#eternal flame came on while i was writing this hehe

[burstfoot]

MostiMostima for bingo?

I did not think I would get a bingo at all let alone it being top row. Congratulations Mostima MOSTIMMMAAAA When I first started playing I got like dangerously close to being Mostima for life. I LOVE her design, she's so cool, I think her story is also equally cool & I love how they approach her story of being a fallen sankta as not just being a total outcast but the actual complicated nature that would come with becoming a fallen Sankta with the connections to Laterano she had. Her relationships with Fiammetta and Exusiai are so interesting, and the fact that she's a bit of a dirt-bag but also purposefully trying not to let either of them get hurt.. I would love to do a re-read of code of brawl and guide ahead really focused on her to try and understand her a bit more. I'm really curious as to where her story goes from here, it really doesn't feel like Guide Ahead is the end!! Bonus: some of my fav Mostima fanarts by Phyriaxi, Annierosaart, Fengchikelp, Mokadevs, Trashout and (this artist you might've heard of) akakris10!

[blaperile]

Hiveswap Episode 1 Reaction Part 3: Joey’s room? More like our eternal playground!

Before we start again, I had a random thought about something I learned yesterday.

So, Joey implied she doesn't really have any friends. But on the other hand, she also seemed to imply that she has a boyfriend when examnining the Clarissa poster. If she's so bad at making friends, then I'm really curious to learn more about her boyfriend!

I mean, assuming I understood it correctly, perhaps I misunderstood it and she doesn't actually have a boyfriend. :P

Anyway, day 3 of playing! It's weekend and 4:50 PM right now, let's see how much we'll get done today!

First of all we're gonna check out the closet, then try out some more combinations of using items on other items, there's a bunch of those that we can still try out, with the tap shoes, diary key and Cherub key. Afterwards, we'll probably examine the computer, window, walkie talkie and doors and see if we can advance!

Oooooh, nice, we can actually open the closet!

A bunch of puzzles and other neat stuff in there... including a Simon Says game! I saw that in concept art not too long ago, perhaps there'll be something special about it? ...And I'm not just saying that because it seems to be blinking like hell. :P

Oh boy... we can CHALLENGE the Simon Says game. Is this gonna be a mini-game? xD

plainWonder has a cool theory that Joey might use the batteries of this game for her walkie talkie! After having seen it in concept art I first thought she'd get batteries out of that radio, but perhaps this is a more likely theory!

...Pfff, so she even USED the batties of the walkie talkie ON the Simon Says game in the first place, hahaha.

GREEN BUTTON ISN'T WORKING, looooooool. Hahaha, it was worth the try/nostalgia.

Nope, can't use the batteries on the cherub key, obviously. :P

Analogue key, ahahaha. xD

Can we have battery-powered tap shoes? :mspa:

YOU RUN ON RAZZLE DAZZLE OH MY GOD. So THAT'S where that dance from that concept art comes from, hahaha!

Ooooooh, apparently you can also combine items with the Joey symbol in the upper right corner! Looks like it gives a more general explanation on what those items actually are, that's interesting.

Hehe, yes Joey, the lessons you followed for tap dancing probably deserve some credit as well. :P

Oh my god I love all those ridiculous comments when combining items with the ballerina poster. Combining the diary key with it gives some pretty cool insight though, nice.

Tap Shoes && Ballerina poster (might be a handy way to address the combinations!)==> Ha, looks like we'll get another Joey dance if we come back here with the ballerina shoes instead! :D

Cherub Key && Hot Steppin' poster ==> Looks like Ms. Claire probably didn't do ballet by herself but danced in a group together with multiple women! Also, this shows that Joey only got this poster AFTER Ms. Claire died.

Diary Key && Hot Steppin' poster ==> Oh???? She's got ANOTHER diary? Looks like this might be the only time we'll ever hear of it though. :P

Tap shoes && Hot Steppin' poster ==> Doing taxes at church tho' xD

Batteries && Story That Keeps Happening poster ==> IMAGINAAAAAAAAAAATION. That's all there really is to say on the matter. :mspa:

Cherub Key && Story That Keeps Happening poster ==> Oh so the Cherub Key might be a reference to The Neverending Story??? Haha, I didn't know that! It's been years since I last saw that movie. Interestingly, Joey seems to be SURE that the key is older "by at least a few years" than the movie. I looked it up, the movie came out in 1984, so when Joey was 4 years old! Hmmm, curious!

Tap Shoes && Story That Keeps Happening poster ==> Always not-ending routine. xD I love how they're doing everything they can to avoid saying "Neverending".

Cherub Key && Canadian Campfire Spookems poster ==> Huh! This combination doesn't work! Looks like they forgot to implement that one? Eh, oh well. :P

Tap Shoes && Canadian Campfire Spookems poster ==> JOEY CLAIRE, EXTRAORDINAIRE. It even fucking rhymes, that is amazing. (Also there goes Joey again with her cute little dance)

Batteries & Acorn's Shadow poster ==> Eldritch, you say? Hopefully not the kind of eldritch I'm thinking of here. 0_0

Cherub Key && Acorn's Shadow poster ==> Ahahaha, looks like the episodes of this cartoon were 22 minutes long.

Diary Key && Acorn's Shadow poster ==> 17 seasons??? Wow, looks like it's a popular cartoon. Possibly even rivalizing the Squiddles cartoon? :mspa:

Tap shoes && Acorn's Shadow poster ==> Galloping green flames??? Is... is that a reference to the destructive fires Bec and Jack Noir have caused in the comic? Well... at least they weren't part horse. :mspa:

Oh wow, we hadn't noticed yet that we could click on the Connect Four game!

Welp, looks like Joey's good at beating Jude at games (or at least she believes she is). Is she as good at beating him as Calliope was at beating Caliborn? :P

Diary key && Connect Four ==> Pfff, a diary working like a Connect Four game. That kind of reminds me of Fetch Modi. Now imagine a Connect Four Fetch Modus, oh dear god.

Batteries && Diary ==> Electronic diaries, such a preposterous idea, am i right? :mspa:

Batteries && Ms. Claire picture ==> Why do we get so much sadstuck when examining this picture. :(

Cherub Key && Magical Companions Heal Force poster ==> If I were you Joey I wouldn't be trusting that Cherub Key for one bit, and I'm not just saying that because of what is going to happen pretty soon. 0_0

Tap shoes && Magical Companions Heal Force poster ==> Deer hooves, oh my god. Well, NEVERMIND THEN.

Batteries && Bounty Hunter poster ==> I assume Energy Tanks is also a reference to Metroid? :P

Tap dance && Bounty Hunter poster ==> "Turn into a ball in mid-air" METROID REFERENCE CONFIRMED.

Cherub Key && Star Avenue poster ==> Oh wow, Ms. Claire knew Ginger Rogers! That's interesting! It reminds me of how Poppop also met some interesting and famous people in his life and became one himself. And B2 Dave and B2 Rose too of course, like plainWonder pointed out! They knew some famous people too (and were famous themselves).

The Homestuck/Hiveswap Kids sure do have a lot famous family members or family members knowing famous people, haha.

Diary Key && Star Avenue poster ==> I like that Ginger: My Story is also an actual book, of 1991. What Pumpkin sure did a lot of research for this game, I really like what they've done!

Cherub Key && Block Hustle poster ==> L-shaped object??? Oh god, she's right. The key DOES sort of look like an L, just like the first letter of Lord English's name. Oh my fucking god.

Diary Key && Block Hustle poster ==> Hahah, yes, too bad Youtube didn't exist yet to search the song and then practice your routine. And I agree actually, the Tetris song is really catchy and would probably be really cool for a dance! Also, yup, a little slip up there with accidentally writing Tetris instead of Block Hustle.

Batteries && Bubsy Poster ==> Hehe, this description makes me think even more of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Cherub Key && Bubsy Poster ==> She really doesn't like Bubsy, does she? xD

Diary Key && Bubsy poster ==> Heh, that reminds me of what John said about one of his posters, about meaning to take it down because he didn't like it that much.

Batteries && Second Mom poster ==> "Believe me, you've tried" N'awwww

Cherub Key && Second Mom poster ==> Oh hell fricking yes, a reference to Ness' yoyo! (also... yoyo kinda makes me think of juju...)

Diary Key && Second Mom poster ==> Huh, that's a pretty original way of saving your game. Also, unexpected sadstuck is unexpected. :(

Batteries && Game controller ==> And maybe they aren't even the proper size of batteries anyway. :P

Diary Key && Game controller ==> Getting a bit close to the Fourth Wall there, aren't we? ;D

Diary Key && Game console ==> Oh man, I like that this comes with a sweet little animation as well, to show her reaching down to jab the diary key at the console!

Cherub Key && TV ==> OH GOD I'M DYING BECAUSE OF THIS ADORABLE ANIMATION. Joey is just so incredibly cute no matter what she's doing.

Tap Shoes && TV ==> I'm sure Joey would LOVE the Wii Console, to be capable of using wireless controllers and moving/dancing around while playing her games!

Cherub Key && Bean Bag ==> Wait a second... so Mom visited the attic to retrieve these bean bags and place them all over the house! That's really interesting to know that she's already been up there, meaning she might also be aware of the mysterious device up there that Joey will eventually use to go to Alternia!

Batteries && Sir Bappy Pawswatter ==> Oh dear god, I didn't expect those things ran on batteries. Good thing Jade never found out about that, or at least already removed the batteries. xD

Suddenly realized we could also combine items with the ceiling!

Cherub Key && Ceiling ==> ...That is not the right description. xD Looks like that's the description for Cherub Key && Walkie Talkie.

Diary Key && Ceiling ==> Oh wow, so Ms. Claire painted that when Joey was still a baby! ...Come to think of it, how old was Joey when Ms. Claire died? Was she still a baby when Ms. Claire died or not? Because if she was, I think there's a high chance Jude is NOT her son, which is an idea I've been playing around with already (what with their different surnames and all). If so, the question beckons who IS his mother.

Cherub Key && Animal posters ==> That is indeed the cutest idea ever. Even if they don't get any actual gifts from them, at least they still get some nice licks from them. :P

Batteries && Wardrobe ==> Indeed, and her wardrobe doesn't need batteries either, seeing as it's not a Wardrobifier. :P

Cherub Key && Junior Veterinarian Medkit ==> NO SHIT that it doesn't work like that. xD

Tap Dancer && Junior Veterinarian Medkit ==> Oh okay, so she IS still debating on which profession she would like to have in the future! I wonder if her experiences in this adventure will help her make a choice? Maybe... maybe we'll even be able to INFLUENCE which one she will eventually choose? Like, I could see it happening that she'll take care of Dammek's Lusus at some point perhaps, maybe it will get hurt or something. Not sure how her dancing skills would come into play (other than as fighting skill), but it could happen!

Or maybe it will even depend on how you play the game in general: do you take a more aggressive stance against enemies, fighting them with your dance skills, or do you instead go for a more passive route and take care of the wounded and such?

That would be interesting!

Batteries && Clarissa poster ==> GIRL POWER. Why am I suddenly reminded of Game Grl. :P

Diary Key && Clarissa poster ==> So Clarissa ended a month ago, and next day a new episode of Alex Mack would come out about dancing? *looks it up* Yep, all true facts! God I just love how much effort they've put into this.

Batteries && Bed ==> Ahahaha, that reminds me of how Jade tried to sneak past the fireplace in order to sneak by Grandpa, hehe. And yeah, Parker Brothers! That rings a bell to me, a pretty famous company for making board games I believe *looks it up* Yep, they are!

Batteries & Puppy Surprise ==> Exactly what I was thinking just before doing this combination. 0_0

Diary Key && Puppy Surprise ==> Oh wow, we can put the diary key back into the Puppy Surprise! That makes me seem like that is indeed what happened after we tried writing into the diary last time.  Hehe, let's retrieve the key for now and try that out in a few seconds.

*few seconds later*

So, the Diary Key indeed went back into the Puppy Surprise! But sadly, we can't retrieve the key anymore afterwards.

Alright, let's reload the game so we can hang onto the key for a while longer.

Batteries && Toys on shelf ==> Grandpa gave shotguns to Jude, seriously? ...On the other hand, I really shouldn't be surprised. This is Grandpa/Jake we're talking about, after all. :mspa:

Cherub Key && Toys on shelf ==> Welp... literally a baby. That confirms that I guess. Poor Joey, she really grew up without a mom for the most part. :(

I guess like how all Kids and Trolls seem to grow up with no or only one Guardian around.

Tap shoes && Book shelf ==> Oh yeah, I totally forgot about how for a long time a lot of people didn't consider tap-dancing an actual dance, I believe I've heard that somewhere before.

Diary/Cherub Key && Ballerina figure ==> WELP, that gives the same narration as diary key && Cherub key.

Cherub Key && Wizard glass ball ==> Haha, that reminds me of all the discussions in Homestuck on what is or isn't magic, and also the magical properties of wizards.

Tap shoes && Wizard glass ball ==> I love how there are so many combinations of the tap shoes with another item that cause her to just make a dance.

Tap shoes && Oven ==> Lukewarm-steppin', PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Batteries & Skaianet Calendar ==> OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH, so THAT is the context of that picture! So apparently Skaianet isn't "just" a science company that was sneakily behind Sburb, but is actually a videogame company!!! Huh, I definitely didn't expect that! Now that picture suddenly makes a lot more sense, with them all being videogame figures.

Also, that gives a whole new context to Mom working for Skaianet! I always figured she just did it because she was into science, but the fact that they're actually actively making videogames makes a lot of sense too because we know Roxy is so into videogames!!!

Wow.

That's definitely a cool mystery that just got solved!

Tap shoes && Skaianet Calendar ==> Oh shit! Alright, so that's confirmation that she is still in fact babysitting them and that it's not a thing from the past. Also, she's got a driving license! I guess it makes sense because she's probably... somewhere around 20 years old? Give or take a few years in either direction.

And like plainWonder said, that gives a REALLY interesting deadline for Joey to either return from Alternia or for Mom to notice something's up! Because 11/11/1994 is a Friday evening, which means that in the morning of the next day Mom should be coming!!!

Hmm... will Joey come back so quickly from Alternia??? Or are we going to get a surprise appearance from Mom in Hauntswitch or maybe even the end of Hiveswap???

Oh god I'd be so excited if she will physically appear in one of these games!

Diary Key && Other Animal posters ==> Wait, the same company made the diary and those posters? Now I'm pretty curious what the name of that company is, haha.

Cherub Key && Other Animal posters ==> Well, there's my answer apparently! :mspa: L.F. is the name... looks like that might be a fictional one! Or maybe just an abbreviation of a real one, to avoid copyright issues.

Okay, now it's time to start doing some more (possibly) plot relevant/impactful things!

Let's examine the computer and see what that does...

...Ahahaha, some cheap Windows rip-off, of course.

Welp, she's not going to actually do something on her computer. That's too bad, I wanted to see her surf to www.mspaintadventures.com and see what her browser is. xD

What with how she mentions keeping up with a bunch of different websites, that reminds me of how Bro's Completely Bullshit thing that helped him keep track of a bunch of different websites.

Heh, apparently we can't turn the computer back off again! That's such a waste of electricity. :P

Tap shoes && Computer ==> Ahahahaha, tapping the keys VS tapping her keys. I love What Pumpkin.

Let's see what happens if we try to leave Joey's room! She probably won't want to do it, because of the monster outside.

....Yup, that's indeed the case! She wants to warn Jude! Looks like we'll have to use the walkie talkie here, and thus put the batteries in. Which kinda surprises me that we "have" to do this, I thought I saw in concept art somewhere that she had the batteries in her inventory somewhere else? So can we remove them from the walkie talkie again or something?

But first, let's look out the window!

Oh yes, it's this view of the garden, like from the concept art!

....N'AWWWWWWWWWWW. I was about to say: "Hey, where's Tesseract? I don't see him!" when suddenly he popped out of the dog house. D'awww, so scared. :(

Hey, that stone structure by the wall there, the head kind of looks like a Mother Grub! That's a bit suspicious...

Also, that bush there. It looks a lot like the snakey monster chasing Joey! That's also really suspicious, are these monsters "known" around here? Or at least by Grandpa or something?

Let's see what we can interact with here...

Okay, so she calls the fountain Skull Fountain! ....Yup, still making me think of the Mother Grub there. :P

Poor, POOR puppy! I wonder if there's something Joey and/or Jude can do to make Tesseract come out, or if that's something that will only happen in Hauntswitch?

Welp, I hadn't really thought yet about the fact that Joey had only seen ONE of these monsters yet! She didn't know there's going to be a whole bunch of them, yikes.

Oh boy, now the tree hut...

Pffff, so Jude considers it his "mission control room". In other words, he probably treats it more like 'his' room than his actual room. :P

And apparently Joey hasn't been up there yet! Hmm, interesting. I wonder if there are many things that Jude keeps there that Joey isn't aware about?

Alright, so nothing else happens here when examining the tree hut. Looks like we'll be needing to use the walkie talkie to make progress!

But before we do, let's first use some items on this window...

Batteries && Window ==> Ahahaha, too bad they didn't make a stab at the fenestrated windows like plainWonder suggested. That's a missed opportunity. :P

Cherub Key && Window ==> Precious window, ahahahaha!

And now... time for the walkie talkie! Let's finally make some progress in this shit. xD

Oh god... we apparently put the walkie talkie in our inventory as well! Which means... before we use the batteries on it, we got a whole new bunch of combinations to try out with all the different items in the room here.

Nope, progress will have to wait a bit longer. :mspa:

Walkie Talkie && Cherub Key ==> Wouldn't that be cool, a walkie talkie that runs on tap dancing? xD

Walkie Talkie && Skaianet Calendar ==> Pffff, it would be pretty funny if when we establish communication with Jude he immediately makes a remark like this. Plus, it would also be funny if we will actually see Joey's calendar from his perspective in the tree hut.

Walkie Talkie && Oven ==> And sadly, the walkie talkie doesn't run on microwaves either. :P

Walkie Talkie && Toy shelf ==> SHELF BUDDIES. TREE BROTHER. Oh hell yes.

Walkie Talkie && Bed ==> Now this is an especially interesting piece of narration! First of all, Joey apparently also aspires to be a webmaster! Secondly, it's pretty interesting how this also gives some new information because we've already got the batteries!

Also goddammit yeah I can understand why Joey removed the batteries out of the walkie talkie, haha.

Walkie Talkie && Computer ==> Pffff, yes, unfortunately USB cables don't exist yet and as far as I'm aware there are no walkie talkies with USB ports. :P

Walkie Talkie && Game Controllers ==> Pff, so maybe those batteries WERE actually of the right type to be used for the walkie talkie but she just simply doesn't want to take them out of the controllers, haha.

Walkie Talkie && Game Console ==> Whoops, another slip-up there, referring to Mother 2! Heh, so apparently the Famicon had such a special voice feature then?

Walkie Talkie && Bubsy poster ==> He can stay quiet, so that's probably why that SHH sticker is on the poster. xD

Walkie Talkie && Block Hustle poster ==> Incredibly lame pun is incredibly lame. :mspa:

Walkie Talkie && Connect Four ==> Ha, that reminds me of Calliope and Caliborn's chess game, with Caliborn seemingly making bad strategic decisions but actually just luring Calliope into a trap.

Walkie Talkie && Canadian Campfire Spook-ems poster ==> I'd laugh if this is exactly what happens on Alternia with Joey somehow being capable of communicating with Xefros through the walkie talkie. xD

Walkie Talkie && Acorn's Shadow poster ==> It would always make Acorn uncomfortable when her shadow would just stand there... and watch.

Walkie Talkie && Magical Companions Heal Force poster ==> Pffff, wouldn't that be convenient if Joey could just do that.

"the deer is her brother"

...

...

...

0_0

MOVIN' ON.

Oh wow, we only just noticed that we can also use items on Joey's dresser!

Walkie Talkie && Ms. Claire picture ==> MY FEELS. D: How great would it be if she could talk to her through walkie talkie... That reminds me actually of the movie Frequency, where a father and son communicate through time just through a radio.

Walkie Talkie && Diary ==> THE BEST. SIMPLY THE BEST. I love the reference to the memos of the Trolls and all Karkat's discussions of past self VS present self VS future self, hahahaha!

Oh dear god we only just noticed that the disabled hint function gives a different message every time! We'd only pressed it one time.

I love how he just becomes increasinly meta as we keep on clicking it, kind of like in [S] YOU THERE BOY with continuously clicking on John.

And he just keeps on sounding more like the in-comic Andrew, hahahaha.

But... plainWonder's right. As we go on, he progressively sounds more and more like Doc Scratch. I mean... allotting time to 'talk' to us, being smug about being intelligent... This is kind of suspicious.

I highly doubt it's Doc Scratch, that it's just meant to be the narrator, but... HMMMMMMMMM

Okay, we've reached the end of it. Now it just keeps on repeating that the hint function is unavailable. xD

Anyway, that's all for today! It's 8:15 PM now.

I'm pretty happy that we've just about finished up with the actual introduction of the game (LOL, that took long enough, like, 6-7 hours of gameplay so far holy shit), and can now get diving into more of the actual plot. xD