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The Homestuck FAQ

So, you want to read Homestuck? May I be the first to welcome you to the adventure that is Homestuck and its community.

Be advised, though: reading Homestuck is not an easy task. But don't let that discourage you! It is very much worth it, as any fan of Homestuck will attest. Full FAQ and some additional information under the cut.

Number One: Homestuck is long.

Homestuck is, at the publication of this FAQ, over 5000 pages long. Mind you, some pages are one image panel with no text, some pages are three image panels with a paragraph of text, some are seven-screen-long chatlogs, some are 17-minute long Flash movies, some are rather involved interactive games. Between those two facts, it's really hard to gauge exactly how long the comic is, but needless to say, starting from the beginning, it will take you a while to get up-to-date. Expect to spend a few hours at a time reading it over many, many sessions before you reach the current page.

Number Two: Homestuck is complicated.

Know what a Captchalogue is? Ever read about a stable time loop? Heard of a moirail before? Familiar with the concept of circumstantial simultaneity?

Probably not.

By the time you're current with Homestuck, you'll know what all this is and more, presumably, but you'll have a lot more questions.

That's part of the fun of Homestuck. The narrative is a puzzle: you have all the pieces and it's up to you to fit them together. It does require some thought and often a little bit of research, but there's a friendly community of equally-confused readers who are more than willing to help you sort it all out, and resources like the MSPA Wiki (which I will be plugging more than a few times in this FAQ) to help fill you in on details you might have missed.

This, of course, doesn't even mention other complicated, plot-important concepts like troll romance, alchemization, the hemospectrum, the Scratch, aspects and classes, ectobiology, ancestors, First Guardians, the Felt, etc... but it's all explained with time and at a reasonable pace. So if you don't understand something, don't worry, it'll all be cleared up after a little while.

Number Three: Homestuck is ruthlessly lighthearted.

Homestuck is, believe it or not, intended to be a comedy. One of the ways to describe it is a catch-all genre parody. Homestuck pokes fun at just about every aspect of pop culture, modern media, the Internet, video games, movies, almost anything. It even makes fun of itself on more than one occasion. If you come into it expecting some serious story filled with action and fighting and intense scenes, you'll be disappointed for the first few Acts. You'll get your kick eventually, but you'll have to wade through page upon page of kids and their goofy antics. That said, there's plenty of drama, tragedy, intrigue, and techniques of serious literary merit embedded in this lighthearted romp through the multiverse. But don't think you're getting into something serious, because you really, really aren't.

Number ???: It gets better.

I don't really want to call this number four, because A) I like having three points and B) I don't really want to have this be a major point of my thesis. I feel like this is the go-to line for every fan of Homestuck when they try to convince their bewildered friends to tackle this Internet behemoth. It's frankly gotten trite and is often not enough incentive for people to continue reading past the first few Acts.

Something I think a lot of archive readers fail to realize, though, is that Homestuck was released in small chunks over the course of now nearly 4 years. As such, many things are fleshed out over a long stretch of pages and quite slowly. Not to mention, it's changed a ton since its inception in 2009 and its current incarnation today. It took some time for Homestuck to find its groove. Once you hit that groove-threshold, though, it starts to pay off. Because Homestuck is so long and complicated, it requires a lot of patience. If you don't have the patience to get through it, it's probably not for you. But enough of that, on to the questions!

What is Homestuck?

Homestuck is an interactive multi-media hypertextual webcomic written and produced almost entirely by Andrew Hussie (though music and some supplementary art are done by other contributors). It is the fourth story to be posted on the MS Paint Adventures website, following the incomplete Jailbreak and Bard Quest, and Hussie's last completed quest, Problem Sleuth. It was started on April 14, 2009 and has been running for the past 3 and a half years with a growing fanbase. Over the past year or so, due to growing publicity through Tumblr, Reddit, 4chan and other such websites, the number of readers has shot up. It has become a very popular story, and, I think, for good reason.

Why is the art so ugly? Well, the website is called MS Paint Adventures.

To be honest, I can't really explain the reason Hussie chose the rough, aliased sprite-y style he did. It has a lot to do with the video game-realted and Internet-influenced aspects of the story. It also is pretty heavily influenced by the style from Problem Sleuth, though it quickly grows to have its own unique flair. Homestuck heavily is influenced by, among many other things, retro games like Earthbound, and his style very much reflects that.

Hussie's actually a pretty damn good artist and isn't afraid to show it. The style is a lot cruder at first because he's going for style, not to impress.

If the art is a turn-off to you, all I can really tell you is try to not let it be. It's a relatively minor aspect of the narrative. Hussie has his reasons and you'll learn to appreciate it as time goes on.

Not to mention, it gets better. A lot better. Stick it out; you might be surprised. Do I have to read all the pesterlogs?

There are two schools of thought on this. Some people say yes, due to the important plot details within. I say scan 'em.

Personally, I got through Homestuck just fine scanning most pesterlogs, especially the longer ones. But a lot of Homestuck fans will tell you not to do this and will advise you to read every detail of every log.

They do have good reason for this. A lot of the important plot details, characterization and thematic elements are exposed via pesterlogs. They're effectively dialogue, and should be treated as such. Not to mention, Hussie has a penchant for echoing a lot of elements of old pesterlogs in more recent ones and you can lose a lot of the impact of that if you only skim. If you find it too much to handle, though, I'd advise just trying to hit all the important parts and going back and re-reading key logs for more details on characters or events if you get a little lost. The MSPA Wiki (careful, it is spoilerrific!) offers a full list of pesterlogs for all characters, including who took part in them and their relative time in the story, so if you're ever in need of some brushing up, you can check there.

What's the deal with the sylladex? What's with all these game references and mechanics?

Like I said before, Homestuck is a genre parody of, among a lot of other things, video games. As such, like the art, Hussie puts a lot of effort into making references and jokes relating to video games, particularly weirdly arbitrary systems of item management and unrealistic battle schemes.

It also is heavily influenced by older, SNES-era video games, particularly Earthbound. Though I won't spoil anything, I will say there are some fun interactive parts later in the comic that are Earthbound-esque flash games which make that connection clear.

Ugh! The humor in this sucks! Why does anyone like this? What's with some of these "jokes"? They're a little weird.

I'll be the first to admit, Hussie's sense of humor is a little strange. He's both painfully cerebral and totally childish at the same time, which results in a very odd mix. If you find yourself above puns, cheesy jokes and the occasional crude wisecrack here and there (though, don't worry, it's all pretty PG), then Homestuck is probably not for you. If you're familiar with some of Hussie's other works (particularly Problem Sleuth), then some of the humor will probably be a little more accessible. Otherwise, just try to go with it. The humor, like many things, evolves as time goes on, and turns from a slew of pop culture references and verbose ramblings to a lot of witty self-references and interesting fits of irony (though, to be fair, the first two things never really go away).

What the fuck is going on? What the fuck is the point of this? I can't really answer that or any of those kinds of questions. Like I said before, Homestuck is complicated. Chances are, you'll find out eventually, but it might be 2000 pages later and only in a vague reference. There's a lot of things that even those of us who are current on the comic still don't know, but Hussie doesn't hide his cards for long. He plays each and every one at just the right moment, so if you don't know something yet, there's probably a good reason you don't.

If the curiosity is killing you, though, you can always spoil certain aspects for yourself like the naughty cat you are by going to places like the MSPA Wiki. Be careful, though, the Wiki has all the information on the story up to the current point, so you may learn a little more than you want to know! I take no responsibility for any curiosity-related deaths that might occur. :33

Does X mean something?

Probably. Homestuck is a fairly tightly-written narrative, and as such, pretty much every detail is either intended to have some significance or may potentially get some later. Lots and lots of crazy fan theories have been spawned about seemingly arbitrary things, and many have turned out to be true. Keep an eye out for things that seem to be unimportant that are given strangely specific attention, even if it's only for a moment. If the object or idea itself doesn't become an important plot point, something related to it likely will.

Numbers, in particular, are subject to this. There's a handful of arc numbers in this series (413, 612, 1025, 1111, 2422) which will appear throughout the story. Something that's often lost on archive readers is that they all correspond to significant real-world dates that represent a significant shift in the story. 413, for example, corresponds to the day the "stable release" of Homestuck was published, April 13, 2009. The others have similar significance, but I'll let you figure those out on your own. ;D

Who does all this music? Who makes the flashes? Who does the art? Who writes all this?

Long story short, Hussie does all of this, except the music, some of the games (at least the technical stuff) and some art here and there.

Hussie is Homestuck's sole writer. No one else know details about the story that haven't been published in the comic aside fro m him (and probably a few other people sworn to secrecy, lest their lips be sewn shut). He also does about 90% of the art, though some of the art in the flashes and on certain interactive portions are done by others, often community members.

None of the music is done by Hussie, but it is all done by people who work in close collaboration with the man himself, all on the music team. Toby "Radiation" Fox is probably one of the most notable members of the team, having composed a huge number of notable pieces for the comic. All the details about the music (and a page where you can purchase tracks!) can be found here.

What's shipping? Why is it important?

Shipping is defined by Wikipedia as "the belief that two characters, fictional or non-fictional, are in an intimate relationship, have romantic feelings that could potentially lead to a relationship, or have another form of less intimate relationship, which may involve platonic friendship, or even violence." In short, it's when fans support certain characters hooking up on various levels and then do things like write fanfiction and draw art.

In Homestuck, though, shipping is a lot more complicated than that and acts as a pretty important plot point.

Without spoiling too much, shipping in Homestuck is more than just love - it can refer to hate-based relationships, friendships or two mutually-frustrated parties and their mediator, as well as the traditional sense of love.

The reason why it's important is kind of hard to say. It plays a pretty important role in understanding the interactions and dynamics between characters and a lot of their motivations. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what it means myself, but Hussie has put in the effort to explain it and demonstrate it quite a bit, so you'll pick up on it eventually.

In the meantime, though, do enjoy all the fun stuff the fandom has to offer! I'm not a huge shipper myself, but I do enjoy the occasional shipfic or shippy piece of fanart.

What are god/dog/cod tiers?

Again, this is a story element that spoils a lot of things, so I'm not going to go into much detail.

Basically, they're like an "ultimate form" in a video game, where you reach levels where you can access cool powers and other things. It's how players of the game become "fully realized" and can do some pretty cool stuff based off their innate abilities. This is all based on aspect and class, which are two things that I can't even really explain to you with my (relatively) extensive knowledge of the mechanics of the game. It's another thing you'll pick up with time.

The term, by the way, is God Tier. Dog and Cod are puns based on some, um, interesting things that occur later on.

Oh, and, with God Tiers, you get a pretty kickass set of PJs, which explains why half the pictures have the characters running around in colorful jammies.

Who/What are the trolls?

To be honest, I don't really want to tell you. I think that you're better off discovering for yourself; it's more fun that way.

But okay, fine, if you insist.

Warning: Spoilers!!!!!!!!

Trolls are non-human characters that interact with the main four kids over the course of the narrative. They, too played a version of the game the kids are playing, though things didn't go quite as planned. You'll meet them progressively over the first four acts and then get to know all about them in Act V. Like I said, I'd suggest holding out on doing too much research on them, because a lot of fanon has skewed their characters, IMO, and honestly, trying to figure them out before you get to that part of the story will likely just confuse you more. And with Homestuck, it's really best to take it one thing at a time.

What's with all this weird typing? Ugh, I can't decipher any of it! It's so annoying!

All the weird typing isn't meant to piss you off and make Homestuck inaccesible. It does actually serve a purpose, albiet a somewhat esoteric one.

For one, it helps you to distinguish between characters at a glance. In combination with the colors used, it helps to break up some of these lenghty text blocks where there's nothing but a little two letter combination to help tell you who's who. Now, admittedly, it isn't the best or most effective way of doing this, but it does serve a secondary purpose.

All these strange typing methods, called "quirks", also serve a symbolic purpose, representing something about the character's personality or referencing an internal symbol within the work. To give a simple example, John's writing is very simple, lacking caps and often omitting certain punctuation. This gives his typing a childish feel, reflecting an innocent and child-like personality. Similarly, Rose's typing is very proper and borders on purple prose, reflecting her very proper and forward personality.

Some of the more involved quirks don't make their raison d'être known for a loooong time, but they'll all be revealed with time.

There are a few guides, tools and sites that can help you decipher some of the more complex quirks. Just do a quick scan around the forums or on the wiki and you'll be fluent in troll type in no time.

And don't worry. You'll get used to reading blocks of caps with 1's, 4's, and 2's interspersed after only a few pages.

Do I need to read Hussie's prior works to get Homestuck?

Not really, no. Though many elements of Homestuck have their root in his earlier works, especially Problem Sleuth, they are totally stand-alone stories and you don't really need to read or even have an understanding of anything prior to appreciate Homestuck. That being said, there are a lot of jokes, stylistic references, and mechanics that originate from Problem Sleuth (a handful of which even coming from his two unfinished adventures), so reading his earlier work does add another fun layer to Homestuck.

That being said, I'd definitely recommend giving Problem Sleuth a read. It's really fun and much less complicated than Homestuck, not to mention much, much shorter. Unlike Homestuck, it can be read in a few relatively short sittings, and is a lot less reading and easier to understand. I personally think that it's a great introduction to how Hussie does things and it's a good way to understand some of the strange humor he relies on in the early pages of Homestuck.

Oh, and be sure to read Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff as you go along. It's a meta-comic that runs alongside Homestuck and is referenced here and there in the main story. It's, well, awful and hideous, but you'll probably be lost if you forgo it totally. It all Make Sense In Context, trust me.

Where can I get started?

Well, right here, of course! Or, if you feel like taking in some of Hussie's other works first, you can start with Problem Sleuth or even Jailbreak. Hussie's also put together a much less extensive little New Reader's guide for you newcomers, so it's worth taking a peek to get his perspective too.

And, with that, I set you off on your adventure! I hope you enjoy it as much as I and thousands and thousands of fans do!

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