#partially why i really like the new hs^2 art direction is because of that

[remowerator]

forgot to say that i read whistles and oh my god i love the art in that comic. it looks so nice. idk how to fully explain it since im not the best at putting this stuff into words & idrk the terms despite being an artist but i love how it's "colored" and the composition so much. idk the grayscale coloring is just so cool and does so much for the comic. there's so many cool panels and it's just. so fun to look at (also a really fun read)

though it did just generally get me thinking about the art direction in all the different mspas which just spiraled into me talking to a server about homestuck and hs^2's art styles but i'm 100% not saying that all here but basically it just made me realize why i don't care for homestuck's art style shift and the og team's art for hs^2

like i mean i do enjoy the art style of both the later acts and hs^2 but they just nearly aren't as fun as early homestuck or anything else i've seen that came before it. i know there's probably a million posts fully talking about that sentiment (albeit possibly more negatively) but like. idk how to put it other than i liked how sharp??? it looked even in the lineless panels (like most of the troll stuff) towards the start

also if i start talking about whistles more ill tag it with #tso (team special olympics) since its under that catergory in the collection because i usually try to tag anything mspa with #mspa

[abundantchewtoys]

HS Map update

Holy shit, the Homestuck map was updated!! It's been 48 years! Finally!

Blaperile and I agree that the Masterpiece is probably going to be called just that. Maybe in Caliborn's all caps quirk, too.

And I think A6A6A2 might be called "LAND OF SOMEONE'S HANDIWORK I TOOK", heheh.

The rest remains to be seen. Will the Credits be shown separately? I think so. Would Act 7 just be called "ACT 7", or like Blaperile thinks have the sub title "Thanks for playing"? Maybe it will be "The Ultimate Reward"!

Also, I highly doubt it, but it would be neat if the Snapchat updates got their own section.

I also wonder what colour Act 6 Act 6 and Act 7 will be given, since they're on a separate "cartridge" than the previous parts of Homestuck. (Maybe the Credits will be on their own, seeing as their "container" is not a game or CD anymore, but rather a smartphone.)

Lastly, I wonder if each of the "sections" under Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 4 will be from a separate point in the timeline that John jumps too.

For that matter, I wonder if the big Retcon is perhaps designated in a special manner, too? Unlike the Critical Moment or the claiming of the Ultimate Reward, it isn't a separate flash, but it is however the final part of a sub component of the story.

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Ah come on, Andrew added a designation/sub division for the Pre- and Post-Scratch timelines! Heh, two sides of a fourth wall. Why not an unscratched disc and a scratched one, though? Okay, granted, that's already in use for the "Discs" of Homestuck. So that seems to support my theory that the Pre- and Post-Retcon timelines might be designated differently too? Maybe "Side 3", heh. (Also, I don't think the sides are about the children being inside and then later escaping the story, since it's the fourth wall that John and Jade broke through being used as the logo, not the white endgame house.)

Ah, yup, Act 6 marks Side 2. Heh, it seems like such a small hole they made in the pane, come to think of it. I'd forgotten about the "split Act_6" command above Act 6 Act 1. What's it going to be for Act 6 Act 6, then? "Shatter", perhaps? The kids were once again scattered, isolated on their separate planets, by both the glitches and the Condesce's mindcontrolled drones Jane and Jade.

It marked Caliborn's attempt at turning the whole story in a game of pool, in that manner, you know. I... made that observation before on Tumblr in the past.

Part 3 of Homestuck starts together with Act 6. I suppose this means Act 6 Act 6 will be contained within Part 4 together with the conclusion of the story.

Pfff, looking back at the icons of the sequences, I forgot the start and end of the Jailbreak section were marked by quasi-identical images like that.

Blaperile poses a good question, what would the pseudo-symbols for the Act 6 Act 6 subacts be? Maybe just Caliborn's head each time, like what was shown in the manual for the A6A6A6 cartridge, heheh.

I knew it! Part 3 and Disc 2 both end with A6I5. (And Side 2 continues.)

Don't you just love that even grouping the fractal act structure is made into something confusing by Andrew, using Parts and Discs and Sides? Heheheheh. Oh, right. "Sides". Like sides A and B of a record. Or a disc, you could say. But in this case, there are more discs than sides, pfffff.

Another good question by Blaperile, which symbols will be placed underneath Part 4? Mayb the god tier symbols of the kids + symbols of the surviving trolls? But then, Vriska wouldn't be featured. Hmm... Tough matter. Also, what the name for the next "disc" might be is also up for speculation. (Before we scroll further down on the page and read it.) Disc 3 is inaccurate but least confusing. Cartridge 1 would be most accurate but lame. Let's settle for Cartridge 3. :P

Ooooh, split Act_6_Act6 it is! Hah, okay, and it uses Caliborn's theme colour! Oh yeah... That's right, it's because that was also the colour of the shitty curtains he used, that never stopped being a thing.

Oooooh, part 4 is designated by Caliborn's and Alt Calliope's filled cheek swirls. That's actually really fitting, given the theme of predomination at play. I hadn't thought of that. Heh, okay, as I should've seen coming, A6A6A1's title is "Homosuck". And for some reason, not one but TWO cheek swirls are used as the pseudosymbol.

So, the cartridge art is not the art for the sub act, but for the last sequence, and it's Caliborn's gloating pose instead. Fitting too.

Oooh, what's that? A6A6A1 wasn't part of a disc, but after the cartridge gets inserted, we get a new designator...

What would the name for A6A6I1 be, last guess?

... "Stardust". That's a less direct reference to the glitches than I would've thought. ... Instead of just Cartridge it says "Supercartridge", pffffff. That's probably the name used in the manual. Putting Grimbark Jade on the cover really sells the events in the sub intermission, by the way.

So, will the line for the Supercartridge perhaps not end with Act 7, but instead A6A6I4? When John blows it out of the slot? :) ... Wait, no, Blaperile reminds me Lil Seb put the thing back. (Where it came from.)

Perfectly chosen symbols for A6A6I1 sequences, by the way.

... Oh god yes. The acronym's not even spelled out, but A6A6A2 is named after LOSHIT. Called it!

That pseudosymbol though. Perfection. And indeed, once more a unique symbol.

Ahahahah, it's fitting this sub act has so many Johnfaces to go with it. (Matching icons for you and your squad.)

A6A6I2 = "theres problems" Ooooooh, yeah! Those are actually indeed the arc words to go with this sub act, with all the events leading up to the next intermission (which starts with [S] Game Over), like everyone meeting up on LOFAF.

Looking further ahead, I think Lord English's face (specifically in his "sprite form") will be the icon for A6A6A6, by the way.

And perhaps A6A6A3 is called "GAME OVER, KID", to go with "GAME OVER"? Or like Blaperile speculated, a manga reference.

... Oh. Well, yeah actually, that title does make "more" "sense" (in context). Oooooh, perfect art and pseudosymbol, too! I was just thinking of Caliborn's watermark, but in the context of whether they could serve as the act title. "Original act title, do not steal".

If my eyes don't fool me, it seems the icon for Game Over might be partially green to show it transfer from act to intermission in the same flash! Awesome. (Though the art doesn't give much away about the events in the flash, perhaps for the better.)

Hmm... Blaperile's right, it's kind of strange the events post-game over warrant so many of their own images.

Act 6 Act 6 Act 4 is called "Dark night of the feelings", pfff. I was wondering how Caliborn "moping" and feeling especially "emotional" as an artist could be translated to a good title. Oooh, and there's the CalCoin logo as the pseudosymbol - well, for a second, I'd wondered whether CalCoin would've been used as the title for this intermission...

I'm glad Caliborn's "Pure Art Skill" (and the art style of that sequence) is immortalized in icon form, by the way.

Ooooh, Blaperile was right, A6A6I4 is called F1X TH1S, hahahah. We're almost at the end! Just 5 more acts / intermissions to go, including the credits!

I like how both Rose's and Aranea's death judgment is featured on the map. Them being so close behind each other makes for a nice contrast.

Plus I like that Shelby's art is also featured.

Ooh, and like I speculated, each jump of John's warrants its own icon. R3UN1ON, Lemonsnout interrogation, MOM3NT...

Pfff, the line of icons going "John judging the scarf list - Gamzee is caught O_O - Making out underneath a cracked sky - Vriska: Turn - Plop" is hilarious.

Maybe Vriskagram logo will be the first icon for A6A6I5. I doubt "she's 8ack" will be the title, it's more likely what Blaperile thinks, "Why is everything always so wonderful". Though I wouldn't mind a "Web 3.0" reference. ;)

Heeheh, and there's the Masterpiece. Pffff, tiny clay Caliborn could actually serve as an icon on the forums.

Actually, now that I see the first icon for A6A6I5, it hits me how Caliborn's toothed grin looks like Gamzee's in A6A6I3... Or maybe also Lord English's mouthlaser pose, though since that's also Caliborn...

... PFFFFF A6A6I5's title is actually "She's 8ack", oh my freaking god. Well, that sure goes with the art.

All them lilypad scenes.

Ah come on, now that I see them side by side, I notice the parallel between Meenah and (Vriska) sitting on an edge talking and Dirk and Dave doing the same. In fact, the sky of LOTAK is also filled with explosions, just like how the "sky" in the dreambubbles was filled with other bubbles exploding.

Wow, again, so many nice icons and juxtapositions of them. Roxy creating the Matriorb, (Vriska) in tears while one row earlier she was still happy, GCATavrosprite and (Tavros) side by side...

Awww, (Vriska) and (Terezi)'s meetup as symbol for Terezi: Remem8er.

Ooooh, Collide marks the end of Part 4, is designated by PM's Victory (yussssss) and... it's pseudosymbol is the curtain thingamabob we see for the last time at the end of the flash. Tssssh.

Ahhhh, right, and so the post-Collide images are counted together with it, just like how the post-Act 4 pages were basically still part of that act.

QDFQDFQDFQSFQSFQSDFQSDF

Act 7 IS THE RAPTURE?????

DDANG ANDREW.

THAT WAS A MYSTERY WE THOUGHT NEEDED SOLVING INDEED.

Wow, I had not thought the Rapture to be Act 7. Wow. So, in hindsight, what he meant about this blowing our minds is that it's Homestuck The Anime!!

Ooooooh, and so Collide and Act 7 have title cards in opposite colours, black and white. So retroactively, Collide is meant to be the thing symbolized by the black circle on the "disc specibus" we saw way back first in Act 5, heheh.

OOOOohh, The Credits are not only featured, but designated "Post Canon"!!!

So, you know, you could kind of count the Snapchat updates into them as well! Maybe if Andrew ever makes an archive for them, they'll get added here?

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So that was it. A great update, I wouldn't have counted on such good names anymore, it's been so long. But I like them all a lot, they're really fitting.

Like Blaperile suggests, Andrew probably took the time rereading the latter part of Homestuck to determine the icons and find good titles for all of the sub acts.

Too bad there's no icon for the Ultimate Bro Hug of 2015. Oh well.