#I Am So Sleepy from this entire week i need to drink a [redacted] and go to bed

[homestuckreplay]

Rare and Highly Dangerous 5x Cliffhanger Combo

(page 756-758)

cliffhanger [n.] a suspenseful situation occurring at the end of a chapter, scene, or episode.

I was absolutely awestruck by this animation. I watched it three times in a row immediately just taking in WV's journey, like a whole road trip movie condensed into two and a half minutes, before I even thought about taking any notes or screenshots. I definitely need more time to process my thoughts on what's happened, so this is just the events of the flash, and current status of the characters.

[S] WV: Ascend summary

[New and very good music track 'Explore' by Buzinkai and Michael Guy Bowman plays]

→ Recap of p.248 (first Years in the future…) → WV emerges from bunker, sees Zazzerpan’s hand and orb → WV’s bunker takes off like a rocket, rises then travels west across the entire ruined US. It's a white cylinder with the green Sburb house logo printed on the side. → Recap of p.246 ([S] John: Take bite of apple), John’s neighborhood becomes a wasteland, tree grows, ‘apple’ bunker drops from tree → Recap of p.723 (the Peregrine Mendicant) → WV gazes down, PM gazes up → Years in the past (many), a meteor flies through a Skaian gate, hits dry earth that is now the Pacific Ocean → A volcano fills the crater with lava. When it dries, a tower is built, depicting seven ascending Skaian gates with a sweet frog on top, and four orb-topped pillars circling this tower. → I love this frog. → The land becomes a small island in the ocean as the tower ages, and a raptor flies above. → Rose curses the burnt out generator, and narrowly dodges a falling, flaming tree → Rose’s mom looks at the nearby lab from the window, types passcode ‘413’ into a keypad, opening a secret tunnel beneath Jaspers’ mausoleum → In a purple castle (likely on the Ominous Planet), Dad is handcuffed and followed by two imps. He breaks loose, and attacks with a cake and Barbasol in typical dad fashion. → Dave and his bro prepare to swordfight. We see Bro’s true form (not just silhouette) for the first time. He looks like a total dickhead. The fire shines in his glasses, just as we’ve seen it do in Dave’s. → In WV’s time, the Pacific has dried up once more. The cylindrical bunker touches down just as its fuel runs out. → WV gazes up at the ancient frog → We see a simple white spirograph.

Status of our existing characters

Wayward Vagabond - Last seen on p.755, falling back down the bunker's ladder as the timer countdown reaches 0. Now halfway across the world, possibly in GG's former home, in a different yet almost as desolate wasteland as before.

Dave Strider - Last seen on p.665, ascending to the blisteringly hot rooftop where his bro had ordered him to come. Now staring down said bro (and Cal), both of them wielding swords, looking ready to fight.

Rose Lalonde - Last seen on p.650, facepalming x2 as her plan to get John a server disc had failed and her generator had burned out. Now outside in the forest fire, with a secret tunnel open to her that may lead to the mysterious lab near her house.

Dad - Last seen on p.421, attempting to fend off imps with a broom in his kitchen. Now attempting to fend off imps with cake and shaving cream in their home territory. Kidnapped but putting up a good fight.

John Egbert - Last seen on p.663, preparing to battle two Crude Ogres on the platform Rose has built above his house. Does not appear in EOA2. I sure hope he's okay.

Which is all to say, I think the 5x cliffhanger combo was successfully achieved, even if those cliffhangers look a little different to how they did a few minutes ago.