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journeysintowebcomics · 7 years

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Homestuck Liveblog #169

UPDATE 169: Dialogue Jamboree

Last time Calliope talked with the doomed version of herself, getting told there’s nothing else for her to do. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean Calliope is going to float in the dream bubbles for all eternity, because she got revived. The fights against the antagonists of this long story is coming closer and closer, so let’s see what else happens.

Thankfully for my own sanity, Jasprosesprite leaves in the very first page of today’s update. Thanks, Hussie. Nevermind, the point of view is still following her. Dammit, Hussie. Since fusing with a cat seems to have completely disabled Rose’s brain-to-mouth filter and any qualms she may have about saying everything that crosses her mind, she immediately babbles, saying there was something she wanted to tell Kanaya. But first.

First she has to give in to cat impulses. How curious, Jade never felt the need of acting like a dog beyond a few circumstances involving chasing cats. Other than that it didn’t seem like she had acquired any other behaviors. That’s why I have to wonder why Jasprosesprite is so different on that regard. Maybe it’s related to Rose or Jasper’s personalities, Bec was a generally calmer animal, from what I remember of him. Either way, all Jasprosesprite did was nuzzle Kanaya and then left. Well that was...a moment.

Jasprosesprite decides this is a good time to bother Dave and Dirk, who are at Dirk’s planet. Got used yet to this version of your brother, Dave? I had hoped to see them crossing a few words, but I guess that’s not possible. It’s a shame, there was a lot of potential for some character development there.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: This is it? The big reunion comes down to this then. A lot of awkward sitting around while we all gaze at my father's pretty pretty legs?

I’m sure it’s your presence here what’s making it awkward. Hussie, is this you making allusions to how you plan the big reunion to be like? Unseen and awkward? It wouldn’t be the first time he does something like that, really.

Honestly I have no comment on the next dozen or so pages, or at least commentary you haven’t heard from me already. Let’s just say I have this growing sense of annoyance directed at a certain character created recently. At least this all comes to a rather useful point: what are they all going to do with the last unused kernelsprite? There are four trolls currently dead, and since Vriska is away and unable to nag at them about using it for resurrection purposes in battle, may as well use it to revive one of the trolls. Of all the options Feferi and Nepeta are the ones I think anyone would prefer, because Sollux being revived again would make him really unhappy, and who’d want Eridan back into the group.

OH GOD DON’T DO THAT EVER AGAIN

Terezi knows what’s going to happen: the cat sprite is going to resurrect the cat troll. That’s not so bad, Nepeta was a likable troll. I wouldn’t mind having her around again. Of course, given that it’s a one-time prototyping, chances are there’ll be a second one in the future. Given that Tavrosprite and Nannasprite are the two sprites left...hm...tell me there isn’t going to be a bizarre mix of Nannasprite and a sprite of Nepeta, please.

There’s not much time to think the implications and potential trouble mixing more sprites together would bring, because the next page brings up a slightly overwhelming possibility.

That’s...a lot of options to choose – or not, because it’ll be done linearly, according to the narration here. Still, looks like there is going to be a lot of dialogue. Have we reached a standstill in the progression of the plot? Because...ten conversations isn’t a small amount. It’s true last time there were many options the conversations within were limited to three or four pages, but there was a lot of dialogue in all of them. It’s a bit of a momentum killer, having to read so many conversations in a row. I wonder how many of the seven hundred or so pages that are left will have to be spent reading this stuff.

The first dialogue is between Dave and Dirk. Looks like the big reunion is actually going to happen! Great! This marks the first time Dave is going to talk with his brother – or a version – and the first time Dirk even sees his brother – or a version. It’s the kind of thing that can be awkward, and since the Striders aren’t the paragon of emotional intelligence this is bound to be even more awkward. Let’s go ahead!

I’m having the impression neither of them knows very well what to say to the other. It may be that their personalities and cool guy behavior clash, not letting each other say what they feel, but they’re trying to connect with each other, for example by mentioning that when they get careless, shenanigans happen. It’s not a topic of conversation that lasts long.

DAVE: soooooo DIRK: So. DAVE: so indeed DIRK: So is pretty much... the thing we're saying. DAVE: ... DAVE: thats uh DAVE: our conjunction of choice it seems DIRK: ... DAVE: (fuck)

Behold! There’s so much they want to say, but not enough emotional strength to say it. I understand how that feels, honestly. Maybe in their case actions could speak louder than words, but then again, what could they do? Neither of them is the type to, hm, give hugs or anything like that.

Dirk seems to have finally gotten a topic of conversation: the plot of this long story. There are fights to come in the future, is Dave prepared to face their enemies? Dave doesn’t sound very confident, instead diverting the conversation to their swords instead of what’ll come. The conversation fizzles.

You know, Hussie is very good at writing dialogue. I can feel very well the awkwardness here, it’s almost palpable, and it makes me hope they’ll manage to connect at some point. That really is Hussie’s strength, most times he manages to make the reader want the best for the characters.

DIRK: So when are we supposed to fight? DAVE: god i hope soon

See? Just that one response from Dave showcases how he’s feeling. The image above adds to it, too. I think it’s for things like this that I like Homestuck, besides the interesting events. Even though my level of interest on Homestuck has decreased considerably since the times of Act 4 or 5, sometimes moments like these still happen.

Sadly, there’s no further dialogue. There’s no reason to despair yet, though, the ninth conversation to be read is with Dave and Dirk again. Maybe in it they’ll manage to talk. For now there’s the large group – John, Rose, Calliope, Roxy, Terezi and Jane.

John wants to know who this new friend is, to which Roxy proudly introduces her. Everyone gushes that Calliope is cute – to which I kinda agree. Terezi isn’t willing to follow the example, as usual.

TEREZI: THOUGH 1F 1'M B31NG HON3ST, YOU SM3LL PR3TTY UGLY FROM WH3R3 1 4M ST4ND1NG JOHN: oh my god. JOHN: you are terrible! TEREZI: PL34S3, JOHN TEREZI: 1 D1D NOT M34N TH4T 1N 4N UNFL4TT3R1NG W4Y

So classy of you, Terezi. Way to go. She truly didn’t mean it in an unflattering way, she honestly thinks having a skull for a head is badass, and that the effect is ruined when people say it’s cute. Well she’s not wrong, but I think Callie would like more to be called cute than anything else.

JOHN: (don't listen to her callie, she's a weirdo.)

Everyone here is a weirdo, you dork.

John’s compliments lead to him saying that Calliope is nothing like her brother and that’s what makes her cute, which directs the conversation to Lord English just for enough time to say that Caliborn is garbage, and ask her what she’s going to do now. She’s not going to get involved in any fights, right? Not even against the Felt, I hope.

JOHN: that's kind of the point of life, right? to take a lot of time floundering around, figuring stuff out. JOHN: the answer will come to you eventually. you should just try to have fun!

That’s a philosophy I like. Figuring out what to do in life isn’t easy, of course there’s going to be a lot of floundering around. I’m sure she’ll do great in whatever future she chooses for herself – supposing everything goes according to plan and they defeat all their foes, that is.

When Jane asks what happened in that winding path in the dream bubble, Calliope says she had encountered an alternate self.

CALLIOPE: she seems tremendoUsly powerfUl. CALLIOPE: she is also... CALLIOPE: qUite frightening. ROXY: frightening???? CALLIOPE: not that i think she is dangeroUs or has ill intent. CALLIOPE: my impression was very mUch to the contrary. CALLIOPE: still, while speaking to her... CALLIOPE: i can't remember ever feeling so nervoUs.

It’s because that doomed Calliope is so different to the Calliope here, or at least that’s what she thinks. I agree that must be it. Triumphing over her brother must have changed her a lot, especially because she had no contact with anyone else. Rose wonders if Calliope reviving means she’s destined to do something important, but hers is the minority opinion. Calliope just wants to sit aside and let things happen, after all, the alternate Calliope is the one with a task to fulfill. Good luck to her.

Next is Vriska – Ghost Vriska – and Meenah. Uh, alright...not the combination I was most interested on, but fine. Ghost Vriska is near horses, saying that she used to consider them an omen of disaster, that always something bad happened when they were nearby, but now she’s fine with horses.

(VRISKA): 8ut we've 8een hanging around them a while now, and everything's 8een fine. (VRISKA): More than fine, actually!

...does this mean something awful is going to happen? Because, knowing Hussie, this peaceful moment is going to shatter in a thousand pieces, especially because the Vriska who is alive is very frustrated with her ghost. I’m almost afraid of what may happen. Oh, and this ghost has the treasure chest with Lord English’s juju, that pretty much guarantees Vriska is going to come here.

Meenah seems a bit distracted. What’s going through her head? Not even when Ghost Vriska tries to come up with a fun plan for the day she reacts further than protest how boring it’d be to explore, because after a long time dead things start looking the same for her. I wonder how much time has passed since last time these two were on-screen? Time doesn’t pass linearly in the dream bubbles. It may have been less than a day in the rest of the place, but here in the dream bubbles it may have been millions of years.

Ghost Vriska tries to get Meenah to talk about her feelings, she doesn’t want to. It’s all fine until that person arrives.

VRISKA: *Cough.*

Please try not to be a major jerk, Vriska, thank you. She demands the treasure and...and that’s it? Well that’s disappointing. I felt this was all building up to something, but in the end it didn’t.

Back to Roxy and Calliope. Calliope isn’t used to talking with others in person, so she’s comfortable with Roxy taking her away to talk about the other Calliope and what her existence meant.

ROXY: you were the force in our lives that gave us hope that we could all get together some day

Well Calliope did give a lot of hints about the game and what’d entail. I wonder how things would have gone if Calliope had been available to give advice and support during the session, back when they were all alone and waiting. Then again...they’d all be dead if Calliope had been available because, you know, it would have been against the alpha timeline’s designs.

ROXY: so whenever something stupid happens like some a-hole gets a bonehead idea to steal a ring and then everyone dies horribly and at the TIME u think ur just gonna curl up and cry yourself into weepy nonexistence ROXY: maybe those arent even "bad" realities? ROXY: maybe they are as important as any

Unfortunately they aren’t, in terms of Homestuck. They may be important in their own lives and stories, but in this one most of those timelines are pretty much unimportant. Heck, even the timelines one would have thought would be more important are turning out not to be! Like for example everyone who died in the Game Over timeline. Their dead selves may be around, but they’re just...over there in the dream bubbles. I don’t think we’ll see them ever again.

I have no clue what the doomed Calliope is going to do, and this conversation isn’t hinting it. Whatever Hussie is planning is being hidden really well so far.

Since Calliope wants to be useful, Roxy wants her support so she can finally make the matriorb – without creating an abomination mixed with a generic cube, hopefully! Could Calliope help Roxy picture better that weird egg? Roxy seems to think that, at least, and Calliope is willing to give it a try. But, true to Hussie’s frustrating style of storytelling, the scene changes to the other side of the lotus platform, to John, Rose, Terezi and Jane. They’re all trying to relax in preparation of the tough fights ahead.

ROSE: I imagine it's a lot easier to relax when another version of yourself hasn't been hijacked by your dead cat.

Somebody is still bitter about it! Haha, well, it’s not like Jasprosesprite is going to be around for long, there’s no time in the story for that.

ROSE: Come to think of it, you're the only one of us who hasn't. I mean, of our original group of friends. ROSE: Dave had Bird Dave, Jade had Dog Jade, and now I have... *shudder*... Cat Rose. ROSE: Why were you let off the hook?

Because John wasn’t close to any kind of animal. The closest thing he had to an animal was his pogo thing on his backyard, and a protagonist that’s half John and half pogo ride isn’t the kind of protagonist most people want.

Nobody understands how Jasprosesprite is something they have to see – sentiment I happen to share? What do you mean I have said that like eleven times already? Nonsense.

ROSE: What's next? Is there a sprite cubed? Or a... ROSE: Let's not even entertain this avenue of thought.

The worst part is that it’s a completely possible scenario. There’s one sprite left to be made, which may or may not be Nepeta. Given Jasper’s fondness for Nepeta, I wouldn’t be surprised if the lack of restraint Jasprosesprite has showed will make her try to nuzzle a first-tier prototype Nepetasprite. I don’t want to think how that’d end like.

Rose is having existential doubts, starting to think that sprite has more rights to be called the real Rose. I object on grounds of that character being nothing like Rose. Now she feels the need to upstage the other Rose, surely by doing something great – like helping defeat the Condesce, perhaps? John is completely supportive of Rose despite seemingly not completely understanding how she feels. Thanks, John, you’re a pal.

JOHN: hey, how do you think kanaya and karkat are doing?

Karkaroni is currently counting woolbeasts, and Kanaya is too busy not understanding what was up with that weird sprite that nuzzled her. Usual Homestuck stuff, you see.

Rose is completely sure those two trolls will be successful at doing whatever Echidna wanted them to do – which is true, they already did. That makes John give his blessing to the Kanaya/Rose pairing, which this time doesn’t involve getting drunk at all. Thank goodness for this being a better timeline in that regard!

Because Terezi jeers the heartfelt conversation, John goes to tell her to stop, to which Terezi acts coy as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. And then...there it comes! The reveal!

TEREZI: <3<

Not a pairing I ever saw coming. Congratulations on your kismesistude, John.

The reason why Terezi is here instead of because she wanted to give enough space to the Striders so they had their own mushy reunion. Would it have gone better if Terezi had been there? No idea. Maybe it would have because at least Terezi would force them to talk. “H3Y, S3COND STR1D3R, D4V3 W4NTS TO H4V3 A WORD W1TH YOU” or something, which’d make Dave try to tone down the situation, and done! Conversation happens! At least it wouldn’t be two stressed kids sitting around not knowing what to say to each other.

That’s the end of the update. Well, alright. Until next time, everyone.

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