Author: optimisticduelist

You know with all the jaderose and jaderosekan I’m seeing lately im just wondering when we’ll get to see Jade teaching rose and Kanaya how to fire a gun. The thought of Rose firing a gun seems like a concept you could do a lot with

inkskinned:

i hate like Starting Discourse but like … as somebody who has seen kind of a lot of messed up posts this pride, i want to point out that inter-community violence and exclusionism is … frankly inherently anti-pride. just… listen for a bit and if you don’t agree, that’s fine. but listen.

there’s a reason people say “no homo.” even though we hear all the time about how we’re *special snowflakes who get special attention*, people know that this isn’t a safe community to be in. i mean belonging to it – identifying openly – is a scary thing, one that paints a target on your back. so when someone voluntarily says “this is where i belong”, what the heck am i saying when i say, “no, you don’t.” they don’t get special buttons, they don’t get hugs and kisses. people who come out get kicked out of houses, abused by parents. we know that, but we lose sight of it for some reason. i was kicked out of my school’s lgbt+ group by some of the students because i was “not gay enough”. i believed it. i couldn’t say “i’m bi” for another four years after it. i said i was straight but like, playing. i said i was straight and i went home to catholic parents and i said i was straight and i went to prom alone because the girl i loved was out of state and i said i was straight until i was nineteen and drunk and whispering “i like her” to myself in a completely dark room. i still sometimes wonder – do i belong at pride? because of how much people seem to think we don’t.

and i might be alone in this but it makes me sad when people say “oh such and such an identity is taking up our space!!” there’s not a limited amount of space. that idea is something that the straight world wants us to believe, that we can only fit into this tiny little corner and that’s it. but the more of us there are, the more space we take up, the more force we have. so of course the outside community wants us to silence those who “aren’t gay enough,” because if you have only those who qualify shouting, you’re not going to have nearly enough voices. but if all of us – and i mean every person you call “fake bi”, every person who “just went through a phase” – whatever – if all of us are shouting, how much louder would that voice be? if we didn’t kick out every teenager who said “i’m just experimenting,” if we included every mom who “had a fling in college,” if we…. were together…..

those who oppose us want us to fight. divided, we are a mess, as every revolution is. they want our pride to be spent biting at each other instead of turning around and fighting. stonewall wasn’t where we fought each other. stonewall was when it finally stopped mattering, we were all angry, and hurt, and willing. and that fight? that’s what started us on the path to being free. an entire tide of people, all “enough”, no matter where they fell in lgbt.

i know this: people cannot steal my identity. just in the way that stars cannot steal each other’s beauty. let them in. if you won’t love them, send them to me. but a nation of gates and locks and tests is not a community.

Reading (Vriska) as a Page of Void kinda misses the fact that one of her most important character beats–and one of the most important late beats in the whole story–is an act of Taking Light. pg. 9128 with Meenah has (Vriska) deliberately commenting on Lord English–and implicitly on her own past self, too. Light as Enlightenment/True Information at it’s best.

mmmmalo:

I understand that she’s using Lord English to talk about herself there, but I’m not following how this is particularly characteristic of Vriska? I don’t think she’s the only character who gathers self-knowledge from observing others. Though I guess this scene is the most explicit example that comes to mind…

Oh no, people get self-knowledge in Homestuck in all sorts of ways.
This is just a pretty clear page of insight for Vriska in particular. Vriska gazes at the lightshow of paradox space and describes it as Lord English “putting on a fireworks display” just for the two of them, right before launching into her little spiel.

So witnessing the Light of Lord English’s destruction leads her to taking a nugget of Truth about reality for herself–I’m reading it as an interpretation of Thieves as “One who takes Light, or takes through Light, for the benefit of oneself” basically.

In this case, the Light she’s taking isn’t Luck or Literal Light, but truth/true information. The kind of information Rose spends her session seeking: information that leads to fortune. Ie: Enlightenment. [S] Remem8er has her gaze upon the lightshow again, even more dazzling this time, right as she reunites with Terezi, too.

I don’t think the experience is unique to her or anything, I just think it’s a pretty notable moment in Vriska’s arc that’s too often passed over, and that parses neatly into Classpect terms. Alpha Vriska is never presented as gazing into Light as an idea in quite the same way, implying that it’s (Vriska) who is closer to the path of fortune.

It’s also important in the sense that it tells the audience that Homestuck as a comic seems, at least, to be calling out Alpha Vriska’s behavior as unhealthy and unfulfilling, which I think is important considering how many feel the comic just kind of said “Actually Vriska wins at everything and is the hero”, in a sense? There’s doubt cast onto that reading, is what I’m saying. 

We’re back with another Hiveswap development team interview!

whatpumpkin:

Hey everyone! We hope you enjoyed last week’s surprise. This week we’re talking to John Hatchford, our Director of Production, about being a producer (which I touched on when Cohen interviewed me a few weeks back) and what it’s been like helping to guide the Hiveswap ship toward the finish line.

Introduce yourself to the fans! What is your specific role on the Hiveswap team?

Hi there! I am John Hatchford. I grew up in Michigan but have been in California (specifically Los Angeles) for eight years now, working on creating all kinds of awesome video games! My role on Hiveswap, as the Director of Production, has been to jump right into the deep end and lead the team toward our much-anticipated launch. Please know that we’re working hard to get Hiveswap polished and in your hands as soon as possible!

How did you get your start on the Hiveswap project?

As one of the newer members of the Hiveswap team, I immediately dove into the deep end, discussing with each team member how I could best help push the game toward launch. It’s been a great experience thus far. I’m so excited for the release, and I can’t wait for you all to see what’s around the corner for What Pumpkin Games!

Tell us a little bit about your career background! How did you get your start in production? Do you have any advice for others looking to enter this field?

I’ll try and be brief, but I want to emphasize that there is no single path toward a career in games and anyone can do it with enough effort. I have a psychology degree, and when I moved to LA, I found work as a data analyst for a wireless company before being brought on at Electronic Arts as a business analyst. I then moved on to Square Enix for a brief stint as a senior analyst, followed by a wonderful opportunity working with Disney Interactive as a project manager. (Most of my time in these positions was spent working on mobile titles, but I got to work on games for a variety of other platforms as well.) I then left Disney to create my own indie studio, where I launched a mobile fantasy/puzzle game before joining up with What Pumpkin Games, bringing us to the present!

We’re making a video game, so of course the question must be asked: what’s your favorite game of all time, and what games are you playing currently (if any)?

Some of my favorite games of all time include Mario Kart 64, the Civilization series, the original Diablo, StarCraft II, DotA, Heroes of Newerth, Phantasy Star IV, Counter-Strike, Bloodborne, and Need for Speed Rivals. Currently I’m playing Horizon: Zero Dawn and it’s great!

Are there any games that you currently use or have used as inspiration for your own work here on Hiveswap, or just in general?

A lifetime of games always inspires me to try and add concepts from one genre/platform into another. I love the creative process of making games. At a fundamental level, it’s as basic as performing an action and being rewarded for it. I want to take the RPGs I played in my youth on the Genesis, SNES, and NES and pull in some concepts from them for aspects of future What Pumpkin Games projects!

When you’re not dealing with the challenges of production, what do you do in your spare time to blow off steam?

Well, I play games of course! I also enjoy a good hike with my wife and our two pooches; other times, I’ll have some friends over and we’ll play some music and games. Seeing family is a big stress reliever for me as well. I’m also a big Detroit Lions football fan.

What’s your workstation like? Do you like to listen to any particular kinds of music while you work? If so, tell us about it!

I like this music question! I have a big, blank, wooden flat desk with tons of space so I can keep tasks/papers/everything visible and avoid procrastinating. I’m almost always listening to music. I use it to tell me how I should feel and what type of work I need to do. In the mornings, it’s usually a Mozart-based Pandora station (sometimes Stevie Ray Vaughn, or Latin jazz like Tito Puente). After lunch, I’ll fire up a playlist called “new songs” on Spotify, which is usually a mix of electronic (more chill nowadays than it used to be), pop, country, and disco/Motown. I’m currently a big fan of saxophones. I’ve always got some classic and progressive rock mixed in there, too.

Do you have a personal message you’d like to relay to all the Homestuck and Hiveswap fans out there?

I’m excited to do my part in making the best games we can for you, and I look forward to augmenting the team with my knowledge of AAA game development! I love your hardcore enthusiasm for Hiveswap, and I too share that passion for games. I remember being so stoked for the launch of Diablo II about 17 years ago. I would check for updates every single day on various websites… and remember, the Internet was a very different place in 1999 and it was a lot harder to find info back then! Speaking from personal experience, those long waits for games can be tough, but my patience was usually completely well rewarded in the end. So thank you for your own patience – I respect the time you have waited, and am excited to get you the game you deserve!

Where can people find more of your work? Link us to your own little corner(s) of the Internet!

The mobile fantasy/puzzle game I launched at my own indie studio is called Bloom Kingdom, and although the iOS version is temporarily down, the Android version is available right now! Either way, you can find out more about this pet project of mine at the Bloom Kingdom website if you’re so inclined!

I’ve also had a hand in making a ton of other games you might have played, including DuckTales Remastered, Where’s My Water? and its sequel, Star Wars: Assault Team, Star Wars Commander, two Temple Run games, Words of Wonder, Disney Hidden Worlds, and more!

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We’ll be returning next week with another interview, bringing things back around to the art side of things. In the meantime, thank you as always for your continued patience! See you next week!