4/13 Update Discussion Thread - IT'S HERE

I almost think that the very next update (whenever that happens) will have to be extremely meta. Like "MSPA Reader: Final freakout.", and it's just a montage of MSPA Reader reacting to all of the plot threads that were left unexplained. And at the very end, there's another record scratch and a shot of Hussie's hand stopping the record, or something equally stupid. And then it's just another one of Hussie's long tirades about how we're ungrateful and "Oh, now you want MORE? I thought you wanted this story to end as soon as possible?" I might actually forgive this fake ending if he did something so self-referential and hilarious, but I kind of doubt it, I've been let down twice in a row now.

I feel like the ending was good, just everything else leading up to it wasn't. I definitely feel like he had planned the basic beats out for a while and had this set in his mind for a long time, but I also think that all the flights of fancy during act 5+6 strained on the core tenets of homestuck, causing there to be a lot of plot threads that weren't fulfilled that didn't need to exist in the first place. A little bit more exposition might of helped matters, but we all know how much hussie enjoys starting internet arguments.

Of course being in traditional homestuck style might have helped

...so, uh

What's going to happen in this new universe, exactly?

I mean, most everyone on tumblr seems to be going on about how great it is that the kids finally got a happy ending, but...

Unless I'm missing something, isn't SBURB going to be seeded in this new universe as well, blasting the happy little Can Civilization to smithereens in a few decades or centuries?

What happens to all these cute endgame ships like Rosemary and Davekat when the trolls presumably die of old age in a few decades while the kids remain immortal? ("Old Age" doesn't qualify as Just or Heroic, I think)

What about Lord English? He is a time-traveling demon, after all, and linear time means nothing between universes anyway. What's to stop him from manifesting in this new universe, with circumstantial immortality to boot, since he's destined to die in another time and in another universe?

Am I just dense? How is this not just riddled with grim implications if you look past the surface?

Lord English destroys universes. You'd think making sure he's dealt with is a pretty critical component to "living in peace."

Eh I didn't see that part so I thought Hussie forgot about Gamzee. xD

And yeah I agree that Act 7 is very disappointing. I did love the animation though. Although as someone who feels that Hussie hasn't put as much effort as he used to into the comic since the beginning of 2015, I don't find this ending surprising. For the past year the comic has definitely felt rather rushed to me and more reliant on fan pandering and just didn't have the homestuck feel to it in general. I also thought that Collide was very underwhelming too. Cascade honestly had a more conclusive ending (and is still the best flash IMO) and I actually would have been more satisfied if the comic actually ended after Cascade. I think one of my main disappointments is how well everything went. All the bosses went down easily and according to plan. I wanted some plot twists or something, but there was nothing. And the ending was the most predictable possible ending. I was actually really expecting one of the kids to die, but that didn't happen ether which was surprising. I find it funny how I was only still sticking around to see what happens to the characters since they're my favourite part of the comic, but they didn't even get any resolution so I may as well have not bothered. :\
Although, Hussie has worked on this comic for 7 years which is a really long time, so I'm not surprised that the quality has dropped.
My favourite parts of the comic is definitely Acts 1-end of Act 5. When I started rereading the comic again I had no idea why I disliked the first four acts. They're really funny and fun to go through in general and contain the majority of the best lines. Act 6 was dealt with rather poorly and a lot of it could have been cut back. Never thought the Alpha kids story should have happened really. Acts 1 - 5 of Homestuck is honestly my favourite fictional work ever. Act 6 was still pretty good though until Game Over.

Also I love how the shipping war will never end. Jade was there with Dave and Karkat, Roxy seems more into Calliope than John (Johnroxy didn't get confirmed. thank god). The only real ship that has became endgame is Rosemary.

I hate how there's so many questions left unanswered. Who were the kids in Caliborn's masterpiece? Did Vriska just die?

After reading through this thread and rewatching the video, I don't know what to think. Between the ominous ending of collide and what Hussie said, along with what was leaked before, I honestly don't think this is it. 4/13 isn't over after all. But I don't want to get my hopes up. But really, what about Remem8er? What was the point of that? Where was the twist? This just wasn't Homestuck.

As an added note, I got the feeling from the animation that calliope was using the black hole to move the sun, not destroy it.

I sincerely hope that's not the case. That's kind of what the Wachowskis did with the Matrix sequels and their spin-off video game and that did not turn out well at all. I don't think you should have to read or play supplementary stuff to see how a story ends. To get something extra or see a few more details than the main story gives you? Sure, that'd be cool. But to have to do that to see something so essential to the narrative or to even know what's going on? Nope. Besides, even if Hiveswap is really cheap, Hussie'd basically be asking people to pay money just to see the full ending of Homestuck.

I think if he wanted to go down that road the best thing to do and the thing he might want to do is have Hiveswap end with a hint towards what unambiguously happens at the end of Homestuck, and release Hiveswap before the epilogue to sort of....wind the readers up again? Or even more? Basically have Hiveswap and Homestuck feed off each other's hype. But the way that game's progressing, who even knows?

At this point, I'm sure there's more, but what bugs me is now we don't even know when more could be coming, and we're stuck in a kind of anxious limbo until more news comes. The only other important dates are 6/12 which seems too soon, or 10/25 and 11/11 which....augh! I don't wanna wait 'til then. Sign. 

After some rest and thinking about it, I've come with terms with it.

Problem Sleuth's real ending is very sudden and i have no doubts people hated it back in the day. In fact, it pretty much ends as soon as the main conflict (escaping) is dealt with. In Homestuck's case, the main conflict since the beginning of the comic would be creating the universe, so... I've no doubt the epilogue is going to explain what there's still left to know.

Whether it'll explain things well or not, shrug. And there's definitely a point to be made that one should still be disappointed now, but... I've personally never been impatient with stories. I don't really care when are we getting these answers so long as we do at some point, and the answers are satisfactory.

Even if the epilogue doesn't manage to salvage things, though, I don't see why claim Homestuck is a failure or stop recommending it to people. Unless you think the disappointment of the ending flat-out overwhelms everything good you felt while reading the actual story, which... well, you're allowed to, so go ahead. I just personally disagree.

This will probably be a controversial opinion I suppose, but... yeah. I'm fine with it. So long as the epilogue, whenever it comes, answers what's left to answer, I will think this works as an ending. Maybe it would've been better to wait until such an epilogue is also ready to post things, but hey - gotta get that meaningful date, I suppose.

And even if the end does turn out to be just disappointing and inconclusive... well, I still had a fun ride, at least.

Yeah, even if the end result isn't great, I still loved the ride. I really do want to see answers, though. But I feel like if he really cares at all, if their is just a shred of good storytelling in him (which I believe there is) I think Hussie will give us answers at some point.

That said, I just realized something. There's no end credits to go with this ending. Not even a news post with the list of all the people that contributed. After all this, it wouldn't seem right to just leave that out. That gives me the feeling that it's not really over yet.

I am back. Four hours of sleep is fine, right? Happy 4/13 everybody!

This is orgasm denial is what it is.