homestuck

11-2024 Writer Commentary

HAVEN, shaking: Guys? I'm scared. What just happened?

KIM, i don’t belong here: Don’t be scared. :)

MILES, considering doing his job: >:J

FLORAL, loving some bacon: THE HOMEWRECKER IS DEAD!!!!!!

MILES: The above is a transcript from a staff meeting we had a while back, when the Writer’s Commentary for this month was still blank.  For posterity, I am going to leave it in, unless my fellow writers erase it in which case this introduction is going to look all kinds of out of context.

JAMES, director: Mama Mia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MILES: But enough of the past... let’s talk about this update!

MILES: Opening with Tavvy’s incredible letter.  It’s been so much fun letting him have a little independence, as a treat.  We’ve been trying to give him a little shade of passive aggression, just a hint of spice, and I think this letter was a fun place for that.  “Sorry but you guys are kind of weak as fuck, can’t do a single backflip, and so you need to sit here and eat these considerately provided packages of snacks while a real gymnast handles shit.”  It’s a flex, but I think it also demonstrates his caretaker tendencies.  Really this is a kid who grew up with not two, but THREE dysfunctional and mildly insane guardians.  He’s probably as much their custodian as they are his.  He’s still taking his self-imposed Yiffy rehab job very seriously, but it doesn’t mean he can’t also keep the two spoiled rich kids he throuplizes with out of danger and with nice full tummies.... he’s a good boy.

FLORAL: He’s so boycore. I love that Tavvy’s sliver of confidence is starting to show.

HAVEN: I love this child who is also a registered public notary.

JAMES: I remember this being an important note from me. It should be notarized. What a move. It evolved into him being able to legally notarize things. Can minors be notaries? I don’t know or care.

MILES: Unfortunately, he probably should have accounted for the fact that these two aren’t really inclined to listen to him.  When Tavvy flips the script on their established relationship dynamic, as he has quite a bit these days, it rubs at least Vrissy the wrong way.  Harry’s a little more haplessly along for the ride than a real momentum drive, but to his credit he’s still rolling out to recklessly endanger his own life yet again instead of staying inside where it’s bullet-free.  There’s a hero somewhere in there...!

FLORAL: Vrissy has her pride!! She may down talk the war a bit, from what we saw in the Epilogues, but she’s not going to be out performed.

JAMES: Good detail that Harry is still eating the trail mix and is picking out the M&M’s.

MILES: Perhaps a bit unluckily for these two, they stepped outside at kind of a critically intense moment.  But that’s just sort of what heroes do.  They get involved in critically intense moments... still, maybe it’s for the best that Rose was here to keep them from witnessing:

FLORAL: All according to keikaku…

HAVEN: Jade I won’t lie to you, it doesn’t look great.

MILES: I believe it was the esteemed scholar Scooby Doo who once said, “Ruh roh.”  Clearly shit is popping off a bit more flagrantly than the kids imagined.  Tensions have been building for a while, but blood’s been definitively drawn now.  It’s been a lot of setup to get to this point, but it’s super satisfying to see it all reach a boiling point here, even if it comes at the cost of poor sweet Jade’s cranial structural integrity.  There have been a couple sparks on the gigantic oiled up pile of TNT that is The War, but now, with all the relevant parties and a smorgasbord of expensive and deadly military machinery all gathered in one place, things are liable to get truly dangerous.  Darkwing Duck eat your heart out.

JAMES: Noted American Neo-Classical Poet, Scooby Doo.

MILES: Probably a pretty bad time to be anywhere near the meteor, huh?  Well, maybe n-

MILES: Shiiiiiiiit.... well I guess that’s it for everyone, then!  Good run, guys!  Homestuck Beyond Canon over!  It was an honor serving with you all.  

MILES: Oh shit there’s more!  Nice.  I knew that.

HAVEN: A proper “Mindfuck” here.

JAMES: They got us again they can't keep getting away with this. Anyway, a lot of really important things in those three panels actually. You can sort of figure out what's going on if you just look at them closely and make note of some important hints.

MILES: You’ll notice that, with this little gag (which felt so fun to do, by the way), we’ve returned to the ACT structure, abandoning the CHAPTER format HS^2 utilized before the production change.  This was a point of a lot of thought, for us, but ultimately we think that the Act structure makes more sense for the story it is that we’re trying to tell, for a variety of reasons that I’m not gonna get TOO into here.  That said, we’re coming up to the climax of what we consider... I don’t know, the “setup” period of the plot?  It’s been a long, long road, and it’s tough to say what final percentage of HS:BC this whole saga is going to represent, but capping it off all under the purview of one Act feels appropriate.  Everything, from the beginning of HS^2 to now, has been dedicated to fully selling the transition from the Epilogues to what has become Homestuck: Beyond Canon.  It’s been just over a year of updates on our end, and it’s so crazy to see this arc getting ready to finish!  It’s been going for five years!  Now, most of that was hiatus, but y’know.  Still.  Bombastic shit going down.

JAMES: I remember early on someone asked me about this and I forgot what I said so thanks for summing all that up. 

MILES: Speaking of bombastic... 

HAVEN: AH!!!!!!!!!! 

MILES:  AHHH!!!!!

FLORAL:

JAMES: why are you guys like this..

HAVEN: We have been waiting a long time for this. Like about a year now? Wow. Okay let’s get some eyes on this, let's put on our reading glasses and analyze this wall of flowery... purple. text...

HAVEN: “Negging” this is new! And again with this 108 number pattern, how curious. This person seems to drag on each sentence... Before snapping back to finality. This conversation harkens back to the message Karkat sent Jade back in act _ with the “SO I GUESS TODAY IS FINALLY THE DAY YOU FUCK EVERYTHING UP.” but more self defeating. And full of (these)-* bombs! What could it all mean!! 

JAMES: Haven knows exactly what it all means. I can see him typing right now. Go on. Deny it.

HAVEN: smirks silently and turns away

HAVEN: A lot of information here! TC and AA, who are curious characters and what could their roles be? (well I suppose you could guess their upcoming roles.)

HAVEN: oh, they worked on the game?

HAVEN: Here I think there was going to be a line specifying they had “47 friends lined up” but it got switched out. 

JAMES: I wonder if that's important. I guess we still need to be sort of coy about it.Which is horseshit.

HAVEN: Yeah, that IS horseshit! Anyway our coyness continues.

HAVEN: So yeah their shit exploded. One thing of note with this final part is remembering that Vrissy has only been going by that name for like 2... days? Only a few people even know about it. Damn I wish I could say more but we’ve got a ways to go still.

FLORAL: I love this loser.

JAMES: And thats it for the commentary! Case closed! Go home! Can you figure out our secret clues? Like comment and subscribe.

11-2024 Artist Commentary

Chumi, hoping you guys had a Happy Thanksgiving: Welcome welcome! 🎉🎉 We’re really getting into the holiday season with this one! Unfortunately, this is our last update until the Flash Production break. Look forward to the Flash guys, we’re working really hard!

Kim, Birthday Boy: Hang in there in the meantime folks… It’ll be a hot second before it drops, but hopefully these past few updates will have given you some food for thought to chew on until then. 👀 But before we move too far ahead, let's take a look at last month’s update!

Chumi: Once again, thank you to Floral for boarding this one. Bringing it to life was a collaborative effort between me, Haven, and Kim! If you’re wondering, some have blacked out for spoiler purposes. HEHE..

Floral: The John looking out the window was so silly, like the meteor doesn’t even have windows…

Kim: Some are actually scrapped pages and also some revealing information for next year’s updates… ooOOOOoooo what could it meeaannn…….

Color Keys by Kim Quach

Chumi: Check out this color reference! For the past few updates, one of the things we were keeping in mind was the color of the sky / atmosphere. The sky turning from a dull blue to a dangerous red and blanketing everything else red… It gives a feeling of incoming danger. At this point, danger is knocking on the characters’ front door! 

Kim: We have a very specific visual and idea in mind when the events of the next few updates are going to happen, so it was very important we keyed out the change of time! Gives y’all a little insight about how far ahead we’ve been planning these updates LOL.

It’s funny because when I look back at base Homestuck, you don’t really see observable changes in time over the course of a day. Y’know what, Andrew had the right idea just having everyone standing in a blank void because tryna keep track of these time changes is a pain in the ass.

Chumi: The very first panel is actually one of the last panels that was finished. The team had a whole conversation about what Tavvy’s handwriting would look like, especially since a character’s handwriting is quite indicative of their character. Kim proposed the idea of Tavvy writing with Magic Link handwriting because not gonna lie, it looks a little insane. 

Kim: It makes sense, tbh. Jane seems like the kind of person who would want to strictly set their kid up for success, image and reputation is her priority. Straight down to his handwriting has she been controlling of poor Tavvy… Do kids these days even learn to write cursive anymore?

Chumi: The team also thought it would be funny if Tavvy notarized the note. I based the embossed seal off of the one Andrew showed in the comic, you know the one.

Chumi: There’s a version of the letter that just has a plain red seal! I quite like how simple and elegant it looked, but definitely the embossed seal is funnier.

Floral: Looks so damn cool.

Chumi: The ship drawing changed quite a bit! The perspective was altered, as well as getting rid of the outline so the ship wouldn’t detract too much attention from the kids running away.

Chumi: The sketch-to-final-panel jump is insane. Rose is drawn to resemble Mom Lalonde, no eyes, just her lips visible, a more oval-shaped head… An adult! I thought I was so clever putting a bit of shadow underneath her hands… Because her aspect is Light… She’s blocking the Light / knowledge from reaching the kids…That’s why she’s a silhouette too… Heh…

Andi: That was very clever… I did enjoy this scene. Also really like how Vrissy looks here!! I can’t really say why, it's just nicely done. Idk who that girl is on the left though.

Floral: Chumi captured the vibe i was hoping for with this panel perfectly. The ominous, confusion the kids are feelings. The sink of your stomach.

Kim: The money shot! This is the one (1) panel I personally contributed for this update. :]

Floral thought it’d be fun to make this panel a little different from the usual standard panels. While not as ambitious, I really liked the one really long panel back in the “Chapter 5” update, and was inspired by how Xamag blended all the different scenes together! I think it was especially a genius idea from Floral to combine this all into one panel to further exemplify how all these things are happening simultaneously.

Kim: Further polishing and laying down a quick color sketch…

Kim: All the way to the final polished panel!

Chumi: YAAY It looks great!!

Kim: This particular bit gets me every time I think about it… Jade loves her child!!! The way it completely throws Jade off her game when the most precious thing in her life right now is suddenly in the middle of a freaking battlefield of a WAR. These kids just can’t stand still for one minute can they!!

(Sidebar, another funny favorite bit of mine in this is Harry just not knowing what the fuck is goin on ever lmfao.)

Andi: The colors, the action, the drama. You ate this up.

Haven: Such an amazing panel.

Floral: Was pulling my hair out on call with Kim as he was showing me this, because of how absolutely he killed this shot. How everything flows so perfectly into the stream of events. Bravo!!!!!

Chumi: Owch, my girl got shot… I did my best to emulate Kim’s epic panel from the last update! There was a version where I tried making her hair more spikey, sort of to emphasize the explosion of the bullet leaving her skull. It just didn’t end up looking right though. 🙁

Floral: I can feel how much this hurts, it’s so good.

Andi: YOU DID SO GOOD HERE. It really captured this exact vibe. I like how her hair flares outwards.

Chumi: There were two iterations of this panel as well! The first one shows her definitively pressing the button (you might have to stare at the gif for a few seconds), the other shows her the moment she smashes the button. I thought the first one might be a neat climax moment: we get to see her push it in one, fluid motion. However, it ended up being too subtle, so it was hard to tell that anything was moving at all unless you consciously stared at the panel for a few moments.

Chumi: This panel’s POV is based on the Terezi Make Her Pay pose, although not rendered in the Hero Mode style. Dude is NOT aware of what the hell is going on. 

Floral: I did a single panel for this update too, featuring Dirk’s bell tower and the rest of the human city that stands between it and the meteor site. So much to parse. Wonder what the significance of it all could be.

Chumi: The fateful explosion… We wanted it to have a lot of oomph so we made it a long panel. The light from the explosion dyes the landscape almost white. The impact is also knocking over whole tanks and the trees around the area, so the Rebellion guys near the meteor are totally vaporized. Sorry fellas. The two peeps in front are just some random soldiers to fill the empty space HEHE.

Chumi: We are not done with Act 1 just yet…

Kim: Funny thing about this page, we had this as a placeholder for the text gif underneath and we lowkey wanted to push forward with it.

Kim: But instead we opted out for a Homestuck-ified version of it instead, which in the end is probably more fitting LMFAO.

Haven: hey. 

Haven: First sketch I did when I was conceptualizing this scene some months ago. Switched the monitor for a more old school chunky computer. GC’s setup here is very scuffed and dingy.

Haven:  A new character, a new chat client, and a new mysterious ooze... there isn’t too much i can really say about these visuals yet LOL. The new chat client was discussed and Kim designed a mockup that I don’t think we can show here yet? Or more like we can but would like to properly debut it in the actual comic rather than here in the commentary. Weeeellll other that please speculate away~! Seeya at the big flash!

Haven:  oh actually, I had almost forgot.

Haven:  I had a little drawing about GC’s computer exploding in their face. One day I’ll share it in full! Okay, bye now for real!

Poll for March Illustration

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HS: BC (Bonus Comics) 26

#25 Written and Drawn by Annie "Chumi" Lee

HS: BC (Bonus Comics) 25

#25 Written and Drawn by Annie "Chumi" Lee

November Patron Exclusive Illustration

Illustration by Alexis

10-2024 Writer Commentary

JAMES, Director: Hello

MILES, Cooking Secret Stews: What’s up party patrons...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FLORAL, Killer of Gods : Been so excited/apprehensive for this update to drop!! It’s been months and the entire time we’ve been going back and tweaking and playing with things to perfect it and it was worth it. Super satisfied with the response. It was a bit of a gambit to go from Vriska (famously controversial Homestuck character) to Rose and Jade AND JANE (THEE MOST controversial characters in HSBC), but it needed to happen.

Rose in particular being a mystery we couldn’t keep postponing. And I was inspired to handle it in a way true to a Seer or Light, heavy in lore and reminiscent to Rose’s GameFAQs Walkthrough of the SBURB Beta. Which was risky! But the fact Andrew wrote all of those excerpts in character (just for 90% of people to skim or passover completely) is something I really respect and was worth referencing! It’s who Rose is after all and one of the reasons Kanaya fell so fast for her.

Anyways, let's get into it!

FLORAL: Jade’s powers are something that are discussed much after she lost the Green Sun powers, but when it came to “what would she be doing in this moment that would prioritize the kids over anything else” a shield seemed perfect! How it works is inspired by this scene in the epilogues.

FLORAL: Of course this isn’t exactly what’s happening here, but it’s not a stretch how’d she take these defensive maneuvers to develop something less reaction based and more stable. A stray missile comes towards them and the shield won’t bounce it off but manipulate and control the space around it.

MILES: I think in general, a lot of aspected powers are limited only by the user’s imagination!  But even putting that aside, it makes a lot of sense to me that she’d have the tight control necessary of a spatial perimeter necessary to do something as basic as maintain a shield.  We’ve seen her do way crazier shit before.

FLORAL: There was a lot to explore with this conversation between Rose and Jade, the first one they’ve had privately since fucking… ACT 5, 2011? And with now 30 years of interactions we are only just starting to uncover! 

Many thoughts of how their dynamic could be and how their dynamic would evolve under current conditions went into it and it was so fun!! Writing two people that obviously understand one another so well while feeling completely misunderstood and frustrated because they’re not being empathized with is complicated! But exactly how you show a character's specific perspective the best in my opinion.

Rose and Jade share a lot of experiences, especially considering their Aspect switcheroo fake out, and have taken such completely different lessons from them. I love their friction! 

FLORAL: Loooove imagining the interactions these two have had over the years. So intriguing. We know from Meat that even without all of Candy’s baggage they aren’t close. So why? There are very probable, passive answers and then there are equally probable drama answers, that actively communicate parts of these characters we never got to see clash.

MILES: I think, and this is something that we’re going to touch on later in this commentary/update, part of that is that they really aren’t that compatible in terms of their interpersonal problem solving styles.  Which itself is a problem, because both of them consider themselves to be problem solvers in different ways.  30 years of bumping up against someone you’re sort of socially obligated to be close to, with half of that time spent under the looming shadow of a Gigantic Interpersonal Landmine Baby, is going to cause some problems!

MILES: And speaking of dear, sweet Yiffy, and the way Rose and Jade’s attitudes differ, there really isn’t a better example of their incompatibility than the two entirely polarized attitudes they take towards Yiffy’s existence: Rose’s detached view of Yiffy as amounting to nothing more than an inconvenient favor she did for a friend, as part of a cosmic obligation she barely even understands (more on this later), spits directly in the face of Jade’s knowledge that Yiffy is, without question, the most important thing in her life.  It’s arguably “right” that Rose chose to completely sterilize any feelings she might possibly have had (but probably barely even ever did) for Yiffy in terms of maintaining some modicum of emotional fidelity to her Actual Wife and her Actual Daughter, but obviously that’s going to chafe Jade.  Jade’s a lonely person!  Yiffy was a way to fill that void, and although having a daughter has absolutely brought some purpose, companionship, and stability to her life, the complications that came along with it have absolutely served to isolate her even more in other ways.  

FLORAL: And here is the crux of their viewpoints! The difference between remaining loyal to what has undeniably happened and the recognition that how events are framed undeniably changes what we THINK happened. What’s more important to the truth?

MILES: Rose, for her part, seems to have her own funky ideas about the truth, and we’re just about to get a little more of a glimpse into her head to see what it is that’s been bugging her these past few... decades?

FLORAL: And with that the conversation ends with another mom punch. As if everyone knows that the quickest way to get under Rose’s skin. 

That’s why it was felt important to comment on Rose’s estranged relationship to Roxy too, in her ramble. Really cementing questions that were hinted at before, can you find closure in another, younger version of your dead parent? How does that evolve over the years?

Again, lots of probable answers to that!

FLORAL: Can’t talk about Mom without talking about Rose’s drinking problem! I remember when the Act 6 intermissions first dropped and being surprised Rose fell into a trap that she had such an adverse reaction to in the early acts. Did she want to feel closer to her Mom, understand her better? Did she get too complacent with her visions of the future? Make it easier to pursue Kanaya, who even a year into the meteor weren’t together despite that being kind of insane?

Or did she just like how it made her feel? How addiction works is genuinely very complicated, more so than people give it credit for. It’s one of the things that sets Rose apart from Dirk and something that’s so gratifying to pick apart now that the characters are adults. Possibilities! Everywhere! 

FLORAL: Everything Rose talks about in her monologue was so, so nerve wracking to write, to take so many points of what makes this character who they are laid out for the reader. In Update 6, Rose really only said one thing about her part in making Yiffy, “I knew you would forgive me.” 

And what the fuck that meant and WHY she would say that to her wife were questions the story hadn’t given the readers the complete picture to.

Writing commentaries is always a bit hard for me personally because while I can explain every choice and reassure this isn’t just spaghetti being thrown at the wall, I also believe that the work has to do it itself. Which is hard for serialized media because you guys don’t get those answers the way you would if you were watching a movie or a book, there’s real time waiting completely out of your control. It’s anxiety inducing! I’ve had a good deal of Homestuck induced anxiety myself lol.

MILES: I totally get where you’re coming from, on that.  This bit felt like a part we really did need to write, partially for that exact reason; taking the readers on an exciting voyage to the twisted shores of Rose’s nihilisthmus is a peek behind the curtains that hopefully DOES serve to contextualize just how checked out she is and provide some more clarification on why it is she’s acting the way she does.

There’s a lot of text blocks I could grab to comment on individually, but I think that I’d rather just commentate on the whole shebang of it, which is, after all, on the internet right now for you to peruse at your viewing pleasure/dread. 

Overall, as a Light player trapped in a universe/timeline/whatever-you-want-to-call-Candy devoid of “real” narrative consequence (and thusly, devoid of any “real” fortune that might seek to inform her Light-aspected guidance), she’s been sort of adrift!  Imagine having access to a cosmic intuition that points you towards what’s “best” and then, one day, you notice it’s broken.  Still trying, but broken nonetheless.  Rose is already predisposed towards existential malaise; she’s always needed action to fill that void, and when the little voice in your head suddenly starts telling you that you live in a world where action is fundamentally meaningless, coping with that reality probably... fucking sucks!  She has nonetheless done an admirable job of trying to keep herself anchored with a wife she DOES care for and a daughter she DOES love, but fighting the creeping thought that none of it means anything at all?  Having what you believe is objective cosmic confirmation of nihilism woven into the foundation of the reality you inhabit?  That’s scary shit.  Honestly, it’s kind of a wonder she’s even as sane as she is, but Rose, for better or worse, is quite the badass.

Not great for the people around her, though.

FLORAL: And finally Kanaya and the trolls, the real stars of this cause. Love reminding people that a big part of what Karkat brings to his friendship with Kanaya is that he uplifts her. Even though she’s larger than life in this update, there is a bond between equals here that sees she’s struggling and understands her.

MILES: I love this bit.  Won’t harp too much further on it but it’s just awesome to see Karkat and Kanaya both sort of transcending their woes together for a cause bigger than either of them.  Like Floral said, Karkat is such a bolstering force, almost like... kind of a reminder for Kanaya that the I Care Too Much-itis she suffers from isn’t a fault of her own and does in fact make the world a better place.  I don’t know.  So much to say on their friendship and how much I love it, and have loved it for like a decade and a half.  

Let’s also take a moment to luxuriate in the awesome power of this panel, provided generously for your viewing pleasure by our resident maestro Signore Vintagefoods.

FLORAL: Hi Jane. This really is the “women you love to hate” update, huh? It makes me so happy to give them the spotlight, especially these divisive versions of themselves. We just explored a little bit of Nannasprite in hell too! I wonder what all this has been building up to?

MILES: Floral has done such a good job of highlighting how it is Jane ended up where she’s at.  Her control-freak-fascism... comes from the heart </3

FLORAL: The last line was Miles' idea and it was such a good one!!! Jane lives in the never ending future. She wasn’t lying when she said she’d be better once the war ended, but how she defined “doing better” was concerning and here is our answer. 

FLORAL: I want to say with my full chest right now, I love Jake English. I wrote him in his Rise Up update and I began this update immediately after that. I want him to win so badly!

Following up on what we set up in the last update, Jake had only in that moment resolved to being a person after 20 years of taking beatings.

Jane on the other hand has concerned herself with being a GOD for over twenty years. 

FLORAL: If Jake had done the same thing to 16 year old Crocktier Jane, I think it would have stuck. He did NOT miss. That bullet comes out of Jane’s mouth because her powers PUSHED IT OUT OF HER BRAIN. Head trauma is not an instant kill, just irreversible for most people that aren’t fictional with crazy healing abilities. 

There was only one way he was going to kill her at the level she’s at, and that’s… not Jake! Jake is not meticulous and cold. He is a guy of passion and feeling! This face off was sentimental. Which is a huge step up from simply running away from anything that makes him slightly uncomfortable.

MILES: I think he was honestly kind of incapable of attempting this any other way.  Giving her a romantic and cinematic send-off is just what I imagine he thinks is his due diligence to a woman that, for better or worse, he’s loved.

Unfortunately...

FLORAL: Jake creates a lot of problems in HS1 simply out of avoidance. And, out of all the reasons people are avoidant, one of them is they don’t want to experience the discomfort of things not working out. 

But things don’t work out all the time, and it’s not proof that we don’t deserve good things.

FLORAL: I love Jane too! And while we have seen her in all varying degrees of awfulness since the epilogues dropped, she’s always felt distant. Which is hard to work with, when her struggles with managing her own feelings and disappointments were pretty visceral in ACT 6! 

This update was a return to that. Not only is she awful, but we are put in the shoes of her victim. It’s personal! She is invested in what she’s done and what she’s going to do, not as a set piece but as a person. It’s the reason Jake gets to live, despite knowing what the safest option would be.

FLORAL: I just finished HUNTERXHUNTER last month and am so obsessed with Togashi’s way of storytelling. It aligns with my own sensibilities so much, and so satisfying to engage with! I don’t know if it makes sense to you guys why I bring it up now, but it is always on my mind when handling scenes like this. Take from that what ya will!

(P.S. Also for clarity, this was written months before the irl assassination attempt lol.)

MILES: I love this scene for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that it’s nice to finally see the thin veneer of peace between these main characters finally crack as things reach a breaking point.  Obviously nobody likes to see our good friend Jake face vicious spousal abuse and the threat of impending lobotomy, but cranking up the action a little bit is never a bad move when you’re in the business of making comics, and the art and intensity of this bit are just so cool.

MILES: Speaking of main characters getting their asses in gear... what have these little twerps been up to?  I guess we’ll find out... next time, on...!

DRAGON B-

JAMES: Goodbye

10-2024 Artist Commentary

Chumi, enjoying the fall weather: Welcome to the Artist Commentary! I love this update a lot!!!! It has a lot of standout moments, and I think the audience felt it as well because the reactions on social media were pretty crazy LMAO! Things are coming to a head in the story, but let’s take a second to get the artists’ takes on what went down.

Haven, shivering in the fall weather: where is vriska 

Kim, can do 10 push-ups: A lot of people were blown away by these two scenes side-by-side, and you can thank our lead writer and board artist for this update, Floral, for that! When she proposed this update to us, I can tell you now without exaggeration, I literally had my jaw dropped and was yelling the entire time reading the script. The writing, the overall pacing, the right amount of anticipation per page… Floral, you absolute mad man…

Chumi: Thank you Floral! We love you!!

Haven: wrote and boarded it all out, floral really went crazy on this one

Haven: we start on jade and rose, jade is forming a space power forcefield to protect the kids inside the ship. The first part of this for me was figuring out how we wanted her forcefields to look. 

Haven:  then onto the sketches, reused the troll meteor memorial park image i made for a previous update. 

Haven: we tossed around what position everyone would be in during these scenes so we’d have a better grasp on the flow of the action during.....the big action scene that is on the way.

Haven: this update was my first time drawing Candy Jade and Rose, their designs have really grown on me. I love Jade's paw print gloves.

Haven: this panel showing “how rose ‘sees’ things now” was added late into this update's production and floral didn't have a description other than “haven go wild” 

Haven: generic troll soldier #612 casually bumps into a god.

Haven: i’d probably have about the same reaction.

Haven: went through a couple versions of this, the initial version with her looking down on him with the setting sun and a troll rebellion flag waving in the background was very cool and dramatic but i couldn’t figure out a way to get it to feel right. The final version has one of the rebellions massive crab tanks looming behind that i’m excited for you all to see more of.

Haven: sometimes very blatant symbolism is the way to go.

Haven: IT’S A TROLL THAAANGG i love these guys.

Kim: Then we move onto the second half of the update!

Kim: A majority of this was entirely boarded by Floral with only a few additions/revisions (and a rough color pass) by me! As you can compare, the final released product has a few more extra panels compared to the above boards for readability and added suspense.

And in this part of the update, we finally see Jane in a different part of her ship for once LOL. Funny enough, due to my own oversight, I thought she WAS going to be in her office again and I thought to myself, “how many more times are we gonna have to draw this got dang room again!” Since this was a location designed within the previous team, we didn’t have a proper design of the room to go off of that wasn’t just the panels itself.

So, I ended up making a convenient isometric for reference of Jane’s Crockership office.

Jane’s Crockership Office Isometric by Kim Quach

Kim: Even though we ended up not particularly needing it for this update, I figured some diehard fans and the fanartists would appreciate this LOL.

Though, that leaves us with… what about this NEW room that Jane is in?

Crockership Bridge Concept Sketch by Kim Quach

Kim: It’s funny knowing there’s so much more to a room that you don’t actually end up seeing in the final product. But hey, it doesn't hurt to be prepared!

I think this is also the first update I had to properly draw these two in Guardian Mode myself, so here’s a few old sketches I have lying around from when I was trying to practice drawing them.

Exploration Sketches by Kim Quach

Chumi: Zoowee mama!!!

Kim: Something I’ve been having fun with whenever I draw Jane in Guardian Mode is that with the ominous absence of her eyes, it gives a bit more fun opportunity to stylize her glasses. There’s something condy-like about the sharp “eyes” that I quite like about it.

Kim: As you can compare from the sketch, I was considering, “should this button have a label? Does this laser have a Stupid Name to it?” But after some thought, it probably would’ve been too corny for Homestuck. If you can think of a better name for Jane’s dumb cake laser, feel free to send it my way LOL.

Another point of interest is the framed photo of Tavvy here. On this page, Candy-Jane reflects back on the life she has lived here on Earth C. Her ‘accomplishments,’ her family, her friends, her future… Or rather, more like coping honestly. Even in this picture of Tavvy here, it’s not exactly the warmest family picture. The way I imagined it, it’s like the only photo Jane could even get of her son was one where she was interrupting him in the middle of doing something… to top it off, he’s not even that ecstatic to see her. v_v

Oh, Jane… This timeline hasn’t exactly been your brightest.

Scrapped Version of Homestuck: Beyond Canon panel 682

Kim: It was specifically noted in Floral’s boards to keep this panel entirely silhouetted. Sorry janejakers, this moment is not about them being kissy kissy LOL.

I did consider having little hints of detail just to give this panel a bit more visual interest, but I think it gave away too much. Though, at this point everyone already knows Jake’s here to put a stop to Jane, but not how. Explicitly showing the arm behind the back would’ve taken all that mystery away!

Kim: I think just the hint of it in the silhouette clueing into the viewer’s imagination made this a bit more suspenseful, no?

… You can tell I put way too much thought into this.

Scrapped Version of Homestuck: Beyond Canon panel 683

Kim: The secret scrapped version of this panel where the shot is a bit more severe… I wanted the impact as people turned to this page to be like, “OH SHIT!” BUT, Floral noted to me the bullet doesn’t exactly go through her brain. Jane was doing some crazy life powers shit to stop the bullet from going all the way.

Chumi: I won’t lie, I’m a little sad this panel was changed. I love the splatter. Ah well!

Kim: There were a lot of pretty tricky angles in this update, and–like any good artist–I usually make my own references. I thought it would be fun to show you guys a couple of the funny references I used for this update LOL. For the panel above I actually used Vroid–a free program you can use to fully customize 3D model characters :-)

Chumi: WHOA IT’S JISHEN

Kim: (excuse to show you my fantroll) If I had to be honest, it’s actually way easier to pose Vroid models in the photobooth because using the asset store’s 3D models make my CSP explode.

Kim: For this one, I wanted to get the tilt of her expression and the grip on the gun just right. Taking my own ref pics is the easiest and quickest way to get that angle I need, and well– lets just say the resulting ref pic is the funniest picture I now have in my camera roll.

Chumi: AAH!!!

Kim: POV the art director of Homestuck: Beyond Canon is in his pajamas as he beats you to death.

Kim: I feel like I can’t take credit for how insane this particular gif came out because this is just one-to-one with what Floral pitched to us in the script.

Animation Thumbnail Rough by Floralmarsupial

Kim: Girl you are so crazy.

James: I like her little pikmin spike

Kim: I feel like at this point I’m just gonna be known for drawing all these cunty panels LMFAO.

I wonder if it’s also obvious whenever I work on a panel because I’m also a big sucker for linework. I love utilizing varying line weight and am heavily inspired by Andrew’s older traditional work that was much more line-involved.

Another interesting observation, you can tell from above the final doesn’t look that much different from the sketch. Any attempt I did to polish this any further made it lose its texture and edge that I liked about it v_v I think when it comes to Homestuck, you gotta make sure to maintain that careful balance of keeping that nice scratch to it.

Kim: This panel wasn’t a part of the original boards either, but I proposed we include it! Making it clear that Jane grabbed the gun but also quite literally has the upperhand now lol. I got storyboarder brain and I love the excruciating anticipation of making people hold their breath between panels... When you know something’s coming but you can’t help but clasp your hand over your mouth like, “OH NO…”

Kim: I think it’s interesting this is the second instance of this entire update where you see Jane’s eyes... The last one where you see livid anger in her eyes, the second where vivid clarity dawns upon her.

Kim: The ship here was actually plucked from a prior panel (page 355)! I drew the rest of the background, Floral actually helped with the animation here. There’s something so funnily disgusting to me about the way these guys get dumped like pez out of the ship. Like a mother bird feeding pellets to their young.

Kim: Apparently there’s a greatly debated point of discussion around this panel than I anticipated people would ever be interested in over who wrote this letter. And y’know what, I’m gonna refrain from answering any questions because I think that’s part of the fun. Plus, y’all will get your answer soon enough LOL.

See you guys in the next commentary!

Poll for February Illustration

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HS: BC (Bonus Comics) 24

#24 Written and Drawn by floralmarsupial

HS: BC (Bonus Comics) 23

#23 Written by James Roach and drawn by Goopifer

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Illustration by Meruz

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09-2024 Writer Commentary

JAMES, Director: Ah, we’re here. The final sessions of the Vrisual Novel. Welcome to the writer’s commentary. You know what this felt a lot longer than it was.

HAVEN, Hi: Oh my god... it’s over... Goodbye Forever Vriska... my old friend...

MILES, parkour noob: It’s crazy that we’re literally writing Vriska out of the comic after this... we used up the entire Vriska budget and now there’s none left!

CHUMI, looking forward to Karkat plush: It does feel like we’ve been in Vriskaland for many, many months. This must be like what she’s feeling whilst trapped in Hell! 

JAMES: These last two updates are pretty short, though at this point there isn’t a lot left for Vriska to really sort through. When we were planning these out, we hadn’t really settled on the two-sessions-a-month route yet. I’m very excited to get back to someone other than Vriska. Vriska Vriska Vriska. Get the hell out of here.

HAVEN: How dare you?

HAVEN: CHAPTER: X (where x=5 or maybe 4.5? But the next one is 6 so I guess it must be 5), this one is happening at the same time as 4. A glance at what davepeta is up to while Vriska is working on herself.

MILES: You know that feeling you used to get as a kid when you knew your report card was coming in, and it was gonna be just... dogshit?  Just dogshit bad?  And your parents or whoever were gonna be sooooooooo annoyed with and disappointed in you?  Well I don’t.  My grades were pristine.  I definitely didn’t get grounded for a month because I kept missing assignments in 2007 right before Super Mario Galaxy was gonna come out and cry that I wasn’t allowed to play it.  But I bet a lot of you did.  

JAMES: I grew up before the digital age so I would just throw them away.

MILES: Anyway, that’s what Davepeta’s going through right now.

HAVEN: 

HAVEN: Wow it’s Jasprosesprite^2! From Homestuck and Catnapped: A Homestuck^2 Bonus Story! Which you can read for free over at Beyondcanon.com/Bonus !

MILES: Shout-out to the CRAZY cuteness of these Jasprose sprites... Choombs you knocked it out of the park yet again!  Let’s see what she’s up to.

JAMES: I see HAVEN has opted to include a word from his funny little game that he likes. 

HAVEN: I wanted to record one of us saying it for the sfx but we ran short on time.

MILES: We can always patch it in later.  Keep folks coming back.  Nipah~

JAMES: I’m imagining it and I love it.

MILES: Just read it in my voice.  

Chumi: WHOA Ryukishi07 reference SPOTTED!!! 🫵

HAVEN: So Jasprosesprite^2 is in a place of deniable canonicity while Davepetasprite^2 is in a position of undeniable essentiality. What could this duality signify...

MILES: It’s cool how we’ve sort of stumbled into a Canonical yin-yang-type-situation here, a zone of dubious authenticity within a universe of established primacy communicating with a zone of utmost authenticity ensconced within a universe of completely negligible significance...

HAVEN: ISN’T THAT NEAT?

MILES: Special shout-out to this sentence that the entire writing team spent like 15 minutes on, trying to hit the exact right balance of style and masculine musk.  Midnight City... I’d love to get shanked there some day.

HAVEN: I know it smells crazy in there.

JAMES: Honestly they make cologne out of weirder things. My favorite one has hints of tobacco.

Wait, am I an addict?

HAVEN: She’s going to martini bars and ordering milk like some kind of sick freak.

MILES: My plan to get Jasprose off the wagon involves a sort of White Russian exposure therapy pipeline that’d make The Dude smile.  I guess I probably shouldn’t be conspiring to trigger a cat-ghost-girl’s latent alcoholism but it’s just something I’m gonna keep in my back pocket in case I need to get Jasprose shitfaced for some reason.  Decline by White Russian is not the worst way to go.

JAMES:  I have a really stupid anecdote about going to a really fancy bar with Undertale’s Toby Fox and almost getting kicked out for ordering nonsense. During ANIME EXPO, which is a local con for me, we were supposed to meet up with Andrew at a bar at the end of the day. I incorrectly assumed it would be a normal bar that any shithead that looks and dresses like me could go to. He texts us the address and it's about a mile away so we decide to walk in the near 100 degree Los Angeles summer weather. We arrive sweaty and disgusting at one of the fanciest Downtown LA bars I’ve ever seen. Andrew was at a table, but meeting with a business guy so he asks us to wait at the bar and get some drinks.

I’m no stranger to bars, but neither of the two people I’m with really frequent them. It's about this time I notice to the left of us is a guy sort of dressed like a boat captain talking to a woman in a really expensive looking gown. They were like living cartoon caricatures of rich people. On the other side we were flanked by finance-guy types. So there we are, dolled up in our finest cargo shorts and hoodie sporting ANIME CONVENTION lanyards, dampened and wilted from the walk.

I order my go-to warm up drink which is just a double shot of bourbon, neat. They understandably ask for my ID even though at that point I’m in my 30s and all life has already been drained from my eyes. I go for my wallet and with abject horror realize I’d left it at home. I have to ask for a non-alcoholic drink at the worlds fanciest bar, where we already don’t belong so I order a diet coke. I nervously look to my friend, who I’m only now remembering does not drink and say “Ah, why don’t you order.” She flatly asks for water and my eyes widen. Oh no.

I slowly turn to Toby, who at this point in his life could pass for a teenager. He is wearing a misprinted SBaHJ shirt. I silently plead with him. Please order something alcoholic so they don’t kick us out of here. I can’t tell if he is picking up on the vibe or not but in his delightful little voice, he orders an Appletini which is a drink that is almost entirely juice flavored with a bit of schnapps and vodka in it. The sort of drink you’d order if you were on Sex and The City. Anyway, we didn’t get kicked out. This had nothing to do with this comic.

HAVEN: What did she mean by this?

JAMES: I don’t know, that's scary.

HAVEN: Candy!Jake was talking about hypothetical “good” Janes before in a previous update and now Jasprosesprite^2 is presenting us with a pre-fascist Jane, if only she was anywhere that mattered.

MILES: Well well...!  It’d appear that Jasprose has been doing some work with the Meat protagonists who got left planetside in all the hullabaloo of the Epilogues.  Wonder what she’s up to with those two?  Probably nothing too important.

HAVEN: She’s making biscuits on the brains of the 2 missing meat mates!

HAVEN: Wow, time flies while you’re  on indefinite hiatus  having fun.

HAVEN: “the linchpin of this “oper8tion”?“ So Vriska’s developments are crucial to her and Davepetasprite^2’s plans?

HAVEN: Wow, time flies when you’re on a bi-monthly update schedule.

HAVEN: lol

JAMES: don’t say cock and paul torture dont say cock and paul torture don’t say c-

Cognitive Pehavioral Therapy

HAVEN: Yep, that’s right. 4 more years of Vrisual Novel updates!!! 

HAVEN:  You said it Davepetasprite^2. Seems like it’s been some time since episode 4 but not a full year.

HAVEN:  I would too!

JAMES: This was so much Vriska. I mentioned this elsewhere but when we were first planning this out we didn’t do it with the bi-monthly update schedule in mind so some months were longer than others. This last session is like a preamble for what's to come. And what is that? Please stop asking me.

HAVEN:  It’s always fun discussing melded human/troll metaphors with the writing team.

HAVEN:  Love this little freak.

FLORAL: Gotta have my freak!

HAVEN:  Uh oh.

HAVEN: Watch this space.

HAVEN: yay!

HAVEN: Did you see this coming? Did you look at the 8-ball -> (8 ) <- symbol and guess who was inside?

HAVEN: It makes sense she’d expect to see Terezi. One of the biggest things missing from her psycho-empathic personalized hellscape, the most important relationship in Vriska’s life.

HAVEN: But we’re not here to see people we’re gonna see on the outside.

HAVEN: The more “relevant” Vriska and the more “essential” Vriska.

HAVEN: Luckily for Vriska she had this revelation 4-ish years prior, so it should be fairly easy to get past this one.

HAVEN: Damn, okay nevermind.

HAVEN: Wait, that’s it? She’s back where she started... I wonder what’s next!

09-2024 Artist Commentary

Chumi, halfway done with grad school!: Greetings! Salutations! Artist Commentary, commence! Let’s talk about our Midnight City intermission and then… the conclusion(?) of Vriska’s Hellish escapades.

Kim, thinkin’ about fantrolls: This commentary might be a pretty short one, fellas! Not a whole ton of new assets here, BUT these couple last two chapters have definitely given us a lot to think about… ohoho!

James, Director: We’re finally at the end.

Chumi: It’s been a learning experience for everyone, thank you for following along with us! I had the pleasure of doing the Jasprosesprite sprites (heh) for the first part of this month’s update! I used to be really into making sprites, so I jumped for joy at the opportunity to do at least one character! They deigned me worthy to do the catgirl!!!

Kim: I just knew Chumi would be the perfect artist to do Jasperose’s sprites bc if it’s cute girls you want, it’s the name of the game for ol’ Choomer. >:3

Jasperosesprite^2 Sprites by Annie “Chumi” Lee

Chumi: I’m a bit proud of how cute these came out! While drawing, I did take a glance or two back at the old Rose talksprites from Act 6. I wanted to inject a bit of their essence into these new sprites because hey, she’s still half Rose. It mainly comes through in the hand-in-front-of-mouth part of the Laughing and Pleased sprites. At the same time, Jasprose has a much more animated face! I wanted to combine an expressive face + poses that wouldn’t be too out there for a (half-)Rose to pull off.

Haven: They were soooo perfect. Chumi really outdid herself with these.

Andi: She is so much more animated! Even in og Homestuck, she always had this mischievous grin. It’s very cute. It sorta gives her a toony vibe, which og Rose would never dare express that side of herself in front of others. It seems being part cat tends to cure the siblings' highly strung stoicism (and depressive tendencies.)

Chumi totally killed these sprites! She’s so adorable. I like that this sprite sort of has an old nostalgic feeling. The simple roundness of the face and sharp angles of the elbow. Ahh, to return to our openbound roots again.

Chumi: THANK YOU GUYS HEHE. 

Fefetasprite Sprites by Haven

Haven: Fefetasprite... Before her tragic departure to sprite city.

Chumi: She’s adorable… Her big ol’ sweet eyes! Dear, sweet, precious Fefeta.

Kim: I love the way Haven drew her here, she’s like especially oh so kittey :3

Midnight City half by Haven / Vriska’s Room by Floralmarsupial

Haven: Was very fun to revisit Midnight City, excited to do more photobash backgrounds in the future. 

Chumi: Not gonna lie, I LOVE HOW MIDNIGHT CITY LOOKS IN THIS BACKGROUND. It’s the deep, saturated purples…

Kim: I’m also a big fan of the photobashing art of the Catnapped bonus comics!!! So glad Haven was able to have another chance to do this kind of style again.

CG by Andi R.

Haven: yay

Andi: The script asked for a shitty little doodle of Davepeta initiating their glomp and I was like, “damn that's easy.” Turned out cuter than expected. GLOMP!!!!!!!!!

CG by Andi R.

Andi: Nothing special about this, just that I had to draw a higher detail than usual Davepeta arm holding the 8 ball. I did try to give it a touch of hussnasty. The CGs in general are fun to look at so I was glad I could  draw another.

Kim: And with that, as we reach the ~~grand finale~~ we got a handful of new sprites for Vriska(s)!

Vriska Sprites by Kim Quach

Kim: Something about these expressions of hers are so cute LOL. It’s unusually modest of her and we don’t get to see a bashful Vriska very often!

Haven: I was on call with Miles looking over the update before launch and when we saw these we both started losing it. Every new sprite we saw we started hollering.

Floral: Heyo!! I did this BG. I always really loved the environmental work in the dream bubbles! There’s always so many contrasting elements to them. Mostly with this BG I wanted people to place themselves at the bottom of the hill, looking up as Vriska and (Vriska) have their wordless exchange. A little cinematic stage setting.

I did a little photobashing with this but mostly I actually painted this one out! Yahoo!

Kim: Then, I did some small edits to this BG so that we have a little bit of ~immersion~ I really liked the idea that we would be entering from Vriska’s POV, no character sprites involved. I figured it would add a bit more to the viewer’s confusion and mystery, just as Vriska is feeling… Where is this? What’s going on? What is… THAT?

Kim: Then… as we approach closer we see somewhat of a familiar silhouette…

Kim: Wait a minute…

CG by Kim Quach

Kim: That’s not Terezi–!

CG by Kim Quach

Kim: Then… REVEAL! (Though I kinda feel like half of us already saw this coming from like a mile away LMFAO. It’s okay, it’s about the SHOWMANSHIP 🕺)

Chumi: We got you good!!!! 

James: It was sort of a last minute thing to add the Terezi Track to this section, but I think it's really funny. Music is technically an art thing, right? It’s just Terezi’s theme in a major key. I don’t even think you get a full loop of it if you are reading at a normal pace.

Kim: Oh (Vriska)... I actually went back to re-read that part in Homestuck where Vriska was just laying it into (her) so I could further understand how (Vriska) felt for drawing these sprites, and… OOF…

(Vriska) Sprites by Kim Quach

Chumi: Omg… she’s just a baby…

Kim: (Vriska)’s sprites look so little compared to adult Vriska’s sprites now LOL. 😭 I already talked about it in the previous commentary, but (Vriska)’s sprites here (or the instances where she’s supposed to be 13-years-old in this entire novel) are supposed to be in reference to her Alterniabound sprite!

Alterniabound Vriska Sprites from Homestuck

Kim: Blast from the past… I think you can better see the comparison here versus how she looked in her younger sprite from chapter five.

Funny enough, I thought I would share it here as a bonus– there’s a version of (Vriska) that’s just an edit of her earlier 16-year-old sprite due to an internal miscommunication.

Scrapped (Vriska) Sprite by Kim Quach

Kim: But since we were already referencing her younger Alterniabound sprite in the Doc Scratch chapter, we figured it would be consistent to keep those proportions for (Vriska) here too. Which, I think is a smart move to really sell the point home that Vriska has just been too harsh on her younger self… You’re an adult now and you have to forgive the kid within you.

Also, complete sidebar, but has anybody ever mentioned how insane (Vriska)’s hair is. She’s got like three different hair styles in one. I didn’t realize how incomprehensible it was until I had to draw it here LMFAO.

Chumi: And that’s all from us folks! Again, thanks for sticking with us as we did a pretty experimental set of updates. We’re pretty proud of the work we’ve done, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we had fun making it. See you in the next commentary! 

Kim: Wait wait but I need to know what happens next, noooooooo—-------- (Kim is eviscerated on the spot)

HS: BC (Bonus Comics) 22

#22 Written and Drawn by Annie "Chumi" Lee

HS: BC (Bonus Comics) 21

#21 Written and Drawn by Annie "Chumi" Lee

🦀🦀KARKAT PLUSH IS NOW LIVE ON MAKESHIP🦀🦀

The pre-order campaign will be open for three weeks and is estimated to ship out around January, so nab him while you still can!

https://www.makeship.com/products/karkat-vantas-plushie

06-2024 Writer Commentary

JAMES, Director: Hello and welcome to the writer’s commentary for this month. What month is it. Time is meaningless. I am in a HS:BC meeting right now and Floral’s mic keeps cutting out and it's always at the most important part of the sentence. “I think it's really important how Roxy-.............................. and I think Rose didn’t-................... She really took- ...................... Jane- .............................. at that point.”

FLORAL, censored: I knoooooow it’s so bad ToT. Everyday is a struggle for me.

MILES, Elden Lord: I’m popping into this commentary almost an entire week after the aforementioned meeting... maybe time IS meaningless.  What’s not meaningless is this month’s updates.  Let’s get into them, shall we?

MILES: Imagine you’re deep into a gaming sesh, tummy rumbling, victim of a blockade because of a war you have and want nothing to do with, and your breastest bro has finally promised you some sweet, sweet relief in the form of much needed gamer fuel.  Imagine the joy in your heart as you hear him knocking at your door.  Now imagine how that joy would curdle as you found yourself face to face not with a handsome DILF, fast food in hand, but some guy who can’t take a hint and a psycho you haven’t seen since you were 16, who is still 16, and they’re both dressed for the renaissance fair.

All that is to say that I think Sollux’s reaction is pretty warranted here.

JAMES: One thing we all agree upon is that Sollux just needs to keep being there. He’s just trying to live a normal life and everyone keeps bothering him. Sollux is passing time until one of the many baddies in his life comes by and enriches him in some way. One question I get about Sollux all the time is “how old is he?”

That's a great question. I don’t know. I don’t think he knows either.

MILES: I liked this bit a lot.  There’s been a lot of logistical fuckery both behind the scenes in the “writer’s room” (we do not have a room, give us more money and one day we could maybe afford a room) and in-universe around like... where everyone actually Is, where they’re Moving, what they’re Doing, so it seemed only right to have some of the characters fall victim to that confusion.  There are some stories where everyone seems to magically know what everyone else is doing at all times, and it felt nice to contrast that by allowing John and Roxy to share a moment of guilt over the Classic Homestuck Guardian Gaffe of letting your kids get into extremely dangerous situations without any supervision.

JAMES:  Well like all good children they’re supposed to be stuck at home.

MILES: And here we finally are.

There’s been so, so much buildup to this fucking thing, so we wanted its introduction to be suitably grand, busting out of its burlap sack and the very confines of the page itself as if to say “I AM FUCKING IMPORTANT”.  And be assured, dear reader: even though The Plot Point itself is just the little dot in the middle, it is.

It’s also really, really fucking cool.  Kim was the main architect of the stabilization-machine’s design, and he did a fantastic job putting together what Callie pretty succinctly describes as a masterpiece of “cherubic-lalondian tech”.  As they later mention, much of the design of this device in-universe was compelled by strange, inexplicable premonitions that they shared with Roxy, neither of them fully aware of its purpose.  It must have been quite the dev-cycle, but unfortunately we probably aren’t going to hear too much more about it.

MILES: Thus begins Callie’s infodump.  Vriska, for her part, goes from that oh-too-relatable feeling of sweet, sweet vindication to the creeping realization that for all Callie’s expositing, neither they nor anyone else actually knows why they even brought Vriska here in the first place.

On the writing end, it was kind of funny trying to jam in as much dialogue as I possibly could about things we basically already know for the setup to that reveal.  Obviously Callie is just doing their job in trying to get Vriska up to speed, but I think we’ve all sort of had that sort of grating experience where someone starts lecturing you and it becomes clear to you that they don’t actually know what they’re talking about.  Even I got sick of it; I was originally going to try and write DOUBLE the amount that actually appears in this section, but I decided to edit it way down because nobody in-universe or out of it actually wants to hear all that shit.

We don’t need a talker.  We need a DO-ER.

MILES: THE [S] PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God it felt good to get this out.  We may have mentioned this somewhere, but originally, this was just going to be a series of (still very cool) gifs.  But when we saw it all together, we thought “fuck it, let’s go for broke”.  We wanted to measure our abilities, as it were, and Kim blew this shit out of the water yet again.

I could say so much more, but everyone probably wants me to shut up.  So I will.  I will shut up, for one topic, and then I will immediately start talking again.  Other writers, take it away!

JAMES: No you basically said it all there. The track uses a handful of other hyper-relevant themes. I want to say it was on purpose. I talked about some of the choices in other places, but for these short little cutscene style [S] pages I thought it would be cool to do some sound effects. Homestuck doesn’t have many. This was an issue that came up during hiveswap production all those years ago. We tried to do it homestuck style and for short ones like this it kind of just doesn’t work. Maybe we can find a balance.

Also nobody ever tells you how inconvenient it is to type brackets all the time I’m going back to calling them flashes.

MILES: I told you I’d be back.  Anyway, here we get back into the fact that nobody knows what’s supposed to be happening here.  This is sort of an artifact of taking over the writing of this project from another team (although we did have access to the original outline), but I think it made a lot of sense to us that a character tucked away in the Candy timeline (even guided by mysterious visions and borrowed intuitions [borrowed from whom, I wonder...?]) wouldn’t necessarily be able to wrap their head around the pure, potent purpose of The Plot Point wow that’s a lot of P.  I’m P-ing all over the place.

MILES: This last bit with Sollux was fun.  

Also I have a confession to make, which is that for a very long time (I’m talking over a decade) I wasn’t really all that big a fan of Sollux.  Didn’t get the hype.  Over the past year, though, I’ve had a chance to actually write him out a lot more, and the love has burgeoned within me like a beautiful flower, watered rather infrequently by Mountain Dew: Baja Blast and fertilized with ground up crunchwraps.  I think the idea of this dude who is sort of marooned in time and space shrugging and accepting that his lot in life is to hang around and play video games while his girlfriend travels through the multiverse, ignoring all the stressful shit outside, is just very funny.  He lives a life that is in a lot of ways pretty normal compared to all the drama going on around him, and being able to ground the rest of the cast with arguments about snack rights and whether it’s xenophobic or reverse-xenophobic for an Alternian troll to make fly-by-night assumptions about humans using chips for sex rituals is a lovely role in the ecosystem of this story.  It’s not all he’s destined for, but it’s been enough for me to come around on the guy.  I hope he gets his delivery, someday...

JAMES: I think that happens with every character. Maybe if I did what every teenager asked and put Latula in I’d fall in love with her character. Could this finally be such-and-such’s time to shine? So-and-so’s big chance? Almost assuredly no.

MILES: Ah fuck, we forgot to write it!  Ahhhhh.  Oh man.  Shit.  I guess we’ll never know.

MILES: Oh sweet, nevermind!  Looks like Al is gonna show us!  Everybody say “Thank you, Al!”  Say it.  Say it out loud, right now.  I’ll know if you didn’t, and so will she.

JAMES: thank you, Al

MILES: She doesn’t seem all that happy about it, though... I wonder why?

JAMES: with these last few updates I feel like I have less to say in general. I just want to let them simmer, you know? A lot has been cooking and it is finally time to just sit down and eat.

September Patron Exclusive Illustration

Illustration by Hone

Next Episode

Track for upcoming update. We were going to re-use a track from a previous session, but I thought that seemed lazy so i repurposed something older. Made the base of this track about 2 years ago for a friends birthday, then extended and added familiar melodic themes. Also added a little surprise at the end for longtime listeners of my tracks.

Do you recognize some of the other themes in there? Gosh, wonder what it could mean!

August Patron Exclusive Illustration

Apologies for the delay!

Illustration by Haven

08-2024 Writer Commentary

JAMES, Director: Welcome to the writer’s commentary. Hell of a couple of sessions today, lads. Mother issues? Meeting your Idols? Confronting abuse? Lotta themes. Much to fathom.

FLORAL, Kelly Voice: “Lets Party”: Boy, do I LOVE themes. 

JAMES: Big themes fan over here. I’ll let Floral take it away from here.

FLORAL: While the Tavros/Aradia update was very clear in my mind, this update was incredibly hard because this is an aspect of Vriscourse that is very very blatant. It was explored in HS1, in Pesterquest, in every possible fanwork; so making this subject feel fresh felt a bit impossible. 

But also it had to be Mindfang. She was the root of so many issues Vriska had with her friends, the foundation of her protective layer and persona. And it also had to be Spidermom, because she’s why Vriska depended so much on Mindfang in the first place. Still, it was a challenge! I had the Nannasprite part of the conversation wrote ages before Momfangs because of it. But I am happy with the whole, especially how it interacts as a bridge between the first chapter and third. Let's get into it!

VRISKA: [Smiling] We kind of 8onded over how, despite our cultural differences, we shared this same experience of connecting to our predecessors through their writings. 

VRISKA: I’m glad he finally got to meet you. I hope he appreci8ed every minute of it!

NANNASPRITE: [Giggle] Oh ho, I’d like to think so! 

NANNASPRITE: [Neutral] I miss that boy. He could be a bit of a pill at times but we had some lovely chats. Always sung his heart out during our little “jam seshs,” too.

FLORAL: I was so so so happy to write Nannasprite. I LOVE Nannasprite. She was such a small part of the original HS run but she made such an impact on me, especially her conversation with FedoraFreak. A lot like Mindfang, Nannasprite is a story teller and like Vriska, she was an abused kid. So to be able to utilize her as a positive influence, all while tying back this update to Vriska and John’s previous conversation AND Candy Jane. It was soooo juicy.

It also meant I got to reread Nannasprite’s pesterlogs again!!

[PAGE 7805]

NANNASPRITE: But in a way, it's been a lonely life for me since my ashes fell in this silly old sprite.

NANNASPRITE: I've been strictly an auxiliary actor, there only to serve others even during my greatest moments to shine!

NANNASPRITE: So when I heard of you, a version of myself who was a true hero, so young, empowered, and set to embark upon a life filled with consequential deeds...

NANNASPRITE: I was absolutely giddy. I knew that we had to meet!

FLORAL: I’ve always loved this excerpt from the original Homestuck, because it puts into perfect words what I feel like is a common thread for Jane’s. This struggle of being in service to others and this lack of agency.

[PAGE 3956]

pipefan413: In following years, she was left to ponder all that might have been.

pipefan413: What might have been if there had been no baroness to keep the girl and boy apart?

pipefan413: What might have been if the baroness had not disappeared, and she had the opportunity to use her secrets against her!

FLORAL: The fedorafreak conversation is particularly such a moody and awesome part of Act 5 Act 2’s build up.

[HSBC]

NANNASPRITE: [Serious] The past is always going to be the past.

FLORAL: I went into this conversation pretty set on the vibe of Nannasprite, how Candy Jane AND Vriska would move her perspective along from what we saw in OG Homestuck. If the last chapter was about boundaries and motivation, this chapter is about choice and acceptance. 

NANNASPRITE: [Neutral] Seeing that choice isn’t innate to every iteration of Jane Crocker has assured me that I did indeed fulfill a path of potential to its fullest degree. I’m grateful to her for that... marginally.

FLORAL: I love Nannasprite, I love that she is a Jane that really understands love outside of commodity and appreciates it as a privilege, happy to give it away.

[MOMfang-back]

The spider did not pause to find an answer; she already had one.

[MOMfang-back]

“HUNGRY. KILL. EAT. SHIT. DEATH.”

VRISKA: [Neutral] So same as usual! Awesome. Glad to hear it.

FLORAL: So going into this part update, I did know some points I wanted to make-

• Spidermom’s abuse needed to be specific to her part as mostly animal, sorta caregiver vs a very general, overly anthropomorphized idea of an abusive parent

• Vrissy needed to be mentioned

• Vriska could not kill her Mom to complete the level

Why the last one is because everything both Mindfang and Spidermom represent is the violence of Alternia. Killing Spidermom is just winning the game that’s already been set and appeasing past hurts instead of setting a course beyond that. Vriska is so defined by fear, it takes a lot to turn for her to turn her back on an enemy. To accept their existence and choose herself over that fear.

Daily we made 8ets with death, and whichever faulty panlo8es occasionally sparked empathetic were rightly silenced, that we might revel in our winnings undistur8ed. We have always taken what we wanted.

[MOMang-thinking-annoyed]

She taught her descendant so much, and in such lurid detail. 

VRISKA: [Angry] It was 80% smut!!!!!!!!

VRISKA:[Angry] Fine, fuck! 

VRISKA:[Angry] JUST LET M8 GET 8UT FROM UNDER Y8U, THEN! L8T ME 8E MY OWN F8CKING PERSON, F8R ONCE!!!!!!!!

FLORAL: Another thing I subtly wanted to remind people too is not only the majority of Mindfang’s known writing is sexual but it is explicitly a dubcon fetish fic with the Dolorosa. Which, of course, she’s a fucking pirate! That’s what they do. They take. 

Considering where the Scratch update was going (since we wrote these all concurrently), I didn’t want to overly focus on this aspect, just make it present. This was the pre-grooming grooming, the subtle undercurrent that normalizes this violence, so when a creepy dude starts messaging you and domineering over you, your first instinct isn’t to run but prove you can handle it. 

Not to mention if this behavior is weird from Scratch, that means it was weird of Mindfang, and that can’t be true. Mindfang is the lifeline. 

[PAGE 3474]

AG: I was nearing the age where I would 8e expected to feed her.

AG: And she was starting to get so 8ig, that she would have to crawl out of the caverns soon, no longer a8le to feast on stray wigglers she caught in her we8.

AG: It was kind of an intense sym8iotic thing, a particularly demanding lusus-troll relationship, and only really strong kids are supposed to 8e a8le to handle it.

AG: So of course I was terrified of the responsi8ility looming!

AG: I really didn't think I would make it. I was sure I'd fail, and my lusus would either get angry and eat me, or she'd just die and then I'd 8e culled.

AG: 8ut then I saw a shooting star one evening.

AG: I tracked down where it landed, and found a chest with my sign on it.

FLORAL: Hey! I wonder who sent that shooting star! It MIGHT not be Scratch…but even if that’s not true, he did know Mindfang personally.

VRISKA: I’ve already tried respecting you for making me the 8est, 8ut you know what I’m realizing?

VRISKA: I didn't have to go through aaaaaaaall of THAT to 8e strong. Vrissy didn’t!

VRISKA: [Angry] Even growing up in a f8ke world where no one has a spine and with 8arely any guidance, her powers can do things mine can’t.

VRISKA: [Angry Smiling] So what silver lining is left, honestly?

FLORAL: Yes Vrissy!!!! I really did give away the whole route with the Nannasprite conversation beforehand, but sometimes I think people need that. To be given a new framework and fit the pieces together with it. Sometimes it’s not the worst thing in the world to see another version of yourself. Of course we don’t have to go that far into it here since Vriska said so much in the epilogues on the topic. 

[MOMfang-thinking-annoyed]

To hear her say “THANK YOU” for the young girl’s service, for her to 8e “SORRY"?

VRISKA: [Angry] What I w8nt is for you to go 8ack in time and pr8tect that fucking kid, like you were supposed to!!!!!!!!

VRISKA: If you did, may8e I’d 8e a8le to relax and let my f8cking guard down for ONCE, instead of const8ntly ruining things and thinking everyone is going to turn around and kill me!

VRISKA: [Neutral] Oh my god.

VRISKA: [Angry] Tavros was right!!!!!!!!

FLORAL: We are bringing back the lessons of yesterday, as if it was a relevant foundation for Vriska’s whole road to recovery.

VRISKA: Y8u’re the reason why I could never trust any8ody!

VRISKA: [Sad] Even h8r!!!!!!!! Especi8lly her.

FLORAL: And this is crux of so many of Vriska’s relationships, the performance, this feeling of being turned against or punished for failing to live up to expectations. 

[PAGE 3467]

AG: For one thing, they would pro8a8ly just 8e pissed off at me for killing Tavros.

AG: And more importantly, there's no waaaaaaaay I could tell them how I really feel a8out it.

EB: well, how do you feel?

AG: Horri8le!!!!!!!!

AG: If any of my friends knew that, they would think I'm weak.

EB: oh…

[PAGE 7944]

GC: 1 KNOW YOU TH1NK 1'M W34K FOR N33D1NG YOU

GC: NOT TH4T YOU'D 3V3R T3LL M3 TH4T

GC: 1T'S N1C3 TH4T YOU C4R3D 3NOUGH N3V3R TO J4B M3 4BOUT 1T

GC: BUT 1 COULD 4LW4YS S3NS3 1T

GC: TH4T YOU KN3W

GC: YOU KN3W 1 D3P3ND3D MOR3 ON YOU TH4N YOU D1D ON M3

GC: 4ND YOU P1TY M3 FOR 1T

GC: 1 M34N, NOT L1K3, M4L1C1OUSLY

GC: YOU PROB4BLY JUST S33 M3 4S 4 B1T TR4G1C

GC: YOU C4N'T H3LP 1T

GC: 4ND 1 DON'T BL4M3 YOU

FLORAL: These were both moments from the comic I consistently thought back to when tackling this section. They project on eachother in such a tragic way, I love them. Nobody wants to be looked down on and Vriska in particular HAS to prove herself. I don’t think all of Vriska’s problems were solved over the 3 year trip, and now she’s someone who doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Maybe she just buried some of these burgeoning 13 year olds revelations in light of some great epic battle, the thing she knows how to do and knows people will respect.

[MOMang-thinking-annoyed]

She is an apex predator. A 8iological, existential threat to all those that cross her path. She thought showing weakness would have solved all her pro8lems? Those irrelevant victims she spent so much time mourning didn’t want her companionship.

[MOMang-thinking-annoyed]

They wanted to make new holes inside of her, to ensure their own survival.

FLORAL: I’ve always appreciated the symbolism of Vriska’s arachnid self and this inner turmoil about her not enjoying being a predator. I don’t think Vriska is so much scared of being the bad guy, but that she can’t live up to her own essentialism, and for that defectiveness to be taken advantage of.

VRISKA: [Stoic] 8ut that’s not true. I’m not a wiggler anymore. Alternia is dead.

VRISKA: [Smile] For once in my life, I have options.

FLORAL: In the end, it really is just that simple. Did your Spidermom regret hurting you? Would Mindfang be proud? Who fucking cares. This is not about them! I feel like people get so caught up trying to contend with their childhoods they allow that inner child take over their life. But the one good thing about being an adult is, you can just walk out.

JAMES: we loling in here?

MILES, joining in: lol

FLORAL: They are saying this cause I saved space in the doc with an “lol”

MILES: But this next bit is no laughing matter at all.  The cue-ball update was a pretty rough one, all told, but as has been made pretty clear already, Vriska’s years-long ordeal in her own personal Silent Hill isn’t all peaches and cream.  It’s short, compared to a lot of these other ones, but it’s decidedly not sweet.

MILES: That said, it was nice to open up with a bit more levity.  The Doc Scratch update occurs directly after the final successful Momfang loop, and as always it helped a lot to have a little Sprite-convo preamble to warm folks up for the inevitable descent into trauma.  Erisolsprite and GCATavrosprite are the stars of this little section, and although nothing of particular note happens here, it’s A: fun to see how they’ve settled into their lives as hostages of Vriska’s self-discovery speedrun and B: a little preamble to some of what’s addressed in Scratch’s single-instance lesson.  I’ll get more into that in a little bit.

Well, well.

Isn’t this a perfectly predictable inevitability?

MILES: As Scratch said, it WAS inevitable that we’d come to him at some point, touring through Vriska’s various traumas as we are.  His smarmy, faux-polite affect is pretty poor consolation for the almost immediate plunge into creepy overfamiliarity, but that’s why we’re here.

MILES: I think what’s important to remember and re-center in any discussion about what happens to Vriska during her many misadventures within The Point is that the phantoms she meets in here are not the Actual People that they represent; they’re constructs, representations of various personal issues she has that she needs to address within herself, or significant themes in her life, or lessons that she needs to learn (at least, The Point seems to think so, insofar as it does think, which maybe it doesn’t; the reason it’s been putting her through all this is still unclear.)

MILES: Scratch’s lesson, pretty appropriately, catches Vriska in a moment of haste and throws her progress pretty brutally back in her face.  It’s hard to succinctly describe what it is exactly that he represents here, especially because he sort of does it himself later on during his chessboard monologue, but a good way to sum it up now before I get into details about it would be like... sort of a rumination on the question and consequences of fate.

MILES: Kind of an elephant in the room regarding this update, which I feel I should now address, is the way it touches on themes of grooming and child abuse in pursuit of its point.  It’s important to note that we weren’t trying to use this update to explicitly say that Yes, Scratch Canonically Sexually Abused Vriska And Other Children, but his coding as a child-predator is overt, originates in the original webcomic, and matters kind of a lot for the points being made here.  In his original conversation with Rose in Act 5 Act 2 (page 3627), he makes a point of denying her accusations of overt pedophilia, but his status as a Groomer, as it were, is undeniable.  In this update, he remarks (quite self-satisfiedly):

I like to think that I’m far and away the most prolific contributor to your baggage.

MILES: He has a pretty solid claim to this not only on a personal level, but on a fundamental geosociopsychopoliticalogical thatsnotawordbutyougetwhatI’mgettingat level.  Scratch, after all, groomed Vriska’s ENTIRE SOCIETY.  The reason Alternia is the way it is at all is almost exclusively due to his sinister influence.  High-stakes forced breeding in pursuit of eugenics, violent classism, galactic hegemony, weird clown culture, being held hostage by the looming threat of complete psionic annihilation; these are all the legacies of Scratch’s meticulous tutelage.  He took a perfectly good race of bug-people and gave them trauma beyond their wildest dreams, crushing their peace of mind and naivete in order to make them better at being awful, and he liked it.

MILES: I got really long-winded about this, but long story short, Scratch being a Capital-G-Groomer plays a huge role in what we were going for in this update.  Scratch basically defined the society that traumatized Vriska and untold billions of other Alternian kids in countless different ways, and to make matters worse, he crawled down from the moon to have a hand in ruining her childhood personally. 

MILES: The chessboard sequence, on top of being a really sort of over-the-top test of how many different effects we could force our poor programmers to code into the engine (thanks team I love you), is also just a pretty nasty way for him to hammer his real point home.  I should get around to doing that myself, honestly, instead of loading you guys up with like a full page of preamble, but I don’t know how to do brevity.  Sorry.

MILES: SO.  The real point.

MILES: Scratch doesn’t just shrink her down physically but he regresses her age, as well, putting her in her 13-year-old body before taking her on a wild ride full of dubiously canon chess moves, splattering through pieces that quite obviously represent her friends.  It’s a sort of crash-course rehash of the worst period of her life, and she pretty justifiably freaks the fuck out at him, culminating with her claim that:

VRISKA: NONE OF THIS MEANS SHIT,

VRISKA: AND I’M NEVER GOING TO 8E CAUGHT UP IN YOUR FUCKING G8MES EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

MILES: His response reaches the crux of the point I’ve so lengthily been trying to get at.

Of course you will.

You think you’re better than me? Better than fate?

Vriska, I am going to put you in situations where you have the potential to do terrible things.

I am going to make things ugly.

I am going to corner you.

I am going to pressure you.

And no matter how much “better” you claim to be, all I have to do is catch you at the wrong moment.

You’re one bad turn from burning all your quaint little progress to the ground.

One lapse away from being mine again.

MILES: What Scratch represents here, summing up everything we’ve gotten into, is like... trauma’s ability to haunt you through your life, to reappear when you think you’re better, the non-linear nature of progress and healing.  Lots of stuff, all of it ugly.  But another point he makes, the point Vriska picks up on even in the midst of getting whipped around, exploded, and splattered with blood, is that the consequences of relapse aren’t inevitable, they aren’t necessarily inherent to her nature.  He didn’t own her.

MILES: Vriska always had a choice, and this serves as both a condemnation of her past mistakes but also a confirmation of the fact that she has it in her to transcend them and act as a force for good in the world.  Scratch has left an awful shadow on Vriska, and on every Alternian, but despite him doing his best to fuck them up crazystyle, we know that they still have a fundamental capacity to do and be good.  Vriska herself has that capacity, as Scratch himself points out; the trick is to be aware of the nasty pitfalls that life (Light, Fortune, Fate, Causality etc.) will throw at her.

MILES: Will Vriska be a player, or a piece, going forward?  Like Scratch, I look forward to finding out.

JAMES: Wanted to let Miles breathe with this one, I remember reading the first draft and really feeling that discomfort. This is a particularly tough topic for me, but I think if we’re going to make Vriska go through all this therapy this is the sort of thing that needs to be addressed. Having gone through therapy myself, sometimes confronting your trauma is worse before it gets better.

Something we’ve talked about in the writer’s room is that Homestuck originally sort of presents these ideas as like “Funny Jokes” but then the moment you look at them even a little bit closely it's kind of awful what these kids went through. So we sort of want to address some of that, without feeling like we’re punishing the characters or the audience for laughing at the joke originally. 

JAMES: Anyway, hey thanks for coming to the commentary. Go home!

IT'S OVER.

08-2024 Artist Commentary

Chumi, hi :) : Welcome welcome to the Artist Commentary!! This month, we’ve got two more parts to the Vriska saga to talk about. Let’s hop to it!

Kim, heyyy (: : Two pretty heavy chapters at that! The writers for these chapters had a very clear vision for how these would play out and I did my best helping direct the art and amp up the feelings they wanted to convey through them. Big shoutout to our programmers for patiently working with us as there were a lot of special programming effects involved.

James, Director: Yes it was crazy this time. 

Kim: One of the first things y’all have probably noticed for this chapter is that Vriska is notably AGING!!! The team really wanted to emphasize how Vriska is literally changing during her time here. She isn’t here in limbo, then stepping out back at square one like nothing had happened and it’d all have just been a dream– the events in here are affecting her. They’re real to her.

The first glimpse we see of Vriska’s now adult talksprite she should be about 20 years (~9 sweeps) old now!

Chumi: ALL GROWN UPPPPP… I love her…

Kim: She’s a lot less toony proportioned now! I considered how adult trolls were depicted within Homestuck itself (think like Condy, the Handmaid, etc.), and they’re notably always drawn more realistically proportioned; compare to the kids that are always stylistically exaggerated. In a meta way, it’s like she’s even maturing shifting genres from a kid-like cartoon style to something more appropriately Young Adult genre LOL.

Andi: Big Vriska! All grown up :D

Kim: Here you can compare the sketch to her 16 year old talksprite. She’s noticeably taller and sharper with bigger horns! I especially wanted to convey that she was mature even in face compared to her younger sprite too. No more babyface Vriska!

Kim: The sketches I make for the talksprites are so much taller than they need to be because it helps me pose them more naturally, but half of it gets cut off anyway LOL. Thought I’d throw them here as an interesting bonus.

Haven: It’s a spider! It’s a pirate! It’s Moooooooomfang! 

Chumi: Hell yes… Her sprites are awesome…

Haven: First sketch I did for them. I wanted this thing where the face switches when she waves her hand past her face.

Haven: When the sprites were being finalized I lamented how small they had to be shrunk down to work in the VN.

Haven: Ideas I had for the transition from Mindfang to Spidermom, since my first pitch for the whole vibe of the interior of The Point was “it’s like some silent hill type shit” I wanted to delve into some body horror from the start, luckily Floral picked up what I was putting down with this. I had a blast drawing all these.

Kim: It’s funny; when we were preparing our asset list to dole out assignments and I saw that Mindfang and Spidermom were gonna be this fucked up amalgamation of Vriska’s mother figures– I just knew Haven’s striking art style would be the perfect for the job. And, as always, he knocked it out of the PARK!!! Exceeded beyond my expectations!!!

Haven: Initially I had a whole thing i wanted to animate with the hair transforming into the spider until I remembered I don't know how to animate things

Haven: Here’s what I had before I realized my horrible mistake.

Kim: I see the vision… I wanted to volunteer to help animate it, but unfortunately I already had a lot on my plate at the time. What could have been…

Chumi: Alas!! What could have been! It’s okay, what we have now looks sick.

Haven: These are two of my favorites, this route originally only called for like 3 sprites but as I read the script I got more and more ideas

Kim: I also wanted to point out what I particularly love about the design choices for these sprites is that Mindfang (or the part that appears as her) still appears as this ambiguous silhouetted figure. She appears to Vriska how she remembers her… No eyes, no defined person, just this awe yet ominous concept that lived in Vriska’s head. Spidermom, though? Vriska knows and remembers her all too clearly; the brightest and most defined part of the sprite.

Haven: I wanted the background here to be kind of surreal/storybook looking, a reminder that we’re in a place between belief and memory.

Kim: And with the closure of the Momfang chapter, this brings us to… MORE SPRITES OF… SPRITES!!! What’s such a treat about this visual novel is the opportunity to give talksprites to characters that never got them before, or unique new takes on talksprites of old beloved characters.

Kim: This guy is so neon he is flashbanging my eyes lookin’ at him LMFAO. Jokes aside, If you’ve known me for long enough, you probably know that I’m a big fan of the beta fishes. I’m scoopin’ up every opportunity I can get to tangentially draw them, even if it is just half of them… Half of Sollux too, but he’s chilling in the Candy timeline– one’s not as rarely seen as the other!!

Chumi: Reading this guy’s writing quirk is a nightmare…

Floral:: I was in charge of Scratch’s Parlor, and Oh My Lord, this beat my ass. Photobashing is such hard work honestly because it’s so easy to get lost trying to find the perfect pieces that you forget the whole point is to manipulate! This absolutely was the longest I took on a background.

Kim: This honestly looks so seamless, I didn’t even realize how much of this was separate pieces LOL.

Floral: I was also in charge of Doc Scratch’s sprite, which was its own challenge too. He is not a guy that looks good face-on at all! It took time staring at his original sprites, but finally this sort of upper angle worked perfectly. It captured the most important thing, his perfect posture!

CG by Annie “Chumi” Lee

Chumi: I got to work on the CG of big ol’ Doc Scratch! Miles requested that his head be stark white with no shading, and for it to loom over Vriska on the chessboard, like a big gaping hole in the picture. I think this gets the job done quite well HEHE.Here are some drafts!

Chumi: The very first draft, made by Floral and titled bigbaldasshead4chumi.psd.

Chumi: There was a moment where we considered using real-life hands for a scary Master Hand look. I almost started taking pics of my own hands in gloves LMAO. After a few more tweaks, we eventually landed on what’s featured in the game, including the hands folding Gendo Ikari-style. I really love how it looks, but when experienced together with the text, music, and sprites… Cannot be beat.

Kim: I DO love the uncanniness of the photobash style though. It vaguely reminds me of Hylics. Maybe in the future we can do something fun with that! In spirit of Homestuck’s nature, I wanna find more places where we can get experimental with it, heheh.

Chumi: Some folks might have noticed the variation in chess pieces. I wanted to have fancier pieces for the important people in Vriska’s life, so they got to have their lusii featured on the board! And also some generic pieces as well! Not everyone can leave a deep impression, too bad!

Kim: This chapter overall is pretty gruesome, but not for no reason. It was relayed to the art team that in order for this chapter to really sell the point home, the visuals were going to have to be as tough to look at as Vriska felt during this moment.

Kim: The sprites here visually had to represent Vriska at her lowest point, when she was 13-years-old going through all this bullshit. I tried to proportionately replicate her Alterniabound sprites to really flashback all of us to a time when she was younger, especially making it clear to the viewers these are distinctly different from her current adult sprites.

Vriska has kind of narratively represented that she has always been stuck in limbo of the past, but going forth from here– hopefully it doesn’t have to be like that anymore. She’s moving forward and she’s finally growing up, inwardly. Metaphorically and literally! Though, not just Vriska, but Homestuck as a whole too. And I’m glad you guys can be here to join us watching everyone grow up too. :’-]

Poll for December Illustration

Pick a prompt to be the theme for the next Patreon exclusive illustration for December! This illustration will be done by Esfi! Vote on which one you'd like to see!

HS: BC (Bonus Comics) 20

#20 Written and Drawn by Annie "Chumi" Lee

Another Track Preview (who could it be?)

Last time nobody guessed correctly... but THIS time I think its a little on the nose. Here is one of three tracks from the upcoming upd8.

HS: BC (Bonus Comics) 19

#19 Written and Drawn by floralmarsupial

07-2024 Artist Commentary

Kim, is running out of bits: IT IS TIME… THE HOMESTUCK VISUAL NOVEL!!!

James, Director: The first one ever.

Andi, the cursed warrior: It’s crazy how we have never made one before.

Haven, VN enjoyer: I, personally, enjoyed this so much.

Chumi, sad that summer vacation is almost over: Hi everyone, thanks for tuning in! So, we got a whole month of Vriska! We got a lil bit of Tavros, lil’ bit of Aradia as well! Some Davepeta sprinkled in there, how exciting! Thank you for your support as we did something a bit new this time. 🙇 It’s great to see that so many people loved what we cooked up, the team is over the moon!! Anyway, let’s talk about it!

Kim: The sprites for this section were delegated to different artists amongst the art team! Before we get into the actual sprite art of it though, we first all had to decide on a general style direction for the sprites to follow. As the Art Director and, of course, the artist of the sprites that’ll be recurring the most throughout the novel (Vriska’s!) I did several passes on how these sprites could have possibly looked like.

Kim: The style took several different turns until we arrived at the one closer you see in the game itself! We wanted something that felt evolved but reminiscent of the previous Homestuck talksprites. Something not too anime cutesy, but still felt familiar to the comic’s style–something balanced between Guardian mode yet that classic Homestuck cartooniness. Looking at the final sprites, you can tell we were all really drawn to Homestuck’s classic bug-eyed-ness too LOL. Another particular stylistic detail that I’m particularly fond of is that pixel “scratchiness” and ink-like feel of the pen tool, keeping the sprites a little “sketchy” and not too tight.

Kim: As you can see from the prior sketches we opted for a more neutral and universal pose so that we could economically make other expression variants! I initially was thinking of referencing her old Alterniabound sprite, but Vriska being thrown into this hell hole is a bit more miffed than she is her usual sassier self.

There was also an alt expression of her smiling in her god tier outfit too, but I suppose it didn’t make it into the final cut! You guys can have it here as a bonus LOL.

Kim: Enjoy these other unique poses!

Floral, doesn’t usually go here: This was the first update I was able to do some real art on (outside of my silly little thumbnails) and I decided to take on Tavros for the talksprites.

Floral: Going into it, I wanted his talksprite to capture a small part of the Alterniabound sprite charm while falling in line with our style sensibilities. I put some brain power into it, and the baby head with far apart eyes ended up being key to the whole thing.

Andi: AHHHH these Tavros’ WERE SOOOO ADORABLE. They completely captured his vibes.I think Floral absolutely nailed the alterniabound essence. Thank you for bringing him back to us…

Chumi: TAVROS IS SO CUTE I am obsessed.

Haven: So perfect lovely baby boy.

Chumi: I did a few of the featured CG’s, mainly the Tavros vs. Vriska ones. They were all quite easy to do since they were essentially redraws of already existing assets. A few edits and voila!! Throw ‘em into the game guys!!

James: Chumi is like an expert at panel edits at this point. I keep asking her to do them.

Chumi: Of course, these are references to the Eridan vs Kanaya fight. When drawing Tavros, I was looking up a lot of javelin-throwing pictures and thinking “Man this kid must be strong as hell to throw a lance one-handed” LMAO. 

Kim: Tavros is actually the strongest beta troll right behind Equius (this is a lie).

Andi: This scene really hits right for me and feels totally like Vriska to do this. I think Chumi did amazing capturing the simplicity of the nostalgic part of the style and also Tavro’s lancing pose. It’s got a nice line of action!

Floral: The shapes Chumi uses in this silhouette are so chef kiss!! I just love how they read right after the other, the motion is so clear.

Chumi: This CG is an edit of Vriska dying on LOMAP before going God Tier. Her expression was changed so she’s smiling because this “skewering-before-falling-off-a-cliff’ was her plan all along! Too bad it didn't work out as she hoped. 

James: I didn’t ask you to make her smile, you did that on your own and it worked out great.

Kim: The smile is actually such a funny and interesting addition to this because at this point of time you can see how self-assured she is about this Whole Deal when she couldn’t be more far off LOL. It’s like Aradiabot said… you’re not here for “redemption,” Vriska, you’re here to grow up!!!

Andi: I think making her smile triumphantly is the right move. When she does things her way, of course it's going to feel right to her. But in this case, she literally made things last ten times longer than it needed to be. She’s going to have to learn her lessons for as long as it takes.

Kim: And this brings us onto part TWO!!!! (Or is this technically Chapter 1 since the first bit is technically the Prologue? Whatever, ANYWAY–)

Year 2 Vriska Concept Art by Kim Quach

Kim: It’s now been two years since Vriska has been tromping around this hell space… We wanted to show she’s kind of gotten a little “comfortable” being stuck around here. Or rather, just kind of given into the fact this wasn’t gonna be an easy in-and-out situation as she thought it was going to be and has probably gotten tired of wearing her god tier garb. She’s got her hair tied up, jacket tied around her waist– yeah, she’s gonna be here a long time.

Kim: And it looks like she’s not all jazzed about that either LMFAO.

I also wanna take a moment to highlight my favorite sprite I did for this chapter– Vriska’s “Mind Control” sprite!

Chumi: The second and third sprites are so expressive and funny… Girl you are stuck in hell!!!!

Kim: I’m a little sad a good chunk of it gets cut off by the edge within the game because I love the motion her ponytail adds to this sprite, but you guys can appreciate it in full here LOL.

Floral: Everything about this design really is so so good and when I saw this sprite for the first time I went full on heart eyes. The way you can feel her trying to laugh it off and struggle with whether or not to use her powers. It all comes through so clearly!

Haven: I got to do the backgrounds for Vriska’s first two stages. I gave them both black outlines to lend a bit of a video game-like feel to them.

Kim: I’m such a big fan of these backgrounds too. Haven has such a good grasp of volume and the 3D form, I can literally imagine turning these maps around in my mind. I’d honestly be convinced if these WERE video game backgrounds.

Floral: I’m always impressed by Haven’s work and these backgrounds are so awesome, there’s a real coherency to them if that makes sense? Everything works in harmony from the colors to the forms and I love looking at them!

Haven: I also got to do Aradiabot sprites! Here’s my initial sketches

Haven: And the final sprites themselves. 

Kim: The bit of pixel dithering on the metal was such a nice touch for these sprites too (chef’s kiss) MAGNIFICO.

Floral: Actually gasped when I saw these for the first time like SHEEEESH so good.

Andi: This drawing was especially sentimental for me to draw. Make Her Pay feels so sooooo far away, yet Vriska finds herself in this position again, with her fated frenemy. This holds the essence of when Aradiabot socked her in the face, but instead of violence, she holds out her hand to escort Vriska to the next phase. 

Floral: Amazing!

Andi: Funnily enough, this staging actually wasn’t intentional when I first drew it in the sketch phase. It was a coincidence that it was so reminiscent of this scene. But still, I think sometimes we artists have a visual library we can pull from and I think I was subconsciously remembering this as I was drawing it. I fully leaned into it once the drawing was almost finished. I think it’s a very poetic visual. These are Vriska’s core memories and I think reliving them the way she has to is very important.

Kim: I’m honestly so glad you leaned into the visual callback of it… Taking this moment that was once (of many) a brutal moment of Vriska’s life, but this time it is now a moment of kindness… an extending open hand instead of a tightened fist. IT’S POETIC!! IT’S BEAUTIFUL!!!

Floral: Enter the questcoon! I was trying to not be too precious with this background since I could the structure of it would drive me fucking crazy if I did. So instead I picked a picture of a domed amphitheater and layered rock textures on top of each other over and over again to get something that felt naturally chaotic.

Chumi: Gettin’ a lil’ emotion just looking at these CGs again. It’s a really tender moment.

Andi: Floral coordinated this scene for this in text and I followed through with this. This also re-uses some parts of previous old HS1 panels. I wanted to emphasize the weight of this scene and how extremely sentimental and emotional this situation is for her by having Tavros and Aradia lie her down gently on the slab that was probably the most physically traumatic place to bleed to death in the past. A bit of grace while Vriska truly understands her actions. Just a phenomenal moving scene, written by Floral.

Kim: I love the gentleness of this scene… Every time I look at these CGs and especially seeing it all together in the game itself makes me tear up every time. This is such a subtle acting detail but the way Aradia even gently helps Vriska lay her head down… something as small as Aradia not wanting Vriska to hurt her head on the rock flooring because she CARES!!! AUGH!!!!

Floral: Andi once again absolutely delivered with these CGs and completely sold the scene from the gentle warmth coming off the rocks and all the facial expressions and EVERYTHING.

Floral: And to kick off the end of chapter 2, we are bringing back echeladders YAHOOO!! I was in charge of the UI assets and surprisingly this one took the longest. There’s something about these pages that capture a certain vibe and I was really hoping to make people feel nostalgic for it.

We created a “Hell Tier Puns” document between everyone to try and accumulate enough titles, “Dante Basco’s Inferno” in particular getting a good giggle out of me. “8oundary Respecter” of course was the perfect tier to end for this section. 

Kim: We even made a new little sprite for Year 2 Vriska just for the echeladder LOL.

Floral: What other titles can we expect to come? What is going on with this candle? How many of these damn things are we gonna see???

Andi: And now….. DAVEPETA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chumi: Davepeta… We are winning!!!

Andi: I remember when we were beginning assignments for the sprites, I immediately volunteered to do Davepeta. They’re one of my favorite sprites and I was very grateful they let me. 

Floral: Makes me go uuuwaaaaaaa at the roleplaying and cutesy ones in particular.

Kim: We couldn’t have asked a better person to do the Davepeta sprites… literally SO cute. Big fan of the >3< sprite. Nya nya… Maybe Homestuck can afford to be a little moe.

Andi: It was really fun to try to capture their mannerisms as stoicism isn’t the only defining trait here anymore! (Considering most people see Davepeta as Davesprite with a sprinkle of Nepeta.) But no! Nepeta is just as much in the front as Davesprite is! I wanted to show more of Nepetas' quirks here, her cute expressions and charms. Especially her role playing habits seeping through unapologetically. 

Also, man, I was worried about how Davepetas wings would manage to fit in the scene but I think it's okay if they're a little obscured. Most people went ahead and ripped them and saw it all anyway. Thanks for enjoying the sprites guys! It did make me happy to see our hard work paid off!! You may see a few new unique sprites or two coming soon. Look out for it :3