betweengenesisfrogs:

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[CHECK THE TAG FOR MORE THOUGHTS]

[Note: This one’s a doozy! Still kind of off-the-cuff, in
that I tried not to stress out about getting everything perfect, but I did do
some revision to make my ideas more clear. That’ll probably be the norm from
here on out. Hope you’re in the mood for a long read and a wild ride!

…Seriously, this shit is like twenty pages in Word.]

In my previous posts, I’ve discussed a number of ideas
present in Act 6 and Act 7 Homestuck that I think contribute powerfully to the
ending of Homestuck, especially on a thematic level.

I’ve discussed Homestuck as a meditation on the nature of a
self divided across the many timelines of a dispassionate cosmos, and argued
that the Retcon, far from a drastic change in storytelling, is a continuation
of that long-running theme. Is victory meaningless if one’s original self isn’t
around to claim it, or can a coherent, archetypal identity can be understood as
existing beyond all of one’s disparate selves? In the system of Skaia,
Homestuck asks, how do we live?

I’ve also discussed Homestuck, especially Act 6 Homestuck,
as a Gnostic work, the story of an escape from a cosmic tyrant, a Demiurge
whose ultimate weakness is that he cannot see the limitations of the domain
he’s been given. In the same post, I discussed how this realm of the Demiurge,
Lord English’s domain, is constantly paralleled with the space embodied by
Homestuck itself, and how the kid’s departure from the story evokes their
escape from this tyrant’s space-time domain as it reaches the end set for it by
Paradox Space. From the system of Lord English, Homestuck asks, how do we
escape? And at the same time, in the system of narrative called Homestuck, how
do we find meaning within its limitations, and how do we escape them?

These themes work together.  As we’ve seen, they echo and reinforce each
other, provide parallels and points of contrast. In fact, I’d argue that each
of these different themes are diverse manifestations of one larger theme, in the
same way that individual selves in Homestuck can be thought of as
manifestations of one larger Self. This overarching theme is present throughout
Homestuck, but it reaches its culmination in Act 6 and 7, in a finale that
drives it home in a different ways. To understand Homestuck is to understand
this theme.

If someone were to ask me, “What is Homestuck about?” this
would be my answer:

Homestuck is an
exploration of the tension between abstract, impersonal systems and individual,
personal experiences of those systems.

Abstract, impersonal systems are everywhere in Homestuck,
systems that don’t always align with the desires, emotions, and goals of the
main characters. The central question of Homestuck is how these characters will
choose to understand the systems that govern their lives, and how they will carve
out meaningful lives in relation to those systems. Gnosticism, metafiction,
divided identities, and Sburb itself all play into this theme. As Homestuck’s
characters decide how to live their lives within these many interconnected systems,
they suggest possibilities for our own lives, for we readers also live in a
world that also contains many systems and forces outside of our control. In
their choices, we find opportunities and implications for how we should live.

You’ll notice I said there’s a tension, rather than an opposition,
between individual experience and abstract systems. I think that gets closer to
the truth of what Homestuck is trying to say. Characters in Homestuck sometimes
reject its systems altogether, but just as often they exploit them or find
identities for themselves within the constraints/opportunities of those
systems. While Caliborn’s  Gnostic-style
domain of control is presented in a negative light, as something worth opposing
and escaping, other systems, like Sburb itself, are presented in a much more
ambiguous light, challenging us to decide how we feel about those systems and
the possibilities they present within their rules.

I’ve talked about several of these systems in my previous
posts, but today I want to talk about one I haven’t yet dug into in detail.
Narrative itself.

Narrative in Homestuck, the power a story holds over its
characters, is another system which the characters of Homestuck are constantly
fighting, exploiting, and embracing.

Because another word for those abstract systems in Homestuck
is…

Arcs.

Keep reading

This is honestly like the best writing on Homestuck’s themes I’ve read since, like, basically @sam-keeper ‘s stuff? 

God I’m so glad this exists. God I hope we’re able to like, as a community uncovering these themes, like…make them accessible to people more. this stuff is so cool but also it’s so…important, to me? as a person? god

i’m emotional and crying and really pensive, just, just please read this ok? Read this and also everything on Homestuck sam ever wrote cause she was here like back in 2012 and we’re all more or less catching up.