare to the reality in hindsight.
\n
\n- Terezi flips coin, Vriska flies away.
\n
\nSerial reaction: augh, anticlimax!!! All that build up, the stair\nclimbing and show downing and coin flipping... where's the battle?\nWhere's........ SOMETHING?
\n
\nReality: This was only the beginning of a deferred resolution to the\nongoing Terezi/Vriska rivalry. The resolution was actually the full\nsweep of this series of events in totality, resulting in Terezi looking\ninto the doomed timeline to find the rationale and the courage to kill\nVriska, which she finally did. All that buildup was not for that\none-page deflation, but this full sequence. Reservation of judgment was\nrequired, something that is much easier to practice when there are more\npages to click on.
\n
\n.....
\n
\nI could go on but I just realized I'm tired of typing. But really, the\nlist goes on and on like this throughout the whole story. Things which\ncome off as odd or vaguely unsatisfying or even JUST SO TERRIBLE in the\nshort term, but make sense and work better overall in the big picture.
\n
\nYou could complete this exercise yourself if you felt like it. Look at\nan event, remember how you felt on reading it live, and now how you view\nit in retrospect. Or, for extra credit, imagine you could wipe your\nmemory of the past several months of content, and pretend I just posted\nit all today. What would your reaction be? How does it read? Do the\nissues which seemed to loom so large in the moment, like the omnipresent\n\"get on with it\" factor, even cross your mind for a second during such\nan archival dump? And for extra extra credit, imagine wiping your memory\nof all of Homestuck, and I just dropped it all in your lap right now\nwhile you were idling musing what sort of thing I might work on after\nProblem Sleuth. What do you think? Of it in totality, and of recent\nevents? What is there that wears thin, on its own terms of pacing,\nrather than that dictated by two years of attrition on one's ability to\nremain completely engaged and cognizant of all relevant threads?
\n
\nThere is a lot to think about when you make a story. Not just in how to\nmake it, but in how it is absorbed. One story is really two completely\ndifferent stories. The one that is read all at once, and the one that is\nread over your shoulder while you make it.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 10, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question203822124295549189",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": " The Signs of the Zodiac\n
\nGuys it is the FORMSPRING QUESTION OF THE DAY! Maybe I will only\nanswer these vapid questions for a while, leaving you all to wonder how\nmany penises trolls have. *
\n
\nI'm a virgo, which is why when I was dressed as a troll in the story, I\nhad a virgo shirt on. As a cool bonus, that symbol looks a little like\nit says \"Me\", which is really quite ironic, since I myself happen to be\nme.
\n
\nTwo answer the second part of the question, yes it is very\nrepresentative of who I am, because as I have mentioned before, I am a\njust this HUGE lesbian. Big time.
\n
\nI was wearing a Karkat shirt today though, because I've got all these HS\nshirts lying around that I wear sometimes. A cashier saw it and said,\n\"Hey I'm a cancer too!\" And I didn't know what to say, so I said, \"Oh!\n........................................... Haha! Yeah.\" And completed\nthe transaction.
\n
\nI'm starting to be a little more reluctant to wear the HS shirts though,\nbecause they're starting to get me recognized in public more\nfrequently. Not just as an HS reader, but as actually me, which will\nnever not be a vaguely disorienting, Truman Showesque experience.
\n
\n
\n
\n* (the answer is two. one hate dick and one love dick. you're welcome,\ninternet, for all the terrible art that joke answer will be responsible\nfor.)\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 10, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204487714161070093",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nThere are eight dots: ........
\n
\nThen seven \"x8\".
\n
\n8^y dots total.
\n
\nWhere y = 1 + 7.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204488133960557564",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nOnly animes can be the thing you said.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to AnnetteSoleil,\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204488692755101592",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nIt's pretty simple. They are the colors of Derse and Prospit.
\n
\nDerse = BAD GUY
\n
\nProspit = GOOD GUY
\n
\nThe modes of the clock correspond to the type of death such guys would have.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204489030706952678",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nAre you even reading the comic?
\n
\nI think half the people just open the website and look at the pictures.
\n
\nAnd then ask me formspring questions for some reason.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204489357443242923",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nNo question, and yet, here is an answer. It is as follows.
\n
\nvvv
\n
\nThanks!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204489647743602218",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nWhy are you inquiring as to whether a fictional child has four penises? Pretty weird\ndude.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204491614855400350",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204497763801532067",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nThis will realistically never come up again, so here is how they work.
\n
\nMatchsticks (11) travels through time using fire at any point in time as\na gateway. He then likes to put out the fire when he arrives, so that\nmore copies of him from other points in time don't show up and make\nthings complicated. Unless he wants to exploit that for battle purposes,\nwhich he clearly didn't. Scratch keeps a fire alarm in his apartment to\nsummon him, in case it catches fire, which it clearly did.
\n
\nQuarters (14) has a collection of coins like the one Clover flipped.\nEach has numbers on either side, corresponding to a member of the Felt,\nmost separated by 10, with a few exceptions. i.e.
\n
\n1, 11
\n2, 12
\n3, 13
\n4, 14
\n5, 15
\n6, 9
\n7, 10
\n8, 8
\n
\nWhen you flip the coin, it summons the member whose number is face up,\nfrom some place in space and time. If the opposite member is present\nduring the flip, he trades places with that member, which is why Clover\nswapped for Quarters when he flipped 14.
\n
\nIf you flip your own coin, and the result is your own number, you die.\nAs such, Quarters entrusts his own coin with Clover, who is so lucky, he\nwill never flip a 4. He uses it to summon Quarters when things get too\nhot to handle. It's not advisable to let Snowman flip her own coin.
\n
\nThe coins link pairs of Felt members. Some are relevant pairings, others\ndon't make much sense. Die and Stitch have a similar power, with their\ndestructive/healing voodoo doll and effigies. Doze and Eggs make a pair\nof morons with a funny duo name (dozen eggs!) Itchy runs around so fast\nhe probably starts fires sometimes, while Matchsticks puts them out.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204499226527298032",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nI played it for a while but all the spinning and rolling around made me kinda\nqueasy.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204499901353068010",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nOops, once again, the act of having story ideas and methodically\nseeing them through to their end is not an act of trolling.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204503950190219964",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nSince 4/13, I never imagined there would be a very significant\n6/12 \"celebratory update\". It would require planning the right moment in\nthe story for it to coincide exactly with that date, while allotting\nwell beforehand the time to implement it when it comes, with no\nunforeseen delays at all. So I ruled it out well in advance to avoid the\ninevitable unpleasant conflict. The anticipation of such an update was a\nproduct of your inflated sense of expectation, and standards which you\nreserve for no comic artist other than me.
\n
\nThat said, I still gave you a pretty long flash animation.
\n
\nIt was 1612 pixels long.
\n
\nTallways.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question204535752573346583",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJune 12, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question205977743303664796",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nThe story provides no conclusive answer to this, and I\npersonally cannot provide the scoop either. Not that I am withholding it\nto be coy, but to take my word for it one way or another would be\nmissing the point. The destruction of the clock is another element among\nmany for you to weigh when considering these events.
\n
\nFirst, there's the consideration of whether her death was just, heroic,\nor neither. The clock appeared to be leaning toward \"just\", when it was\ninterrupted by the crowbar. Maybe it would have landed there. Or if\ngiven the chance, maybe it would have swung back and settled somewhere\nelse. We don't have a definitive ruling. All we know for sure is she's\ndead.
\n
\nSo we can conclude that either:
\n
\n1) The clock itself has no bearing on her life directly, much as clocks\nmerely measure time without influencing it. Which would mean if given\nthe chance it definitely would have landed on either just or heroic, but\nnot in the middle. The proof is her death.
\n
\nor
\n
\n2) The result of the clock does have direct bearing on her life, and by\nknocking the clock over so that it stuck on \"just\", Slick inadvertently\nkilled her for good, regardless of where it may have landed. But to be\nfair, if he knew it was going to kill her, he might be hitting it\nharder. You could consider it delayed revenge for his exile, which\nVriska and Snowman coordinated. It's safe to assume Slick would have\nfound her death to be quite just, and may have been weighing in on the\nmatter through circumstantial serendipity.
\n
\nIf 2) is true, there is another wrinkle to consider. Recall that the\ncrowbar he is using (from the intermission) has the property of being\nable to nullify the effect of whatever \"enchanted\" object it destroys.\nIf the clock's power is to decide whether she resurrects, then by\ndestroying it, he eliminates that power. Since there's no longer a force\nenabling her to resurrect, she remains dead. This is another way to\nlook at it, but again, only if the clock itself has that power over her\nlife.
\n
\nIf not, then the destruction of the clock becomes more a violent gesture\nof punctuation to accompany this \"divine ruling\", like nails being\ndriven into a coffin. Or, like a tolling bell. It's jarring, sudden, and\ncarries finality.
\n
\nIf you are convinced her actions are what decided her death, and not the\ndestruction of the clock, then you are left to consider what outcome is\nmost suitable, without having an absolute ruling on it. The clock did\nappear to lean \"just\" an instant before, and there are plenty of ways to\nargue in favor of a just death. There are many mitigating factors as\nwell to supply a counter argument. It would not be that interesting if\nit were absolutely unambiguous, where everyone could all easily agree\nthat her death was just. Or if everyone agreed there was no justice in\nit at all. There are enough factors in play where you have reason to\nthink about it a bit, and such that it leaves plenty to discuss. You may\nconsider the evidence and draw a conclusion. You may even feel very\nstrongly about your conclusion! But for either the story, or me, to\nprovide a categorically \"right answer\", immediately following the\nestablishment of all the things that made it interesting to consider,\nshortchanges all that, I believe. For the clock to settle\nunceremoniously on \"just\" I feel would come across as a nonconstructive,\ncompact ethical lecture, quickly nullifying all there was to evaluate\nand talk about.
\n
\nWas this comeuppance for all her past killing? For killing friends like\nAradia and Tavros? Was there mitigation in her upbringing? In her\nremorse, and desire to change? Was it justice for insisting on playing a\nrole in the creation of Jack so that she could beat him, to serve her\nego? What of the ignored warning from Terezi? Flying off in spite of it,\nendangering them all, again in service of ego? What of the doomed\ntimeline she creates by doing this? Is there justice alone in killing\nher to prevent not only the death of all her friends, but an offshoot\nreality that can only fail? Is human morality in play here? Troll\nmorality?? Or is it a higher agency, like that permeating Skaia? In a\nframework of Skaian morality, is there justice in sacrificing one life\nto help ensure the creation of an entire universe? This paragraph has\nbeen a thumbnail sketch of all the discussion which has already taken\nplace across the internet, minus all the notes ranging from fan fervor\nto outright dementia.
\n
\nOf all the arguments to make, it's difficult to come up with a solid\nrationale for a heroic result. Most people debating it would choose\nbetween \"just\" or \"not just\", i.e. die or live. Note that this means\nthose who believe her death was not just are in fact arguing that the\ndestruction of the clock is actually what killed her!!! There is nothing\nin the story which rules this out.
\n
\nRegardless, the result is the same. She's dead. Out of the story for\ngood? Who knows. For now it's the culmination of a wide arc importing\nelements from classic tragedy. Blind seers, wanton hubris, unheeded\nwarnings, regret and death. But with some MSPA twists. Systematized\nmortality conditions, doomed timeline offshoots, way too much dramatic\nirony, and Nic Cage.
\n
\nShe was always a polarizing character. Shouldn't be too surprising she's\nmore polarizing than ever in death. It's almost as if that polarity was\ngiven concrete expression through the rules dictating whether she lived\nor died.
\n
\nHM.
\n
\n:::;)\n
mspadventures\nresponded to couchdenizen,\n\nJune 16, 2011 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211734168609004733",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nWe don't know yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 2 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211736642195590952",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 2 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211737709104886535",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nI thought it was pretty obvious she exemplified furry culture from her first\nappearance.
\n
\nIn the same way that Equius exemplified the culture surrounding the admiration of\nmuscular horse men.
\n
\nOh wait, that culture only has one guy in it. Me.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 2 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question211740610116225832",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nNick Cage went god tier before the apocalypse, he will never die.
\n
\nNot even heroically, because he will kick too much ass.
\n
\nOr he will do something cowardly at the last minute to save himself, in the nick of\ntime (this is also his title).
\n
\nHe is that good.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to jackelbeaver,\n\nJuly 2 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question213936288275917693",
- "timestamp": 1310256000,
- "html": "\nI'm not really thinking about which style is better. Mainly what\nmatters here is the idea doesn't work unless I post a large amount of\ncontent at once. So that's what I do.
\n
\nI'm sure there are differences in the reading experience. Some may find\nit more gratifying to read a lot at once. It certainly consolidates\nimpact, which is something that is often lost through the slow, steady\nserial drip. But they may also find it frustrating to wait longer for\nthe pages to stack up. It may provoke the feeling that output is slowing\ndown, or grinding to a halt.
\n
\nThis is not actually true though. After the 6 day pause, 41 pages were\nposted. That's about 7 pages per day, which is higher than the site's\nlifetime average of 5 pages per day. It's actually a hot streak!\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 2 - July 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question217252871568130030",
- "timestamp": 1311033600,
- "html": "\nThe page rate is deceptively slow when you zoom in on a select\nfew days. There was a 6 day pause, then 13 pages went up. So that's\nabout 2 pages per day, which is \"slow\", right? But then you wait a few\nmore days, and 23 pages have stacked up, and suddenly that rate jumps to\n4 pages per day, which is close to the site average. And if you examine\nthe period between now and 10 days ago, the rate is almost 8 pages per\nday, which is way above average. It's better to think of the output in\nlonger term averages. This is harder for those who demand regularity and\npredictability, which is something you get from some comics which\nupdate once every weekday, or m/w/f, without fail as part of their\nproduct delivery pledge. In these cases, the regularity of the output\nstrikes me as being almost as important, and sometimes more important,\nthan the quality of the content itself. This is because people are\ncreatures of habit, and have a strong craving for reliability. Many will\nquite happily absorb work they consider to be fairly mediocre as long\nas it is cranked out like clockwork. The sunday funnies is probably a\ngood long term example of this. Millions of people gobbled up decades of\nMarmaduke without ever laughing once, but editors wouldn't dare fuck\nwith Marmaduke because people needed that shit with their coffee for\nsome reason. You could put a gun to their head and they couldn't tell\nyou why. There is comfort in even bland routine. If you mess with\npeople's comfort and destabilize certain regularities in their universe,\nthey become agitated, even angry.
\n
\nNow, if people actually have any sort of passion for the entertainment\ncomprising their routine, then they become even more agitated if the\noutput is disturbed. Passionate interest severely exacerbates the\nsituation, and can make a creator envy someone like Marmaduke Guy who\nspent his career crouching safely in mediocrity, grinding out awful dog\ncomics everyone became totally comfortable with disliking. (I bet he\nnever got an angry letter from an anime fan.) But if you mess with the\nschedule of material that people zealously crave, they are not merely\nirked, but can receive it as a personal affront from the author. This is\ntrue in varying degrees for probably most enthusiastic readers, but is\nmore pronounced by the degree to which a person is mentally ill.
\n
\nThere are some particularly unpleasant entities out there who pose\nquestions similar to yours, but much less politely. These are seemingly\nself appointed watchdogs for my page rate, and I think I'm safe in\nassuming most are severely under-medicated teens with a bigtime beef\nabout You Fucking Name It. As torrid a pace as Homestuck has been\nunloaded on the public, I think it must have been pretty easy for some\nspoiled children to factor that rate of output into the entitlement\ncomplex which presides over their central nervous systems. Deviation\nfrom that production schedule in the minds of the entitled means nothing\nother than offense committed by the author, or more generously, just a\nstaggering display of laziness. Never mind that the alleged deviation\nmay not even QUITE exist (see numbers in first paragraph). But if it\ndid, I wonder whose rate of production they would compare it to, aside\nfrom some foggy recollection of my own?
\n
\nFor such people, what would probably be useful would be a dose of\nperspective. Not that they're likely to read this, but let's consider\nthe following data anyway, kindly provided by tvtropes.com.
\n
\nhttp://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WebcomicsLongRunners
\n
\nMSPA is the longest web comic on record, in terms of update quantity. It\naccumulated most of this content in about 3 years. Now consider that\nthe second comic on the list is approximately THE OLDEST WEB COMIC IN\nEXISTENCE. It dates back to 1995, which for all intents and purposes was\nthe year the internet was born.
\n
\nThere are of course some mitigating factors. Most MSPA updates are a\nsingle panel, with some accompanying text. But there are some\ncounter-caveats which make this a bit more difficult to process. There\nare several hours of animated Flash footage mixed in with the updates.\nThere are several more hours of interactive gameplay. Each Flash\ninstance occupies a single update. Many updates are accompanied by\nseveral pages of dialogue. Some of these individual conversations would\ntake up 50 pages worth of speech bubbles in a graphic novel. The total\nword count for MSPA likely exceeds most of the comics on that list, or\npossibly all of them. It wouldn't be surprising. Homestuck alone is over\n300K words. Again, this effort was compressed into the last 3 years,\nwhile most of the other comics date back to the 90's.
\n
\nWhat does this mean? Here is what it means.
\n
\nLet's imagine MSPA was distributed more like a \"normal comic\". Where,\neven with a healthy update schedule of 7 days a week, you still only get\none new thing to click on. One update per day. It could be a simple\npanel with a silly gag and no text. Could be a panel with 10 pages of\ndialogue beneath it. Or it could be a 3 minute flash animation. All are\nthings that appear in the archive in good supply. Distributing one such\nthing per day, as the designated \"product\", would be a completely\nreasonable policy. If that were the established pattern from the start,\nnobody would think it was remotely inappropriate, and nobody would ask\nfor more, in the same way that nobody ever demands that Penny Arcade\nupdate 7 days a week instead of 3.
\n
\nIf that were the case, MSPA would now have 16 years worth of content.
\n
\nSo what does THIS mean??
\n
\nIt means, given that I started 3 years ago, I could take a 13 year break\nstarting now, and at the end of that break, MSPA's lifetime rate of\nproduction would still manage to make the lifetime rate of most other\ncomics seem underwhelming. This is literally, actually true, even though\nit sounds like a joke. There is statistical evidence to support this,\nusing the only data that matters, which is the existing work of peers in\nthe same field.
\n
\nSo if some twerp who's never put a stretch of hard work into anything\naside from grinding for levels in WoW all weekend decides to get on my\ncase about slowing down, I think I'll just start whispering \"13 year\nbreak...\"
\n
\n
\n13 year break.........
\n
\n
\n
\n13 year break............................
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n13
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nyear
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nbreak.
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nP.S. I wonder how many frowns this question would get if you could frown at\nthings?
\n
\nP.P.S. smile @ this question if you don't like idea of 13 year break :) :) :) :) :)\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 18, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question217253694712871258",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nTheir brains cannot rain away with the got tiger.
\n
\nThe tiger is so fast, it can outrun the rain.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 18, 2011 - Aug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question217254960138582086",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nLike the Scratch segment, the fedorafreak intermission will be\ngiven a custom website skin. It will be nested within a men's fashion\ncatalog.
\n
\nEach time you wish to turn the page, you must add an exquisite new hat\nto your shopping cart. To view the EOA flash, you must complete the\npurchase.
\n
\n$.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 18, 2011 - Aug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question217258123163889477",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nHe connected to 2busy4this.
\n
\nIt was such a dramatic reveal that he wasn't dead, you should have seen it.
\n
\nBut after establishing the connection, he immediately returned to his paperwork.\n
\n
\nHe is quite busy.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 18, 2011 - Aug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question217260487354647823",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\n(826 days - total sleep time) / 3971 pages ... i guess?\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 18, 2011 - Aug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question217262263386545186",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nI will wait for Vriska's ghost to be fattened up by the\nhorrorterrors. It is then and only then that I will make my move.
\n
\nAw fuck this is the exact sort of question I start answering when I\nshould have closed the stupid tab and gone to sleep hours ago.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 18, 2011 - Aug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220475096224001228",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nI will happen to be in the area over the weekend for unrelated\nreasons, but I don't think I'm going to pony up the 80 bucks or whatever\nto get a load of the animes.
\n
\nWhat I might do is briefly lurk outside the convention, and sneak up\nbehind HS cosplayers while they take photos of each other, and then\nquickly vanish into the scenery.
\n
\nI'm suddenly not sure which idea is more amusing. Actually doing that,\nor the fact that by saying so here, I have guaranteed that all HS\ncosplayers will be nervously looking over their shoulders all weekend.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 18, 2011 - Aug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220478469660774293",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nIt helps to imagine a devout muslim being shown a youtube video of a rapping\nMuhammad.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 18, 2011 - Aug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224662213783231277",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nI'm cosplaying.
\n
\nMy self inserts are usually cosplaying as something in the story. My\npatron troll (virgo), Dave's shirt and shades, Felt suit, patron troll's\ngod tier outfit, i.e. hero of space hoodie.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nAug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224664134703150826",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nScratch keeps Aradia (???) locked up in a room with a 5th wall.\nShe turned it on and tried to break it, presumably to attempt to escape.
\n
\nThrough the 5th wall, you can see me positioning two 4th walls facing\neach other, exactly one yard apart. English's coat is still draped over\none. I put that there a while ago to obscure Jade's view of me.\nRemember?
\n
\nA 4th wall is an object that when broken or compromised, allows an\nauthor to interact directly with the audience or characters in the\nstory.
\n
\nA 5th wall is a partition separating two omniscient narrators, which when broken,\nallows them to mess with each other.
\n
\nIt is all so, so simple.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nAug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224734851624894457",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nShe lost her horn privileges.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nAug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224735801764768665",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nIt was always going to be black. Then some people fanonized it\nas green and it just kept being fanoned that way. But that was always so\nwrong.
\n
\nHoly shit fanon is a stupid word.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nAug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224735876507274305",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nAug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224736335754195482",
- "timestamp": 1312761600,
- "html": "\nThe 6th wall is actually a huge retaining wall holding back all the dumb memes so\nyes.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nAug 7, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224740326072422786",
- "timestamp": 1312847820,
- "html": "\nIn Homestuck, this statement is false.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nSunday, August 07, 2011 11:57 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224740948314188330",
- "timestamp": 1312848000,
- "html": "\nIt's pretty close to being to scale with respect to me. I am 6' tall.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMonday, August 08, 2011 12:00 AM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224741338346724643",
- "timestamp": 1312848060,
- "html": "\nHe is a wonderful uncle. A firm but fair disciplinarian, and generous with candy.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMonday, August 08, 2011 12:01 AM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224748966091191082",
- "timestamp": 1312849920,
- "html": "\nIt's not clear that he is getting in touch with his in-game\npowers, like John did with the windy thing, or whether withdrawing from\nhis sopor slime haze is bringing out psychic powers he would have had\nanyway.
\n
\nThe latter would make sense for his bloodline though. If this were a\ncommon ability among subjugglators, it would help explain why they're\nable to hold power over all lower classes.
\n
\nIt's implied that they're very strong and dangerous, in addition to\nbeing insane and unpredictable. But this by itself doesn't necessarily\nexplain why they'd be able to keep power over such a huge population of\nsimilarly dangerous trolls, which also have many deadly powers.\nEspecially since, also implied, the higher the blood, the longer they\nlive. This means lower classes must be much more copious than higher\nclasses. The lowbloods die off much more quickly, and so must be spawned\nin greater numbers. Those with high longevity can't afford to be\nspawned in such numbers, or the population would be out of control. At\nthe top of the hierarchy is the Empress, who lives for thousands of\nyears. There is only one of her class, discounting her successor.
\n
\nFor the subjugglators in their small numbers to keep such a large\npopulation under their control, it would be very useful to have the\nability to psychically amplify fears through dreams. They may have\ndirected their chucklevoodoos on every susceptible mind in the\npopulation. Each lowblood may have a little highblood voodoo doll\nlurking in their subconscious, making them too terrified to organize any\nsort of rebellion.
\n
\nAdditional notes:
\n
\nNow knowing he had this ability, we can wonder whether he used it during\nhis rampage, in addition to using it on John/Dave. Did he use the\nability to befuddle Terezi into pinning the crime on Vriska in spite of\nlaughably overwhelming evidence to the contrary? Turning Terezi against\nVriska was likely the only way he could kill Vriska, due to her cerebral\n\"luck neutralizing\" ability. Did he exaggerate Karkat's fears to\ndestabilize the team? What about Equius? Maybe he exaggerated his fear\nof failing to show a superior deference, to the point of incapacitation.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to johnlindrosbluh,\n\nMonday, August 08, 2011 12:32 AM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224751358878713738",
- "timestamp": 1312850460,
- "html": "\nThe link between those pages is not messed up. It goes back the\nthe Flash page with the panels. And then continues in the link below the\n==> bowl.
\n
\nYou have to imagine proceeding through the archive. You get to the Flash page, and\nhave three panels to pick from.
\n
\nThe frog
\nDave/Gamzee
\nScratch
\n
\nYou can pick in any order, including Scratch first. If it just kept\ngoing through the Scratch segment and it didn't loop back, you wouldn't\nget to see the other two panels.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMonday, August 08, 2011 12:41 AM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224752048803967489",
- "timestamp": 1312850640,
- "html": "\nThat coolkid was never going to lead to anything.
\n
\nBut if I didn't make it clickable, it would have been an agonizing tease\nnot being able to see it up close. Not even I am that cruel.\n
mspadventures\nresponded to Mullarkey,\n\nMonday, August 08, 2011 12:44 AM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224762224403577955",
- "timestamp": 1312853040,
- "html": "\nHe didn't add Jack.
\n
\nHe amplified John's fears in his dream to take the form of a voodoo doll\nthat looked somewhat like Jack and was dressed like a clown.
\n
\nThis made him subconsciously scribble clowns all over his wall, which\nmade his dad think he was into clowns. So his dad began collecting\nharlequins believing he was sharing in John's interests.
\n
\nHe then got him the big harlequin doll for his birthday. The doll was maimed, lost\nan arm and an eye, and was prototyped.
\n
\nThe clown prototyping caused Jack to become especially angry at the\nqueen over the new dress code. All of this lead to big problems.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nMonday, August 08, 2011 1:24 AM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220478814893937346",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220479454508508116",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "\nThe desert was boring.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220480646445825714",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "\nLots of people would be more happy if I did lots of things.
\n
\nSome people would pay me good money to convey Gamzee and Tavros having sexual\nintercourse.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220481854006923699",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "\nTrolls also have a Will Smith.
\n
\nWhat's weirder? Bug aliens having boobs or bug aliens having their own Will\nSmith?
\n
\nThis is the kind of question serious writers of science fiction ask themselves all\nthe time.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220483457573229190",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "\nFor others, a tedious, bareutubey readable purple and brown rap-off\nwas SALVAGED by a beautiful moment shared between friends.
\n
\nAnd yet others were wondering why the fuck that page even existed at all.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220484618011319778",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "\nAnybody who thinks this information could possibly be surprising\nto me is so far out of the loop I don't even know what to tell you.
\n
\nDid you know that right now, someone, somewhere, is jerking off to your formspring\nquestion?
\n
\nAnd somewhere else entirely, someone is shipping your question with nepeta's corpse.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220484685866755700",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question220485346784210158",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "\nThey're still there. Right-click the flash panel, click play.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question224661430262077383",
- "timestamp": 1312934400,
- "html": "\nEverything makes perfect sense.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nJuly 25, 2011 - Aug 9, 2011\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226513058460106938",
- "timestamp": 1313270520,
- "html": "\nIt should be noted that by breaking the 5th wall, I am not interfering with the\nstory.
\n
\nI am interfering with the way the story is currently being told.
\n
\nIf a 4th wall is broken, then I am officially influencing events in the story.
\n
\nI have set up two 4th walls to face each other, exactly one yard apart. That is all\nyou need to know for now.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 9:22 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226514245108399609",
- "timestamp": 1313270760,
- "html": "\nWhy can't it be both???
\n
\nAnd then the ladies started lining up around the block.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 9:26 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226514721979794728",
- "timestamp": 1313270880,
- "html": "\nDon't worry, soon the alt text popups will contain entirely\ndistinct, navigable web pages, delving into lavish backstory on the 48\nsquiddle session and the big trollfrog they made.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 9:28 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226516804296544471",
- "timestamp": 1313271360,
- "html": "\nThe pantskat gag has been reiterated a few times now. The first\ntime (I think was the fedorafreak log?) was just a dumb little shoutout.\nSubsequent times was essentially for the benefit of archive readers who\nwouldn't understand or even notice the reference. Repetition ossifies\nit as a running gag, so instead of it going over their heads the first\ntime, a few gags later they start to ask, hey what's with these\nreferences to guys wearing tall pants?
\n
\nIt is to their benefit, by which I mean, does not improve their understanding of the\ngag by any measure whatsoever.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 9:36 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226517458981264884",
- "timestamp": 1313271540,
- "html": "\nWait, Virgos have a belly fetish??
\n
\nI guess that explains all my stupid fat Vriska jokes.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 9:39 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226518259740991783",
- "timestamp": 1313271720,
- "html": "\nBecause he's a huge gross monster? I don't what sort of answer would be\nmeaningful.
\n
\nWhen the highbloods were setting up the judicial system, they said ok\nwe're going to need some judges for this thing. Then they said ok how\nabout these massive brainless monsters, that would be so perfect.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 9:42 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226518535386457848",
- "timestamp": 1313271780,
- "html": "mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 9:43 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226538232941150929",
- "timestamp": 1313276520,
- "html": "\nTerezi mentioned Troll Jegus in a joking exchange with John a\nwhile ago. Whether the Sufferer's name is actually Jegus, and whether or\nnot she actually knew anything about this story when she said that, is\nleft to your speculation.
\n
\nThis ancestor interlude is a little religious tale. Over the course of\nthe story sometimes we wander into these silly mini-genres, like\n\"horrorstuck\", or erotic historical fiction through Mindfang's journal\nentries.
\n
\nThe Jesus parallel is pretty blatant, down to the use of the torture\ndevice as the symbol for the religious movement (cross, irons). I\npersonally think the explanation of the relevance of Karkat's sign is\none of the more interesting aspects about it, just from the perspective\nof taking existing symbols and adapting them to an evolving mythological\nframework. Segments like this aren't really just about \"Gee, the\nancestors sure are cool, let's hear more about them.\" (Though there's no\nquestion there's a certain amount of fan service in play when I do\nstuff like this.) We learn more about the story and characters and\nanswer questions beyond the limited scope of their biographies, like why\nKarkat had a sign at all if he had no caste.
\n
\nWe learn more about the troll race, as a once peaceful species and such\nbefore kid-ancestors as players scratched their session, though the\nshort term relevance of this is mainly as a preamble to Scratch's\nreligious story. Establishing an Eden-like paradise from which there is\nsome departure through sin is sort of the boilerplate basis for\nreligious lore.
\n
\nScratch is a devil figure about as blatant as the Sufferer is a Christ\nfigure. The failed players from peaceful Alternia made a classic \"deal\nwith the devil\" move by causing the scratch after being given a choice\nby the mother of all monsters. (Echidna. Hey, she's a big snake!) By\ndoing so they brought Scratch into their universe, and therefore all the\nthings you'd expect that comes with summoning the devil. This resulted\nnot only turning Alternia into a planet full of violent murderers, but\nit only technically granted them what they wanted with a huge caveat, as\nis the case with such ill-advised bargains. The players were strong\nenough to win, but made a terminal universe, were barred from entry,\nhunted by a demon, and then started killing each other.
\n
\n\"Old Scratch\" is actually an old timey nickname for the devil. It's used\nin some Twain books. The manipulative devil figure pulling the strings\nwas always the basis for his character, and this was probably pretty\nobvious right away. He's part devil/puppet/cueball, with a dash of the\nold gambler/gunslinger Doc Holliday in his profile. Doc Holliday is\nactually my ancestor. He is related to me on my mother's side, who's\nlast name is also Holliday.
\n
\nHopefully I won't die at age 36 of tuberculosis though. If there's\nanything to the karmic fortune-swapping of the trolls and their\nancestors, ideally tuberculosis will die of me.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 11:02 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226539470529267659",
- "timestamp": 1313276760,
- "html": "\nOne way or another we will eventually find out - in story or not.
\n
\n/fanservice\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 11:06 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226547824458764105",
- "timestamp": 1313278800,
- "html": "\nThis is not what she said. She only said the Summoner's\nrebellion caused the Empress to banish adults from the home world to\nfight the wars in space. This doesn't mean that's when they invented\nspace travel.
\n
\nThey had a presence in space for much longer, including during the\nSufferer's time apparently. But after Alternia turned \"kids only\" there\nwas much more emphasis on interstellar conquest, to keep all the adults\ntoo busy to organize any more rebellions.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 11:40 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question226548399090997070",
- "timestamp": 1313278920,
- "html": "\nTroll romance.
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nPages and pages and pages
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nof troll romance.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nFriday, August 12, 2011 11:42 PM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question232043762749015549",
- "timestamp": 1314589140,
- "html": "\nThis suggestion has come up a million times, even before I did\nthe PS books and people were wondering how those were going to work with\nall the animation, or if they even COULD work. (Fast forward to now,\nthose books went off without a hitch and they're totally sweet!)
\n
\nEmbedding a flipbook in an HS book couldn't be anything more than a\nnovelty. Some little thing you stick in the corner, turn the whole book\nto the side, and flip through the pages. It would allow for very little\nmeaningful animation to be presented.
\n
\nBasically, if this suggestion is serious, my response is: man, that is\nsooo literal. It's not a reasonable way to show animation in a book that\nalso tells a mostly unanimated story, and it doesn't solve a problem\nwhich isn't even really a problem.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nSunday, August 28, 2011 3:39 AM\n\n
"
- },
- {
- "id": "question232061478872551861",
- "timestamp": 1314593340,
- "html": "\nYes, I'm working on it now, among other things. It's nice to hear you like the idea.
\n
\nThe flash stuff will be handled in a way that graphic novels have been\neffectively conveying dramatic action for a long time. Through\nsequential art.
\n
\nA number of people seem to have trouble with the concept of a book\nadaptation, almost to the point where the idea of the object existing\nsomewhere in reality offends them. It seems some would prefer it not\nexist at all, even if it means denying it from those who really want a\nbook adaptation despite the obvious cross-media challenges. If we were\nall supremely literal people by equal measure, we would all demand a DVD\ntreatment or something similar, with all the music and animation intact\nas it is on the web. However, some people like books. They like a\nphysical, tactile object that you can take off a shelf, flip through and\nread, without turning something on or glaring at a screen for hours.\nThis is why books still exist, and why we haven't decided to burn down\nour libraries quite yet.
\n
\nTaking such strong issue with adaptation from one form of media to\nanother is puzzling to me. It happens all the time. Books are adapted to\nmovies, and back. Musicals become films, films become games, games\nbecome comics. Stories have many ways they can be told. If someone were\ngoing to make a graphic novel out of a movie, imagine how absurd it\nwould be to ask the artist, \"Oh yeah? How are you going to handle all\nthe moving around bits? Like, all that motion that happens in movies?\nOh, what about the MUSIC??\" The objection is actually profoundly\nidiotic, but we don't actually hear people raise such qualms with these\nsorts of adaptations, probably because they are known quantities. We\nknow what a book-to-film adaptation is like. It's a Thing. Bringing\nHomestuck into static media is not a Thing, because I essentially\ninvented the original format. This probably messes with people's heads\non the issue somewhat.
\n
\nI guess part of it is that craving absolute purity and fidelity from an\nadaptation is a hallmark of the zealously devoted. That's fine, but\nisn't really a point of view I cotton to. It's very rigid, very linear,\nand those demands are ironically antithetical to the spirit behind HS's\ncreation, and all those crazy things that allegedly won't cross over to\nprint. So you say HS \"absolutely cannot exist in a book?\" If I had much\nconcern for what a story absolutely could or couldn't be, I wouldn't\nhave even made it in the first place. Imagine again a movie with all its\nmotion and sound becoming a graphic novel, and how reasonable this\nendeavor is. What if the hyper-zealous nerd has concerns that the novel\nwon't be able to capture all of this FEELING and EMOTION from the scenes\nthat the pacing and sound evoked through perfect, literal duplication\nin print? Well, it won't. It's not supposed to, and it's a completely\nunreasonable expectation to have for the adaptation. It will be a\ndifferent angle on the work, and that's fine. It's great, in fact. It\nshould be what you want from an adaptation. If you want to re-experience\nexactly what you felt in its original form, then you may go enjoy it in\nits original form again. That's why it's there.
\n
\nThe funny thing is, all the types of adaptations I mentioned, like\nbook-to-film, are very major departures in format. A Homestuck book\nactually comes quite close to representing the original work by\ncomparison, because after all, HS is at least 95% mostly-static panels,\nwith text underneath. Anyone who says that's outrageously unfit for\nprint is being quite extreme. As a whole, the thing is basically a great\nbig comic. A comic with a few perks the web affords.\n
mspadventures\nresponded\n\nSunday, August 28, 2011 4:49 AM\n\n
"
- }
- ]
- },
- "tumblr": [
- {
- "id": "going-to-try-out-tumblr-for-a-while",
- "timestamp": 1319155200,
- "html": "\nGoing to try out tumblr for a while.
\n\n
Because formspring is terrible. I discontinued my account. (Again.)
\n
Not only was it poorly organized and difficult to use, I think it lent the false appearance that it\n was a viable way to get in touch with me. And a lot of people treated it that way. But it really\n wasn’t. Many thousands of submitted questions went unread. It was not possible to keep up with\n them.\n
\n
So I guess tumblr it is, because it seems to be the blogging software du jour? Basically I type stuff\n and it appears on the internet. Sounds good to me. Then you can “like” it a million\n times and chuck my posts into the furious echo chamber of reblogged material. Kind of like putting\n my words out to stud with the memes, where they will be mounted inappropriately in front of\n youngsters. Is that how this works? Yes.\n
\n
Let’s tumbl.
\n
Verification
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "some-people-seem-to-think-this-is-a-bad-idea",
- "timestamp": 1319500800,
- "html": "\n\n
Some people seem to think this is a bad idea. Because I guess of some general anathema\n surrounding tumblr culture, and its concomitant memetic hyperventilation. Whatever. I’m just\n posting stuff here when it seems relevant. I’m not following anybody. I’m not getting\n suckered into the latest tumbling fads, if those are even a thing, and I ain’t reblogging\n shit.\n
\n
And then tumblr breathed a paradoxical sigh of relief and disappointment all at once.
\n
The lowdown on 10/25
\n\n
Some want to know if I’ll post it at midnight, or later in the day. First thing\n you should know, as of right now the hosting solution isn’t even a sure thing.\n
\n
I have something lined up, but haven’t heard from the guy helping me out in a few days. So I’m\n not sure about the timing on this. I can’t go into more details on the solution than that\n yet.\n
\n
I’ve heard many alternative suggestions and will probably continue to. To field a few of\n them:\n
\n
1) I’m not going to host it on youtube. Or render it in video format at all. I don’t want\n it to be a video. I want it to be Flash. If I thought I was going to end up rendering a video, I\n would have planned the project for video output accordingly. Perhaps used After Effects. It’s\n a completely different kind of media. This option is not going to happen.\n
\n
2) You may “know a guy” with hosting to spare, or such. While it’s a nice thought,\n there’s a 99.99% chance his server can’t handle it. It’s a big file, and there’ll\n be upwards of 2 million people looking at it at once. This will use more bandwidth in one day than\n most high traffic comics use in a year. Sorry, but thanks for the offer.\n
\n
3) Amazon S3, etc? I’ve looked into a bunch of things like this. It’s expensive. Under\n usual circumstances, it costs several thousand dollars every month to host MSPA. And I’m fine\n with floating that cost myself, from ad revenue and sales, and making the business side of things\n work to sustain it. This is a little different. A conservative estimate has the cost at $10K for one\n day. This is not considering excessive page reloads, the aftershocks of hosting it for the following\n weeks, or an unanticipated viral explosion beyond the already high expected traffic. Could be\n anywhere from $10K to $100K to host this one stupid file, which is bankruptcy territory. It’s\n not worth that to put out a little free entertainment, frankly. If I posted that kind of content for\n such an audience every month, I’d find some business strategy to make that work. But I’m\n not there yet. Also, I’m not gonna do some sort of fund drive to finance this either. I’m\n sure that would produce some results, but it just doesn’t sit well with me as the answer.\n
\n
So I’m working on more creative alternatives for handling this. I’ll let you know.
\n
edit: Torrenting, megadownloading, etc are in reserve as last resort plans. It would be more ideal to\n find a way to run on site though. We’ll see.\n
\n
Newgrounds
\n\n
I had actually planned in advance to try hosting it on NG for a little while, til\n things cooled down. This is the solution I was referring to below. It has worked well before. This is\n different though, due to the magnitudes, so I ran it by Tom Fulp first, who owns the site, and he was\n agreeable to this idea.\n
\n
He suggested we put it in a section reserved for higher volume transfers, which sounded cool. But I\n hadn’t heard from him in a few days. So I just tried putting it on the dump site, as I did\n before, figuring it might be able to sustain it for a while, during some off peak hours until the\n better solution was available. This was not the case, so I took it down. I’m not out to break\n anyone’s site.\n
\n
I’ll try something else tomorrow. In the meantime, please have patience.
\n
Megaupload
\n\n
Didn’t really want it to come to this but here we are.
\n
http://t.co/kvWEbOye
\n
The cat was kind of out of the bag on this animation anyway. Lots of people seeing on video feeds\n and such, blabbing spoilers, etc. Download, run it off your computer, or upload it to your site,\n view there, link to friends.\n
\n
Lets try to cool it on all the video feeds though. We don’t all need to be huddled around\n shitty bootlegs of this thing. Really it just looks like such trash.\n
\n
Later I’ll see if I can get a more stable thing hosted, through NG or otherwise. Apologies\n again to Newgrounds.\n
\n
Music + Apparel
\n\n
If you missed the announcements, there are
\n
1) New\n songs!\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/vol8coverthumb.jpg\")
\n
2) New shirts!
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/mind-hoodie-large.jpg\")
\n
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/heart-hoodie-large.jpg\")
\n
\n
From news:
\n
Hero of Mind, Hero of Heart. In case it’s not obvious by now, we’re going to put out\n all twelve god tier designs, two at a time, to complete the set. Preemptively canonical!\n Guaranteed. Will they show up in the comic? Will they show up on your body?? I will answer the\n former. You, the latter. Also note some designs are “reprinting”, but you may still\n preorder them, if you do not mind waiting a little longer for them to be produced.\n
\n
About EOA5, part 1
\n\n
First, I’ll go into the process, and all the technical stuff about making it. It ended up being\n around 13 and a half minutes, about 50 MB, was split up into 5 separate Flash files strung\n together by a loader, and used around a thousand art assets, not counting those imported from old\n animations. Following about a 2 week break starting 8/22 to take care of other things, I started\n more serious work on it, and took about 6 weeks to finish it.\n
\n
\nIt was more than 3 times as long as Descend (the end of act 4) which was previously the\n longest animation. But it took about six times as long to make! So, why so long? Let’s look at\n some reasons.\n
\n
1) COLLABORATION OVERLOAD! - First of all, I think all the contributed art is amazing, and I’m\n ecstatic with the overall look of the integrated results. But as strange and unintuitive as it\n sounds, getting so many people to pitch in to such a big project actually delayed the process\n non-trivially. I didn’t really anticipate the challenges of managing a project of this size. I\n spent a lot of time up front planning, organizing, dividing things up into tasks, and communicating\n with many artists individually. This is overhead that is normally negligible for smaller projects,\n where I usually just charge right in and begin animating. Then, after distributing the work, there’s\n the inevitable waiting game, while assets started coming back to me in pretty much random order,\n which makes for a scheduling conundrum. There is also the need to process the graphics to be\n suitable for animation, make little fixes and touches, or sometimes redo graphics completely if I\n didn’t quite convey the requirements properly. None of this is in play when I work solo. I\n generally draw fast, know exactly what’s necessary for the Flash, take just the right\n shortcuts on graphics, format them right from the getgo, and drop them on the timeline. But on the\n flipside, the contributors generally can take the time to render lovely backdrops and character\n portraits that I wouldn’t bother with on my own, for the sake of speed. This is a big plus I\n think.\n
\n
So the bottom line is, distributing work for a project of this size will cause the project to a) look\n better, but b) take longer. That said, looking back, I don’t think I would change anything\n about the approach. It looks great, and the time it took overall was worth it. I’d only revise\n my scheduling estimates.\n
\n
2) FLASH SUCKS! - Flash is not good at handling big animations. At all. I tried doing what I usually\n do, putting everything in one file, and hoping for the best. After about 7 minutes of completed\n animation, it started locking up constantly. I tried a lot of things, splitting it up into different\n scenes within the same file. Didn’t work. The Flash file ultimately caved in on itself, and\n became corrupted. Luckily I saved backups, and tried a different approach.\n
\n
I just split it up into five different Flash files, published them separately, and strung them all\n together through a loader file, which worked, but invited its own series of debugging headaches.\n After half way through the animation, I was CONSTANTLY putting out technical fires with respect to\n Flash. I’d say I probably lost two weeks to problems like this, which have been a total non\n factor in previous projects, aside from the first few when I was actually learning how to use\n it.\n
\n
The good news is I won’t repeat these mistakes in the future, and will know how to approach a\n project of this size more efficiently. The good-slash-bad news is this shouldn’t be an issue.\n I don’t see myself doing another animation this long for the rest of the series. Not even\n close, in fact. This was, in terms of cinematic gravitas, the high point of the series. It’s\n the conclusion to act five which all the setup demanded. It is the BIG ONE. A challenge I set out to\n do, for as much as any other reason, to see if I could.\n
\n
ABOUT MUSIC
\n
I decided to use Tensei’s “Cascade” as the theme around which the EOA5 score would\n be arranged a long time ago. Before he even made his solo album,\n actually. I stuck with that idea through most of act 5.2. In fact, it exists in the first 1/3 of the\n score largely unedited. There were a few alterations for the sake of keying to specific visuals,\n like a significantly extended part, and the end was truncated to move on to the next theme. (I\n believe the original is a bonus song in Volume 8)\n
\n
All the editing was done by Toby Fox, who I worked closely with on piecing together the whole score,\n which adhered to a strict timetable of visual events. I gave him duration figures, cited timestamps\n on clips, and so on, and he worked with my mad instructions to craft something that functions very\n well as a score to the events I had in mind. This is the opposite of how it usually works. Usually I\n take a song that’s ready to go, and animate events to that song. Obviously there was no 13\n minute song lying around, so some custom work had to be done. This was done, most speedily, in the\n form of an extended medley, drifting in and out of different themes to suit the current action. Sort\n of like an expanded expression of the EOA’s predecessor, Descend, which\n was Toby’s composition I adapted for that purpose, thinking of scenes to suit the music. But\n it was the other way around this time. Working on the music in this way likely also contributed to\n the delay.\n
\n
The aim was not to produce a totally cohesive, air tight composition to stand alone necessarily. The\n focus was on making a strong score. Concerns for scoring are very different from those for\n standalone composition. Emphasis has to be placed on serving visuals, even at the expense of more\n sensible composition practices sometimes, to set tone, fit the timing and such. So that’s what\n we did, and that was behind my thinking in piecing together the various songs I did. Like the second\n segment, Clark Powell’s Flare, edited by\n Toby to fit the time allotted, and accelerate into the Snowman faceoff. And two pieces by Malcolm\n Brown, who accounted for a big chunk of the overall composition time. Savior\n of the Dreaming Dead, largely unedited besides transitions, and a custom remix I asked him\n to do of Black\n Rose / Green Sun to finish it, which turned out awesome, especially after a few more touches\n by Toby & co.\n
\n
Another couple facts to point out.
\n
- The breaks occasionally in the music are not necessarily unprompted aesthetic decisions. They\n resulted from the fact that I had to chop the thing up into five parts, and switching between them\n would invariably lead to sound skipping. So to account for this, we made the breaks as creatively\n deliberate as possible. Like that gap of silence just before we start following Rose and Dave. Or\n the silence when zooming out of LOFAF, into Skaia, then firing it back up on the Battlefield. And,\n obviously, the dramatic pause before the bomb goes off. I’m calling this an art through\n adversity situation.\n
\n
- I never give anyone, artist or musician, any more information than they need to know. Like I’m\n not saying to Toby, “ok here’s where Slick faces Snowman and shoots her through the\n heart, we’re gonna need something badass for that.” I give more open instruction. I say,\n “I think the music should start speeding up here, and get a little heavier… maybe begin\n quoting that piano from Flare at a lower register?” and notes of that sort. Then he makes\n sense of it. As silly as it sounds, I don’t like spoiling stuff even for people working on it.\n I’d rather leave as much a surprise for them too. Also, I’m always skeptical that giving\n the contributors the full picture would actually improve the product. The process is more\n interesting this way.\n
\n
About EOA5, part 2
\n\n
Now to address the substance of the animation.
\n
It is not only long, it is dense. As dense as most other animations, while subjecting you to many\n more raw minutes of this rapid fire data. The events are portrayed nonlinearly. They shift focus\n between different sessions, planets, and universes, zooming into and out of them, showing them\n shrink, teleport, or explode spectacularly. We jump to points in a character’s chronology in\n the future, in the past, and examine frames of reference where chronology has no meaning. This\n animation is cerebrally challenging to follow. But your understanding of it will be in direct\n proportion to how well you understood the whole story up to this point. If you followed everything,\n and remember the key facts, there’s a very good chance you understood everything in the\n animation easily.\n
\n
So, let’s take a closer look at what there is to understand.
\n\n
Might as well start with the biggest development.
\n
The tumor was a bomb that physically contained both our universe (red side) and the troll\n universe (blue side). It was counting down to the “simultaneous” destruction of both\n universes. On detonation, it did not destroy the green sun as intended. It created it.\n
\n
I believe some people thought they were witnessing the destruction of the sun when the bomb went off.\n Though if you examine the scene objectively, there’s no reason to think this, other than that\n it was the stated mission for so long. There was no sun in sight. They were drifting through empty\n space. Then, boom. The sun was growing from ground zero. The fact that this misapprehension was\n somewhat common probably speaks to how cemented the mission to destroy the sun had become as a\n critical plot point. And maybe also, to how well Scratch deceived everyone on the subject.\n
\n
All of act 5, and to some extent all of Homestuck, has been the result of a very, very long con by\n Doc Scratch. His power source, and the source that fueled all this calamity in many other ways, was\n always going to be created in this way, by combined efforts of the kids and the trolls to save\n reality. Part of his job was to make sure that happened. That was the secret part of his job. The\n other part, openly stated, was to pave the way for the entrance of his master, which is triggered on\n the destruction of the troll universe, as illustrated by this virus.\n It turns out that doing these two things is one and the same. No green sun without the death of a\n universe. No Lord English either.\n
\n
You may retrace his conversations in light of this new fact. He says he never lies, and while he’s\n certainly deceptive, I think you are hard pressed to find him saying something that is absolutely\n untrue. He misdirects, and lies by omission (which is something he makes clear he doesn’t\n believe in). But just about everything he says can be validated in some way. There are clues to this\n outcome everywhere, hiding in plain sight.\n
\n
Consider his conversation here. He\n speaks primarily in hypotheticals, about what would happen if they destroyed the sun. He says things\n often arranged like this: “And it is certainly true that The Tumor you will deliver to its\n location has enough power to destroy it completely.” He says they will deliver the bomb to the\n sun’s location. He just doesn’t mention the sun won’t be there yet. He also says\n its powerful enough to destroy it, hypothetically. Also true. He just doesn’t mention it won’t\n be around to destroy, until the bomb goes off!\n
\n
There’s also this\n tidbit. “TT: It is nearly twice the mass of our universe.” Because it\n is literally comprised of the detonated mass of two dead universes. And so on.\n
\n
Next up. Even though this isn’t a “revelation”, it should probably be bolded and\n discussed.\n
\n
Time and space do not work comprehensibly in the furthest ring.
\n
How can the sun just have been created, when it was there all along, fueling Bec and Doc Scratch for\n ages, and more recently, Bec Noir, Jadesprite, etc? See above.\n
\n
TT: The greater the distance you travel through it, the less reliably time flows.\n
TT: And the more time you spend in it, the less reliably space behaves.\n
TT: Time and space aren’t as different as you might think.\n
\n
So in other words, what really happened is Rose and Dave’s journey took them quite a distance\n through the furthest ring. The longer they traveled, the less reliably you could place them on the\n timeline. They may have traveled a few miles, while simultaneously wandering millions of years into\n the future. And after another few miles, may have gone eons into the past, way before the green sun\n existed. This is in fact what happened. The dark gods helped chart their course through this\n spacetime maze to deliver them to this location, at this time. Take that for what you will.\n
\n
This is also at the heart of why the sun became visible to the trolls the moment it did, rather than\n always being visible. It is not because it “just happened”, since the respective\n timeframes are incompatible, and that notion doesn’t actually make sense. The moment of\n Bilious Slick’s detonation (our universe), that was the moment the light from the green sun’s\n ancient explosion finally managed to reach their session, after its long circuitous travel through\n knotted spacetime. In fact, we don’t even need a complex spacetime model to understand this.\n Right now, there is celestial phenomena happening in our universe that we cannot see, because the\n light hasn’t reached us yet! It won’t for millions of years.\n
\n
The light from the sun is important to the trolls not only as a beacon, but as a momentary\n illumination of a “straight line” through the furthest ring. If light can make it from\n here to there through the broken space, then so can a meteor, as long as it travels fast and doesn’t\n miss the opportunity. This is a decent reason for the urgent getaway, as well as, presumably, the\n need to escape Jack’s ire while he is distracted. So Sollux went all out, putting a little\n extra mustard on it so to speak, and reprised his ill fated ancestor’s role as helmsman.\n
\n
Aradia’s chronology is also worth noting. She is not actually witnessing the birth of the sun,\n as this (remember, nonlinear) animation seems to illustrate. When she flew inside\n Jack to escape, the sun was already there waiting for her. Every time we have seen Aradia\n hanging out in front of the sun, or hanging\n out with Sollux’s (half-)ghost, that was well after the sun was created.\n
\n
AA: i am waiting for friends to arrive
AA: they will need my help\n
TA: what friends?
TA: m0re ghosts?
AA: no theyre alive\n
AA: first
AA: there will be two humans
AA: they should be joining us any minute\n
\n
She’s of course referring to Rose and Dave. And of course, at the time, we’re meant to\n believe they will arrive in the moon they are piloting, ready to crash kamikaze style into the sun\n and blow it up. There’s little reason to question this. But it turns out all along, she was\n waiting for them to COME OUT of the sun! As freshly minted god tiers. The nonlinear flow of the\n story was at every turn directing you away from the suspicion that their mission would create the\n sun, rather than destroy it.\n
\n
TA: then what?
AA: then rest of our party\n
AA: the survivors
TA: 0h
TA: so then, we made it 0ut here alright.\n
AA: yes
AA: well
AA: they made it
AA: your body will arrive with them\n
\n
Then the trolls, who are now in transit, will theoretically rendezvous with all of them at the sun.\n And then what?? We’ll see.\n
\n
I think that’s enough to digest for now. I’ll make another part later, talking about some\n other aspects of the Flash, like Jack’s convoluted inter-session journey, the scratch, the\n expanding 4th wall and all that stuff.\n
\n
About EOA5, part 3
\n\n
More about what happened. There’s still plenty to cover. I won’t be totally exhaustive,\n but I’ll mention what I think is worth noting. At this point, I believe most people have\n understood most of this stuff. Still, there may be a few things mentioned here that didn’t\n quite occur to you, or some connections you haven’t made yet.\n
\n
\nThe Flash answers most major questions still dangling in the story up to this point.\n What happens at the critical moment. (Two universes are destroyed, creating the green sun, while the\n kids complete the scratch and escape through the 4th wall. This has also been referred to at points\n as “The Great Undoing.” From early in Hivebent: “AA: and we twelve will behave simultane0usly as the pawns and the 0rchestrat0rs of the great und0ing”)\n We know who reaches god tier and how. (All the kids!) Which trolls survive, the fate of the exiles,\n who wears the white queen’s ring, and how the blood got on Jack’s hand. That last\n question was probably the most maddening of the bunch for a long time. The bloody hand was first\n shown in Jade: Enter, and as Jack’s list of victims grew, his hand continued to be clean. The\n list of possibilities kept narrowing, until we finally found out here, along with an answer to\n another major question, how he actually got into the troll session.\n
\n
The circuitous journey of Bec Noir
\n
A summary: after he put Jade on her quest bed, he looked up and realized he didn’t have much\n time. The scratch was about to wipe out the session. So, he fled the session through one of the only\n ways available, by riding a meteor through a portal back to Earth. The meteor was the one host to\n the frog ruins, and he tucked himself in the same time capsule the White King did not too long ago.\n The meteor crashed on prehistoric Earth, formed the ruins, and waited about 413 million years. Then\n the king came out of the capsule to greet the queen. Jack followed about ten seconds later to their\n surprise, and killed them immediately. He exited the ruins, and AR began detonating the four\n stations. These were rigged presumably as part of the exiles’ unspoken plan, as a failsafe to\n prevent Jack from doing just this, in case he found his way there. AR hesitated to blow up WV’s\n station, because he knew WV was still trapped inside. At this pause, Jack killed AR, and quickly\n entered the final remaining station to investigate, while (foolishly, it turns out) dismissing PM as\n irrelevant.\n
\n
In the station, he found this device,\n which had been switched to the left side of the frog with the queen’s\n key, most likely by the queen at an earlier point. Thus it would transport the user to the\n session outside this universe, i.e. the troll session, as opposed to the one inside it, the kid\n session. But it was out of power, and had been ever since WV flew the\n station halfway around the world to find the ruins. So Jack, looking for a power source,\n located the uranium in WV’s belly, probably via his keen sense of smell as an omnipotent dog.\n He ripped the uranium out of a hapless WV’s gut, thus bloodying his hand. He powered the\n station, which both opened its hatch, and allowed him to flee from yet another doomed reality. He\n likely knew he couldn’t stay in that universe for long, since he recognized the red miles\n destroying it above. But he probably didn’t understand that would be his own doing from\n outside the universe, hours in his future.\n
\n
Jack, bloody hand and all, then appeared in the troll session just as the trolls were about to enter\n the universe they created, as we saw in Jade:\n Enter. He then went on his murderous rampage through their session, some of which we saw in\n quick replays during this animation. He destroyed all 12 planets, Prospit, Derse, and finally,\n turned his red miles attack on Bilious Slick, destroying the very universe he just narrowly escaped\n from. And in doing so, he contributed his share to the critical moment. His alternate session self,\n Spades Slick, contributed the other part by killing Snowman, “simultaneously.” All of\n Act 5 could be subtitled “Jack Noir Kills Everybody” and that’s pretty much the\n guiding principle I had in structuring it from the start. Jack Noir has killed every major\n character, in one way or another (with maybe a few exceptions, like PM), including the entire\n population of two universes.\n
\n
Then, finally, as he viewed the aftermath of Bilious Slick’s destruction in Skaia’s\n water-sphere, and noticed the green sun appearing in the distance, he saw PM enter with WV’s\n body on the frog platform, the same way Jack arrived about 10 hours prior. After he left the desert,\n she went into the now-open station, and dragged WV’s body to safety, away from the bombs, but\n was faced with the universe’s imminent destruction overhead. She noticed WV had dropped the\n ring he’d been hiding all along, so she put it on and assumed all of Jack’s powers.\n Then, again probably due to enhanced canine tracking abilities, immediately knew where to follow\n Jack. She brought WV, likely with the hope that he may survive, as well as his firefly Serenity, and\n is now prepared for a duel.\n
\n
Slick kills Snowman
\n
It was established in the intermission that when Snowman dies,\n the universe is destroyed. (Relating of course to her 8-ball theme, and billiards rules\n involving pocketing that ball, or scratching while pocketing it.) Hence, when Slick shoots her\n through the heart with Scratch’s single-cueball-bullet-firing gun, the trolls’ universe\n (blue) comes to an end. Recall that Scratch\n browbeat Slick into agreeing to take his gun and kill her. With nothing in particular left\n to lose, or live for, Slick complied, and more than likely took enjoyment from settling this old\n score, even though it meant his own death too. Note that during the standoff, it seemed Snowman\n welcomed the attack. This was, after all, the culmination of her role, both as the black queen, and\n as a servant of Lord English.\n
\n
As the black queen of Derse, her basic role is to oppose creation. She wars with Prospit, and stands\n in the way of the heroes who seek to create a universe. Since she was exiled from the session, she\n could no longer fulfill that role. So she was offered another way, by Doc Scratch, in an agreement\n of mutual interest. Since she couldn’t oppose the creation of a new universe, she could\n facilitate the destruction of another. Scratch gave the queen the powers of Snowman, and bound her\n life in some mysterious way to the troll universe itself (turning the typically red blood of a queen\n to blue, the color signifying that universe). Which is of course, another giant frog much like the\n one Jack killed, which we have never seen from the outside. Ironically, to fulfill her role, she was\n bound to the life of a creature she loathed, which happened\n once before in the troll session when they prototyped a frog. She was disgusted by the\n transformation, and removed the ring, which lead to her eventual exile, and meeting with\n Scratch in the desert.\n
\n
Her role as Snowman also suited Lord English’s purposes, as her death provided the mechanism\n for his entrance, as well as contributed to the creation of the green sun. This appears to be a\n pattern with LE, enslaving various women, who can only die by completing their term of service, and\n vice versa. He recruited Aradia’s\n and Feferi’s ancestors in the same way. From the perspective of LE as a crime boss\n rather than an immortal demon, he’s somewhat like a ruthless pimp. Whoever he is. This is one\n of the few major questions lingering, in case you didn’t notice.\n
\n
Anyway, more to talk about, but enough words for now.
\n
About EOA5, part 4
\n\n
Ehhh I’ve got to get back to work soon so let’s see how fast I can knock out the rest of\n this.\n
\n
\nLet’s continue from the point of all the stuff about Jack’s massacre through\n Exile Town, and address issues surrounding\n
\n
The big chess game
\n
After all this, events involving the carapace people still resemble an extremely complicated\n interdimensional game of chess. Everything the royalty does is strategic in the bigger picture. The\n black queen was exiled, but found another way to fulfill her role through a complex maneuver of self\n sacrifice. The white queen’s retreat from the session, after Jack stole the black queen’s\n ring and wrecked Prospit and the Battlefield, was a defensive regrouping strategy on post-apocalypse\n Earth. She formed an elaborate plan, most of which went unwritten but could be understood mostly by\n deduction. Basically, she mobilized remaining exiles there, planned to leave this universe via one\n of the stations, destroying them all behind them to burn the bridge, but not before reuniting with\n the king from the time capsule. She also bestowed her title as queen to PM as her successor to rule\n the new kingdom they would build, and privately bestowed the responsibility on WV to some day wear\n the ring and hunt down Jack, wherever he might be. The problem is, Jack short-circuited her strategy\n by appearing immediately after the king arrived, killed WK and WQ right away, thus finally winning\n the chess game for his kingdom, or more particularly, himself.\n
\n
Almost.
\n
The final gambit belonged to PM though, when she found the ring, put it on, and inherited the true\n powers of a queen, more than just in name. Neither PM, nor any carapace creature, can literally be\n considered a pawn. But she is pawn-like in rank, as many are in this exotic and diverse race of\n chess people, and being the only piece left standing, she put the ring on and became the most\n powerful type of piece possible. Much like a pawn reaching the end of a chess board, and becoming a\n queen. For now, with her and Jack’s powers being about equal, the chess game sits in\n stalemate.\n
\n
God Tiers
\n
First let’s look at what happened to Rose and Dave.
\n
When Rose asks Scratch whether she will reach god tier, he responds,\n
\n
You have exactly a fifty percent chance of ascending to the god tier.
TT: That’s a strange\n answer.
I know.
TT: Why such a precise probability?
Because, much like the decisions you\n must face to complete your dual suicide missions, you have two ways of achieving godhood to choose\n from.
Which was before Jack killed her, and John revived her with a kiss, leaving only her\n dream self. When she died, this eliminated one of the ways she could reach god tier, the only way we\n knew of explicitly at the time. This is by having a waking self and a dream self, both alive. When\n the waking self dies on the quest bed located somewhere on the planet, the player’s dream self\n takes over permanently, assumes god tier status, and wakes up on the battlefield, while the waking\n self’s corpse lies dead on the quest bed thereafter. This is how John reached god tier, and\n how Jade did as well. (Sort of.)\n
\n
Dave and Rose only had one life left. They’d both been killed by Jack, and then revived as\n their dream selves. They only had the other means of reaching god tier, which we knew little about.\n We only had Aradia’s example to speculate from.\n
\n
It turns out, the other way involves another set of quest beds in the core of the moons of Prospit\n and Derse. Reaching god tier involves using the only life you have left, and dying on that quest\n bed. Then, rather than waking up as a god tier on the Battlefield, the dead body simply resurrects\n automatically, transforming then and there. This is the basic outline of the process, with some\n caveats from examples we’ve observed.\n
\n
Aradia was always a special case, since she was dead long before entering the session. She began the\n session as a ghost, and then a ghost inside a robot, which never actually counted as having a living\n waking self. She was never alive from the start, so she always only had the one ascension method\n available to her, by the death of her dream self, which had been sleeping on its quest bed all long.\n It was not in the core of the moon though. The moon only had five towers, because she was never a\n living player, and didn’t “belong” with the rest of the players on her team of\n Derse dreamers. So her dream self was sequestered away from the others, in the core of Derse. She\n reached god tier when Jack destroyed Derse.\n
\n
We also can’t be sure that’s all there is to this method. Is it a simple matter of dying\n on the bed, or is more required? In the only two examples we have of this, Aradia and Dave+Rose,\n they die spectacularly in an explosion of green fire. Is that among the requirements? This is\n inconclusive.\n
\n
Also, god tier Aradia, Dave, and Rose were all unharmed by the fire during the resurrection process.\n Dave and Rose’s case was so extreme, they actually emerged from the core of a sun.\n Does the transformation method itself protect them, until complete? Or is it just the simple matter\n that upon transforming, they are now immortal, and dying in the very explosion leading to their\n ascension would count as neither just nor heroic? You may speculate.\n
\n
After examining all that, Jade’s ascension is simple in comparison. Her dream self died, but\n she brought it back to life by prototyping the stuffed corpse in her grandpa’s lab, making\n Jadesprite. So, she did in fact have a living dream self, so option #1 was available. This had the\n side effect of turbo charging her god tier state. She not only has the Witch of Space powers and\n immortality, she merged with the sprite, which was imbued with Bec’s powers. She now has the\n abilities of a god tier player, a sprite, and a first guardian all in one.\n
\n
Ironically, the green sun which they were seeking to destroy, now powers two of the heroes opposing\n Jack: Jade and PM.\n
\n
The Scratch
\n
This is all pretty straightforward. We saw John at the beginning, fighting very strong monsters on\n the Beat Mesa, and initiating the Scratch with a giant Quill of Echidna, just as he was instructed\n to by Karkat. He killed the monsters easily with lava tornadoes and his Pop-a-matic\n Vrillyhoo Hammer, completed the full jagged mark across the record’s surface, and the whole\n Beat Mesa took off towards Skaia. It was releasing its energy the whole time, causing the Medium to\n crackle with that background energy you saw so often. Before it could get to Skaia, Jade teleported\n him to her ship. Once it entered Skaia, it fully released its temporal energy, and caused the hard\n reset, totally wiping out the session. But not before Jade collected all the planets, the\n Battlefield, and John on her Propitian battleship, and flew through a gigantic 4th wall.\n
\n
The 4th Wall
\n
First of all, she didn’t actually conjure the 4th wall out of thin air. Remember when Karkat\n told her to turn\n the wall off, and then draw it?\n He was asking her to captchalogue an undamaged copy using her Pictionary modus, for this exact\n purpose. The eventual getaway. So she had it on standby, waiting for the right time to use it.\n
\n
As she expanded it, and we crept ever closer to the completion of the scratch, we saw individual\n panels from early in the story flashing backwards. From a visualization standpoint, this is just\n reminding us that the scratch is in fact undoing everything we just read, all the way back to page\n one, and starting over fresh in a different instantiation of the universe. But if you want to\n understand why all that was literally being broadcast through the wall at that moment, you could\n consider what happened to be on the other side of the wall: Lord English’s\n coat. Why would the interior of the coat broadcast those flashbacks? No need to get into it\n too much. Suffice to say, it belongs to someone purported to be a master of time.\n
\n
Will the coat still be there the moment they crash through the glass? Recall that this is all\n happening “simultaneously” with the rest of the critical moment, which is the juncture\n that summons him. When he is summoned, he may need his coat. Whether he retrieves it or not, we’ll\n just have to see.\n
\n
What’s waiting for them on the other side, beside a big ugly coat? Recall the setup I had with\n the two\n 4th walls facing each other, separated by one yard. They will break through the wall on the\n right, traveling nearly the speed of light, and presumably, break through the wall on the left to\n enter another reality. If you were thorough during Seer:\n Descend, you might have caught this excerpt on a bookshelf. “Though we adore Him we\n shall never enjoy His beauteous Croak. We spill our blood on acres of black and white so they may\n cross the yellow yard. At last in Skaia’s reflection through broken glass He may find the pond\n in which He’s meant to squat.”\n
\n
The yellow yard, regarding my self indulgent\n spiel about the degree of author intervention to expect, very simply refers to the physical\n distance between the two 4th walls the heroes will pass through, to escape from a doomed reality\n into one of promise. The heroes will coexist with me, the author, for the span of three feet, and\n while traveling very quickly, for the duration of thee nanoseconds. This was always my tongue in\n cheek way of quantifiably demonstrating the absolute minimum degree of influence an author insert\n can have on the story, while not having none. It’s essentially a gag, but serving a practical\n purpose in the story, and a very concrete, understandable mechanism by which they may hop between\n realities.\n
\n
I am also pretending that my personal interaction with Doc Scratch doesn’t count as influencing\n the story directly. It’s influencing the way the story is told, which after all, is what\n authors tend to do.\n
\n
Act 6: THE PLAN
\n\n
You are now probably wondering when I’m going to start updating regularly\n again. Here is my projected date for the first page of Act 6.\n
\n
11/11/11
\n
I know, you are probably tired of waiting around for content by now, and probably aren’t\n too psyched for another two weeks of downtime. But, there is seriously no way I can dive right\n back into production at the moment. I have to prepare some stuff. The rapid pace of updates in\n the past has always only been possible due to a continuously mounting stream of preparation and\n forethought, and I have had time for neither over the past two months while dealing with this\n animation.\n
\n
I WILL however plan to post a short intermission between now and then. I will let you know when\n this date approaches.\n
\n
Then, when the 11th hits, we will be ready to rock again without looking back.
\n
Hey cool
\n\n
Cascade is in the Newgrounds portal, on the front page:
\n
\nhttp://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/582345\n
\n
Again, thanks to Tom Fulp. If he didn’t help me out, this thing wouldn’t be hosted\n anywhere on the web, outside of torrents and spammy download sites. Hope I can return the favor by\n getting more people to check out Newgrounds.\n
\n
\n
All of western Mass. lost power the other night because of some sort of absurd spooky\n pre-Halloween snowstorm. Yesterday morning I figured it’d probably take a week or so to fix the\n grid so I immediately got the hell out of dodge. Staying with people in Boston for a while.\n
\n
I was planning on posting something today, but I guess that’ll be delayed somewhat. Maybe. I’ll\n see what I can do.\n
\n
LE factoids
\n\n
Later I might open the tumblr question box dealie for like ten minutes, let about a thousand silly\n questions flood in, then shut it off and answer a few. But for now I might as well address a few\n points of curiosity preemptively on the latest animation, and LE in general.\n
\n
Everything here’s based on some general line of inquiry I’ve seen posted elsewhere more\n than once.\n
\n
\nWhere is this happening? Where is Scratch’s wrecked apartment\n floating? It’s free-floating debris from the two universes destroyed, which now\n comprise the green sun. That floating hunk of building is suspended, and temporarily preserved in,\n let’s call it a small pocket of green-hot spacetime soup inside the sun. Chronologically, this\n little pocket of space is very near the final dying moment of the troll universe, where LE makes his\n entrance. He then goes back in time to fuck shit up throughout the history of that universe, as has\n been described many times. That is why he was always “already there.” It is also\n because, as it turns out, he was lurking dormant in Scratch’s puppet-host body the whole time.\n Doc always did claim to be excellent host.\n
\n
Is Scratch literally Lord English? Or has LE completely replaced him? How much of Scratch’s\n cognizance/personality/being is still in LE? Well, here’s what the story told us.\n Scratch said he had to die for LE to be brought into this universe. Now we have seen why explicitly.\n Scratch doesn’t lie, when it comes to simple statements of fact. He only excludes details and\n clarification. So, he is now dead. LE has officially replaced him, albeit traveled back in time to\n coexist with him, presumably continuing to utilize him as an employee, in all the ways we know\n about, and maybe others we don’t. They’re separate entities. Though because they share\n the same body more or less, and essentially the same origin, they share properties. Both have the\n powers of a first guardian (though Scratch said outright LE was more powerful than him). Both have\n “Cal genes,” whatever the hell that means. In LE’s case, the resemblance is\n obvious. They share an interest in the ladies (Scratch takes a shining to younger ones while LE\n ropes more mature females into service. Reasoning? Scratch is a young LE!) They appear to have\n opposite demeanors though. Scratch is calm, calculating, manipulative. English is brutal, angry, and\n out to wreak havoc on a universe without any particular desire for subtlety. Their appearances\n reflect the differences. Is LE omniscient like Scratch? There’s evidence that he’s a\n strong tactician and adept with time travel, but its unclear whether he maintains the omniscience\n post-transformation. Consider that Scratch’s omniscience was closely tied to the other half of\n his genetic makeup, a magic cueball which had all the answers to everything concealed within. When\n LE transformed, he kept all the Cal properties (magnified them actually), but dropped the cueball\n aspect. In fact, his cueball head exploded outright. This was “the break” Scratch\n referred to once or twice. A literal description of LE’s emergence, as well as reference to\n the pool term, where the cueball scatters all the other balls, and the game begins.\n
\n
T1CK T0CK BR8K H34DS honk\n HONK. This is not a question, but some notes anyway. This string of genetic code\n letters is probably the most clear and present foreshadowing of LE’s transformation. It is\n practically a brief sentence describing the process, in order, culminating in LE’s vast honk.\n I think this one clue got some people speculating, correctly, that LE would emerge in some way from\n Scratch, involving his head breaking open. Probably a minority theory, but it was out there, because\n the clues were there. Revelations in a story are shocking in proportion to how little groundwork was\n laid for that development, and how obscured the clues were, if they even existed at all. It would\n have been more startling if LE turned out to be some ridiculous preexisting character, like\n Maplehoof or Charles Dutton or whatever, but the shock value would come with no credible basis in\n the narrative. So big reveals like this always come with sort of a balancing act of establishing\n clues to make the event credible and premeditated, while obscuring/misdirecting so as not to totally\n blow it. No matter how well you disguise it, if the clues are there, some will guess it. Personally,\n I feel like the shock value is not so much stored in the fact that Scratch = LE, but in the sudden,\n disturbing nature and presentation of the transformation itself. And hey, if the Scratch = LE tidbit\n happened to catch you way off guard, I’ll consider it a bonus.\n
\n
Why’s LE honking like Gamzee??? If you’re prepared to be very literal,\n you might believe LE’s honking is a symptom of Gamzee’s influence in some way, due to\n time shenanigans or what have you. Examined logically, it’s the other way around. On LE’s\n arrival, he releases the vast honk Gamzee’s religion foretold. LE has always been around\n influencing troll culture from the start, and it seems he was always the embodiment of the mirthful\n messiahs the highbloods worshiped, since he was really two beings, Doc Scratch and LE, both “mirthful”\n puppet-based entities, in their own ways. Gamzee’s honking, the humorous brutality of the\n subjugglators and their dark spiritual beliefs, all could be traced to LE. The vast honk clip was\n actually a heavily modified sound clip of a bike horn, like one of Gamzee’s, slowed way down.\n First a small honk from the squeeze, then a big one from the unsqueeze. Sounds a lot like the noise\n the tripods made in War of the Worlds, which has me convinced those were made from slowed down bike\n horns too.\n
\n
What’s with the sarcophagus? That is actually the alternate form of the Cairo Overcoat,\n which doubles as his notorious oversized garment, and his chariot in which he travels through time,\n not terribly unlike Dr. Who’s TARDIS. The name and functionality was spawned completely from\n the Chicago\n Overcoat, which was the name of Mobster Kingpin’s flying pirate ship/office. Chicago\n Overcoat is also mobster slang for a coffin, therefore a Cairo Overcoat must refer to a Sarcophagus.\n (Which also happens to have a Terminator skull over the Pharaoh’s face.) LE’s ties to\n Egyptian lore in part trace back to a reference, through his attire obviously, to Joseph and the\n Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a significant part of which takes place in Egypt. Also, more vaguely,\n the coat struck me as something that might be worn by one or more iterations of Dr. Who. And lest we\n forget the most obvious quality of its appearance, something that could easily adorn a pimp. As with\n many things in HS, there’s quite a slurry of references coming together to form something\n basically ridiculous, and yet dead fucking serious. LE is many things. A time traveling crime lord\n pimp. An omnipotent, indestructible puppet-based demon. A monster born out of an ancient, short,\n smug, cueball-headed gunslinger, the blight of two universes by his birth alone. An Egyptian pharaoh\n Incredible Hulk in shredded pants and suspenders with a green Jigsaw\n puppet-like skull for head, a gold fang, and flashing pool balls for eyes. And with his gold\n cuestick pegleg and long coat, appears to also be somewhat reminiscent of a pirate, and may or may\n not bear some tenuous connection to Skipper Plumbthroat, nemesis of all Squiddles, who have been\n clearly shown to be friendly cartoon-standins for the dark gods.\n
\n
So LE is the Hulk in suspenders with a Cal skull for a head………\n really???? Yes, really. I think his appearance is not what most were expecting, nor what\n some desired, but this is a consequence of hype factor alone. It’s inevitable, keeping a\n mystery such as this dangling out there for almost two years. People start to get attached to what\n they envision. There is no creative advantage at all to hype. When hype is significant, you can only\n hope to meet it at best, or more likely fall short. I felt pretty fortunate that by and large the\n hype surrounding EOA5 was met for most people. I’m doubtful it was surpassed for many, by\n much, considering the two month pause caused people to guess SOMETHING big was coming. Now imagine\n instead of a two month delay, there was none at all! Bam, 13 minute animation out of nowhere. The\n difference in reader perception in such a case is so extreme, it can’t even be communicated.\n Conclusion: hype sux.\n
\n
This is exactly how I pictured LE looking before I even made the Felt intermission. I think if I\n revealed him then, practically everyone would say, yeah that’s about right. Just a nasty,\n monstrous looking mob boss with some gaudy accoutrements. In time, as the mystique surrounding him\n accumulates, people get other ideas. I think some wanted a more suave motherfucker to bust onto the\n scene, someone perhaps sleek, dapper. This doesn’t fit the concept at all, nor suits anything\n we knew about him previously. Doc Scratch is his smooth, well mannered counterpart. He already fills\n that role. LE as Scratch 2 is a really boring idea to me. LE as a big, no-nonsense brute,\n functioning as Mr. Hyde to Scratch’s Dr. Jekyll, is much more interesting. (Hey, there’s\n another bullet point for the reference slurry, if you’re taking notes, re: Jekyll/Hyde.) So\n instead of some elegant dude too dashing for words who exploded from the screen of the yaoiest anime\n you ever saw, he looks a bit like this\n and\n this\n and maybe some of this\n and a smidgeon of this\n and\n oh\n yeah some of this and a whole fuckload\n of this and just\n a pinch of this, ok wait maybe not that last thing.\n
\n
I’m opening the ask box for 10 or 15 minutes
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "oh-no-10-minutes-is-going-to-be-way-too-long-to-leave",
- "timestamp": 1321142400,
- "html": "\noh no, 10 minutes is going to be way too long to leave it open
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "ok-i-think-50-billion-questions-will-probably-suffice",
- "timestamp": 1321142400,
- "html": "\nok i think 50 billion questions will probably suffice
\n\n
Sorry if you wanted to make it 50 billion and one. I’m sure it was a totally\n sweet question! Maybe next time.\n
\n
Answers
\n\n
\n
paulscoolplace\n asked you: \n
\n
What was the inspiration behind the source new names? Why not just open the suggestion boxes to\n the floodgates and start anew with names? \n
\n
There are only so many names that fit the format (4 letters), and people would just suggest them all.\n I already have access to the field of all names to choose from. In this case I just went with some\n super simple vanilla names starting with J and similar to the names of their counterparts. Besides,\n their placronyms were already engraved years ago. My hands were tied.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
cruxtrudeir\n asked you: \n
\n
Does Jake English’s last name make him affiliated with LE in any way? Or is his name, shirt, and\n poster just a result of how LE has influenced Earth? \n
\n
That is so totally the sorta question it makes no sense for me to answer!!!
\n
Without commenting on why he has that name or any of the other stuff, I will say that I think, HS\n story ramifications notwithstanding, Jake English actually is a pretty badass name for a dude. Also,\n it means he has the same initials as John.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
katrka asked\n you: \n
\n
How excited were you to get to this act and reveal these new characters?
\n
It’s hard to say, because most of the excitement over the idea was generated when the idea itself was\n formed, which was around two years ago. The whole kid-guardian swap thing grew out of the\n development of their ectobiological origin story, and I thought it was a fun idea to build toward.\n In fact, a huge amount of the way I structured the plot was centered around this idea. A big part of\n the inspiration for the hard reset concept was to facilitate this idea I thought had a lot of\n exciting potential.\n
\n
But then after the excitement of the initial conceptualization, there’s the long trek to get there,\n accompanied by grueling labors of execution. There were pockets of time when excitement was\n reinvigorated, like during weeks of tedious animation, it’s hard not to think “man it sure would be\n way more fun to make some new kids go on cool adventures instead of this bullshit.” But for the most\n part, once it was time to put the idea in play, it had been around in my head so long, the reaction\n is more like “welp, here we are.”\n
\n
Additionally, because this idea was around for so long, there is a huge amount of foreshadowing\n groundwork laid for it, much of which is barely veiled. By the time we got into the little backstory\n arc about the scratched ancestor session and their swapped roles, it was pretty loud and clear. That\n was like me sitting in a lifeguard tower yelling in a bullhorn “GET READY FOR THE KID GUARDIAN\n SESSION, THIS IS WHAT’S HAPPENING.” There are lots of major curveballs thrown at you in HS. I\n personally don’t think this was one.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
meddlingfashionista\n asked you: \n
\n
When will you give us Younger Bro And Mom?
\n
In a little while. Guaranteed: not as soon as you want.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
irisu-syndrome\n asked you: \n
\n
How do you feel about people shipping you with the creator of Hetalia? Does it creep you out or\n anything? :o \n
\n
I don’t care to the Nth power about crap like this. I am like an acrobatic thief breaking into an art\n museum, and the security lasers are me giving a shit. Then I don’t steal anything because it’s all\n anime.\n
\n
I noticed there were a few Hetalia ads on MSPA though. So I guess SOMEBODY must be shipping HIS CASH\n with MY WALLET!!!!!!!!!!!!\n
\n
XD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
\n
(Which I promptly flushed down the server expense toilet.)
\n
-
\n
-
\n
serendiipityriising\n asked you: \n
\n
What’s the deal with the Ophiuchus troll?
\n
Well, the deal is that somebody, somewhere, is sitting at a computer.
\n
The computer has a Caduceus symbol on it, which is sometimes, but not definitively, associated with\n the 13th zodiac sign, which contrary to recent news, is not a new addition to astrology. It’s been\n around for centuries, but was not incorporated into the zodiac most people are familiar with, for\n whatever reason. Hence, the “13th troll” has been a point of furious speculation since the first\n appearance of the trolls in the story. So…\n
\n
That is what the deal with that is.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
sprinkletit\n asked you: \n
\n
what’s the sweet bro and hella jeff moive plot?
\n
I don’t know, but I think plot is probably the wrong word.
\n
Opening the film with a ten minute montage of bro falling down some stairs would probably be the\n conservative approach. Just some really solid stage setting, established in classical film making\n tradition to butter up the critics. It also clearly sets up a strong antagonist for the moive,\n stairs. It is a foe which is never bested, for you see, the film is an American tragedy.\n
\n
Other than that, probably lots of profane non sequitur and hug bumps issued by Wilson and Stiller,\n who will have been heavily coached in their acting to achieve a sort of rigid, surrealistic demeanor\n just off the mark of any heretofore observed human behavior. Like the uncanny valley of mannerism.\n Lace heavily with artifacts, visual and audible, and don’t be surprised if at some point a 20 minute\n clip of a completely different movie is inserted, uncut, flipped vertically, and tortured with\n various Photoshop filters. Finally, the climax will be the stunning resolution to a series of\n dilemmas not previously introduced in the film, all of which center around the inability of either\n character to perform simple motor functions. Then we see oversaturated low quality footage of Tony\n Hawk doing grinds while the credits roll, which contain not a single word which isn’t “fuck.”\n
\n
Also, I think Geromy would be this\n guy.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
cruxtrudeir\n asked you: \n
\n
Will another 12 alternate trolls be introduced?
\n
That would be such a shitload of trolls!!!!!
\n
Do we need twelve more? I mean, if I introduced twelve more trolls, I might as well introduce another\n hundred. Right?\n
\n
Which might be fine??? Hey, who wants me to introduce a hundred more trolls? Any takers? Probably\n lots of people, I bet.\n
\n
How about if I introduce 10,000 new trolls? Watch this.
\n
I hereby declare all of your fantrolls to be canon.
\n
Yes, even the shitty ones.
\n
(I think I answered two questions from that guy. How is that even fair??)
\n
-
\n
-
\n
kohikki asked\n you: \n
\n
Dear Mister Andrew Hussie Sir, Will we ever see Spades Slick again? Is he okay? I will spend\n countless nights up, worried about him. \n
\n
I am nursing him back to health in my house, like a baby bird that fell from its nest too young.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
ialsolikestrawberries\n asked you: \n
\n
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THIS PORN OF YOUR NEWLY INTRODUCED CHARACTERS, MR HUSSIE \n
\n
The pornos happen fast, I will give them that.
\n
Thank GOD I aged them up to the ripe year of 15. Conscience totally fucking ameliorated.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
idontdrawcats\n asked you: \n
\n
Is Homestuck going to make more sense anytime in the near future? The plot is super cool, i just\n feel like it’s a friggen puzzle sometimes. Also, will ending be happy, sad, bittersweet, or OH GOD\n I’VE BEEN CRYING FOR MONTHS AND IT WONT STOP AAAHHH \n
\n
The thing is, Homestuck is both a story and a puzzle, by design and by definition. If asked to define\n it, “a story that’s also a puzzle” is as close to true as any answer I’d give.\n
\n
Should all entertainment be like that? No way. But something should be like that, because\n something like that should exist. That’s why puzzles exist, because puzzles are cool sometimes, and\n are challenging. We don’t go up to a jigsaw puzzle and go, “why the fuck is this in so many\n different PIECES, what kind of IDIOT would break this nice picture into TINY LITTLE BITS?!!” Nor do\n we want all of our nice pictures broken into bits like that. Some we just want to hang on walls and\n look at.\n
\n
But unlike a jigsaw puzzle, there’s much to enjoy without having to solve it. Fun characters and\n silly moments. But if you turn your brain on, you can engage with the complexity and depth. If you\n turn it ALL the way on, you can get everything, and solve the puzzle. There is a range of ways to\n interface with it, from the casual to the maniacal. Failing to grasp everything shouldn’t preclude\n basic enjoyment, nor is it a symptom of failure by either the reader or the story.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
Here is the very last question that squeaked in before I shut down the box.
\n
wweenie asked\n you: \n
\n
Thank you for making such an amazing webcomic!
\n
You’re welcome, and thanks for reading it!
\n
Font size
\n\n
You might have noticed a slight up-shift in font size on the site. The current size is\n actually the size it should be, and has been for most of the site’s existence.\n
\n
I have no idea when or why or how, but at some point the text got smaller. It may have been during\n the last site redesign, and I didn’t notice. Or actually, I did, but in that timeframe I was\n so up to my neck in computer problems, OS reinstalls and browser version upgrades, I think I\n attributed it to something to do with my system rather than something in the code. I didn’t\n really have time or care enough to investigate until now.\n
\n
Aliased, 14 point, bolded Courier New has always been “the look”, and that’s\n reinforced a lot of times when you see text embedded in GIF images. Like you see here, and\n lots of other places.\n
\n
If you’re looking at the text and it doesn’t look exactly like this, you’re\n not seeing the text presented in “the right way.” Which isn’t a big deal. I’m\n just letting you know how it is, and how it was always supposed to be. I’m not that rigid\n about this issue, since I always knew this format’s presentation is invariably going to be\n device-dependent for the reader.\n
\n
The official text look includes the hard pixel edges. I never wanted the text to be anti-aliased at\n all. I think smooth-edged courier looks hella gross. If you have Windows, go to display settings and\n turn off ClearType, if you care to. If you use a Mac, you might be stuck with smooth text no matter\n what. I’m not sure. But then, if you use a Mac, you’re probably in love with\n super-smooth text regardless, so that’s cool.\n
\n
I actually like aliased text on the web a lot better in general. Maybe I’m just old school. It’s\n sharper and easier to read. ClearType with a lot of fonts, especially small ones, is just bleary\n mush. I’m not really down with the idea of screens trying to be paper. It’s a false\n ideal, and it’s never been pulled off effectively, outside of e-ink on Kindles and stuff.\n
\n
Jane’s desktop
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "jakes-poster",
- "timestamp": 1321315200,
- "html": "\nJake’s poster
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "i-know-poirot-is-belgian",
- "timestamp": 1321660800,
- "html": "\nI know Poirot is Belgian.
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "land-of-souls-and-olives-a-conclusion-pasta-la-vista",
- "timestamp": 1321660800,
- "html": "\nLand of Souls and Olives, a Conclusion: Pasta La Vista Motherfuckers. Part 1.
\n\n
\nMore than a year ago, some people on the internet wanted to buy\n me a soul portrait, and gave me $150 to commission a mentally ill person to photoshop god lasers and\n dumb tigers on to my high school yearbook photo, or my driver’s license mugshot, or something. I\n of course refused, but graciously accepted the money anyway, and proceeded to labor over the spiritually\n meretricious document myself. I additionally made a somber vow to spend all one hundred and fifty\n dollars on a humorously mediocre Italian meal served at the Olive Garden, a chain to which American\n families compliantly fork over their dinner plans each year by the tens of billions, probably. I also\n pledged that I would record the endeavor carefully, in a drawn out faux-journalistic spiel that had\n loads of jokes in it. But since I’m currently weighed down with an olympiadic bronze statue’s\n fist worth of shitty pasta in my belly, and feeling a bit off, I give you this essay instead.
\n
I should say in my defense that after pocketing the choice soulbux, I did manage to\n dog the everloving balls out of this expedition for well over a year. When I first sealed the pledge, I\n did so with a spirit of adventure, but this quickly gave way to an understandable sense of all-consuming\n dread. If I even suspected I caught a whiff of the unique melange of garlic and body odor which\n persistently howls from any Olive Garden’s exterior ventshafts, I would begin to shake\n uncontrollably. But these articles have always been mostly about conveying how brave I am, so it shouldn’t\n surprise you to learn that I eventually triumphed over this adversity to become way more admirable than\n the guy who climbed Mount Everest without a spinal cord.
In dogging the trip so bad, to be\n honest, I had some help. From God. Any time I reluctantly made plans to go to the nearest OG, which\n always seemed to be at least fifty fucking minutes away from wherever I was, those plans would get\n sabotaged by an angry wrathful God who hates me, and yet still took time to derail my Olive Garden plans\n because even He wouldn’t wish that on His worst enemy (which I probably am). One time last winter,\n Ryan North was in town\n looking to be shown a good time, so I was like, hey, there’s this Olive Garden thing I’ve\n been dragging my shit on forever, we might as well join forces and put a bullet through the head of that\n long suffering obligation. Because when he said “to be shown good time,” I misheard him and\n thought he said “to experience major gastrointestinal surgery.” Sadly, neither thing\n happened, because that’s when the Weatherchrist dumped five feet of snow on New England and we\n couldn’t even go outside. I never saw him again.
Flashforward to now, when I saw him\n again. He was heading into town to sign books, and we were both like, do we DARE tempt fate again by\n resurrecting the nasty reeking spectre of my Olive Garden pledge? Obviously we did (brave) and Ryan was\n richly rewarded from the malevolent Beepbeepjesus by having his car break down between Toronto and here,\n and he was forced to spend the night in a weird little town. Our mistake was probably in making the\n plans out loud or something, rather than winking via text message. Or in making the plans even remotely\n specific, by scouting out the location of the nearest Olive Garden, which was brooding somewhere in the\n fecula of New England’s black asshole, Springfield Massachusetts. Fortunately, Ryan shares my\n adventurous spirit and disdain for sparing expense, and applied about 10,000 Canadian dollars toward\n getting his vehicle operational. He texted me something like, plan’s back on tight brotimes, and\n after an involuntary series of spasms, I replied with something like, cool, as long as the rig is sturdy\n enough to launch us over one of the broken highway ramps to clear the perpetually flaming wall of\n garbage that surrounds Springfield.
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/springfieldmass.jpg\")
He assured me his vessel was\n sound. He’s a modest guy and tends to understate, so you see when he pulled up to the curb in his\n once humble gray Ford, it was now tricked out Mad Max style for our journey into this shrieking gulf of\n hate. Ok that was a fucking lie. Just a little embellishment to make you laugh, ok? The first and only\n you’ll see in this essay. Sorry.
Other people starting catching wind of this\n plan’s curious brown stonk and soon the affair snowballed into a BFD. Jeffrey Rowland\n was like, this sounds [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed. And I was like, awesome, Jeffrey’s on board. John Keogh was musing\n to himself that he couldn’t even remember the last time he vomited, so what the hell. KC Green took it as a\n matter of personally directed malice that one was not supposed to be able to locate the bottom of the\n breadstick basket, so he snugged up his bib and said let’s goddamn mosey. Agent Paperklip and\n Softowl were ensnared by the promise of spectacle. The ladies get codenames on #OGnite. That’s how\n shit works.
We took two cars because that’s a lot of people. I went in Ryan’s car.\n Ryan has a GPS navigator, and in his own voice he had re-recorded all the audio files it uses for\n navigation, like “in ___ miles” and “take a U-turn.” This sounds like it could\n be the second lame embellishment of the story, but it really isn’t. When you turn it on, his voice\n says “Oh my god, do everything I tell you.” And when the thing is supposed to say “then”\n in between instructions, Ryan draws out the syllable almost sarcastically, as “theeEEEEEeeennnnn.”\n And when you miss a turn, he interrupts, “Hold on. Someone messed up.” Turns out we would\n hear that last one a few times. The thing is, if you want Ryan’s soothing, masculine voice to get\n you to your crappy pasta destination, you actually have to program the right fucking Olive Garden into\n it. We plugged the wrong one in, while Crew Jeffrey was speeding toward a different restaurant. The only\n thing worse than a big party trying to get to one Springfield Olive Garden is a big party accidentally\n trying to get to two totally different Springfield Olive Gardens, and anyway the last thing you ever\n want to do in Springfield is split up and divide the strength of your numbers.
So Jeffrey makes\n it to the correct OG about 20 minutes before we do, calls us and says, guys, there’s a 25 minute\n wait to be seated. I pause and say, there’s really that many people there on a Monday night? He\n says yeah man, I think they’re here ON PURPOSE. I’m like holy shit. As incredible as it\n seems, hundreds of Americans DELIBERATELY piled into this little stuccoed commercial building covered in\n idiotic Mediterranean trellises, and did so for ENJOYMENT, as a thing they ACTUALLY WANTED TO DO. This\n is it seems for many people a recreational evening activity pursued regularly, which they seek out by\n dint of something approximating free will. I had to doublecheck with Jeffrey, so like, these people AREN’T\n here as a culmination of a half-decade-spanning, barely comprehensible internet scam? “Yeah, man…”\n he trailed off, palpably spooked.
Team Ryan rolls in finally, and we gather for five minutes\n before being seated, puzzling over a gregarious public awash in their strange appetites. In the mirth of\n the environs and perhaps as a form of euphoric release after a long and arduous journey, I must have\n struck passers by as guy totally psyched about this piece of shit restaurant. A guy completely chuffed\n off his ass to be scoring exactly ONE divided by ZERO breadsticks tonight, shit, yes. Though to be fair,\n my resplendent soul was probably betraying my true feelings.
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/OGeuphoria.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/OGphotos1.jpg\"/)
In\n the next installment of this gauntlet’s recitation, I will describe the meal. Stand by.\n
\n
READ PART TWO.
\n
\n
lexxercise:\n
\n
\nFor whatever good it will do, I\n have created a petition on the Gaia Online forums to get the Homestuck-related items removed.\n Though the likelihood of this happening is slim to none, my primary objective is to spread awareness\n and hopefully attract the attention of a staffmember who is in the position to open a dialogue\n between Andrew and Gaia.\n
\nIf you have a Gaia Online account, and you’re a fan of Homestuck, please show Andrew your respect\n and appreciation by contributing\n to the petition thread.\n
\nThanks <3
\n(edit: Please read the first two posts in the thread for further instructions!)
\n
\n
Hey, thanks for the initiative, Lexxy.
\n
On the Gaia thing, I’ve been aware of it for a while. Much of it seems sketchy, though perhaps\n not illegal by the letter of the law.\n
\n
As far as I know, no one from there has tried to talk to me about it. I’ve held off on\n initiating any sort of dialogue with them about it yet, or about a couple other things like this out\n there, until I get some more comprehensive legal advice on this whole topic. Hopefully I’ll be\n looking into that soon.\n
\n
Until then, trying to nudge companies like this in the right direction with grass roots efforts\n sounds like a good idea to me.\n
\n
Q’s
\n\n
Opening qbox again for a couple minutes.
\n
http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/ask
\n
This time I will answer the last X questions submitted, no matter how good or bad or dumb or\n ridiculous they are. It could be the last 5 or the last 50.\n
\n
Now is your chance to unburden yourself of your curiosity on obscure points of troll sexuality. There\n is a greater than zero statistical probability that I will respond with some sort of joke.\n
\n
box is closed
\n\n
Because I am not going to answer more than 600 questions.
\n
Ansrews (*ansrews)
\n\n
Below, I answer the last ___ questions submitted (I didn’t count how many)\n before the box was closed, in order, excluding none.\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Here is the last question that squeaked in before I closed it.
\n
\n
\n
What drugs are you on ,and where can I get some?
\n
I’m not on drugs and I don’t do drugs and you couldn’t have any of my drugs even if\n I did and this question\n
\n
sucks!
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Can your legs actually move like they do in your fancy little scampering ways like in Homestuck?\n Because I would be highly impressed if they could. Yes, very highly impressed indeed. \n
\n
I do not have cartoon legs in real life. You would be really unimpressed with them.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
When do we get to see Bro?
\n
In a while.
\n
Remember how the progression of character intros went in the first act? John on page 1, then Rose 214\n pages later, Dave about 100 pages after that, then Jade about 450 pages after that.\n
\n
Act 6 is a little over 100 pages long.
\n
We got introduced to TWO characters within the first few pages of the act. Things are already pretty\n accelerated. We are spending time following them, while learning things about the other two\n tangentially, through chat logs, just like we did with unintroduced characters in act 1. I know\n people want to know all these details super fast, but just checking things off a big list, like\n whose name is what and what all the circumstances are up front like we’re reading crib notes\n on THE SCRATCHED SESSION would be lame and boring and remove all sense of intrigue.\n
\n
It could be in 50 pages but it could also justifiably be in 500 pages too. Who knows?
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
have you read 4chords yet??
\n
No. But if it’s any consolation I just googled it.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Do you identify with any of the trolls personally?
\n
Gamzee but only cause he killed a bunch of them.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
How does it feel to hold so many people in the grasp of your fiction?
\n
Is it grasping people? Are they hapless and being carried away like as would a mighty gryyphone of\n “ye lore”? This seems like a hostile for my fiction to do.\n
\n
A lot of people like it and that’s neat.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Favourite Exile?
\n
ms paint duh
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Is the new ‘troll’ even a troll? Have they been previously introduced in the\n comic? \n
\n
Why do you want an answer to that?
\n
BTW: here’s how HS ends…………………
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
What made you interested in making a webcomic?
\n
Is that was this is?
\n
http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?viewpage=faq#Q2\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
is bro gay
\n
I remember a long time ago this question used to appear in my formspring box all the time, well\n before there was much reasonable evidence to suggest he was, as there seems to be now. But there is\n no smoking puppet yet confirming this.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
You’re amazing! (this is so real questions will get answered)
\n
!!!!!!!
\n
Dang, what a nice thing to say.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
If you had a potato chip, what would you do with it?
\n
This is what happens when loads of people are in a huge hurry to ask me anything at all.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
I was just curious if you’d possibly considering making some sort of suggestions box for\n future content and things in the what pumpkin store possibly? I’d absolutely love to see\n things like fleece throws of Jake and Jade’s bedspreads~. If there already is one of some\n kind, though, sorry!\n
\n
The suggestion box is almost surely done with as far as story stuff goes, but I’m still wide\n open to the idea of tapping public sentiment for what sort of products to make. I’ll probably\n look into doing stuff like that next year. Got to be patient though, because all products take\n significant time to develop. The less typical they are (i.e. not tee shirts) the more time they\n take.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Is genetic material what we all think it is, or something as simple as dry flakes of skin or\n fingernails? \n
\n
what am i reading here
\n
Oh I guess you’re getting at something to do with trollsex? I see. You’re trying to\n corner me into confirming it’s like alien jizzbarf or whatever. Not going to happen.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Any plans for new merch in the works?
\n
Yes, the rest of the god tier stuff, couple books, some other odds and ends like pendants and\n keychains, and probably some other stuff I’m not thinking of.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Why did you kill off Jake so early? There is such a thing as “Too Early”
\n
moving on to the next question…………………..
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
How big are your lips in comparison to your penis
\n
Each part of my anatomy you can name is bigger than the last.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
If the Furthest Ring has no defined time and space, would the kids and trolls emerge older from\n it? \n
\n
If the answer was DEFINITELY YES or DEFINITELY NO
\n
Then wouldn’t that negate your premise?
\n
Anyway “has no defined space and time” isn’t how it was stated in the story at\n all.\n
\n
The farther you travel, the less reliably you can measure time. The longer you stay there, the less\n reliably you can track your location. That’s how it was stated, more or less.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Will the new set of kids likewise have their very own set of exiles? Or just rebooted versions\n of WQ and AR and PM and WV? Or no exiles at all? \n
\n
Unanswerable sorry.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Are the trolls bigger than humans?
\n
No. They are the same size.
\n
This was never a good theory. A funny theory maybe. But false. There is a great deal of evidence in\n the story which contradicts this idea. Citing only one: Cal is the same size relative to both.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Did you expect this comic to blow as completely sky-high as it did?
\n
While observing the way Problem Sleuth’s readership grew and looking at the viral trends\n surrounding it, I did expect those trends to continue for Homestuck. But I don’t think I\n pictured the audience getting this big quite this fast. In 5 years? Maybe. 2 years? No. If it keeps\n increasing at similar rates, at the 5 year mark it’ll be something ridiculous that I was\n completely unprepared for in my most fantastical estimates, and I’ll probably have to\n reevaluate what the fuck it is I’m actually trying to accomplish here. 1 million readers per\n day as appears to be the case now still seems somewhat manageable, primarily if I just don’t\n think about it and keep working on stuff. But what if it’s like 20 million in a few years? I\n don’t even know what to think about that. That seems like a weirdly disproportionate reality\n for something that was just supposed to be a ridiculous little web cartoon one guy scratches out\n with his spare time. That is more like a hit tv show that by some cruel mistake got trapped on the\n internet leaving some poor slob to somehow manage. Hit tv shows that rope in 20 million viewers have\n these entire networks run by executives who fly in private jets to make big time decisions for them\n and figure out how to manage the monstrous demands of the public. And yet as insane as it sounds\n given recent trends this feels like an outcome I actually should be thinking about and preparing for\n in some way.\n
\n
This is probably as good as any reason to start ticking down the GREAT ANDREW HUSSIE CORPORATE\n SELLOUT CLOCK. Like not even to make loads of dough. Just to bail me out of some looming intractable\n clusterfuck, a phrase some thought would be synonymous with the story itself. Turns out it applied\n to the ballooning readership all along!\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
is bro gay?
\n
Look someone asked this again.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
How much do you enjoy working on Homestuck? What is the hardest part of it? What is the\n easiest? \n
\n
All of MSPA has always been both an endeavor of artistic and storytelling growth as well as my\n primary recreational activity. Honestly there isn’t even a close second in terms of daily\n habits of personal enjoyment. Watching TV, reading, playing games, are all kind of boring in\n comparison.\n
\n
Doing anything with Flash is the hardest part by a million miles, and is the only thing I’d\n qualify as unambiguously unenjoyable.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
When shall troll sex toys become\n available? \n
\n
When I’m done using em. Wait your fucking turn.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
What is your favorite color?
\n
This is totally the cheapest way to assign your fantroll’s blood color.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
we love you ok hussie
\n
ALL of you? That isn’t even true.
\n
I was just talking yesterday to somebody who indirectly hates homestuck because it’s made\n tumblr insufferable to the disinterested.\n
\n
Things HS has ruined forever:
\n
> The internet
\n
> All anime
\n
> Buckets
\n
On the flipside, things it has SALVAGED:
\n
> Juggalos
\n
> I think that might be it?
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Regarding the update, is there a significant size difference between trolls and humans? \n
\n
Answered.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Who is your favorite troll?
\n
…….
\n
Under a certain weight, or over?
\n
It’s kind of like boxing. You don’t just pit them against each other irrespective of\n weight. That’s unfair.\n
\n
FAT
\n
VRISKA
\n
JOKE
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Have you ever tried Chocolate Cream Pie Faygo?
\n
ew no
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
What kinds of video games do you enjoy playing?
\n
Better to qualify with “when I actually played games” which was a lot of years ago.
\n
Played a lot of RPGs. Fighters too.
\n
Lots of other games I guess.
\n
You know, fun ones.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
At what age did you first start getting into comics and art in general?
\n
Way long ago.
\n
I don’t even remember.
\n
I’m really old.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Any hints on when the next god tier hoodies will be released? We’re banking on a Rage\n one! \n
\n
Really soon. Trying our best to get them out so you have a reasonable shot at getting them in time\n for the holidays. Between 1 and 2 weeks maybe?\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Because the fandom has been reading Homestuck for 5 acts now, they are very well tuned to\n catching little bits of foreshadowing. For example, a lot of people correctly guessed Jane and Jake’s\n SBURB titles based on the words slipped into the last sentence of their intros. One person commented\n it’s like we’re rushing to figure out everything that’ll happen before you\n actually reveal it to us, and you probably intended that, and like watching us do it. Your\n thoughts? \n
\n
Yes.
\n
The readership as a collective is very good at ferreting out the clues now, because of the precedents\n the story has set for the relevance of small details, and people slowing catching on more and more\n to the way things fit together, both inside the universe, and from an external perspective of the\n storytelling structure.\n
\n
I am aware of this. It invites challenges. This is all being factored into decisions I’ve been\n making recently.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
Have you taken a look at people’s fanbase? What do you like and what don’t you like\n about it? \n
\n
People’s fanbase? Who’s fanbase? My fanbase?
\n
Yes I have looked at it.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
How do you really feel about Homestuck porn?
\n
It sure is full of naked fictional people having sex.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
\n
So Terezi’s only option for stopping Vriska going to Jack Noir and dooming the rest of the\n trolls was to kill her… but we can just hug the murderer out of Gamzee and everything is\n forgiven? Gamzee killed more people for less, so why does he get off with no consequences? Is this\n just an example of ~*~life isn’t fair~*~ or is there another reason you did it this way? \n
\n
I guess there’s a longer and more nuanced answer to this than I feel like giving.
\n
Suffice to say Vriska’s undoing was more of a culmination to an actual arc.
\n
Gamzee was really just a ridiculous clown who killed some people. Was there any actual pathos there?\n Everything surrounding the Gamzee-goes-crazy stuff was just kind of hilarious frankly. The\n hug-it-out conclusion was equally hilarious. And that was more conclusory with respect to Karkat’s\n arc than Gamzee’s, which barely even existed.\n
\n
BUT GAMZEE HAS TO PAY FOR HIS CRIIIIIIIMES!!!! Man, who gives a fuck.
\n
Ok I think that’s enough for now. Not nearly as many trollfucking queries as I expected. Maybe\n they all sank to the bottom??? Gonna leave that river undragged.\n
\n
/DELETES ALL MESSAGES
\n
Land of Souls and Olives, a Conclusion: PLMF’ers. Part 2.
\n\n
Here’s part\n 1.
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/OGphotos2.jpg\")
Has it already been two weeks since I went to the Olive\n Garden? Hard to believe. But the good news is that the team of gastrointestinologists monitoring my\n condition ‘round the clock has informed me that the meal is well on its way to being digested. So\n that’s cool. Hold on while I try to remember what happened that night.\n
\n
\n
What happened that night was a bunch of internet weirdos walked into a Springfield\n Olive Garden. The aroma of irony surrounding them nearly overpowered the garlic fumes, which are\n typically strong enough to make the wood veneer bubble and sproing off its plane like the table was\n popping a boner. Those internet guys may have strolled into that Olive Garden with recklessness in\n their hearts. They may have been packing a titanic thirst for self abuse. They may have been fucking\n idiots. But I will tell you right now, what they were NOT, was fucking POOR. I was prepared. I went\n to the ATM and everything. I had fifteen sawbucks burning a whole in my pocket, and there were authentic Italian slaves in that building who would see to it my money\n was converted into fifteen pounds of pasta burning a whole in my stomach.
We probably\n flashed this cash around more than would be construed as decent, if we were in a place where decency\n wasn’t Italian for “physically assault me in the restroom, please.” (“Decencissimo,\n per favore. Sì grazie!”) The wad of hard collateral weighed down the table the whole time we\n were there, and I made good and sure the waitress could see it up front so she knew we meant\n business. The waitress was trained in a dialect I think OG Corporate calls Family-CasuAffable, which\n primarily involves pretending that strange internet people actually belong in public, and every\n inscrutable in-joke they blurt out is totally hilarious. She would be rewarded heavily for her role\n in this charade, oh yes. Primarily through self-administered alcohol and pain medication after\n hours, one can only hope.
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/OGphotos3.gif\"/)
While\n in my wallet, the one hundred and fifty dollars had naturally sopped up much of my soul’s\n heady puissance, and hot rainbow lasers were rioting from the eyeballs of seven and a half\n psychedelic Andrew Jacksons all night long. This fierce little militia of technicolor A-Jax sitting\n there on the table served a real purpose, and not just to remind everybody other than me how shabby\n and unremarkable their souls were. It reminded us of the steep hill we had to climb that evening, to\n somehow burn through a buck fifty at an Olive Garden, an establishment notorious for its bargains.\n This is a corporation which manages to turn a PROFIT by hemorrhaging tornadoes of free bread and\n salad by some dark fiscal entropy yet uncharted by economists. Their shit is priced to mother\n fucking move, you know? And here we are toting madd-staxx, sashaying like the Rockefellers\n into the eye of this pitiless food geyser, derricked to the earth by salmon stuccoed drywall and\n stock gondola music. If someone put a gun to your head, do you think you could unload just\n shy of eight Andy J-Bombs at an OG on ANYTHING? And by “put a gun to your head,” I mean\n for the purpose of this hypothetical, and not during the ordeal one naturally expects to face when\n entering the OG men’s room. Yeah, we weren’t so sure we could do it either. I mean, they\n were already putting like five upended plastic lampshades full of breadsticks on the table before we\n could even crack a menu and make a battleplan for carving up this soul money. Soul money which I\n remind you I HAD to spend. See, there really was a guy with a gun to my head. His name was THE\n INTERNET.
So you’ll understand when I tell you I pored over the menu in a\n state of critical anguish over the rock-bottom prices, crunching figures on my iPhone calculator and\n swearing louder than babies were crying. I was worried the Internet was too rich for my britches,\n and we’d never manage to pack away 7.5 iridescent American fucking Lions worth of gutbusting\n Familinguini®. But just as the harsh presidential scowls of those 15 Xander Hambones and their scorn\n for my weakness could reduce me to ash, that’s when common sense finally set the fuck in. We\n could just drink the money away. Hell, we already had a head start on that plan before diagnosing it\n as the master stroke it was. So with a flourish of my limp wrist, I made a gesture probably deeply\n offensive to Italians beckoning the waitress, and demanded two of the most expensive bottles of wine\n in the house. Soon, two complex, full bodied little numbers were brought to us, each cradled in\n white linens like a newborn king, and just like that we were already another $7.90 in the hole.\n
The plan. It was working PERFECTLY.
The Olive Garden is good for two things only.\n It is good for grand marshaling a harrowing parade of internet-driven baloney, as you can plainly\n see. And it is good for getting hammered in. I honestly don’t know why you would go there to\n do anything other than get wasted. The only other reason to go would be if you’re a police\n officer replying to a 911 call furtively pocket-dialed from the restroom. Or if you’re a\n health inspector, scooting by to pick up your bribe wedged under the dumpster out back. That’s\n it.
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/OGphotos4.jpg\")
Ryan and I would take turns ordering drinks; one guy would\n be designated to name the drink to the waitress, while the other would follow with a snappy\n ultimatum, “Make it a double.” Among the first rounds she brought us were a pair of\n Venetian Sunsets, which we agreed to consume after a little convincing it wasn’t slang for\n some kind of STD. It was one of those pink drinks that gradates to something not as pink, and you\n aren’t supposed to drink it if you’re a man. But that’s a trick stipulation,\n because a real man wouldn’t give a fuck. Any guy who balks at tossing back a Venetian Sunset\n or a Parisian Ticklefight or a Chattanooga Handjob is in actuality a blue ribbon pony’s\n meticulously primped vagina. (I’m quoting Ryan’s GPS device verbatim there, FYI.)\n Jeffrey got some crazy drink that had so much booze in it, the glass it came in couldn’t even\n hold all the booze, and the rest came in this odd, graceful little vial carefully placed next to it.\n I don’t know what that was supposed to be and neither did he. It looked like some tiny flute\n of nectar you’d give to an elf to make it stop playing tricks on you.
Clearly a lot\n of alcohol was going to be taken in that evening. So we had a choice. We could either be treated for\n alcohol poisoning, taking advantage of the OG’s convenient bi-hourly shuttle service to the\n Springfield hospital. Or we could eat some of the atrocious bargain fare being carted to the table\n at impossibly frequent intervals, to absorb some of the booze. This was really the genius of the\n plan, here. Using the OG’s own cruel contraband, the free breadsticks, to stave off\n poisoning. The breadsticks are really bad, and that’s not just me going, ha ha, here are some\n more jokes. They’re straightup nastyloaves. Imagine one of those little Nerf footballs.\n Imagine it’s stripped of paint and elongated a bit. Now soak it in bleach for a week. Then,\n once it is white as chalk, bake it at 800 degrees for 10 minutes. Then brush the loaf in a thin but\n powerful adhesive solution, and completely submerge it in a vat of salt. Put five of these loves\n into a basket, and put five of these baskets on to the table every five minutes until the party\n leaves, or is otherwise removed from the restaurant.
Is that enough of this story? I’m\n gonna say yeah. The bottom line is, the plan was a huge success, in that we’re all basically\n still alive somehow.
TLDR; the final tab was a little over $200, applied mostly toward\n beverages, and a smattering of semi-edible food. We went home and took a long hard look at our lives\n and drew no particular conclusion. North got in his car soldiered in the direction of his namesake\n to presumably put in another hard shift of “being in Canada.” Rowland went back to\n mailing way too many tee shirts to goofballs who like funny words on their chests, and maybe also\n run for mayor?(??) Keogh, Green and Paperklip went back to get bossed around by Rowland a little\n more, because that’s what he is, their boss. Softowl cleared her throat before Ryan got into\n his car, and he said oh, looked embarrassed, pulled the Ms. Paint figurine from his pocket, and\n eventually returned it.
Let’s never mention the Olive Garden again.\n
\n
I do not have a Deviant Art account
\n\n
It’s really simple. I have three internet things I currently maintain.
\n
A twitter.
\n
A tumblr.
\n
A website.
\n
That’s it. Everything else is fake.
\n
Frankly I’m less offended by the efforts of impostors than I am by those so willing to believe\n I’m actually responsible for such unfunny bullshit.\n
\n
Come on.
\n
Homestuck Book 1 & Problem Sleuth Book 3 “Soft Announcement”
\n\n
These books are now available in the Topatoco store.
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/PSHSbookphotos.jpg\"/)
\n
I’ve held off on mentioning them until now, so as not to crash their store. Regardless, people\n have already bought a bunch since the word got out anyway. I’m not linking to the store\n directly, for now, to stave off a little extra traffic. If you are very motivated to buy these\n books, you may go to the topatoco site and seek them out.\n
\n
It’s not even a bandwidth issue really. The store runs on a database, and if too many people\n put stuff in their shopping carts once, there are too many connections and the whole thing shuts\n down. So I’m being delicate about how I get the word out. Tumblr for now, then the main site a\n little later.\n
\n
I also offered signed + doodled copies, but those immediately sold out before I could make any\n announcement. I’d like to get the offer back up as soon as possible, but if I take on any\n more, I would have to take like two weeks off from updating just to get them done. And even then,\n they’d take too long to get to people, presumably many of which want them before Christmas. So\n I’ll probably have to wait for the holidays to blow over before putting the offer back up.\n Sorry to disappoint you if you had your heart set on one soon. I can’t really make exceptions\n either, even for higher offers, because that’s a huge can of worms to open.\n
\n
On the bright side, the books came out very nice! HS actually translates to paper better than I was\n expecting, so I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Book 1 contains the whole first act.\n (But it will surely be the only book that contains a single act. Other acts will be distributed over\n two or more.) Thanks to Chris Kallini for the nice work paginating the book, and Cindy Whatpumpkin\n for her usual nice job on PS.\n
\n
Life and Void
\n\n
God tier hoodies and tees.
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/lifevoidhoodiethumbs.gif\")
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/lifevoidteethumbs.gif\")
\n
The final four god tier designs will be released, again two at a time, later this week.
\n
That’s really soon!
\n
A bit slow right now
\n\n
Lots of books to sign this week, so rapid fire update schedule is taking a hit.
\n
I\n might give the “hard announcement” for the books a go later tonight, \n see how the store holds up. (Signed books still will not be available \n til after holidays.)\n
\n
The first batch of books is also likely to sell out soon, so if you’re intending to get one for the holidays, now’s the time.
\n
—————
\n
Some notes on the god tier designs…
\n
There\n are a lot of considerations here, ranging from practical to aesthetic. \n On the practical side, color choice has a lot to do with what’s \n available for hoodies. The selection isn’t as extensive as you might \n think, so that creates a bit of a puzzle as to which icon gets slotted \n to which color. The tee is often a different color from the hoodie, and \n the basic governing logic is the tee represents color of the hood in the\n outfit, while the hoodie is the main color, for a little diversity. \n There are a few exceptions, like the space tee is also black instead of \n very dark gray. Exceptions like that are also usually due to color \n selection limitations.\n
\n
I designed the symbols themselves with an \n eye toward simplicity, verging on minimalism, and visual consistency \n within a developing iconic vocabulary. That’s why you see these latest \n two echo aspects of others. Life is a simple transform of a tilted \n breath symbol, while void is kind of a “hollowed out” space symbol.\n
\n
In\n my mind there are some subtle aesthetic principles guiding their \n construction. Ways in which curves behave, adherence to radial symmetry \n at times, certain ways the forms are sliced and aligned, etc. I’ve seen \n quite a few fan made projections of the unreleased icons. While there \n are a bunch of nice icons out there, not many strike me as that suitable\n for the god tier icon vocabulary, at least as I’ve pictured it.\n
\n
I\n think it’s another one of those situations where “headcanons” clash \n with the reality as unveiled. Probably some are interested in more \n diversity in form than what you see, where void ends up being largely a \n transformation of space? Think of it this way. It’s hard to get worked \n up at the dude who invented the alphabet because the “p” is just a \n backwards “q”. That’s part of the point of a vocabulary of shapes, to \n introduce some standardization and logical repetition of form. \n Simplicity is also key, from precedents already set. Time was just a \n gear. Nothing too inherently exciting about that. The idea is to use \n very simple, usually abstract shapes to convey these broad concepts, \n while also building a little self-consistent pictographic language.\n
\n
HOPE DOOM
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "halftruth-hey-look-what-i-got-working-okay",
- "timestamp": 1323820800,
- "html": "\n\n
\n
halftruth:\n
\n
\nHey look what I got working!
\nOkay now imagine doing this 200 times a day six days a week.
\n
\n
Pretty sure these are all done. Most (if not all) signed books to be mailed tomorrow.
\n
Here’s everything
\n\n
<let’s see if i can just copy/paste the site news html into here>
\n
On the subject of Homestuck books, I took down the link since they sold out, and the Topatoco site\n was getting strained again. They’ll go back up when new books come in, probably around the\n 20th. Problem Sleuth Volume 3 is still available though.
All god\n tier symbols are now available in hoodies\n and tees.\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/godtiershirtsymbols_all.gif\"/)
\n
We also have really nice looking key chains and pendants. Both the Sign of the Signless,\n and the Spirograph medallion.
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/pendantskeychainsthumb.jpg\"/)
\n
And finally, a 2012 Homestuck calendar! Featuring illustrations from a variety of great\n artists. Additionally cool: the calendar is all done in Homestuck fonts, and labels many dates that\n are relevant to the story, like the birthdays of the kids, release dates of movies like Con Air,\n when Barbasol was invented. Critical stuff like that. (It still has all the boring normal holidays\n on there too.)
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/hscalendarthumb.jpg\"/)
\n
There you go. Ain’t no one can say I never gave you nothin’ to buy!\n
\n
<hooray it worked>
\n
Ripe for the askins
\n\n
Ask box is open for a small number of minutes.
\n
http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/ask
\n
This time, I will randomly select a letter of the alphabet, and answer only questions submitted by\n users beginning with that letter, in reverse order received.\n
\n
I will only disregard things that don’t really count as questions like “homestuck is so\n cool!” and such. (As in, I will not answer them. I will still regard such statements,\n quietly, in my heart.)\n
\n
4 minutes, 1000 questions submitted.
\n\n
Here is the random letter I rolled.
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/randomletterh.jpg\"/)
\n
If your tumblr name begins with H, it is either time to get REALLY EXCITED, or to prepare yourself to\n be even more disappointed than usual when I STILL don’t pick your question.\n
\n
\n
I don’t know if this was the best way to do this.
\n
And I’m not completely sure that people aren’t just changing their profile names as I scroll through these.
\n
Maybe I’ll randomly change the parameters without saying how.
\n
Mad answerin’s
\n\n
I rolled an H, so I’m\n going to answer only questions submitted by users whose name contain an H, but do not begin with an H.\n Here we go.\n
\n
-
\n\n
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\n
scratchbutt asked:
Are you dead in-comic?
No.
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\n
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makindharma asked:
Are you really going to publish 16+ Homestuck books? I\n think it’d be too expensive to buy them all…
It might not be that many.\n Act 2 looks like it’s going to fit cleanly into book 2, and act 3 + intermission look like\n they’ll all fit into book 3. They’ll be a bit thicker, but likely will cost the\n same.
And even if not, I don’t actually think it’s that much to spend when you\n take into consideration the amount of time between releases. Might take 2-3 years to get it all in\n print. Spending a couple hundred bucks over that time isn’t much. If you add up all of the\n money we spend on totally ridiculous shit over the span of years, the figures are always mind\n boggling.
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\n
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\n
kayhohohotics asked:
For the trolls, are there different blood colors besides the\n ones that the trolls in the comic have, or are those all/most of the blood colors?
All\n of the troll race’s blood colors are accounted for by characters in the comic, except for one.\n
The place on the spectrum where Karkat’s slot would be is a shade of green between\n Nepeta’s and Sollux’s. Lime bloods. We know nothing about them, and the only indication\n they exist in the story at all, aside from the indirect evidence I just mentioned, is that shade is\n on the walls of the highblood’s throne room.
But that’s it. Any time there’s\n a fan troll with like pink sparkly blood or whatever, that is just some prime bullshit right\n there.
Wait didn’t I make them all canon?? FUCK…………..
-\n
\n
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shimiza asked:
Did you know Homestuck was going to have the popularity it has\n today?
Yes.\n
\n
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\n
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indigostohelit asked:
what are all the kid’s favorite baseball\n teams?
They don’t know shit about the sports.
-\n
\n
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\n
suchirolle asked:
I know lots of other fans are wondering about this, they’re\n turning 3 years older now right? So does that mean there’s gunna be more romance stuff in\n there for the shippers?
If so, it wouldn’t be for the shippers. The shippers\n are already up to their necks in romantic nonsense. It would be for the non-shippers, who try to\n avoid that stuff as best they can. If I did as you say, there would be no escaping it\n anymore.
-\n
\n
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shoshaumbay asked:
In the intermission of act 6, it says that they get to\n talk. Does this mean that their guardians couldn’t talk to them before and that is why they\n left them notes all around their houses?
The achievement badge only upgraded their\n ability to speak to each other as presented through the comic. I.e. it permitted them to speak to\n each other… WHILE WE WATCH! Do you think all the trolls were hanging out together, not talking\n at all? Or Dave and Jade were doing all that frog hunting without a single peep?? That’s\n ridiculous.
On the other hand, abstraction weaves itself through the Homestuck reality, and\n it can be hard to pin down where abstraction is to be taken literally. The truth is, there is not\n much distinction between the layers of abstraction and the reality they are meant to stand for. John\n was both literally named on his 13th birthday, and not quite, because that’s silly. The\n guardians are both literally silent automatons, and not really, as there is indication through\n allusion they function as normal people too. And the kids went through a huge adventure, achieved\n immortal god status, and even then had to gain a few more levels just to gain the achievement of\n simple dialogue as a literal upgrade, as well as not literally, because that makes no sense. The\n reality is inseparable from the way the story is presented and the way the “game” is\n played. But those abstractions are also a facade for a more life-like reality beneath it as well.\n
\n
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\n
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\n
chivalrousgambler asked:
What’s D??? Strider’s name?
Yes,\n this was the plan. To hide his name in the story up until now, where I would reveal it in response\n to your question! You have accurately discerned my cryptic ways.\n
\n
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\n
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\n
inkskratches asked:
How long does it usually take you to come up with character\n designs?
Most of the time I wait until the last minute where I actually need to show\n them, and then draw them in an hour or less.
I drew all the post-scratch kids in advance\n though. But that was pretty easy because their baby heads were already on hand.\n
\n
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\n
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\n
serialkillerwithsocks asked:
Do you think you and your comics could have reached the\n same level of popularity had the internet not existed? Maybe not in the same amount of time, but at\n some point, been this popular?(I know that if the internet did not exist the entire content of\n Homestuck and others would be entirely different, but bear with me here. (Irrelevant to my question\n but I did a speech on you and your work for one of my classes and now I think my teacher wants to\n read Homestuck… oh no)
I’m having a hard time addressing the question\n while ignoring the fact that without the internet, HS wouldn’t exist in any shape or form at\n all. The question is, without the internet, would your story about kids on the internet be as\n successful? I guess it could be a book about kids doing fantastical things, sans internet. Isn’t\n that basically the summary for Harry Potter? I don’t think they ever used the internet in\n that. They read magic newpapers and whooshed around on absurd brooms. Also it was a ton more\n successful than HS. So I guess the answer is yes??? Yes, success is an achievable thing without the\n internet.\n
\n
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\n
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\n
johnisahomosexual asked:
Why do you like to Kill all the characters everyone\n loves?You are a heartless man.
To make room for the 48 squiddles I’m about to\n introduce, and then kill.\n
\n
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\n
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\n
bluhbluhthisisgarbage asked:
What do Heart powers do?
Maybe we’ll\n find out later??????
For now, let’s say they make you extremely likely to get beaten\n to death by a rowdy juggalo.\n
\n
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\n
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kitchenkind asked:
Any chance we can get some Sburb logo stickers? Or MSPA\n face stickers? for cars and things?
Yes, maybe. There are a lot of ideas filed under\n “some time next year”.
-\n
\n
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\n
superchalmers asked:
What was the thought process behind the Hero of Rage symbol? It\n seems to be heavily inspired by Gamzee, whereas all the other symbols don’t seem to show much\n resemblance to their title bearers. \n
\n
Yes, for the most part, I kept all designs conceptually distinct from the characters they\n correspond with. But the Rage symbol was sort of the one exception. Since he’s more of a\n wildcard, I thought it would be funny to tie that one a little closer to Gamzee in some obvious\n ways. Both color and theme. It’s the arcane iconography equivalent of an angry clown face, and\n somewhat mockingly reminiscent of juggalo face paint. Anyone who wears this shirt is either proudly\n or inadvertently parading around as a faux-juggalo. This is what I wanted.
(You are only\n allowed to put either Faygo or special stardust in the front pouch.)\n
\n
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\n
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\n
mspahussatan asked:
How has writing Homestuck changed you\n personally?
I never change personally.\n
\n
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\n
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\n
ambitiousbard asked:
Is it essentially canon that the released hoodies are the only\n titles within sburb/sgrub? Are there others besides the ones that have been established?\n
I keep talking about these 48 squiddles which I am going to slaughter heartlessly, so\n unless those poor squiddles are doubling up on classes, I would say that the possibility that there\n are more than 12 is a solid MAYBE.
Wait… your name doesn’t have an H in it. I\n forgot I was doing that for a second.\n
\n
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\n
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\n
tosmegatherion asked:
Why Trolls? Why not another race?
When was the\n last time you heard of an internet orc?\n
\n
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\n
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\n
happypillarrainbows asked:
So I have been curious for awhile, how is your initial\n provision for the length of homestuck coming along? You said once Act 6 would be shorter than Act 5,\n and that act 7 was pretty much the ending, but there seems to be so much plot to get through still.\n I guess I’m curious as to whether you think that your initial plan is still on tracks in that\n sense, or if homestuck might end up even longer? (not that i’m hoping or anything\n :P)
A6 will probably still be shorter than A5. But it could wind up being close.
It\n all depends on the approach, and generally, how leisurely I am about its construction. As a rule,\n the more leisurely the pace, the more diversions and detours and experimentation and silly messing\n around there is, and the more it all expands. If I stuck to a “just the facts” approach,\n it would be quite a bit shorter than A5. But then, that’s actually harder. Because that’s\n compressing major story hurdles, major productions like animations and stuff, into a smaller amount\n of time. It’s let’s conducive to steady consistent output. Economy, for me, for this\n project, in many ways is MORE difficult. So it’s more likely it’ll stretch out, and be\n roughly on par with A5.
AUGH I blew the H rule again. Whatever.
Here’s\n another non H question.\n
\n
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\n
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\n
spinor asked:
Did you realize that you got time dilation backwards in the\n intermission(assuming, of course, that paradox space even vaguely resembles special\n relativity)?
Yeah. That would be stupid if I didn’t realize that.
There\n are a variety of answers to this, and I’ll save the one I like best for last.
Quick\n answer A: It’s a fictionalized version of relativity, inverted for [reasons]. Not unlike the\n fictionalized forms of special and general relativity used in Problem\n Sleuth for basic reasons of absurdity. (Wait, this\n silly thing is a better link)
Quick answer B: GAGS AHOY. We just saw robo-me\n holding a nanosecond stopwatch, with the hand whipping around at about 0.3C, then I ran over and\n threw a curtain over the walls before time was up. This sure is some ridiculous bullshit in here. If\n the intent of a “minimally” meddlesome author is, for smarter or dumber, to give these\n heroes a three year “catch up journey” of quiet downtime, what better place to cram\n those years than into the space of 3 nanoseconds? Or better yet, what more HILARIOUS place? Q E\n motherfuckin D.
Answer that is full of questions, a.k.a. PEDANTBUSTER_XXX: Are we really\n THAT far from the situation being physically reconcilable in some way? How much do we actually know\n about the situation? What are the scales and magnitudes here? How small are they? Is everything\n rendered to scale from my vantage, or is that more symbolic? What does shrinking something to do the\n physics? Are the two frames of reference physically commutable? Are there things about my universe\n that differ from the one they just exited, and they continue to abide? Jade did just call this a\n “realm with unusual spatial properties” after all. There is so much we don’t know\n about the situation, it’s impossible to make a ruling based on hard science alone.
The\n because AH’s author insert says so answer: AH said he would limit his intervention to the\n space of one yard and the duration of three nanoseconds, and so far he has lived up to that promise.\n And bearing in mind that he also at the very least COSPLAYS as a hero of space, it would seem his\n intervention might include purposefully stretching the amount of space they have to traverse, from\n their perpective. In other words, while I did promise to influence the story over only 1 yard and 3\n ns, I didn’t say it would also be 1 yard and 3 ns IN THEIR RELATIVISTIC FRAME OF REFERENCE!\n (It’s the oldest gotcha in the book!!!) They are actually getting jerked around to the tune of\n 3 lightyears and 3 years. Does this seem like outrageous chicanery from an author insert claiming\n minimal intervention? Yes. But if such divine meddling is inappropriate here, where a towering\n mechanical avatar of an author-god stands present, then where is it appropriate? Nowhere is\n where. And maybe… just maybe… nowhere IS where.
Regardless, if you\n accept that answer, all that’s left to explain is the author’s motivation for doing so,\n which brings me to my final answer and also
The real answer: Homestuck-time and real-time\n have always been married in a strange way. I started it on 4/13/09, and by my own rule, that became\n locked in as the date in the story too. And then it became stuck there, for one day of\n Homestuck-time, while real-time flowed normally for two and a half years. When they scratched the\n game and reset the universe, it was time for me to start over too. So again by my own rule, I put up\n the first pages of the new story and grafted the story date to the real date, 11/11/11. The new\n kids, in a way, have been waiting almost 3 years since the beginning of Homestuck to take their\n place in the story, and have aged accordingly. They have done their time in the shadows, living\n uneventfully. And now the stated objective of the original kids is to join the new game. It is\n apparently John and Jade’s turn to wait, in sort of a prolonged narrative hybernation, while\n we spend time expanding on the new kids and their Very Long Day. If they are to eventually meet, it\n will be as approximate equals in age, and no, not so that everybody can get busy kissin’ or\n whatever. For more fundamental reasons, that have to do with the way HS-time relates to real-time,\n and essentially repairing the schism between these two clocks which resulted from the fact that\n about 24 hours of story took nearly three years to make.
And understanding that, I think\n the explanation that works best is not necessarily a physical, relativistic one, but more of a\n metaphysical idea. That when they crashed through the wall, they have presumably entered the real\n world, albeit for only 1 yard from our vantage. They have gone from HS-time to real-time. Given the\n schism between clocks, you could say they are faced with a rush of lost time, all at once. Like\n massive temporal wind resistance. So in crossing the yellow yard, they are forced to live every\n second that passed here in the real world which they did not experience in their fictional\n adventure. It’s the toll they have to pay before breaking through the other side and joining\n the others.
As I said, this is the explanation I prefer. But there are a bunch of ways to\n approach the issue.
Back to H questions.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
amischiefofmice asked:
Do you dare to give an estimate to how much more homestuck we\n have left?
If A6 is as long as A5, then an upper bound of 1.5 more years.
If\n A7 is ___ then an upper bound of ___.
Was that helpful?\n
\n
-
\n
-
animatedscreenshots asked:
LORD ENGLISH = FIDUSPAWN?? (THE SIMILARITIES ARE\n NOT IGNORABLE!)
LE is from a proud race of horsaronies.
Wait this would be\n so much funnier if we didn’t already know LE wasn’t horsaroni in a big coat SHIT\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
sepulchritood asked:
Since you released all the god tier symbols, that means more of\n the characters will go god tier right? It’d be super awesome to see all their designs c:
If\n I miraculously squeezed three years into a yard of lightspeed travel, I think I can squeeze 12 god\n tiers into an entire slaughterhouse of brutally murdered, narratively irrelevant trolls.
JUST\n WATCH ME WORK MY MAGIC\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
frenchampora asked:
How do you pronounce the trolls’ names? For instance, some\n people say “A-ray-dee-uh” and others say “a-rad-ee-uh” for Aradia’s\n name.
Pretty sure I answered this question before.
And even then I think I\n STILL fucked up some of the pronunciations by mistyping a few. So I’m not sure if even I can\n be trusted.
When I was naming them all, people kept suggesting the name Rocket Papaya over\n and over for some stunningly idiotic reason.\n
\n
So you can pronounce them all that if you want.
\n
-
\n
-
\n
sheemajay asked:
Do all the ancestors have names? Like actual names other than\n titles? Like Mindfang she had a name. If it’s not a spoiler would you mind telling\n us?
They all have names.
But it seems culturally that trolls graduate to\n formal 8 letter titles which supercede their given names.
Now you want to know how they’re\n given names?
Simple. The lusus gurgles some incomprehensible monster noise, and the closest\n pair of 6 letter words matching the sound is the name.
TROLLFAX\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
dafukbruh asked:
are you done with the troll dildos yet?
Who said\n anything about dildos? I just said they were sex toys.
You are presuming a LOT about troll\n anatomy.
To answer your question no way I’m just getting warmed up.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
zippkat asked:
So, let’s talk about Karkat’s dick. Is it like, an actual\n dick? Do both genders of trolls (as we’ve guessed) have them same gentalia? Are they like\n humans, only.. grayer? Tentacles?
I literally typed like a 6 paragraph response to\n this, going into tons of graphic detail. But then I noticed your name doesn’t have an H in it,\n so I deleted it all. Sorry.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
prisonerofcreativity asked:
Can you draw fat Vriska? Or can she simply not fit on\n paper? (Or computer screen.)
I don’t understand the phrase “fat Vriska”.\n It seems criminally redundTHIS IS NOT AN H QUESTION\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
lixaxil asked:
I know this will be “disregarded”, :P but I did want to\n just say thank you so much for your hard work, Hussie. Homestuck is incredible and you’re such\n a sweetheart to all your fans. I immensely enjoy your writing style, and it’s always a\n pleasure to see anything from you. :) Thank you. <3
The fact that your name\n doesn’t have an H and the fact that this isn’t a question canceled each other\n out.
I totally regarded it.\n
\n
-
\n
-
\n
-
\n
I scrolled down some more and couldn’t find another good trollboner question so I guess that’s\n it.
\n
\n
Gift certificates
\n\n
Apparently you can buy gift certificates for What Pumpkin. Like if you want to get\n somebody a present from WP but don’t know what they want, or don’t know if it’ll ship\n on time for the holidays. (overseas people, I am ogling you.)\n
\n
http://whatpumpkin.com/ (scroll to bottom)\n
\n
I didn’t even know we were offering these until I checked the site.
\n
/captain of industry gets into ruby encrusted limousine, teleports to fucking space mansion
\n
SBAHJ: Behind the scenes
\n\n
I tend to scratch out little comic doodles, and then carry them around in my pocket\n wherever I go for months before I bother drawing the “finished product.”\n
\n
The end result usually shows a startling amount of fidelity to the original concept.
\n
Observe the final comics here: one, two, three.
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/sbahjsketches.jpg\")
\n
Quite a while ago, while this comic sketch was considerably fresher, I was depositing a check in an\n ATM. I thought I would try to deposit what to me was a valuable document, and see what happened.\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/sbahjsketch_atm.jpg\")
\n
Sadly, it spit it right back out. Fuckin banks.
\n
I have an idea. Why don’t we all mob Wall Street and protest the shit out of this. Who is with\n me?\n
\n
boner
\n\n
(at the end of the flash, did you click the upper right corner?)
\n
I asked Toby to\n make the song (Frustracean), mimicking the John breakdown song. And he did that.\n
\n
But for some reason he put 5 minutes of silence at the end, followed by this bizarre Cage boner clip.\n So I’m like, ok what the fuck am I supposed to do with this thing.\n
\n
So that’s what I did with this thing.
\n
Dark Cage wallpaper, saved at low quality.
\n\n
Please bear in mind that not a single living soul requested this.
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/darkcage.jpg\")
\n
Y/W.
\n
News update on MSPA homepage.
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "i-have-discovered-the-perfect-xmas-song-one-day-too",
- "timestamp": 1324944000,
- "html": "\nI have discovered the perfect xmas song, one day too late.
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "s-eoa6i1",
- "timestamp": 1325203200,
- "html": "\n[S] EOA6I1
\n\n
www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006290\n
\n
And now that I left you hanging for a few days while working on that, here is a SERIOUS head’s\n up.\n
\n
I’ll be traveling from 1/3 to 1/10. I’ll try to get some stuff done on the road, but you\n never know how things are gonna pan out when you’re traveling. Expect updates to range from\n sporadic to nonexistent within this span of time!\n
\n
it loads just fine
\n\n
if it doesn’t load
\n
step 1: don’t panic
\n
step 2: refresh (ctrl+shift R)
\n
step 3: if that doesn’t work, try again a little later, but not 100 times per minute. that’s counterproductive.
\n
\n
Bowman with a few words on Eidolon, the guy who made the [S] EOA6I1 song.\n
\n
EO is a prolific fellow, and it occurred to me a major flash hadn’t featured his work yet. Now\n and then I take such things into consideration when selecting songs to work with.\n
\n
iambowman:\n
\n
\nI’d like to take a moment from my regularly scheduled self-indulgence to commend an\n awesome chum from the Homestuck music team, Thomas Ferkol, better known as EidolonOrpheus.\n For those unfamiliar with his work, he’s responsible for such tracks as “Infinity Mechanism” from\n the most recent…\n
\n
\n
Y2K12 + Song of Skaia
\n\n
Another New\n Year’s Eve gone by, another ball\n dropped.
Here is Mark Hadley’s single, Song of\n Skaia. It’s good! Hadley is responsible for such HS songs as Harlequin and Blackest\n heart.
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/SoSthumb2.jpg\"/)
\n
You might have noticed I’ve scaled back the frequency of music releases somewhat. It\n was becoming sort of intense getting one or more albums ready for release every month. It also did start\n to feel like maybe just a little bit too much music coming at you all the time. I’d like\n to make sure the novelty of these doesn’t deteriorate too quickly. Hence a single release seemed\n like a nice way to mix it up for now. I would expect albums to come out closer to every two months from\n now on.
On that note, I’ll make an announcement about plans for the next album shortly.\n Preemptive tl;dr - it will be a contest. Details soon.
More misc. notes: Still\n working hard on restocking WP stuff. Calendars soon. All garments, somewhat later (2+ weeks). Working on\n zip-up hoodie variants on god tier stuff too. HS books back in stock 1/3.\n
\n
HS books will be in store tomorrow, later in day.
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "the-next-album-a-contest",
- "timestamp": 1325635200,
- "html": "\nThe Next Album: A Contest
\n\n
The\n MSPA music team has made exactly 20 great albums since the beginning of\n Homestuck. For the next album, I thought it would be fun to open the \n music submissions up to everybody.\n
\n
There seems to be a large \n number of musicians in the readership outside the music team, who often \n work on their own HS fan music or remixes. I’ve had quite a number of \n people express interest in submitting music to HS over the years, but to\n keep the team from ballooning out of control, I’ve had to draw the \n recruitment line somewhere. This strikes me as a nice opportunity to \n give a lot of other creative people a chance to contribute music. The \n music team was originally assembled just before HS began with the idea \n that I wanted MSPA stories to largely build and develop through \n contribution from the readership, and I think this album idea is very \n much in the spirit of that original premise.\n
\n
The challenge
\n
If\n you want to submit music, the idea is simple. Pick a character from \n Homestuck, and make a song for that character. It can be any character, \n particularly those in identifiable categories, like the eight human \n kids, the trolls, ancestors, agents, exiles, Midnight Crew, Felt. If you\n want to pick a character not in one of those groups, that’s fine too. \n Keep in mind there’s a decent chance that if your song is picked, it \n could be reallocated to a different character, since it’s expected we’ll\n get a lot of submission overlap, and it’s not going to be “The Album of\n 50 Karkat Songs!” So picking a character for your song is just a \n starting point for you, and we’ll sort it all out during the selection \n process.\n
\n
You can submit up to three songs. No more than that, or \n they will not be considered! They can be for three different characters,\n or the same character, whatever you want. You can do remixes, etc. of \n other HS songs, but we’ll have to run it by the original artist, and \n they’ll have some stake in the song’s sales. Attach MP3 files in an \n email to the address provided below before the deadline. Do not send WAV\n files! Too big. If your song is picked, we will contact you and ask for\n the high quality file.\n
\n
Those details again
\n
- Pick a Homestuck character
- Make a song for that character
- Submit up to 3 songs (for different characters if you like)
- Attach MP3 files to email (no WAVs!)
- We’ll get back to you asking for a high quality file if your song is picked
\n
I\n am hoping to include as much artist diversity as possible in the final \n list. Ideally, one artist per song. So while you may submit up to 3, if \n one of your songs is picked, it’ll likely be only one. If you have a lot\n of music you’re dying to send, hopefully the 3 song max will mitigate \n any agonizing decisions over which to send.\n
\n
Submission
\n
Send submission emails to:
\n
homestuckmusic@gmail.com
\n
The deadline is 6 weeks from now, on 2/13/12. The album will be released two weeks after that.
\n
The Prize
\n
If\n your song is picked, it will be included with the album! That’s pretty \n much the extent of the prize. You’ll get a cut of the album sales, in \n proportion with how many songs you have in the album to the total number\n of songs.\n
\n
Also, if this contributes any motivation for you, I’m \n going to try to make a point of using at least one song from this album \n in a future animation.\n
\n
I think that should be all the info you \n need to get started. Everybody is already super psyched to hear what you\n come up with. Happy music makin!\n
\n
![\"I](\"/scraps2/january2012updates.gif\"/)
\n\n
I am traveling from 1/3 to 1/10. Please consult the diagram for travel update\n schedule.\n
\n
Pchoo.
\n
HS books in stock, but signed copies gone already. Will try to have more signed copies\n available in a couple weeks.\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "one-of-the-no-days-turned-into-a-maybe-day",
- "timestamp": 1326240000,
- "html": "\none of the no days turned into a maybe day
\n\n
and then the maybe turned into a yes
\n
IT.S TIME TO GET:
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "moe-did-you-know",
- "timestamp": 1326412800,
- "html": "\nMOE: Did you know…………………….
\n\n
that arguably the best web comic of all time is purportedly updating regularly again?\n This is reality.\n
\n
![](\"/advimgs/ps/ps1114.gif\")
\n
(that is Moe coming out of his long hibernation there)
\n
CHECK IT OUT.
\n
real quick, re: dick v. dirk
\n\n
Dick was sort of the only other viable solution to the Di__ puzzle. There seemed to be\n this whole big camp rooting for Dick.\n
\n
Dick is a totally inferior choice tho. Too on the nose. Hehe! It literally means penis! Why don’t\n we just name him Penis Strider? Here come the laughs!\n
\n
Dirk is essentially equivalent, though less direct. Porn star\n pseudonyms tend to employ a bit of lingual misdirection to convey naughtiness. You don’t\n tend to hear about porn stars with names like Cockballs Vaginamouth.\n
\n
Dirk Strider is a 100% legit sounding porn star name. Which is why it’s the best name for him\n indisputably.\n
\n
Dick…………… nope. Pass.
\n
Roxy is less controversial it seems. Not a whole lot else it could be… Romy, Rosa… and a\n whole slew of way less viable things than those. Though some wonder why it breaks the one syllable\n kid name pattern. Answer: there was no deliberate pattern. The troll names varied in syllables quite\n a bit, which was your clue that the rule didn’t exist. The one syllable kid names were a\n result of smaller sample size + coincidence. One syllable was never a rule, only a superficial\n trend. Letter quantity was the only hard rule.\n
\n
While I’ve gone to the bother of making a super trivial post about all this, I guess I’ll\n open the question thingy for a few minutes a little later. So you can put yourself\n in prime position to overwhelm me with questions and cause me to regret the promise slightly. At\n least this should deflect the hot surge of “WHY NOT DICK???” Q’s.\n
\n
QUESTCHINS.
\n\n
A.k.a. questions. You may ask them.
\n
I\n will answer them randomly and I will disregard anything submitted \n through tumblr’s preposterous fan mail feature. I will also disregard \n things that aren’t questions, like “you’re great!” Though I will \n momentarily bask in the glow of any such statements I encounter. I will \n also bask in statements such as “you suck!” but again, these will elicit\n no response.\n
\n
Prepare to be sassed heavily. Because frankly, the shit you are about to ask me is ridiculous, and we both know it.
\n
eueuueuuuuueeuuugh
\n\n
Cleared all messages before opening box.
\n
Minutes later
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblrqs.gif\")
\n
eueuueuuuuueeuuugh
\n
Windswept Questions
\n\n
WQ?: Answer.
\n
\n-
-
kidror asked:
You\n do realise that we’ve figured out the new kids titles and aspects \n already from their intros? Oh wait you hide in the forums and watch us \n talk don’t you?
I expect people to figure out stuff like \n this. The key words are in plain sight. That is why I put stuff like \n that there, so people can figure some things out and feel cool.
-
-
cookieemonnster asked:
What is your take on Owen Wilson?
My take is…
Hm. This question is like a zen koan. In attempting to answer, my head has been purged of all thought.
I just don’t know what to say.
-
-
friendlyneighborhoodspidertits asked:
Why don’t all the God Tiers on the meteor fight Jack now? They could probably win, right?
Could they? Maaaybe??
Isn’t it a better strategy to do what Rose said? To regroup and confront him from a stronger strategic position.
Sure,\n they may be able to put up a good fight. But if you have the chance to \n get reinforcements, and potentially use overwhelming force, why not?
They know John and Jade are going to meet them there. Jade especially sure did look like she could do some fancy stuff.
-
-
whichtobehold asked:
Do the names of the members of the Midnight Crew have any relevance to the Trolls’ romance quadrants?
Not\n really. But the characters have been associated with their \n corresponding quadrants a few times. Like Hearts Boxcars urging Tavros \n to kiss the girl, or Spades Slick getting all black romantic with \n Snowman. That’s as far as the correlation goes.
-
-
newdstuck asked:
Is\n there anything as a fanbase we could do to disturb you? because we’ve \n been trying our best and so far nothing has seemed to phase you.
There\n are a few times I’ve said “Ok, if the fandom does THIS, that will be \n the last straw. Gonna pack up my bags and close up shop. Nice knowing \n you internet!” But mostly as a joke and only muttered to myself, because\n if I said it out loud that’s exactly what people would do. They’d say, \n SHIT! WHY DIDN’T WEEEE THINK OF THAT.
-
-
rmsails asked:
Why don’t you rename Dirk to Dion?
I guess Dion was another option, but there’s no fancy explanation why I didn’t use it. It’s just filed under not so great.
Really, I picked all four of these post-scratch names way way way a long time ago. More than a year I’m sure.
-
-
metalnate asked:
Is that Ben Stiller poster in Dirk’s room there ironically? Or did they just not have enough Kamina posters at the store?
The\n small square Stiller, Wilson and Snoop posters are in Dave’s room too, \n in the exact same spots. When I made his room, I just used the Dave room\n file as a base, and left those ones exactly where they were for the \n hell of it.
-
-
simpleruser asked:
How many designs for the Alpha kids did you go through before settling on what you did? Thank you for writing the comic!
Exactly one. Which is true of practically every character.
Although, I did bat around the idea of giving Dirk a wifebeater like Equius. But it didn’t work very well with the hat icon.
P.S. I’m going on record with the position that a hat is the perfect thing to be on a shirt, forever.
-
-
guyisart asked:
Who is the most [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed character of homestuck?
This new character I will introduce really soon. His name is Guyisart!
SOMEBODY RUSH THIS GUY TO THE BURN WARD, WHOOPS HE JUST INCINERATED, TOO LATE!
-
-
chiibilubbs asked:
Did you on purposely make the endings of Rose and Roxy’s name = Sexy ? And if you did, why xD ?
No, that would be a pretty hard thing to do on purpose, while ALSO ensuring good names were selected.
But as for why I did it, which I didn’t, well……
In case you haven’t noticed these two young ladies are getting older at a PRETTY BRISK CLIP and before you know it
Hang on I’m gonna stop answering this completely.
-
-
chucklefucks asked:
Does uranianUmbra have anything to do with the original 12 trolls or the ancestors?
Maybe???????????????
-
-
brookinyourheart asked:
Did you consider Ruby for mom?
Nope.
-
-
zomgenius asked:
What\n do you think of all the different theories on various aspects of the \n story? Do you still take some bits of the actual plot from these \n theories on occasion?
Recurring fan theories and trending \n points of discussion at most usually appear in the story in the form of \n various “shout outs”. But then later, given enough time, eventually some\n of those shout outs start to accumulate more relevance, as smaller \n things often do.
-
-
yamihero asked:
hussie what did roxy mean by dirk being an unintelligible bachelor?
Unintelligible? You mean difficult to understand?
I don’t understand your question. It’s ineligible.
-
-
skormi asked:
do you feel weird when fans dressed up as your characters come up and talk to you
This doesn’t happen outside of cons, and I don’t go to cons often. I haven’t been to one since… I think TCAF, last May?
Which\n is to my regret. I’d like to go to more. Frequent traveling is \n difficult and disruptive though. Hopefully I will do a fair number this \n year, probably beginning with TCAF again as luck would have it. Though \n something I have to weigh about that and events like it is how much I \n want to risk turning a mild Toronto library into a rabid den of \n outlandishly dressed teens. I’m not really sure the show’s organizers \n had that in mind when they cooked it up. I also seem to get a lot of \n invites to Anime cons now. As in, a quantity of invites FAR EXCEEDING \n the number of anime cons I thought existed. So I don’t know, maybe I’ll \n do… one or two of those? That seems to be my wheelhouse now, or at least\n is the wheelhouse my readers would like me to have. The animes \n wheelhouse. It could be fun doing an anime con in a sort of “WOW I SURE \n DON’T BELONG HERE!” kind of way.
But to answer the actual \n question, I’m perfectly fine encountering people in costumes. It’s fun, \n and they’re usually nice and friendly people.
The perception from\n my vantage may shift somewhat as the sheer magnitude of these swarms \n increases. Not necessarily in a bad way though. But really, what \n conceivable reaction to such hordes can a human have other than some \n form of disbelief? Something along the lines of “Wow, that SURE IS a \n herd of fifty Nepetas there. That is just like… a LOT of fucking \n Nepetas.”
-
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arthurpendletonpillywig asked:
What’s the relationship status between you and North? Have you done the full yaoi?
The full yaoi is actually a wrestling move wherein one guy piledrives the other into a foldout table covered in anime DVDs.
No I haven’t roped North into that one yet, but man, when I do?
Game over.
-
-
rolloz asked:
Why aren’t you uploading 100 pages per day forever like you said?
Fact: The most pages I have ever uploaded in one day was around 25.
The joke was that that number is a lot and also that it won’t happen.
-
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delicioushamsteak asked:
Well\n here goes anyway: When the session was reset, and the beta kids were \n supposed to remember nothing, why did Dave seem to have memory enough to\n still write the beautiful SBAHJ that was influenced by Terezi? Do he \n and the others remember some of the events in their beta session?
It pays to investigate questions like this more thoroughly.
Do we ABSOLUTELY know that SBaHJ was solely the product of Terezi’s influence?
Didn’t\n he scrawl SBaHJ graffiti on his walls at some point, unconsciously? \n Could she have “seen” those at some point and been influenced herself? \n If this is true, doesn’t that mean SBaHJ was always a product of his \n unconscious mind, and then brought to his waking awareness through \n Terezi’s help?
Something similar could have happened with \n post-scratch Dave, by some other means. Which means SBaHJ is a \n universally constant product of his subconscious, much like Rose’s \n wizardfic is of hers.
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notchristine asked:
are the images on bro’s tv screen from that one weird porn website of people who are photoshopped to look like animals ?
… there’s only one of those?
How disappointing.
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christopher-fantastic asked:
Will\n we ever get any more insight on the origin of the Felt? A lot of people\n have these great ideas that they were once carapieces and whatnot. The \n subtle Eggs and Biscuits reference in the recent update has sparked my \n interest on them again.
Probably.
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spacedhamlet asked:
I wish to now Roxy’s favorite video game. So that I may play it.
Her\n favorite games were probably my favorite games, since I don’t actually \n know about the games I never played, and the ones I didn’t like were \n shit. She wouldn’t like shit games.
Of all those systems I probably liked Gamecube the best. SNES was probably a close second.
I’m going to pick two good games out of a hat for both systems, and you may investigate those. Pikmin, and Earthbound.
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darkcaro asked:
How much did the crane to hold Vriska cost? Because I’ve been looking into it, and crane rentals cost a lot of money.
The crane snapped in half and I lost my deposit.
I don’t want to talk about it.
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guizhou asked:
have you ever considered watching an episode of hetalia? i think it would be very ironic and funny if you did.
I have not seen it and don’t really plan to. There isn’t a lot of anime that’s on my “to watch” list.
While\n staying fair to something I haven’t seen and could be rad for all I \n know, I will say that these are the two words that spring to my \n awareness when I hear about the show’s premise.
Not. Good.
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sociallywokard asked:
Hussie! What power does a hero of heart have?
You\n have no choice but to eventually find out through the grueling serial \n drip that is the slowroll of Homestuck’s lurching megalithic doomsday \n device it calls a plot.
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impartialmusician asked:
Are you actually a fan of Parks and Rec.?
Yes,\n it really is a show that is demonstrably superior to all presently \n running comedies. It’s like the Office, but dramatically better in every\n way. And I think the Office is good too.
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strangerofimagination asked:
Any hints to the comic following after Homestuck?
Just gonna come out and say it.
This is exactly the kind of thing you can’t think about if you want to finish something like Homestuck.
I’ve had ideas. They’ve come and gone. We’re still truckin here.
HONK HONK
(trucker horn pulling motion)
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indigojelly asked:
How are you going to choose the winning songs for that contest? There are so many entries.
I have people to help me narrow them down, notably Radiation.
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suchirolle asked:
One\n stupid question, I know John and Jade have their food supply…but what \n about Rose, Dave and the trolls? Are they going to starve to death?
There are alchemiters on the meteor. Remember how Kanaya made Eridan’s wand?
As for things to duplicate, who knows what’s there. Sure hope Rose and Dave like troll food!
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2buff2punch asked:
What\n tend to be your considerations when decorating the rooms for characters\n as they are introduced? Do you look at what would be funny first, or \n what relates to the character first?
Funny and relevant is often the same. Practically everything dropped in has some kind of significance.
That\n said, designing rooms is weirdly time consuming. Making those two rooms\n almost felt like the labor equivalent of doing a flash. It just gets so\n picayune and annoying after a while. I’ve said this before, but I’d \n almost always rather just DRAW than fuss over a lot of tiny bullshit.
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sericereal96 asked:
Who do you consider the tallest of the trolls?
My sense is a lot of people’s headcanons have Gamzee as the tallest troll.
I’m gonna go ahead and canonically confirm that Gamzee is in fact the shortest troll of all.
Busted fan artists.
Busted.
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mamsays asked:
If you really liked something you heard from the music contest, would you invite the artist to make more music for homestuck?
That is a distinct possibility.
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the-eccentric asked:
You\n mentioned previously in the comic that your interference in the story \n would last one yard. Can you give us a hint on what that entails?
That\n was already explained pretty clearly I think. John and Jade ride across\n the yellow yard, and coexist in my universe for that exact distance. \n One yard relative to me, not them! I have said that you could also view \n it that the exact nature of my interference over this distance was to \n make it a much longer journey for them. You could view it that way, \n because it is true.
But this reminds me of a sort of “FAQ” which I’ve read in places sometimes but never addressed. It is basically:
“If one yard is your only influence, why did you kill Doc Scratch and rip off his leg? Isn’t that influencing stuff?”
No,\n because I didn’t kill him. This was also explained. When in my \n proximity, he goes unconscious like a reverse Calvin and Hobbes deal. \n Then I left, and he stayed asleep for just a little while, until the \n conditions for LE’s arrival were met. Then LE busted out of him, thus \n killing Scratch, fulling his claim that he needs to be dead for LE to \n arrive. Because his arrival itself is what kills him! This would have \n happened regardless, and my involvement affected nothing at all. Maybe \n if he wasn’t unconscious, he might have refreshed the scotty dog bowl \n once or twice while waiting around to become LE, and that’s it.
Ripping\n his leg off didn’t affect anything either. LE has a peg leg regardless.\n It’s a feature of his appearance, not a consequence of Scratch losing a\n leg. When I ripped his leg off, that was just another one of these \n serendipitous maimings you see here and there. Like how Vriska lost an \n arm and an eye, and so did Spades Slick, to echo the kid session \n prototypings. There’s no cause and effect here. It’s a recurring cosmic \n coincidence.
-
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-
This reminds me of another one of these common FAQs I’ve never talked about. I’ll answer that one, then stop!
“Scratch said doomed timeline Vriska killed Bec Noir. Was she really that strong???”
First, time to get all the facts straight.
Scratch\n didn’t know if she won or lost. All he said was, though it would be a \n good fight and she’s probably outclassed, he wouldn’t bet against her. \n And why would he? Everything we’ve been shown about her suggests she \n always seems to find a way to come out on top, even if things look bad \n for her, or it seems like “karma” should prevent her victory. Mix in her\n dice roll powerup, her great luck, and who knows?
But let’s \n assume she did beat him for a second. Is this actually unthinkable, when\n you really break it down and examine it through video game logic?
She is:
1) A god tier player, perhaps a number of tiers higher than base level. By how many is anyone’s guess.
2) Extremely lucky, at the EXPENSE of her opponent’s luck, by way of her power.
3) Most important of all: she rolled 8 8’s on her dice.
Think\n about the last point. Imagine in an RPG, a probability based attack, \n where the strongest one had a 1 in 16,777,216 chance to be used, every \n time you tried it? If you tried using this attack once every second, you\n wouldn’t be likely to hit the jackpot for 194 days!!! This must be a \n ridiculously strong attack. It was the one used to kill the black king, \n and that was before she even got the exp. for doing so.
Think of \n it as you would an ultimate upgrade in a game. Like a Mario star. Sure, \n Bowser is way stronger than Mario. But if he gets that star, all bets \n are off! It is a completely absurd advantage she’s afforded by that dice\n roll, which is only made possible through her great luck. Her power \n complemented her personality, which was that of a born cheater. The only\n problem was, her advantages didn’t matter in a doomed timeline. That \n wasn’t how things were supposed to go. If she beat him, he wouldn’t have\n killed the big frog, the green sun wouldn’t exist, and none of this \n ever gets started.
But is it at least plausible that she won? I \n don’t see why not. The fact that it was a close match actually says as \n much about how strong Jack is as it does about her, when you take into \n account all these insane upgrades she had.
scroll
scroll
scrollllllllllllll
These questions are forver. Ok a few more, that’s it.
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halcyonrags asked:
Are all God Tier titles made of monosyllabic components?
Yes. Class and aspect, one syllable, always. This is a rule.
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jacknoirmyswag asked:
Ok,\n John is the Heir of Breath. He shares part of his title with Equius, \n the Heir of Void. He shares his aspect with Roxy is the Rogue of Void. \n Then Nepeta is the Rogue of Heart. Dirk is the Prince of Heart, who \n shares a title with Equius, the Prince of Hope, who shares an aspect \n with Jake the Page of Hope. And then Tavros is the Page of Breath, and \n then we’re back to John again. So is this some kind of Mobius Double \n Reacharound that Skia uses to name the players?
You’re reading too much into stuff.
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kolodragon asked:
Is Homestuck going to end on 6/12/13?
The absolute best way for me to guarantee this won’t happen is for me to say yes.
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tuataratough asked:
You\n said the webcomic ‘Moe’ is one of the greatest comics in the world and \n that it’s updating again. I took a look at it, and the art style seems \n kinda similar to yours. Are you and the artist of Moe the same person?
No,\n it’s by my pal Michael Firman. We’ve traded ideas on art and comics for\n many years. I’m sure there’s some creative overlap some respects. The \n whole concept and style of the pesterchum dialogue in HS probably drew a\n good bit of inspiration from our old online exchanges.
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misterhussie asked:
What’s your favourite dance move?
The Full Hentai.
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fairgwenofair asked:
HOW WERE THE BREADSTICKS AT OLIVE GARDEN
I made my position abundantly clear.
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geromysexual asked:
ass ass ass ass assa sssas ass ass as sa
I…
Have to stop answering questions.\n
\n
predictably
\n\n
The primary source of consternation plucked from that Q&A was the “revelation” that Gamzee is short.
\n
Which was obviously a 4 THE LAFFS answer.
\n
The real answer is
\n
drumroll
\n
I don’t give a shit about how tall anybody is.
\n
How tall do you want them to be?
\n
That’s the right answer!
\n
This\n is generally true of physical traits. The basic element of abstraction \n in HS disallows clear cut answers on a number of things.\n
\n
They can \n vary in height if your imagination demands it. And they can vary in \n weight. Want them to be a bunch of chubby kids? You got it!\n
\n
They \n could be any race too. Note that I am caucasian, and I draw myself \n orange. I don’t see no orange kids there! Can’t really pin them down as \n definitively white, though this is likely the widespread presumption. \n They are canonically a-racial, and elude concrete bodily proportions \n through diversity of stylistic representation. You decide what they are!\n The thing you decide is right.\n
\n
Non-reblogged reblog
\n\n
Not\n officially reblogging this response because I don’t want to spark a \n hate war swirling around one particular tumblr user. I probably wouldn’t\n even bother responding but I kind of get the sense there’s a faction \n out there that feels this way.\n
\n
—
oh come on this race answer is unmitigated bullshit
\n
don’t\n try to eek out a tiny bit of totally undeserved race-representation \n cred when you are indisputably portraying eight white kids in a row
—\n
\n
This is a racist response.
\n
They\n are only “indisputably” white because of the social and cultural \n associations you are making yourself, between the backgrounds and \n behaviors of these characters, and those you assign to white people as a\n general rule.\n
\n
Let’s look at John’s situation. An average looking,\n suburban, middle class household, run by a generic looking business man\n father who smokes a pipe. Culturally, there is plenty about this \n situation that says “white America”. But citing any of this as strong \n proof that they’re white is what’s racist. Are you saying a Hispanic \n family couldn’t find themselves in this situation, in either this \n universe or the non-fictionalized US? Are you saying a black kid \n wouldn’t behave like John? Or an Asian man couldn’t possibly style \n himself as a throwback era father? What exactly are you saying here?\n
\n
Let’s\n pretend I’m coming out and saying John is Asian for a minute. What can \n you supply to refute this? Does your argument boil down to, “Come on \n Hussie, the cultural clues to a white family are all there. You’re being\n disingenuous. If you wanted to indicate he was Asian, you’d have left \n some clue.” So my question is, what clues could I possibly leave to this\n effect? Maybe make him good at math?? I’m frankly drawing a blank at \n even facetious possibilities. What racial clues, when absent, prove they\n must not be a certain race? Does the absence of African tribal masks \n littered around the house prove beyond a shadow of a doubt they aren’t \n black? Or is it just they fact they don’t live in a ghetto that rules \n that out?? Really, this entire line of thinking, i.e. looking for \n “supporting evidence”, is implicitly racist.\n
\n
If you think I’m \n being disingenuous and pulling this a-racial thing out of nowhere, this \n is what I’ve always said since the beginning. People wondered about \n race, and I said the answer was N/A. These are templatized characters, \n and while many aspects of the comic are vibrantly colored, their skin \n tone is religiously left blank. Blank not as in white, per se, but as \n non-affiliated, as if they were lifted from a coloring book. It is this \n way because abstraction rules this universe absolutely. Abstraction \n rules their identities, the way they’re named, the qualities of their \n guardians, the way they pick up objects, the way they engage in \n dialogue, and everything about the game they play.\n
\n
It is also a \n heavily templatized story universe. The notion of “character” in \n Homestuck is a highly malleable construct, as it is in certain games. So\n much of HS and Sburb is designed with EXTREME flexibility in mind. It’s\n designed to have your imagination fill in gaps, and expand the universe\n far beyond the boundaries of what happens in the story. Everything was \n built with this in mind. The alchemy system, to get you to wonder what \n items you’d make. The prototyping system, to get you to wonder what sort\n of quest you’d build for yourself. What planets might your session \n have? What god tier titles? Are there more than what’s shown? You’re \n always being invited to ask by the systems that are introduced, what \n more is possible through this? This was a deliberate feature of HS built\n in from the start. It was a guiding principle for its construction, and\n still is. I’m sure it’s a very major reason why it’s captured a\n lot of imaginations. So in this medium of intrinsic abstraction and \n malleability, if you’re suggesting it’s somehow flimsy or weak to not \n offer an iron clad ruling on something so trivial as race, I’m going to \n suggest you are very badly NOT GETTING IT.\n
\n
And to actually get indignant\n at the suggestion that race is canonically non-applicable, because you \n think it’s JUST SO OBVIOUS all these kids are white? That’s the ugliness\n of bigotry surfacing. Bigotry not only blinds you to ways you are in \n error, but triggers an automated response of anger to differing points \n of view. And then you don’t even realize that’s what happened. It’s not a\n great way to be.\n
\n
Íæû\u000bë€Å
\n\n
I\n “retconned” a single word in the archive with the above gibberish for a\n while because I thought it would be funny. And it definitely was \n hilarious. I understand that not everyone thinks all of my e-impulses \n are a total riot though.\n
\n\n
Before I launch into any more of this, let me reframe the key points which drove the previous post.
\n
-\n You can absolutely craft an argument using story data that the kids are\n white. You are allowed to believe they’re white! That’s cool. I’m not \n saying that makes you a racist at all. Often I view them that way \n myself, if bothering to imagine them corporeally. I’ve also pictured \n John and Jade as Asian and thought, “that works.” These are just \n personal reflections and you’re free to form your own by any criteria, \n including hyperfidelity to canon minutia, as well as by disregarding one or two ridiculously insignificant points of said minutia. You have my permission. But most of the time I picture them as N/A, and my official answer when asked is “I don’t care.”\n
\n
- What does strike me as racist is when someone gets angry over\n the suggestion that they could be thought of as anything other than \n white. And that does appear to be a thing that happens. It’s a position \n that irritates me. Enough to bother addressing it, and verbally \n crystallize some points on abstraction as they apply to race in HS, even\n if in apparent contradiction with one or two minor story details.\n
\n
That’s pretty much the bottom line on this.
\n
It’s\n aggravating to imagine a guy getting in someone’s grill about how \n there’s NO WAY John and Jade could be Asian kids or something, because \n some canon savant can cite an excerpt in the 300K word barrage of \n Homestuck which refers to the group of infants as pink monkeys. That \n isn’t really cutting it for me as a sticking point. Should we get out \n the pantone swatchbook, and verify that all non-white babies shall never\n exhibit anything like a rosy hue? Or failing that, what if some babies \n there were white and others weren’t? Digging even this much into it is \n already sort of treading too far into the pedantic bullshitification of \n the topic. Would submitting a “my bad” on that phrase choice help \n deflect some antagonization toward those with a different view? Cause I \n can do that. I can cough up a my bad once in a while. In fact I think I \n just did!\n
\n
The retcon gibberish, I think we can safely TL;DR as “another fuckup.”
\n
I do feel it’s all a little more complicated than it looks though.
\n
I\n dropped the gibberish in place of the word “white” as a flippant \n faux-rebuttal to the obvious gotcha it represents. It was one of the \n earlier rambling dialogues where John alluded to Dave’s bro as a lame \n white rapper.\n
\n
First of all, here’s what’s true: I was being quite \n serious when I said I viewed these kids as non-racial from the start. It\n is a fact! In the earliest pages, when people asked what race they \n were, I just said “N/A.” “Don’t care.” “You decide.”\n
\n
But the thing\n is, this position had so much more to do with adhering to the \n fundamental abstraction in this world than it had to do with making any \n sort of statement on racial harmony or anything like that. The point was\n never to make something perfectly air-tight in terms of racial \n neutrality, as a means to create some sort of socially conscious \n advocacy literature. If it was, I probably would have been more alert in\n those early stages to make dead certain little tipoffs on race didn’t \n bleed into the story during some of the more outrageous, off-the-cuff \n character rants.\n
\n
That’s the thing, especially in a lot of those \n earlier dialogues, I was somewhat less diabolically all-calculating than\n I became over time. In early chats I was more likely to flip on the \n “ridiculous rant” switch, and just write stuff that struck me as funny. \n It was just a funny thing for John to say about bro, which for the \n moment punctured that membrane between the way I was personally \n picturing a character for the sake of comedy, from these fairly \n amorphous rules of abstraction I established at the beginning. TL;DR, a \n fuckup. Then I kept making pages, kinda forgot about it, and am pretty \n sure never once used a racial qualifier that specific again. And I \n didn’t really care, because, and this is the important point here: it just doesn’t matter.\n
\n
And I could just “whoops” and again indicate how trivial and isolated it was and move on, but there’s even more to it than that!
\n
At\n that point in the story, I’m quite sure I hadn’t determined that bro \n was Dave’s biological father. I sure as hell didn’t know Dirk would \n become a “playable character” some day (i.e. literally yesterday). So \n many aspects of this story were all coalescing gradually, and that even \n includes the extent to which race was a reliable ambiguity. That wobbled\n a couple times, but otherwise has stayed consistently unmentioned over \n the haul of several thousand pages. On that page, their whole \n ectobiological origin hadn’t even been conceived. Concepts like that \n were a work in progress. When the story began, Dave was just some kid \n being raised by some dude. That was as deep as I wanted the explanation \n to go, until further notice.\n
\n
But let’s say you’re super bent on \n taking that retconned tidbit to heart. So, ok, Dirk is white, which \n means… what? Dave and Rose are at least half white? Alrighty, so be it! \n Don’t care enough to dispute the factmasters, if they’re immune to a \n nuanced explanation.\n
\n
What I will dispute is this chain of \n conclusions. Dirk = white, ergo Dave + Rose = white, ergo all 8 kids = \n white, because I MEAN COME ON, WE BOTH KNOW THEY’RE ALL WHITE, BECAUSE \n THAT’S WHAT YOU WERE GETTING AT HERE, AND ALL THE “ENDORSED CAUCASIAN \n FANART”, AND THE PINK BABIES, AND COME OOOOON ARE YOU SHITTING ME. No, \n that conclusion is wrong. And the bluster behind it is……… offensive!\n
\n
If\n you want to back me into a corner on every last angle of this, and for \n instance bring up the example of how, say, an African American Rose is a\n “tough sell”? Ok, yes. I will be reasonable. I will agree that an \n African American Rose is probably kind of a tough sell for most people. I\n still just say, so what? Why even bother with ruling out that \n particular exception? If you want to repudiate people who draw her that \n way or something, go ahead. I’m not going to, because I don’t give a \n fuck. I’ll again just say N/A.\n
\n
I probably won’t leave the retcon \n gibberish there forever. But I might leave it there until people stop \n giving a shit about this.\n
\n
I’ll do one of three things.
\n
1) Keep it forever, because: I don’t care.
2)\n Change it back to white, because: I still don’t really give a shit \n about the mild, singular, isolated contradiction it represents.
3) Revise the sentence to read more naturally and exclude the word white because: I don’t give a fuck.\n
\n
Some\n people I think regarded my flippant retcon as a needless escalation of \n this to something like a “really big deal.” Dunno about that. So I stuck\n a garbage word into one marginal conversation 4000 pages deep in the \n archive? OH NOES. Story pollution. What if he never fixes it??????\n
\n
I\n tend to be a little flippant with my own story, even where others \n perceive hallowed ground. It’s practically business as usual.\n
\n
FINAL TLDR YO
\n
There’s\n only one thing I’m annoyed about, and only one type of behavior I’m \n calling racist. And that is if you act all haughty and shit on people \n about how they absolutely have to believe all these kids are white. \n That’s it. It’s cool if you believe they’re white. I can’t blame you for\n that perception at all.\n
\n
Happy Martin Luther king day everybody!
\n
I really didn’t plan on gettin into all this on MLK2KXII. For real.
\n
It’s like I was suddenly possessed and spurred to passionate oration by MLK’s legendary ghost.
\n
Then he was like, man fuck this weirdo, and flew away.
\n
SOPA blackout
\n\n
I’m sure by now you must know something about this, since protests are\n everywhere, including on google and wikipedia. If not, feel free to read up.\n
\n
Since it’s all pervasive at this point, I won’t say much. Do some research, if you don’t\n like it, speak out. The\n bottom line is the bill would allow sites to be blacked out to US citizens if claims of infringement\n are made against that site, or even against some of its difficult to police users, like on tumblr or\n reddit. This would likely mean instant censorship of massive parts of the internet for US users.\n Kind of like throwing tons of innocent people in prison just to be sure a few criminals wind up in\n there too.\n
\n
If you’re like me, you probably get kind of ticked when these ridiculous ancient men in\n congress, who have no clue at all how the internet works, get together and decide how the internet\n should be for everybody. So feel free to let them know.\n
\n
I’m blacking out all pages on the site, except those posted today and yesterday, for 24 hours.\n I’m only leaving the recent ones up to provide context for the little blackout gag.\n
\n
See you after the nap!
\n
edit:
\n
If you don’t know what I mean by the gag, wait for the full fadeout at the\n end of this page. It’ll redirect to the strike page. The redirect will be taken down after\n the blackout.\n
\n
Sleepwalk notes
\n\n
[S]
\n
Song: Even in Death by Plazmataz, from Volume 7.
\n
Two word answer to FAQ “I don’t get it”: dream bubble.
\n
I\n probably wouldn’t have even bothered with the animation if I didn’t \n make the little SOPA blackout animation that preceded it. Once that was \n there it just seemed like a good springboard for a bigger animation. \n Otherwise I probably would have just made a few static panels, and \n likely not conveyed nearly as much.\n
\n
And I only came up with the idea for the SOPA blackout flash-redirect on the same day it was posted.
\n
The\n seat of my pants is like a magic carpet, and I am singing to you while \n we swoop over Arabia. You are Jasmine, and you’re smitten as hell.\n
\n
Jaffar is all the congressmen who got owned yesterday.
\n
Thar ze blows
\n\n
![](\"/storyfiles/hs2/04487.gif\")
\n
Desktop background by this tumblrist.
\n
Many updates tend to spark crazy outbursts of fanart, particularly those that introduce new\n characters. It doesn’t even matter if the character is someone in a\n fictional book within the story. Actually, that probably only encourages it, since the vague\n allusions to a much bigger story tend to capture people’s imaginations and get people drawin’.\n And so there was this whole rash of cool Calmasis interpretations after that update. Not sure how to\n point you to the preponderance of this work, other than vaguely suggest you look up the #calmasis\n tag??\n
\n
Pronouns
\n
Probably most people regard s/he as a highly utilitarian concatenation for use when gender is\n unknown, if somewhat awkward. It does carry the advantage that everyone understands what you’re\n getting at. In this case we have no idea at all what Calmasis’ situation is. The narrative\n obviously leaves details of the book wide open. “Androgynous” is a broad term. Calmasis\n could identify as a specific gender, without having it revealed by him/her, or by the story for\n whatever reason. Or the character could be of an actual non-binary gender. We have no idea. We haven’t\n peeked inside the book to get a sense of this. Maybe at some point we will.\n
\n
For those of non-binary gender, “s/he” can come off as dismissive, since it implies one\n or the other. Probably not all that many people are even aware of the array of neutral pronouns that\n are available, like ze or ne or THON. I’d bet the number of people\n unfamiliar with them is quite staggering, which makes it all the more difficult to assimilate any\n into language, or just drop them into a sentence casually. Pronouns are really fundamental units of\n communication too, so if you swap one for a strange word people don’t know, it really throws\n them for a loop. But hey, I’m down with the idea. English has been lumbering along without\n neutral pronouns for too many centuries already. They have loads more applications than just\n referencing people of certain gender identities.\n
\n
WP restocked
\n\n
http://whatpumpkin.com/index.html
\n
I.e. all shirts and hoodies.
\n
The few remaining things marked as sold out will be restocked soon. There will be some new items as well!
\n
Way late donation sketches
\n\n
Finally finishing up the rest of these sketches sold for Japan relief last year. There\n were a lot to do, and I probably would have had to take a couple solid weeks off to finish them all at\n once, which never quite happened. Instead I chipped away at them for way, way too long. I’ll\n probably pause updates for the next couple days so I can finish the rest and actually get these sent out\n to people.\n
\n
Here are a few. Click for bigness.
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/japansketch1.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/japansketch2.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/japansketch3.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/japansketch4.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/japansketch5.jpg\")
\n
\n
Here is a Lord English. Bear in mind these were requested almost a year ago. I am sure this generous\n donor thought they had found a clever loophole and could find out what he looked like long before\n anyone else did. Little did they know I had an ace up my sleeve: massive procrastination.\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/japansketch6.jpg\")
\n
\n
\n
“I would like a picture of Vriska kissing John on the cheek with John blushing :)”
\n
I’ll post a few more later.
\n
#donationsketches
\n
![\"\"](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl0tmiCgb1r5ubkfo1_1280.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl0tmiCgb1r5ubkfo2_1280.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl0tmiCgb1r5ubkfo3_1280.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl0tmiCgb1r5ubkfo4_500.jpg\")
\n\n
kidz vanilla style + god tier
\n
the sassiest rose
\n
cowboy karkat + dave for some reason
\n
#donationsketches
\n
![\"\"](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl1cb4PRn1r5ubkfo1_500.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl1cb4PRn1r5ubkfo2_1280.jpg\")
\n\n
omg more john x vriska (x cage)
\n
pokedads
\n
#sketchstuck
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/starwars.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/starstuck.jpg\")
\n\n
By far the nerdiest request I got.
\n
“Please recreate the poster for Star Wars IV Special Edition with John as Luke, Terezi as\n Obi-Wan, Karkat as Leia, and Vriska as Han. Keep the trolls as their regular gender, but change\n everyone’s costumes. Replace Star Wars title with the title Home Stuck (same font).”\n
\n
I tried to match their expressions as closely as possible, especially with respect to the full,\n luscious, oddly shaped lips.\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/bardquest.jpg\")
\n\n
when someone peeking over your shoulder asks you what the fuck that thing is you’re\n lookin at you just cock your head back and say what it is\n
\n
is motherfuckin canon
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl57pvQeZ1r5ubkfo1_500.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl57pvQeZ1r5ubkfo2_500.jpg\")
\n\n
a jade
\n
then quickie colored in photoshop
\n
(the scan not the actual paper, you can’t color paper in photoshop)
\n
this is the last one
\n
i will now stop bombarding tumblr with ridiculous shit
\n
#late #japan #donation #sketches #not actual tags
\n
Raising boner awareness
\n\n
I kind of feel compelled to point out to some people that in the sketch of god tier Gamzee, he isn’t\n popping a boner. He is wearing a cod piece.\n
\n
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codpiece
\n
Which is like the whole point of a cod piece I guess. To give a guy some solid boner poppin’\n space, thus maximizing his comfort while leaving a great deal to the imagination. We are invited to\n wonder, what exactly is the state of that man’s erection? We may wonder all we like,\n but his coy lips are sealed.\n
\n
Did I mention that sketch was canon?
\n
It is SO canon. You don’t even know.
\n
\n
duedlyfirearms:\n
\n
\nguys i have a confession to make
\ni’m UU
\nU_U
\n
\n
Reblogging source of UU’s sketch.
\n
I asked Shelby to fill in as a “designated fan artist” for UU’s drawings and\n requested a god tier Dirk. This is what she came up with. Let us stand together in admiration of\n this masterpiece.\n
\n
pause … … … … . […]
\n\n
Suspending\n updates for the next several days. Maybe for 3 or 4 or 5 or maybe 6 or 7\n days, so that I have some time to work on the following things.\n
\n
1) Homestuck Book 2
\n
2) Homestuck music contest
\n
3) Homestuck
\n
And\n now we play this role playing game where we all pretend that it \n actually takes time to make stuff, instead of the reality we all know to\n be scientific fact, which is that it all appears magically from the æthær of wizardspace.\n
\n
\n
Not unpaused yet.
\n
Still a lot to do.
\n
Dropping a couple pages here to mark VT day.
\n
Just a little teencrush romdram for your careful evaluation.
\n
You know.
\n
AS A CHANGE OF PACE
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lzebtzoXZb1r5ubkfo1_1280.jpg\")
\n\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lzebtzoXZb1r5ubkfo2_1280.jpg\")
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lzebtzoXZb1r5ubkfo3_1280.jpg\")
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lzebtzoXZb1r5ubkfo4_1280.jpg\")
\n\n
HOODIES\n ARE NOW ZIPPIES TOO.\n
\n
Are zippies a thing? I’m not sure the word zippies is actually a thing. But they are things you\n can buy now. No Life or Hope zippies, because zippies in those colors don’t exist. I have got\n to stop saying zippies.\n
\n
Also added a bunch of new prints, including one\n for each illustration in the calendar.\n
\n
\n
[S] Prince of Heart: Rise up.
\n
Song: “Time on my Side” by Tensei, from the Strife Album, released exactly one year ago.
\n
Was gonna post this on v-tines but it wasn’t done yet and then it turned into a thing that didn’t matter.
\n
qs
\n\n
In several minutes I’ll open the question box for 30 seconds.
\n
I\n will wait EXACTLY five minutes for you to think of something meaningful\n to ask and at EXACTLY 3:05 AM EST I will open it for EXACTLY 30 seconds\n at which point it will be EXACTLY closed for probably a long time.\n
\n
These days I am never really sure if this is a good idea but I just keep on doing it.
\n
\n
i was watching the clock tick down and realized how hilariously little time 30 seconds is to type a question
\n
about 300 people managed though
\n
Ok I answered some more questions.
\n\n
“How do you feel about Homestuck in general, and the characters in particular?”
\n I like it, and I like all the characters.
\n It’s successful in every way that is important to me\n and has met all of my goals or surpassed them dramatically. It has been\n executed perfectly when taking into consideration all self supplied \n constraints and personal artistic criteria.
\n Homestuck. Yes.
\n It’s so great.
\n Wow.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“do you keep your notes on homestuck down on any kind of paper? what does your desk look like? “
\n I have a few really frivolous things documented in a\n text file. Most of the time it’s nothing more than a funny phrase. I \n actually maintain more rigorous advance documentation for SBaHJ comics.
\n What’s on my desk right now is a little container \n full of ridiculously tiny dice. There’s also a fushigi contact juggling \n ball which I kind of suck at, and one time I may have hairline fractured\n my knee bone with it. There’s an opened bag of Reese’s peanut butter \n cups. Some more dice. Some super-magnetic Buckyballs clinging to the \n metal leg of my desk. A lamp. A tablet. Some crumpled sbahj sketches. \n Some other trash. Me hunching over it like some nefarious fucking \n fleshgargoyle plotting some shit.
.\n
\n
.
\n
“Tell us about post-scratch Maplehoof.”
\n It’s kind of a small horse.
.\n
\n
.
\n
“We\n know that Dirk has a genuine fondness towards Rainbow Dash. What are \n your thoughts on Friendship is Magic? Do you enjoy the show, or did you \n only include the cyan pegasus for the sake of humor?”
\n I’ve seen like one episode. It’s nicely done, but \n it’s a damn show for kids. I do some silly shit with my spare time but I\n am not a child. Some people think this makes Dirk a “brony.” I think \n it’s more that he really does watch it and evaluate it for whatever \n studious purposes he has, but just happens to like that one pony \n unironically. A brony does not this a dude make.
.\n
\n
.
\n
“What’s up with the pink moon of Alternia”
\n It’s small and it’s pink and it’s a moon and it has another little moon.
.\n
\n
.
\n
“Wow this question is silly, BUT DO ADULT FEMALE TROLLS WEAR BRAS? Or do they not have meat sacs on their chests?”
\n Whatever it is they wear, they probably don’t call \n them bras. They probably call them something ridiculous like heft \n satchels or protrusion hammocks. Bulbhuggers?
\n Jut duffels.
\n Gland hoisters?
\n Ok one more…
\n Actually no that’s all I got.
\n (Wobble rucksack.)
.\n
\n
.
“Did Mindfang make Jane say what she said to Jake?”
\n This question implies there actually needs to be an external reason for something like that to happen.
\n Shit like that happens every day, in millions of \n different permutations in a wide variety of social situations. If you \n browse the reactions to it, how often do you see people saying, “omg \n jane is me…”?
\n Jane fucked up. She was put on the spot and totally \n choked. Then she kept digging herself deeper and deeper in the hole. She\n did this because she’s a teen. Even some people who are older than \n teens fuck up like this. Being a young human is often a mercilessly \n awkward proposition.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Do you read dirty homestuck confessions?”
\n No.
\n But, full disclosure?
\n I am its sole author.\n
\n
.
\n
.
“While\n not exactly too meaningful a question, my interest is quite piqued on a\n couple ruminations: 1. When designing Prospit and Derse, were your \n inspirations or designs ever culminated from Anor Londo (a location) in \n From Software’s Dark Souls? There are a few panels of both dream worlds \n that remind me so much of it. Secondly, Are you, or have you ever been \n an English major? Your English is exquisite.”
\n No, I just thought “purple and yellow gothic \n cathedral planets,” and collaged a large number of cathedral bits and \n pieces together and heavily modified them in Photoshop.
\n I was never an English major and most of the time in\n my estimation I don’t really come close to sounding like it. Most of \n the time I’m pretty casual and breezy with language, even/especially in \n the story, usually to go after what I like to call Big Laughs. But \n sometimes I attack statements with more vehemence for whatever reason, \n but usually approach these tasks as if I’m solving some sort of logic \n problem with words rather than engaging in what is recognized by big \n time scholars as the formal discipline of writing. (I like to picture \n those scholars as wizards FYI.)\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Is there any reason you use girl models only for the hoodies?”
\n That’s the person who runs the whole WP operation. \n When it’s time to photograph some products, usually it’s just easier for\n her to throw the shit on and snap some photos herself than do this \n whole rigmarole with a model. I think the photos all look good.\n
\n
.
\n
.
“What happened to SBaHJ #39?”
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Would you agree that there are no bad ideas in fiction, only good ideas that are poorly executed?”
\n No there are some really really terrible ideas, trust me.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Can blood castes lower than purple be seadwellers?”
\n No only Eridan and Feferi’s castes.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Is there any part of Homestuck you’re particularly proud of?”
\n The fandom!!!!!!
\n Also…
\n All the great shit I did.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“How far until UU is revealed?”
\n The answer to any question like this is “probably \n months” because things take a long time to unfold and develop. I update \n frequently but by the standards of readers’ humongous appetites for \n more, the rate of progress is still glacial. There are things like \n animation time to factor in, drawing lots more new “plot advancing \n assets,” juggling a bunch of different story threads and so on. It’s a \n slow, steady creep, but it’s always going somewhere, and that \n destination has become reliably combustible.
\n But making decisions to accelerate your plans \n because people are impatient is the same thing as making bad decisions. \n To put everything in perspective, think of it this way. Cascade didn’t \n happen 4 months ago. It happened about an hour ago, or maybe less. \n Because that’s how long it takes to read what I’ve written since then. \n It’s almost nothing. No matter what doldrums we appear to progress \n through serially, or what elusive payoffs seem to perpetually hover in \n the distance, all of that is insignificant and easily endured in the \n archival readthrough by the wide eyed and uninitiated. One who watched \n Cascade an hour ago is propelled through succeeding material still \n spurred by the energy and curiosity generated by that explosive \n multi-threaded plot crescendo. And if Homestuck were finished, they’d \n just keep reading to the end without handwringing over who’s gonna be \n introduced when or wondering why teen drama has replaced “real plot \n advancement” or stuff like that, because they don’t have time to form \n those thoughts because there’s always another page to click on. All \n those things are quickly contextualized and paid off because you just \n keep clicking next, while all the entertainment value is heavily \n compactified, easily compensating for the kinds of lulls or buildup \n measures that can absolutely torment some serial readers and push them \n to the threshold of bizarre histrionics and irrational ragequit oaths.
\n Wait, I’ve wandered into the serial vs. archival \n reading issue again. This isn’t even all that pertinent to the question.\n But it’s a topic I seem to get into a lot because it’s important, maybe\n even THE most important consideration for how a story is perceived, \n i.e. the rate at which it’s absorbed. Few seem to understand this. And \n those who do often forget, and get caught up in kneejerk judgments that \n would never be made otherwise. It kind of blows my mind observing some \n of the reactionary dementia that crops up in a huge serial readership, \n which is a double edged sword: fun to watch the day-to-day excitement \n over developments, painful to behold the ubiquitous impatience and the \n corrupting influence that has on the judgment of content. In many \n respects it’s a very bad way to read a longform story, dribbled out in \n pages rather than in big chunks. Impatience among some generates \n toxicity over time, like they’re gradually, unwittingly developing a \n grudge against the story because of the pace they’re forced to read at. \n This then warps everything they see. As if a tainted a witness. If they \n crave swift advancement, then pages that do not accomplish this \n adequately like gags or character developing interactions become like \n personal affronts to them. Good material is like a slap in the face. And\n the irony is, the more they like the story, the more toxic the attitude\n can get, because they badly want to see it get somewhere fast, and they\n can feel let down or like the work is in decline because they’re forced\n to sit through its responsible, judicious development in realtime. But \n this is an almost nonexistent phenomenon with archival reading, which \n lends itself to a little more detachment and reservation as one cruises \n through the material at the speed of reading. Judgments are formed less \n at the atomic level of the story’s building blocks, a bit more \n holistically, and individual developments are never agonized over. They \n may ultimately not love the story, but at least the resentment complex \n that can fester in the space of the serial drip never had a chance to \n skew the result.
\n Probably some people think it’s weird that I put \n emphasis on long term archival pacing when I produce a thing serially, \n page by page. I do think that is the only way to make something good in \n the long term. But aside from that, consider that by now the vast \n majority of the readership began reading relatively recently. Most \n current readers have experienced most of the story by catching up \n through the archives, so any attention I put on pacing that out with \n patience and discipline has directly benefited, it turns out: MOST \n READERS! This trend will probably continue as more pile on in the future\n and HS approaches its end. But then the funny thing is those people who\n catch up then dive into the huge serial mosh pit, and immediately \n assume the psychology and habits of serial readers, most of the time \n without even being aware of how radically this will alter their \n perception of all events that follow, better or worse. It’s kind of a \n strange mill of human perception I’m running here. A weird factory where\n droves enter curious, proceed fascinated, and exit frenzied. But while \n that process for them is quick, they should try to remember the factory \n took three years to build, and its construction is ongoing at the same \n slow pace it always has been.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Now\n that Jake and Jane are a official non-couple is Jake and Dirk going to \n be a couple and what will happen with Jane and Roxy?”
\n I couldn’t quite follow your question because I was \n too distracted by drawing Jane and Roxy making out for the next 500 \n pages.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“today\n i got my wisdom teeth out and i was awake the whole time and the only \n thing that got me through it was the happiness from the fact that for at\n least one day, dirkjake was canon. thank you”
\n I still have my wisdom teeth and they’ll probably \n have to be removed at some point before I die. I’ll try to remember that\n thinking about Jake kissing Dirk is a good way to make the experience \n endurable. Thank you for the tip.
\n I keep answering questions that involve children kissing.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“how much of homestuck is improvised as you go along? or does it follow a fairly strict plotline you’ve written out beforehand?”
\n It’s a blend of foreplanning and spontaneity. Maybe \n in roughly equal parts, but this is a thing that’s really hard to \n measure.
.\n
\n
.
\n
“What happened to the Alpha session’s Black Queen?”
\n USURPED\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Are there classes and titles other than the ones shown so far in canon, or have we seen them all?”
\n Maybe. Readers tend to make up their own. Some of \n them sound decent to me, others do not. They can only have one syllable.\n Any that has more than one syllable is automatically not good.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Who is this Cerulean damsel and is Mindfang’s journal just a giant fanfiction?”
\n The damsel is somebody who looks like Vriska.
\n Mindfang’s journal entries were always intended as \n narrative departures in which I would deliberately drag the story into \n what I call “The Bad Fanfiction Zone.” Without necessarily laying it on \n TOO thick (because holy shit, fanfiction can be REALLY bad), I \n specifically emulated some common impulses of fanfiction writers to open\n this backstory portal, to fill in some world building details and \n contextualize the arcs of the troll kids. It’s kind of bombastic, \n character-aggrandizing, uncomfortably erotic, and florid. I wanted to \n leverage the Bad Fanfiction Zone for useful story purposes, primarily \n because this was a funny idea to me. It’s one of those gags which I \n don’t expect the majority of readers to pick up on. Some people LOVE the\n Mindfang stuff because, among other reasons, they’re often the sort of \n people who genuinely like to read fanfiction! Whereas some others HATED \n the journals, probably without even fully understanding why. The reason \n is because I bombed my own story with bad fanfiction, and tricked them \n into reading it. This is absolutely the most hilarious consequence of \n this gag.
\n But don’t get me wrong. Just because I call it the \n Bad Fanfiction Zone doesn’t mean I actually think the Mindfang stuff is \n bad. All the lore is good and I like the indirect filling in of events \n and details of alien culture as you’d reveal through study of historical\n documents and journals. But the execution is humorously heavy handed, \n somewhere between lavish old world prose and an enthusiastic fandom \n hackjob, and this was a conscious layer of the gag. And there are some \n people who do pick up on this.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“Any\n chance you’ll be willing to give a listing of which classes are \n active/passive or is this something to be revealed fully later on?”
\n This is exactly the sort of thing that gets nibbled \n away at as the story goes along. A little here, a little there, without \n giant info dumps. It makes no sense for me to say now. It’s much better \n for people to invent their own rules, roleplay with them and stuff, and \n then for their ideas to gradually get debunked by canon.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“How do you overcome your art/writing blocks? if you have any”
\n I guess I don’t really have those. When it’s time to\n write there’s always something to write. When it’s time to draw there’s\n always something to draw. I never worry much about how good any of it \n is so that kind of helps.
\n I do have people blocks sometimes. Times where \n motivation is sluggish on account of let’s just say Problem People.
\n I don’t know if being in a bad mood ever affects my \n work negatively though. I remember some patches of the story where I was\n not in a great mood, but you would never know it by reading that stuff.\n It always just comes out kind of the same.
\n The truth is that an artist’s appraisal of his own \n work, in terms of how much better some stuff is than other stuff, is \n probably completely meaningless. If you grab a random person off the \n street and hold up two things and say this is my good shit and this is \n my bad shit, he probably won’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. 9\n out of 10 people will probably say it’s the same exact shit.
\n This is why worrying too much about the quality of \n what you do is kind of ridiculous, and worrying about it is what leads \n to blocks. In the end what you make is the result of your capabilities \n and your effort, and practically nothing else. So you might as well stop\n worrying, drop the bullshit, and just make it.
.\n
\n
.
\n
“So what is troll genitalia exactly? They don’t reproduce in the same way humans do.”
\n trollsexquestion
.\n
\n
.
\n
“The\n trolls had 48 zodiac signs, yes? So are the 48 new “quiddles” you are \n introducing those members of the previosu session? Cause 12 trolls for \n the kids zodiac signs…yeah.”
\n Stay tuned for the new 48 SQUIDDLE INTERMISSION!!! It begins TOMORROW!!!!!
\n I have been making this same joke almost constantly for the last two years.\n
\n
.
\n
.
\n
“What’s the closest you’ve been to completely quitting MSPA and never coming back to it?”
\n There’s only been one small blip on this radar and \n that was when it looked like it was going to cost literally $100,000 to \n host Cascade for several days.\n
\n
Spoilers on tumblr
\n\n
It’s\n not like this is a big deal, or that I really care much about it at \n all, but it can be kind of ridiculous the extent to which people posting\n panels of latest updates can spoil the outcome for those who haven’t \n QUITE gotten around to checking the updates themselves yet.\n
\n
Like \n an update that consists of 5 pages, with something surprising happening \n on the 5th page. Guess which panel invariably shows up on everyone’s \n dash, blowing the surprise without context or build-up!\n
\n
Again I \n don’t really care and this is the kind of thing that nobody could ever \n really prevent from happening and it would be stupid to try. This is \n just something I’ve observed.\n
\n
Maybe there is an unspoken etiquette\n that some people follow, holding off on posting the surprising images \n for a little while, until most people have seen it? I’m not sure. It’s \n something to consider, but I ain’t gonna be super mad if you don’t.\n
\n
Followup on that
\n\n
There are two kinds of spoilers, short term and long term.
\n
Long\n term apply to those catching up to the story, where this data is all \n pervasive, like stuff about trolls and crazy plot points deep in the \n story. There’s nothing anyone can or should do about limiting any of \n this obviously. It’s up to the readers to limit their exposure to all \n that material while reading, assuming they care about that.\n
\n
The \n kind I was talking about pertains more to the day-to-day reading \n experience, if you happen to be hooked in tight to the tumblr community.\n If you log into tumblr one day before checking MSPA, and happen to see \n one panel splashed everywhere in a frenzy, of say, a character who \n people say might be kid Mindfang or something, then… well, that’s how \n they learn about that story development. Then checking updates become \n more about finding out how or why something happened, rather than \n discovering that it happened in the first place.\n
\n
Some say tagging \n stuff with “update” or “spoilers” and then blacklisting those tags will \n let you avoid this better. But then, blacklisting those may cause you to\n miss out on posts discussing stuff you may actually want to read. \n Probably the use of the “read more” break is a better convention overall\n for handling spoilers. I’ve seen a lot of people do this.\n
\n
\n
Music contest picks are finally locked in. Reblogging Radiation’s request for track art here.
\n
We\n ended up including quite a few songs in the album. For this one, I \n wanted to err on the side of more music rather than less, to get more \n people involved. Still a lot of tough decisions though, and we had to \n draw the line somewhere. Thanks to everyone who participated. We \n received a ton of great entries, and I think people will be pretty \n excited about the results.\n
\n
fwugradiation:
\n
\nThe winners of the contest have been notified! Thank you to all who participated in the music-making process!
Now…\n onto the second part of this shindig. There’s a lot of artistic talent \n out there in the fandom!!! So we’ve decided to open our options and allow people to submit track art this…\n
\n
\n
\n
![](\"/storyfiles/hs2/04645.gif\")
\n
Courtesy of………………….
\n
\nBAM!\n
\n
Thank you, Emily.
\n
Probably a lot of people who follow me already recognized the drawing, because they also follow\n her?\n
\n
I think this is because she is one of these great artists out there who some people refer to as\n “Homestuck Famous”?\n
\n
It’s kind of amazing to me that that’s a thing. I’m not even sure what that makes\n me and I’m not sure I want to know. At this point I think it’s safe to say my man Dante has achieved Homestuck\n Fame as well, in addition to ACTUAL fame, making him all but unstoppable.\n
\n
Anyway Emily’s real good and I like her stuff.
\n
IC
\n\n
A follow-up on the prior reblog** about this.
You’ve\n probably seen the video all over the place by now. It addressed some \n important topics, so I helped nudge it along the viral pipeline. My \n follow-up advice on this is very simple: educate yourself.
Invisible\n Children has done a good job in getting your attention, and inspiring \n people. But like any call to activism or charitable action, it should be\n your invitation to research the topic more carefully, and decide what \n to do from a fully informed standpoint.
There are counterpoints to the message of the video. (Some serious critiques, and IC’s response.)\n The issues surrounding aid to Africa, especially those tangled up with \n its political landscape, are very complicated. They should be examined \n carefully before making charitable gestures indiscriminately. There are \n indications that Invisible Children, while well intended, may not be the\n most effective vehicle for your donations. If this is true, I don’t \n think it should be used as a basis to smear the group, or to be cynical \n about their motives necessarily. They did something good. They got your \n attention, and got people talking about something important. But then \n the rest is up to you, to pursue this intelligently and examine the \n facts.
I’m not gonna turn this blog into any sort of hub for \n education on this issue, or point you to a ton of reading material. All \n that stuff is out there for you to find, through news articles, tumblr \n exchanges and whatnot. I’m just offering a very simple reminder. Do your\n homework before getting too swept up in something you don’t fully \n understand.\n
\n
** edit: deleted original post. After a lot more \n research, my conclusion is this doesn’t warrant the attention it’s \n received. Feel free to make up your own mind.\n
\n
[S] Jane: Enter.
\n\n
/mspa/006565
\n
Songs:
\n
“Another Jungle” by Bowman, and “A Taste for Adventure” by Beatfox.
\n
Both\n songs will be on the album coming out after the contest album (i.e. in a\n couple months) and both have extended versions that you will think are \n pretty sick.\n
\n
On the animation…
\n
Kind of a cross between end of acts 1, 2 and 3? Let’s say yes.
\n
The\n future thing. Some people out there had already followed the trail of \n crumbs leading to this outcome. Some clues were fairly subtle, like use \n of term antediluvian, the seagulls, the technology… They got less subtle\n over time, such as when we met the exile mob. Now the verdict is in. If\n you suspected as much all along, you were not smoking the bargain \n crack. I’m pleased to report the crack you were smoking was the choicest\n of crack that money can buy.\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m0uqnol1ZO1r8r1mqo1_1280.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m0uqnol1ZO1r8r1mqo2_1280.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m0uqnol1ZO1r8r1mqo3_1280.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m0uqnol1ZO1r8r1mqo4_1280.jpg\")
\n\n
halftruth:\n
\n
\nCheck it out! Store update!
\n
\n
New shirts @ WP, & some restocks. Some\n different shirt types this time, like the girly cap sleeves up there, which I think look pretty dang\n stylish.\n
\n
We should be seeing the contest album hit bandcamp fairly soon too. I’m gonna say maybe within\n a week?\n
\n
\n
So it seems there’s been this March Madness webcomics voting thing\n going on for a while. MSPA has made it through the first few rounds and\n now things are really “heating up.” I think there is a cash prize \n involved. $100 for winning, unless I just imagined reading that \n somewhere. I think If MSPA wins, I’ll just buy a $100 gift certificate \n to the Olive Garden and give it away to a random reader. Wait, does that\n count as a bribe? Some may argue it actually serves as a strong deterrent. Hold the phone, it looks like I was the one who argued that??\n
\n
Looks like some other good comics are still in the running too. Consider giving Gunnerkrigg Court\n a vote, or at least a read. It’s in a close race with Penny Arcade. I \n like PA, but 50 million people read it already. GKC is a good story \n which could use some more attention.\n
\n
All the other races are either runaways or ones I could go either way on. Too bad Qwantz\n got knocked out already. It looked like North and I were on a collision\n course for a while there. We could have had our own personal Hunger \n Games moment. Just the two of us with our poison berries, standing in \n defiance of the cruel fuckers who would pit us against each other. I.e. \n you people.\n
\n
Oh yeah…
\n
The album. Remember that?
\n
Honestly\n I’m not even sure what’s going on with it right now. It’s hung up on \n some legal minutia for the time being. There are more than twice as many\n people involved as the previous biggest album, and all of them are new,\n so there’s a lot to sort out. It’s like 99.999% done, but you know how \n it goes. That last 0.001% can drag on for weeks. Or maybe you don’t know\n how it goes? FYI, that’s how it goes.\n
\n
It’s still around the corner though. Don’t worry, you’ll get to hear it soon.
\n
\n
Whoops I think I\n broke that webcomics thing. That was probably a bad idea. I should \n really learn to recognize when I am in the middle of perpetrating a bad \n idea. One of the major tipoffs is when I start mentioning the Olive \n Garden.\n
\n
Ok change of plans dudes stop clicking that goddamn link.
\n
edit:\n I think it’s working again? Oh man, some random guy can just TASTE that\n Olive Garden already. He is not wearing a pleasant expression.\n
\n
\n
The next round. The competition is ALMOST TOO HOT TO HANDLE. Have at it, if you care.
\n
I’m\n thinking of modifying the “prize”. I will allow the randomly selected \n winner to choose between a $100 gift certificate to the Olive Garden, OR\n to the Red Lobster. Whichever restaurant they feel would supply the \n more viscerally upsetting experience. OTOH, I may just carve it up into \n two $50 gift certificates to both places, and give them to two winners. \n OR - no wait hear me out - proliferate ten distinct $10 certificates, \n each to an Applebee’s near you. I don’t know yet. Let’s play this by \n ear. It largely depends if I can come up with any ideas that are even \n stupider than those.\n
\n
I think maybe the album will be out monday? I\n don’t really know if the “things” will be done by then, but we were \n talking about it as sort of a come hell or high water date.\n
\n
Man, \n if this turns out to be another lie, people are going to be so pissed at\n me and Radiation. Probably mostly Radiation though. He is like my \n secret service agent of fan rage. Pretty much the main reason I hired \n him.\n
\n
edit: linking to the thing broke the thing again etc etc w/e
\n
\n
fwugradiation:
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m1vs4p55rn1qi8115.png\"/)
After a long wait, it’s finally out!!
The first of TWO albums featuring the winners of the Homestuck Music Contest. Darn, what a tour de force of talent!
Known issues:
- Iron Infidel makes a weird crackling sound at 1:53 when played on Bandcamp. As far as I can tell this is not…
\n
\n
Like Toby said, first of two. Universe B slated for 4/13. Same number of tracks. Different characters. Are you excited?
\n
Extensive Pause
\n\n
A6A3 will also begin on 4/13, coinciding with the second installment of coloUrs and mayhem,\n and the end of Homestuck’s third year. Please use the next ten days \n wisely, mostly by making an effort not to go insane. I recommend \n distractions.\n
\n
\n
I have no idea why the Homestuck day ribbons are supposed to be orange, but whatever. When has the fandom ever been wrong??
\n
\n
There are way \n way way too many people trying to load the site all at once. Refreshing a\n million times per minute will not help, because that is what everyone \n else is doing.\n
\n
If you want to see it, I recommend leaving the computer for an hour or two, coming back, and trying again.
\n
Myststuck
\n\n
[S] A6A3
\n
Song is “Rain” by Clark from the album Medium,\n released exactly one year ago today. Much like the song from “Prince of\n Heart: Rise up.” was released one year prior to that. I prefer that \n none of these old albums become lame ducks. I’d rather that there always\n exist the possibility that any song could be used almost any time.\n
\n
The\n game itself was sort of an homage to the Myst games, and other similar \n point and click puzzle games. This one was another solo effort. (haven’t\n done any collab work since Cascade actually.) This was a little extra, \n since I had to do a lot of programming too. Kind of underestimated that,\n thinking “hell, it’s just a bunch of buttons and conditionals, how bad \n could it be?” Uhhh, no. Even a few puzzles here and there requires a \n much bigger footprint of internal logic and variables than you expect \n going into it. Mix in a bunch of different KINDS of work like all the \n art, writing, conceptualizing, and all the standard endless flash \n tweening bullshit, and that’s a pretty serious gauntlet to fit in a \n week. I actually had just a little more planned for it beyond the final \n door, but had to cut it off there for now. (For one thing the file was \n getting too big.)\n
\n
There were a few bugs which I just fixed too. Like text clipping issues and stuff. Maybe try replaying if it was buggy for you.
\n
Or if you prefer to severely relax your brain cells rather than give them another workout, feel free to read this. Drawing it served the same approximate purpose for me.
\n
Reblog fraud
\n\n
So I was wondering why this really minor boring post was getting so many reblogs:
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblrnotes.gif\")
\n
And\n apparently it’s because after a while some jokers started reblogging it\n while changing the original message? So the appearance to the casual \n tumblr user scrolling through their feed is that I made a dumb post \n about dicks or memes or whatever.\n
\n
And of course because they see \n it on their dash people BELIEVE I made that inane original post without \n question and think, omg look at this weird outrageous thing Hussie said,\n and then THEY reblog it, and so on.\n
\n
You can verify whether the \n original author actually said what was reblogged by clicking on their \n name, but really, who on tumblr is ACTUALLY going to do that? This is \n not the most deeply inquiring, skeptical crowd we’re talking about. \n Tumblr users are essentially scrolling junkies. Next post next post next\n post ha ha “like” next next “ooh gonna reblog that” nextnextnextnext.\n
\n
I\n can’t change people’s behavior and I’m not telling people to stop this.\n Talk about a losing battle. I guess this is mostly addressed to the \n people who run tumblr, assuming they actually give a shit. Why even \n allow this nonsense through the design of your system? How hard would it\n be to code a stipulation that if the original content was changed by a \n reblogger, huge red text appeared over their post saying something like \n “THE CONTENT OF THE ORIGINAL POST HAS BEEN EDITED. YOU MAY WANT TO CHECK\n THE AUTHOR’S SITE TO VERIFY.” Hey I know the answer: not hard at all.\n
\n
Or\n maybe they don’t care about whether their social media site has the \n potential to be taken seriously as a means of distributing information \n by people or groups who give half a fuck about the authenticity of their\n widely proliferated messages. Maybe they’re fine with the whole thing \n deteriorating into incoherent memetic entropy that people can only \n tolerate if they’re really jonesing to banter about Doctor Who. Or is \n that what tumblr already is? Hey, maybe this is one reason why!!!\n
\n
Seriously\n tempted to stop using tumblr because of this. If counterfeit reblogging\n is going to turn into a “thing” why should I bother blogging anything \n at all?\n
\n
I reiterate
\n\n
I’m\n not chewing out the fandom or any stray jackass who counterfeits a \n reblog. Random people out there are always gonna troll us and go to \n great lengths 4 the lulz. There’s nothing you can do about that. I \n really don’t care about the people who do it. It’s stupid, but whatever.\n
\n
I’m much more irritated by the system that allows it.
\n
Seriously,\n if I designed this site and didn’t take this issue into consideration \n after all this time, I would feel like such a fucking moron. There are \n certain standards for internet community software, many of which were \n established 15 fucking years ago. Like on a forum, if you edit a post, \n it says “this post was edited by…”\n
\n
And yeah, you can say “well people should take responsibility and check their sources before believing stuff.” Ok, yes, you and I will do our due diligence on stuff, but the rest of humanity\n will not. Not understanding this is just not understanding people. You \n have to take this into account when designing your social media software\n that revolves almost exclusively around the act of reblogging other people’s shit.\n
\n
So yeah, if I leave tumblr, it’s because of tumblr, not people.
\n
\n
softowl:
\n
\nipgd:
\n\nsoftowl:
\n\nderples:
\n\na little sad but unsurprised that it wasn’t slicks gross pornography
\nbut its okay because of this
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m3clywb65l1qdxm04.png\"/)
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m3cwuwxO4Z1qa3gpp.jpg\"/)
\n
\nis this
\ndid he really get a customer embosser of his face made is that how this picture came to be
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m3cxm3Tk1T1qa3gpp.jpg\"/)
\n
\n
\n
michaelfirman:
\n
\nHad\n a great time at TCAF hanging out with the ol’ Gangbunch! Tauhid, \n you at least made some digital appearances (Nic propped up a portrait of\n you on her ipad during one of our meals).\n
\nWe ate an adorable rabbit. It died probably from being killed. And then we put it into our mouths.
\n
\n
Look at all these friends.
\n
One of the friends is me.
\n
\n
whatpumpkin:
\n
\nHey\n we’re on tumblr now! This is the official What Pumpkin tumblr account, \n where we’ll be posting about site updates and sharing news. Maybe even \n doing a little reblogging, since it seems that’s basically what tumblr \n is for. We’ll see!\n
\nSo let’s dive right in and announce that we just restocked…
\n
\n
Questions
\n\n
I\n was thinking about answering questions again, but doing so through \n things like tumblr and formspring has proven problematic with so many \n people involved.\n
\n
I had the idea to use a system like reddit, where\n submissions can be up-voted and down-voted. That way, I can get a \n better sense of the questions most people want answered, rather \n than grabbing them randomly from an endless list.\n
\n
It turns out that reddit is a system like reddit, so one or two people were nice enough to set up such a page for me.
\n
If you want to ask a question, or vote on existing ones, you’ll have to make a reddit account and go to this page. Submit the question as a comment. It’s already been gathering questions for a few days as I post this.
\n
I’ll\n wait a few more days to see what DEMOCRACY has to say, then I’ll round \n up whatever has risen to the top and post the answers on tumblr.\n
\n
edit:
\n
re: “but reddit sucks!!! boooo”
\n
Let’s not get carried away and look at this as some kind of “endorsement for reddit” whatever the hell that even means.
\n
I’m\n not even creating an account myself. Literally the only thing I care \n about here is its up/down-voting feature, to harvest the questions \n people are most curious about. Feel free to either not create an \n account, or create an account for only this specific purpose, and \n continue going about treating reddit with whatever amount of disdain you\n think is appropriate.\n
\n
\n
fwugradiation:
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/45059208-1.jpg\")
50 new tracks by your favorite Homestuck musicians!!!
Featuring FULL versions of the following tracks from the comic:
- Anbroids by Malcolm Brown
- Another Jungle by Michael Guy Bowman
- A Taste for Adventure by Seth “Beatfox” Peelle
And even more tracks about the new session and the wacky adventures the four new kids have gotten into since the end of Act 5!
\n
\n
REDDIT OR NOT, HERE WE DUMB.
\n\n
Ha ha, that is a funny subject line that kind of doesn’t even mean anything?
\n
Anyway, questions were submitted through the reddit page and all the troll penis questions were aggressively down-voted to the bottom by a bunch of stuffy prudes.
\n Answered all questions that got more than 60 REDDIT POINTS. WOW, nobody is sure what that means. Here we go…\n
\n
\n
I wouldn’t say random, but it’s certainly vague. I\n guess it’s a little like sorting hat logic in Harry Potter (which I \n have a really halfassed understanding of because I haven’t read it), but\n even more vague, and more binary.
\n You get some sense there is rhyme and reason to it \n when you look at the personality types of the two groups. John, Jade, \n Jake, Jane vs Rose, Dave, Dirk, Roxy. And the troll groups were divided \n by their teams, red vs blue. Blue team (Derse) was generally stocked \n with more scheming members. Red team (Prospit) had some more \n straightforward heroic types, at least as far as trolls go. But then \n there can be oddball designations that don’t seem to make sense by such \n simplistic parameters, like Vriska being on Prospit. If she and Nepeta \n were swapped the criteria might seem more clear cut. See again, sorting \n hat logic. Like I think Harry was supposed to be in Slytherin because he\n could talk snakes and was kind of moody and shit but he was just SO \n BRAVE and loved friendship SO MUCH he got put in the other one. But for \n real, my fanfic where he was a Slytherin all along is so much better. \n (he is naked in most of it)
\n You could also look to the passive/active nature of \n the classes in making some retroactive sense of the Derse/Prospit \n dreamer duality. Passive/active classes are also a pretty vague thing, \n and don’t resolve so easily into simple dualities like \n defensive/offensive and such. Those are the guidelines for understanding\n them, but there is clearly a lot of flexibility within that system. \n They seem to suggest tendencies rather than absolute capabilities. Like \n there isn’t a rule that says a passive class could never use an \n offensive technique. The system is meant to be very flexible, and in the\n story, classes suggest a little more about a hero’s path and role in \n the greater quest than what their battle capabilities are.
\n But if we’re saying active/passive literally \n translates to offensive/defensive for the sake of this topic, then Derse\n would be very active and Prospit would be very passive. Derse’s job is \n to attack. Prospit’s is to defend. This seems to carry over to the roles\n of the dreamers too. Dave and Rose turned out to be very active \n players. Dave time traveling all over the place, making a fortune on \n stocks and such. Rose went on her crazy solo mission to break the game \n and fight Jack. Jade and John had more passive roles through most of \n that, players who were “acted upon” by other players and circumstances. \n John was always being led around by trolls this way and that, drifting \n around wherever the wind took him. Jade was especially passive for a lot\n of the story, spending a lot of time falling asleep (or being put to \n sleep) at key moments. It wasn’t until she reached god tier as a Witch \n (said to be a highly active class) that she became extremely active, \n making lots of stuff happen, rounding up planets and all that. Rose may \n have been a similar case, being excessively active as a Derse dreamer, \n but then flipping over to a passive role upon reaching god tier as a \n passive class.
\n Being from Derse means you are from a culture of \n offense and aggression. Being from Prospit means the opposite. You could\n argue that these are qualities that either rub off on the dreamers, or \n they are designated as those dreamers in the first place because of \n those qualities. You could take the view that these are innate \n tendencies to overcome, as seemed to be the case for Jade and Rose. Or \n maybe sometimes they are tendencies that are resisted, and need to be \n understood and embraced. As a Prospit dreamer, did Karkat struggle \n because he was actually passive in nature, but had a very active self \n image as a leader and conqueror? Was Vriska an even more extreme case of\n misplaced active behavior from a Prospit dreamer? These are yet more \n things to consider when looking at everything contributing to the hero \n story of an individual in this game.
\n
\n
\n
Yes, this will be revisited later.
\n
\n
I don’t think I have a process other than writing\n down stuff I think is funny, and also rhymes. Writing raps that appear \n as text in a story I think is pretty different from writing raps that \n work well in actual rap music. There are a lot of raps in the story that\n I think aren’t necessarily that well suited to being adapted to music. \n They might need some work. The purposes are different. A rap in a story \n is basically just more verbal entertainment. It rhymes, it has some sort\n of meter that’s either obvious or you have to think about a little to \n parse and come up with the right flow, and that’s it. Lyrics in an \n actual rap song have to mesh well with a beat and a whole lot of other \n song elements to work. Sometimes that even means sacrificing some \n coherence by story writing standards. There are plenty of killer raps \n out there that work well as songs, but if you took away the beat and \n music, and just printed the words in a story, they might seem flat or \n kind of odd or nonsensical just standing alone. Moral: song writing and \n story writing are really different animals.
\n I have never rapped in real life. I’m really not a \n performer of any sort, and don’t want to be. I’m more about coming up \n with ideas, quietly working at my computer making stuff. Anything that \n involves much outward projection from my physical manifestation, forget \n it. When a dude comes up with some sick rhymes and thinks he might be \n pretty awesome at rapping, I think that’s one of those classic \n delusional vanity-blunders to avoid. Me rapping = lame, trust me.
\n
\n
\n
They both know about it and have read fairly \n significant chunks, but “Actively Reading It” as many people know is a \n whole can of worms. You have to be completely caught up, which is \n already pretty daunting, and need to remember and keep track of a lot of\n things for it to make sense on a day to day basis. The serial reading \n experience is a really tough thing to hang in there with over a long \n period of time for certain types of people, and I might put “parents” at\n the top of the list of those types of people. They’re also kind of old.\n Homestuck ain’t for old people. It’s dangerously close to not being for\n people my age either. It’s really easy to imagine a 30-something year \n old looking at it and saying “what the fuck is this? 5000 pages of kids \n arguing with each other? PASS.” Hell that might even be something I \n would say if I weren’t the guy making it. But young people read it and \n say “oh my god, i am these children. they are all me. especially \n nepeta.” My parents don’t look at MSPA and go “i am nepeta” just FYI.
\n I think my dad actually caught up with it fully \n about two years ago, when the archive was more manageable. He’s the sort\n who gets really hyperbolic about how great the things I do are, so I \n got a pretty good review from him. But then I had to wonder how much he \n actually understood. He started going on about how he really liked Rose,\n and kind of tried to name the things he liked about her, and it became \n clear he was actually referring to Jade the whole time.
\n
\n
\n- I\n recently purchased and received Homestuck Volume 2 in the mail, and you\n make the point on several occasions that what is missed most in the \n transition to static page are not the big sweeping flash animations with\n their long tweens, but the gif panels, and their often quicker rhythm \n and way of showing content. Looking back quickly through recent updates,\n it seems like there’s a lot less of the kind of early gifs, with \n multiple captchalogue transfers, flashstepping, slowly floating towels, \n coiled springs, etc, and most of the animated gif panels recently have \n either just had chat icons bouncing a bit or other things like that \n which add a bit of visual interest, but are no real loss when made \n static, or cut be easily cut into two or three static panels without too\n much loss of flow or content.\n
\n- Basically, my \n long-winded question is this - is this an intentional shift in how \n you’ve been making gifs, in preparing for a book far down the line, or \n coincidence, or am i smoking the bargain crack?\n
\n
\n
Making less of those types of panels has a lot \n more to do with current granularity and scale of events being depicted. \n Early on, the focus was zoomed way in on those little actions, so there \n was more attention on showing each little animated sequence of picking \n objects up, using them, scurrying around and stuff like that. The more \n the story broadened, the less it made sense to put focus on those kinds \n of actions through short animated gifs. With broadened action and \n tightened pacing, the nature of the visuals tends to embrace more \n tradition sequential art values like in graphic novels, because that’s \n how those stories are usually paced. You don’t get the tight focus on \n such atomic actions like you deal with in a game. But I think that early\n animated gif style was revisited somewhat in the beginning of act 6, \n when for a little while that type of action returned. Then just like \n before the pacing started tightening up as things went along and we went\n back to more typical sequential art frames.
\n
\n
\n
I’m not sure if I should answer this. Not that \n the answer is that important or plot critical at all. I think I’ll just \n let you determine the answer by picking up clues as the story goes, \n assuming those clues even come into existence.
\n
\n
\n
I don’t know. Stuff doesn’t even seem that weird \n anymore. What is even a plausible answer to this? I guess they like to \n dress up and gather in these huge fan gaggles. Is that weird? Not \n really. They draw “weird art” but after you’ve seen a whole bunch it \n stops registering as all that weird. Like “Oh. There’s another drawing. \n It’s a fictional character’s nude butt. Ok.” (close tab) “What is this. \n Some people have widely fanonized some sort of tentacle thing as a troll\n penis. Hmm.” (blank expression: ctrl+W tumblr)
\n Some mentioned in the comments below this question \n there were some people who wanted to make a live HS porno. Actually \n going through with that MIGHT have been pretty weird but I think that \n was just a lot of hot air. People talk about a lot of ridiculous \n nonsense. Nobody ever follows through with anything. Really people by \n and large are so full of shit it’s unbelievable. If someone told me they\n were going to make a HS porno my reaction wouldn’t be “what ew no stop”\n it would be more like “FRANKLY, I DON’T THINK YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES”
\n and then they’d just go and prove me right in some really mild and unremarkable manner
\n
\n
\n
If he died in his quest coccoon, both of his \n dream selves would go god tier simultaneously, and they would have to \n fight to the death. The death is never heroic or just though, so they \n just keep doing that forever.
\n
\n
\n
They’re all kind of similar to human relationships anyway, so that’s what’s going on there when people use those words.
\n They are mainly “alien concepts” when it comes to \n their applicability to reproduction, and the alleged biological \n compulsion to fill all quadrants. No human ever says, man, I have GOT to\n find two other people to get into clubs with, unless they are being \n really silly, or they are literally talking about going to night clubs.
\n
\n
\n
Nah.
\n One of the great things about the format is that any given panel is perfectly allowed to totally suck.
\n Did you read Jailbreak?
\n
\n
\n
There are some deliberate things going on.
\n In other cases some things probably arose naturally \n because these are some really basic and primordial concepts lurking in \n all our psyches about the journey of a hero that you can’t get away \n from.
\n
\n
\n
His post scratch counterpart is FedoraFriend.
\n He is really only lukewarm on hats. He thinks they’re ok, mostly.
\n Welcome to your worst nightmare.
\n
\n
\n
I almost certainly will jump to a different medium after Homestuck. It may even be one of the things you mentioned. Who knows???
\n I don’t know about mercilessly conquering it but I’ll shoot for doing something pretty cool.
\n Specifics are unclear but I’ll be sorting them out as I approach the home stretch on this thing.
\n
\n
\n
There is actually very little that isn’t feasible at this point.
\n The things that are infeasible now would still \n probably be infeasible or just silly for even a much larger company to \n make.
\n Like Homestuck… CARS! It’s gray and it has little \n horns on the hood and it goes beep beep and it’s a terrible idea. VROOM!
\n There really are a lot of things in development \n right now that would have been on the infeasible list not too long ago. \n You’ll probably hear about them all some time this year. The main thing \n is not feasibility, it’s time. All this stuff takes so much time to plan\n and make. I have people working on it all and they’re good people.
\n
\n
\n
In retrospect I think the main problem was I didn’t surround her with enough spooky white beautiful horses.
\n Girls love spooky white beautiful horses. They sweep\n them off their feet and make them feel more romantic about stuff. If I \n had more horses on standby, she would have said yes.
\n Guys, if you are planning to propose to a lady, make sure you have enough beautiful horses in reserve.
\n I… think that answers your question?
\n
\n
\n
Well, the pre scratch ones are canonically a \n bunch of silhouettes, so no spoilers there. Only lucid, crystal clarity,\n and soothing waves of fan gratitude and adulation washing over me.
\n I don’t think I ever outlined any details about \n Alternia. I generally don’t make outlines. I just think of a bunch of \n shit up and later I put it in the story as I go along. This is getting \n very technical. I’m sorry if my process is too esoteric to be grasped by\n the “lay man”.
\n Wait, that’s not true. I actually typed up a 50 page biography of the Thresh Prince.
\n But then I deleted it.
\n sorry (._.)
\n
\n
\n- Every\n session’s mythology has a vast number of defining variables - titles, \n aspects, lands, consorts, denizens, quest beds, and all the other \n details that determine the general format of the game. However, said \n mythology has also been described repeatedly as ‘flexible’.\n
\n- In-universe, what \n determines these variables? Are they tailored to the players, or are \n they randomly generated and the players molded into their roles? Are \n they related to the affinities of the players, seemingly inconsequential\n choices they’ve made, things that challenge them, or just luck? And is \n there a limited number of variables, or potentially an infinite number \n of - for example - land names?\n
\n- Out-of-universe, \n what process did you use to select them? How early did you realise the \n specifics of the role they determined? For example, when and why did you\n decide that Light actually meant Luck? And have these variables \n affected how you want characters’ stories (or Quests) to go, or have you\n simply altered the meanings of the variables to fit the stories you \n want?\n
\n
\n
Seems like a lot of different questions loaded into this one.
\n Quests are tailored to the players. Unless they’re \n not. Sometimes the game seems to treat the players like they don’t \n matter. Sometimes the game is running off model and serving some other \n weird purpose. The purpose of John’s game seemed to be “create a \n universe” but it turned out all along the hidden objective was “reset \n the game, get out of there, and take everything with you. and oh yeah \n make sure this huge bomb explodes in the middle of nowhere, that too”. \n It’s a strange game. There are as many ways to set up the variables, as \n many reasons for doing so, as many different kinds of heroes, quests, \n and objectives as there are stories to tell.
\n The last batch of questions is too complicated. It \n falls under “what was planned and when?” What is planning? What is a \n plan? Where does planning end and spontaneity begin? It’s all tangled \n up. The answer is long.
\n
\n
\n
They are there since the kid is “born”. Meaning \n if a kid is 13 years old, then that dream kid has also been on Prospit \n for 13 years, either asleep the whole time or growing up there in \n parallel with the real self.
\n How they get there in the first place is just as \n indeterminate as how Prospit and Derse get there in the first place. \n Like software constructs, which once instantiated, exist and behave as \n if always there.
\n
\n
\n
I am not planning on it, but like many ideas, it could be a neat thing.
\n
\n
The general nature of the ending I had in mind has barely changed at all.
\n
\n
A lot of Sburb was planned before starting HS.
\n Some things developed along the way. God tier stuff \n was not conceived early on, and so neither was the active/passive stuff.
\n But additions are patched into the story in such a \n way that is reasonably consistent with existing systems and themes. See \n the first question, about active/passive duality and their correlation \n with Derse and Prospit dreamers, which was an invention that came long \n before god tier stuff.
\n
\n
\n
We know Mindfang’s caste lives for what seems to \n be centuries from her journals. The Condesce seems to have a lifespan \n that could naturally be hundreds of thousands of years, or perhaps \n millions, even without LE’s powers.
\n Practically speaking the lowbloods would probably \n have to have lifespans similar to humans (re: population control \n issues). Red through yellow probably having such a range, and then \n climbing through the greens is where it begins escalating beyond the \n century mark. There was evidence Kanaya’s ancestor lived quite a long \n time.
\n The lowest caste or two may have a lifespan shorter \n than a human’s. Aradia was the equivalent of 13, so obviously it \n couldn’t have been less than that. Probably at least double that would \n be the bare minimum for there to be any kind of adulthood. 30 would be a\n reasonable lower bound, which would be a tragically short lifespan for a\n whole class of people. What is it exactly? I don’t think I’m going to \n say.
\n These aren’t solid answers. I’m just going by what’s\n in the story, using a little logic, and thinking it out, which anyone \n can do.
\n
\n
\n
No, their names are their names.
\n Except Sollux, he really is Solluxander.
\n
\n
\n
It is probably not possible in the real world. But as\n an adult, he stood on a meteor as it descended to Earth, and chopped it\n in half. As a baby, raising himself is a really minor feat in \n comparison. In that it is something that while far fetched, is actually \n in the realm of physical possibility.
\n This kind of exposes a funny thing about the \n suspension of disbelief. There are things we are very ready to suspend \n it for, even if they are laughably implausible. Like, sure it is absurd \n that he chopped a meteor in half. But it KICKED ASS! It gets a pass. But\n a baby raising himself on stockpiles of orange soda, the occasional \n fishing expedition, and teaching himself everything from the internet? \n That is just ludicrous. To be honest, I’m not even totally sure if there\n aren’t weirder stories out there that are actually true.
\n the end (◡‿◡✿)
\n
\n
Most of you probably know this already but
\n\n
It bears repeating. All of Calliope’s art came from the barrel of Shelby’s duedly firearms.
\n
THANKS SHELB
\n
What the hell just happened?!?!?! Hussie…\n are you reviving me or kissing me? And where did this all come from in \n the middle of all this killing?!?!?!\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "hiatustuck",
- "timestamp": 1341187200,
- "html": "\nHiatustuck
\n\n
There\n will be some major pauses in updates coming up, mostly due to Flash \n animation chores. There will be exactly three pauses. Two of them will \n be related to animation. The third will not.
PAUSE ONE: This starts RIGHT NOW! (July 1st) I will use this time to work on the first animation. I have to travel to SDCC on July 11th. It’s very likely I will finish the animation before that. Once I post it, pause two will begin.
\n PAUSE TWO: I will use this time to work on another animation, to end \n A6A3. It will definitely be longer than pause 1, because it will include\n my trip to SDCC. That trip will kill an entire week of animation time. \n I’ll likely have to start work on it when I get back. Cross country \n travel is preposterously disruptive, and it’s going to slow everything \n down.
PAUSE THREE: This will begin immediately after pause two.\n It will not involve working on animation. I’m reserving this time to \n catch up on the huge amount of chores I’ve been badly neglecting, and \n will continue to badly neglect during pauses 1 and 2. The irony of \n animation pauses: you see nothing for many days, but I’m working at \n least twice as hard, doing nothing else. It’s a break for you, but an \n anti-break for me. So I need to schedule an ACTUAL break to do stuff \n that needs doing. Book work, plus tons of other things. I don’t know how\n long this pause will be yet. Probably longer than either of the first \n two. Let’s look at it sort of like the end of a “season”, where the \n season was all of act 6 so far.
The bottom line is, this is all\n going to add up to a whole lot of “me not updating Homestuck” for a \n while. It’s not really what I want, but there’s just no way around it.
I guess that’s all there is to say for now. See you after pause one!
Edit: wait, something else I wanted to mention. Recently some music team guys helped me update the sound credits page,\n so that each entry links to the song in an album. That way, for any \n Flash page, it’s easy to find out exactly where that song is on bandcamp. For those newer to the site, I suspect this may be helpful.\n
\n
END OF PAUSE ONE (and stuff about SDCC)
\n\n
[X-posted from news section on the site which I guess is what I mostly use tumblr for now?]
\n
I\n was counting “[S] Dirk: Synchronize.” and “[S] Dirk: Unite.” as one \n animation, that just happened to be chopped into two parts. Next one is \n EOA6.3, at the end of Pause 2. Song: Unite Synchronization (Sometimes I name animations after songs. Descend, Cascade…) By Malcolm Brown. We have entered the Brown Zone. You have been warned.
\n Beginning PAUSE TWO now. I’m off to SDCC. Maybe you are too? Are you \n wearing a costume?? What am I even talking about. You’re probably \n wearing one RIGHT NOW.
SIGNING TIMES: 12:00-3:00 each day. (7/12 through 7/15)
\n I’ll be with the Topatoco booth, but it’s possible I could be relocated\n to a different signing area for crowd management reasons. If this \n happens, I’ll do what I can to alert you, through the twitters or such.\n
\n
PAUSE 2: UNPAUSE AND THEN REPAUSE IMMEDIATELY.
\n\n
Briefly unpausing PAUSE 2 to bring you these updates, and then pausing again. There will be no more updates until the EOA6_3 animation.
\n As of right now, I have not spent a single second working on that \n animation. I just got back from SDCC, produced the above updates today, \n and now the REAL PAUSE TWO begins. The part of it that involves me \n actually working on it. It is just layers upon layers with these pauses.\n They are like onions, especially insofar as they result in your tears.
\n I wish the last week could have been dedicated to animation labors to \n shorten this wait, but I was in California fraternizing with radical \n fans of my popular web cartoon. It was pretty cool. But now it’ll be \n loads more days before you see anything here. That’s how it goes \n sometimes.
August will be SOLO ALBUM MONTH. There will be some \n good solo albums released throughout that month. Mark that on your \n calendar. Just write “YEAH!” across the entire August grid, that should \n do it.
\n
\n
Problem Sleuth Volume 4
\n\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/PS4book.jpg\")
\n
Oh also…
\n
Look there is suddenly another shirt in this section…
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/uushirtsymbol.jpg\")
\n
That nice grid of 3x4 is totally messed up now. 13 is an awkward number! No wonder they banished it from the zodiac.
\n
\n
fwugradiation:
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/fdfdfdfdfd.png\"/)
Homestuck Solo Album Month starts with Clark “Plazmataz” Powell’s Symphony Impossible to Play - a four-movement digital symphony created from arrangements of existing Homestuck tracks.
Swing on over to Bandcamp and give it a good old-fashioned ear-gander.
\n
\n
\n
fwugradiation:
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/dfdfdfdf.png\"/)
Homestuck Solo Album Month continues with Erik “Jit” Scheele’s One Year Older, a full-length record using piano to convey John’s journey through SBURB.
Head on over to the Bandcamp page to check it out. Consider it an early birthday present. (Or, if it is your birthday today… Congratulations! I am so proud of you.)
\n
\n
one more week
\n\n
see news plz
\n
In\n the meantime feel free to alleviate/amplify your boredom by perusing me\n and North’s fun adventures with money, if you haven’t already.\n
\n
http://thingshussiebought.tumblr.com/
\n
http://thingsnorthbought.tumblr.com/
\n
(no\n that’s not what I’ve been wasting all my time on lately don’t worry, \n I’m working extra doublehard on MSPA junk right now. whew! \n pretend-accusation deflected.)\n
\n
\n
extremely brief announcement.
\n
update best viewed in chrome.
\n
firefox is ok but not ideal.
\n
IE is terrible. will not show intro, plus probably a bunch of other bugs.
\n
opera/safari: completely untested.
\n
\n
additional brief announcements.
\n
server under massive strain after large update as usual. if it gets stuck loading, that’s way. try not to refresh excessively.
\n
different rooms stream from the server, and also require load time. if it takes a while, again: due to server strain.
\n
traffic will likely die down in several hours.
\n
\n
\n
I’m copying a message here from Alexis, who programmed the game. I’ll make another more general post about the game soon.
\n
\n
\nOh\n snap! Native HTML5 content? Hells yes! HTML5 still sucks by and large \n as the browser vendors bicker over standards, so I would advise you to \n use:\n
\n-Chrome if at all possible. Best functionality support and performance. Official platform.
\n-Firefox\n if that’s not possible. Good functionality, slower than chrome, \n bad audio performance. Officially supported nonetheless.\n
\n-Internet\n Explorer (minimum 9) if you’re desperate. It’s not officially \n supported, but other than the fact that ***the flash intro does not work\n in IE*** it seems to be working fine. (There is also a small bug where \n if you’re using IE, and your computer does not have an audio device, the\n entire app will fail to load, as sound files will not be downloaded, so\n plug in some headphones or even just a headphone jack attached to a \n wire).
-Opera and Safari quite simply have not been tested. I \n wouldn’t be surprised if it worked in them though, I used nothing \n browser specific.
-Lynx is supported, but only if you have an Oculus Rift.\n
\n\nRegardless\n of what you use, try to minimize the amount of stuff your \n browser/computer is also doing for optimal performance. Also \n update to the latest version of your browser and stop holding back HTML5\n you asshole!\n
\n\nBest of all, it’s open source! (tentatively Apache licensed, so basically a free-for-all)
\n\nWe’ve got a thread developing this project over here:
http://mspaforums.com/showthread.php?46219-Jterniabound It’s\n dead right now, but that’s because I went into super ninja development \n mode for this project. I’ll be pushing the latest source to Github when I\n get home from work today (~5 EST). There’s been a TON of changes to the\n API/codebase since I went into ninja mode, we’re working to the update \n the wiki as quick as possible. I’m also \n considering developing tutorials for developing a Sburb \n project. But the whole thing has been designed from the ground up so \n that, in theory, you don’t have to touch a drop of code. The entire game\n is described by a bunch of modular XML files (SburbML). Of course \n Andrew always has some crackpot feature that exceeds the scope of the \n project, but usually that just means I make the API bigger and more \n robust. Hooray!\n
Baked in features include:
\nDescribing complex events and environments purely in XML
\nHTML5 audio (with fall back files for supporting mp3 and ogg)
\nCanvas and sprite-sheet based rendering
\nFlash cutscenes (which are skipped if flash is not supported)
\nAbility\n to define custom fonts (allowing the specification of local fonts, with\n the ability to fall back to your own personally supplied fonts)
The ability to serialize almost any game state into a SburbML file, and load it back up again, for easy sharing
So\n much dialogue producing syntax you don’t even know. Only Andrew truly \n grasps the magnitude of syntax, and it is something I am sure he will \n always regret ever requesting.\n
\nLoading content on demand to minimize up front server impact and wait times
Note\n that between the XML files, dialogue syntax, and custom font support, \n any translators out there should have a breeze getting any translation \n done (except for the ultimate magnitude of the text found within)! No \n more decompiling SWFs for you!
This version will be snapshotted, \n but we’re gonna keep developing it. The dialogue parser/renderer (as \n well as the ACTUAL renderer, honestly) could likely be massively \n optimized, and there’s some features I want to add to the API. If you \n know anything about HTML5 and design, I’d love to get feedback (I’m \n avoiding including external libraries for the time being).\n
\n
\n
\n
[S] A6I3
\n\n
Some notes about the interactive beginning to A6 Intermission 3. (A walkthrough by Radiation.)
\n First, I’d originally planned to put more in the game than this, but it\n was running a bit long, so I decided to chop it up. I’m planning two \n more installments of this game, probably to be released over the next \n couple weeks. All the art assets and stuff is there, I just need to work\n with Alexis to crunch it all into a couple more new games.
\n Speaking of which, thanks to Alexis, MSPA’s tenured CODER OF GAMES, for \n working on this. It’s a little different. It’s the first time we’re not \n using Flash. Only the intro is Flash, but the game is coded in HTML5, \n which makes it a little more robust in some ways, but will have some \n issues with less common browsers. I’ve copied a note\n from him about it all here. Take note especially of browser info: best \n viewed in Chrome, Firefox is ok but not ideal, IE is very buggy and \n won’t show the Flash intro, and Opera/Safari aren’t tested at all.
Thanks to the artists\n (scroll to bottom) who worked on assets for this too. They’ve made a \n good deal more than you see here, which will appear in other \n installments. Thanks Stephen, Tanney, Peter, Amanda for making \n environment assets, and Chaz, Lexxy, Vivus, Xamag for the talking \n portraits. Special thanks to Amanda\n for making all the little walking sprites, as well as a whole lot of \n environment stuff and items. Everything looks really great.
And of course, thanks to contributing musicians (again scroll to bottom), and Toby for editing everything. Some things from the contest album Universe A, notably Fuscia Ruler by Sinister Psyche as the main song. See Toby’s post for more details.\n
\n
Survey
\n\n
If\n you played the recent update, it would be a big help if you could fill \n out this survey on the game’s performance. This will help us fix \n remaining issues for the next couple games.\n
\n
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DJP5Y8C
\n
Thanks!
\n
\n
If you were \n having problems with the game, you might want to try it again and see \n what happens. The patch probably won’t fix everything for everyone, but \n it should address some problems.\n
\n
If you had issues with it, it \n would also be helpful if you reported what your problem was, and what \n the result is now, in this forum thread.\n
\n
http://mspaforums.com/showthread.php?50126-Problems-with-the-latest-update
\n
\n
If you were one\n of those people who could load the game, but Meenah was stuck in the \n first frame, give it another try. Patch might have helped.\n
\n
(if it still doesn’t work, might help to clear your cache of old files to be extra sure you’re running the fresh version)
\n
One more patch
\n\n
Wait! Before you try it: PLEASE CLEAR YOUR BROWSER CACHE!
\n
What’s\n been happening I think is some people reporting issues with new \n versions have had some older program files in their cache, so the thing \n runs like a weird frankenstein version, and it’s hard to tell what are \n new problems and what are old.\n
\n
We haven’t really started on the \n next update yet, since we’ve been spending all our time debugging. This \n is like a beta testing phase, but the test group is the entire \n readership. Normally software doesn’t get released til it clears this \n phase, but it wasn’t really worth holding back for any longer than it \n was already. It worked for probably 90-95% of browsers/systems out \n there. \n
\n
If you had issues with it previously, feel free to report \n your results to the forum thread again, or reblogging this and typing \n your result below is ok too. We’ll be able to see it in the notes.\n
\n
Homestuck Kickstarter
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "dang-30k-in-a-half-hour-thats-quite-a-jump-i",
- "timestamp": 1346803200,
- "html": "\n\n
Dang, $30K in a\n half hour. That’s quite a jump! I think over a thirty day span that \n projects to something like… a trillion dollars?\n
\n
Thank you to the 398 backers who have pledged, as of typing this.
\n
You\n probably have lots of questions. First, if you’re unfamiliar with \n Kickstarter, you should probably check this page out to understand how \n making a pledge works. \n
\n
http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/backer+questions
\n
Second,\n if you scroll to the bottom of our KS page, you’ll see an FAQ section. \n We’ll be adding questions to that as much as we can.\n
\n
Thanks again to everyone for checking this out!
\n
FUNDED
\n\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/KSfunded.gif\")
\n
In 32 hours!!!!!!!
7699 backers, $700,009, and still counting.
I\n will make a follow-up post soon, to announce some stretch goals and say\n a few other things. Everyone has done an amazing thing here today. \n Thank you all for your support.\n
\n
You find a fatherly note taped to your tumblr dash. It reeks of cologne.
\n\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/dadnoteKS.gif\")
The Kickstarter\n reached its funding goal in what seems like the blink of an eye. I must\n first say thank you to all who backed the project, and helped us reach \n our goal so quickly. I’m still utterly amazed by the response. I think a\n lot of people checking out this project are. There still seem to be so \n many people out there who’ve never heard of this story, or its \n phenomenally dedicated following. Maybe that will start to change soon. \n If that turns out to be the case, again, it’s thanks to you.
The \n project may have been funded already, but there’s still plenty of time \n left for pledges to be made. The Kickstarter will stay open for another \n 28 days. Every dollar raised beyond the goal will go toward improving the game.\n More platforms will be supported if certain stretch goals are reached. \n And beyond a certain point, all money will be dedicated to higher \n production values. $700K sounds like a lot of money, but it’s actually a\n very small budget for a game. Multi-platform games usually cost many \n millions of dollars. Increasing the budget for this is only going to \n make a better product.
This is the bottom line: because the \n project was funded, there WILL be a game. I’ll make sure it’s the best \n game the money available can possibly buy. The only question then is, \n how much is that? This is up to you. Over the next 28 days, the fans will decide how great they want this game to be!
So,\n here are the stretch goals we’re starting with, which represent both \n enhancements to the game the extra money gets us, as well as extra \n reward perks certain milestones unlock. As I type this, we’re already \n getting pretty close to Mac support. Soon we’ll add a better graphic of \n all the goals to the Kickstarter page.
$700,000.00 FUNDED!
$800,000.00 Mac Support
$850,000.00 New reward tier perk unlocked
$900,000.00 Linux Support
$950,000.00 ???
$1,000,000.00 ???
$1,100,000.00 ???
$1,250,000.00 ???
(??? revealed later. More stretch goals to be added if necessary.)
Also,\n later in the Kickstarter we’ll begin revealing some hidden reward \n tiers. I notice the Snoutpaks sold out pretty fast. We should be \n revealing new reward bundles later on that contain more scalemate \n plushes. Keep an eye out for them. Also remember that at any \n time you can increase your pledge if you ever feel like claiming a \n higher reward tier. Just remember to select the reward tier you want \n when adjusting your dollar amount pledged.
If you backed\n the project, thanks again for the support. And if you haven’t yet, I \n hope you’ll consider it, and help us make this the best game it can be!\n
\n
A non-Kickstarter update.
\n\n
My plan was to post the A6I3 mini-game\n in three parts consecutively. I’m still going to post all three parts, \n but I’ve decided to break them up with some regular updates between each\n instead.
Between setting up and launching the Kickstarter, and \n then keeping up with the crazy whirlwind it’s become, I’ve had \n absolutely no time to work on the second mini-game yet. So rather than \n just keep delaying the update, I’ll post a reasonably regular stream of \n updates while I work on it. I’ll probably do the same thing between \n parts 2 and 3.
To some extent I’m doing it this way because I’m \n getting a little tired of MSPA being in “infinite hiatus mode\" which has\n characterized most of the summer. There have been a lot of long waits, \n due to traveling, big animation projects, working on the mini-game, and \n of course planning the Kickstarter. For the entire month of August, my \n time was split pretty evenly between working on the A6I3 update, and \n planning the Kickstarter. There was a massive amount of unseen work that\n went into that, not just to plan the Kickstarter itself, getting the \n rewards ready and all that, but to make sure we had a solid development \n plan in place down the road if it got funded.
This has really \n seemed like one of the busiest summers for me ever, but unfortunately \n all that labor isn’t reflected too well by the archive spanning those \n dates. I’m more than ready to get back to business as usual* for MSPA.
*note it still won’t be QUITE up to usual speed, because I’ll still be working on part 2 of the mini-game behind the scenes.\n
\n
Kickstarter update
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "another-update-to-the-stretcheladder-one-thing",
- "timestamp": 1347494400,
- "html": "\n\n
Another update to the stretcheladder!
\n
One\n thing worth highlighting here: for all people in tiers $50 and higher, \n I’ll send out a beta version of the next Homestuck mini game update, \n several days before it shows up on the site. You can help us test it! \n Aiming to have that done in about a week.\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/stretcheladder2.gif\")
\n
SEERPAK
\n\n
Check out the new Kickstarter reward tiers here.
\n
This\n is the final batch of reward tiers we’re releasing for the Kickstarter.\n Hopefully this is now a sufficiently tantalizing buffet of options to \n get you thinkin about making a pledge if you haven’t already! \n
\n
The\n extra-cool thing in this bundle is that tarot deck. Get a better look \n at all the art for the cards by clicking on the preview links on that \n update page. Quite a few great artists chipped in some really fantastic \n stuff for this. There was a lot of emphasis put on matching Homestuck \n imagery up with the Major and Minor Arcana of the cards in ways that are\n meaningful with respect to tarot symbolism. So if you’re wondering why \n certain characters and scenes appear on certain cards, do a little \n research into tarot lore and you’ll find your answer.\n
\n
A little \n more than two weeks to go on the Kickstarter! Next stretch goal is \n $1.5M, which will unlock some more perks for backers. We’ll also reveal \n something higher up on the ladder.\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tarot-photo-1.jpg\")
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tarot-photo-2.jpg\")
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tarot-photo-3.jpg\"/)
\n
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villainsgoleft:
\n
\nHey everyone thank you all so much for being excited about the Homestuck Tarot Deck (Available now through the Homestuck Kickstarter Project!)\n A lot of work went into making this dream a reality so if you guys have\n a chance to help support the artists and the kickstarter as a whole, \n please do…\n
\n
\n
Ah! Some good info on the tarot project. Click the post to see full list of art credits. Thanks Left!
\n
About a week to go
\n\n
As of typing this, only nine days remaining in the Kickstarter. The response to it continues to be fantastic, and my gratitude to the backers is equally continuous.
Thanks to everyone who beta tested the recent update\n in advance of its release. Anyone who pledged $50 or more was sent an \n early beta version and a feedback form to help us sort out the bugs. The\n same offer will apply for the next and final minigame installment. If \n you have pledged $50 or more by the end of the Kickstarter, you’ll get \n an advance copy to test sent through the Kickstarter message system. If \n you pledge, just be sure you select a reward tier at $55 or more, so \n that we know to send you a copy. (Note this is unrelated to the $1.5MM \n stretch goal, which states that ALL BACKERS will be allowed to beta test\n the adventure game itself, before it is released in 2014.)
\n Also, once the Kickstarter is over, we’re going to put up a Paypal \n pledging option for the project. A lot of people seem to only be able to\n use Paypal to pledge, which Kickstarter doesn’t allow. So for a brief \n window after, one or two weeks, you’ll be able to pledge via Paypal for \n the same reward tiers at the same prices. The window will be fairly \n short so that we can compile all the orders and ship the rewards out in a\n timely fashion. We’re expecting a good number of people may want things\n to ship in time for the holiday season. If you’re in the U.S. or \n Canada, it’s very likely this will be the case.
For those who \n haven’t pledged yet, this might be something to consider. The timing of \n the shipping here means that buying rewards could actually double as \n holiday shopping. If you see yourself doing holiday shopping for people a\n couple months down the road anyway, this might be a good advance \n opportunity. A lot of those pricier bundles start to pile up so much \n extra cool stuff, seems to me this makes for a good chance to divvy them\n up as holiday gifts for friends, maybe some of whom didn’t have enough \n money for the bigger bundles.
Whatever the final total winds up\n being, you have already helped make this Kickstarter an overwhelming \n success. Thank you again for your support!
\n
\n
\n
Some additional\n notes on the recent game update from Alexis, who I’d like to thank \n again for all the hard work he’s put into this, as well as those who’ve \n been helping him:\n
\n
\n\nIn addition to the more\n obvious introduction of save/load functionality, there’s a error \n reporting tool built in now! If ever you see an issue you want to \n report, just press the “~” key (under ESCAPE), and press space to dump a\n screenshot and the game state to us. This may or may not destroy our \n error reporting server in the process.\n
\n\n\nThis\n debugger, and the much more robust file loading that you now enjoy, is \n courtesy of Fugiman, who has been my right hand man on this development.\n He seriously deserves a medal for the hoops he’s jumped through for me \n (and you!). Furthermore, big thanks to LtSquigs for the awesome \n Save/Load functionality we’ve been able to include, as well as fixing up\n my mistakes with SburbML manipulation. Finally, thanks to \n illuminatedwax for his work on making sounds more reliable and helping \n with a lot of the core engine. \n
\n\n\nThis\n is your MSPA coding team, and they’re friggin’ champs. If you want to \n be a champ too, the entire code base is hosted and developed here:
https://github.com/WhatPumpkin/Sburb\n
If you see an issue you think you can help with, we’d love to get your contributions.
\n
\n
Two quick hyperlinks:
\n\n\n\n\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "beta-version-of-minigame-was-just-sent-out-to-all",
- "timestamp": 1350864000,
- "html": "\n\n
Beta version of\n minigame was just sent out to all KS backers of $50 and over. (But not \n for those who went through paypal because beta version only works when \n clicking through the Kickstarter message system.)\n
\n
This will be a \n brief test because the system is pretty well ironed out by now. Final \n version will go up on site in a few hours or so. Til then if you don’t \n want spoilers you might want to avoid tumblr because people like to post\n screenshots and stuff.\n
\n
\n
fwugradiation:
\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/genesisfrogcover.jpg\"/)
It’s finally here! Join the consorts on an amphibious adventure through the world of the Genesis Frog.
NOTE:\n Here the noun “amphibious adventure” means “goofy orchestral music by \n Alexander Rosetti” and “join the consorts on” means “listen to.” Also \n “through the world of the Genesis frog” means “at your computer.” Throw \n money at your screen now.\n
\n
\n
\n
notasenator:
\n
\nThere\n is significant flooding at the building that hosts the MSPA server. The\n generators that are currently providing power to the customer equipment\n can only provide a few more hours of life, and it looks like the \n servers may be shut down as early as 12:30am Eastern. It is not \n currently known…\n
\n
\n
MSPA site down due to hurricane. No telling how long it will be down. Hope all the server people are safe.
\n
\n
The site was \n down for a few days there, but we are back. The server is located in New\n York City, which lost power due to a hurricane. The server people at \n Internap did a nice job getting everything back on line quickly with \n generator power, despite the major problems the city is having. If you \n live in the affected areas, I hope life will return to normal for you \n very soon. When things like this happen, I think our first impulse \n should be to help out. Let’s consider doing that!
The MINISTRIFE (which was going to drop on 10/31 but oh well) is chock full of sprite characters made by Feastings.\n Most of them were done a while ago and started floating around the \n tumblrverse as a little fandom craze, so I asked her to make a few more \n and now POOF they’re all magically canon. Thank you Feastings. Also UU \n art as always supplied kindly by Shelby. Song = Killed by BR8K Spider!!!!!!!! by Radiation. “Who???” I hear you ask. Yes I know, that guy’s music NEVER gets used Homestuck.
\n Act 6 Act 4 next. Are you ready for it? Are you ready to do some more \n AWESOME WAITING for it?? I hope so. I’ll try to have something ready by \n 11/11, which is exactly one year from the start of Act 6 (hey calendar: \n wtf???) The main issue of uncertainty here is I have to fly down to \n Florida and sign more than 11,000 prints. I actually have no idea how \n long that will take. I have no basis of estimation for signing that many\n things, because I have never signed that many things before. But the \n sooner I do it, the sooner we can ship out all your sweet Kickstarter \n loot. It must be done. I’ll try to get whatever work done I can around \n this crazy mission. An 11K heap of large prints is actually so much \n paper, we’re not sure if we can keep it all in the same room, because it\n might actually cause the floor to collapse. True safety facts.
\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n
So I just dialed down the joke on page 7623.
\n
The thing with that joke was:
Poking\n a little fun at an ongoing point of controversy surrounding the comic, \n without trying to make a statement on anyone’s position in particular.
The thing with that joke was not:
Admonishing\n those who wish to maintain non-white headcanons for characters. Or \n those disappointed to see Trickster Jane with skintone. Or anyone \n really. There was not any coherent ‘TAKE THAT’ going on here.
At \n least that was not the intent. I can see how it would appear that is \n what I wished to communicate, but it is not. If that is an \n interpretation that will commonly persist I’d rather just ditch the \n joke. Or at least tone it way down, which I did.
But actually \n what motivates me more to revise it is noticing more than a few unsavory\n individuals using it as justification to harass POCs or anyone who, \n reasonably, wanted to voice their concerns. On reflection I’d rather not\n have my decisions serve as fodder for the arguments of such people. \n They don’t speak for me.
As a humorist, and someone who writes a \n provocative and unpredictable story, there are many types of unpleasant \n responses to my stuff I can easily accept. But some types… maybe not so \n much.
The original joke from my perspective really was a \n lighthearted jab at the storied subject of race in the comic, and the \n debates about it over the years. Mainly I thought the gag was tempered \n by its utterly absurd presentation, and made so over the top as to \n compromise its ability to be taken seriously. Beyond the pale of usual \n absurdity even for Homestuck, as has been the case with all this \n trickster stuff. Trickster mode, you’ve probably observed, is a sort of \n ridiculous game powerup, like a Mario star or Kirby’s lollipop, which \n for a while brings everything to a frantic and surreal place. In this \n case those effects apply to Homestuck in its entirety, the characters, \n visuals, flow of story, the site itself, and the sense of humor, all \n getting a little warped and pushed a bit outside the usual comfort \n zones.
Tricksters were once an easter egg in HS a long time ago,\n and they kept picking up steam in the fandom. So, as is often the case \n with MSPA, the idea has been adapted as a nod to the readership, in a \n way that is compatible with the story’s logic. Fans have always drawn \n them as particularly cherubic white kids, and so that’s how they look in\n the comic. But this creates a really strange disparity between their \n skintone and the usual blank #ffffff depiction of human characters. This\n alone makes them a pretty bizarre addition to the story and contributes\n toward pushing this arc into sort of a narrative uncanny valley. I was \n inclined to address this flagrant coloration disparity by making a \n totally ridiculous, way over the top joke about it. That’s because jokes\n are pretty much all I do. I even turn my jokes into jokes. (See the \n edited page.)
Personally I still think the original gag is pretty\n funny. But I had the benefit of knowing exactly where I was coming \n from. I think the new joke is pretty funny too. Maybe even more funny, \n if you have the benefit of remembering the old one.
I know I \n have a reputation for riling people up, so some probably think this was \n my chief motivation. But not really. My primary goal is always to do \n what I think is funny. I’m not saying I wasn’t expecting some kind of \n controversy from invoking the subject, but neither did I anticipate the \n particular texture of the response, which isn’t sitting well with me. So\n in retrospect, I decided THIS time, the gag wasn’t really worth it. \n Especially if it just galvanizes an army of tools against people who \n have to deal with shit like that too often already. So to those people, I\n will apologize.\n
\n
\n
Let’s take a look at a few responses…
\n
\n\n
\n
\n- Wow.\n WOW. You guys made ANDREW HUSSIE take the Caucasian joke completely out\n of his comic. *slow claps* That… I don’t even know what to say. You \n made one of the only people who could say and do whatever they damn well\n please change, completely missing the point of trolling, sarcasm, \n irony, etc. Happy now? Isn’t censorship so much fun? Welcome to the real\n world, do you think it gets any better? Or are you just happy when \n you’re on the other side of the joke?\n
\n
\n
\n- Am I the only one who wasn’t a butthurt socialjusticefag about hussie’s headcannon joke and actually lolled rather than pouting
\n
\n
\n- I\n will simply say that this is what can happen when a webcomic gets huge \n like Homestuck does. You simply draw your imaginary webcomic \n character as a different color, and every hypersensitive freak has a \n meltdown over it. This is why social justice is an inherent constraining\n force on all art. Social justice is in essence a form of \n censorship, which is antithetical to art.\n
\n
\n
\n- Manning the \n fuck up? He did nothing wrong. He didn’t do it to start a fight, he even\n said so himself. It’s you, the idiot bitch who gets upset when white \n people are in existence (which is racism by the way) that caused him to \n change it. If you don’t like that, maybe you should commit suicide!\n
\n
\n
These are just a few, picked out semi-randomly, ranging from “mild, but missing the point” to “unspeakably terrible”.
Ironically, attitudes like this were much more responsible for my decision to change the joke than any form of “SJW crusading”.
In\n fact I didn’t even really see all that much reactionary SJ boilerplate \n in response to it. I did notice a lot of people expressing some \n reasonable opinions about it, and being met with an excessive amount of \n rhetoric like this.
Again, I can’t say I wasn’t expecting a mixed\n reaction to the joke. But stuff like this, in such high volume, is well\n beyond the result I wanted. It’s fine if you found the original joke \n funny, but if you defend it to others in this way you aren’t speaking \n for me. Your straw man arguments are not my own, and by making the joke I\n was not authorizing you to harass others. By changing the joke I’m just\n taking responsibility for not thinking these outcomes all the way \n through.
I’ve said I thought the joke was funny. But if some feel\n differently, and I see them being widely attacked for it; that doesn’t \n mean I won’t empathize with them because I’m so convinced “THEY JUST \n DON’T GET IT!” And seeing too many people with that exact attitude was \n what first got me thinking “yeah, I gotta change this.”
This is \n why the claim “social justice is in essence a form of censorship” is so \n ironic here. Because the forces of social justice aren’t actually making\n me change anything. In this case, it’s actually the people who OPPOSE \n those concerns in the ugliest manner who motivated me to “censor” \n myself.
Most people here would agree that some SJ enthusiasts can\n get pretty carried away. But if you feel convinced social justice is a \n crushing form of censorship, you might want to rethink that idea. \n Because apparently “one of the only people who could say and do whatever\n they damn well pleased” for the first time ever decided to redact a \n joke, not because of SJ bloggers, but because of the behavior of their \n most strident critics. And if you truly dislike censorship, and do not \n wish to see more self-censorship in the future, then you would be doing \n your part to behave in a way that doesn’t make creators feel embarrassed\n to be defended by you.\n
\n
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_mkasauehGk1qd80v3o1_1280.jpg\"/)
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_mkasauehGk1qd80v3o2_1280.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_mkasauehGk1qd80v3o3_1280.jpg\")
\n\n
lexxercise:\n
\n
\nRemember that one time I made a bunch of Homestuck shirts? Sad that you missed out on\n nabbing one?? Through the combined powers of What Pumpkin and TopatoCo, NOW YOU CAN!\n
\nMy classic DANCE design is now available on both black\n and\n white\n shirts. Some sizes are already starting to run low, so get em while they’re hot!\n
\n
\n
Thank you for this lovely shirt design, Lexxy.
\n
That's my cue to disappear.
\nTime for me to vanish into the animation abyss for a while. Let's give it a week, tops.
If you're one of those people who has trouble keeping up with all the updates I bury you with, maybe now's a good time to catch up. And if you're one of those people who's finding everything going on in the story to be somewhat confusing and overwhelming, then maybe now is a good time to go back and reread it all.
I'm pretty sure about 95% of all MSPA readers huddle somewhere beneath this umbrella.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-14-10",
- "timestamp": 1263427200,
- "html": "\n\nEOA3
\n[S] Enter. (mirror)
I'm not even going to pretend the server can handle this file. I'll keep it hosted on spam the web for a couple days, then upload it to the archives once things simmer down.
I was all set to work on this thing longer, but I just decided to draw the line somewhere and put it up. Sometimes I've got to remind myself the goal here isn't to make the best thing I possibly can. It's to make the BEST FASTEST thing I can. Optimizing the vector* combining these quantities, the quantities of bestness and fastestness, should be my primary concern. Of course it didn't help that in the latter stages of the document's completion it would take Flash five minutes to save it.
* using this phrase tells me I've been working with Flash too much.
Anyway, here we are again. I should feel like taking a break after that, but somehow I don't. Which isn't surprising since I never do. I don't even know why I bothered mentioning it. So more to come soon I guess.
But let's agree to do without Flash for a little while. Oh wait we don't have to agree cause I'm in charge here!
P.S. - In case you're wondering whether he finished that comic...
Double P.S. - Also let's hear it for Bowman and his completely sick tune. Would you believe he produced this embellishment on Sburban Jungle in July? I've been sitting on it ever since, waiting for the right moment before unleashing it. Waiting. Brooding. Conniving.
Our day has come, Michael Guy Bowman. It has come.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-15-10",
- "timestamp": 1263513600,
- "html": "\n\nIntermission
\nWe're going in this direction before I start the next act. I felt like doing something a little different for a while, and perhaps this is my way of unwinding after the recent animation binge. Besides, I've got some stuff to organize before I dive back into the HS storyline, so we all might as well tune into this adventure rather than waiting around staring at a lot of nothing.
I'm thinking the MC intermission will go on for two weeks, max. It'll be a fun change of pace. Plus try not to be altogether floored if it turns out what's going on here isn't completely unrelated to the events in the HS universe. Though maybe you were suspecting that already.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-22-10",
- "timestamp": 1264118400,
- "html": "\n\nHave you...
\nDonated to the Haiti relief effort yet? Everybody wants you to. Celebrities. Media outlets. Me. If you haven't already, please look into it. I think it is the right thing to do, even if you only give a few bucks.
~~ MSPA BIZ ~~
I updated the map to include act 3.
And on the subject of act 3, Mr. Lecravian has prepared some striking video tributes for us all to enjoy. (Click video responses to see episodes in order.) In addition to serving as a quick and fun way to refresh your memory on the story, I think it's interesting to hear the various musical reinterpretations on top of the action.
Looks like we got another week to go with the intermission. Keep massaging that temporal lobe. (Which according to wikipedia, has nothing to do with the processing of time travel complexities. Why are brain scientists so dumb.)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-24-10",
- "timestamp": 1264291200,
- "html": "\n\nWeek to go
\nOr maybe more. Or less. Not on a hard timetable here.
This reason for this whole intermission thing isn't necessarily just \"cause I Felt like it\". I'm also taking the time to prepare some material for the new act in advance, rather uncharacteristically, before diving right in. Also there may be a few server chores to deal with too.
All this is happening in a timeline parallel to the one where I'm working on the intermission. Hope you're enjoying it. Let's think of it as a throwback to Problem Sleuth, but with like 99% more green in each panel.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-28-10",
- "timestamp": 1264636800,
- "html": "\n\nOh come on...
\nYes, a mere 800 KB Flash page managed to grind the server to a halt the moment I posted it. I'm definitely not opening Act 4 until I get this server tightened up. This may delay the new act. Or it may not! If it does, I'm sure I'll just find a way to stretch the intermission out a little longer. Yes I can hear all of you already, bemoaning the fate of having to endure more unbelievably rad MC adventures.
Speaking of my server (this is a really dumb topic transition) I hope you will take a moment to bone up on the Hollywood celebrity scene over at byrobot.net.
I say speaking of my server because that comic is actually hosted on the same server as MSPA. So technically viewing those comics taxes this site too, and vice versa. But please do not believe that refraining from viewing those comics either ennobles yourself through martyrdom or curries my favor anonymously. All that really happens is you lose out on reading some funny stuff. The bandwidth scene, though at times spartan, is on me.
ALSO SPEAKING OF MY SERVER. Here is another way to put it to use. I very much recommend you stay abreast of RoomLand. It is easily the funnest thing going on in ForumWorld. If you're not much of a forum-goer, maybe you should bookmark it.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-02-10",
- "timestamp": 1265068800,
- "html": "\n\nI SUDDENLY UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING
\nSome guys made some diagrams plotting the events of the MC story. Here are two pages showing the complete timeline so far, by Agrajag. If those are not relatively clean and straightforward enough for you, you could take a look at Grnr's visual relationship timeline.
These seem pretty much accurate... probably. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the whole timeline, but after looking at these I'm not so sure anymore.
So, thank you, guys whose names are peculiar strings of letters.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-03-10",
- "timestamp": 1265155200,
- "html": "\n\nS&F
\nI just did a guest strip for the great comic Sam and Fuzzy. Ok well it wasn't really a comic I did, but it was definitely a guest THING. You know the drill with these things I do. They are aliased. They are jostling. They are moderately puzzling to look at. Speaking of looking at things, you should give S&F a read if you haven't already. It's loads of fun.
And continuing on this subject of looking at things, I have detected an abundance of truly smashing plushiwork by a cool lady named Eyes5. She must be congratulated for this work. VIGOROUSLY.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-04-10",
- "timestamp": 1265241600,
- "html": "\n\nFAKE BANDS (they are not real)
\nI am here today to blindside you with a completely unanticipated, unforeshadowed album by the Midnight Crew.
![\"Midnight](\"/archive/social/news/musiclogo_MC.gif\"/)
Only two songs in this album have appeared in Homestuck pages: Three in the Morning, and Nightlife (both are extended versions in the album). The rest are new, never before heard, and all of them (including the first two I mentioned) were made specifically for this album.
I had this idea to start making \"fake bands\" based on various characters from MSPA some time ago, back when the music project was starting up and I soon realized I'd have way more music on my hands than I could possibly use in the story. MC was the first such band, which guys in the music community started working on stuff for last summer. The whole thing got sidetracked for a while, but we decided to finish it over the course of the intermission for obvious reasons. It turned into a 19 song monster album, and I think all the songs came out fantastic, and really match the group's motif quite well.
The idea behind the fake bands was to put a spin on a certain genre, in a way that seemed in keeping with the characters and what sort of music they'd make. In MC's case the genre is something we've been referring to as \"dark jazz\".
I'd like to keep putting out more albums by more bands, with more interesting spins on musical styles to help develop characters and their universe. There certainly seems to be enough talent to keep it coming. I really wouldn't mind flooding you guys with awesome original music, even if I can't manage to work most of it into animated pages. Which obviously I can't. But projects like these albums are the next best thing.
In addition to some familiar names like Hadley and Bowman, there are a lot of great new artists represented in this album, who haven't yet authored something appearing in HS. But the newer folks made some of my favorite stuff there. I recommend you give the whole thing a thorough listen. Thanks to everyone for working on this, and as always, thanks to Cindy for configuring all the tedious Bandcamp stuff.
And just to remind you, the artists make most of the money you pay for it. At $5.25 for 19 songs, we're talking a pretty serious bargain.
A final note: when I said it was unforshadowed, I guess that wasn't entirely true.
P.S. Homestuck Volume 4 album isn't far off either. Just need to collect a few more songs for it first.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-08-10",
- "timestamp": 1265587200,
- "html": "\n\nWinding down. And then up again.
\nShould be bringing this intermission to a close finally. I delayed it longer than originally planned for a number of reasons. First, that's just what these things do. They sprawl. Second I was sort of timing the opening of the next act with some server work being done, and it looks like it shaped up nicely. Third, I was working on stuff for act 4 at the same time I was working on the intermission, somewhat paradoxically delaying both things. It is sort of like I was working on two MSPAs at once. I think I have concluded that one is more than enough.
Big thanks to Ryan for his help with the server. It is purring like a kitten that has several hundred thousand people patting it per day, demanding large media files from it. Now it may be able to playfully deliver these files to you. And then fall asleep in its food dish or something adorable like that.
Act 4 will probably start on wednesday at the latest. See you then. (And every waking moment before then, and thereafter, forever.)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-10-10",
- "timestamp": 1265760000,
- "html": "\n\nAct 4
\nAnd so ends the brisk 200 page, 3 week intermission.
Act 4 animation mirrored again temporarily. While the server is very much improved, it's still not quite good enough to handle a file like that. I'm fully resigned to playing constant catchup with the machine that serves this site, between the steady drumbeat of new readers, and my increasingly bloated files. As always, the thought of actually promoting the site remains laughable. Sometimes at night I whisper into my pillow with beads of sorrow in my eyes: dear wish fairy, please no more readers. Please.
Just kidding. Tell all your friends about MSPA I guess. I'll figure it all out some day.
Alexis is a Flash programmer and he's many insane kinds of \"mad good\". I wouldn't even think to try to pull off something like the Act 4 page without his computer codes. Basically I say to him something I want the thing to do, and then the next day that is what the thing does. I'm not really sure how he does it. Sometimes though I hear that phrase directed at me and my work, and I just laugh it off as an expression grounded in the utterly ridiculous. So I'll laugh it off for him on his behalf. He he he he he.
(Here is some sort of funny comic that he is, at least tangentially, involved with. Though primarily authored by his pal and mine, Mr. Rinehart-Taylor.)
Also this update marks the first time a page in MSPA has featured art not drawn by me, or not plundered hamfistedly through google's vast image agglomeratrix. Cindy drew some nice assets for this, and for this I thank her. (Yeah she never updates her site. Believe me, I share your frown.) Maybe I will consider more distributed art projects in the future. I may have to, if I want to finish this goddamn thing some time this epoch.
Another note: if the \"game\" performance is slow (not to load, but to play) then it is not the internet's fault, but your computer's fault. Which is to say it's actually my fault for putting too much crap in the gigantic room. I will possibly look into optimizing this further, and will certainly not repeat the mistake in future pages. I remind you that there isn't really a \"dev team\" or a \"testing group\" or \"quality control\" as would be present for most commercial software enterprises. As always, it's just a dude, and some other hacker dude, and an experimental webcomic that shelters some goofy stuff now and then.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-11-10",
- "timestamp": 1265846400,
- "html": "\n\nOptimizations
\nWe trimmed the file down a bit (where we = Alexis), and now the Gate 1 page is much speedier. John walks a little faster too so you can cover the absurd amount of terrain without devoting a whole afternoon to the task.
If you experienced lag problems before, you might want to give it another try. Still no promises it'll work perfectly for all machines, but it's an improvement.
Here's a map too for your wandering convenience.
Maybe I should have had all this ready when I first released the file. HOW UNPROFESSIONAL OF ME\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-17-10",
- "timestamp": 1266364800,
- "html": "\n\nPCHOOOOOOOOO
\nI just made some serious improvements to the server. Things should be much faster around here. Maybe this will get me to shut my stupid trap about server problems for a while.
You may be interested in following one of Dave's many world famous blogs on the internet. I can't say for sure how often he'll update it. Probably not especially frequently.
Also you remember all those Star Trek edits me and Jan did a while ago? We did another one recently. But I'm not gonna link it here. You just got to go hunt it down yourself!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-23-10",
- "timestamp": 1266883200,
- "html": "\n\nECCC
\nHey, look at where I am going. Will I see you there? I am afraid that is a question you are more qualified to answer than I. Fingers crossed though.
I found this Problem Sleuth based puzzle from MIT to be pretty amusing. Can you figure it out???
Probably not. Here's the answer.
And while on the subject of intellectual stimulation.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-03-10",
- "timestamp": 1267574400,
- "html": "\n\nDo you wonder things?
\nDo interrogative thoughts haunt your mind like spooky poltergeists? Does the essence of inquiry press up against your soft membranes and secrete from your porous carriage as a curios black fluid? Do you harvest this fluid in the inkwell reserved solely for the quill you reach for when finishing a sentence with a question mark?
If so, you sound like sort of a lunatic. There's nothing I can do to help you.
Let's change the subject. I've been answering a few questions on formspring, if you want to steal a gander.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-07-10",
- "timestamp": 1267920000,
- "html": "\n\nI got technolo-problems.
\nMy computer seems to have its heart set on pitching a fit. I tried to talk some reason into it but it has made its intentions clear to me through a spectacular display of histrionics.
I think it's another hard drive failing. I've probably had like ten of these things fail on me over the years. Apparently that's just what they do, without provocation. But I mean it's fine that they do that. Really. It's not like the whole world runs on these things or anything. Let's all be cool with them sharing a rung on the technological ladder with disposable cameras.
So I might not post anything for a few days while I get this sorted out.
OH. And because I am going to ECCC this weekend, that will be another pretty solid 3 or 4 days I won't post anything. [HEY HOW ABOUT THIS DOUBLES AS A REMINDER THAT I AM GOING TO ECCC, JUST IN CASE YOU WANT TO GO TOO.]
Wow so it turns out if I was like most folks I would never update this site. You will note that I am characterizing most folks as simply those who tend to have plans and problems.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-11-10",
- "timestamp": 1268265600,
- "html": "\n\nI guess it goes without saying...
\nThat I fixed my computer. Now let us never speak of this matter again.
I'm out for the weekend! No updates here until next week. (Probably Tuesday.)
But it would please me if you would accept this parting gift.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-16-10",
- "timestamp": 1268697600,
- "html": "\n\nPLANS AND PROBLEMS CONTINUED
\nApparently it poured in Massachusetts while I was away, holed up in our cardboard castle completely oblivious to cross-continental weather conditions. I came back to a flooded apartment. The irony is it didn't rain a drop in Seattle. The weather was exquisite.
Lots of stuff got soaked, but the good news is my computer stayed dry. If I lost my computer, well... GOODBYE MSPA.
Anyway I rescued it and scurried off to somewhere dry. I'll try to wring some updates out of this soggy dungeon nightmare soon.
So hey thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi to me over the weekend! Let's say hi again some time ok?\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-18-10",
- "timestamp": 1268870400,
- "html": "\n\nIt turns out that sometimes problems beget more plans.
\nMy apartment smells like an old aquarium and I'll probably have to move now. On top of this I have fallen ill. These items will appear on a memo you will receive on your desk, and this memo will read at the top REASONS WHY ANDREW AIN'T GETTIN' MUCH SHIT DONE LATELY.
For the last week or so I have been enjoying a series of adventures which are not especially remarkable but of the sort one's friends and/or webcomic audience will happily entertain if sufficiently inebriated. I was sleeping in a strange room the other day and I woke up in the middle of the night and didn't recognize where I was. I saw this huge poster of Bob Marley gazing at me and I screamed aloud.
That reminds me of another story but it happened less recently. I was once singing the Harry Potter music in my sleep and woke myself up with my own performance.
These are just a couple of many such wake-up stories. With material like this clearly I should discard this preposterous MSPA endeavor and take up a journal comic.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-20-10",
- "timestamp": 1269043200,
- "html": "\n\naw yeah bitches
\nNew shirt in your grill like a hot god that rolled down there.
![\"Dave's](\"/archive/social/news/recordshirt_banner.gif\"/)
Dave was so excited about it he made this.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-01-10",
- "timestamp": 1270080000,
- "html": "\n\n???? 4/1 ????
\nTrust nothing you see or read on this date!
Except stuff hosted on this website. I'm not all that partial to the compulsory global prank-off.
![\"Clown\"](\"/archive/social/news/icon_clown.gif\"/)
OR AM I?
The answer to this question is no.
But sometimes I play April Fool's pranks on accident. Remember last April when I started Homestuck in Flash, then decided not to and just called all those pages the HS beta? That was sort of like a retroactive 4/1 prank. The joke is there was no joke, which in a world made of jokes, can be the best joke of all.
So is there anything pseudoprankish about this year's 4/1 offering? I can see why the jape-jaundiced eye may regard it with caution, if not actual disdain. (You see why this holiday is nothing but trouble?? It befouls the lighthearted with the curmudgeonly taint of skepticism!) All I can say is, give it a day or two. 4/2 should be anointed a special day in its own right. A day for those drunk on gullibility to nurse their hangovers. Like the day after St. Patrick's, but instead of green beer you drank lots of lame bogus press releases.
I've been really busy lately. That I've been able to squeeze out a few simple pages here and there has been a little beaded string of glittering miracles. I finally had some time to grind out a really cool animation though with a guy doing flips and stuff, so I thought that was pretty sweet.
Jan found some time to do some editing too, which is always promising. We'll kick out some more of these soon I hope. He will edit. I will shout funny ideas at him, and wave around this stick I found. I will not edit though. No, because:
I will be doing a lot of animating soon.
Let's address another date in April. Not the one marking a shitty holiday no one cares about, forcing big corporations to feel obliged to foist weaksauce stunts on everybody, revealing their PR departments to be stocked with wannabe writers for The Onion. No this shit is SERIOUS. We are talking about April 13th, exactly one year since Homestuck began. The original plan was to end the story on this date. (A plan which predated the first page of this monsterpiece. A plan thus rooted in peril and ignorance!) My plan has managed to deescalate in its sweeping architecture and now reads as \"do a really kickass animation, if you have time.\" The plan also includes shoehorning a couple other kickass animations into the archives between now and then.
Will I have time? Only I can answer that question. The likelihood for an affirmative is gravely influenced by the measure of abuse I will cause myself to endure. This measure is forecast to be: CONSIDERABLE
At the very least this announcement will chronicle with some precision the standard I have set myself up to fail to live up to, so hey, we're accomplishing stuff here.
Humor is dying a slow death cause everyone's trying to be so funny so hard at me all the time. Everybody pipe down and sell me shit. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-02-10",
- "timestamp": 1270166400,
- "html": "\n\nUpdate on all things foolish
\nRyan North of course has my permission to continue practicing foolish behavior. As far as I am concerned, he can keep hornswoggling us SO HARD.
I must however continue to forbid publicly traded companies from indulging in foolishness of any sort. Just put on a tie and go to work you assholes.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-04-10",
- "timestamp": 1270339200,
- "html": "\n\nSecret Flash Ninja
\nI went back and upgraded this page to add a miniflash animation, and included a little sleeping tune Mark made a while ago called Bed of Roses.
OH ALSO. I am going to be at MOCCA this weekend (SAT+SUN) if you feel like dropping by and standing somewhere idly within my INTERACTION RADIUS. If you're into that then see you there.
edit: look for me there with Topatoco.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-07-10",
- "timestamp": 1270598400,
- "html": "\n\nHomestuck: Year One
\n4/13/2009 - 4/13/2010
tldr; no updates until April 13th!
Change of plans again. I was going to do a couple animations before 4/13, and then a BIG ONE on the day of 4/13, the one year anniversary of Homestuck's starting date. My schedule is not going to permit this though. I'm going away this weekend, and as anyone who travels knows, that will consume a block of time greater than the span of the travel dates themselves. It will screw me up way too much to be in super-crazy production mode. I can pull off regular-crazy production mode, but note super-crazy. In summary, this week is toast. And in any case, there's really no reason to rush this thing just to squeeze something critical into a meaningless date.
So instead I will do ONE animation, take my time with it, and post it on 4/13. That will be the next update you will see.
Then after that I will move it along to the end of the act. I will still post the animation I was originally planning to post on 4/13, but at a somewhat later date. There won't be much ambiguity here. When I do post it, you will know exactly which date this animation was originally slated for.
But the good news is I think we can get the Volume 4 album out on 4/13. Keep an ear out for it.
So as long as we're here with almost a year's worth of HS under our belts, why don't we hit pause and check our game status.
Homestuck:
4 kids
365 days (and counting)
1667 pages (+1 on day 365)
2024 images
85,000 words
62 Flash animations (+1 on day 365)
5.5 images per day, every day
1 Flash animation every 6 days
Some Flash data:
1 hour total of animated footage
3000 imported graphic files
53 songs
3 albums (+1 on day 365)
1 sacred urns toppled
1 mystic ruins desecrated
1 hallowed tombs defiled
15 Sweet Bro and Hella Jeffs
---------------
The Problem Sleuth data, for your convenience:
3 detectives
365 days
1621 pages
1915 images
45,000 words
0 sacred urns toppled
0 mystic ruins desecrated
0 hallowed tombs defiled
I remember writing after finishing PS that I didn't really notice the effort involved over the course of the year. That is very far from the truth this time. Believe me, this felt like a serious undertaking. Clearly I not only surpassed my previous page counts in less time, but added major animation chores on top of all that, which proved to be the most labor intensive part of it! Even disregarding the animation, the extra detail in the the static pages, the larger environments, the heavier use of color, the more rigorous character design and game mechanics, the doubled word count, it all added up to something much bigger than PS. Then pile huge Flash projects on top of all that and you have something that's certifiably insane. The good news is that I got faster the more I challenged myself.
I've easily worked twice as much on HS as I did on PS. Probably more. There have been more all-day-all-night affairs than I could count. Weekend breaks mostly nonexistent. I just don't recall that sort of relentless exertion during Problem Sleuth, except maybe during the final moments of the battle. Even the whole Sepulchritude thing strikes me as a pretty quaint endeavor now. That would really just be a run of the mill battle animation these days.
Why am I jumping the gun and reviewing this all now rather than on 4/13? Probably because I know I won't feel like it by then, just after I post an animation, and with more to do right away. This isn't QUITE as monumental as the PS year-end spectacular, since obviously the story's just going to keep going. To be honest, I feel like recently Homestuck has been just starting to warm up. Let's see how she handles in year two.
Anyway, I got work to do. See ya.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-10a",
- "timestamp": 1271116800,
- "html": "\n\nA short news item preceding something more elaborate later on.
\nThanks to all the well wishers and congratulators out there who've had something to say about Homestuck's first year run. Your patronage has harvested my vehement gratitude. It is a thankfulness so intensely focused, it could be employed as a hot cutting device to free people from wreckage.
A new album will be added to the collection later today. Volume 4 will contain 13 songs. It will be dirt cheap, costing you four dollars and thirteen pennies. That's like two cups of coffee, but coffee doesn't really sound as awesome.
And thanks again to the whole music team for riding out a year with me on this thing. But especially pointed thanks right now to Toby Fox for making this cool remix (\"Black\") of his own song from the MC album (\"Liquid Negrocity\"), and also the song used in the previous animation (\"Atomyk Ebonpyre\"). There will be more to hear from this guy soon. His work is colorful, energetic, and generated with absurd prolificity. I have come to regard the LIVELY SPECTACLE that is MSPA to be quite well matched by his compositions, and you will too.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-10b",
- "timestamp": 1271116800,
- "html": "\n\nVolume 4!
\nOk a whole mess of announcements here so let's see if I can keep it short and sweet!
Homestuck Volume 4 is here. 13 songs. $4.13. Comes with a cool wallpaper! Check it:
![\"Sburb](\"/archive/social/news/sburbwallpaper_sm.jpg\"/)
There are a few very nice remixes in this album, done on pretty short notice. Everybody pulled this one together really fast! Nice job guys. And nice job as always to Miss McMittens for rallying the troops and piecing it all together.
Additional trivia: if you're wondering where the old-timey clip at the beginning of \"Black\" comes from, check it out. (1:29) It's from a song recorded exactly 100 years prior to Homestuck. Toby slapped it on the beginning of his remix and I thought \"cool\" and rolled with it, but it wasn't until now I found out where it was from. Maybe he mentioned it to me once and I was like pfffff, not remembering THAT fact, nice try. This is a good example of how the music strongly influences how I put together the animations.
Next topic: The MSPA Community Portal.
This is something some members of the community have been working on for a little while, and it's really cool! It's a very convenient gateway to access anything to do with MSPA, chat with people about it, and to GET GENERALLY INVOLVED.
I haven't written anything for this. It's a totally fan sponsored and maintained initiative, so that odor presently filling your nostrils is PASSION. I know you will enjoy mingling with these people. We all must strive to associate with those who are eager to facilitate and celebrate our obsessions.
There's probably more to say about stuff. I'm sure there is. But I think I'll can it for now and start pondering how to kick off year two. If anything important to say pops into my head, I'll be down here below all the cool images waving and kicking up a fuss.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-10c",
- "timestamp": 1271116800,
- "html": "\n\nBAILIN'
\nSorry to report to anyone aiming to see me at C2E2 that I won't actually be going. I feel like sort of a douche backing out of it, but it turns out I just can't pull off so much traveling! I'm sure I'll make it to that neck of the woods not too long from now though.
Also here's a really cool Dave game a guy made which you might enjoy if you have a PC. If you have a Mac you will not. You will go sulk in the corner is what you'll do.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-20-10",
- "timestamp": 1271721600,
- "html": "\n\nProject Recapitulation: Capitulated.
\nA bunch of community members banded together and annotated the recap page with many, many hyperlinks to relevant pages throughout the story. This page now serves as a pretty nice index of the whole story, and functions as a convenient gateway to just about anything you might be looking for. Thanks guys! (I originally tried doing this myself and got a few paragraphs in before I started reaching for the gun I keep under my desk-side tree stump.)
Speaking of gateways and communities, I should link to the MSPA community portal again, another community-driven initiative. I'm planning on putting a permanent link to it somewhere. Making site changes is always something I procrastinate. Even little things.
Something else I've been meaning to mention is this outstanding Lil' Cal plush given to me by the outstanding Eyes5. Not only is he rigorously crafted to the exacting standards of an elite puppet fetishist, but when you hug him he actually says my name. That isn't a joke, it's a serious thing it really does. I was going to take a video of this, but I was afraid it might freak you out a little. (It would have.)
While I'm dishing out crazycool things, here are some pieces of very sweet HS art by my best friends Darren and Lexxy, respectively, in that respective order. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-22-10",
- "timestamp": 1271894400,
- "html": "\n\nAdditional notes.
\nEDIT. I keep saying all this stuff, which is pushing the album announcement way down. Just to remind/inform you, the Homestuck album 4 is out.
I also meant to serve up props to Alexis for coding the Google LOWAS page I put up a few days ago. We hustled that together pretty fast and it slipped my wicket to mention it. I gave him this giant 5 megabyte map and some other doodads and I said make it do this, and he did in like an hour or so. Pretty cool huh? Yeah.
Also hope you dug the huge Bolin music dump on this page. He made all those songs at least 6 months ago, and now here they are. I basically dragged my personal Bolin folder into the Flash file. And then Dave and Rose started dancing of their own accord. TRUTHFACTS.
Here's some reading material. It will help you understand more about... well, it will cause you to look at your screen for a while.
Later.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-26-10",
- "timestamp": 1272240000,
- "html": "\n\nCCV + TRF + GWZ = WPP
\nIf you enjoyed the artwork I posted not long ago by Viceroy Darren Von Calvert, you may also enjoy this wallpaper he made. I know I do.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-29-10",
- "timestamp": 1272499200,
- "html": "\n\nRolling on the floor laughing convention.
\nOk, that's it for the updates for a while! I'm going to strap myself down for an animation binge. Whatever I can squeeze into the weekend schedule around ROFLCon. Next update probably early next week.
Speaking of, perhaps you would like to come and roll and laugh on the floor with me? The floor is a pretty filthy place to engage in such behavior, but I hear there are \"lulz\" to be had down there. We will discover them together.
P.S. R.I.P. Cooper.
P.P.S. Bunny. Box. Etc.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-30-10",
- "timestamp": 1272585600,
- "html": "\n\nProblem Sleuth Book One: Compensation, Adequate
\nIt is here! ![\"PS\"](\"/archive/social/news/v2_a_ps.gif\"/)
![\"PS](\"/archive/social/news/PSbookphoto.gif\"/)
In the Topatoco store.
Book one covers chapters 1 through 5. Dividing it up this way was essential, since obviously PS is so massive. Hopefully more volumes to come not too far off, to finish off the set!
This looks like it turned out amazingly. Full color, 192 pages. Plenty of new illustrations sprinkled around. And notes under each page, written specifically for the book. Basically if PS pages had \"alt text\" on the site, this is what it would be like.
Oh yeah and a great foreword written by some cool guy I know!
As is practically always the case kudos must go to Cindy for helping me put it together, and additional kudos to book making savant Malki ! for additional helpin's, and of course to Jeffrey for saying hey how about we spend a ton of dough and make this fucker exist! What an awesome cadre it was I just mentioned.
edit: I will be milling around roflcon tomorrow with copies tucked under my arm. Also at TCAF next week!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-05-10a",
- "timestamp": 1273017600,
- "html": "\n\n'tributions
\nTip of the cap to Team Huo-Fox for the sonic wellspring that is \"Skaian Skirmish\". I must continue to pester the brim of my hat in the direction of pals Michael and Nic, who contributed some additional artwork to the animation (such as this & this, and this & this).
Piecing together animations with art contributions is something I'd like to look into doing more of. Not only does it help move these things along faster, but it adds some nice visual depth to the productions.
If you're wondering whether this animation (WV?: Rise up.) was going to be the original 4/13 one, the answer's still no. That'll be the next one. I was originally going to squeeze this series of animations into like a week and a half period before 4/13, with more compressed action than has occurred since that date.
Of course once I bailed on that plan, I just decided to stretch things way out, because it was just easier that way. I think this is one of the secrets to the vast size of these stories. Making big plot advancing strides in shorter periods of time, through animation etc, is actually more difficult than spreading it out. So as long as it's spread out, I fill that space with massive amounts of simpler pages, and it all just piles up.
tl;dr: MORE STORY. LESS WORK. Weird.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-05-10b",
- "timestamp": 1273017600,
- "html": "\n\nTCAF
\ned: ok that's all there is to see here until tuesday or so!
I am going to TCAF this weekend. You should come too!
Cool times with fans and friends: THUMBS UP.
Not updating MSPA for another 4 or 5 day stretch: THUMBS DOWN, DIPPED IN A WARM PUDDLE OF BARF.
But hey if you come along you can get a copy of PROBLEM SLEUTH: BOOK 1, and I will scribble something sort of baffling inside of it.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-15-10",
- "timestamp": 1273881600,
- "html": "\n\nBack
\nI'm back from chillin in Toronto with my buddy and my other buddies and my sweet Cuddle Fluthlu that someone gave me. Everyone who came to say hi to me was really cool, especially the ones armed with presents.
I mean... obviously I am back and have been for a while if you've been paying attention to that huge pile of updates accruing over there to the right. Man sometimes I am so slow on the news draw.
Not sure what else to update you on here. I guess maybe you're wondering about the next big animation I kept dropping hints about for a while? I'll start working on that soon. I'm stretching out and taking my time on stuff. All the while posting like a million pages which sort of makes no sense. But it makes sense to me and that's all that counts.
Another thing: there'll likely be some more cool music for you to obtain when the next animation comes out.
Also here, I answered a few more questions. That should hold you over. Whatever that means.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-19-10",
- "timestamp": 1274227200,
- "html": "\n\nWHERE do you even get updates that's that many
\nPosted, uh... I think 26 pages today, starting here. Was the kind of thing I felt like I had to post all at once, so it kept me busy drawing. Rather than the usual thing I do; draw a little, post a little, draw a little more, post a little more, all day. Just toying with you guys all day long like that, like a bastard. This website is my laser pointer and you are my brainless felines.
I wound up doing as much drawing for that static deluge as I tend to for an animation, but without all the animation stuff (EASIER!) Also I think I ruined a solid year's worth of perfectly good shipping with recent revelations. WHOOPSEE DAISEE
Anyway that's enough non-updating suspense. Next time I duck out it'll be on account of the real deal. Might go animation-dark early next week. Keep ya posted.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-21-10",
- "timestamp": 1274400000,
- "html": "\n\n?????????
\nUHHHHHHHH
edit: who made the sog? MM and , Xfac dumpass...\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-24-10",
- "timestamp": 1274659200,
- "html": "\n\nContinuing trivia
\nGuys, let's read about Mark Twain.
Born 1835, Died 1910. Same years Halley's comet flew by.
His autobiography will finally be released just now.
In case it's not completely clear, please examine the date. Also, exhibit A, and exhibit B. (I never can be sure what people will or won't pick up on! Pardon me as I bludgeon you.)
Twain's a pretty fascinating guy. The fact that he was born and died on the years of Halley's comet is startling! Kind of like how Jefferson died on the 4th of July (But he was born on 4/13!!!) But where Jefferson merely belongs to America, Twain apparently belongs to... the universe???
Also as long as I'm yapping here are some more quanswers estioned.
edit: lest we forget, I threw the man under the bus on YouTube. Just so he didn't get too cocky.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-25-10",
- "timestamp": 1274745600,
- "html": "\n\nHow do I Live
\nLet's all throw roses at Bowman's feet for his stirring cover of Trisha Yearwood's \"How Do I live\", and for his poignant vocals as well. Let us also cast floral arrangements at the good Mr. Smalley for shredding up his guitar something deliriously rudebrazen. NICE GUYS.
I got a new computer and was haggling with it over the last couple of days, getting annoyed by little things I'm not used to. But this animation was a good warmup for this machine before I take on the real EOA.
Going to shoot to have that done by 5/31. Which is cutting it pretty tight! We'll see if I can pull it off. But instead of going completely dark per usual I might sprinkle in an update here and there.That should keep you refreshing pretty hard. And here you were thinking you could relax. pfffff\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-31-10",
- "timestamp": 1275264000,
- "html": "\n\nEOA more like EO-LATE
\nIt's going to be \"late\", but I felt like it was important to freeze this date in the archives, and then swap it out later. Some know the significance of that date. Probably most don't. I'll explain later.
Its tardiness is not even on account of the size of the thing (and it is pretty big!), but due to yet more computer problems. Actually it has been a bothersome slurry of computer problems, AND completely unrelated internet problems, which has been dragging at my progress and sapping my resolve. All I ask from my work environment is technically immaculate conditions. Without that I'm pretty much just another dude who never gets a damn thing done.
One day, the quality of my life will not predicate itself upon the optimal performance of an array of finicky machines. On this day I will have achieved PERFECTION.
edit:
I just wanted to provide you with a completely pointless update on the capabilities of Comcast's crack support staff. A Comcast support rep is empowered to do precisely these three things, and only these things:
1) Tell you to unplug your modem.
2) Tell you to plug your modem back in.
3) Dispatch a technician to your house, scheduled to arrive in one week.
I thought I'd offer just a tiny, succulent bite of the type of extremely productive behaviors which have supplanted my artistic endeavors as of late.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-02-10",
- "timestamp": 1275436800,
- "html": "\n\nExactly how late?
\nLooks like a few days later than my projected date. Which is to say, as late as the beta was in getting to John's house! It is also as late as the beginning of the story itself, which if you recall, started with a misfire 3 days prior to 4/13/09. I try to make it so there is a reason for everything, even stupid things. In this case, even the simple tardiness of an animation project has become tangled up in Homestuck's lore! Let's all take a moment to ponder what this \"means\".
The good news is I'm no longer getting handcuffed by technical issues. I am now delayed merely because this thing is just really, really goddamn big.
I don't know if the RSS feed is going to pick up the update since I'm just swapping it out with that one. If you are an avid twitterist, you can follow me to know EXACTLY when the thing is up, at the EXACT moment I leisurely get around to tweeting about it.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-04-10a",
- "timestamp": 1275609600,
- "html": "\n\nw h e w
\n[S] Descend. Thanks to the great artists who contributed work to it. Made it go way smoother and look way better. Proper and thorough attribution to follow shortly. Thanks to Toby Radiation for Toby Radiation's enormously cool neverending song. Why won't it end?? Oh god.
Gonna type up a more proper news thing after I go to sleep.
As I slumber, I have no idea how hard this site is going to get hit. So HERE'S A MIRROR in case you need it.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-04-10b",
- "timestamp": 1275609600,
- "html": "\n\nA better news post. See? So much better.
\nEarlier I mentioned I used artwork from contributors in the latest animation. These guys right here. A real fine bunch of artists. I recommend you check out the stuff they've got on their respective web catalogues.
Working with a bigger pool of people for a change was a lot of fun, and I am quite sure improved the final product. I'm still not sure exactly how much time the collaboration saved. Between orchestrating it all, prepping a million graphics and finagling with Flash for days straight, it's still a ton of work. I think the primary benefit here is it adds a lot of visual richness. Where before I would cut a lot of corners and recycle a lot more graphics, or just never even bother implementing certain scenes, this time I had quite a diversity of nice art assets to grab, and build the action around, and I think it paid off nicely. So thanks guys! Looking forward to next time.
Also, more about the song. Toby made this months ago in anticipation of some epic pandemonium going down on 4/13. Obviously that whole thing got delayed, and plans changed. But I always held on to it for EOA purposes and now here it is. What may be interesting for people to realize is how especially formative the song was to the action and story events in this page. It wasn't like I said \"Hey Toby make this ridiculously awesome long ass song that switches up themes every 30 seconds or so, and also put a silly Squiddles interlude in there ok?\" Nope, he just made it out of the blue, and I had months to think about how I'd adapt something to it. He didn't have the slightest idea what I'd do with it of course. But the result is this kind of odd musical storyboarding process. By composing the song he was sort of storyboarding the thing for me, or at least forcing my hand to address the musical themes at each step of the piece. The challenge was to pull everything together into a narrative that made sense, match the music switches, and cap off the act logically and compellingly within that prearranged structure. Constraints are a good thing. They invite creativity. I wouldn't want to be an absolute dictator on every facet of this project. I've never said, \"Listen up guys I need a song and I need it to go EXACTLY like this.\" I tried to keep it pretty loose with the artists too. I just gave them some broad concepts to work with, and let them get creative with it. Some environments, some characters, etc. Practically no descriptions of specific events. They were as surprised as anyone else to see the outcome of the animation. They were probably surprised to see exactly to what extent I scribbled all over their nice drawings, setting them on fire and blasting holes in things.
Ok speaking of music, there's going to be a new album out soon. \"But haven't there only been like three songs since the last one?\" you say? Let me worry about that. There'll be plenty to listen to.
When? I'll probably spring it right around the launch of the next act.
When's the next act start? I was thinking of starting Act 5 on 6/12 to make some time to prepare some stuff, and take care of a few other things I guess. I'll probably slip some twixt-act updates in too. Not any sort of intermission though.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-05-10",
- "timestamp": 1275696000,
- "html": "\n\nIf below was TL;DR...
\nTo summarize: got help with art. New album at/near start of new act. New act on 6/12. Some interim updates before that.
New stuff:
Updated the map.
Looks like Moe has been lurching to life with new comics lately. Let's all go read it and develop a favorable opinion of Michael's work.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-11-10",
- "timestamp": 1276214400,
- "html": "\n\nOld pages, new songs.
\nFor a variety of reasons that aren't especially interesting, I won't be able to use work from one of the music team members. As such, I have disentangled some songs from a few existing animations, and have rescored those pages. I wish this artist the best of luck in whatever he chooses to take on next.
The silver lining is that in picking new music for the pages, I had the opportunity to match them up with pieces I've come to view as a better thematic fit for them. It's also pretty cool to see how new music affects the feel of the animations.
Here are a handful of the altered pages: 2722, 2733, 2880, 2926, 2970, 3620
These songs will be available in HS Volume 5, plus lots else. Which will be ready very soon!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-12-10",
- "timestamp": 1276300800,
- "html": "\n\nAct 5
\nConsider it in the spirit of the previous intermission, without it being an official one. I'd rather the arc not take too long, but I'm under no illusion it'll be that quick either. The Felt intermission lasted three weeks, and I thought I was still relatively economical with the pacing there. This one will probably be more involved, and require PLENTY of new drawing. Oh well, guess I'll take my time and make it fun.
(edit: whoops, yeah yeah it was a sickle not a scythe. I was kind of distracted when I made all these pages.)
I tried doing the suggestion box thing again for this, but at this point there are so many people trying to hit the forums all at once, it may just be impractical. It slowed the site down to the point where I couldn't even upload new pages! I'll probably make little surgical strikes, unlocking the box for ten minutes at a time at sneaky off peak hours, just to get suggestions for names and stuff like that. (In case you didn't know, the names of the planet and CG were reader suggestions, just as all the character names have been.)s\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-13-10",
- "timestamp": 1276387200,
- "html": "\n\nHS Volume 5 + What Pumpkin
\nHomestuck Vol. 5 is here. To call it a mega-album is an understatement. IT HAS 71 SONGS.
![\"Volume](\"/archive/social/news/vol5_album_banner.gif\"/)
(Sweet album cover art by Lexxy! Man it's nice.)
And before I get carried away talking about it, we're releasing this under a new VERY SERIOUS AND LEGIT RECORD LABEL, which is called What Pumpkin. I thought this would be a much tidier container for all these crazy music projects we're cranking out. Oh and there will be more.
The idea I had for volume five was to gather up a lot of music that had been accumulating, and stuff it all into this monster album. Like, WAY more songs than would ever be sensible to put in an album and still call it an album. The result is something so audacious, it just might be COMPLETELY MINDBLOWINGLY INCREDIBLE. You be the judge. I already know your verdict though.
Additionally the concept was to make a huge soundtrack that touches on the magnitude of the story that has been swelling steadily for more than a year. The soundtrack is meant to evoke all the things taking place that we perhaps aren't seeing in this universe, or that could happen, but that the linear focus of the narrative simply can't contain. You're invited to imagine the bigger story the album is telling.
Bear in mind this album is not merely a giant song dump. I feel like I arranged this mix pretty carefully. And on top of that, it is a seamless album. There are transitions between songs built into the songs, so it all runs together as a cohesive whole. It's all equalized and mastered very well. There is nearly three solid hours of music to listen to. And it is less than fifteen dollars.
Now it seems like I can never release one of these things without thanking my knuckles to a bloody pulp as I rain blows of merciless gratitude on everyone around me, and for good reason. Lots of people worked their asses off on this thing. It always seems like such a simple idea. Hey lets make an album! All this music is right here it'll take like two seconds to ram it out. Wrong stupid! So here I am assuming the flying crane position of indebtedness while I meditate on the fact that I'm about to snap the spines of fifty helpless thank ninjas in cold blooded succession.
Thanks to Cindy who worked forever on the new website and uploaded a million giant high quality songs which take forever to upload as it turns out and also hounding everyone for their files and stuff. Thanks to Clark Powell for doing great mastering/equalizing work on all the songs, and thanks to Toby Fox for doing additionally great work of a similar nature. Thanks to all the musicians for lighting a fire under their bone bulges to get high quality files to us and of course not being able to help themselves from making all these killer upgrades to the music itself in the process. And thanks to Lexxy for the ultraslick cover art!
I am never going to stop listening to this thing. Never. They'll have to send the cadaver dogs into my fucking unibomber shack cause I ain't coming out, and the fire ants will be wondering how they're gonna eat the rotting pulp in my skull with these headphones blocking my earholes like that.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-30-10",
- "timestamp": 1277856000,
- "html": "\n\nSome vids (videos)
\nHey look it's one of these. Will Picard and Data's jealousy feud never cease? (No.)
I can't remember if I linked this one from a couple months ago. (So there you go.)
P.S.Let's discover the mystery of the horse boy together. (Walk down the street a bit. The mystery deepens.)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-02-10",
- "timestamp": 1278028800,
- "html": "\n\nFormspring
\nHow about you read some answers to questions I just answered?
Questions are never in short supply. In fact, they are infinite.
Why, did you know that right now, as we speak, at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico there is a hole in the ground, and questions are gushing out of this hole at an alarming rate?
Did you notice how the above sentence was a question? That one too. They both came from the catastrophic question spill in question.
?\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-06-10",
- "timestamp": 1278374400,
- "html": "\n\nSoul Money
\nWhen you see images like the one below, you can be sure that shenanigans are surely afoot. Everyone likes shenanigans. Let's read about them.
![\"SOUL](\"/archive/social/news/soulportrait_after_th.jpg\"/)
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-13-10",
- "timestamp": 1278979200,
- "html": "\n\nGone for a week
\nI'll be skipping town from 7/20 to 7/27 just so you know. No updates for that week! Maybe you can spend that week catching up on the chores you've been neglecting on account of hammering the refresh button all the time.
I was originally thinking I'd try to have the troll thing finished up before this hiatus, but who am I kidding. Oh well. Steady as she goes.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-18-10",
- "timestamp": 1279411200,
- "html": "\n\nWhat have we here?
\nMORE MUSIC!
An album titled Alternia by the prolific and electric (prolifilectric) Toby \"Radiation\" Fox.
![\"Alternia\"](\"/archive/social/news/alternia_cover.gif\"/)
Yes, this is a solo album, meant to put music to the troll universe which has been taking shape recently. I believe you will find this album shall only further crystallize the atmosphere of this arc. It will do this because we say it will.
But there is some trivia here! Before I started act 5, Toby talked to me about working on an album like this, couched in the assumption that the troll story would never be examined in the detail it is presently, and that this album would only serve as a tonal exploration of a purely hypothetical adventure supplied by the imagination. Turns out he assumed incorrectly! Which only made the project that much more timely and apropos. In fact, the planet Alternia was named after the album, and not the other way around!
This is really good stuff. It should go without saying that Radiation's work is always among my personal TOP PIX. This is obvious, since I have leaned heavily on him for HS scoring. Leaned hard. Like he is a diner jukebox, and I am the coolest fucking dude you ever saw. I am seriously making the Fonz look like the Star Wars kid from that old meme. Thrashing around like a spaz with a mop handle in the garage of whatever the fuck family he lived with.
I don't know a goddamn thing about Happy Days, honestly.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-19-10",
- "timestamp": 1279497600,
- "html": "\n\nAnd now that you have all been sufficiently nonplussed...
\nSee you in a week! I'll be back on the 27th. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-26-10",
- "timestamp": 1280102400,
- "html": "\n\nSite tweaks
\nSince I've momentarily stepped off the endless update carousel I figured I would refresh the layout a bit. My only objective here is to reduce the clutter somewhat. Some of the content I wiped out, particularly to the side, I'm sure I'll reintroduce in some more rational way a little later. I'll chip away at it. Site design is something I never get around to on account of its tedium and the fact that I'd rather use my energy drawing. And since I can't at the moment, well... I still almost didn't bother. But then I did bother.
This week long drought wasn't so much about taking a break from drawing as it was an extension of two simple facts - I was away from my computer, and being away from my computer makes updating impossible. That SPECIFIC machine, and not this one on which I type or any other, is essentially the physical embodiment of this website. Really if I could be updating while away I would be. This trip isn't about rest. That's for losers. The hiatus was and is a referendum on corporeality, and its usurious demands on the virtual. It appears, as I am learning, that I, the author of this website, am a corporeal thing, and it turns out my computer is corporeal as well. We can be separated into compartments completely isolated from one another, compartments often referred to by the natives as \"locations\". This blew my mind. The hiatus is also a referendum on culture shock.
Hey! How about some more updates soon? Ok. How about tomorrow evening? That will be after I get into this huge metal thing. After the metal thing makes LOTS AND LOTS of noise, I will step out, and when I do, my computer will be not as... hang on while I flip through my Glossary of the Corporeal. Man this thing is handy. Ah yes... \"Far away.\"\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-03-10",
- "timestamp": 1280793600,
- "html": "\n\nBy the way,
\n All those fancy dresses were designed and drawn by a swell dame I know. I asked her to draw them and she did. Girls are so much better at thinking up fancy clothes than boys. Ask anybody! It is a fact.
In case you didn't know, recently the forums were ported to a different machine to reduce the gluttonous demands on this server. It was also nicely refurbished in the process. This was quite an undertaking, and a bunch of cool people pitched in and made it happen. Especially major thanks to Brian for doing if not 90% of the work, then well over 100% of it. He wrestled it to the ground like a frisky steer that had no concept of its own strength and now we are all sitting around enjoying hamburgers. Yes, that taste in your mouth WAS fresh beef.
Even so, this server still has some problems. If you're really glued to this site, you probably notice the Fedora test page appear just before an update comes up. That is because I have to shut the WHOLE SITE DOWN just to get my update php script to run. But really this is mostly because the script I wrote years ago is SO SHITTY, so it's my own fault. It wasn't built to run smoothly on a well trafficked machine, nor to publish such a long story. I'd rewrite it, but I really can't stand coding anymore. She is a bitter divorcee and has nothing but scorn for me. Every time I look at my code I sink into a deep depression and then draw like 50 pages to drown my sorrows while I try not to think of dollar signs and semicolons and SQL statements.
What else is there to talk about. Oh yeah. New album soon? Seems like only yesterday we put out Alternia. But you bet there's one in the pipeline. This one involves more fun times than are sensible to contemplate sober. Also there will be bonus animation to go along with it. You'll see.
Speaking of Alternia, the troll arc is predictably lasting longer than predicted. But that's ok. It's kind of like Inception, and we started having a dream of trolls inside a dream of kids, but then forgot we were dreaming, and now it's just all about trolls. But don't worry, we'll get back there. I like to think the kids are on summer break, and these alien kids are who we get to hang out with in the mean time. That's a fun way to look at it.
Have you ever thought about Barack Obana and thought it would be totally cool to follow him on twitter? I wouldn't even believe you if you didn't say you did. So just please just shut up and try to don't say it ok.
Oh yeah take a look at the mischief some people get up to. Who is supervising these rogues?? They are out of control. I think everybody should dress up as Homestuck characters, ALL THE TIME. This is the world I pine to inhabit, and these hooligans and their patio masquerade are the vanguard of my dreamscape.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-13-10",
- "timestamp": 1281657600,
- "html": "\n\nCOMIC BROS
\nThere is a guy whose work I have followed for a long time and his name is Tauhid. He has a new project called Epicsplosion which looks rather exciting, and if you enjoy the content on this site you will likely agree. It uses a similar format to MSPA, though with considerably more polish applied to the panels and overall presentation. And most interestingly (IMO!) he's going for a true \"choose your own adventure\" format, with branching story paths. This is something I tried with MSPA in the early going with Bard Quest, and in fact it was originally going to be one of the defining features of this site. But it proved to be pretty challenging to keep up with multiple story paths in any non-trivial way, so I just proceeded linearly with PS and HS thereafter.
While he was preparing to work on this, he and I talked a bit about the various challenges and pitfalls of the medium. I think he's chiseled the approach down to something pretty effective and manageable, and certainly the result is attractive. Personally I hope he keeps up with this, because it could turn into something pretty fantastic. The best way to keep him motivated I suspect is for us all to show support with our keen and frequent attention!
Hey, speaking of bros who I've been bros with forever, I also noticed Michael is selling custom comics at a bargain price. Seize on this opportunity or know the meaning of lifelong regret. In case it wasn't clear, Moe is the best webcomic on the internet. Period.
ALSO speaking of bros, thanks a ton to Matthew for helping me out with the update script I was having problems with. Now posting an update DOESN'T require me shutting down the whole site for 15 minutes. This is a major advancement!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-18-10",
- "timestamp": 1282089600,
- "html": "\n\nTrollflash
\nI guess I should warn you that the closer we get to wrapping this segment up, the closer I will get to making another animation. This will likely mean a good plenty of days with no updates at all once I start. I have not started yet but I probably will soon. I will let you know. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-21-10",
- "timestamp": 1282348800,
- "html": "\n\nTroll Shirts!
\n![\"Troll](\"/archive/social/news/trollshirts_palette.gif\"/)
Hey! Check it out. You can buy troll shirts and dress like your favorite troll, and/or don your colorful zodiac sign of choice. Pretty neat!
There'll be a pre-order phase of two weeks. Considering this is a TON of unique shirt designs and presents a stocking challenge, I'd like to get a sense of how many of each type people want before making them. Important: pre-ordering is the only way to get certain sizes! Like the smaller or bigger sizes. After pre-order's closed, all you can get will be more standard sizes. So if one of those sizes is your cup of tea, better hop on this soon!
Now that this whole ensemble of silly characters and their escapades are out in the open, I felt like a decent number of people would enjoy the opportunity to grab an OFFICIAL shirt bearing one of these simple, striking designs which are also recognizable to those with the lowdown on astrology. Who knew that tying the zodiac to a bunch of angry alien kids was the only way to make it cool? I sure didn't. Also, if you are planning to do some cosplaying, I don't know how the HELL you think you are going to pull it off without one of these shirts. I really don't.
This is something I'm handling outside of the elegant Topatoco framework, for a number of tactical reasons. One, flooding my storefront suddenly with 12 unique designs sounds kinda clumsy. Two, I'm really not sure how many each of these would sell since there are so many different designs to pick from. They stay so busy making shirts for tons of artists that I like to try to be sure designs I send them will have a ghost of a chance of being worth their hassle sales-wise. So I'm riding herd on this myself along with my Chief Corporate Officer of Strategic Corporate Actualization Strategies and Paradigm Corporatizations, and together we will do it guerrilla style with paypallery and homespun mailing shenanigans.
Sellin' stuff is fun!
Not as fun as buyin' it though. ;-)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-26-10",
- "timestamp": 1282780800,
- "html": "\n\nTHIS IS INCREDIBLY SILLY
\nHey guys, guess what the next album is all about! No, your guess is wrong. It is a Squiddles album. Surprise!
![\"Squiddles!\"](\"/archive/social/news/squiddles_cover.gif\"/)
Here is an important thing to note before all else. This album comes with a full-length animation! That is a link to the trailer. The full version comes with the download.
A lot of the same people who have contributed to MSPA animations lately worked on that animation. In fact, they did 100% of it! Conceptualized it and storyboarded it and drew all the assets, all under the supervision of a very skilled Flash animator named Peter Turner.
This album began percolating many months ago, and as with much of what this music fellowship works on, it snowballed in quantity and silliness and awesomeness over an extended period of time. It began with Alexander Rosetti's great single track (1st in playlist), a snippet of which found its way into the big [S] Descend mashup.
The idea we formed around that song was to make an album that would serve as the soundtrack for a fictional cartoon show for kids, full of ridiculous happy tunes with strong themes of friendship and chock full of squeaky noises and aquatic gurglings. Seems to me like they pulled it off. It's very easy to picture this as a real show now!
Most of what you hear and see is musician/artist-conceptualized. I didn't have much of a hand in it other than the original idea. The guiding principle for working on Squiddles stuff is, any idea someone has for it automatically becomes Squiddles canon. So really anything going on here, candy corn shrimp, skipper Plumbthroat's connivings, underwater unicorns, all that came together through the collaboration of these artists while I sat quietly and boggled vacantly at their shenanigans. These guys are a bunch of nuts. But they are your nuts, and now their work is yours as well.
Go buy this (cheap!) album and have yourself a friendship aneurysm. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-02-10",
- "timestamp": 1283385600,
- "html": "\n\nNext stop: Rainbow Rumpus Flashtown
\nThat will be the last update while I do a bit of animation. It ought to take... maybe a week? Let's call it a week.
I'm sure I could do it faster. In fact, I can't really promise I won't! (<- horrible thing for me to say, ensuring rampant F5ing several days from now until time of next update.)
But I will err on granting the task a wider berth. I keep making this pact with myself, sort of like a recurring New Year's resolution that has no particular affiliation with any calendar event, that I will try and take it easier on this thing now and then. I repeatedly fail to honor this resolution, and like that pledge to lose those stubborn holiday pounds which so easily falls by the wayside, I cannot seem to shed the drawing hours. And so I keep drawing and wallowing and eating ice cream.
What am I even talking about anymore.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-06-10",
- "timestamp": 1283731200,
- "html": "\n\nSPX
\nBy the way, I will be going to SPX this weekend in Maryland. I hope to see you there, even though statistically speaking, this is quite unlikely!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-08-10",
- "timestamp": 1283904000,
- "html": "\n\nMore fine contributions
\nI will direct your attention to the talented individuals who are responsible for much of the lovely artwork drifting and panning and flickering throughout the latest page. A few new faces there! Also the song, \"Crystamanthequins\", you may have heard already. It appears in Volume 5, and was written by Erik Scheele, a remix of two other great songs by Alexander Rosetti and Perry Sullivan.
I will leave for SPX on Friday, and I will not be making my way back until midweek! There will be a scarcity of activity on this website in the meantime, a predicament all too familiar lately. This will give you plenty of time to digest the gaudy pyrotechnics on display in the recent update, and by the time I get back, you may have settled down. It is then and only then will we attempt to have a reasonable dialogue.
At that point I will begin lowering us responsibly from the present lofty altitude of this story arc, and we may proceed with business as (and please note the disdainful use of quotes and capitalization) \"USUAL\".\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-09-10",
- "timestamp": 1283990400,
- "html": "\n\nAnd...........
\nThat's all I got for you til next week! (9/15)
Also FYI the preorder thing for the troll shirts is over, which means... well, it means you can still order 'em! But only the sizes you see there now. Seems like people liked this idea. We'll try to keep them stocked best we can.
Later!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-19-10",
- "timestamp": 1284854400,
- "html": "\n\nNYCC
\nHELLO. I will be attending the New York Comic Con, and you are invited. I will be situated at a table with Doctor Chris McNinja and Professor Anthony Nedroid. One of these fellows draws Dr. McNinja, and the other one colors it. I will be the third wheel at the table, having nothing to do with McNinja at all. Oh wait, that is not true. I am an avid enjoyer of the series, making me the most important contributor of all.
Have you acquired Anthony's new Beartato book? I did, and you should too. It manages to be so many different kinds of funny when you read it.
I did another soul portrait the other day. It depicts the soul of Jess Fink, a very skilled comic lady. Soon I will corner the soul portrait industry. (i.e. I have already.)
Hey Erail, what does it feel like to get FUCKING BURIED? (Just kidding, you are probably a pretty nice guy. I guess??)
I have not actually been to the Olive Garden yet. Mostly because I have come to sincerely dread the occasion for reasons I don't completely understand. Maybe I will go to a different shit ass restaurant instead. Or maybe I will allocate the monies in an entirely unexpected but equally asinine way!
Stay tuned for a really long time to find out.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-22-10",
- "timestamp": 1285113600,
- "html": "\n\nQnAs
\nA couple days ago I answered some questions. This one in particular you may find helpful in illuminating the thought process behind Homestuck.
Also hey if you ordered any troll shirts they should be in transit quite soon!
Updatewise I might be slowing down a bit soon, because I have a lot of stuff to do. Working on putting out PS book volume 2, among other things. I give you permission to hit F5 with only one finger for a while, instead of drum rolling it with both.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-30-10",
- "timestamp": 1285804800,
- "html": "\n\nSO BUSY
\nRemember when I said \"I might be slowing down a bit soon, because I have a lot of stuff to do.\"?
LIES.
80 pages posted in 7 days since that coy remark. I am not a trustworthy character.
But seriously, I really am very busy!!! Believe me about that! I have to move over this weekend, and then I have to go to NYCC the next. And I've been workin' on new stuff to sell to you for the holidays. Really really busy guys!!!!! I'm not even sure why I'm updating so much. It doesn't actually make sense, and I should stop. What is even the point of this news update here? I don't even know. At this point I'm just trying to talk some sense into myself I guess.
Cindy is also very busy, furiously mailing out shirts as we speak. Let's all email her and thank her for the concerted effort. Oops but your email of gratitude will get drowned out by all of mine, because I just sent her like a thousand emails just now.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-01-10",
- "timestamp": 1285891200,
- "html": "\n\nRyanquest
\nRyan North is a world famous paleontologist; friend. He has found it in his heart to take issue with Jeffrey's courageous plot to rescue me from the Boston area and into the 413 area code of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Or more specifically, his issue appears to be with my brutal dishonesty on the matter. I have clearly behaved like a true scoundrel, the type of subhuman rubbish fit to be hanged and then pelted with mushy produce.
I can never truly mend this atrocious breach in trust, but I will submit this humble gesture to at least begin to reveal the harrowing, limitless expanse of my soul crushing remorse.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-04-10",
- "timestamp": 1286150400,
- "html": "\n\nKNOCK KNOCK, WHO'S THERE? COMICS!!!
\nDudes, if you are coming to New York Comic Con to see Chris and Anthony and me, HERE'S THE DEAL WIT THAT!
Also, if you have been keeping up with the dramatic developments in Ryanquest, here is the continuation and conclusion, all in one!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-06-10",
- "timestamp": 1286323200,
- "html": "\n\nOff I go................
\nTo NEW YORK! I will be there Fri/Sat/Sun. Come see me! Updates resume probably Monday.
If you're waiting on a troll shirt, I have it on good authority that just about all outstanding orders will be in the mail within a week!
Speaking of coolkids clothes, there should be some neat stuff hitting the topatoco store in not too long. So don't spend any of your money. You will need it to buy that stuff, ok??? Cool.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-20-10",
- "timestamp": 1287532800,
- "html": "\n\nSTAND BY
\nMight be a couple days before I can get more pages up. I offer neither excuse nor explanation!
Also, look what is coming up really soon.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-25-10a",
- "timestamp": 1287964800,
- "html": "\n\n???????????????
\nYeah there's a temporary page there cause the real page is running later than I thought, so I'm just kinda steamrolling ahead anyway. Who says you can't do that?? Pansies is who. If you want to know EXACTLY when the real page is up, you could always follow me. Should be real soon.
Here maybe this will help sate your hunger for... something.
Oh also between now and Halloween Topatoco is marking down all their \"Last Chance\" shirts. Any shirt you see there labeled as such, it is your last chance EVER to buy that design!!! What a spooky thought. It is the perfect Halloween promotion.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-25-10b",
- "timestamp": 1287964800,
- "html": "\n\nAlterniabound
\nFor now, available through the mirror, because files which could recently be distributed by this server with ease cannot be anymore, because y'all just keep showing up.
Plenty to say about this I suppose, but for now I'll just thank the sizable group of people who helped make it happen.
First, Alexis who programmed this and everything else you can \"play\" on MSPA. I'm fairly sure he is one of the fastest Flash programmers in the world. To put this in perspective, he programmed this whole thing over the weekend, while still allowing time for Con Air breaks.
The folks pitching in artwork were pivotal in forming the look that was achieved. I was responsible for very little artwork here. I built levels out of tiles and other assets, wrote it and guided its production, but the visuals were primarily supplied and conceived by them. Specifically I should make mention of M Thomas Harding, who helped drive the production of assets pretty hard and played a big part in developing a style for the sprites meant to be reminiscent of Earthbound, a game which has always been a major influence behind Homestuck. And Peter Turner, who designed a ton of tile sets for level building, as well as a lot of the more detailed graphics, like the monsters and lab equipment.
Musically, Toby Fox has got it mostly covered. I originally asked him to just dust off a few tracks from his Alternia album, make them loopable for gameplay, to get those into the mix of the story. But predictably he did one better than that and refined them into new compositions, and added some more swell silly stuff on top of it (e.g. the Cage Theatrics). There's also some really great stuff by a few other guys to be found in the secret room.
What? There's a secret room?? Well, there are a few, but there's one secret secret room. I won't tell you how to find it, because then it would be a dumb secret. Just ask around. See what the word is on \"the street\". You'll figure it out.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-02-10",
- "timestamp": 1288656000,
- "html": "\n\nNEWW is upon us.
\nThe New England Web Comics Week End (NEWCWE, as per the official acronym) is this weekend. Will you be there?? It is the only convention I know of whose primary purpose is to facilitate large groups of people wandering from bar to bar in the evenings. How can you beat that?
Me (right) and KC Green (left) dressed as these guys for Halloween. Tallahassee Econolodge (middle) was Cher, an obvious complement to this posse. We went to a party, and no one knew who we were. This was probably for the best.
I think we are nearly ready to sell some more troll shirts. Whew did we get kind of overwhelmed in the first round. Let's do it again. Hey wouldn't it have been AWESOME if we had them available for your Halloween costumes?? Oh well, instead they will be ready to buy for your annual traditional Christmas Cosplay.
PS Book 2 soon as well!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-11-10",
- "timestamp": 1289433600,
- "html": "\n\nZODIACTION
\nHey look, these are back in stock! If I had to guess though, probably not for too long. But then they will be reback in stock. It all depends on how soon you want to wear something great.
Some other rad stuff to buy coming soon!
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-14-10",
- "timestamp": 1289692800,
- "html": "\n\nTHIS IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT
\nProblem Sleuth Volume Two is here.
![\"PS](\"/archive/social/news/PScover2_thumb.gif\"/)
Please note that if you act quickly enough, I will sign and customize the book(s) for you before they hop into the mail.
And if you were looking for something to keep yourself warm, and/or incredible looking, and would like such an object to accompany the transit of this book, well, look no further than these thumbnails. (Ok, do look further than them. Click them.)
![\"sbahj](\"/archive/social/news/SBAHJ_shirtthumb1.gif\"/)
![\"sbjh](\"/archive/social/news/SBAHJ_shirtthumb2.gif\"/)
This highly elegant merchandise can only serve to pique the curiosity and imagination while making all the sense in the world to your beleaguered pocket book in these troubled economic times.
In the coming weeks, there will be a couple of neat Homestuck shirts in the Topatoco store as well, so keep an eye out for those.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-15-10",
- "timestamp": 1289779200,
- "html": "\n\nNote on book personalizations
\nThe new PS book got so many requests for fairly elaborate sketches all at once, I decided to take down that option for a little while so I can catch up. I'm happy to do sketches of any sort, but I have to limit the influx so as not to get swamped. In a couple days when I'm a little more caught up, I'll put the option back up with a simpler set of sketch options, so it'll be a bit more manageable to keep up with. Sorry if you didn't catch it in time! I'll let you know when it's available again. Be ready, since that won't last long either.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-18-10",
- "timestamp": 1290038400,
- "html": "\n\nUpdate on sketches
\nStill working through the batch I've got. At this point, I will likely reopen them when the new HS shirts are in the store, in a week or two. You may be inclined to get a personalized book along with one of those. But please bear in mind that like last time, personalizations will only be open for a day or two! Also bear in mind, waiting to buy it may have ramifications for whatever your holiday shopping plans may be. The longer you wait, the closer the holiday shipping deadlines loom, whatever they are.
EDIT:
Lexxy who has contributed a lot of great art to recent Homestuck animations has made some very nice HS prints and such which are available in her store. There are some other really cool things there too, which you should totally check out!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-22-10",
- "timestamp": 1290384000,
- "html": "\n\nBREAK TIME
\nYou won't see anything here for a while, because I will be busy with animation chores, ETCETERA. Here is a look at my personal 7 day forecast, and what my primary activity will be each day.
TUE: ANIMATION
WED: SOME ANIMATION, I GUESS
THU: NO ANIMATION AT ALL
FRI: ANIMATION
SAT: ANIMATION
SUN: WEEPING IN THE HORN PILE
MON: ..................
TUE: ????????????
WED: WAIT, THIS IS 9 DAYS. WHAT THE HELL?
I don't think an itinerary can get any easier to decipher than that. Hope everyone has a cool holiday! People who aren't American don't even know what I'm talking about.
edit: I do not actually mean this will take nine days, try not to be so literal.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-28-10",
- "timestamp": 1290902400,
- "html": "\n\nAlbums forthcoming
\nHey look, I finished before Weeping on the Horn Pile Day. Thank goodness for that, I was not looking forward to getting my honk sob on.
The song in \"Jade: Enter.\" was called \"Umbral Ultimatum\", by Toby Fox, and it will be included in Homestuck Volume 6 in several weeks.
But even sooner than that, there will be another unrelated album! Something that's been in the works for quite a while. Keep an eye out for it this week.
PS - An update such as this is sure to invite many questions. And it surely did.
edit: I have updated the Homestuck map. This is starting to become a pretty gaudy document. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-02-10",
- "timestamp": 1291248000,
- "html": "\n\nThe Felt
\nA new album, self-titled, The Felt.
In the same vein as the Midnight Crew fake band album, but where MC was a dark jazz band, the Felt is an orchestral group. The idea I proposed earlier in the year was an orchestral sound with \"temporal effects.\" Notes, melodies, rhythms played backwards, forwards, rewinding and such, as if the music itself was subject to their powers of time distortion. The sound also took on some electronic, sort of ambient qualities as it developed. You could refer to the genre as \"temporelechestral.\" If you wanted to say a mouthful.
![\"The](\"/archive/social/news/felt_cover.gif\"/)
Nice job to Clark Powell for mastering this whole thing, as well as including a few of his own great songs in the list too. The whole thing strikes me as a very tight bit of production.
Sick cover art by hypertalented and prolific HS fan artist, SkepticArcher.
Volume 6 to come in a few weeks!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-06-10",
- "timestamp": 1291593600,
- "html": "\n\nShirts
\nLooks like we got more troll shirts in the store. Plus more neat stuff coming out very soon!
I'm sure I will also be dispensing info on holiday shipping deadlines soon as well. For now, let's just say the sooner you get what you want, the better. Yes, I can hear you saying OH REALLY?? That's quite an attitude you're sporting there!
---EDIT---
The band of fine artists who've been contributing to Flash animations have produced a very cool HS calendar! They organized the project themselves and put together a bunch of great illustrations for it. Buying it is a nice way to offer them some support.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-12-10",
- "timestamp": 1292112000,
- "html": "\n\nAW YEAH -- NEW SHIRTS
\nHey look at these! Some cool new shirt designs, to match more recent Homestuck fashions. How cool is that? A: Insanely.
![\"Shirts\"](\"/archive/social/news/shirts12-13.jpg\"/)
These came out so great. I'm especially stoked about that long sleeve one, cause I've never sold anything without lopped off sleeves. They're all super comfy. Are you excited about them as I am? (Please say yes please say yes please say yes.)
Also, make sure you pay attention to those holiday shipping deadlines. Time is REALLY running out to ensure the mailman gets to you in time.
------------ TOPATOCO RELATED NEWS ------------
There's going to be another shirt coming out through Topatoco some time too. (It is Jade's shirt in fact!) Also I had promised to reopen the custom book sketches before the holidays too, but it's likely I'll have to delay that til probably after the holidays, and I am sorry to disappoint. Volume at Topatoco is so high, they can't really handle the extra load that would create.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-15-10",
- "timestamp": 1292371200,
- "html": "\n\nShirt re-ups
\nA lot of those shirt sizes sold out very fast (i.e. < 1 day), especially the record one. If you missed out, please be patient! Should have everything restocked in a couple weeks.
Hard to keep up with demand this time of year. I could have had more made, but then it would have been impossible to ship all the orders on time! Business be challenging, yo.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-17-10",
- "timestamp": 1292544000,
- "html": "\n\nSongs
\nIn case you didn't realize, the last couple Flash pages aren't using new music. They were both plucked from the towering Volume 5 playlist. The one from Enter Village was \"Planet Healer\", and the one from Jade's imp strife was \"Sunslammer\", both by Beatfox. The one from Rise up was \"Savior of the Waking World\" by Radiation. Thanks to those guys for making those tunes many months ago. There is plenty of new music in Volume 6 looming on the horizon. Don't worry, I didn't forget about it.
Also thanks to Lexxy, the lone art contribution ninja here for supplying the Jade/Dave/Rose shots. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-25-10",
- "timestamp": 1293235200,
- "html": "\n\nMerry perpetual 4/13/09
\nI am pretty sure I am the only guy who gives his comic characters huge windfalls of actual presents every Christmas, who is not also stupid and clinically insane. The good news is that this doubles as a present for YOU, the reader, as a small gesture to compensate for the fact that Jade's presents are all so, so much better than what you got.
I might be out of action for a few days! We'll see. Everybody have a great day today, as well as all days that follow it. Oh yes, you heard me right, my well wishes for you span THE LIMITLESS FRONTIER CALLED THE FUTURE. My yuletide benevolence is utterly inexhaustible.
UPDATE: WHOA HEY. Check it out. A bunch of guys from the music team put together a sweet Christmas album at breakneck speed! It's quite great, and virtually free. They're giving all the proceeds to charity. NICE JOB DUDES.
On the subject of tunes, vol. 6 should be hitting the streets right around new year's, I'm gonna say.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-29-10",
- "timestamp": 1293580800,
- "html": "\n\nShirt preorders
\nWe are restocking some shirts very soon, so there will be a week-long preorder phase. this presents a very good opportunity to buy them for several reasons!
1) You are reserving a shirt, so there is no need to try to pounce on a particular item and worry about it selling out right away.
2) You can pick from a much wider variety of sizes than are usually offered. Since we're printing up a whole bunch, slipping in some orders for odd sizes becomes no big deal!
All shirt designs are preorderable, including the troll shirts as well as the three designs below. (Note this doesn't apply to Topatoco stuff. That's a whole different thing!) After the week of preorders, stuff will start shipping about two weeks after that. Thanks for the patience!
\n"
- }
- ],
- "11": [
- {
- "id": "1-04-11",
- "timestamp": 1294099200,
- "html": "\n\nVolume 6: Heir Transparent
\nNew album!
![\"Volume](\"/archive/social/news/vol6_coverthumb.jpg\"/)
This is pretty easily my favorite album so far. It's such a great mix of silly songs and kickass songs and all the wonderful moments where those two types of songs intersect. Sometimes those moments even span entire songs. Please enjoy this.
Awesome job by the guys as usual. Nice mastering work by Jeremy, author of the first and last songs.
I drew the cover in case you couldn't tell. I have a feeling SOMEBODY out there might ask for a desktop version so before you get all flustered about that, here it is to be adapted to your viewing device however you choose.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-06-11",
- "timestamp": 1294272000,
- "html": "\n\nBook personalizations, prints, and Jadeshirts.
\nAs promised, PS book personalizations are open again for a brief period. This time, you can select a character from a dropdown, and supply a phrase for me to write. A little less open ended than last time, but this way, it will not take me weeks to do them.
Also, there are some nice new prints in the store! Mostly some album covers, which I know some people have had their eyes on.
And finally, the Jade shirt, so you and your friends can finally complete your lofty cosplaying ambitions. OR, simply exist in the world fashionably, if you prefer.
![\"Devilbeast](\"/archive/social/news/devilbeast_shirtgraphic.gif\"/)
Also, you may recall there was some mystery surrounding whether the SBaHJ shirt GLOWNS IN THE DARK, or not.
Well here is the thing with that. Originally, it did not, on account of manufacturing limitations at the time. But now, in its second run, IT DOES IN FACT GLOWN IN THE DARK. So if the lights go out at the party, people will see nothing but Hella Jeff's eyes looming in midair. If you wish to make this scenario a terrifying reality, and only bought one the first time, then I can think of no better reason to buy the alternate color and beef up that wardrobe.
And once again, my marketing genius strikes like a coiled serpent, entirely on accident, as usual.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-11-11",
- "timestamp": 1294704000,
- "html": "\n\nSketch deadline
\nLast chance to get a personalized book is 6:00 PM tomorrow!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-16-11",
- "timestamp": 1295136000,
- "html": "\n\nMegalovania was
\nbrought to you by HS soundsmithing zealot Radiation and soon to be rockstar Tensei. It is found on Volume 6.
Let it also be known there is a new FS account, now burdened by one thousand two hundred less questions.
Would anyone like to come to this? There will be video games, and comic guys, and unsurprisingly, no ice skating at all.
EDIT ABOUT SBAHJ SHIRTS:
I mentioned that the second run of them GLOWN IN THE DARK. And that is true! However, the thing is, some of those new shirts got mixed in the the old ones. So I guess if you order one there is still a CHANCE you will get one that doesn't glow in the dark? So really the offer stands as the wild card originally advertised.
I guess if you make a big point of asking topatoco for a glowing one they MAY be able to give you one? It all depends on how much you feel like making guys like KC Green and John Keogh take a shirt into a dark room to verify this. I don't know what else to tell you really.
This is just the kind of thing we all have to deal with when a guy is allowed to produce merchandise for the shittiest comic ever made.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-26-11",
- "timestamp": 1296000000,
- "html": "\n\nPreorders
\nAll preordered shirts will ship very soon, if they have not been \nalready! (troll shirts, broken record) Store should also be restocked \nwith stuff in a few days.
All personalized books have been deployed in the mail as well! \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-02-11",
- "timestamp": 1296604800,
- "html": "\n\nStore Restocked + Wallpaper
\nA lot of stuff in the store has been restocked! As usual, it's anyone's guess how long it stays there. \n
\nAlso, you can make donations to the folks from the art team and get some great wallpaper in return! It looks to be a recurring thing with a new wallpaper each month, and it's a nice way to show them some support. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-16-11",
- "timestamp": 1297814400,
- "html": "\n\nSTRIFE!
\nNew album!
![\"Strife!\"](\"/archive/social/news/strifealbumcover.gif\"/)
\n\nThis is a solo album by Tensei (Joren de Bruin). I was really impressed with his stuff, so a while ago asked him to put together an album. We talked about it and thought it would be cool to make a bunch of battle music for hypothetical STRIFE pages. I think two words that adequately describe how it came out are holy shit. His rock sound is sick, incredibly polished and well produced. You'll hear more from him for sure. (And in fact, you just did! He made the Mexican Standoff tune in the new Flash page.)\n\n
\n\nSpeaking of sick, check the cover art by Tauhid. The dude can draw. If I ever stopped doing Homestuck, the whole enterprise could be kept aloft by the prepsterous amount of talent which appears to orbit me.\n\n
\n\nOn that note, latest Flash page's art assets provided almost exclusively by people who are not me. Particular props there to Vivus, Lexxy, SkepticArcher, Tynic and Eyes, though other people made stuff I couldn't fit in cause I was dumb and also kinda firehosed the thing out in a few hours with them all on the fly.\n\n
\n\nOn albums: I'd like to put out more solo albums. The sound guys have a lot of good stuff to share. I'm thinking of doing an \"Artist of the Month\" thing, in addition to continue to release the more general story albums. I guess what I'm saying is - MORE MUSIC FOR YOU. I'm trying to keep these pretty cheap. $4.13's a good number. Get used to seeing it! (as if you aren't already)\n\n
\n\nOn PURCHASABLE PRODUCTS: Aaargh, I should have said earlier that last time I announced the restock, we sold out of shit again pretty much on that same day. Oops. There will be more VERY soon, plus we're trying to put in motion getting some COOL GOD TIER HOODIES off the ground, cause I know a bunch of people have been asking about that. One thing you can do is follow What Pumpkin on twitter and get more up to the minute news about product stuff. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-26-11",
- "timestamp": 1298678400,
- "html": "\n\nRehosting for real this time
\nWe'll be rehosting the site over the weekend to upgrade the server and hopefully improve site performance. Not totally sure how long this will take, but we might see a few days without updates. You have already worn your F5 key down to a useless nub, so please take advantage of this time to go easy on it. Maybe try some other F keys for a while? They're nice too. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-02-11",
- "timestamp": 1299024000,
- "html": "\n\nStore restocks soon
\nFirst, big thanks to Brian for helping out with the rehosting process. Everything is moved over and the new server is crazy fast. Now looking foward to posting something which would make the old server shit itself and tumble down a long flight of stairs while screaming.\n\n
\n\nAnd a notice of warning: the WP store will restock very soon. Let's say within 24 hours. I'll let you know when it's official. But the twitter account will let you know at the PRECISE moment.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-03-11",
- "timestamp": 1299110400,
- "html": "\n\nAaaaaaaaaaand
\nStore is restocked!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-11-11",
- "timestamp": 1299801600,
- "html": "\n\noh noo japan :'(
\nGuys, today Japan got clobbered by most of the ocean. This is terrible. Japan has given us so much. It is time we gave something back. Here's one such way.\n
\n\nSorry for the sparse updates lately. Been kinda busy. Hopefully I'll get into a rhythm again soon. You'll have trouble keeping up with it in no time at all. Then you'll be frustrated for that reason instead of this one.\n\n
\n\nAlso a while ago I mentioned I would be trying to release an album every month. I did not forget! Keep your ears perked. So much music will fill them soon, I'm telling you.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-14-11",
- "timestamp": 1300060800,
- "html": "\n\nAlterniabound
\nAs promised, another album this month.\n\n
\n![\"Alterniabound\"](\"/archive/social/news/alterniabound_album.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nI think I'll let the music speak for itself! It is a collaboration among numerous artists, but Radiation did most of the legwork in organizing this effort. Super cover art by SaffronScarf!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-20-11a",
- "timestamp": 1300579200,
- "html": "\n\nSquiddles for Japan
\nSORRY, SOLD OUT ALREADY.\n
\n\nFor a while I have been meaning to think of ways to channel the enthusiasm of the MSPA readership towards charitable purposes. I believe the ongoing calamity in Japan presents such an opportunity for us all to help. So here is my idea for how we can raise money to donate to relief efforts. SQUIDDLES FOR JAPAN!\n\n
\n![\"Squiddles!\"](\"/archive/social/news/charitysquiddles.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nFor a minimum donation of $100, you can buy one pair of plush squiddles, and we will ship them to you. $100 is the minimum, but you may donate more, and are certainly encouraged to since every dollar donated will go to charity. There are only 20 pairs available. They come in a variety of colors, more than those shown in the photo. We will choose the colors you get. It will be a surprise!\n\n
\nEyes5 made this batch for me a while ago, and they're quite nice. I considered selling them, but held off, since I figured people might find the very limited supply a bit frustrating. I think this is a better way to apply this friendly tangled mass. The high price reflecting limited supply is much more justifiable to me when it is for charity.\n\n
\n\nIf these sell out quickly, I may think of another way to reward those who wish to donate for something. We'll see how this goes. But if that's a bit much for you to afford, or they sell out or whatever, I'd urge you to think about contributing what you can regardless. The consequences of the disaster aren't going away! Even though it was more than a week ago, it keeps being terrible.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-20-11b",
- "timestamp": 1300579200,
- "html": "\n\nAnother offer
\nDONATION DRIVE HAS ENDED! I'm no longer accepting sketch requests! Thanks for all the donations, which total $5,000. Even though sketch donations are closed, please still consider donating directly to relief efforts, such as this one.\n
\n\nThe squiddles ran out fast (see post below). More than $2000 in about an hour isn't too bad! Thanks to those who donated.\n\n
\n\nI think I will leave the option to donate open, but I'll revise the offer. If you donate $100 or more, I'll mail you a sketch. Just tell me what you'd like in the message box. I'll leave this open for a day or so and see what rolls in.\n\n
\n\nBut if you request a sketch, please be a bit patient! It may take me a little while to get to them all. I will be pretty busy soon.\n\n
\n\nOn the subject of me being busy, I probably won't be able to update for a couple days! Busy being busy.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-23-11",
- "timestamp": 1300838400,
- "html": "\n\nZillyhoo
\nBelieve it or not, MG Bowman had the Zillyhoo song lying around for quite a long time. I'd forgotten about it, and was reminded of it last night, so the obvious thing to do was to make something ridiculous.\n\n
\n\nAlso, let's not forget where the legendary hammer came from in the first place (thanks Nik + Ryan). Quite a few of those old donation commands have been canonized through HS, including its main villain (sorta).\n\n
\n\nedit: re: those squiddle plushes: a lot of people have expressed fondness for them and wondered about whether similar products may be available to purchase in the future. I am definitely looking into it. Some things are very easy to make, like shirts. Others are a lot trickier, like toys, especially in significant volume. I promise this is being explored. It may take months before we see anything though. Patience!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-04-11",
- "timestamp": 1301875200,
- "html": "\n\nMoving
\nRate of output has been pretty sluggish lately, not only due to Flash exertions, but because I've been running around preparing to move to a new place. You will see nothing here for a couple more days because that is when I will ACTUALLY move. Moving for me is a multi-annual tradition, much like killing John has become. \n\n
\n\nLet's pause to enjoy the 2x Malcolm Brown combo featured in the two recent animations. Both songs were provided by him, in addition to such HS classics as Showtime and Harleboss. I bet you are wondering if the complete versions of the songs will be available in a future album. Please consult your magic cue balls for a reliable forecast. I am winking right now.\n\n
\n\nLet's also pause to notice a few of Lexxy's drawings which snuck into the [S]==> page. Can you find them? You probably already did without me even saying anything. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-14-11",
- "timestamp": 1302739200,
- "html": "\n\n4/13
\nTwo years of Homestuck!\n\n
\n\nBut before we talk about that, let's carefully examine this fine new album by Clark Powell, who is responsible for such HS scores as Three in the Morning, and the Gate 1 Doctor remix, as well as a plethora of other album songs.\n\n
\n![\"Medium\"](\"/archive/social/news/mediumcover.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nThis one's very cool. Clark has a great ambient sound, and his idea for the album was to musically express the Medium's planets, through both their elements and themes. I think he nailed it. Cover art was tag-teamed by me and Cindy (the lady who touches all your WP shirts).\n\n
\n\nAlso: New Topatoco items!\n
\n![\"Hoodies\"](\"/archive/social/news/sbahj_and_hoodie.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nFirst of all, you will notice there are two new Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff shirts. People are always coming up to me and saying \"we NEED more insanely shitty looking shirts to wear to places like church and stuff.\" What choice to I have but to serve these rowdy individuals with dollars in their hands and outstanding taste in their opinions???\n\n
\n\nIn truth, Jeffrey and I cannot help ourselves from attempting to capitalize on this nonsense, because we both need aggressive psychiatric examination. But if you don't buy these shirts, we will both feel ashamed and foolish. Please buy these shirts. I'm begging you. If you don't, we will probably weep in each others arms, swaddled in an orange heap of 3000 dunking Big Men. As an incentive, I will make this solemn pledge. If I sell out of all of these SBaHJ shirts within a week, you are guaranteed to discover that I have permanently emblazoned SBaHJ iconography on my body somewhere, with real, honest to gog foreverink. You'll wonder how high I even will have had to have been. Fact. 8^y\n\n
\n\nAlso note the classy Sepulchritude hoodie, perfect complement to your Sepulchritude tee. I will be coming out with HS god tier hoodies soon through What Pumpkin, and I thought that as long as such garments were being offered, it would be nice to have a Problem Sleuth one in the mix too. Plus, the godhoods won't have zipper fronts, and this one does. So if you like to zip up, like if that's your thing, then this is for you.\n\n
\n4/13/11\n
\n\nThe two year anniversary of HS has come and gone. Not as much fanfare in-story about it as I'd hoped, but at least it got a nod. Remember when games came on multiple disks? You always were asked to swap during a kind of peculiar and underwhelming moment, like walking through a thing, or talking to a guy. Sometimes it was shortly after you got an airship, or something. \n\n
\n\nI had plans to do something a little more mesmerizing, like last year, but started running out of time. So I revised the plans, then ran out of time for THOSE too. And so on, til I said screw it. Disc 1 probably wouldn't have been able to fit another hefty animation in it anyway. Those discs are only like what, 700 MB??\n\n
\n\nIt takes a lot to meet a deadline coming up fast, when the thing you are planning is meant to be a BIG DEAL, by definition. First you must come up with an animation idea, and that itself will take a long time to make. Then you must move the story along to the exact precipice of that moment, which also takes time, and must do so with enough time left to animate! Plenty of ways to blow it. Making this story on the fly requires not just a lot of drawing and writing, but the sensibilities of a producer. Knowing when to appropriate large amounts of effort for what purposes given various time constraints. I make adjustments to plans all the time, just like I did with the last 4/13 milestone (was originally scheduling end of act 4 for that). Hence this milestone was less jaw dropping, but then if you recall, the original 4/13 celebration was pretty underwhelming too. What will next 4/13 bring? Guess we'll see.\n\n
\n\nIf I'm taking the time to reflect on two years of Homestuck as an achievement I'll do so here only as a gesture of gratitude to the steadfast readers, new and old. I am humbled by your devotion. This is not any sort of platitude to be dismissed as quasi-sincere acceptance speech fodder, or a dispatch from my PR department because sometimes you guys give me money for stuff. This is sincerely true. I look around and still cannot quite believe the magnitude of the enthusiasm that surrounds this story. I stopped being able to keep track of all the fan art for it more than a year ago, and even then there were thousands of fan-made images I would diligently attempt to pore through. I have honestly never seen so much fan art created for anything, anywhere, ever. Even things which have millions of dollars backing their production budgets. Maybe Harry Potter has more? (Alright let's get real. HS fan art is probably just now beginning to approach the subset of drawings that involve Harry being naked with somebody.) Greater and greater hordes of troll cosplayers can be spotted taking over the floors of conventions. You could have pressed me on the subject, but I never would have guessed anyone could be quite so tickled to be slathered in messy gray makeup and crowned by a homemade pair of horns. There is this seething passion for HS that is a self-organizing, autonomous entity unto itself, which is practically inaccessible to my understanding or involvement, even though I'm responsible for the content driving it. I've kept Homestuck's fire hot; its gaping furnace was hungry for coal so I got goddamn shoveling. But you have been responsible for breathing life into this monstrous organism which surrounds me, and now in its breadth transcends my work entirely. To thank you as a whole for this phenomenon almost doesn't sound rational. It's like thanking a furious thunderstorm for the deluge of rain it gave to your thirsty little box of poseys. My paltry utterance dissipates in the far deep rumbling. The clouds don't even notice I'm there because they're too busy swapping fan fiction. Maybe instead I'll offer something more significant than gratitude. Something more personal and experiential. I'll submit my amazement. You can't see me now, but it is a look of wonder and discovery. A boyish look of astonishment at something remarkable beyond words, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, but on a more cosmic scale and more viscerally shocking. Like a squealing horrorterror's gruesome Cesarean birth. That is the look I have every time I disrupt the tunnel vision that keeps the work's bright sun searing my eyes. When they adjust to the dark, I see the silhouette in soft black focus of the young planet sized monster, chirping its affections. I offer it this look because it is all I have to give, with the exception of the tears streaming down my face. Its hunger is piqued at the fluid and my only regret is I can never possibly provide enough to nourish the orphan, now that it can never know the taste of its dead mother's heinous teatbrine.\n\n
\n\nOr...\n\n
\n\nOr I could just say thanks guys.\n\n
\n\nLET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN YEAR THREE!!!!!!!!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-28-11a",
- "timestamp": 1303948800,
- "html": "\n\nInsert disc 2
\nFACT: You will navigate the latest pages in different ways depending on your browser conditions. \n\nAt the end of Insert disc 2, on many browsers (e.g. mine), you will automatically be redirected to the next page when it finishes \"loading\", or you may get there by clicking the link to \"[S] Seer: Ascend\" inside the Flash panel. These features will not work for some browsers, and instead you will see this message. Accessing that url will redirect you to the next page, [S] Seer: Ascend.\n
\n\nNote that there is no hyperlink to the next page below the disc 2 panel, and never will be. You must venture into disc 2 through one of the ways described above! I probably wouldn't have even bothered mentioning this if not for the browser compatibility hiccup. \n\n
\nThe SbaHJ shirts.....: it is turning into a proud tradition that several weeks after releasing any SBaHJ product I must inform you that they all do in fact glow in the dark, in case you didn't realize. Please suspend this alarming reality in your thoughts as you urgently scramble to use your dollars to make them become your property. \n\n
\n\nSpeaking of scrambling, dollars, and your ludicrous zeal for all the insanely rad things I advise you to drape over your body, there will be lots of cool new things in the WP store, very, very soon.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-28-11b",
- "timestamp": 1303948800,
- "html": "\n\nTCAF
\nI should also mention that soon I will be attending TCAF! If you can make it to Canada, you should come. If you happen to already be in Canada, then you really have no excuse not to go.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-04-11",
- "timestamp": 1304467200,
- "html": "\n\nGod Tier Hoodies
\nNew god tier hoodies in the What Pumpkin store! Plus a bunch of other new items, and a restocking of existing ones.\n\n
\n![\"God](\"/archive/social/news/godtierhoodiesphoto.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nOnly John's and Vriska's are available for now. There are more planned for the near future. (i.e. Aradia's) Note that there are t-shirt versions of the hoodies too, at different shades for a little variety (the tee colors actually correspond to the darker color of the hoods in the comic). Also take a look at the new long sleeve Jade shirt, with her vintage atom symbol. I think it's a nice complement to Dave's broken record shirt, which has the same raglan sleeve style. \n\n
\n\nAlso: PRINTS! There are many great HS fan artists out there, in the art team and otherwise. For a while I have have the idea to offer prints of selected works here and there. For now there are some by art team members Lexxy and SA. I hope to add more to this page gradually.\n\n
\n\nAnd one last point on the store. Please take notice of the new support system. If you have a question or a problem with an order, please go through that! The old What Pumpkin email address has gotten swamped with so many different types of correspondence, it's become very difficult to field support cases through it. If you use the new system, rapid satisfaction is considerably more likely!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-05-11",
- "timestamp": 1304553600,
- "html": "\n\nOff I go
\nOk, I am heading to TorontoCAF. I will see you there.\n
\n\nBe back next week. That is where all the updates will be hiding. The future.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-15-11",
- "timestamp": 1305417600,
- "html": "\n\nDry spell
\nNine days without a new page is a pretty long time! What was even UP with me? 5 days in Toronto + 4 days animating I guess is what was up. Ok that sounds reasonable. Everyone agrees with that and holds the creator exempt from charges of gross dereliction. We all smile pretty hard and our faces begin to hurt a little.\n\n
\n\nThe song is M. Brown's BL1ND JUST1C3 : 1NV3ST1G4T1ON !! and can be found in an existing album, unmolested by disc errors.\n\n
\n\nSpeaking of which, there will be more music on Bandcamp some time this month, won't there? Yes. Let me go talk it over with the music guys and see what we can put together for you over the next week or two. Hold on, let me go do that now, don't go anywhere.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-26-11",
- "timestamp": 1306368000,
- "html": "\n\nThings
\nIf you ordered something from the WP store earlier in the month, those items have either been shipped already or will be very soon. \n\n
\n\nAlso, all of the charity squiddles have shipped too. If you ordered one, and it doesn't arrive in the next week or two, let me know and I will look into it. As for the charity sketches, those I will be completing and mailing shortly as well. \n\n
\n\nMusic: Albums incoming. Hang in there. I estimate they will drop within a week. They will contain songs you have heard, and many you haven't. They are great.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-31-11",
- "timestamp": 1306800000,
- "html": "\n\nTwo Albums
\nHomestuck Volume 7: At the Price of Oblivion\n
\n![\"Volume](\"/archive/social/news/vol7coverthumb.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nand...\n\n
\n\nA solo album by Michael Guy Bowman called Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido\n
\n![\"Mobius](\"/archive/social/news/mt_hk_coverthumb.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nVolume 7 is pretty self explanatory. Contains many songs from the story, plus a bunch of other great new ones. I say this every time, but this is now the best HS volume. AND IT KEEPS BEING TRUE EVERY TIME I SAY IT.\n\n
\n\nOn the solo album: M.G. Bowman has done a lot to shape the sound of Homestuck. Among his contributions were Explore and Sburban Jungle (end of acts 2 and 3 music). He is also a mastermind behind the ambitious Hare Force One project (people ship Con Air bunnies to each other all over the globe). For his album, he has created two characters whose names are featured in the title. They exist somewhere in the Homestuck universe, playing their own session, and each song captures something about their adventure. See his website for what he has to say about it personally. I think it's a really fun and creative album with a fantastic sound.\n\n
\nTavia Morra and Richard Gung, both art team contributors, worked on the art for this album together. Tavia and Michael themselves actually dress up as the characters and pose in the album graphics. These are serious entertainers, folks.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-20-11",
- "timestamp": 1308528000,
- "html": "\n\nTraveling
\nI'll be out of town for a week, from 6/21 to 6/27. I will try to get some work done while I'm on the road, but updates will most likely be sparse til then. I am just doing you the service of liberating you from this extremely engaging web comic for a short period of time, so that you are free to go do other things, like play volleyball on the beach, and give high fives to your coolest friends. \n\n
\n\nI also feel that it is important to make an annual tradition of announcing a week long hiatus after sequences culminating in sloppy makeouts. What makeouts will be happening next year? How sloppy will they be? This is how I keep people hooked.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-07-11",
- "timestamp": 1309996800,
- "html": "\n\nOh Hey.
\nTwo points of business to trouble you with. ONE: The What Pumpkin store has, mostly, been restocked. TWO: There's a good chance that the Bandcamp page will have new content some time next week.\n\n
\n\nThat's all for now!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-14-11",
- "timestamp": 1310601600,
- "html": "\n\nWanderers + Sburb
\n![\"The](\"/archive/social/news/wanderers_albumcover.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Sburb\"](\"/archive/social/news/sburb_albumcover.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nThe first, an Exile-centric album brought to you by a collection of artists. The second, a solo album composed by Tyler Dever and performed by Erik Scheele. Both are great!\n\n
\n\nAre you running out of room on your ipod yet? You might have to start deleting some of that crappy non-HS music soon. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-29-11",
- "timestamp": 1311897600,
- "html": "\n\nWHOOPS, PAUSE
\nI'm heading out for the weekend. I had planned on putting something up before I left, but guess I'm running late with it. Wasn't planning on a break of such length, but looks like there'll be nothing to see until next week, due to *mishaps*.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-19-11",
- "timestamp": 1313712000,
- "html": "\n\nOh snop.
\nMost sincere apologies I will not be launching into the three month SBaHJ-skinned interlude I may have tempted you with like so much forbidden fruit. \n\n
\n\nNew look for the site! A few style changes and some stuff jumped way over <- there to the left, instead of to the right. It is frightening and different. Site facelift nicely handled by Tauhid. The What Pumpkin site also has a new look, thanks to Cindy's tireless HTMachinations.\n\n
\n\nOn that note, some store announcements! First of all, there is a bit of a clearance sale going on. $3 off most of the shirts, to make space for more stuff. Soon, those designs will be available through Topatoco, so don't worry, you'll still be able to get your hands on those shirts later if they run out.\n\n
\n\nI mentioned before I'd be offering more cool prints from a variety of great HS fan artists. Some from the stable of Flash contributors with whom we're familiar, and some from people who are just out there, whipping up awesome things by dint of self-propelled moxie alone. Buying these is an even more tangible, fiscally measurable way to show them support beyond reblogging their tumblrs. \n\n
\n\nAlso, check out these really cool pins! They're shiny and enamel and when gathered together they become indistinguishable from the sort of shimmering riches over which blood has been spilt. We should have a wider variety of these in stock later too.\n\n
\n![\"Pins](\"/archive/social/news/pins-sm-1.gif\"/)
![\"Pins](\"/archive/social/news/pins-sm-2.gif\"/)
\n
\n![\"Prints](\"/archive/social/news/prints-sm-1.gif\"/)
![\"Prints](\"/archive/social/news/prints-sm-2.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nAnd one more thing. New album dropping in a few days. It is by Mr. Solatrus.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-22-11a",
- "timestamp": 1313971200,
- "html": "\n\nshoooooooshoooshooshoshshshshhhh
\nThe most recent animation was papped tenderly by the skilled hands of Vivus and Laz, and now their lovely artwork has shooshed into all of our hearts forever. Also the music is The Carnival by Jit and it is found in Volume 7.\n\n
\n\nmore announcements sooooooooooon\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-22-11b",
- "timestamp": 1313971200,
- "html": "\n\nProspit & Derse
\n![\"Prospit](\"/archive/social/news/prospitdersealbum.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nA solo album by Jeremy Iamurri.\n\n
\n\nCover art by Lexxy & SkepticArcher.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-22-11c",
- "timestamp": 1313971200,
- "html": "\n\nTHAT'S IT!
\nThose are the last updates you'll see until the end of act 5 animation.\n\n
\n\nThis means there will be a major content freeze. I will probably not even begin serious work on the animation for a couple weeks. There's still a lot of prep work and organization to do. That, and I have to catch up on some other stuff, like work on books, sketches and such. All the stuff I've been neglecting for many months while working on the comic. \n\n
\n\nOnce I start on the animation, I can't say for sure how long it'll take, and I hesitate to give an estimate now. It's probably best to be prepared for another wait on the order of weeks. If you check back in a couple weeks, I may have a better forecast.\n\n
\n\nIn the meantime, it'll pay to stop by now and then. There should be more new stuff appearing in the Topatoco and What Pumpkin stores pretty soon. I might also toy with ideas for some content to put up here and there to cut the boredom of the wait, if I can think of something that won't take much of my time. We'll see.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-26-11",
- "timestamp": 1314316800,
- "html": "\n\nIMPORTANT REITERATIONS
\nIf you missed the announcement, any shirt that is currently sold out in the What Pumpkin store is going to be available again soon in the Topatoco store.\n\n
\n\nAnd again, there will be a better estimate on when the animation will be finished in a couple weeks. Look out for this estimate on September 5th. In the interim, look out for other announcements regarding the store.\n\n
\n\nI am very busy right now. Busier than usual, in spite of the fact that I am neither working on updates, nor on the animation yet. This is not a break.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-04-11",
- "timestamp": 1315094400,
- "html": "\n\nNew Topatoco Shirts
\n![\"Troll](\"/archive/social/news/trollshirt_graphic.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nThere are now troll shirts plus a few other designs moved over from the What Pumpkin store to the Topatoco store. One of the major new perks here is now these all come in girl sizes too!\n\n
\n\nThese designs came out bigger on the shirt than a lot of people were expecting. It seems some people see this as an improvement, while others prefer the old icon dimensions, which were a little closer to how it looked in the comic. I really don't know what the concensus is on this, so I thought I'd run a poll. Your input is appreciated! \n\n
\n\nEdit: Thank you for supplying your important consumer data. Seems like quite a lot of people still want the smaller designs. We're going to reprint them closer to how they used to be. The new batch should be ready in a couple weeks. Til then, hang in there!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-06-11",
- "timestamp": 1315267200,
- "html": "\n\nNext time on Homestuck
\nI said I'd give a forecast on when to expect the next animation to be finished. So here you go.\n\n
\n\nI can't imagine there'll be anything to see here until at least three weeks from now. I'd like to give a more optimistic outlook. In the past, such optimism has been misleading. \n\n
\n\nOne problem is, I don't have the running start I usually do. The song isn't finished, for one thing. Not quite sure when it will be, but it's a process I'm staying more closely involved with than usual. I also have almost no art assets to work with yet. Can't do much until more pieces fall into place. This is a very different type of project than in the past. By which I mainly mean, there's a lot more preplanning than my typical shotgun approach involves. \n\n
\n\nSome of this planning took place over the last couple weeks. In that time, I also worked on some books which I hope will be real objects soon. And if all this wasn't enough, I somehow squeezed another moving job into the schedule. Nice!\n\n
\n\nBut please to continue to stop by. More things will definitely appear in the news. Perhaps you'd like to refamiliarize yourself with all 6000 pages of MSPA? As a special bonus, for the next 3+ weeks, the 6000th page will loop right back to the very first page! Like a fearsome ouroboros, greedy for its own tail.\n\n
\n\nI didn't say this was a GREAT bonus. Only that it was SPECIAL.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-21-11",
- "timestamp": 1316563200,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Progress](\"/archive/social/news/EOAprogress.gif\"/)
\n
\n\n^^^ There is a crude progress bar indicating the animation's state of completion, which I may or may not forget to update as I continue to trudge across the Flash timeline. Check back routinely to see if I remembered! It may very well have advanced to the right by several pixels.\n\n
\n\nOnly now, a month into this dreadful content drought, have I begun to achieve what vaguely resembles a stride with this thing. This achievement coincides impeccably with a variety of flu-like symptoms. The invading organisms believe they can slow me down, but they're wrong. I am smarter than all of them combined, and literally a trillion times bigger. There is no contest, really.\n\n
\n\nWe have new products to sell in the WP store. Oh god, you are going to want them. You will want them, and they will disappear from the store faster than anyone can believe. But I will not sell them just yet.\n\n
\n\nWe're fixing some things first. We are getting a few more people on board to ship things, such that they may arrive faster. And getting a better customer support system. We used to have a very shitty support system in place, so naturally we decided to upgrade to an even shittier system. To my understanding, it is currently the software equivalent of writing your query down on a slip of paper, and tucking it under your pillow. So please stay tuned for a new system that hopefully will not hinge on the reliability of nocturnal fairies.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-30-11",
- "timestamp": 1317340800,
- "html": "\n\nThere is a new support system in place for the store. If you have questions about an order, you may submit here: whatpumpkin.assistly.com/\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-05-11",
- "timestamp": 1317772800,
- "html": "\n\nTime and Space hoodies! Also: tee shirts. Let's additionally pay attention to those eight empty slots beneath the four god tier designs, and wonder about those.\n\n
\n![\"Time](\"/archive/social/news/timespacehoods.jpg\"/)
\n
(Light hoodie + tee restock coming soon. Ehh, probably most of this stuff will sell out before the dust settles on this news item. Expect prompt restocks for everything.)\n\n
\n\nPLUS -- Pins! Kid icons are back in stock. Troll pins are new!!! \n\n
\n![\"Troll](\"/archive/social/news/trollpins.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nBuy them all!!!\n\n
\n\nAlternate, somewhat less business savvy sales pitch: please maybe don't buy them all so fast this time? Thanks.\n\n
\n\nWOAH EDIT: Also I should mention, topatoco reprinted a bunch of shirts to have smaller designs, i.e. trolls and record. But it looks like a lot of those are running low too, because I was kind of late in mentioning it and people snuck into the store and nabbed them right under my nose. But don't worry, all that stuff enjoys a pretty brisk reshelving rate.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-10-11",
- "timestamp": 1318204800,
- "html": "\n\n1 0 2 5
\nWhile I'm still doggedly updating that progress bar, and will continue to, I'm now shooting for a concrete date to post the animation. I should have it up on 10/25.\n\n
\n\nIt's dragged on longer than I wanted it to for a variety of reasons. I'll talk about the process a little after I'm done. There's a good chance I'll finish before 10/25, but if so, I'll hold off posting it until that date. Considering the significance of the number, and the time already spent waiting, at this point it would be kind of lame if I ended up posting it on 10/22 or something. I've planned to hit key dates before, like 4/13, and fell too far behind with the project and missed the date. But this is the first time I've run so late with a project that it actually LANDED on a key date I wasn't shooting for in the first place. \n\n
\n\nBonus news: there will be an album released on that date as well.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-25-11a",
- "timestamp": 1319500800,
- "html": "\n\nEOA5
\nIt was quite an adventure getting that file hosted, but I believe it should be stable now. Thanks very much to Tom of Newgrounds for helping out with this! \n\n
\n\nAlso thanks to all the contributing artists and musicians for doing a great job. Particular thanks to Radiation for working with me on piecing together this monster score, and Tensei who composed the original Cascade song on which I decided to base the score, and after which the page itself was named.\n\n
\n\nAnd speaking of the music, you may now possess it if you wish. Along with many other musics.\n\n
\n![\"Volume](\"/archive/social/news/vol8coverthumb.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nSoon I would like to get together some wallpapers comprised of many or the art assets contributed for this, and offer those as well.\n\n
\n\nThat's it for now. More announcements soon.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-25-11b",
- "timestamp": 1319500800,
- "html": "\n\nPumpkin stuff
\nNew designs!
\n![\"Mind](\"/archive/social/news/mind-hoodie-thumb.png\"/)
![\"Heart](\"/archive/social/news/heart-hoodie-thumb.png\"/)
\n
\n\nHero of Mind, Hero of Heart. In case it's not obvious by now, we're going to put out all twelve god tier designs, two at a time, to complete the set. Preemptively canonical! Guaranteed. Will they show up in the comic? Will they show up on your body?? I will answer the former. You, the latter. Also note some designs are \"reprinting\", but you may still preorder them, if you do not mind waiting a little longer for them to be produced. Also note: now in girly tee sizes!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-25-11c",
- "timestamp": 1319500800,
- "html": "\n\nAct 6
\nWill begin on 11/11/11. Read more.\n
\n\nAlso to found on recently christned tumblr account, some notes about the end of act animation, in four parts, if you are interested.\n(one,\ntwo,\nthree, \nfour)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-01-11",
- "timestamp": 1322697600,
- "html": "\n\nOlive Garden
\nDoes anybody remember that stupid thing a while ago where I did a soul portrait and said I'd go to the Olive Garden?\n\n
\n\nIt finally happened. I went to the Olive Garden. The nightmare is over.\n\n
\n\nRead about it here. Part 1, Part 2\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-13-11",
- "timestamp": 1323734400,
- "html": "\n\nThe motherload
\nOn the subject of Homestuck books, I took down the link since they sold out, and the Topatoco site was getting strained again. They'll go back up when new books come in, probably around the 20th. Problem Sleuth Volume 3 is still available though.\n\n
\n\nAll god tier symbols are now available in hoodies and tees.\n\n
\n![\"God](\"/archive/social/news/godtiershirtsymbols_all.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nWe also have really nice looking key chains and pendants. Both the Sign of the Signless, and the Spirograph medallion.\n\n
\n![\"Key](\"/archive/social/news/pendantskeychainsthumb.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nAnd finally, a 2012 Homestuck calendar! Featuring illustrations from a variety of great artists. Additionally cool: the calendar is all done in Homestuck fonts, and labels many dates that are relevant to the story, like the birthdays of the kids, release dates of movies like Con Air, when Barbasol was invented. Critical stuff like that. (It still has all the boring normal holidays on there too.)\n\n
\n![\"2012](\"/archive/social/news/hscalendarthumb.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nThere you go. Ain't no one can say I never gave you nothin' to buy!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-24-11",
- "timestamp": 1324684800,
- "html": "\n\nChriststuck
\nHomestuck has seen two of Christ's Masses* come and go, and in the vicinity of each, I posted alchemy splurges, one for John and one for Jade. Sadly, for its third celebration of our Dear, Sweet Lord, it would seem there is no such splurge in the cards. Not even I can so shamelessly manifacture such an event out of thin story air. I probably won't even update on the 25th! Plannin' on bah humbugging the shit outta this motherfucker.\n\n
\n\nA lot of the stuff I posted below sold out REAL fast, well before the date of this news entry, because it is the season of making crazy grabs at sweet loot I guess. People seemed particularly excited about those 2012 calendars. We'll be restocking everything as quickly as possible, and yes, will get more calendars in time for them to be reasonably exploitable as per their intended function. Also, the Homestuck books will be available again on 1/3/12, along with the signature + doodle offer. (Signed copies will be in extremely limited supply! Likely will vanish within first 12 hours. Just a warning.)\n\n
\n\nAnd a reminder that while much of the What Pumpkin stuff is sold out for the time being, you can always nab a gift certificate (scroll to bottom) if you're in need of a last minute gift. \n\n
\n\n* edit: the kids these days call it Gristmas I guess?? \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-29-11",
- "timestamp": 1325116800,
- "html": "\n\nMusic
\nfor [S] EOA6I1 was Infinity Mechanism by Eidolon Orpheus.\n\n
\n\nMusicways, the plan is to release a very short album (a single release in fact!) in a couple days. Plus a lil somethin' else.\n\n
\n\nAdditional warnings: I'll be traveling from 1/3 to 1/10. I'll try to get some stuff done on the road, but you never know how things are gonna pan out when you're traveling. Expect updates to range from sporadic to nonexistent within this span of time!\n"
- }
- ],
- "12": [
- {
- "id": "1-01-12",
- "timestamp": 1325376000,
- "html": "\n\nY2K12 + Song of Skaia
\nAnother New Year's Eve gone by, another ball dropped. \n\n
\n\nHere is Mark Hadley's single, Song of Skaia. It's good! Hadley is responsible for such HS songs as Harlequin and Blackest heart.\n\n
\n![\"Song](\"/archive/social/news/SoSthumb2.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nYou might have noticed I've scaled back the frequency of music releases somewhat. It was becoming sort of intense getting one or more albums ready for release every month. It also did start to feel like maybe just a little bit too much music coming at you all the time. I'd like to make sure the novelty of these doesn't deteriorate too quickly. Hence a single release seemed like a nice way to mix it up for now. I would expect albums to come out closer to every two months from now on.\n\n
\n\nOn that note, I'll make an announcement about plans for the next album shortly. Preemptive tl;dr - it will be a contest. Details soon.\n\n
\nMore misc. notes: Still working hard on restocking WP stuff. Calendars soon. All garments, somewhat later (2+ weeks). Working on zip-up hoodie variants on god tier stuff too. HS books back in stock 1/3.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-02-12",
- "timestamp": 1325462400,
- "html": "\n\nThe Next Album: A Contest
\nRead more about it here!\n
\n\ne: Tomorrow, I leave for a week. Will I update while I am gone? You be the judge.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-18-12",
- "timestamp": 1326844800,
- "html": "\n\nSOPA blackout
\nPlease read about it here.\n
\n\nBack in 24:00!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-19-12",
- "timestamp": 1326931200,
- "html": "\n\nCalendars and books
\nBeen meaning to mention: The 2012 calendars have been restocked. I signed a couple hundred of them, since I happened to be in their proximity for a little while. Signed versions will be randomly sent to those who order them! Keep an eye out for more restockings soon. And some new stuff too.\n\n
\n\nAlso it's probably about time I mentioned the books again here, since they're pretty well restocked and the rush to grab them has mostly subsided. I'll open up the signed bookplate offer again in a while too. Maybe in a couple weeks.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-30-12",
- "timestamp": 1327881600,
- "html": "\n\nTwo things!\n\n
\n\n#1 - Many items have been restocked in the What Pumpkin store. Primarily hoodies and tees. Some new items will arrive soon.\n\n
\n\n#2 - Only two weeks left to make a submission for the music contest! The deadline is 2/13/12. If you have considering creating and submitting some music, now is the time. I hope that you do!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-16-12",
- "timestamp": 1329350400,
- "html": "\n\nIf you submitted music for the contest, first of all, thank you, and second, please bear with us while we come to a decision on the final song list. There are many songs to sort through. We should be contacting winners within a week.\n\n
\n\nLook at this! We have zipper hoodies now. With zippers and everything.\n\n
\n![\"Space](\"/archive/social/news/zipperhoodie_space.gif\"/)
\n
\nThere are also new prints, including one for each image in the calendar.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-13-12",
- "timestamp": 1331596800,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Alpha](\"/archive/social/news/alphakidshirts_thumnails.gif\"/)
\n
\nAlpha shirts!!!\n
\n\nContest album coming soon. I'm speculating within a week, but let's just wait and see...\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-03-12a",
- "timestamp": 1333411200,
- "html": "\n\ncoloUrs and mayhem: Universe A
\n![\"coloUrs](\"/archive/social/news/coloursandmayhemUAcover.jpg\"/)
\n
\nHere is the first part of the album contest results. We divided it into two albums because we ended up picking a large number of songs, and this seemed like the best way to present so much music, while also giving it all a clear theme related to the story.\n\n
\n\n\"coloUrs and mayhem: Universe B\" will be next, scheduled for release on 4/13. It will have the same number of tracks (32). \n\n
\n\nThanks to all who submitted music and track art! \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-03-12b",
- "timestamp": 1333411200,
- "html": "\n\nExtensive Pause
\nA6A3 will also begin on 4/13, coinciding with the second installment of coloUrs and mayhem, and the end of Homestuck's third year. Please use the next ten days wisely, mostly by making an effort not to go insane. I recommend distractions.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-12",
- "timestamp": 1334275200,
- "html": "\n\ncoloUrs and mayhem: Universe B
\n![\"coloUrs](\"/archive/social/news/coloursandmayhemUBcover.jpg\"/)
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-23-12",
- "timestamp": 1335139200,
- "html": "\n\nAbout conventions
\nI will go to some this year. You should come too. First two on the list, and only ones set in stone for now are:\n\n
\nToronto Comic Arts Festival - May 5th - 6th
\n\nA note: they request that you please do not cosplay at this event! It is held in a very crowded library and is not the right venue for that. You can still wear Homestuck shirts though. Basically if it doesn't look much like a costume, you're fine.\n\n
\nSan Diego Comic Con - July 12th - 15th
\n\nHowever at SDCC, cosplay is not only welcome, it is encouraged. Feel free to completely swamp this thing with Homestuck characters. Let's outnumber all the storm troopers, animes and Spider Men combined. We will show up on the news under the headline, \"COMIC CON RUINED FOREVER: HOMESTUCK OFFICIALLY REPLACES STAR WARS.\" I give you my blessing to make this happen, and reserve the right to renounce all personal responsibility.\n\n
\n\nI'll have specific signing times for both events, but I don't know exactly when those times will be yet! I will let you know when I do. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-03-12",
- "timestamp": 1336003200,
- "html": "\n\nThat's all there is to see on this website for now! Nothing til next Tuesday at the earliest.\n\n
\n\nIf you are coming to TCAF this weekend, here are the times I am scheduled to appear in the signing area: 10:30-12:30 on Saturday, 3:00-5:00 on Sunday.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-07-12",
- "timestamp": 1336348800,
- "html": "\n\nHomestuck Book 2
\n\nBack from a busy weekend in Toronto where I met JUST SO MANY cool Homestuck readers. Look at what happened while I was away:\n\n
\n![\"Homestuck](\"/archive/social/news/HSbook2banners.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nYou can either get book 2 on its own, or in a nice funpak full of numerous books. There was briefly an offer for signed + stamped books, but those ran out pretty quickly. Sorry if you missed the chance, but I have to cap the number of cutomized books so I don't get impossibly inundated. There will surely be opportunities for signed + stamped and/or sketched books in the future.\n\n
\n\nThese books are turning out to be a nice way to access the story, in my view. Probably better than I expected. Even though they sacrifice some elements like animation, to me there will always be something more inviting about flipping through a book than staring for hours at a screen, no matter what sort of magic a screen is capable of. So far the tradeoffs have been worthwhile to make this collection. This one is a little more refined in its layout (as well as 100 pages thicker) than the first one. Chris has been doing a good job putting these together. I expect them to keep getting better as we go. Also, don't forget each book includes hundreds of author notes. Some of these notes are even informative. \n\n
\n\nSome brief points in the FAQ department before I go: Book 2 contains all of act 2. So yes, book 3 will contain all of act 3 plus the intermission. Book 4 will contain act 4. Then we'll see what happens. I'll try to get book 3 out with Topatoco's batch of fall releases.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-12-12",
- "timestamp": 1339459200,
- "html": "\n\nVolume 9
\nThe music bros kicked out another album. It is the 9th volume of official Homestuck music. Wow look at all these songs!\n\n
\n![\"Volume](\"/archive/social/news/volume9cover.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nThere are plans for more albums later this summer. You may begin anticipating them starting exactly now.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-01-12",
- "timestamp": 1341100800,
- "html": "\n\nHiatustuck
\nThere will be some major pauses in updates coming up, mostly due to Flash animation chores. There will be exactly three pauses. Two of them will be related to animation. The third will not.\n\n
\n\nPAUSE ONE: This starts RIGHT NOW! (July 1st) I will use this time to work on the first animation. I have to travel to SDCC on July 11th. It's very likely I will finish the animation before that. Once I post it, pause two will begin.\n\n
\n\nPAUSE TWO: I will use this time to work on another animation, to end A6A3. It will definitely be longer than pause 1, because it will include my trip to SDCC. That trip will kill an entire week of animation time. I'll likely have to start work on it when I get back. Cross country travel is preposterously disruptive, and it's going to slow everything down.\n\n
\n\nPAUSE THREE: This will begin immediately after pause two. It will not involve working on animation. I'm reserving this time to catch up on the huge amount of chores I've been badly neglecting, and will continue to badly neglect during pauses 1 and 2. The irony of animation pauses: you see nothing for many days, but I'm working at least twice as hard, doing nothing else. It's a break for you, but an anti-break for me. So I need to schedule an ACTUAL break to do stuff that needs doing. Book work, plus tons of other things. I don't know how long this pause will be yet. Probably longer than either of the first two. Let's look at it sort of like the end of a \"season\", where the season was all of act 6 so far.\n\n
\n\nThe bottom line is, this is all going to add up to a whole lot of \"me not updating Homestuck\" for a while. It's not really what I want, but there's just no way around it.\n\n
\n\nI guess that's all there is to say for now. See you after pause one!\n\n
\n\nEdit: wait, something else I wanted to mention. Recently some music team guys helped me update the sound credits page, so that each entry links to the song in an album. That way, for any Flash page, it's easy to find out exactly where that song is on bandcamp. For those newer to the site, I suspect this may be helpful.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-09-12",
- "timestamp": 1341792000,
- "html": "\n\nEND OF PAUSE ONE.
\nI was counting \"[S] Dirk: Synchronize.\" and \"[S] Dirk: Unite.\" as one animation, that just happened to be chopped into two parts. Next one is EOA6.3, at the end of Pause 2. Song: Unite Synchronization (Sometimes I name animations after songs. Descend, Cascade...) By Malcolm Brown. We have entered the Brown Zone. You have been warned.\n\n
\n\nBeginning PAUSE TWO now. I'm off to SDCC. Maybe you are too? Are you wearing a costume?? What am I even talking about. You're probably wearing one RIGHT NOW.\n\n
\n\nSIGNING TIMES: 12:00-3:00 each day. (7/12 through 7/15)\n\n
\n\nI'll be with the Topatoco booth, but it's possible I could be relocated to a different signing area for crowd management reasons. If this happens, I'll do what I can to alert you, through the twitters or such.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-17-12",
- "timestamp": 1342483200,
- "html": "\n\nPAUSE 2: UNPAUSE AND THEN REPAUSE IMMEDIATELY.
\nBriefly unpausing PAUSE 2 to bring you these updates, and then pausing again. There will be no more updates until the EOA6_3 animation.\n\n
\n\nAs of right now, I have not spent a single second working on that animation. I just got back from SDCC, produced the above updates today, and now the REAL PAUSE TWO begins. The part of it that involves me actually working on it. It is just layers upon layers with these pauses. They are like onions, especially insofar as they result in your tears.\n\n
\n\nI wish the last week could have been dedicated to animation labors to shorten this wait, but I was in California fraternizing with radical fans of my popular web cartoon. It was pretty cool. But now it'll be loads more days before you see anything here. That's how it goes sometimes.\n\n
\n\nAugust will be SOLO ALBUM MONTH. There will be some good solo albums released throughout that month. Mark that on your calendar. Just write \"YEAH!\" across the entire August grid, that should do it. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-28-12",
- "timestamp": 1343433600,
- "html": "\n\nEND OF PAUSE 2
\nWith EOP2 comes EOA6A3.\n\n
\n\nAnother piece by M. Brown. I told you we had entered the Brown Zone, but you didn't listen. It's not in an album yet, and won't be for a little while. Not until some time after Solo Album Month, which according to my calendar is happening REALLY SOON.\n\n
\n\nOnly one more pause to get through before we start cruising again. Unfortunately this will be the longest one. PAUSE ONE was 8 days. PAUSE TWO, including the trip to SDCC, was 19 days. I'm thinking PAUSE THREE will be slightly longer than that. I'll guess about 3 weeks. I have a lot to catch up on that does not involve working on Homestuck. Stuff I have neglected due to a solid month of non stop animation and travel. Some book work to do. Some secret projects. And, yes, some of this pause will involve working on HS a bit as well, as I get the next Thing ready for you to see.\n\n
\n\nThank you for your patience. Hang in there for EOP3:A6I3.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-01-12",
- "timestamp": 1343779200,
- "html": "\n\nSolo Month + Problem Sleuth Volume 4
\nFirst album of the month: Symphony Impossible to Play by Clark Powell, who was also responsible for the album \"Medium\", \"Homestuck Anthem\" and quite a few other HS tracks. Next solo album coming in a couple weeks.\n\n
\n![\"Symphony](\"/archive/social/news/impossibletoplay.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nDo you like Problem Sleuth? Do you like PROBLEM SLEUTH BOOKS? Here is Volume 4: Black Liquid Sorrow. Holy crap, what a classy cover.\n\n
\n![\"Problem](\"/archive/social/news/PS4book.jpg\")
\n
\n\nIt would also appear there is a new shirt in this section. Maybe you would like to wear it?\n\n
\n![\"Caliborn](\"/archive/social/news/uushirtsymbol.jpg\")
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-16-12",
- "timestamp": 1345075200,
- "html": "\n\nAlbum two of solo month: One Year Older by Erik Scheele. Take a look here to see what else Erik has done for Homestuck. \n\n
\n![\"One](\"/archive/social/news/oneyearolder_cover.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nOne more album to go!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-30-12",
- "timestamp": 1346284800,
- "html": "\n\n[S] A6I3
\nSome notes about the interactive beginning to A6 Intermission 3. (A walkthrough by Radiation.)\n\n
\n\nFirst, I'd originally planned to put more in the game than this, but it was running a bit long, so I decided to chop it up. I'm planning two more installments of this game, probably to be released over the next couple weeks. All the art assets and stuff is there, I just need to work with Alexis to crunch it all into a couple more new games.\n\n
\n\nSpeaking of which, thanks to Alexis, MSPA's tenured CODER OF GAMES, for working on this. It's a little different. It's the first time we're not using Flash. Only the intro is Flash, but the game is coded in HTML5, which makes it a little more robust in some ways, but will have some issues with less common browsers. I've copied a note from him about it all here. Take note especially of browser info: best viewed in Chrome, Firefox is ok but not ideal, IE is very buggy and won't show the Flash intro, and Opera/Safari aren't tested at all.\n\n
\n\nThanks to the artists (scroll to bottom) who worked on assets for this too. They've made a good deal more than you see here, which will appear in other installments. Thanks Stephen, Tanney, Peter, Amanda for making environment assets, and Chaz, Lexxy, Vivus, Xamag for the talking portraits. Special thanks to Amanda for making all the little walking sprites, as well as a whole lot of environment stuff and items. Everything looks really great.\n\n
\n\nAnd of course, thanks to contributing musicians (again scroll to bottom), and Toby for editing everything. Some things from the contest album Universe A, notably Fuscia Ruler by Sinister Psyche as the main song. See Toby's post for more details.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-04-12",
- "timestamp": 1346716800,
- "html": "\n\nHomestuck Kickstarter
\nI recently launched a Kickstarter for a Homestuck adventure game project. I would highly appreciate it if you would take a look and consider making a pledge!\n\n
\n\nUPDATES:\n
\n9/4/12: Kickstarter Launched\n
\n9/6/12: Funded! And still climbing.\n
\n9/11/12: Slickpak released, and more stretch goals unlocked.\n
\n![\"Slickpak\"](\"/archive/social/news/slickpakbanner.gif\"/)
\n
\n\n9/17/12: UPDATE - Seerpak released.\n
\n![\"Seerpak\"](\"/archive/social/news/seerpakbanner.gif\"/)
\n
\n![\"Homestuck](\"/archive/social/news/HSKS_tumblr.jpg\"/)
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-06-12",
- "timestamp": 1346889600,
- "html": "\n\n9/6/12: A non-kickstarter update.\n
\n9/12/12: Would you like to beta test the next Homestuck mini game update before it's posted on the site?\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-24-12",
- "timestamp": 1348444800,
- "html": "\n\nAbout a week to go
\nAs of typing this, only nine days remaining in the Kickstarter. The response to it continues to be fantastic, and my gratitude to the backers is equally continuous. \n\n
\n\nThanks to everyone who beta tested the recent update in advance of its release. Anyone who pledged $50 or more was sent an early beta version and a feedback form to help us sort out the bugs. The same offer will apply for the next and final minigame installment. If you have pledged $50 or more by the end of the Kickstarter, you'll get an advance copy to test sent through the Kickstarter message system. If you pledge, just be sure you select a reward tier at $55 or more, so that we know to send you a copy. (Note this is unrelated to the $1.5MM stretch goal, which states that ALL BACKERS will be allowed to beta test the adventure game itself, before it is released in 2014.)\n\n
\n\nAlso, once the Kickstarter is over, we're going to put up a Paypal pledging option for the project. A lot of people seem to only be able to use Paypal to pledge, which Kickstarter doesn't allow. So for a brief window after, one or two weeks, you'll be able to pledge via Paypal for the same reward tiers at the same prices. The window will be fairly short so that we can compile all the orders and ship the rewards out in a timely fashion. We're expecting a good number of people may want things to ship in time for the holiday season. If you're in the U.S. or Canada, it's very likely this will be the case. \n\n
\n\nFor those who haven't pledged yet, this might be something to consider. The timing of the shipping here means that buying rewards could actually double as holiday shopping. If you see yourself doing holiday shopping for people a couple months down the road anyway, this might be a good advance opportunity. A lot of those pricier bundles start to pile up so much extra cool stuff, seems to me this makes for a good chance to divvy them up as holiday gifts for friends, maybe some of whom didn't have enough money for the bigger bundles. \n\n
\n\nWhatever the final total winds up being, you have already helped make this Kickstarter an overwhelming success. Thank you again for your support!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-05-12",
- "timestamp": 1349395200,
- "html": "\n\nThe Kickstarter finished with a total just shy of $2.5 million, ranking 6th all time. I think we can all agree that is quite a haul, and is a testament to the devotion of Homestuck's amazing fans. I truly believe this funding will result in a fantastic game, and I can't wait to get started on it. Thanks again to those who pledged, as well as those who continue to pledge through the Paypal option which is now available. It offers all the same reward tiers, and should stay up for a couple weeks. \n\n
\n\nThanks also to those who helped me organize and run this Kickstarter, which was a significant undertaking. In particular, George for supplying the Kickstarter knowhow, Rachel for fielding the many thousands of questions we received, and Cindy for getting the huge amount of rewards in shape and ready to ship. Delivering on all the rewards is going to be an enormous job. As it stands now there are about 11,000 people we need to ship stuff to before the end of the year. (And my signature required just as many times!) The good news is, over the last couple years Cindy at What Pumpkin HQ down in Florida has worked on building quite an efficient and reliable shipping operation. The response to the Kickstarter was overwhelming, but we're in excellent shape to handle all the shipments before the holiday season. We just need to wait a couple more weeks for a few products to be finished, for Paypal orders to come in (and for me to sign 11,000 prints..........) and then we'll start pushing it all out.\n\n
\n\nOn the subject of the Paypal option, all the tiers are exactly the same, to stay consistent and be fair to everyone who already pledged. Though I guess one difference here is by Paypal's nature, you can put more than one of the packs in your cart, as opposed to only one with Kickstarter's tiered system. Also you may notice that some of the more coveted SNOUTPAKS are there, composed of some remaining unsold scalemates. Those supplies are still very limited, so again there's no telling how quickly they'll sell out.\n\n
\n\nAnd if you're wondering, even though the final count was $2.485MM, the $2.5MM stretch goal has been unlocked regardless. That means anyone who pledges for a physical copy of the game will also get a copy of Homestuck with it (as in, the story itself.) Once HS is done, we'll figure out a good way to create an offline version, in some convenient self contained format to be distributed with the physical game, and probably on its own as well.\n\n
\n\nI feel like there's a lot more to say, about the success of the Kickstarter and what it's meant, and what will follow in coming months. But there's plenty of time to address more later. Over the next few months, I'll fill you in on developments with the game here and there, as we start to make more specific plans for how to allocate the budget. There are exciting things ahead. For now though, I think this is the moment to reflect on what you've made possible. This really strikes me as a significant achievement by the readership. No great forces of marketing were involved to raise these funds, no promotion, no sponsorship, or any investments with weird strings attached. Just the energy of a passionate community of people who were excited enough about a project to make it happen. I think you have served as inspiration to any creative person who's wondering if they should bother pursuing their ideas. You've shown what is possible if they do. There are no gatekeepers anymore. There's only your support to be earned. And when it is, I don't think there's a more powerful force to have on your side.\n\n
\n\nOne last note: it does look like two people took the plunge for the $10,000 tier, and as such their fan trolls will be appear in canon (however fleetingly). Let us now pray for these two intrepid souls. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-19-12",
- "timestamp": 1350604800,
- "html": "\n\nThe Paypal pledge option for the Kickstarter is now closed. We have to draw the line there, so that we may begin compiling all the order information and ship this huge number of products in a timely fashion.\n\n
\n\nAll Kickstarter surveys have been sent out as well. If you pledged through the Kickstarter site, you must complete this survey so that we have all of your information! Such as shipping address, shirt sizes, all that. If you log in to Kickstarter with the account you used to pledge, you'll find the survey in your message box. Fill it out (please double-check that all your information is correct before you submit!) and send it. Orders will start being processed soon.\n\n
\n\nIf you pledged through Paypal, you don't need to fill out a survey. We already have most of the info we need. For some of the higher tiers, we'll contact you to get additional order info. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-23-12",
- "timestamp": 1350950400,
- "html": "\n\nRemember solo album month? There was one last album that was delayed, causing solo month to swell to the size of three months, like the mighty blowsack of an enormous frog. (That is a totally random comparison.) Anyway, without further delay, here it is.\n\n
\n![\"Genesis](\"/archive/social/news/genesisfrog_albumcover.jpg\"/)
\n
\nGenesis Frog contains of a series of orchestral pieces by Alexander Rosetti, who was responsible for such Homestuck tracks as the Squiddles Theme, and the most important song in Homestuck, Horsechestra.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-03-12",
- "timestamp": 1351900800,
- "html": "\n\nThe site was down for a few days there, but we are back. The server is located in New York City, which lost power due to a hurricane. The server people at Internap did a nice job getting everything back on line quickly with generator power, despite the major problems the city is having. If you live in the affected areas, I hope life will return to normal for you very soon. When things like this happen, I think our first impulse should be to help out. Let's consider doing that!\n\n
\n\nThe MINISTRIFE (which was going to drop on 10/31 but oh well) is chock full of sprite characters made by Feastings. Most of them were done a while ago and started floating around the tumblrverse as a little fandom craze, so I asked her to make a few more and now POOF they're all magically canon. Thank you Feastings. Also UU art as always supplied kindly by Shelby. Song = \nKilled by BR8K Spider!!!!!!!! by Radiation. \"Who???\" I hear you ask. Yes I know, that guy's music NEVER gets used Homestuck.\n\n
\n\nAct 6 Act 4 next. Are you ready for it? Are you ready to do some more AWESOME WAITING for it?? I hope so. I'll try to have something ready by 11/11, which is exactly one year from the start of Act 6 (hey calendar: wtf???) The main issue of uncertainty here is I have to fly down to Florida and sign more than 11,000 prints. I actually have no idea how long that will take. I have no basis of estimation for signing that many things, because I have never signed that many things before. But the sooner I do it, the sooner we can ship out all your sweet Kickstarter loot. It must be done. I'll try to get whatever work done I can around this crazy mission. An 11K heap of large prints is actually so much paper, we're not sure if we can keep it all in the same room, because it might actually cause the floor to collapse. True safety facts.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-12-12",
- "timestamp": 1352678400,
- "html": "\n\nOver the last week I flew down to Florida, signed 13,000 prints, and made a four minute Flash animation using someone else's weird computer and their ancient, tiny Wacom tablet. Best vacation, or sldkfjdklfj vacation? This is a question that is as meaningless as it is unanswerable. (BTW, the time crunch had nothing to do with the brevity of this act. The old \"one page sub-act trick\" was part of the A6 battle plan more than a year ago.)\n\n
\n\nI will get on a plane and return tonight. More updates tomorrow probably. My hand is permanently stuck in a looping autograph motion, so they might look kinda funny.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-22-12",
- "timestamp": 1353542400,
- "html": "\n\nYou know those magnetic poetry sets? And how you put them on your fridge, and spell a couple things with them the first day, and then never use it again? Well here is the solution to that problem. The Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff magnetic poetry set. If this is on your fridge, you are guaranteed to use it every day for the rest of your life. This is only the first in a whole series of earth shattering SBaHJ products to be released soon. Stay tuned.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-28-12",
- "timestamp": 1354060800,
- "html": "\n\nCheck it out! Some hot new things in the What Pumpkin Store. WE GOT:\n\n
\n\nSome cool Sburb polos!\n\n
\n![\"Sburb](\"/archive/social/news/sburbpolo_graphic.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nAlpha kid pins!\n\n
\n![\"Alpha](\"/archive/social/news/alphapins_graphic.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nAlpha kid logos on white shirts! (Perhaps better suited for your cosplay dreams??)\n\n
\n![\"Alpha](\"/archive/social/news/alphashirts1_graphic.jpg\"/)
\n![\"Alpha](\"/archive/social/news/alphashirts2_graphic.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nYes!!!\n"
- }
- ],
- "13": [
- {
- "id": "1-09-13",
- "timestamp": 1357689600,
- "html": "\n\nBy now, most Kickstarter rewards have either been delivered, or are in the mail on the way to your house. If you have questions regarding your pledge, I must remind you the best way to get answers is through the What Pumpkin support system.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-21-13",
- "timestamp": 1358726400,
- "html": "\n\nMore new things! 2013 calendars, and some cherub hoodies:\n\n
\n![\"2013](\"/archive/social/news/calendar2013photo.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Cherub](\"/archive/social/news/uuUUhoodies_photo.jpg\"/)
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-22-13",
- "timestamp": 1358812800,
- "html": "\n\n![\"sbahj](\"/archive/social/news/sbahj_book_photo.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nYes, this is a very high quality hard cover compilation of all existing Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff comics. Exactly as you envisioned in your prayers. Read more about it in the official press release.\n\n
\n\nSpecial thanks to David Malki ! for offering his bookmaking expertise to figure out how to pull off the most idiotic ideas we had for this, and to KC Green and John Keogh for lending their special blend of insanity to the page layouts, and to ipgd for this stunning cover art from the richest traditions of French Impressionism. Did she draw that, or steal it from a museum? I do not know. And of course thanks to Topatoco for humoring the project. Proposing such an idea to literally any other publisher could get you shot.\n\n
\n\nIt's not just a book, but somewhat like a fun pack of ridiculous stuff. It is also a unique collector's item. It is unlikely that anyone will voluntarily create an object like this ever again. You know what you must do.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-02-13",
- "timestamp": 1359763200,
- "html": "\n\nHey! Here is an MSPA Reader Survey, to help us get a sense of what sort of things you'd like to see us make in the future, as well as learn a few things about the people who read the site. It would be highly appreciated if you took a moment to fill it out. It's optional and completely anonymous of course. Thank you very much!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-15-13",
- "timestamp": 1363305600,
- "html": "\n\nNew album!\n
\n![\"Cherubim\"](\"/archive/social/news/cherubim_album.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nIt is called Cherubim. Worth noting: this album contains the song used in Caliborn: Enter. It's the last track, called Eternity Served Cold, by Malcolm Brown.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-27-13",
- "timestamp": 1364342400,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Dance](\"/archive/social/news/dance_shirt1.gif\"/)
\n![\"Dance](\"/archive/social/news/dance_shirt2.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nIn the Topatoco store there is a new shirt, featuring this highly attractive design by Lexxy! The shirt is available in white and black. Lexxy as you may know has drawn a bunch of things that have appeared in Homestuck animations. She is also planning a great looking comic called Cloud Factory. Also, she is basically the star of a reality TV show called Strip Search. This is an up and coming artist for whom I see BIG THINGS. Yes, I know I am really going out on a limb with this prediction, but I am well known for making such bold and controversial claims. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-14-13",
- "timestamp": 1365897600,
- "html": "\n\nTHE YEAR 4 MEGAPAUSE\n
\n\nTLDR; Act 6 Act 6 is next. This is Homestuck's final push. But before I start on it, I'll be taking a very significant hiatus to work on the game.\n\n
\n\n4/13/13 marked the 4th year of Homestuck, and a little more than the 5th year of MSPA's regular updates overall. Thanks to all those who've hung in there the whole time, as well as the very large number of you who piled on to this silly wagon at some point along the way. \n\n
\n\nThe idea last year was to finish Homestuck and then begin working on the game. But as I've started to get into the early game dev process a bit, it's become obvious I have to start working on it much sooner. As in, right now. It takes many months of drawing and programming to make a game. But nobody can start on any of that until I've done a lot of writing and planning. So what it comes down to is, either I delay finishing Homestuck by a few months, or delay the release of the game by what would probably be a lot longer than that. Considering people threw 2.5 million bucks at me to make a game, I think that choice is obvious.\n\n
\n\nIf I could do both at the same time, I would. But that's not realistic. Working on HS is an all consuming thing. Designing a whole game I believe will be too. It may sound obvious, but it can't be emphasized enough - entertainment takes a lot of time to create. More time than most people think. MSPA somewhat obscures that reality because I work on it as maniacally and efficiently as I can to keep the rate of output as high as possible. But the ease of production is an illusion. It is in fact a nonstop grind to generate this much material at a consistent rate. So I have to put all that on hold if I want to get anything else done.\n\n
\n\nI have noticed that some people believed HS would end on 4/13/13, though I never said that it would. Even if the story appeared to be on the precipice of resolution (which it wasn't), these rumors could be debunked for one simple reason. Animation takes A LOT of time. You've got to expect a story like this would end with some sort of big animation, right? I can't make those without suspending all updates completely for a good while. Trust me, the end to this won't sneak up on anyone. It will be really obvious when it's on the way.\n\n
\n\nTo alleviate some of the suspense and wild speculation, I will give you a very loose estimate of my schedule, from now until the end of HS. Please observe these facts, as organized by this really awesome \"html table\" I have designed for this purpose.\n\n
\n\n\n| The thing I am going to be doing | \nHow long that thing is going to take me | \n
\n\n| Work on the game, and probably some other stuff, like make more HS books. Oh, also go to a few conventions. No updates. | \nMonths | \n
\n\n| Work on a whole bunch of regular updates for A6A6, leading up to the end of HS. | \nMonths | \n
\n\n| Work on the final animation, plus zero or more other animations, just before or somewhat near the end of HS. | \nMonths | \n
\n
\n
\n\nSo that's it for now. See you in a while. Unless you decide to reread Homestuck or something. In which case I guess I'll keep seeing you here. Well not me, but my website will see you. My website is always watching. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-23-13",
- "timestamp": 1366675200,
- "html": "\n\nConvention Schedule\n
\nTCAF (Toronto) May, 11-12\n
\nPhoenix Comicon, May 23-26\n
\nFlorida Supercon, July 4-7\n
\nSan Diego, July (Plans not firm yet. More info on this later.)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-08-13",
- "timestamp": 1367971200,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Captchaboards\"](\"/archive/social/news/captchawhiteboards.jpg\"/)
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-30-13",
- "timestamp": 1372550400,
- "html": "\n\nI may have been jumping the gun to say the megapause was totally over. It is mostly over, but there are going to be scattered minipauses here and there. I still have a lot going on. Some more cons to go to in July. Expect a couple more blackout weeks. After that the pace will probably start to pick up again.\n\n
\nFlorida Supercon, July 4-7. Signings on the 5th, 6th, and 7th.\n\n
\n\nSan Diego, July 18-21. You won't need SDCC tickets to come see me. Signings will be at a venue nearby SDCC, hosted by Shifty Look. SDCC tickets can be pretty hard to come by, so this is good news if you can make it to the area but can't get your hands on tickets. I will post more information as the date approaches.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-16-13",
- "timestamp": 1373932800,
- "html": "\n\nTime to hit the road for SDCC. See Shifty Look's site for event info.\n\n
\n\nThis means another pause for some number of weeks. When I get back I have to do a ton of boring stuff that has nothing to do with Homestuck, which will delay the pause beyond the convention. All the travel this year I am sure has resulted in hundreds of pages of lost progress. Yet this is how it must be. I must go see the people. I must draw thousands of 5 second John doodles for them. It is inescapable.\n\n
\n\nI expect to get back on a roll with updates some time in August. So mark that month on your calendar somehow. Maybe you can write \"August\" in big letters across the July page. Yes, wow, that's a good suggestion.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-07-13",
- "timestamp": 1378512000,
- "html": "\n\nWe upgraded the whole What Pumpkin store. There's a bunch of new stuff to buy as well! Including these lovely shirts:\n\n
\n![\"John](\"/archive/social/news/blackshirt_john.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Dave](\"/archive/social/news/blackshirt_dave.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Jade](\"/archive/social/news/blackshirt_jade.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Rose](\"/archive/social/news/blackshirt_rose.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nAll these great designs were by Rennie Kingsley. Alpha kid designs by the same artist will be coming soon too.\n\n
\n\nThere will be so many other cool things hitting WP this fall, I honestly couldn't list them all off the top of my head. Just keep refreshing the site constantly. Even in your sleep. Then you will be ok.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-28-13",
- "timestamp": 1380326400,
- "html": "\n\nAs I have promised to you, the alpha kid shirts are now in the store. \n\n
\n![\"Jane](\"/archive/social/news/blackshirt_jane.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Roxy](\"/archive/social/news/blackshirt_roxy.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Jake](\"/archive/social/news/blackshirt_jake.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Dirk](\"/archive/social/news/blackshirt_dirk.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nThere will be more stuff coming out in a week or two. And then more stuff after that. And then more stuff after that. And then, after that?\n\n
\n\nMore stuff.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-09-13",
- "timestamp": 1381276800,
- "html": "\n\nBehold: more stuff!\n\n
\n\nTroll hoodies. Like the troll shirts! But hoodies instead.
\n![\"Troll](\"/archive/social/news/trollhoodies.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nAlso these guys. Embroidered patches. (FYI they are bigger than they look here.)
\n![\"Embroidered](\"/archive/social/news/embroideredpatches.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nMore stuff soon! October is the Month of Stuff.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-13-13",
- "timestamp": 1381622400,
- "html": "\n\nHomestuck book 3 and Problem Sleuth book 5 are here! The Homestuck book contains Act 3. The Problem Sleuth book is the final volume of the series.\n\n
\n![\"Homestuck](\"/archive/social/news/HSbook3_photo.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Problem](\"/archive/social/news/PSbook5_photo.jpg\"/)
\n
\n(The cover of PS5 glows in the dark by the way.)\n\n
\n\nAnd now that the Problem Sleuth series is wrapped up, you can get the full set. Dedicating this much paper to three cartoon detectives trying to leave an office should be illegal. But it isn't, and we are exploiting that fact to our advantage here.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-17-13",
- "timestamp": 1381968000,
- "html": "\n\nGigapause: Commence.\n
\n\nI've been thinking this over for the last few weeks, and I've decided now is the best time to suspend all regular updates until I've finished the story, rather than pausing just before I start on the final animation. When I'm done, I'll post it all at once. There are a lot of reasons why I think this is the best strategy.\n\n
\n\nPrimarily, it's about efficiency, and being able to work on the remaining (and likely the most difficult parts) of the story without distractions, or the added challenge of having to crank out the next serial update as fast as possible, which means I always have to stay totally linear with the work. This way I can produce the rest of it more comprehensively, prepare animation assets in advance, do more stuff in parallel, etc. It will go faster. And ultimately, I think it'll read better as one thing, rather than as a sequence tortuously spread out over time, as has been the norm for years. I think it's close enough to the end now to safely retire Homestuck as a serial reading experience. There's nothing to be gained from that presentation anymore, in my view. It's just time to bear down and get it done.\n\n
\n\nI guess we're breaking for a long time on a big cliffhanger, but there's no way around that. Actually, pausing at any point later would probably be even worse, as it keeps pushing into endgame territory. That's why I'm stopping now instead of later. With such a big readership, the reactions will only get crazier, and the demand for new updates will get more intense. Over time, knowing so many people are slamming refresh many times per day starts to be more of an omnipresent distraction than anything. I think there is sort of a perception that I am creatively feeding off the hysteria surrounding the comic, but on a very practical level this is not true. Creating entertainment is not really a lifestyle of madcap shenanigans. It is a very sober, often dull process that requires a huge amount of time and concentration. It will be better to disarm the hype machine while I get the hard stuff done.\n\n
\n\nSo what is the itinerary? Need to finish A663 through A666, and then A7. Keep in mind that these sub acts can be literally any length, even one page. There's a good bit of ground to cover, but most of the effort will be tied up in animation chores. \n\n
\n\nI don't really have a time estimate here, and am not sure there's any real advantage in coming up with one. It'll just be a while. I also have to allocate some time to work on the Kickstarter game. That didn't stop being a thing I have to do. It's coming along. I'll probably have a more substantive update on that before the end of the year. There hasn't been much to report yet since it's mostly been in a high level planning and writing phase. And firming up tons of legal minutiae. Stuff like that.\n\n
\n\nBut I will say there is something new to watch out for next month. Kind of a secret project I'm involved with, unrelated to MSPA or the KS game. Well, it's technically not that secret. It's only secret if you don't know about it yet. Meditate on those profound words, and keep an eye out for news on this in coming weeks.\n\n
\n\nOh yeah. Almost forgot, I'll have to take some time to port the site to a new server. Obviously it hasn't been cutting it the last couple months. So we'll work on that soon. Hopefully the new service will be able to handle the massive heart attack the next batch up updates will represent.\n\n
\n\nDuring the gigapause, there should still be plenty to see here in the news section. Whether it's about the aforementioned projects, or new product releases, there'll be a lot going on. Trust me, the coolest stuff at What Pumpkin this season has yet to be released.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-06-13",
- "timestamp": 1383696000,
- "html": "\n\nThe gigapause has been nano-unpaused to bring you: more stuff! Such as,\n\n
\n\nThe 2014 calendar!
\n![\"2014](\"/archive/social/news/calendar2014_photo.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nand\n\n
\n\nA hoodie with these guys running across it! Heh heh. Look at them go.
\n![\"Bec-Gcat](\"/archive/social/news/becgcathoodie_photo.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\n*Emphatically reinitiates the mighty gigapause.*\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-22-13a",
- "timestamp": 1385078400,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Crocker](\"/archive/social/news/crockertier_photo.jpg\"/)
\n
\nHoodie, \nT-shirt,\nGirly-T\n
\n![\"God](\"/archive/social/news/godtierpins_photo.jpg\"/)
\n![\"God](\"/archive/social/news/godtierpins_charms.jpg\"/)
\n
\nGod Tier Pins,\nGod Tier Charms\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-22-13b",
- "timestamp": 1385078400,
- "html": "\n\nHere Is A Thing That Is Happening\n
\n![\"Namco](\"/archive/social/news/namcohigh_thumb.jpg\")
\n
\n\nThis is a dating sim I've been working on with Namco Bandai's ShiftyLook where you can guide the romantic fortunes of all your favorite classic video game charact... wait. What? You're confused? I can't imagine why. But ok, I'll start at the beginning.\n\n
\n\nA while ago, ShiftyLook, which is a Namco Bandai jam, asked me if I wanted to work on a project for them. It could be anything. I said that sounds cool. Except that I already had a lot to do, so maybe it wasn't realistic. But they said that's no problem. All I had to do was assemble an elite team of writers, artists, and programmers, and tell them what to do. If I pulled together a crack squad of loyal creatives, they would HAVE to do what I said, no matter how little sense it made. So I said that sounds good. I thought about it really hard, for three of the most intellectually excruciating seconds of my life. Then I said we should make a dating sim. I mean. Obviously.\n
\n\nThey said, are you sure that's a good idea? I said, hey who do you think is in charge here? They said they were. I said, oh, right. But it didn't matter. In the confusion, my pitch had somehow been approved due to a clerical error in Japan. Then I shouted suckers and fell backwards out of the airplane.\n\n
\n\nWhile tumbling magnificently back to Earth, I pulled the vintage rolodex out of my horsehair fannypack, and began recruiting the best of the best. And so my team was convened. They were waiting for me below with the trampoline thing firefighters use. They watched as the Hussie stunt-mannequin gently descended, and then exploded with unexpected confetti. I then revealed that I had been waiting there with them for the last several hours, wearing a disguise, straddling my most famous horse. I introduced myself, and they graciously pretended they didn't know it was me all along. (I repeat. Best of the best.) I then clapped my hands and rubbed them together a lot and said, who's ready to make some NOISE in the dating sim genre? Who's ready to DO SOME DAMAGE? Nobody knew what to say to that, so I pressed on valiantly. I think I know what the people want, I said. What they WANT, is to be able to manipulate their favorite classic video game characters into a variety of lurid but safe-for-work romantic encounters. What they WANT, for instance, is to cajole a cute Katamari into some sort of kissing situation with the spaceship from Galaga. Are you ready to GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT? They erupted into applause and began chanting my name, and they haven't stopped since.\n\n
\n\nNamco High comes out probably some time next month.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-28-13",
- "timestamp": 1385596800,
- "html": "\n\n![\"MOTHERLOAD\"](\"/archive/social/news/consortplushes_etc.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nThis week I give you: THE MOTHERLOAD\n
\n\nTune in next week for: THE FATHERDUMP\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-02-13",
- "timestamp": 1385942400,
- "html": "\n\nA brief update on Namco High: Looks like we are targeting December 17th for release. Be sure to tune in on that day for the most incredible simulated dating experience of your entire life.\n\n
\n\nAlso if you click on that, and scroll down to the \"Students\" section, you will notice there are some Homestuck characters being revealed as secret additions to the cast. They are secret to everyone but you! And a lot of other people probably.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-11-13",
- "timestamp": 1386720000,
- "html": "\n\nBehold, it is the festive dump of none other than Father Christmas himself! *Puts on Santa suit, dives head-first onto Slip N Slide full of eggnog.* \n\n
\n\nBut then I stagger to my feet, wring my beard into a glass, add a pinch of nutmeg, and apologize for ruining Christmas. These goods are now available for preorder.\n\n
\n![\"FATHERDUMP\"](\"/archive/social/news/fatherdump.jpg\"/)
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-20-13",
- "timestamp": 1387497600,
- "html": "\n\nNamco High is here, and you can play it, right here, on the internet!!! The hypertext url for that is as follows: http://www.namcohigh.com\n
\n![\"Namco](\"/archive/social/news/namcohigh_reveal.jpg\")
\n
\n\nI've taken the game for a spin myself. It's funny! You should consider giving it a whirl too. Especially if it means spending money to unlock characters. Every time you do that, Namco feels slightly better about their decision to hire an internet horse-weirdo to make a game for them! \n\n
\n\nLet's meet the team that brought the magic to life. \n\n
\nWriters: Ananth Panagariya, Brian Clevinger, Magnolia Porter\n
\n\nIf you thought the game was funny, track them down and let them know!\n\n
\nArtists: Alexandra Douglass, Charmwitch, Ashley Davis, Audra Furuichi, Cat Sze, Dax Gordine, Der-Shing Helmer, E.N., Geneva Hodgson, Gigi D.G., J.N. Wiedle, Lindsay Woods, Long Vo, Noelle Stevenson, OMOCAT, Rich Stevens, Tessa Stone, Tyson Hesse, Yuko Ota\n
\n\nIf you thought the game was pretty, track them down and let them know!\n\n
\nOther guys: Conrad Kreyling (Developer), Ryan Francis (Composer), Rob Pereyda (Producer), George Rohac (Co-Producer)\n
\n\nIf you thought the other guys did a good job doing other guy stuff, let them know about that too! \n\n
\n\nI'm not even BS'ing about this, or just being polite here. It would please me if you offered the contributors your positive feedback. Consider it a personal favor to me. But you don't need to send me thanks. On the rare occasions I wasn't napping heavily, I mostly made a nuisance of myself, and got gross snack crumbs on people while looking over their shoulders. But if you really MUST deliver feedback to me personally, then I recommend the following ritual. Arrange a bunch of laptops in a circle, all pointing inward and running Namco High at the same time. Sit in the middle of the circle, and hold a flickering candle in each hand. Then whisper my name, picture a horse, and wet yourself gently. I believe you will find the results of this procedure to be spiritually profound, if also fake.\n"
- }
- ],
- "14": [
- {
- "id": "1-24-14",
- "timestamp": 1390521600,
- "html": "\n\nintrodoucing, 20104............ the NEWD YEAR\n
\n\nGigapause status: STILL GIGAPAUSED.\n
\n\nIt's almost over, right? Um, no, sorry. I still have no time estimate, or specific date I am shooting for. 4/13 would be the COOLEST date to shoot for, right? I doubt that's realistic though. Because in spite of my most religious wishes every single day, magic keeps on being fake. THANKS, \"god\".\n\n
\n\nWhat is the status, then? The status is this. Since pausing, basically all I have been doing is writing. No drawing or animation yet. Writing, writing, writing. Writing for Homestuck, and writing for the adventure game. More time has been allocated to the latter. The game is a big, big project. Let's not kid ourselves here. It's like this whole new major story and everything, fueled by millions of dollars. That's a very different situation from Homestuck, which is usually fueled by approximately zero dollars. \n\n
\n\nHomestuck probably needs another month of writing before I can start making panels. Not even to speak of Flash work. And of course, game development looms over everything as well. This feels totally different from the usual routine of write-draw-post, write-draw-post, write-draw-post, ad infinitum. Writing everything out beforehand is peculiar. And by peculiar I mean \"totally conventional\", in most other creative contexts. Let's see how that approach pans out. (You go out on a limb and guess it will result in the same silly bullshit as always.) \n\n
\nWHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?\n
\nKickstarter - Speaking of the game, I sent out a backer update just before the newd year. The same update just went out to paypal backers too (it took a while to set up a system for that). If you backed the project but didn't notice an update, you might want to check your email. If you didn't back it, sorry these updates are <shhhh>secret</shhhh>. I mean, not really. The info gets \"leaked\" everywhere, if you know where to look. The point is, *I'M* technically not supposed to be the one tell you. Get it? Oh. You don't? Me neither.\n\n
\n\nOne question I feel like I should answer out in the open even though I kinda thought it was obvious (there is no such thing as obvious) since I see it come up so much: yes, you will be able to purchase the game, even if you did not back the Kickstarter!\n
\nContest - In the near future, I'm going to be putting out some neat things through We Love Fine. WLF is a cool company that makes a lot of nice stuff, that you will find particularly interesting if you are into \"the fandoms\". Do you like fandoms? When I was a kid we didn't even have those. All we had were shitty Atari games, and spankings.\n\n
\n\nBut before they formally launch any Homestuck stuff, they're running a fun shirt design contest. There are sweet cash prizes. Hey, only participate if you think is sounds fun though. Most people won't win, because that's what a contest is, according to the way that common word is classically defined. I ain't out to waste anyone's time! I do hope plenty of people submit designs though. There's some nutty stuff rolling in. People will laugh at me if I pick the naked Gamzee shirt. DON'T MAKE ME PICK THE NAKED GAMZEE SHIRT!\n\n
\nAnother Secret Project - Remember a while ago, I mysteriously mumbled something about a secret project? And then it came along, and it turned out to be Namco High? This is like that again. Except it's not a dating sim. Or a game, or anything like that. Also, it doesn't involve video game characters you've never heard of. It is a much more Homestuck-focused thing. That's all I'm gonna say! Ok, I lied, I will say one more thing: it's going to be really cool, and you will wonder where it has been all your life.\n\n
\nVinyl Figures - These are up in the store now! For actual sale. Hehe... look at em!\n\n
\n![\"Vinyl](\"/archive/social/news/vinylfigures.jpg\")
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-03-14",
- "timestamp": 1393804800,
- "html": "\n\n2014 What Pumpkin Convention Schedule ... over there! ->\n\n
\n\nThe What Pumpkin crew will be quite active on the con circuit this year. 11 cons by my count (for now). Take a look at the schedule, and make your plans accordingly!\n\n
\n\nWhat Pumpkin will be setting up a booth in all these cons where you can buy stuff and meet some friendly WP folk. I personally will only be attending two or three of these. I'm not sure which ones yet. I don't think I can lock myself into anything definite yet, since all that traveling is incredibly time consuming and tends to derail work. That's sort of what happened last year. I traveled way too much, and it really messed me up! So work schedule permitting, I'll probably pick a couple of these later and make some \"surprise appearances\". That way, if you happen to see me at a convention, you can be 100% certain that our encounter will be a result of PURE DESTINY.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-14a",
- "timestamp": 1397347200,
- "html": "\n\nHappy 4/13, a.k.a. 5 years of Homestuck being a thing! Since I know how much you like things, to celebrate I thought I would show you another thing that's been in the works for a while.\n\n
\n![\"Paradox](\"/archive/social/news/paradoxspacelogo.gif\")
\n
\n\nIt's a new webcomic based on Homestuck, called Paradox Space! Have a look. That is all I will say about it here. But if you would like to know what the heck this ACTUALLY IS, here is a permalink to the news post where I talk about such matters.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-14b",
- "timestamp": 1397347200,
- "html": "\n\nA young reader stands in a webcomic.\n
\n\tA brand new webcomic, to be exact. One that has launched on the 5th anniversary of Homestuck's first page. If the thirteenth of April holds a magical place in your heart, then chances are, you are on pins and needles waiting for me to post the end of the story. It will still be quite some time before that happens. I've had too much else going on to be able to attack the remaining content with the ferocity that has been characteristic of my update schedule over the years. It is nothing short of The Greatest Tragedy that a beloved story is held hostage to the ability of a single artist to continue creating it. Which brings us to the website called Paradox Space, and the chapter it will represent in Homestuck's extended life cycle.\n\t
\n\tAs I work on finishing the story, I tend to think a lot about where Homestuck as a creative property goes from here. It's hard to ignore the fact that it has turned into something much bigger than just a long, crazy story on the internet. It has a lot of fans, and there's a whole culture surrounding it. Friendships have been made, lives have been changed, or so people tell me. Those who like HS are extremely fond of the characters, yet those characters are trapped - \"stuck\" if you will - inside a very particular narrative, which itself has been at the mercy of my ability to produce it. So when I think about the future of Homestuck, I envision projects which liberate the things people love about it from the story itself, and most importantly, from my intensive personal effort.\n\t
\n\tSo this website is the first major step in that direction. Here is the idea:\n\t
\n\tParadox Space will feature many short comic stories involving literally any characters and settings from Homestuck. Any point in canon could be visited and elaborated on, whether it's backstory, some scenes that were skipped over or alluded to, funny hypothetical scenarios which have nothing to do with canon events, or exploring things that could have happened in canon through the \"doomed timeline\" mechanic that is a defining trait of Homestuck's multiverse-continuum known as \"paradox space\". There is a WHOLE LOT of fun stuff we can do here; and we will!\n\t
\n\tThe idea is also to get a lot of different artists and writers involved. It's going to be a major team effort. Occasionally I will write some comic scripts, particularly at the onset to help get this off the ground. But I'd like that to be the exception rather than the rule. I think it will be exciting to see how a talented pool of creators can work within the HS universe, and what they will bring to these characters. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see who's contributing so far. I guarantee that list of names will expand considerably in the months ahead.\n\t
\n\tAnd a quick shout-out to those I regard as the core contributors of Paradox Space. Rachel and Kory, who are the managing editors of the content. Tauhid, who designed this sick website. And Matt, who coded this sick website. These people worked very hard to get this site up and running. They did a great job.\n\t
\n\tParadox Space updates with a new page every weekday, starting this week. Next update is Tuesday, with the first page of another short story. What's it gonna be?? Believe me when I say these arcs can involve anything and anyone.\n\t
\n\tThe first story was drawn by Zack Morrison, who is a super solid comic maker. You should take a look at his webcomic when you get the chance. It's really good! I'm not even \"just sayin\" that either. Why do ya think we asked him to make the first comic?? Dude's great. ;-]\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-27-14",
- "timestamp": 1411776000,
- "html": "\n\nGiga-Almost-Unpause, Probably.\n
\n\nLet's see if I can \"tldr\" a few things up top, since this news item might begin to nose dive dramatically through the vertical space of this web layout. Am I finished HS yet? Um, nope. But I think enough is probably enough on the site's indefinite period of hibernation, so it's likely I will just start posting some stuff I have anyway, starting next month. Either mid or late October, let's say.\n\n
\n\nI said it would be a long pause, didn't I? Let's face it, a gigapause is just one big ass pause. It contains the smaller word \"giga\", which, in addition to literally meaning \"one billion\", you will find to be the root of the word \"gigantic\", which as we all know, means super huge. This intriguing fact reminds us that in our culture of words, we hold the number one billion as the indivisible quantum of general bigness, as a matter of principal. Food for thought! \n\n
\n\nWe're coming up on almost a year since I paused. So that means I got like, SO much done on the story, right? Wow, no. Innumerable unspecified problems happened which badly prevented this from being true. I'd estimate out of those 12 months, I maybe squeezed in a grand total of 3 months worth of work on HS in there. Kinda dribbled across the year in the most frustrating way possible. So, I'm just gonna cry uncle on this dogshit pause and start posting stuff, but probably in a regimented way so I don't blow through everything I have too fast, thus giving me some time to work on the rest.\n\n
\n\nBack at the onset of the pause, I said I'd just post everything at once. (I was oversimplifying. I had always intended to stagger the final content to whatever extent, so as not to destroy the server.) But also that \"post everything at once\" idea was predicated on actually sorta... having it all done. Which as I have already culpa'd, is not the case. So I'm improvising at this point. I'll (probably) relaunch the story next month, come up with some kind of update schedule, and we'll see how it goes.\n\n
\n\nWhat have I been doing all year? Let's chalk it up to, in this order of relevance, a swirling multitude of Daunting Life Challenges, a flurry of accidental weird adventures causing me to thrash wildly across the nation, and the escalating complexities of running a business while tending to peripheral creative projects, not the least of which has been overseeing the development of an expensive video game. Actually, all things considered, I'm surprised at how much I actually HAVE gotten done this year. It just happens that \"making a ton of HS pages\" isn't one of those things.\n\n
\n\nWhat were the problems? What were the adventures? Sorry, nothing to see here. Me and the General Public just aren't that tight, and wild sob stories ain't my bag (unless they pertain to visits to the Olive Garden). Well, maybe I'll mention some things some day. But definitely nowhere in the proximity of a virtual stage adjacent to the sphere of rhetoric which could conceivably be construed as a series of excuses for why a mammoth load of free entertainment hasn't been finished yet. Did you follow that? Look over there. (When you look back at me, I am slowly rolling into a pile of trash.)\n\n
\n\nThe good news is, I'm still all about horses. Did you know that about me? It's true as shit. Horses; wow. Pretty good weird big animals? Or pretty GREAT weird big animals??\n\n
\n\nWhat else should I say here. Oh. \n\n
\n\nWe've also been chipping away at upgrading the server over the last year. It's been surprisingly complicated and slow-going. Actually, prior to the pause, it was one of the most difficult things about updating, having an insufficient server that was GUARANTEED to crash every time I posted something. This was even after many, many upgrades over the years. It gets a little demoralizing trying to make tons of cartoons every day for a small nation of lunatics when the server constantly struggles to keep up with the ever-burgeoning readership, no matter how much I upgraded it. This was one of the (lots of) factors which contributed to me finally just saying, fuck it, time to pause.\n\n
\n\nHopefully it can handle it now, but guess we'll see. It all runs on fancy clouds and such now. Which has been tricky to configure for such a complicated site utterly dependent on all the garbage ass-backwards code I've written over the years. Maybe... maybe once I start updating again, nobody will notice?? Man, wouldn't that be sweet. It will just be me and like a cozy little clique of 50 randos and 10 web bots, just like the old days. We'll bring this sucker home together, then hit up the local bargain Italian restaurant to celebrate. (Then a horse nuzzles me out of my sleepy dream fantasy, and the hammock flips over and dumps my screaming body on to the lawn.)\n\n
\n\nFeels a little odd even TALKING about revving up this monstrosity again. It's been pretty serene on the web these days. I've been reluctant to even drop a pebble into the pristine glass-like state of the fandom, before being good and damn well ready to. Why wake the beast prematurely? We'll enjoy more than our share of blistering pandemonium when all is said and done. We are slowly building to a particular moment I foresee on the horizon. It's not just characterized by the end of the story, though that should be a factor. It's more than that. Things I have planned, and some other things we'll say may be fortuitously aligned. Invisible pieces of a heinous machine all snapping together, mechanically congealing with a grim sense of purpose. I'm tentatively branding to this moment as The Rapture, and it will be more than you can bear. More than anyone can. And everyone won't.\n\n
\n\nHow has your year been?\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-16-14",
- "timestamp": 1413417600,
- "html": "\n\nThe Itinerary.\n
\n\nOr maybe, since Halloween is coming up, I should call it The Itinerscary. Especially because we may be in store for some spoooooky server crashes with these first few update dumps. Eep, I'm gettin the willies here! \n\n
\n\nOne page today to test the waters (or uh, yesterday). When that's done and the coast is clear (it won't be), I'll post a bunch of pages on the 17th and 18th (oops, now the 18th and 19th). Then there will be nothing until 10/25. And then nothing until 11/1, at which point regular updates will begin again, according to an update schedule which I will share with you on that day. Then you will know which precise pattern of dates you will need to handcuff yourself to a computer and plug in your custom keyboard that only has a single giant F5 key.\n\n
\n\nIt would seem against my better judgment, or really my ability to control in any way whatsoever, a fair amount of hype has been brewing for the return of Homestuck. People are jacked up. They are doing little dances in places they cannot be seen. They are writhing in kiddie pools of pins and needles for the return of all their favorite fantasy children. \"John.\" \"Karkat.\" And more. So it's hard to avoid finding it just a LITTLE funny that after a year-long drought, hopping back in the saddle means we will have to wade through 50 pages of completely atrocious garbage before anything happens. It's funny how life works out sometimes. Funnier than a clown tickling a horse. Sometimes you pause your famous webcomic for a year, and then your grand reopening is a lot of bad anime. On such occasions, when life hands you those kooky lemons, there is really only one thing you can say.\n\n
\n\nFuck lemonade. These lemons are incredible.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-18-14",
- "timestamp": 1413590400,
- "html": "\n\nMeant to put this here sooner along with the updates, but still been tweaking some server stuff. Caliborn's self insert guy is a nod to some classic fan art from 4 years ago, which to my memory was the first speculative drawing of LE before he was introduced. (Actually I guess two people made it? Didn't know, but thanks to both of them for the inspiration.) Also definitely wanna point out I'm not making fun of that art, which I think is a good drawing. I do remember once upon a time thinking it was pretty funny to imagine LE as a cool anime guy though. So maybe that idea stuck with me all these years and led to the inspiration for this ridiculous arc? Who knows how inspiration really works. Anyway it's all in good fun, and I still sometimes try to do the \"reader input influencing story outcomes\" in little ways like this to keep that part of MSPA alive, even long after the fanbase got too big to do it directly through commands.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-19-14",
- "timestamp": 1413676800,
- "html": "\n\nNext update is 10/25. \n\n
\n\nNot that it's particularly relevant, but remember I'm not actually working on the next update in the meantime. I wrote all this stuff almost a year ago. Just spacing out the content while I get more stuff done. Feels odd to be pulling content off a dusty shelf like this instead of making it all on the fly at breakneck speed, with my keen finger GLUED to the PULSE of the fandom and \"the cyber zeitgeist\". So if you read a joke and go, pff, that was SO last year, that's why. But really, the joke is on you, because cracking wise about DeviantArt weeaboo culture I believe was en vogue in 2007, so in summary, eat it nerds. Actually it's amazing how DA still seems to be running about as strong as ever on that front. It will be our cultural touchstone for crude anime while we are all being lowered into our sad lonely graves.\n\n
\n\nOk, I lost track of what I was actually talking about, so see you next week.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-25-14",
- "timestamp": 1414195200,
- "html": "\n\n[S] GAME OVER.\n
\n\nSong is Carne Vale by Malcolm Brown. Always been a big fan of Malcolm's work, so it's cool to kick off the comic again with one of his songs. \n\n
\n\nThanks to contributing artists Hanni, Matt, Jon, Rennie, Zack, and Jones. All of whom have contributed to Paradox Space as well. I haven't done a (non-game) Flash with a lot of contributing artists in a while. I think Cascade was the last one? Kind of a throwback to the old Art Team days. Remember that? Actually, the expanded network of PXS artists is almost like Homestuck Art Team 2.0. A number of the (now many) artists involved with that comic have sorta parlayed that work into other HS projects, including stuff for the game (more on that soon). It's been pretty awesome having so many great artists help build on the Homestuck universe.\n\n
\n\nAbout the Flash. Or really, A663 as a whole. Truly we are back in the saddle, with bad anime and mass murder - the quintessential Homestuck Experience. A year ago I knew I was going to have to pause for a long time. I made sure to cut it off just before this act, not after. Leaving you hanging on that note for a year... damn. Not even I am that cruel. Now you will only have to wait a week to see what happens next. I will say this much. It sure is a bunch of stuff that happens. The regular update engine lurches back to life on 11/1. \n\n
\n\nBut as of typing this, by my watch, 10/25 isn't over yet, and technically neither is the update day. Hmm.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-30-14",
- "timestamp": 1414627200,
- "html": "\n\nAdventure Game Update\n
\n\nI am letting this one be viewable to the general public. (It will also be posted to the backer page of the Kickstarter.)\n\n
\n\nHomestuck continues this Saturday, with A6A6A4 posted in its entirety, resuming with the true focus of Homestuck, Caliborn's incredible journey as an artist. Then A6A6I4 starts on Monday, and will continue in a semi-regular manner thereafter, until it is done. I will find some horse calendar pages and illustrate the schedule for your convenience. You are, as always, welcome.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-01-14",
- "timestamp": 1414800000,
- "html": "\n\nA6A6A4 is under our belts, just like that. Cal's inspiring journey as an artist is nearly complete. His \"masterpiece\", A6A6A5, is really going to be... wow. Something else, let me tell you. I will also disclaim it will be uncharacteristically plot relevant for these goofy green-web-skinned bookends to the greater A6A6 arc. Oops I have said to much already. Sorry, his masterpiece is just really really exciting stuff, even by Homestuck standards. Hopefully the Felt pony up the calcoins BIG TIME.\n\n
\n\nI briefly considered making calcoins a real thing in tandem with this update. I asked somebody how bitcoins worked, and the absolute worst case scenario happened. Bitcoins were explained to me. So obviously I axed that idea. But maybe there's still hope? Maybe intrepid fans can make calcoins real. Who's in charge of making all the bitcoins out there? Is that Reddit? I think it might be Reddit. Somebody please get in touch with the head honchos of Reddit and get to work on the calcoins, stat. Bonus points if they can somehow have negative monetary value. That way, when the bubble bursts, we'll all make millions. Just be sure to funnel tons of coins into my Swiss cloud of fiduciary mainframes, invisible to the prying eyes of Uncle Fucking Sam.\n\n
\n\nOk, how about enough of this horseshit and I get down to some brass tacks here.\n\n
\n\nA6A6I4 is approximately 450 pages. It begins 11/3. Here is the update schedule for the whole thing.\n\n
\n![\"Schedule](\"/archive/social/news/cal_nov14.gif\"/)
\n![\"Schedule](\"/archive/social/news/cal_dec14.gif\"/)
\n![\"Schedule](\"/archive/social/news/cal_jan15.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nA few horse positions may be subject to change as I go, but that is the gist of it. I am spreading it out this way so I have time to write A665 (+I), which I suspect I may be drawing \"live\" when time comes to start posting it. That will be the last batch of what you might call \"Homestuck as usual\". Everything after that is low page-count (albeit laborious to produce) endgame stuff. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-08-14",
- "timestamp": 1415404800,
- "html": "\n\nThere comes a time in every young Homestuck's life when they must face the fact that a notable comic author has swindled them into getting on a bus labeled \"cool updates\", only to swerve said bus off the highway and into a precipitous gulch of unmitigated sadstuck. But the old wives tale says that sadstuck was just a thing that happened in our fanfics, the bus children wailed. That's what they said about the tricksters too, a veteran child in the back replied. They said the tricksters would never see the light of canon, but where are the doubters now? Where are they now. Propping up six feet of dirt is where. The veteran child is weirding everybody out, so they stop looking at him, and turn to the driver. But the driver is now a spooky skeleton and the kids lose their shit. The skeleton head does a creepy 180, and speaks his scary curse. Heed me bus youths, for I am the ghost of future sadstuck. I have traveled back in time and am on a bus for some reason I guess, to punish you for your maudlin fics. For every time you murmured sadstuck while having a feeling, for every fic you pastebinned by candlelight, my curse has grown stronger, and my legend, dumber. Then the skeleton ran out of stuff to say, and looking a little embarrassed, turned around again to keep driving. Then he screamed once he remembered the bus was falling.\n\n
\n\nThanks for listening to my short story. We like to have a good time here at MS Paint Adventures, The Website. The gigaplay is off to a rocky start of unhewn feels. If your kerchief has become too soggy with tears from emotion, skeleton terror, or just plain admiration for my skill as a short story writer (can't blame you there), and you wish to lighten the mood, I recommend moseying over to Paradox Space, which is currently running a 24 page comic I have written about Crowbar. I am alert to the desires of readers every single day, and the one thing I hear them clamor for above all else, is more stories about CROWBAR. We want more content about Crowbar, RIGHT NOW, they say, and make that content consist of 24 beautifully illustrated comic pages, MINIMUM. I just give the people what they want.\n\n
\n\nFortunately, Homestuck's Premier Felt Fan #1 Jones was available to do a spectacular job of illustrating this comic. My rambling noir-style monologues have never before overlapped such lovely artwork. \n\n
\nGOD TIER TALK!\n
\n\nI don't answer Q's about Homestuck much anymore. It was a practice which I think used to be some people's lifeline for decoding the enigmatic runes of this story. Now, since they can no longer depend on answers which I supply between horse jokes and snappy retorts, they are lost in the woods to fend for themselves against the wolves of dubious fanalysis. \n\n
\n\nPulling the ripcord on the Homestuck machine again, combined with recent story events, makes me think something FAQQY may be in order. The thing is, when you make a big story, and allude to rules for a complicated system dictating mortality, people tend to REALLY, REALLY want to understand how it works. Speculation naturally fills the vacuum in lieu of concrete data. Theories are crafted. Headcanons, congealed. Then, when additional data is presented (DEAD KIDS), which happen to chafe with fanon constructs, feelings run ragged, and Bullshit is called. Then Bullshit shows up, and says, you rang? And the fanonistas say, yes Bullshit. Look at this mess. LOOK at it. This in NO WAY jives with my views on what constitutes heroism and justice. Bullshit nods sagely while lighting its pipe.\n\n
\n\nEarlier in HS when god tier folk were more scarce, the story was more cagey about these verdicts. The Vriska ruling was presented as a close call, which maybe could have gone either way. Then Slick smacked the clock to Just before it could settle, leaving the true verdict ambiguous, and the 'moral debate' intact, so to speak. But now that there are a lot of god tiers running around, with the stakes raised and the body count piling up, the game (or, story) is starting to be more liberal with its rulings. As in, more likely to come down hard on Just, Heroic, or Neither verdicts without intervention or obfuscation, helping us better understand the boundaries of heroic and just action through example. Not necessarily by moral definitions, but as dictated by the rules of a game. \n\n
\n\nSo that turns the story guy (sometimes known as an \"author\") into something like a ref at a basketball game. He blows the whistle when he sees the basketball guy (the \"baller\") take a half step without bouncing the ball. The home team crowd does not detect the subtle violation and goes boooooo! Those homers can boo all they want, but you know, the guy is really just some bozo with a whistle. The rules are the rules!\n\n
\n\nThere's reason to think there is a nuanced scale ranging from Heroic to Just inside the clock. There may be many shades of justice and heroism, some forms just barely qualifying to seal one's fate. But there's nothing nuanced about Alive vs. Dead. The result of a coin flip is absolute, even though there may be many subtle factors contributing to which side it lands on. Such as whether the coin is pure of heart, and whether the table it lands on has ever killed a man. You get a sense for the nuance of the judgment when it comes to these \"close calls\", like with Vriska, or more recently, with Jade. In her case, she was subject to mind control when she racked up her misdeeds, which ordinarily would probably exempt her. But it wasn't ordinary mind control. More like flipping an \"evil switch\", removing her ethical filter, thereby letting he personality come through, and giving her license to act on impulses which she'd ordinarily suppress. So this gives the clock something to work with. Still, her behavior is compromised, so it's by no means a slam dunk. (BASKET BALL! that is still the metaphor.) So it's very close, and perhaps the clock even spares her... except for Aranea, whose luck lets close calls break in her favor, and nudges that needle one hair to the Just side. Very unlikely that happens if it's not close already though. Jane's situation is basically the same, and so is her verdict.\n\n
\n\nHow about Jake? He's the only player who's had two rulings. The first time, he was blustering Ronald Reagan quotes at the top of his lungs when Jane forked him, which I think we may agree safely disqualifies him from heroism (though the Republican party may disagree). The second time was ruled Heroic, when he took a realmaginary ninja sword through the chest for a friend. This corresponds pretty closely with most people's definition of heroic, so I doubt anyone would consider this one controversial either. \n\n
\n\nDave? Probably not much to debate here either. Fighting while attempting to save a dead friend, to bring her back to Jane for resurrection. There's a moral element here, tied to common ideas of heroism, so there's not much in dispute. When factors stray somewhat from moral notions of heroism, that's when there is more fuel for debate. So what about Rose?\n\n
\nWasn't John killed by Jack under similar circumstances to how Rose died? So why did he survive, and Rose didn't?\n
\n\nThe circumstances were very similar, on the surface. But I would suggest that the similarity of the two situations, both leading to different outcomes, helps clarify the rules in play, not confuse them. The reason for this? SCIENCE.\n\n
\n\nIf you were a scientist in this fictional world, trying to test this fictional construct, these are the exact kinds of situations you would seek out to prove or disprove whatever hypothesis you had. Situations that are very similar, with most factors isolated, and varying only in minor and controlled ways. That's how you would start to understand where the line is between heroic and non-heroic conduct.\n\n
\n\nSo what varies between the situations? What line does Rose cross which John doesn't? It becomes pretty obvious if you break the two scenes down. John was standing there, poised for battle with Jack, for all of two seconds before Jack auto-stabbed him from behind. Not even to speak of the underhanded tactic by the villain, I think what's more important is John didn't even get a chance to move. Or specifically, to prove through action that he was prepared to do battle with a foe. In fact, hindsight may tell us he wasn't. He hadn't been through much then. But years later, when he reenacted that scene with Jack through a dream bubble, he was ready that time. He had years to think about that moment, to reflect on the damage caused by Jack, and what he might have done differently if he'd been more prepared, and if the battle wasn't cut short. But during the first encounter, there was no time for heroic intent to translate into action.\n\n
\n\nCompare with Rose's situation. Her feelings are unambiguous. Her mind is made up, and committed to action in the form of forward motion. Sorry Rose, you took a few too many steps through the paint on your drive to the hoop. Gotta blow the whistle!\n\n
\n\nThe two similar situations illustrate where one of the lines are for heroism (as a game rule, not moralistically), and in this case, that line is action. It would seem it's not good enough just to have heroic intentions or bold feelings. It doesn't cut it to strike a pose and look cool for two seconds. The intent should be expressed through commitment to an action. The action is what proves the intent. For all we know, John wasn't ready to back up his posture. For all we know, he was terrified! Rose wasn't though. Her action proved it.\n\n
\nWhy does Rose lashing out in vengeance count as heroic?\n
\n\nIf you wanted my personal opinion on heroism, I would say a vengeful act is not heroic by itself. We all have our ideas on what heroism means. But I think this is the wrong question to ask.\n\n
\n\nThe concern here is less about the moral definition of a heroic act, and more about how heroism is defined in terms of a series of rules which a game system can enforce.\n\n
\n\nBased on some evidence we have, and some things Doc once said about god tier immortality, it's pretty safe to make at least one generalization about heroism as a game construct. The game/story regards your behavior as Heroic if you make some effort to defeat or kill someone who is villainous (or in other words, someone worthy of a Just death). The state of the hero's mind is just an additional consideration, such as whether they happen to be motivated by anger or vengeance.\n\n
\n\nBut let's imagine for a moment that a vengeful act is automatically unworthy of heroism, even if directed against a great evil. \n\n
\n\nWouldn't this be a MAJOR loophole for god tiers to avoid dying heroic deaths? It would mean to qualify as a hero, you couldn't feel anger toward a villain who has almost certainly done something to provoke anger. If a hero ever experienced loss at the hands of a villain, their natural emotional state would exempt them from the heroic consequence of the actions resulting from that anger. They would be completely invulnerable to a villain, so long as they maintained a grudge! The thing with villains is, they tend to have a way of inflicting loss on others. If being wronged precluded heroic behavior, villains would suddenly discover heroes to be incredibly rare commodities.\n\n
\n\nThere's a lot to think about here. It's a combination of how you want to morally define heroism and justice, and how to pragmatically construct enforceable rules to that effect. The latter is something that can get very technical, and boil down to hairline actions such as whether one exhibits clear enough forward motion or such, roughly the way sports are officiated. There's no way I'll ever come up with a full list of rules, or even get much deeper into the rules than I have here. But I believe this is a rational outline for the way the subject may be examined, if you wish to do so!!!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-09-14",
- "timestamp": 1415491200,
- "html": "\n\nStop what you are doing. Close all your other lame browser tabs. That thing you're holding, just drop it on the floor. It's stupid and pointless compared to this Youtube video you need to watch. \n\n
\n\nDo you remember Dante Basco? The guy who played Rufio from Hook, and Zuko from Avatar? He also costars in Homestuck, and is a fandom favorite. \n\n
\nHe made a music video about getting his Homestuck on.\n
\n\nThat moment at 3:30 when shit settles down, and he returns to civilian life, his homies none the wiser. But then, he turns. And gives us The Look. Wow. Just wow. \n\n
\n\nExcuse me while I go lie down in my fucking grave.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-11-14",
- "timestamp": 1415664000,
- "html": "\n\nI posted the Wednesday update just a bit early to catch the tail end of 11/11, or as it is otherwise known, the Day of the Cherub. Celebrate this day retroactively by spending some time with Calliope. \"Oh yes, we love Calliope, and cherubs in general!\" the fans erupted. *AH retires to study to continue writing 10,000 word authorfic of fan reactions to his comic, whilst basking in the glow of make-believe adulation.*\n\n
\n\nAre you used to the new schedule yet? Honestly the main reason I went with a simple MWF schedule is so that I wouldn't confuse MYSELF. If it were anything goofier I would probably forget to update, since A664 is all done and just sitting there. Even so, I have developed a helpful mnemonic device to remind me of the calendar days marked by horses, which you may find useful as well. Just remember MSPA updates on MonHAY, WedsNEIGH, and FriHORSE, and you're good to go. You seriously can't even believe you didn't think of that, but really, there's no need to thank me. I'm here to help.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-19-14",
- "timestamp": 1416355200,
- "html": "\n\nAround this time of year, people just seem to be in the mood to buy things. I can't seem to put my finger on it. Could it be enthusiasm over Eat A Red Apple Day? (Cool fact: every day is this day if you are a horse.) Or maybe it's the notorious early shopping rush for Bathtub Party Day. Wait, no, it must be due to the usual hustle and bustle surrounding Oatmeal Muffin Day. That's the ticket. \n\n
\n\nActually no, those are all stupid holidays that make no sense to anybody. I will have to remain just plain stumped over this. Nevertheless, What Pumpkin is more than prepared to facilitate your inexplicable 4th quarter spending impulses. Please observe this desirable merchandise which you can computer-click on at any moment of your choosing.\n\n
\n![\"Apple](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_1.gif\")
A CALENDAR
\n![\"2015](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_calendar.gif\")
\n
\n![\"Bathtub](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_2.gif\"/)
SOME FESTIVE CARDS
\n![\"Cards\"](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_cards.jpg\"/)
\n
\n![\"Muffin](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_3.gif\"/)
SCARF(S)
\n![\"Scarves\"](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_scarfs.gif\"/)
\n
\nPlus way more stuff!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-21-14",
- "timestamp": 1416528000,
- "html": "\n\nA friendly reminder that the designated artist for all Calliope art in Homestuck is Shelby Cragg. So please buckle up. We have entered the Shelby zone, and we may be here a little while. She and her pal Taz have also just completed a webcomic which you should also take a moment to check out. It looks good!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-26-14",
- "timestamp": 1416960000,
- "html": "\n\nIf you scroll down a bit, you'll see some new stuff in the store. But there is some even NEWER new stuff, so I'm posting it up here. Higher up means new on the internet, whereas lower down is where yesterday's garbage belongs. (Except wait it's not garbage, it's all still great. Buy everything!!! Whew, nice save. I just saved Christmas.)\n\n
\n\nPlaying cards:
\n![\"Playing](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_feltcards.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nDecals:
\n![\"Decals\"](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_stickers.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nPrints:
\n![\"Prints\"](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_print.jpg\")
\n^^^ This one by Zack is extra dope, let's call it a \"Hussie Pick\". That means every single copy sold is GUARANTEED to have been breathed on by a horse.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-28-14",
- "timestamp": 1417132800,
- "html": "\n\nPIPEORGANKIND. It is a song from a solid dude, by the name of James Roach. It capped off the old Colours and Mayhem B album a couple years ago. The song features some hella piping, a lot more than what you heard in the Flash. Animating five full minutes of pipe organ music maybe, just maybe, would have been a tall order. I guess there could always have been a few more slow panning shots across breezy landscapes. Keep an eye out for that version of the Flash in the director's cut of Homestuck, which of course will be ten times longer.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-09-14",
- "timestamp": 1418083200,
- "html": "\n\nHere is one last drop of cool stuff for you to buy before your chimneys are plundered by a mythical oaf. \n\n
\n\nA new one of these guys, who is red:
\n![\"Scalemate\"](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_scalemate.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nCharms!:
\n![\"Charms\"](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_charms.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nCute stickers?? (yes):
\n![\"Stickers\"](\"/archive/social/news/xmas2014_stickers2.jpg\"/)
\n^^^ Due to the adorable nature of these, I will call them another \"Hussie Pick\". That means 1 sticker sheet in every 100 is GUARANTEED to have been whisked gently by the tail of a playful horse.\n"
- }
- ],
- "15": [
- {
- "id": "1-07-15",
- "timestamp": 1420588800,
- "html": "\n\nCRITICAL HORSE ADJUSTMENT\n
\n\nOver the last couple months, I have been surreptitiously collapsing several update horses into single, bigger horses. This means A6A6I4 is going to end a little sooner than previously advertised. Same total page count, but finishing sooner. Please consult the important horse calendar below.\n\n
\n![\"Updated](\"/archive/social/news/cal_jan15_updated.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nSo what happens when A6A6I4 is done? I'm not quite sure yet. I'm still working on everything that comes after that. I've written it mostly, but haven't drawn anything yet. There will almost certainly be another pause, but I'm not sure how long it will be yet. I will let you know after 1/19.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-19-15",
- "timestamp": 1421625600,
- "html": "\n\nSo what do we call this pause? I've been batting ideas around all day. We could go with the obvious choice, the MINIGIGAPAUSE. Or maybe, MEGAPAUSE 2: BACK IN THE MEGASADDLE. Or if that makes too much sense, we could always settle on the MICROTERAPAUSE. As you can see, there are so many incredibly intelligent and meaningful things we could call this pause. Deciding how to refer to the pause is an exercise that I will leave to the reader. Feel free to discuss the matter with friends. Or strangers. Anyone who will listen really. If they start to run away, I strongly recommend you chase them.\n\n
\n\nWhy don't we say that A665 begins on 4/13. That's a fun number that we all can get excited about. I have a lot of catch-up work to do between now and then. Not the least of which is drawing the actual content to be posted. But also a lot of gamedev work. Game production is rolling pretty hot right now. Stuff is being churned out almost faster than I can keep track of. Did I mention? I accidentally started running a game studio a little while ago. Whoops, sorry about that. There are all these people being paid to make things happen, and I have to be like \"Yeah, keep doing that stuff, everybody.\" It's getting pretty easy to lose track of how many people work for What Pumpkin. My last estimate was somewhere between 30 and 1000. The true figure is a very frisky moving target.\n\n
\n\nA6A6A5, a.k.a. Caliborn's Masterpiece, is actually done. It's probably better to hold off posting it until 4/13, when more content will soon follow afterwords. I am sure pausing on that note for months would mess with your head a lot more than the note we're already pausing on. I sometimes feel I have at least a modest responsibility to manage your sanity. It'll be tough sitting on this content though. Tougher than sitting on all of A664 for the better part of a year. I don't think it is out of line to describe it as the best material this website will ever exhibit. It will be all down hill from there, in every direction. Even up.\n\n
\n\nSpeaking of sanity management, way back when, I was pretty on the fence about posting A664 spaced out over months like I did, vs. all at once. Doing the latter in hindsight probably would have been a fucked up thing to do to the internet though. The GAME OVER fallout alone was a bit much as it was. Including it in tandem with the rest of it? Not sure what to make of that. Let's review the CONTENT CRUSH that would have entailed. Bad Anime -> Game Over -> Sadstuck -> Lowas Quest -> 100 retconned panels of oil -> A bunch of other shit -> Punky Serket -> Fantroll Storytime -> 8 password pages -> The Kiss On Horse Mountain -> and finally -> The Punchline. You know, that's an awful lot of baloney to publish. I think the fell-swoop reaction to all that would have been quite a thing to behold, but also, perhaps an irresponsible thing to do to a hapless fanbase after a year in hibernation. I'm told that in 2015, young people are heavily susceptible to \"the feels\", and trifling with those forces could be injurious to their future development. Wait, did that just sound like something your grandpa would say? Mother fuck, where did I put my cane. Oh right, I snapped it in half from shaking it at the sky. \n\n
\n\nI may have been in the process of making a point there, but we're going to have to pick this up another time. The comic isn't going to pause itself!!!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-10-15",
- "timestamp": 1428624000,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Hiveswap](\"/archive/social/news/hiveswap.jpg\")
\n
\n\n1) New trailer for Hiveswap! Creeping ever closer to the release of episode one. In case you weren't aware by now, What Pumpkin Studios is developing it. WP is now a gamedev studio which I happen to think is pretty cool. There have been a bunch of Kickstarter updates recently showing progress too. Here are some more links which will help you keep up with game news: Twitter | Tumblr | FB\n
\n\n2) Homestuck returns on April 13th! That's in just a few days. Are you ready? I doubt it, but when has that ever stopped us before. We start with Caliborn's much anticipated masterpiece, running from the 13th-15th. Then regular updates probably resuming a week after that. I haven't decided on the update schedule yet, but when I do it will almost certainly be communicated to you in the only manner which you will tolerate from me, which is more horse calendars. I am thinking of a fairly swift update schedule. A lot has piled up. Over the last month (not counting his 40 page masterpiece, which was done months ago) I have somehow drawn another 400 pages, which is possibly some sort of MSPA record. Be warned, due to that obscene page rate some of these panels are lookin pretty fast and loose! They nevertheless exist, which is usually what matters most for this website. There's still more to draw beyond that to finish off the rest of A6A6I5, which is the final \"normal act\". But really not too much. We're getting real close here. I will chip away at the remaining panels as I roll out this batch. Then, it's all animation work after that.\n\n
\n\n3) Paradox Space! 4/13 is the exact one year anniversary of its launch. And as HS resumes, PXS will be pausing for a good while. We actually paused production back in January, and have just been posting from a comic buffer since. This has much to do with shifting priorities heavily to gamedev needs, but I'll explain more about it and the future of PXS in a little while, on that site. But also, there'll be a PXS book coming out soon! It looks very good. Also, if you haven't checked out PXS in a while, now would be a great time, because it's going into its pause on a very strong note. It's been running an incredibly great 51 page story by Zack, Jon, and Shelby. Kudos to all of them. This has easily been one of my faves.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-15",
- "timestamp": 1428883200,
- "html": "\n\nHappy 4/13! Here's one way to celebrate:\n\n
\n![\"Gigasale\"](\"/archive/social/news/gigasale.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nThat isn't a typo or anything. 41.3% off everything in the store for a few days. Yes, that discount is probably WAY steeper than it needs to be. But I thought it would be a cool way to thank the readers who have been sticking with this nutty story all these years. So feel free to go bonkers and grab whatever cool swag you might have had your eye on. It is a great and likely rare opportunity to get stuff super cheap!\n\n
\n\nMSPA updates again on the 14th and 15th, finishing off the \"masterpiece\". The sale runs through the 15th too!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-16-15",
- "timestamp": 1429142400,
- "html": "\n\nNext update: 4/22. New horse calendars should be available as well.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-22-15",
- "timestamp": 1429660800,
- "html": "\n\nThank you to Xamag, Adrienne, Ikimaru, Rennie, and Jones for the great A6A6I5 art!!! And also to Toby several years ago for making Moonsetter. \n\n
\nBEHOLD, THE HORSE CALENDARS\n
\n![\"Horse](\"/archive/social/news/horsecalendar_2015_2.gif\"/)
\n
\n\nAs you can see, it is a pretty swift horse schedule, with a couple of horseless weeks mixed in there. You may recall my mnemonic device for remembering the previous M/W/F schedule of Monhay, Wedsneigh, and Frihorse. Now we can add two more to help you remember, Tuesnort, and Thursclop. I understand this comic can get confusing sometimes, so you are definitely going to need those to help guide you on the rest of this journey.\n\n
\n\nAll pages for the above horses have already been drawn. I still have a batch of pages to draw to round out A6A6I5, but not as many as I have already done. I hope that you like it when characters in stories talk to one another, because there's an awful lot of that to come. Please stand by patiently and enthusiastically as my fake teens sit around bullshitting to the bitter end. Then a bunch of cool stuff will happen, and that will be that!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-26-15",
- "timestamp": 1430006400,
- "html": "\n\nFor this stretch, I don't think I'll be doing the midnight updates anymore. At least not midnight EST. It always seems to keep the kids up too late! The kids of the Americas, I mean, which I'm sure represents the majority of the readership. It's always midnight SOMEWHERE, though. Instead I'll probably be updating around the strike of midnight in some European nation, most days. Which nation will it be? It is a fun surprise. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-22-15",
- "timestamp": 1432252800,
- "html": "\n\nA slight horse modification to the calendar below. I won't be around the stable in time to let him trot about the paddock, so I'm afraid I must release him into the pasture to stud. Goodbye, 5/25 horse. We enjoyed your 50x50 thumbnail, while it was not crossed out.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-02-15",
- "timestamp": 1433203200,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Paradox](\"/archive/social/news/pxsbook1.jpg\"/)
\n
\nParadox Space, Book One! This is an extremely attractive collection of comics. One of my main objectives for the Paradox Space project was to start piling up enough great comic content to put into books like these, because books full of comics are very cool. This book covers roughly half of the year's worth of comics. There'll be another one covering the other half eventually. At some point we'll unpause PXS and fire up the comic-making operation again. I've been leaning toward the idea of making the future of PXS more print-centric, and keeping a lot of content reserved for books only. That way, when you get books, it will be more fun to discover what stories are inside. In the meantime though, I hope that you enjoy this one!!!\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-03-15",
- "timestamp": 1433289600,
- "html": "\n\nUsually I do the panoramic denizen illustrations myself, but this time I had some help. Someone who goes by the name Rah-Bop drew this lovely and extra-long Echidna shot. Whew that is some good art!!! I continue my unbroken streak of basically being the luckiest dude that so many incredible artists are attracted to the HS brand and willing to contribute. Thanks Rah! \n\n
\n\nP.S. Toby Fox made those snake noises and as usual I'm not sure how he did that. Maybe he is actually physically capable of making those sounds??\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-02-15",
- "timestamp": 1435795200,
- "html": "\n\n![\"What](\"/archive/social/news/WP_WLF.jpg\")
\n
\nHere is an announcement!\n
\n\nStarting now, We Love Fine will become the primary seller of Homestuck products. Almost everything from the What Pumpkin store will be gradually moved over to the We Love Fine store over the next few weeks. We're also working on a lot of cool new things, which will show up in the WLF store over the following months.\n\n
\n\nWLF is also running another shirt design contest this month. There were a whole lot of great entries last time, and many of them ended up getting printed. Maybe YOU have a cool idea for a shirt this time around?? I would like to see it!\n\n
\n\nIn closing, I will say this. We Love Fine is a great company! I've worked with them for a couple years already. The people there are VERY enthusiastic about making great stuff for fandoms. Take a look around their site. There's a good chance you will see stuff for other properties you like as well. I'm looking forward to seeing what else they're going to make for Homestuck!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-09-15",
- "timestamp": 1436400000,
- "html": "\n\nI just scrolled down on this website to take another look at the horse calendar, and sure enough, it does appear we have run out of scheduled horses. I think that means we are due for another off-week. I will let you know what the new horse situation is going to be in approximately seven days! \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-17-15",
- "timestamp": 1437091200,
- "html": "\n\nI have not prepared a new horse calendar. This does not mean there will be no horses. Believe me, the horses will flow. These might be fully uncalendared, free range horses though. I estimate there are eight updates left before we initiate what can only be called the Omegapause. I'll start posting them on monday, and probably post a thing every day thereafter, but we'll see how it goes. After that will be a long wait for conclusive content. Probably quite a long wait. But I will be more specific about that once we have finished getting a load of these eight beautiful and majestic horses. I would also like to briefly and somewhat insincerely apologize if you are new to the site, and don't have the faintest fucking clue what I am talking about, with respect to all this horse stuff. I offer neither an excuse, nor an explanation.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-23-15",
- "timestamp": 1437609600,
- "html": "\n\n9828 had a song and a drawing by James Roach and Ipgd respectively. Whoa, those are respectively very very good. The doomsday screed is by this son of a bozo, and it does appear to have motivated quite a STRONG wave of selfie posting. Maybe enough to even save the website from old man Hussie? Guess we'll find out. Hmm, sure does seem like Homestuck has a lot of good lookin' readers. I must say I am impressed. I have taken quite an extensive tour through your offerings and I have yet to find an unattractive face in front of Arquiusprite's tremendous buttocks. Kudos to every single selfie-snapper for being so preposterously photogenic. Just, wow. People have got a couple tumblr archives already if you want to take a look. I don't know which of those is \"better,\" or more exhaustive, but you know what, a little competition never killed anybody. I guess they can be like the Coke and Pepsi of this baloney ass stunt, for as long as people wanna keep pointing phones at their own faces. \n\n
\n\nOn the update front, I said there'd be 8 more, but I collapsed a couple so it's down to 7. Meaning there are two left, one on monday and tuesday. This doesn't mean you're seeing all that will happen before the endstuff. After the pause there'll be another stetch of pages more in the vein of escalating material, which I think is better to post closer to the animation that follows it, rather than now and get everybody hype for a whole lot of waiting. Instead I picked an update to pause it on which I think is a good and nice place to leave off that doesn't feel too cliffhangery. Then there'll be a significant pause, but only because I still haven't quite figured out how to pull a very significant animation project out of thin air yet. So that'll take a good while. I guess I'll say more about the pause when it has officially begun. Until then please enjoy the weekend of the Great Hug Bump of 2015. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-27-15",
- "timestamp": 1437955200,
- "html": "\n\nThat was the last update for a good while. I'll say more about the pause soon.\n\n
\n\nThe flash: song was an old and good one by Malcolm Brown, whose name I'd hope you would be familiar with by now. Art contributed by Adrienne, Ikimaru, Guzusuru, Shelby, and Rah. Great to work with all these people again. As has always been the case, the enthusiasm for the story by all contributors really shows in the work they do, and makes the final animation result feel a lot more special than it otherwise would be. A big thanks to all these artists, along with anyone else who ever left their artistic mark on this story.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-12-15",
- "timestamp": 1439337600,
- "html": "\n\nWhoops, I said I was going to make an update about the pause soon, but then I accidentally forgot this website existed for several weeks. Sorry about that! But then again, pause announcements aren't very exciting, and I already told you there would be a pause, so it PROBABLY doesn't matter much? Anyway, here it is. The Omegapause Announcement. \n\n
\n\nIf you go by page count, Homestuck is about 99% done. The remaining 1% will involve another stretch of pages, and some heavy animation work, which I probably won't even start for another month or two, as I catch up with some other work. In case it hasn't seemed obvious by now, I'm not in much of a hurry anymore. The manic rates of production this site used to enjoy will not be revisited. I won't be making 13+ minute animations in six weeks anymore. (That is very fast, if you didn't know.) All remaining content will be created at a pace more in keeping with the spirit of sanity. It will be done when it's done.\n\n
\n\nAs for when that is, I don't have any concrete projections. Maybe it will all drop some time next year? Hmm, seven acts in seven years... sounds pretty good to me! Maybe it will work out that way. I guess we will have to wait and see. I think it will be good though. If it was going to be bad, you'd be watching it tomorrow.\n\n
\n\nIn other news, the entries for the We Love Fine Shirt Design Contest are in, and ready for votes. There are a bunch of good ones! Thanks to all who submitted a design.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-30-15",
- "timestamp": 1443571200,
- "html": "\n\nOh, hello. I am just dropping by to show you a very nice thing you can suddenly buy in the We Love Fine store. Wow, look at this guy!\n\n
\n![\"WV](\"/archive/social/news/mayorplush.jpg\")
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-09-15",
- "timestamp": 1447027200,
- "html": "\n\nIf you haven't seen yet, the winners for the WLF shirt design contest were announced a little while ago. Lot of great designs this year! Thanks a bunch to everyone who participated. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-10-15",
- "timestamp": 1449705600,
- "html": "\n\nHi again. Hasn't been much to see here in a while, so I figured it was time to stop by. Actually I was planning on giving a more substantive update on the progress with both Homestuck and Hiveswap around the end of the year. I'm working on both at the same time right now, so it's keeping me very busy. But progress is going well for both. I'll probably be in a better position to say when Homestuck will update by the end of the year. I'll also have a better collection of materials to show for a Hiveswap update by then too. Progress on the game has been looking great. I've just been very focused on getting work done, so I haven't really had much time to organize a meaningful update. Check back in a few weeks though, and there should be something to see. Thanks for the patience!\n\n
\n\nIn the meantime, neat things keep popping up in the We Love Fine store. Take a look, there are: blankets, calendars, and probably some more stuff you might have missed if you look around!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-25-15",
- "timestamp": 1451001600,
- "html": "\n\nAs promised, here is your end of year news update. On Christmas no less! Must be a miracle. My apologies for having wasted your Christmas miracle on something so pedestrian as new web content. \n\n
\n\nAnyway, about that content. Got a couple STATUS UPDATES to report.\n\n
\n\nFirst, here's an update on Hiveswap. Long story short: there was a bit of a pause while we shifted gears on the production, but all the new stuff is looking fantastic. Take a look and see for yourself! You will not disagree.\n\n
\n\nSecond, Homestuck. Remember that? Me neither. Um, ha ha, just kidding, it's all I think about ever. Anyway, I've been juggling work between this and Hiveswap pretty furiously. But I've been making progress on the ending. I would like to shoot for 4/13 of next year to have it wrapped up. Given everything I have to do, this might actually be a tight squeeze! But I'll do my best. It will conclude with Act 7, and some preceding material including EOA6 will lead up to it. It's a lot of content. I'm getting uncomfortably close to reaching a half hour of projected new animation footage. (No, not all in one animation, don't worry. Spread out across several.) Will it all be ready in time for the 7 year anniversary of Homestuck? We'll just have to wait and see.\n\n
\n\nI'll give you another update on the status before then though. Why don't we say... another month? Sounds good to me, see you then.\n"
- }
- ],
- "16": [
- {
- "id": "2-02-16",
- "timestamp": 1454371200,
- "html": "\n\nI believe I mentioned I would provide a status update in a month, and it's been about a month, so here is an update. If the question is whether I'm still on track for a 4/13 finish, the answer I think is \"probably\". The remaining content is a scattered array of regular panels and animated content, but I think I can boil it down to the two heaviest individual \"projects\" which comprise most of the effort needed to finish. Those are End of Act 6, and Act 7. So to give you a better sense of where I am, I will track the progress of those two things as a percentage of completion.\n\n
\n\nEOA6 - 30%\n
\nA7 - 100%\n\n
\n\nI will update these numbers in another month. Hopefully they will both be higher, instead of lower.\n\n
\nSHOUT OUT ZONE BELOW\n
\n\nWelcome to the shout out zone, here are a couple of shout outs. The first shout out is,\n\n
\nNEO-KOSMOS: A comic by my friend Shelby (who did all Calliope art for HS), and her friends Amber (works on Steven Universe) and Adrienne (also does a lot for HS). They've been working really nicely with the MSPA format. It's a quick read to catch up, and it really feels like the story has been taking off lately. I'd recommend you at least read up to a very cool animation they just posted (which includes a song by Toby). If you're looking for a fun story to follow over the next few months while you wait for HS, I think this is a good pick!\n\n
\n\nThe next shout out is UNDERTALE, by my friend Toby. I know I mentioned it on the KS update but it probably bears repeating here too. Also I guess it's not so much a \"signal boost\" since by now UT is PRETTY WELL KNOWN! Let's get real, Toby is probably the one who should be giving HS shout outs from now on. Though it's not about giving UT a boost in popularity so much as a reminder that I believe he has made a fun and special game, and if you haven't gotten around to playing it yet, I think you should! It's an experience that anyone who likes games should have.\n\n
\n\nOk, see you in another month. Bye.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-07-16",
- "timestamp": 1457308800,
- "html": "\n\nHere is the update on two numbers I promised:\n\n
\n\nEOA6 - 65%\n
\nA7 - Still 100%\n\n
\n\nAdditional news: the second Paradox Space book is available to order. It contains all the stories not published in the first book (which you can find here). It also contains a bonus story I wrote which is only available in the book. You can see a preview for that story here: p1 p2 p3 p4\n
\n\nThat is all for now! I still have a lot of work to do. Ok, see you later. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-28-16",
- "timestamp": 1459123200,
- "html": "\n\nEOA6 - 99%\n\n
\n\nHere is the plan. Starting today, there will be 6 days of updates (about 125 total pages). Then a brief pause. Then on 4/6, I'll post the END OF ACT 6 animation. \n\n
\n\nThat should immediately be followed by 7 days of updates (about 40 total pages), ending with an update on 4/13, the 7th anniversary of Homestuck. That update will contain ACT 7 in its entirety.\n\n
\n\nThe current 125 page stretch was drawn by a few guest artists. Gina Chacon, Mallory Dyer, and Adrienne Garcia (all artists for WP). The panels they did are very good, and I think make for a nice runway leading up to the final animations. Of course there are a lot of other great contributing artists to all that content as well. Thanks for the patience during the Omegapause. I hope you enjoy the conclusion to Homestuck.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-07-16",
- "timestamp": 1459987200,
- "html": "\n\nThanks to the extensive group of artists who contributed to the end of act animation. Clearly it was a significant undertaking, and it wouldn't have been possible without so many great artists enthusiastically collaborating on it for months. Also thanks to Seth, Toby, Malcolm and Joren for the awesome music. It's currently available on bandcamp. \n\n
\n\nThe panels posted between now and 4/13 were made by WP artists Adrienne, Angela, Gina, and Rah. They're really good!!! We're almost there. Act 7 drops on 4/13.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-08-16",
- "timestamp": 1460073600,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Collide](\"/archive/social/news/collideshirts.jpg\")
\n
\n\nCouple things! First, We Love Fine has released a series of cool shirts based on art from the Collide animation. \n\n
\n\nSecond, all those shirt designs plus a bunch of other illustrations from Collide are also available as prints. You can get then in the What Pumpkin Store, which has just been relaunched primarily to offer prints, but also a few other items left over from the previous WP store. \n\n
\n\nEdit: Also, in case you haven't noticed yet, if you buy the full Homestuck discography on bandcamp right now, it is very heavily discounted. Not a bad time to grab the whole set, if you've been meaning to.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-16",
- "timestamp": 1460505600,
- "html": "\n\n[S] ACT 7\n
\n\nThe song is by Clark Powell, and extended by Toby Fox. It's available here on bandcamp. It was originally featured in Clark's album, Symphony Impossible to Play. \n\n
\n\nToday marks exactly seven years from the day Homestuck began. And Act 7's single-page installment marks the end of the story. Seven acts in seven years, to finish a sprawling \"creation myth about kids in houses,\" as I would describe it for those who asked what my next project was about before I started it. What is there to say about this ending? The short and funny answer is, Homestuck has finally completed its long journey over the rainbow, and become the anime it was always meant to be. The longer and less funny answer will need some reflection. Maybe some day I will say some things about it. For now, I will leave you to draw your own conclusions. \n\n
\n\nThe animation itself had a fairly complicated production history. I actually storyboarded it about four years ago. In fact, some of the shots I visualized before I even began Homestuck. I'd like to extend very special thanks to Angela Sham, who took the reins on the animation while it was in progress, and worked with me closely on it for about a year until it was done. She's a great animator, and I'm quite excited that she's continuing to work with us on the game. \n\n
\n\nIt probably goes without saying, but ending this story is a personally significant moment as well. I could say more about this too, but I'd rather not fill the news section with too many words today. For now, all that's left to do is express some appreciation. Whether you've been here from the beginning, hopped on board somewhere along the way, or only heard of it last week and made an insane dash through the archive to catch up in time for the conclusion, I mean this sincerely:\n\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/news/thanksforplaying.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nEdit: one more thing. If you're curious about whether there will be anything resembling an epilogue to this ending, yes, I've been thinking about that for some time. It'll take a while to produce though, whatever specific form it ends up taking. Working on Collide took months, and came right down to the wire. I've got more time now though obviously. But that said, I'm not in a huge hurry at this point. Keep an eye out here for developments. There should be plenty of other news in coming months too. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-12-16",
- "timestamp": 1465689600,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Volume](\"/archive/social/news/volume10.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nThe final Homestuck album Volume 10 has been released. More fantastic music by many familiar names who have contributed to the comic over the years. Thanks to all who came together to make this. It's a great way to cap off an impressive discography, now standing at 27 albums.\n\n
\n\nSince 4/13 I have been preoccupied with a wide variety of projects. Some are related to Homestuck, some are not. And yet others are not so easy to categorize. I have kept busy, and do not feel there is much to report yet. But there probably will be over the next couple of months. Stay tuned, and please enjoy listening to some very good songs. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-06-16",
- "timestamp": 1475712000,
- "html": "\n\nHere is a quick look at the way this project has been shaping up. Whew, that is a nice looking game! Not going to lie, I am on some big time tenterhooks in anticipation of this release. I've actually started doing stunts on the tenterhooks, flipping around on them wildly, like a gymnast. It's an astounding spectacle of physical endurance and might. Sorry you can't check this out, it's absolutely unreal. \n\n
\n\nWhat else have I been up to? I sense that this has been being wondered about. Some I suspect wonder about the epilogue I mentioned, which I have been making some notes on here and there. But otherwise have been deferring in favor of attention to ~other projects~ which strike me as more pressing. It will be gotten around to. If you are wondering which of these projects may be related to Homestuck, I did have some \"post-canon content\" planned for later this month. That is as specific as I can be for now. Tune in here, let's say, a couple weeks from now.\n\n
\n\nThe project that has occupied the lion's share of my professional time is one that you will understand completely why I have prioritized, when you eventually see it. Arguably it will prove to be the only relevant work of art in human history. I don't wish to give anything else away, or delay your experience of this unprecedented triumph of the human spirit. So instead I will light a fire under my ass, and attempt to deliver the content I know you have all been craving.\n\n
\n\nWhat else to report? Hmm. I know that usually the passage of time for creative individuals is tracked by the hours they spend which ultimately contribute to creative products which may be consumed. It is far from true that all of my hours this year have been applied that way. Suffice to say I've been on some strange adventures. I doubt I can do any of them justice here, in a newspost which is rapidly running out of words I'm willing to type. At one point I was thrown out of a stable. I've probably said too much already. Well, see you next time. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-22-16",
- "timestamp": 1477094400,
- "html": "\n\nJust going to leave this here for now, and assume that the kids these days will know what to do with it. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-15-16",
- "timestamp": 1481760000,
- "html": "\n\nIf you'd like to help greenlight Hiveswap on Steam, make sure to go vote for it here. \n\n
\n\nAnd if by some chance voting for this game's right to be distributed in this manner isn't enough to satisfy your desire to become truly one with the Hiveswap brand, may I recommend you browse this enticing array of preemptively available merchandise. (Here too.) I'm going to be perfectly candid with you here. If you haven't achieved absolute Brand Loyalty to this game before it comes out, you will probably suck at it. You've been warned.\n"
- }
- ],
- "17": [
- {
- "id": "1-26-17",
- "timestamp": 1485388800,
- "html": "\n\nStatus of Hiveswap: the game is just about done. It could still use some more testing to be absolutely certain we are not releasing a buggy piece of shit! To that end it will be worth waiting another several weeks or so. Perhaps more intriguingly I should mention that I've been working with some people on another thing, which will need to be announced when it is ready. I think it would be best to coordinate the announcement of the thing in question with the release of the game. So I'm not sure which will be done first, the thing or the testing, but neither will be unveiled until both are good and ready. Thank you as always for your legendary patience. \n
\nP.S. here is an ongoing reminder that you can still get cool Hiveswap stuff in advance of playing it, to aid you in your tireless quest to achieve supreme brand loyalty. God speed. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-07-17",
- "timestamp": 1491523200,
- "html": "\n\n
\n\nWe Love Fine has begun its traditional 413 promotion. Have at it, folks:\n\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/news/WLF41317.jpg\")
\n
\n\nThere's also a sale going on at the What Pumpkin store.\n\n
\n\nNot much else set to drop on 4/13 this year. Should be an update on game status. See you then.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-17",
- "timestamp": 1492041600,
- "html": "\n\nGot a new trailer for you to check out.\n\n
\n\nFurthermore, there looks to be a post from ya boy, and mine, (the world's boy, really), Cohen, providing some insight as to the status of the game's development.\n\n
\n\nIt also seems that a famous meat sandwich shop, called Arby's, has tweeted about Homestuck today? Why don't we call that the huge news of the day. Hell, let's agree to regard it as the most significant event of the past eight years.\n\n
\n\nAlso a reminder of the What Pumpkin sale, including discounts on albums.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-14-17",
- "timestamp": 1505347200,
- "html": "\n\nANNOUNCEMENT ONE\n
\nHiveswap has been released. You should go play it!\n\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/news/hiveswap_squarebanner.jpg\")
\n
\n\nHuge thanks to the entire What Pumpkin Games team for all their hard work on this project. Everyone involved has much to be proud of. Personally, I think the game is VERY GOOD! Really, better than I imagined it would be when scribbling notes for it years ago. Credit is owed to the fans for their patience while the necessary time was taken to build a studio capable of making a game like this. And above all, credit is owed to the great team that brought it to life. If you happen to spot any contributors out in the wild, on social media or such, I hope you will extend your appreciation for what they have accomplished.\n\n
\nANNOUNCEMENT TWO\n
\n\nWhat Pumpkin and Homestuck are partnering with Viz Media to work on a lot of cool stuff together in the future. This will include projects based on both the Homestuck and Hiveswap worlds. The possibilities are wide open, but here are a couple examples of things we know we're going to work on already...\n\n
\n\nViz will begin releasing the Homestuck books again, starting next year. These will be nice new hardcover editions, and the plan is to just keep turning out volumes until the entire story is in print. Each volume will be full of my Secret Notes just like the previous ones were. Viz will also be involved in the release of the mysterious epilogue project I alluded to a while ago. Details on format, release date, etc, will remain undisclosed until further notice, but you can expect more information about that to surface next year too. I wanted to do something a little unusual for it, something existing outside the confines of the web story. Working with Viz struck me as good opportunity for this.\n\n
\n\nAside from that, anything can happen. Take a look at the sorts of things Viz has already published or produced. These are all examples of things on the table for future consideration for either Homestuck or Hiveswap. I've got plenty of ideas, and so do they. Maybe you do too?? \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-11-17",
- "timestamp": 1510358400,
- "html": "\n\n![](\"/archive/social/news/trollcall.jpg\"/)
\n
\nHey check it out. Every week we'll be revealing some new troll characters from Hiveswap until Act 2 is out. Follow the Troll Call here, and meet the first two here. Expect a few more surprises like this to drop in coming weeks.\n
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-17-17",
- "timestamp": 1510876800,
- "html": "\n\nHere's a very special new book made by me, dril, and KC Green, which you can preorder here. This seemed like a good way to do it since we had no idea how many of these books to print. A hundred? A million? ZERO??? You guys will decide. Plus there's a lot of other cool stuff there. If you have any interest in this book at all, it's probably a good idea for you to jump on it now. There's no telling how easy it will be to get your hands on after the first run has shipped to backers.\n\n
\n![](\"/archive/social/news/sbahj_ks_graphic.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nAbout the friends who helped out: my guess is you are probably familiar with dril's twitter brand? A couple years ago we talked about working on this, one thing led to another, and now here we are asking you to buy a book with a spoon concealed inside of it. The way I see it is, you don't just get any clown off the street to write for characters with the complexity and emotional depth that these ones have. You bring out the big guns. This is a man who knows his way around a huge ass. A man who knows all too well the plight of the gamer. A man who won't hesitate to engage with some of your favorite brands, and will not flinch at a longform narrative about a pissed off guy searching the world for his spoon. \n\n
\n\nKC Green has already done some good work with the SBaHJ franchise, you may remember. For the sake of authenticity I did a lot of coloring work over his pencils and put some serious attention on generally screwing everything up. Don't worry, we had some very important standards of quality that I took great care to ensure we catastrophically failed to meet. KC does a lot of other great stuff too. Did you know he did the dog who says this is fine even though the room is on fire? It's crazy how much people love that damn dog. Not everyone knows he did it though, and people should applaud him more for his stuff. Same with dril. Let's hear it for these boys and their priceless contributions to our society. I hope you like this book!\n\n
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-27-17",
- "timestamp": 1511740800,
- "html": "\n\n![](\"/archive/social/news/extendedzodiac_graphic.jpg\"/)
\n
\n\nHere's another huge deal announcement. A \"bomb shell\", you could say. The zodiac has officially been extended to include 288 signs, instead of the meager assortment of 12 you are familiar with. The resulting system is known as the Extended Zodiac. You may determine your True Sign by taking a test, if you wish.\n\n
\n\nI envisioned an expansion like this a couple years ago, when it became clear that due to the large volume of NPCs in Hiveswap, many new troll symbols would have to be created. So we made a large library of symbols to draw from when designing characters (A lot more symbols than characters. Don't worry, the game roster isn't THAT out of control.) But why stop at just a static library of new signs when you could take the opportunity to reinvent astrology itself?\n\n
\n\nThe test uses a couple other personal classifiers from Homestuck lore to triangulate your True Sign designation from this dizzying barrage of iconography. What do you do with this information? I don't know. Make some cool new OCs? Discuss your new sign with friends? Cause great agitation and bewilderment among astrological purists? The sky's the limit. Also, those invested in what qualifies as \"canon\" when it comes to Homestuck lore may take interest in this test, which formally evaluates whether you are a Prospit or Derse Dreamer (involving a new term of art for the sake of this system, called Lunar Sway), as well as your Aspect. I am sure some will wonder whether this means a God Tier Class test will be available as well. Some day, yes, probably. For now, only Aspect is applicable to this system. But the precedent now exists for the expectation to be CANONICALLY classified by literally any absurd profiling system I have ever concocted, and you have just obtained a full license to not let anyone forget this. \n\n
\n"
- }
- ],
- "18": [
- {
- "id": "4-02-18",
- "timestamp": 1522627200,
- "html": "\n\nby VIZ Media
\nWebsite update! MS Paint Adventures has been converted to Homestuck.com. This refreshed website is now mobile-friendly, with tons of stuff converted to reach a wider audience. We also added new Search features, along with an INFO page to help orient readers in the Homestuck universe. There will be additional updates in the coming months, as we convert more flash files and games for mobile-enabled fun. So dig in and stay tuned, there's more to come...\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-03-18",
- "timestamp": 1522713600,
- "html": "\n\n\nThanks to the VIZ Media team for porting all MSPA content over to Homestuck.com, which now enables mobile viewing for all pages. This has been done by converting Flash files into either an HTML-based format, or converting to a video file. Many of the video files are only temporary, and will be replaced in coming months, either with HTML-converted files, or higher quality videos. This entire site is still a work in progress. Homestuck is a huge story, with many different presentations and uses of media. Adapting such a work to a new, more broadly compatible format is a very big job. The VIZ team has done great work in adjusting to all the challenges so far. Please be patient as the conversion process continues.\n
\nOver the last several years, I've noticed many wondering if Homestuck would ever compensate for the obsolescence of Flash, and its gradual inability to be viewed by browsers and mobile devices in coming years. Yes, I had been thinking about that, but as I said above, making those adjustments was always going to be an enormous undertaking. So VIZ has been doing a major favor to the story, and fandom in general, by taking this on. \n
\nMore broadly than just converting Flash pages, this adaptation serves another purpose. My intent for MSPA was never to have it last forever, or to concern myself with maintaining a labyrinthine, crudely-coded website for the rest of my life. At some point, the right thing to do was always going to be figuring out how the stories hosted on it could persist long into the future. VIZ Media is about as good as any organization I can think of when it comes to publishing long-running series, and preserving them for future readers. They print many classic manga series and get those books on shelves all over the world, thus keeping those series alive and widely read, well beyond their initial publication. So the VIZ team and I are working together to preserve the original content while updating its delivery, but Homestuck's unusual format makes this a unique challenge. (Incidentally, they'll also be releasing the full run of Homestuck in print as well, to complement the work online.)\n
\nMy hope is you will see these changes as a net-positive, and perhaps can enjoy the work again in ways that weren't possible before (such as on your phone). Again, this adaptation will continue to evolve and improve. Any feedback you may have when it comes to the performance or presentation, feel free to contact the site team at VIZ. They're taking everyone's remarks seriously. Thanks again to all who continue to care enough about Homestuck to stop by and read this. We all appreciate your support.\n
\n"
- }
- ],
- "07": [
- {
- "id": "6-21-07",
- "timestamp": 1182384000,
- "html": "\n\nThanks to Kaddar for cool idea for the style of text under the images. \n
\n
\nNutcracker: \"Try not to make multiple pathways too often..I clicked all the links in Jailbreak D:\"\n
\n
\nJailbreak only has a couple pathways. Otherwise it's totally linear. :/\n
\n
\nshelbycat: \"bardquest is cute. Jailbreak is sick.\"\n
\n
\nGive Bard Quest time. ;)\n
\n
\n
\nStill reworking the interface. Added a more extensive latest page list, just above this post. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-28-07",
- "timestamp": 1182988800,
- "html": "\n\nHey dudes.\n
\n
\nThe suggestions are all cool. Keep 'em coming. Wish I had time to do more of them. \n
\n
\nI'm still sort of feeling out a schedule for this. I'm tentatively striving to add to the story at least once a week, but hopefully more often than that.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-05-07",
- "timestamp": 1183593600,
- "html": "\n\nSo it looks like keeping up with this about once a week is about all I can handle now. I have a lot of other stuff going on right now, not the least of which is drawing the 2nd Whistles book. (book 1 is out real soon)\n
\n
\nKeep an eye on the RSS feed (assuming it actually works properly...) is my recommendation. You never know when I might strike. I am like a crouching cougar with an angry rattlesnake up its ass. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-25-07",
- "timestamp": 1188000000,
- "html": "\n\n![\"Pause\"](\"/archive/social/news/bqpause.gif\")
\n
\n\nI'm putting MS Paint Adventures on indefinite hold. I have a lot of stuff to work on, \nand it's silly to pretend I can keep up with this regularly at the moment.
\n\nI will come back to it though. I'd like to iron out some of the features in the \n(still quite experimental) system. When I do, it will be when I'm able to commit to \na regular schedule, maybe even daily.
\n\nIn the meantime, you may read the adventures in their current state here. \n"
- }
- ],
- "08": [
- {
- "id": "3-10-08",
- "timestamp": 1205107200,
- "html": "\n\nSo I'm starting this up again. This time with a brand new adventure called \"Problem Sleuth\". \n
\n
\nI thought a bit too much dust had gathered on Bard Quest. I will either come back to it some other time, or allow it to languish indefinitely!\n
\n
\nThe comment box over there yearns for your brilliant ideas. -->\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-18-08",
- "timestamp": 1205798400,
- "html": "\n\n90 updates in one week! Now that's an update schedule.\n
\n
\nKeep submitting your cool suggestions. I continue to be inspired by them. Unless they're stupid. In which case I'm still sort of inspired by them. \n
\n
\nIn case you haven't noticed, I am keeping this story totally linear. No multiple options, no multiple images. I wanted to keep this one simple. We'll see how long that lasts. Hopefully to the end.\n
\n
\nI might mess around with CYOA stuff in the next adventure.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-14-08",
- "timestamp": 1208131200,
- "html": "\n\nBack in a week. I expect the suggestion box to be overwhelmingly flooded when I get back. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-20-08",
- "timestamp": 1208649600,
- "html": "\n\nI'm sorry, I don't think I quite know how to News right now.\n
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-29-08",
- "timestamp": 1209427200,
- "html": "\n\nOh no, I'm away again! Be back in a week. 5/8 or so. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-22-08",
- "timestamp": 1211414400,
- "html": "\n\nBack next week.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-31-08",
- "timestamp": 1220140800,
- "html": "\n\nSplendid artist's rendition by Simon Dickie. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-12-08",
- "timestamp": 1221177600,
- "html": "\n\nHoly cow, some new site features have arrived! You can save your spot in the game, search, and some other cool stuff. Feel free to ogle the various widgets at your leisure. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-27-08",
- "timestamp": 1222473600,
- "html": "\n\nHey, guess what? We're finally on the home stretch for the Problem Sleuth campaign. This means I will probably be more liberal with my own commands just to keep this thing moving along at the right pace. But even so, please keep supplying the great suggestions! They're essential, and I'm still bound to use plenty of them.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-29-08",
- "timestamp": 1222646400,
- "html": "\n\nCheck it out, some sweet PS icons hot off the press!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-09-08",
- "timestamp": 1223510400,
- "html": "\n\nThere was a pretty big strain on the site from extra traffic, mostly from VGCats. But I think I fixed it and it should be running ok now. Hi to everyone new. Looking forward to your user commands in the suggestion box over there, but remember, you have to get all the way to the end of the Problem Sleuth story first to make a command! It (possibly) will dictate what I draw next.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-15-08",
- "timestamp": 1224028800,
- "html": "\n\nMan, I'm getting a lot of suggestions lately. I don't want to say post less, because I certainly enjoy reading through them. (And I do read them all.) I just wish I had the time to execute even 1% of them. \n
\n
\nAnyway, thanks to anyone to takes the time to type one in. The policy I'll use to govern their selection may approximate a \"popular demand\" model.\n
\n
\nAlso I noticed this in there and thought it was kind of cool. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-19-08",
- "timestamp": 1224374400,
- "html": "\n\nI have a pretty good idea about what I'm going to do now. Thanks for the feedback. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-31-08",
- "timestamp": 1225411200,
- "html": "\n\nHey, happy Halloween! May your GAMBIT SCHEMAS envelop you in spooky GAMBIT AETHERS, and may they quickly dispatch all of your most loathsome foes in a terrifying manner.
\n\n[Edit: never mind on that...]
\n\nP.S. Please enjoy carving your SCHEMA PUMPKINS too, if you can ever actually find the damned things.
\n\nEdit: A fan pumpkin carved by Adam.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-04-08",
- "timestamp": 1225756800,
- "html": "\n\nSo this stuff (uh... this) is what I'd intended to post on Halloween but ran sort of late with it. Consider it a welcome extension of the holiday.\n\n
\n\nI've had some people ask about making donations to the site. So I'm thinking, hey, if people really want to be that awesome, who am I to refuse! I'll have to think of some sort of cool thing to give away with a donation though. \n\n
\n\nOn a related note, people have also been asking about shirts. I do have something in the works, and it's pretty sweet. Keep an eye out for developments in the next two or three weeks.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-06-08",
- "timestamp": 1225929600,
- "html": "\n\nThis was a suggestion I saw in the box like 3 weeks ago. I liked it, but only got around to drawing it now. The lesson is that even though I get a lot of suggestions, you never know if/when I might pick yours. I just might yet!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-07-08",
- "timestamp": 1226016000,
- "html": "\n\nI just put up a donations page! Making a donation scores you a pretty cool prize. So why don't you go check it out?\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-15-08",
- "timestamp": 1226707200,
- "html": "\n\nI updated the FAQ page with some new questions, marked *NEW*.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-18-08",
- "timestamp": 1226966400,
- "html": "\n\nSome donation-sponsored fan commands:\n\n
\nPI: Fall in a shockingly inappropriate manner.\n
\nPI: Fall in a badass noir-antihero manner.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-19-08",
- "timestamp": 1227052800,
- "html": "\n\nNew T-shirts are available! They are so cool. You should check them out.\n\n
\n\nAs if there wasn't enough cool news to report, I have also made a bunch of new animated icons!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-29-08",
- "timestamp": 1227916800,
- "html": "\n\nA new fan-sponsored command, plus I put them all up on the unlockables page.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-03-08a",
- "timestamp": 1228262400,
- "html": "\n\nFAQ: \"Hey what's going on with all these Pickle Inspectors?? How many are there?\"
\n\nMaybe not as many as you think. There was FPI (the red one) who split in two to avoid a vexatious glower, and sent one to the past (the blue one) and one to the future (the yellow one). The blue one (PFPI) first appeared here, having just traveled back in time, and arrives to save the day! (By extinguishing the fire from the first glower.) But that left FPI (red) standing around with PFPI (blue). PFPI had to go kill some time until FPI disappeared, so he went and played Trouble with Death. FFPI (yellow) of course has yet to appear, since that future moment has not arrived yet! It's really not even that complicated when you think about it!
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-03-08b",
- "timestamp": 1228262400,
- "html": "\n\nHey, check this out. My great coolpal Cindy has made a new website. She makes some very nice things, and you ought to take a look!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-04-08",
- "timestamp": 1228348800,
- "html": "\n\nFAD: GAMBIT SCHEMA -> HOT TAMALE CHUPACABRA! \n
\nFPI: Teleport to the theater with future copy of Die Hard.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-09-08",
- "timestamp": 1228780800,
- "html": "\n\n The shirts have almost sold out. They have gone a little faster than I expected. There are still a few sizes left There are only a couple smalls left. Will be working on some new designs/reprints soon.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-10-08",
- "timestamp": 1228867200,
- "html": "\n\nDear nerds: Apophysis is a pretty sweet program. That is all.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-12-08",
- "timestamp": 1229040000,
- "html": "\n\nGPI: Fondly regard donation.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-14-08a",
- "timestamp": 1229212800,
- "html": "\n\nI wonder if there is a shoutbox somewhere that doesn't break after a high volume of \"shouts\". As in, actually maintains archives more than a couple pages deep. I guess I could try out some others but satisfying that curiosity has always been sort of low on my totem of prioirites. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-14-08b",
- "timestamp": 1229212800,
- "html": "\n\nPS: Summon the Midnight Crew.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-16-08",
- "timestamp": 1229385600,
- "html": "\n\nMC: Insulted, join battle working for DMK instead.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-17-08a",
- "timestamp": 1229472000,
- "html": "\n\nVARIOUS CHANGES AFOOT\n
\n\nFirst. I ditched the old shoutbox in lieu of a simple comment feature following a blog post. Shoutboxes are always breaking. This seems like a much more stable solution. Plus I suppose I can use that blog for various things if I need to. Such as blogging, for example, should my temperament reach such a critical spike in desperation.\n\n
\n\nSECOND. You may have noticed I have decided to align myself with Project Wonderful. It seems to me like an elegant way to handle the ad thing, which has appeared increasingly necessary cause hostin' sure is goddarn 'spensive. I was considering doing something a little more hands-on/creative with advertising and perhaps I still will, but I thought I'd give this a go for a while and see how she handles.\n\n
\n\nIf the thought of advertising strikes your fancy you should take a look. It works on a very fair and rational bidding system. Plus I think this site makes a good candidate for advertising since it gets a totally preposterous number of daily page views (like half a million or so), relative to number of visitors. That is an awful lot of fresh and discerning peepers ogling these pages. Perhaps they may ogle your enticing brands as well!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-17-08b",
- "timestamp": 1229472000,
- "html": "\n\nAD: You can't believe you forgot to take your dog on the walk.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-18-08a",
- "timestamp": 1229558400,
- "html": "\n\nMC & SMK: Wage donation-funded warfare against the protagonists.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-18-08b",
- "timestamp": 1229558400,
- "html": "\n\nSunglass-Free Stiller Bust: Emerge from the tear in space-time, floating slowly and eerily towards the viewer. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-20-08",
- "timestamp": 1229731200,
- "html": "\n\nFACE OFF!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-21-08",
- "timestamp": 1229817600,
- "html": "\n\nI finally fixed the map feature. And by fixed I mean I made it do something completely different from what it used to do. It now serves as a sort of illustrated table of contents, with the story divided into chapters. \n\n
\n\nWhat did it used to do, you ask? Oh, never mind that. Suffice to say, something not as cool.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-22-08",
- "timestamp": 1229904000,
- "html": "\n\nMC: HIVE RAGTIME: FILL'EM WITH MIDNIGHT.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-23-08",
- "timestamp": 1229990400,
- "html": "\n\nOH DON'T MIND ME.\n\n
\n\nJust messing around with the layout again. I'm still feeling out how I want to handle the ad space and I thought I'd give this arrangement a shot. I would like to think I will keep it this way for a little while.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-24-08",
- "timestamp": 1230076800,
- "html": "\n\nEveryone: Pause for a 12 month calendar photoshoot.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-27-08",
- "timestamp": 1230336000,
- "html": "\n\nStrike back at the midnight crew using awesome dice based technology.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-30-08",
- "timestamp": 1230595200,
- "html": "\n\nBegin Dating-Sim minigame.\n"
- }
- ],
- "09": [
- {
- "id": "1-05-09a",
- "timestamp": 1231113600,
- "html": "\n\nIn a few days I'll be moving, so there'll be a brief interruption in the story. Perhaps for a week or so. Just giving you a heads-up so you don't completely flip the fuck out at the scarcity of Problem Sleuth updates. Ideally, you will only partially flip the fuck out.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-05-09b",
- "timestamp": 1231113600,
- "html": "\n\nMC: SHADOW COMB RAVE -> MIDNIGHT GOSPEL ACT\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-07-09a",
- "timestamp": 1231286400,
- "html": "\n\nA while ago I switched to a blog comments system for the suggestion box, and it seems to be working pretty well I think. It's always entertaining to peruse the suggestions, and I heartily recommend the activity.\n\n
\n\nThe side-effect of this was of course an actual blog, which I wasn't sure if I was going to use or not. But I recently reprised a couple articles from my old, defunct blog there. One article on Fancy Santas, and another about how I bought a painting of a horse last year. I'm still not sure if I'm going to use it to do any \"actual\" blogging, but I suppose you can keep an eye on it if you like.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-07-09b",
- "timestamp": 1231286400,
- "html": "\n\nThat will be the last update for a while. I'm moving, so the game's effectively on pause until my computer's back up and running. I'm guessing this will take about a week. Then it'll be time to finish this thing up. Problem Sleuth doesn't have long to go.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-13-09",
- "timestamp": 1231804800,
- "html": "\n\nNEW MSPA SHIRT DESIGNS AVAILABLE!\n
\n\nBecause people seemed to like the last batch of shirts so much, I made a couple new designs for you. I also had the previous one (Sleuth Diplomacy) reprinted on a cool new color, in case you liked that one but missed your chance.\n\n
\n\nI've joined up with Topatoco this time. Jeffrey and his crew do some great work there and sell merch for a lot of other cool webcomics. \n\n
\n\nI'm still a few days out from updating the site. Still waiting for my computer to show up. I don't really like letting the site gather dust like this, but hey what can you do. Maybe you will receive word of this STUNNING NEW MERCHANDISE as a token of consolation. Keep your eyes peeled for more PS later in the week.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-19-09a",
- "timestamp": 1232323200,
- "html": "\n\nALL THINGS WIKI
\nA little while ago I saw this and thought it was interesting. A partial account of Problem Sleuth, sort of wiki-like in its detail, and in the fact that it was not made by me.\n\n
\n\nThen this got me thinking about wikis, and how PS could probably really use wiki-documentation since it's rather complicated, and even I forget elements of the story sometimes. Then I encountered one that had already been started, although it still appears to be in its nascent state. I encourage anyone who feels like it to go ahead and fill it up with whatever occurs to you. At some point I'll probably have to go proofread it and ferret out more obtuse interpretations of the story, like \"and then the guy turns into a girl for some reason...\" Ok well, now if you actually write that, I'll probably just leave it in for fun.\n\n
\n\nAnd regarding the big wiki-enchilada itself, doesn't look like there's anything on MSPA there yet either. Although I'm not officially encouraging anyone to mark it up with things about me or MSPA, since I'm kind of wondering how long I can go without having my identity molested by the spongy folds of its dubious parchment.\n\n
\n\nEDIT EDIT EDIT: Long story short, there is an MSPA Wiki out there that perhaps you would like to contribute to. (?) (!!)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-19-09b",
- "timestamp": 1232323200,
- "html": "\n\nCrank PROBABILITY THEORY WASP PROFESSOR's Meddling Level.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-20-09",
- "timestamp": 1232409600,
- "html": "\n\nI did an interview for a website called Culture Hacker, and maybe you will read this interview!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-21-09",
- "timestamp": 1232496000,
- "html": "\n\nDeath: Accidentally tear a plot hole in your TOME OF WAYFARING SOULS.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-22-09a",
- "timestamp": 1232582400,
- "html": "\n\nUPDATE ON ALL THINGS WIKI\n
\n\nIt looks like some swell folks have been pretty vigilant about stocking the wiki. I wouldn't say it's near exhaustive yet (amazingly, even at 535 pages), but it does now serve the basic function of any wiki, which is to allow you to lose a couple hours to its meandering catacombs. Nice work guys!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-22-09b",
- "timestamp": 1232582400,
- "html": "\n\nOh, also I just updated the map to include chapters 19 and 20. It's possible we're a lot closer to the end than you thought!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "1-23-09",
- "timestamp": 1232668800,
- "html": "\n\nPS: Summon WARHAMMER OF ZILLYHOO!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-01-09",
- "timestamp": 1233446400,
- "html": "\n\nEdited episodes of Star Trek: TNG. (I made a blog post about this, because I guess I should be using my blog more often.)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-04-09a",
- "timestamp": 1233705600,
- "html": "\n\nRyan, I can see you sitting in your car outside my house. You are not fooling anyone, sort of ducking behind the dashboard like that. My dinner isn't even that interesting, it's just like a leftover turkey sandwich from earlier in the day or something!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-04-09b",
- "timestamp": 1233705600,
- "html": "\n\nMIDNIGHT CREW: Continue your battle, oblivious to the various odd changes that resulted from Professor Wasp's meddling through time.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-05-09",
- "timestamp": 1233792000,
- "html": "\n\nMy sources say there are peeping toms out there who will derive fascination from a man sitting in his home spoiling good trousers while reciting rap lyrics about women with enormous asses. Any party falling into this camp could hardly be faulted for the preoccupation, just as he couldn't be faulted for not being completely aware of his surrounding environment. An environment in which the pageant he witnesses quite possibly functions as a distraction while a servant is deployed from the side cellar door, creeps through the bushes, and forces an entire canister of cookie dough through the tailpipe of any would-be automotive voyeurs. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-07-09",
- "timestamp": 1233964800,
- "html": "\n\nOk, well it seems Mr. North didn't totally appreciate the Pop n Fresh emissions test I had old Snootington slip into his muffler. Some people just don't know how to take a joke.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-09-09",
- "timestamp": 1234137600,
- "html": "\n\nMC: Attempt to put an end to Probability Theory Wasp's meddling with superior shadow-based magic.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-10-09a",
- "timestamp": 1234224000,
- "html": "\n\nRyan I am going to admit I don't know what the next logical step is for this thing to take. I'm sort of groping here, and I am not using this word to literally refer to those top notch hugs you were dishing out the other night like a man possessed. So the only thing I can think to do is to take it in a direction that defies logic in every obscure dimension of meaning and thin stratum of semantics in which the word is known to dwell.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-10-09b",
- "timestamp": 1234224000,
- "html": "\n\nI changed the url to my/Jan's video edits page to something more autonomously distinct, as well as actually enunciable. This isn't all that big of a deal since the old address points there just fine too. It just means you'll have to reset your RSS link if you saved one, and reset your bookmark to the site if you REALLY want your ducks to swim in a tidy row.\n\n
\n\nThere should be some more of those videos up pretty soon! (Hint: some of them might even be non Star Trek related)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-11-09",
- "timestamp": 1234310400,
- "html": "\n\nShow MAP of all locations seen by the player so far. \n
\n\nI've decided to discontinue the commands-for-donations thing for a while. The commands have really piled up, and I have a lot of stuff to do, not the least of which is finish PS! I'll finish all the ones I have left to do, then probably reinstate it later, maybe after PS is done and the next story has settled in.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-15-09",
- "timestamp": 1234656000,
- "html": "\n\nAccording to our trusty story map, it seems all 22 chapters are now accounted for. Today's turn of events marks the beginning of the final chapter.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-21-09",
- "timestamp": 1235174400,
- "html": "\n\nThe bottom line is this. JR made a comic called Superfrog when he was 11. I made a comic called Super Frog when I was 11. This subject is explored here in some detail.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-23-09a",
- "timestamp": 1235347200,
- "html": "\n\nI'm aiming to have everything wrapped up by March 10th, exactly one year to the day since Problem Sleuth began.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-23-09b",
- "timestamp": 1235347200,
- "html": "\n\nI've been meaning to mention there is this event. I will be attending this event. But the question remains...\n\n
\n\nWILL YOU?\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "2-28-09",
- "timestamp": 1235779200,
- "html": "\n\nMax made this pretty cool Sepulchritude wallpaper. Desktop wallpapers are one of those things I've been meaning to do for many months, but just never seem to get around to. In the meantime, perhaps you may enjoy using this one!\n\n
\n\nEdit: speaking of totally sweet Sepulchritude fan art, check out this painting Devin did.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-04-09",
- "timestamp": 1236124800,
- "html": "\n\nThere should be some new MSPA shirt designs coming soon to the Topato Company website. So if you were pining for something awesome to wear then you shall not be pining for long.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-07-09",
- "timestamp": 1236384000,
- "html": "\n\nI wrote a rather extensive science FAQs page, now that so much of this crazy science stuff is behind us. I thought it might be particularly useful with the most recent events spurring a lot of confusion/agitation/excitement! Hopefully this helps clear some things up.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-10-09",
- "timestamp": 1236643200,
- "html": "\n\nTHE END OF PROBLEM SLEUTH.\n
\n\n03/10/08 - 03/10/09.\n\n
\n\n3 detectives
\n365 days
\n1621 pages
\n1915 images
\n142 megabytes
\n45,000 words
\n0 sacred urns toppled
\n0 mystic ruins desecrated
\n0 hallowed tombs defiled\n\n
\n\nSome notes to file under \"now what?\":\n\n
\n\n- I am going to add some epilogue pages to the story in the coming week or two.\n\n
\n\n- I'll finish up a bunch of donation commands still left on the queue.\n\n
\n\n- I will probably reformat my hard drive due to a whole lot of crazy adware that got on there somehow!\n\n
\n\nOnce I'm clear of all that I will give you the scoop on what's up with the next story. Do stay abreast!\n\n
\n\nSome sidebar stuff:\n\n
\n\n1) Heh-heh. 2) New shirts soon. 3) New TNG vid!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-11-09",
- "timestamp": 1236729600,
- "html": "\n\nThe response to ending the story has been pretty overwhelming! I honestly was not expecting it. Most sincere thanks to all who have emailed, or posted a comment in the blog or suggestion box! \n\n
\n\nAH: Fondly regard incredible fans.\n\n
\n\nP.S. I'll start up this mysterious epilogue thing I mentioned in the next day or two!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-14-09",
- "timestamp": 1236988800,
- "html": "\n\nThe pot of gold at the end of the cultural rainbow...\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-16-09",
- "timestamp": 1237161600,
- "html": "\n\nNo, we are still not quite done! You will know we are finished when you read the words \"THE END.\"\n\n
\n\n\nSomeone in the comments section of the blog said something which struck me as particularly true!\n\n
\n\n\"I'd just like to say that this is the most literate and well-spoken group of fans of a webcomic I have ever witnessed on the internet.\"\n\n
\n\nIt did amaze me how well put together and thoughtful everyone's remarks were. Especially when you line that column up along side the sort of verbal detritus that appears under, say, a youtube video. MSPA Fans: Pat yourselves on the back for having the wherewithal to crack a book now and then!\n\n
\n\nOh, speaking of youtube...\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-20-09",
- "timestamp": 1237507200,
- "html": "\n\nHey, I'm skipping town for the weekend! How mysterious of me. I will finish up the epilogue next week! \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-23-09",
- "timestamp": 1237766400,
- "html": "\n\nThis weekend I made a lot of wonderful friends. I am sorry you could not be there! Maybe next time. \n\n
\n\nOh! This guy sent me this thing he did which is extremely cool. Behold its grace and marvel agog.\n\n
\n\nOh!!! Also I did another interview. Man I talk a lot in these things. Oh well, it's all good I guess. If you're into things like... ME.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-24-09",
- "timestamp": 1237852800,
- "html": "\n\nI wanted to sling a few more shout outs before we all forget about this webcomic weekend thing and get on with our dreary lives. \n\n
\n\nAlso, this is important:\n\n
\n\nThere is a decent number of Problem Sleuth-themed youtube compilations set to music, and they are pretty much all very cool. If you search around youtube for them, you will see them crop up. But this one I saw today is easily the best I have seen! All the original artwork and consideration to narrative easily puts it over the top. Simon Dickie has done a marvelous thing and he should be applauded. I do not want to see on the floor near his feet a single square inch unconcealed by red petal or thorny stem.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-27-09",
- "timestamp": 1238112000,
- "html": "\n\nProjected start date for new MSPA story: 04-10-09\n
\n\nI thought I'd keep a note above on the start date for the next adventure. Hopefully I'll get it rolling by the 10th, but if there's any change in this plan you will see it there!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-30-09",
- "timestamp": 1238371200,
- "html": "\n\nI've been talking about webcomics lately, so I will mention another site or two before I pipe down. Michael Firman does a very funny comic called Moe. In fact, Moe even made a brief cameo in MSPA! I recommend you read the recent story arc starting here, wherein Moe goes on a date and then some strange things happen.\n\n
\n\nBut you don't need to take my word for it that it is funny. It is objectively measured as the 3rd funniest comic on the ENTIRE INTERNET. Holy shit! :O\n\n
\n\nAlso recently Cindy revamped her site and it looks really cool. She's quite a fine artist, and she has at times drawn comics which I have written. If you for some reason think I write funny things (I.E. if you are some sort of weirdo) then you might want to check out the comic series What a Scoop!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "3-31-09",
- "timestamp": 1238457600,
- "html": "\n\nUpdates are coming a little slow at the moment, because I'm spending time fussing with some site code, and other such dull behind the scenes tasks. These are just some of the very many chores to be completed before I take on the next story! Don't worry, we'll be back to our typically absurd rate of content delivery in no time.\n\n
\n\nEdit: HOLD THE PHONE\n
\n\nSomeone else has made some remarkable Youtube videos which I simply must share with you. Mr. Lecravian has taken the time to put together a series of quick-paced video compilations for the entire Problem Sleuth series. Here they are: Chapters \n1-4,\n5-7,\n8-10,\n11-14,\n15-16,\n17-18,\n19-20,\n21, and\n22.\n\n
\n\nIt's quite an experience going through the story in this way, at such a fast pace. It's sort of like learning kung fu in the Matrix. Or being strapped to a chair and learning kung fu in A Clockwork Orange. Whichever experience is more intense. Anyway, kudos to Lecravian. This is really cool!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-01-09a",
- "timestamp": 1238544000,
- "html": "\n\nI thought about doing something funny on my site for April Fools, but then I didn't because I don't really have time for that nonsense! Instead I decided to post something about funny commercials for some reason.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-01-09b",
- "timestamp": 1238544000,
- "html": "\n\nAs promised, there are a couple new shirt designs available! There will be a very cool C.C. Vampire design coming out in the next week or so as well. Also, I'm working on getting some prints in the store soon too!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-02-09",
- "timestamp": 1238630400,
- "html": "\n\nI am FINALLY getting around to finishing the remaining donation commands left on the pile. Sorry to anyone who submitted one and has waited this long!\n\n
\n\n- PI: Summon squad of zombie astronauts to assist!
\n- PS: Pose with a little white cat because SHIT JUST GOT CUTE.
\n- Candy Mecha Pilot PI: Become PRESIDENT, use Candy Mecha to SAVE AMERICA.
\n- Wink suggestively at PLAYER whilst starting small MOUSTACHE FIRE.
\n- PS: Summon MICROWAVE TENTACLE MONSTER.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-06-09",
- "timestamp": 1238976000,
- "html": "\n\nNEW SUGGESTION BOX.\n
\n\nI decided to move the suggestion box to a forum thread for the next adventure. This seems like the best approach, since I've noticed the current suggestion box tends to fill up with not only commands, but series of interactions between people which you could describe as ACTUAL DISCUSSIONS. This way if people want to chat about things, those discussions may spill out into Forum Proper.\n\n
\n\nSo if you think you would like to submit suggestions for the next adventure, maybe you should consider registering an account there now! I suppose you could then also CHAT with like-minded people if you are so inclined. I wouldn't object to this at all!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-07-09a",
- "timestamp": 1239062400,
- "html": "\n\nThe end!!!\n\n
\n\nI made a desktop wallpaper for that last illustration, plus one for another Problem Sleuth illustration as well! Now the question is, which one will you apply to your desktop? I bet you didn't expect you'd be faced with such a difficult decision when you woke up this morning.\n\n
\n\nAlso, both of those illustrations will be available for sale as prints! This will happen shortly, as soon as I get it set up with Topatoco.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-07-09b",
- "timestamp": 1239062400,
- "html": "\n\nI am dipping my toe into the perilous waters of Flash for the next adventure, so I started by making this title screen for Problem Sleuth.\n\n
\n\nThe song was created as a theme for Problem Sleuth by Mark Hadley, who is clearly a very talented musician! He made it a while ago and I was waiting until I finished PS to make something like this with it. Here is the song if you'd like to download it. He also made a more polished composition, a variation on same theme quite suitable for an epic final boss battle. This is really cool stuff!\n\n
\n\nSpeaking of Flash and awesome music, you may be able to gather that I'm thinking about incorporating sound into the next adventure. I will hopefully have an interesting announcement about this quite soon!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-08-09",
- "timestamp": 1239148800,
- "html": "\n\nLecravian's video for the epilogue is complete, the last in his series of epic tributes. He also started updating a blog specifically for this project, in which he plans to release downloads like the soundtrack files and cool stuff like that.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-09-09",
- "timestamp": 1239235200,
- "html": "\n\nEdit: Thanks for he great response to that request! I think I've got enough help for now. This should be pretty cool. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-10-09",
- "timestamp": 1239321600,
- "html": "\n\nHello. This is a new story called Homestuck.\n
\nEDIT: I updated the extras section to include a lot of new stuff, most of which I took down from the news section just now. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-11-09a",
- "timestamp": 1239408000,
- "html": "\n\nIn naming this fellow, I made a point of selecting the very first suggestion. Luckily, it was a good name!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-11-09b",
- "timestamp": 1239408000,
- "html": "\n\nI just added small sound control and replay icons to the pages I posted. These are the sort of little chores I have to keep up with now that I'm using Flash. For this reason updates will probably be a little slow for a while, but I'm sure I will start speeding up soon.\n\n
\n\nEdit: Also I'm going to implement a way to keep the sound settings persistent from page to page, so you don't have to readjust it on every page.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-12-09",
- "timestamp": 1239494400,
- "html": "\n\nAnother late donation command coming in: FMB: Fondly regard Sarah\n
\n\nIt was particularly unfortunate for that one to get lost in the shuffle for so long. I am so dumb sometimes. WHOOOOOPS! ... edit: and I just fixed the typo. He is no longer \"filping out\". WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-09a",
- "timestamp": 1239580800,
- "html": "\n\nThank you for playing the Homestuck BETA.\n\n
\n\nYou may now enjoy playing the Homestuck STABLE RELEASE.\n\n
\nWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
\nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
\nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
\nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
\nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
\nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS!\n
\n(Ok, it technically wasn't actually a prank. Sure looked like one though, didn't it! I really intended to do it exclusively in Flash, but long story short, it was turning out to be too labor intensive. Basically I wound up pranking myself! There will be occasional pockets of Flash though, mostly just so I can include music sometimes. I will discuss this in greater detail some time, perhaps in my blog, when I have a moment and am not tired.)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-13-09b",
- "timestamp": 1239580800,
- "html": "\n\nPS prints for sale in the store! These look really cool. I will earnestly envy anyone who purchases one.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-15-09a",
- "timestamp": 1239753600,
- "html": "\n\nHey look, dialogue. How's that for a change of pace? \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-15-09b",
- "timestamp": 1239753600,
- "html": "\n\nHere I explain my thinking in switching to Flash and then unswitching again very quickly.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-18-09",
- "timestamp": 1240012800,
- "html": "\n\nMSPA Forum Adventures!\n
\n\nEver since I set up forums to receive suggestions, many users have flooded in, and by dint of their gumption alone they began making MSPA-style adventures in a sub-forum. That was almost two weeks ago, and there are now over 100 of them! \n\n
\n\nHere are a few notable storylines:\n\n
\nMutewood: A rather dark, small sprite-based story that appears to be the longest one in the forum. It is mysterious, BIZARRE, and very cool!\n\n
\nFlatland: One of the first stories to appear. A tale involving clever use of negative space.\n\n
\nBird Wizard (scroll down a couple posts): Another one of the firsts, about a bird wizard trapped in his office, PS-style. By the same guy who made those excellent PS youtube tributes.\n\n
\n\nAnd a lot more! Honestly I couldn't even dream of keeping up with them all, there are so many, and I've been rather busy. But if you're inspired, do feel free to throw your hat into the ring. Looks like everyone's having a great time!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-20-09",
- "timestamp": 1240185600,
- "html": "\n\nI added a page to document notable forum adventures, including the ones I mentioned before plus a few others. This page is accessible through the extras page.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-21-09",
- "timestamp": 1240272000,
- "html": "\n\nHere is a new TNG video which you may enjoy.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-22-09",
- "timestamp": 1240358400,
- "html": "\n\n I'm sure you've noticed I'm starting to work with music in this story. Naturally I have received a lot of queries about that piano piece. I put up a sound credits page to answer all such questions, in the present and future!\n\n
\n\nEdit: I'll be preceding commands with [S] if it leads to a page with sound, so I'm not boobytrapping anyone with sudden noise at inopportune moments.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-25-09",
- "timestamp": 1240617600,
- "html": "\n\nI'm thinking the next update will be on Monday. So I guess we can all go easy on that Refresh button for the weekend! \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "4-28-09",
- "timestamp": 1240876800,
- "html": "\n\nUpdated the sound credits page. Many thanks to Malcolm Brown for making such an awesome boss battle tune to go with this page. That song, titled \"Showtime\", you might have noticed was the same song John played on his piano a few pages back. The piano reinterpretation of the theme was played by Kevin Regamey. \n\n
\n\nAlso thanks to Mark Hadley for the song you can hear briefly on this page. We will get to hear that song in its entirety at a later date.\n\n
\n\nyou might be curious about downloading these songs and others that may come along in future pages. I will likely be setting up a myspace page (or something like that) for songs used in MSPA some time soon, probably once a little more content has accumulated. Also, when I actually get a little time to do it!\n\n
\n\nEdit: I should also note the latest page is interactive. You can click those two buttons. Just reminding you since I know a few people missed that. Which is understandable since nothing else was interactive up to this point.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-01-09",
- "timestamp": 1241136000,
- "html": "\n\nLooks like a new shirt design has arrived. This one looks like it turned out great. Get this spooky shirt well in advance of Halloween and all your buddies will flip the fuck out in terror!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-03-09",
- "timestamp": 1241308800,
- "html": "\n\nLET'S TALK ABOUT WEBCOMICS AGAIN.\n\n
\nLucid TV is a very well drawn comic with a really off-beat sense of humor. It doesn't update all that much, but when it does (as it just did) it is very funny! I met the author John a couple times and he is classy folk. I have only one closing remark about the comic, but it can't quite be put into words. You will have to imagine something else in my speech bubble.\n\n
\n\nAlso I have been meaning to mention Nedroid for some time now, because it is basically my favorite comic presently. You must allow Anthony a moment to regale you with tales of the DARE MASTER. I DARE you not to enjoy it. (Prohint: you should not accept this dare.) And then if you are not too busy, pull up a chair to the great roundtable legacy of PARTY CAT.\n\n
\n\nSeriously, bookmark that website and read it every day.\n\n
\n\nOh, oh. How about a mention of Jeff's OC and Wigu? Jeff is a really funny guy, and I can't tell which of his comics I like better. They are both very funny in totally different ways... and yet somehow, exactly the same way. Jeff has a knack for flashing his extraordinary taste in apparel.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-06-09",
- "timestamp": 1241568000,
- "html": "\n\nHey, looks like I have a YouTube channel! I dusted off the old account to put up some of my own video edits for the JandrewEdits site, to complement Jan's already rather illustrious Gazorra channel.\n\n
\n\nThe videos in Jan's channel were collaborations between us, but were edited directly by him. The idea here is videos in my channel will be mostly edited by me, to share the load somewhat and crank out more funny stuff. (Obviously I am not as technically skilled an editor as he but oh well. E.g. I will never be rotoscoping Geordi's visor on anyone.)\n\n
\n\nThere are a few new videos up. A great new Knight Rider video in Jan's channel, and a couple of ALF videos in mine. I'm pretty excited about doing more ALF episodes. It's really quite a bizarre show.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-14-09",
- "timestamp": 1242259200,
- "html": "\n\nWe've been turning out a lot of videos lately. Here are three more. Shame on you, mr. Clemens, and Flauting Danger.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-17-09",
- "timestamp": 1242518400,
- "html": "\n\nI just noticed a comic called Good Ship Chronicles has started updating again. The author, Tauhid, has returned from a lengthy hiatus, rising like a mighty phoenix from a busy work schedule. You will almost certainly like this comic if you enjoy outer space and adventure and hilarious things. Also, if you enjoy insane art skillz.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-21-09",
- "timestamp": 1242864000,
- "html": "\n\nAnother top-notch tune by Mark. You might recall a small portion of this song was played on this page too. You may additionally recall Mark was the fellow who brought us this composition.\n\n
\n\nSome rather enthusiastic MSPA fans have started a Pesterchum-themed IRC channel, for chatting about all the latest and hottest MSPA goings-ons. Pressing issues like how to sedate an exceptionally lively weasel, and locating huge orange vegetables which may or may not have been misplaced. Someone was also kind enough to prepare a tutorial on this subject.\n\n(Uh, yeah, someone did in fact register fancysanta.com)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-28-09",
- "timestamp": 1243468800,
- "html": "\n\nFor the first character's name, I picked the first suggestion I received. For the second, I picked the second suggestion to come in. (It was also the first four-letter name suggested.) \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "5-29-09",
- "timestamp": 1243555200,
- "html": "\n\nReally great violin work by Andrew Huo on this page. Plus some expert mastering by Gabe Nezovic to make it sound like a professional studio recording. If you peruse the sound credit page you will start to get a sense for scale of this musical collaboration and the diversity of talent I'm working with. Thanks again to everyone involved!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-07-09a",
- "timestamp": 1244332800,
- "html": "\n\nHey, so looks like we're through \"ACT 1\". And I didn't even know there would be \"acts\" until a few days ago! How about that!\n\n
\n\nThough aside from that, this is the point I've been pushing to get to in the story since I started. It took longer than I thought it would. I thought it might take about one month, but it turned out to be more like two. And by \"this point in the story\", I guess I mean \"the beginning\". Really everything that's happened so far probably serves as more of a prologue than a first chapter.\n\n
\n\nSo we are just getting started! There is surely some fun stuff to come. \n\n
\n\nGlancing backwards, I can't help but monitor my progress. 55 days, 247 pages (with 295 images). That's a little more than 5 images per day, which is almost the exact pace I set with Problem Sleuth over the course of a year. I was very surprised to learn this! Mostly because many of these Homestuck pages are a lot more detailed and labor intensive, especially with the Flash animations mixed in there. I will decide this statistical analysis yields good news!\n\n
\n\nIt also helps that I'm starting to get the hang of Flash. The most recent animation was much easier than any of its predecessors, and hardly felt like it took any time at all. I am THIS CLOSE to actually looking forward to doing the next one.\n\n
\n\nEdit: Oh yeah, also it will probably be a few days before I start updating again, just to give me a little time to gather some thoughts and prepare some things. Let's say next update: TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-07-09b",
- "timestamp": 1244332800,
- "html": "\n\nHere and here are a couple of donation commands that I am way, waaaay late with, and just got around to doing them. But their tardiness has paid rich dividends because they provide a shot of now-rare PS action from totally out of the blue! Thanks for the patience, fellas.\n\n
\n\nanother edit: Thanks to Mr. Hadley for putting together another fantastic tune very quickly. He seems to be completely incapable of making music which is not totally awesome.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-08-09",
- "timestamp": 1244419200,
- "html": "\n\nI took a moment to spruce up the site and add some new features. I also added a map for Homestuck. But rather than link to it here, I will allow you to go explore and find it for yourself!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-12-09a",
- "timestamp": 1244764800,
- "html": "\n\nLook at this, I did a Dinocomic! Here's some fun trivia about this. When I originally sent it to Ryan, he viewed it with some sort of weird browser incapable of animating GIFs, so I'm pretty sure he spent three solid hours puzzling over it, trying to decipher why it was supposed to be funny. PRANKSTER'S GAMBIT = MINE.\n
\n\nOn a totally unrelated note, I think it's about time for me to go turn my lawn sprinklers on. It would be a real shame if anyone happened to be lurking out there, inside a tent perhaps. Such an intrepid soul would surely get wet.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-12-09b",
- "timestamp": 1244764800,
- "html": "\n\nI don't often make wallpaper because I rarely work in a resolution bigger than what you see in these pages. But a frame from the latest page is one of those exceptions, so here you go! 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1920x1080\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-16-09",
- "timestamp": 1245110400,
- "html": "\n\nThere is no news at the moment! \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-21-09",
- "timestamp": 1245542400,
- "html": "\n\nFATHER'S DAY FILPOUT!!!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-26-09",
- "timestamp": 1245974400,
- "html": "\n\nR.I.P. MJ + FARRAH.\n
\n\nedit: wait, dammit, I forgot about Ed. Sorry Ed!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "6-27-09",
- "timestamp": 1246060800,
- "html": "\n\nHere are two architectural marvels for your consideration.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-03-09",
- "timestamp": 1246579200,
- "html": "\n\nIf you have been following the legend of Mr. Clemens then you will be happy to know that his quest continues.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-04-09",
- "timestamp": 1246665600,
- "html": "\n\nPlease celebrate American independence this weekend by making as many sick beats as you can. Our forefathers fought and died for our right to make beats this fresh. Always remember that.\n\n
\n\nHave a good weekend! More updates on Monday.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-09-09",
- "timestamp": 1247097600,
- "html": "\n\n I feel like I should be posting more news updates than I do. I guess I have more stringent standards regarding what qualifies as news than most webfolk. Yes, that must be it. \n\n
\n\nMaybe this new silly video can qualify. Also it was featured on G4's Attack of the Show (second segment in that clip). These videos have been featured on that show before, maybe 5 or 6 other times. It is always pretty cool when it happens.\n\n
\n\nOn the \"me saying stuff\" front, maybe I will dust off the old blog soon. The last time I updated it was to complain about Flash when I was just starting Homestuck. LAME.\n\n
\n\nedit: wait, did I post this ALF? No, I don't think I did. Anyway, there you go.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-10-09",
- "timestamp": 1247184000,
- "html": "\n\nI vaguely promised I would update my blog with something new, so that's what I did. Uh, sort of. \n\n
\n\nKeep an eye out for more blogging from me in the near future. Which is to say, keep an eye out here for moments when I courteously inform you that I just did some blogging.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-11-09",
- "timestamp": 1247270400,
- "html": "\n\nMaking these rooms lousy with all these wizards has reminded me that I did this illustration for Penny Arcade that will appear in their latest book. Penny Arcade is a pretty great comic, I think we can all agree.\n\n
\n\nSo why did wizards remind me to show you this nearly forgotten artifact? For obvious reasons, as you can see.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-18-09",
- "timestamp": 1247875200,
- "html": "\n\nWhoa what's this? More Star Trek vids?? You bet. Here Data shows the captain a pretty good time. There is also another one where the captain is shown a not so good time. \n\n
\n\nThat latter one is hosted on my channel instead of the usual Gazorra platform because we can't update that channel for a little while. So this one will have to mingle with my other weird videos and stick out like a sore thumb. People will say: Geordi, what are you doing with all those ALF videos??? You do not belong with ALF. This isn't right.\n\n
\n\nBut that's fine because ALF makes a cameo in the first video, which helps to cement this incestuous cross-ALFening of otherwise respectable pieces of entertainment.\n\n
\n\nOn a side note, does anyone realize what a terrible show ALF was? If you are remembering it fondly from your childhood, you are remembering incorrectly. Muting that furry piece of shit has been my most noble endeavor to date.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-21-09",
- "timestamp": 1248134400,
- "html": "\n\nI added some sound effects to John and Rose's STRIFE pages. It's one of the cool things about making some of the pages in Flash. I can always go back and add features to them if I feel like it. (Which is totally cheating. I shouldn't be allowed to do that!)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-23-09",
- "timestamp": 1248307200,
- "html": "\n\nGankro's wizardry + Buzinkai's virtuosity sure do make for some fun times to be had. \n\n
\n\nA familiar refrain with pages like this I have found is something like: \"Is that all? Can I do anything else? Can I kill the imp? Is there an objective I'm missing?\" The answer is, what you see is what you get! These are not really fully functional mini-games with the sort of objectives you would expect to see from such things. They are partially interactive pages in a story, leaning on certian traditional elements of gameplay to convey the story-purpose of the page. I can see why the format may invite these questions though. The soft membrane dividing game from comic in MSPA has certainly never been more permeable than it is right now!\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-25-09",
- "timestamp": 1248480000,
- "html": "\n\nThanks, Norock. One of the coolest things about the behind the scenes HS music project is when these artists helping me out make remixes of remixes (of remixes) of each other's work.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "7-28-09",
- "timestamp": 1248739200,
- "html": "\n\nGuys, I have not forgotten about making some cool Homestuck merch for sale. There will be some news on that in the coming weeks.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-01-09",
- "timestamp": 1249084800,
- "html": "\n\nDave is a busy guy. Maybe even busier than me.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-02-09",
- "timestamp": 1249171200,
- "html": "\n\nWHOA CRAZY NINJA EDIT. I went back to this page and added music because Mr. Hadley made one dang fine tune that was hard to resist sneaking in there. I'm sure you will agree!\n\n
\n\nOn the subject of music, I will inform you that we are so close to having a song download system up and running it's like not even funny. SO CLOSE. I am serious and not even joking here.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-09-09",
- "timestamp": 1249776000,
- "html": "\n\nHey, how about some new wallpapers? Ok, sounds good to me.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-10-09",
- "timestamp": 1249862400,
- "html": "\n\nHomestuck songs are finally available for download!\n
\n\nYou can buy the songs through Bandcamp. I batted around a lot of ideas for downloading music, and ultimately decided selling them was the best way to go. This way we get to support the artists who did this excellent work, and generously volunteered their time to help me out with the story. As much as I like dispatching free entertainment for everybody, when it comes to stuff that I didn't make, I'd rather give artists the chance to profit from their work than casting it into the wind it for free!\n\n
\n\nBut the songs are priced pretty reasonably, especially if you get the whole album. More songs will be added to it as the story goes. But really, the Homestuck music is the tip of the iceberg with respect to this larger, somewhat mysterious MSPA music project. There will be some more cool developments in the coming weeks and months, so keep an eye out!\n\n
\n\nedit: also thanks a bunch to Cindy for helping me set all this up!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-12-09",
- "timestamp": 1250035200,
- "html": "\n\nDear guys, \n\n
\n\nGuess what.\n\n
\nRAD NEW MERCHANDISE IN THE STORE.\n
\n\nOk, so this is all a little different from the usual stuff for sale. Instead of just slapping humorous or story-relevant stuff on a shirt (which is all well and fine, don't get me wrong!) I sort of wanted to take the opportunity to let this stuff tell a little story, and add some depth and detail to the Homestuck universe.\n\n
\n\nThere are two character shirts available (for preorder!), John's and Rose's. But the shirts have their own little backstories, which are conveyed in corresponding prints, also for sale.\n\n
\n\nI think the stories sort of speak for themselves through those graphics, but I'll go ahead and overexplain anyway. John's shirt, which of course appears to be Slimer from Ghostbusters, is actually a depiction of an Asian knock-off of Slimer called the GREEN SLIME GHOST. Rose's shirt was once a depiction of a character from a fake cute cartoon show which I totally made up called \"Squiddles!\". She then went about defacing this shirt to make it look mean! The shirt itself actually appears to be defaced, with ink missing around the eyes and mouth area (but it's a pretty subtle effect, because the ink color is very close to the shirt color).\n\n
\n\nThe cool thing about Rose's print is you can get either the faux-Lovecraftian defaced version, or the undefaced version (so you can deface it yourself!) Just make sure you select the option you want underneath: \"LOVECRAFT MY SQUIDDLE!\" if you want the defaced version, or \"DON'T LOVECRAFT MY SQUIDDLE!\" if you want it unmolested!\n\n
\n\nSo there you have it. The story of the shirts, and some sweet merch all rolled into one.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-15-09",
- "timestamp": 1250294400,
- "html": "\n\nWhere do YOU rank on the teetering echeladder of the POGO RIDE LEADER BOARD?? Keep rocking those fingers back and forth to strike a just the right harmonic resonance, and claw your way through the pack!\n\n
\n\nAlso, it looks like Jeffrey continues his strong tradition of exquisite taste in fine apparel. Suddenly I find it hard to remember Weedmaster P ever wearing anything other than a green slime ghost shirt. It just WORKS.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-23-09",
- "timestamp": 1250985600,
- "html": "\n\n We haven't turned out one of these in a while! More on the horizon, methinks*.\n\n
\n\n*edit: it looks like this did indeed prove to be the case.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "8-28-09",
- "timestamp": 1251417600,
- "html": "\n\nThis is COMPLETE BULLSHIT. (link is busted!)\n
\nedit: well, looks like we killed THAT server. Why you guys gots to be all clickin' the links what what I gives you?? Will repost when it's back up.\n\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-06-09",
- "timestamp": 1252195200,
- "html": "\n\nA while ago I posted a link to a working version of COMPLETE BULLSHIT someone made, but the server hosting it promptly crashed (no doubt from an overload of bullshit). Well here it is again. Let's see if the server can handle THAT MUCH BULLSHIT this time.\n\n
\n\nAnd once you've had your fill of that (which is impossible), you can calculate your own hashmap values! Next time you are at a party, you can pull out your portable computer widget and entertain the crowd with these sites, instead of doing something lame like gathering around a video of a cat playing a keyboard. Shitty parties everywhere: SALVAGED.\n\n
\n\n(I just noticed now that the fellow who made the hash calculator also happens to be the same guy who claimed the domain sweetbroandhellajeff.com, and fitted it with a serviceable redirect. This is a fellow I will describe as a philanthropist, and you will agree with me.)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-10-09",
- "timestamp": 1252540800,
- "html": "\n\nHere's a new one of these. There may be a couple other new ones which I forgot to mention, and if this is the case, you are always welcome to help yourself to the channel's buffet table!\n\n
\n\nP.S.\n\n
\n\nWhy did I just spend the last hour watching puppet sales pitch videos? WHY??\n\n
\n\nThe answer is because they are amazing. That is why.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "9-21-09",
- "timestamp": 1253491200,
- "html": "\n\nNice tune, Robert!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-06-09",
- "timestamp": 1254787200,
- "html": "\n\nI probably won't be able to update for a few days. Just giving you a heads up so you're not all fidgeting and fussing over the refresh button! (But you will probably do that anyway and that is ok.)\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-09-09",
- "timestamp": 1255046400,
- "html": "\n\nIt's a few days later and I did in fact update. However! It is going to be yet ANOTHER few days before I update again, so you are going to need to keep holding those horses, perhaps pinning them to the ground playfully.\n\n
\n\nThis is sort of what it would feel like if this was a tri-weekly comic I guess. I.e. weird and not as great.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-11-09",
- "timestamp": 1255219200,
- "html": "\n\nJust as I predicted, another few days have slipped by. I was true to my word that those days would pass. \n\n
\n\nBut in addition to merely passing, those days have yielded not only the update I promised, but the end of act 2 as well. Thanks to Buzinkai for spinning out a gem of a tune (\"Explore\", as it was aptly named far before I purposed it in this way), and to Bowman for amping it up with all sorts of percussive pyrotechnics. (Bowman is made of magic.)\n\n
\n\nI will probably take another day or two to regroup here before updating. But really only to organize some thoughts. Even though I spent the better part of the week toiling over Flash, I'm feelin' pretty psyched to keep drawing.\n\n
\n\nI'll also have some more to say about HS/MSPA in a bigger-picture sort of way, once I find some time to compose something, and the wherewithal to commission rhetoric bold enough to lariat the brainless, nimble-hoofed calf that has come to represent my thoughts on the subject.\n\n
\n\nOH!!!!!! Also, there are a couple new shirt designs around the corner. These ones are pretty cool I think!\n\n
\n\nedit: good grief, it just occured to me that I made two metaphorical remarks about subduing farm animals in as many news updates. Different animals, different methods. Total coincidence, I swear.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-14-09",
- "timestamp": 1255478400,
- "html": "\n\nIn casual conversation I suggested to Ryan that our websites enjoy an even more intimate proximity in the continuum of Sitcomspace than the classic \"Strangers/Matters Duality\" so often cited by physicists as a benchmark in field of extra-dimensional comic universes. I posited that it is his site's dinosaur universe that may be comparable to a Steve Urkel while my site may find something in a Laura Winslow more form-fitting. Alternatively I proposed that I may be rocking something in a Carl Winslow instead and went on to speculate about Veljohnson's proclivities, which I suspect was an avenue of thought the Qwantz author was not about to cotton to for a New York minute.\n\n
\n\n[note to self - never link to any of my old comics here ever again]\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-15-09",
- "timestamp": 1255564800,
- "html": "\n\nThanks to Jan for his masterful flute performance. Though I suppose an even greater debt of gratitude must be paid to Captain Picard.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-16-09",
- "timestamp": 1255651200,
- "html": "\n\nRemember all those rad Problem Sleuth tribute videos that were made by some rad dude called Lecravian? (click the \"video responses\" underneath to follow the full chain of them)\n\n
\n\nWell he just finished some similar tribute videos for the first two acts of Homestuck, and they are similarly radical. HS now seems to have enough content under its belt for these sorts of videos to capture that feeling of gradual escalation in a more compact format very nicely. Here's the link to the first one, and again follow the video responses underneath to see them all in succession.\n\n
\n\nedit: actually, fyc(onvenience) I will link them all here. \n\nAct 1.1,\nAct 1.2,\nAct 1.3,\nAct 1.???,\nAct 2.1,\nAct 2.2,\nAct 2.3,\nAct 2.4,\nAct 2.5\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-17-09",
- "timestamp": 1255737600,
- "html": "\n\nUpdated the story map.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-19-09",
- "timestamp": 1255910400,
- "html": "\n\nA number of years ago my brother and I used to draw comics and put them on a website. But then later Byron went and started his own comic website called byrobot.net. (Pronounced byro-bot. Please resist temptation to refer to it as by-robot.) But then after a few years that website just up and DISAPPEARED.\n\n
\n\nWell guess what website just resurfaced just now?\n\n
\nA WEBSITE CALLED BYROBOT.NET\n
\n\nByron's comics are pretty funny, and I'll just go ahead and say that if you don't like his stuff then you probably have no business liking my stuff either, and you should probably just leave. Looks like he's doing a thing where he's taking suggestions for comic titles, and you can even buy the comic you request if so inclined. Sorta like I used to do* once upon a time.\n\n
\n\n* I swore I wouldn't link to any of my old comics again so that's exactly what I ain't gonna do. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-22-09",
- "timestamp": 1256169600,
- "html": "\n\nFor a long time I have considered the possibility of mixing some polls into the reader-driven arsenal of the site. Let's consider this a warm up, with perhaps more relevant story decisions placed in your hands in the future. You do need a forum account to vote. Maybe this is a bit of a hassle? Whether you do or do not, don't worry. Democracy will prevail.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-23-09a",
- "timestamp": 1256256000,
- "html": "\n\nHey, just because Dave isn't doing much in the story right now doesn't mean he can't find ways to entertain us.\n\n
\n\nI also recommend you check out the SBaHJ Wiki, which will no doubt prove to be the most valuable resource the internet has ever graced us with.\n\n\n
\nedit: poll closed!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-23-09b",
- "timestamp": 1256256000,
- "html": "\n\nThere is a great new shirt and a great new print in the store!\n\n
\n\nThe Pesterchum shirt is especially great because while you wear it, you can point to your chest and indicate your current mood to your various chums. Let's hope the occasions on which you find your finger drifting to the lower left of your chest remain relatively sparse. \n\n
\n\nThe Sepulchritude print was originally a page from PS which I spruced up (and deanimated) for a tattoo for a guy named Byron a while ago, and I thought it turned out cool enough to turn it into a print, and he thought that sounded cool too. So basically what's going to happen is people's respective skin and walls are going to get a lot cooler soon.\n\n
\n\nAnd no not that Byron, although I have it on good authority that he would be TOTALLY DOWN with getting HOOKED UP with some SICK INK.\n\n
\n\nThere should be one more shirt on the horizon too! Keep those monocles defogged.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-27-09",
- "timestamp": 1256601600,
- "html": "\n\nI made a bunch of new wallpapers, tapping into the healthy stockpile of resources that have accumulated recently, with all the animatin' and whatnot. I still rarely work in a resolution higher than what you see on the screen, so I look for other ways to fill the space. \n\n
\n\nIn other news, it's official. The official unofficial The Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff wiki is officially the worst thing I have ever seen. Officially.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "10-31-09",
- "timestamp": 1256947200,
- "html": "\n\nHappy Halloween! It has never been more important for you to keep an eye on your pumpkin than it is today. I recommend buying one of those infant chest-slings so you can carry it around with you wherever you go. Not an especially spooky update today as convention might dictate, but hopefully you will enjoy the 9-song dump nonetheless. Would you believe me if I told you that even with this this deluge it's still only the tip of the musical iceberg? On the topic: definitely another album emerging soon.\n
\n![\"\"](\"/archive/social/news/halloween09.gif\"/)
\n
\nAnyway, maybe you notice things slow down to a pretty moderate pace when all I'm doing is Flash stuff. Something like a clip of one page per day. (!GASP!) This is probably what life would be like if I had stuck with the original plan for the Homestuck \"Beta\".\n
\nHa ha, look how lame that Flash work seems now.\n
\nha ha ha\n
\nha ha\n
\nha\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-02-09a",
- "timestamp": 1257120000,
- "html": "\n\nIt may be a little late, but we will all decide to agree that Act 1031 is spooky enough to serve as MSPA's '09 spooktacular event. \n\n
\n\nI'm pretty sure \"spooktacular\" isn't a real word, and yet I would bet that every single English speaking person on Earth has said it or will say it at least once in their lives.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-02-09b",
- "timestamp": 1257120000,
- "html": "\n\nII been meaning to mention I will be attending this exciting event at the Topatocompany where you can come by and awkwardly stare at me all day, and I won't even mind.\n\n
\n\nIt seems like I only go to places which are a stone's throw from where I live doesn't it. It seems this way because it is this way. I think next year I will try to get out to more proper conventions around the country (OR WORLD??), so if you were ever hell-bent on ogling me, but not like GETTING ON A PLANE hell-bent, you may find your chance in '10. We'll see.\n\n
\n\nKC: The father/son duo is looking mighty familiar. How did you know this was how they spend their days? You have also correctly divined that the last boss in Homestuck will be a seal with a grenade.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-06-09",
- "timestamp": 1257465600,
- "html": "\n\nYes, another new shirt is here. This should settle that RUDE HUNGER for some downright ILL MANNERED APPAREL.\n\n
\n\nLook who agrees with me.\n\n
\n![\"Cal\"](\"/archive/social/news/cal_gamebro.gif\"/)
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-10-09",
- "timestamp": 1257811200,
- "html": "\n\nReminder: GONNA BE HERE\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-11-09",
- "timestamp": 1257897600,
- "html": "\n\nIf you were planning on buying stuff for the holidays, here are some things to keep in mind.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-14-09",
- "timestamp": 1258156800,
- "html": "\n\nProbably won't be able to update until next week. Got lots of stuff to do. See ya later!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-25-09a",
- "timestamp": 1259107200,
- "html": "\n\nHello everybody. Hope you have some good holiday times in store for you. To all you non-Americans, please refrain from feeling thankful for anything, or experiencing the emotion of gratefulness in any form. This weekend we've got that shit on lockdown.\n
\nI will now supply a number of things for you to click on and become absorbed in, ideally for hours.\n
\nI just did a little Q&A session with some folks from the MSPA community. It is all about Homestuck. You may find it illuminating.\n
\nAlso in this vein, a little while ago I posted some HS concept sketches. I will perhaps post more in the future.\n
\nAnd yet another topic I have been meaning to mention is the MSPA Fan Adventure Forum, and some awards that community handed out recently to the most notable adventures. All the winners and categories can be found here(Image loading logjam in there, sorta. Be warned.) \n
\nBut to cut to the chase, the one that took the Best Active Adventure trophy was The Deadly Dance of the Scarecrow King. It's quite a fun read! I even did a bit of fan art for it.\n
\nAnd the votes for Best Completed Adventure went to a fine tale Alanna. This was apparently something of a landslide, and it took some other awards as well.\n
\nAnd the third among the top winners, Best Inactive Adventure went to Take my life in a completely different direction. This is by none other than Michael Bowman, the virtuoso behind a number of Homestuck scores. Apparently this tale has since become Non-Inactive. Looks like you can mess with Bowman pretty good in there, and I cannot imagine why one would pass up such an opportunity.\n
\nAnd a final award getter worth noting, in that it won three separate awards including Best Writing, is 1984 Quest, a fever-pitched thriller packed with booze-fueled Orwellian crypto-mindrape. \n
\nAnd a personal honorable mention must go to Roomland. There's some really sweet stuff going on in there. I'd like to find some more time to groom this forum for more of these personal 'HOTPIXX!!!' but dang that place is so busy it's hard to keep up with it all. I will conclude this is a good thing.\n
\nSo bottom line is, if you're having trouble figuring out what to do with yourself over the holidays, you can make no claim whatsoever not to have enough reading material. Get crackin'.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-25-09b",
- "timestamp": 1259107200,
- "html": "\n\nWant to buy something? HOLIDAY SHIPPING DEADLINES!\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-28-09",
- "timestamp": 1259366400,
- "html": "\n\nIt may interest you to know that I drew a Guest Riker for the Riker Blog. There can be no doubt that this is the most fascinating and universally worthwhile blog that has ever existed. \n
\nThere will be some more comic guestin' by me in the near future! Don't go anywhere.\n
\nedit: and no this comic does not count because it is not a guest comic, and furthermore it was drawn by Dave, not me.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "11-30-09",
- "timestamp": 1259539200,
- "html": "\n\nAs promised, another guest comic. This one is for Doctor McNinja. Do you read Doctor McNinja? If not, I think you and the internet need to have a little talk. It is pretty much probably the best thing that exists.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-02-09",
- "timestamp": 1259712000,
- "html": "\n\nDid everyone find the easter egg hidden in the Jaspers page yet? Cheater's guide: it's at the very end. FILTHY CHEATER'S GUIDE: it's also listed on the sound credits page.\n
\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-07-09",
- "timestamp": 1260144000,
- "html": "\n\nByrobot guest comic
\nI did a guest comic for my bro Byrobot, filling in for him because he has the swine flu. Ok I actually did the comic before he got the swine flu but let's pretend that is the reason I did it. TRIVIA: did you know a number of things in MSPA are blatant ripoffs of Byrobot's earlier works? The weasels in Problem Sleuth for example were heavily influenced by Fufu (or is it Chuchu?), seen in today's guest strip. There have been a few other imports as well.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-15-09a",
- "timestamp": 1260835200,
- "html": "\n\nWHOA NEW SITE DESIGN
\nCheck out how sweet this is. I think this all makes a whole lot more sense. It might take some time for you to get used to it. In the interim you may feel a bit grumpy and mutter things about how it used to be so much better and how this basically sucks and is tantamount to me taking an exceptionally spirited and jovial dump into your grandmother's open casket. That is ok though, I respect that point of view. We will respectfully agree to agree that I am right and you are wrong.
So hey this thing's still on its wobbly baby deer legs so if you notice any bugs let me know!
Also guess what----new music albums up for sale real soon. Yes, albums plural. Volume 2 AND 3 at the same time. Guys this is a shitload of music we are talking about here, and these are NOT just carbon copies of all the Flash page songs you've already heard. This may even hit the bandcamp store later tonight. It is exciting. Stay tuned.
Also the downloads will be cheaper.
Which is a nice transition to this topic. SPEAKING OF CHEAP. I noticed recently that a graphic novel I did a few years ago is being offered at the SLG website for free. It is called Whistles, and it can be yours for only what the mailman asks to bring it to you. This is kind of a good deal. I used to have a whole preview thing for this but I took it down since a web preview for a free book is sort of stupid. OWNING IT IS THE PREVIEW. But here's one of the pages if you're all curious-like.
And while we hover near the subject of bargains, I still have a number of blue Sleuth Diplomacy shirts, from way back before I sold through Topatoco. If you want 'em, you can have 'em at a discount. Just email Cindy and ask about sizes and shipping and stuff. If you act fast enough, she JUST MIGHT be able to get it to you before x-mas if that's your aim. I think the Topatoco holiday deadline has come and gone, so we will call this deal the PROCRASTINATOR'S SPECIAL.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-15-09b",
- "timestamp": 1260835200,
- "html": "\n\nAnnnnd volumes 2 and 3 are up.
\nThat was fast.
Huge, ridiculous megaprops to Cindy for coordinating all this album stuff for me. It just wasn't happening otherwise. You might think we were dogging this release for a long time, but it really did take this long to get it all together, rounding up final mixes from the crew, reformatting chores and stuff.
And a reminder: when you buy these songs the artists get the monies, so you're saying THANKS DUDES with your dollars.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-22-09",
- "timestamp": 1261440000,
- "html": "\n\nFYI
\nJohn's recent alchemy binge was largely driven by a whopping 80-item poll. After several thousand years of disappointment and failure, democracy is finally beginning to pay off.
Also the astute may have taken notice of an old friend dropping by for a visit.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-24-09a",
- "timestamp": 1261612800,
- "html": "\n\nComic Mentionin's
\nA good comic that strikes me as not receiving much attention around the cyberglobal megamatrix is toothpaste for dinner. Why I do not see more people talkin' it up I do not know! The casual cartooning style and sense of humor are things that very much agree with me. In fact on further contemplation all of these \"Sharing Machine\" comics (tpfd, nataliedee, marriedtothesea, superpoop) are quite wonderful things! Please take some time to bone up on these sources of entertainment.
Here is another comic that is a fledgling enterprise pecking and poking its tiny bill through the interior of its eggshell. It is called Dramatic Shapes and it is by Zeitlos Lecravian Eisen, which is an utterly ridiculous name for a human being to have. This comic is good. But seriously these shapes just need to cool their shit and calm right the hell down.
And no good comic mention-off would really be complete if I didn't throw nedroid out there, so that's what I'm going do. Nedroid is probably the only comic for which I am liable to fall prey to embarrassing episodes of fanboyism, so I will stop talking now before I say something which causes me to appear foolish.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-24-09b",
- "timestamp": 1261612800,
- "html": "\n\nBLAME THE LORD
\nI probably won't be posting any new updates for a couple days on account of the glorious birthing of some guy near barn animals. So now you know Whom to send the angry letters. But before you do take into account that He fixed it up so you aren't all totally screwed when you die.
edit: choice stocking stuffer courtesy Mr. Bombrassier. Here print your own out. \n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-25-09",
- "timestamp": 1261699200,
- "html": "\n\nIt is now Christmas, which can only mean one thing.
\nDave Strider has shoved a new comic into your stocking's greedy cavernous blowhole. He says you're welcome.\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-28-09",
- "timestamp": 1261958400,
- "html": "\n\nsloooow loooad
\nIf the latest page is taking a while to load, just hang in there. It'll come through eventually. Don't click refresh since that could just restart your progress. Lot's of people are clicking on it at once and it's a pretty big file!
edit: ok or failing that you could just use a server that is way better than mine\n"
- },
- {
- "id": "12-30-09",
- "timestamp": 1262131200,
- "html": "\n\nServer hissing and whistling like a shitty steampunk exoskeleton
\nLooks like the hits on the latest Flash page have simmered down, but I guess I'll leave a link to the mirrored file lying around just in case.
This was a pretty long one, clocking in at more than three minutes. That is actually a bit longer than the end of act 2 (though a smaller file), but I don't remember the strain on the site being nearly as bad when I put that page up. I guess there are that many more people dialed into this thing than there were in October.
In spite of the length of the latest animation, it wasn't quite end of act material. Trust me, when I'm working on the real EOA, I will disappear HARD into the ominous cloak of radio silence, and it might make you a little nervous. This will probably be soon. I'm not leaving a lot of mystery surrounding this fact. At this point, any misdirection on what I was really up to would be a transparent ruse indeed.
When it is finished, the file will likely be so big, and get tapped by so many people at once, no one will be able to see it for weeks. I can see this all unfolding like a chessmaster recognizing the demise of his opponent (my server) 20 moves ahead. This is what we website administrators call THE PERFECT PLAN.\n"
- }
- ]
- }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/mod.js b/mod.js
index 785a287..ad4b019 100644
--- a/mod.js
+++ b/mod.js
@@ -480,6 +480,86 @@ module.exports = {
// Todo: This is no longer how banners are stored.
+
+ archive.social.blogspot[12].html = archive.social.blogspot[12].html.replace(
+ " 11 my teachers thought I was retarded. This isn't some sort of joke to",
+ " 11 my teachers thought I was [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed. This isn't some sort of joke to")
+ archive.social.blogspot[16].html = archive.social.blogspot[16].html.replace(
+ ' genuinely like this retarded painting (which I do!). Notice how I',
+ ' genuinely like this [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed painting (which I do!). Notice how I')
+ // archive.social.dstrider[5].html
+ {[
+ [
+ " maybe what i mean is i wish i was the one who made that website. why is it the best kind of irony is always the unintended kind. dammit this candy slinging jackass doesnt even realize what a fucking genius he is. because hes too fucking stupid. stupid enough to think that a bunch of street savvy, mishapen headed, weirdly mongoloid looking motherfuckers is a one way ticket to selling a goddamn tsunami of candy",
+ " maybe what i mean is i wish i was the one who made that website. why is it the best kind of irony is always the unintended kind. dammit this candy slinging jackass doesnt even realize what a fucking genius he is. because hes too fucking stupid. stupid enough to think that a bunch of street savvy, weird-face, head-ass looking motherfuckers is a one way ticket to selling a goddamn tsunami of candy"
+ ],
+ [
+ " ok i cant even say for sure if \"cool\" is even what they were going for here. reminds me of like in movies when they try to dress a drunk guy up to stand in as someone respectable to pull off a ruse, or maybe a dead guy like weekend at bernies. or a retarded guy who happens to be good at something but cant be no damn retarded guy or he'll b disqualified from the competition or whatever.",
+ " ok i cant even say for sure if \"cool\" is even what they were going for here. reminds me of like in movies when they try to dress a drunk guy up to stand in as someone respectable to pull off a ruse, or maybe a dead guy like weekend at bernies. or like a dude who pretends to be a rich person butler to steal shit and if they find out they'll fuckin cut his dick off. i dunno. shit."
+ ],
+ [
+ " also hes not too keen on homework and i cant say i blame him, oh also he doesnt like not having money, and i mean damn son who DONT like being no broke ass nigga???? whoever wrote this shit needs to step on a rake in a comedic fashion",
+ " also hes not too keen on homework and i cant say i blame him, oh also he doesnt like not having money, and i mean damn son who DONT like being no broke ass mothafucker???? whoever wrote this shit needs to step on a rake in a comedic fashion"
+ ]
+ ].forEach(t => (archive.social.dstrider[5].html = archive.social.dstrider[5].html.replace(t[0], t[1])))}
+ archive.social.dstrider[6].html = archive.social.dstrider[6].html.replace(
+ 'skateboards havent been asserted as legitimately cool since probably michael j fox outmaneuvered biff in the fifties and fed him a world of cowshit i think to prevent himself from fucking his own mom. that and bart simpson. but bart simpson was never cool, no one ever actually thought he was cool even in the thick of their early ninties delirium. he never actually said anything clever and now that i think about it he was vaguely effeminate, which would be fine i guess but it betrayed his wafer thin eat my shorts attitude. maybe 20 years of having your lines delivered by a woman will make that happen. seriously even the idiots in the 90s werent really sure what eat my shorts meant. its like they were aware it was a retarded thing to say on some level albeit dimly, and let some shitty characterization slide cause it was a funny show. dear matt groening being a "cool kid" means more than hating school and dishing out mediocre sass over the span of 7 presidential terms. i dont know this character is so old already maybe i should start ripping jughead a new asshole or maybe lil abner while im at it. what the fuck am i even doing',
+ 'skateboards havent been asserted as legitimately cool since probably michael j fox outmaneuvered biff in the fifties and fed him a world of cowshit i think to prevent himself from fucking his own mom. that and bart simpson. but bart simpson was never cool, no one ever actually thought he was cool even in the thick of their early ninties delirium. he never actually said anything clever and now that i think about it he was vaguely effeminate, which would be fine i guess but it betrayed his wafer thin eat my shorts attitude. maybe 20 years of having your lines delivered by a woman will make that happen. seriously even the idiots in the 90s werent really sure what eat my shorts meant. its like they were aware it was a fucking dumbass thing to say on some level albeit dimly, and let some shitty characterization slide cause it was a funny show. dear matt groening being a "cool kid" means more than hating school and dishing out mediocre sass over the span of 7 presidential terms. i dont know this character is so old already maybe i should start ripping jughead a new asshole or maybe lil abner while im at it. what the fuck am i even doing')
+ archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[24].html = archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[24].html.replace(
+ "i would use my powers to call one of my homies and say yo dogg you gotta drive me to the hospital because i just did something fuckin RETARDED with a pogo stick. ha ha no dude i'll tell you when you get here just hurry man i'm hurt pretty bad",
+ "i would use my powers to call one of my homies and say yo dogg you gotta drive me to the hospital because i just did something fuckin [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ED with a pogo stick. ha ha no dude i'll tell you when you get here just hurry man i'm hurt pretty bad")
+ archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[36].html = archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[36].html.replace(
+ "clearly a lot of these questions are ass backward window licking retarded but no need to be rude andrew. how do you plan to reconcile all these people you've offended?",
+ "clearly a lot of these questions are ass backward window licking [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed but no need to be rude andrew. how do you plan to reconcile all these people you've offended?")
+ // archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[237].html
+ {[
+ [
+ "\u201cA blur of black in a dim room. As the emperor ponders his koans, he cracks an eyelid. But it\u2019s too late. Who else could make off with ancient scrolls and the lion\u2019s share of a kind emperor\u2019s spine before the shutter has yet swung closed from entry? If your answer was \u2018not a ninja\u2019, you\u2019re fucking retarded.\u201d",
+ "\u201cA blur of black in a dim room. As the emperor ponders his koans, he cracks an eyelid. But it\u2019s too late. Who else could make off with ancient scrolls and the lion\u2019s share of a kind emperor\u2019s spine before the shutter has yet swung closed from entry? If your answer was \u2018not a ninja\u2019, you\u2019re fucking [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed.\u201d"
+ ],
+ [
+ "Call Things \u201cRetarded\u201d.",
+ "Call Things \u201c[EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed\u201d."
+ ],
+ [
+ "If you don\u2019t see why this word by itself is milk nostril-evacuatingly side-splitting, you\u2019re fucking retarded.",
+ "If you don\u2019t see why this word by itself is milk nostril-evacuatingly side-splitting, you\u2019re fucking [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed."
+ ],
+ [
+ "Actor B: \u201cYou must be retarded. You\u2019re so retarded, your grandmother was raped by fucking pirates.\u201d",
+ "Actor B: \u201cYou must be [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed. You\u2019re so [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed, your grandmother was raped by fucking pirates.\u201d"
+ ],
+ [
+ "Actor A: \u201cDon\u2019t say shit about my grandmother. She WAS a pirate. Trained by secret ninjas to do some totally un-gay moves on retarded gay people like you.\u201d",
+ "Actor A: \u201cDon\u2019t say shit about my grandmother. She WAS a pirate. Trained by secret ninjas to do some totally un-gay moves on [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed gay people like you.\u201d"
+ ]
+ ].forEach(t => (archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[237].html = archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[237].html.replace(t[0], t[1])))}
+ archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[547].html = archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[547].html.replace(
+ "Many critics are very naive in this sense, and these people I would not even regard as real critics at all. More like just complainers. They leverage their dissatisfaction under the guise of criticism, and if their grievances are dismissed, the creator is accused of being deaf to criticism. A little like suitors spurned by a woman will accuse her of being icy. Creators have a responsibility to vet their critics, to know how deep the critic's appreciation and understanding of the material is first before putting value on their advice. To understand whether the critic is capable of quality thought and observation. To apply a critical process to the critic itself. Some critics believe they themselves are immune to criticism! Not all opinions and perspectives are equal, and it's dangerous and incredibly stupid for creators to treat them as such. Would you take advice on how to improve your life from a retarded person? You see, we actually do this every day. We vet those who would counsel us on our daily lives, who we would trust to guide us in the right direction.",
+ "Many critics are very naive in this sense, and these people I would not even regard as real critics at all. More like just complainers. They leverage their dissatisfaction under the guise of criticism, and if their grievances are dismissed, the creator is accused of being deaf to criticism. A little like suitors spurned by a woman will accuse her of being icy. Creators have a responsibility to vet their critics, to know how deep the critic's appreciation and understanding of the material is first before putting value on their advice. To understand whether the critic is capable of quality thought and observation. To apply a critical process to the critic itself. Some critics believe they themselves are immune to criticism! Not all opinions and perspectives are equal, and it's dangerous and incredibly stupid for creators to treat them as such. Would you take advice on how to improve your life from a [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed person? You see, we actually do this every day. We vet those who would counsel us on our daily lives, who we would trust to guide us in the right direction.")
+ archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[879].html = archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[879].html.replace(
+ "My school is going to do this retarded mural thing, made by students. You're skinny enough to pass for a teenager, so you wanna give us a hand? I don't have the cash, but I could probably gank five thousand one dollar McDonald's coupons.",
+ "My school is going to do this [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed mural thing, made by students. You're skinny enough to pass for a teenager, so you wanna give us a hand? I don't have the cash, but I could probably gank five thousand one dollar McDonald's coupons.")
+ archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[984].html = archive.social.formspring.andrewhussie[984].html.replace(
+ 'And now having said that, I will put my ear to the ground and listen for the pounding hooves of the retarded cavalry.',
+ 'And now having said that, I will put my ear to the ground and listen for the pounding hooves of the [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed cavalry.')
+ archive.social.formspring.mspadventures[64].html = archive.social.formspring.mspadventures[64].html.replace(
+ 'Your DB references, they sting. But if I tried again in a less retarded',
+ 'Your DB references, they sting. But if I tried again in a less [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed')
+ archive.social.formspring.mspadventures[165].html = archive.social.formspring.mspadventures[165].html.replace(
+ "She'll probably think I'm retarded though, sort of like how I feel about",
+ "She'll probably think I'm [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed though, sort of like how I feel about")
+ archive.social.tumblr[23].html = archive.social.tumblr[23].html.replace(
+ ' was like, this sounds retarded. And I was like, awesome, Jeffrey’s on board. John Keogh was musing',
+ ' was like, this sounds [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed. And I was like, awesome, Jeffrey’s on board. John Keogh was musing')
+ archive.social.tumblr[60].html = archive.social.tumblr[60].html.replace(
+ 'Who is the most retarded character of homestuck?',
+ 'Who is the most [EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SLUR]ed character of homestuck?')
+
+ // TODO: News structure has also changed. But there aren't any slurs there, apparently.? So maybe that's done already
+
+
+
},
}
\ No newline at end of file
![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/archive/013.jpg\")
\n![](\"/sweetbroandhellajeff/archive/012.jpg\")
\n![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/OGphotos1.jpg\")
![\"lexxercise:For](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_luw9uuSRtb1qd80v3o1_500.jpg\"/)
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/OGphotos3.gif\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/PSHSbookphotos.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/hopedoomhoodiethumbs.gif\"/)
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/randomletterh.jpg\")
![\"I](\"/scraps2/january2012updates.gif\")
![\"“I](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyl04joh6C1r5ubkfo1_500.jpg\")
![\"SBAHJ](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lyr5z8YMLl1r5ubkfo1_500.jpg\"/)
![\"duedlyfirearms:guys](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_lz4fo7lpsZ1qefzjvo1_1280.png\")
![\"\"](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m00ui9Rfua1r5ubkfo1_1280.gif\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m0cov63LyA1r5ubkfo7_1280.gif\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/4188147761-1.jpg\")
![\"I](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m2fj02rGCv1r5ubkfo1_1280.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m3clywb65l1qdxm04.png\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m3cwuwxO4Z1qa3gpp.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m3cxm3Tk1T1qa3gpp.jpg\")
![\"michaelfirman:Had](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_m3oc4k2lSB1rsrynko1_1280.jpg\")
![](\"/storyfiles/hs2/03387.gif\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/fdfdfdfdfd.png\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/dfdfdfdf.png\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/HSKS_tumblr.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/lemonsnout_photo.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/ksupdate3_cards.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/ksupdate3_bag.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/ksupdate3_shirt.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/ksupdate3_pins.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/ksupdate3_stickers.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/keychain.gif\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tarot-photo-3.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/genesisfrogcover.jpg\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/calendar.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"/archive/social/tumblr/uutiny.png\")
![](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblr_mkasauehGk1qd80v3o1_1280.jpg\")
![\n replaced\n with a crater](\"/storyfiles/hs2/crater/0607.gif\"){kind=link}
![\n geological](\"/storyfiles/hs2/crater/0614.gif\"){kind=link}
![changes](\"/storyfiles/hs2/crater/0621.gif\"){kind=link}
![\n I\n also designed all four characters](\"/scraps2/char_sketches.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n GREEN SLIME GHOST](\"/archive/social/blogspot/mspa-ghost-print.png\"){kind=link}
![\n Rose's print](\"/archive/social/blogspot/mspa-squiddle-print.png\"){kind=link}
![\n Here's\n a sample](\"/archive/tso/blurbs/00085-h.gif\"){kind=link}
![\n Is me.](\"/archive/social/blogspot/Mural01.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n somewhat\n nonplussed](\"/archive/social/blogspot/mural_tyler.gif\"){kind=link}
![\n Now\n that is possible](\"/archive/social/blogspot/mural_fichter.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n Mr.\n Galvez's heart is in the right place, I suppose.](\"/archive/social/blogspot/mural_galvez.jpg\"){kind=link}
![But,\n Amphibia was not without its evil forces…](\"http://wigu.com/superfrog/003-sm.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n You will\n observe this sample.\n](\"/archive/social/blogspot/oldart2.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n drew\n a\n map](\"/archive/social/blogspot/oldart3.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n I did\n this\n drawing](\"/archive/social/blogspot/oldart4.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n pretty](\"/archive/social/blogspot/oldart5.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n brisk](\"/archive/social/blogspot/oldart6.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n strides](\"/archive/social/blogspot/oldart7.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n Pop n Fresh emissions test](\"/archive/social/blogspot/urbandictionary.jpg\"){kind=link}
![\n\n\n VICTORY.\n \n\n](\"/archive/social/blogspot/fundraiser2.gif\"){kind=link}
![because I had originally intended to draw the scar but forgot](\"/archive/formspring/00958_1.gif\"){kind=link}
![http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scraps2/harleycat.jpg](\"/scraps2/harleycat.jpg\"){kind=link}
![http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scraps2/samcat.jpg](\"/scraps2/samcat.jpg\"){kind=link}
![http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scraps2/harleycatYAAAAAWN.jpg](\"/scraps2/harleycatYAAAAAWN.jpg\"){kind=link}
![http://lexxercise.tumblr.com/post/5923809387/no-selling-mspa-stuff-without-andrews-permission](\"/archive/social/formspring/no-selling-mspa-stuff-without-andrews-permission.png\"){kind=link}
![mspaintadventures.com/scraps2/tumblrverification.jpg](\"/archive/social/tumblr/tumblrverification.jpg\"){kind=link}
![this](\"/archive/social/tumblr/final_fight_boss1.jpg\"){kind=link}
![this](\"/archive/social/tumblr/the-incredible-hulk.jpg\"){kind=link}
![this](\"/archive/social/tumblr/thelizard.jpg\"){kind=link}
![this](\"/archive/social/tumblr/Captain-America-Red-Skull_510.jpg\"){kind=link}
![oh\n yeah some of this](\"/archive/social/tumblr/2004_starsky_and_hutch_005.jpg\"){kind=link}
![a whole fuckload\n of this](\"/archive/social/tumblr/Lilcal01.jpg\"){kind=link}
![just\n a pinch of this](\"/archive/social/tumblr/lil_cal_by_kajoi-d3fowot.jpg\"){kind=link}
![this\n guy](\"/archive/social/tumblr/hotlist_glover_v6.jpg\"){kind=link}
![like this](\"/archive/social/tumblr/mspafont.gif\"){kind=link}
![http://mspaintadventures.com/scraps2/johns_hair_is_not_different.gif](\"/scraps2/johns_hair_is_not_different.gif\"){kind=link}
![fan pumpkin](\"/scraps/fanpumpkin.jpg\"){kind=link}
![PI: Fall in a shockingly inappropriate manner.](\"/extras/ps000002.gif\"){kind=link}
![PI: Fall in a badass noir-antihero manner.](\"/extras/ps000003.gif\"){kind=link}
![this painting](\"/scraps/sepulch_painting.jpg\"){kind=link}
![WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- \nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- \nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- \nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- \nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- \nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS!](\"/extras/aprilfools.gif\"){kind=link}
![1280x1024](\"/desktops/johnhouse_1280x1024.jpg\"){kind=link}
![1440x900](\"/desktops/johnhouse_1440x900.jpg\"){kind=link}
![1920x1080](\"/desktops/johnhouse_1920x1080.jpg\"){kind=link}
![FATHER'S DAY FILPOUT!!!](\"/fathersday.gif\"){kind=link}
![R.I.P. MJ + FARRAH.](\"/scraps2/MJ_farrah.jpg\"){kind=link}
![Ed](\"/scraps2/edmcmahon.jpg\"){kind=link}