#there's technically no SUPER dark content but i feel like it still warrants that tag

[gabbyzvolt25]

Again I might give it a try if I get the okay, and I’m reading people’s thoughts on the epilogue just to see like. The general consensus on how bad it is and tbh I have a whole lotta cents. More than just 2 cents even. I wanna say now this is much less about my thoughts on the epilogue itself, because well. Yeah. It’s a lot more my reactions to other people’s commentary. Wow, guess this is technically meta, huh? Commentary about other ppl’s commentary. Anyway, I’ll put it below the cut bcuz I didn’t have an established tag for this kinda bullshit and it’s long and I want to spare my followers who don’t care, are upset also, or want to just not scroll for 5 years of having to deal with it all.

So, people who are going “the point is to make fun of bad fanon” or “people can change and things can be dark or gritty” kinda. I feel like there’s the deal with. Just because things are meta or parodies doesn’t mean they are inherently good. You can do those things very poorly.

Also I’ve seen people go “people just wanted a happy ending where everything is perfect” actually I expected John, Rose, Dave, and Jade to all get ‘killed’ or something in the fight with Caliborn as shown in Caliborn’s masterpiece. I expected there to be something sad, actually. Like you’d get people really depressed at that as an ending, really. Hell. Terezi coming back empty handed without Vriska. Ways to make a sad ending that, reasonably, would probably be the most ‘realistic’ ending from what we see in canon. An ending that might give some sort of closure, in the simplest way. I wasn’t expecting something seemingly large and convoluted. Yeah character’s change but also when it seems to go “what characters can I antagonize in an ooc fashion today” it’s much different.

And you know. I don’t know if my fear is completely warranted, but know that even hearing about Lanque’s freindsim route being oof for people- and I must mention I was relatively okay with it- I’ve NEVER actually been SCARED to read/watch/etc something related to Homestuck. This is the first I’ve heard that made me go “maybe I shouldn’t read this.” And that’s pretty telling. Now I know I’m generally pretty sensitive and shit and yeah it’s like that, but from what I hear it seems to make things dark and gritty for the sake of it. And as someone who is perfectly capable of making content and AUs where I consider fucked up shit happening, paired with my tendency to like characters that fall under ‘murderboy��� tropes, I’d say I can bear with dark shit when it’s presented well or at least within a level that doesn’t seem to just be fueling a fire. Even using dark shit to make a point- even a very important and valid one (looking at all the gritty pessimistic novels High School gave me) can be too much for enjoyment. Also I feel like this is something to note, since I just got thinking about it making this post, but I hear people saying “it’s as bad as Homestuck is” and well. Okay. I’d believe you if it weren’t for DIEHARD FANS who know how Homestuck is, and have seen the content in Homestuck that’s been upsetting, expressing their utter disappointment with the epilogue and how it handles topics. I’m not even looking at the people who don’t like Homestuck and have been searching for a reason all along to decimate any fans of it. I’m talking people who would tell you just days ago that they love Homestuck in its entirety and even with its flaws they can find enjoyment in it and other related content being appalled at the epilogues.

All in all, I haven’t read it and won’t unless I know I’m actually safe to read it, so I’m not the most suited to give accurate commentary on how subjects were handled within them, but I know some of the discussion within the fandom currently can be a source of concern for me. I usually avoid posting lots about fandom stuff, not necessarily because cringe or whatever, but generally nothing gets me super worried or concerned to the point of feeling the need to. I do know some of the people who liked it going “people should appreciate things” or “things are dark sometimes!” should maybe evaluate why so many of the fanbase seems upset with it. Maybe you like bad endings or gritty content and I’m not going to use this post to judge, but know that Homestuck, while still occasionally dark, was relatively lighthearted. I know a dude who legit just read Homestuck because it was funny. Liked it at it’s best when it was early on and making fun of point and click games and mechanics. Perhaps you liked it, but for a story so full of grief of loss people expected that hardship to work towards something good. So many works of fiction are so very pessimistic, and to get at least one story with at least a bittersweet ending- maybe not completely happy, but something bittersweet- is great. And when Collide and Act 7 sorta came around and were kinda decent, and even to some extent the snaps weren’t terribly bad, people could accept that the kids found a light at the end of the tunnel. A lot of people use fiction and stories as an escape, and lots of times much like they’d wish for themselves in reality people want characters to EARN something from their suffering. Even if the point is to be “too angsty” or “too ‘happy’” (I hear that isn’t even “happy” either, really. But I guess it’d be the “happiest” possible by whatever twisted standards the writers thought of) that doesn’t necessarily make it a good point. Even if the point is to not be satisfactory that doesn’t make it a good point. Or rather. Even if these points end up being alright points to make, they aren’t necessarily good executions.

I want to say one last time, because I’ve rambled a lot and typed this mess out in a very scattered way and lost track of what all I put in here:

If you liked the epilogues. Good on you I suppose, but don’t judge those who find them out of place; especially listen when people put thought into why. Hell, even consider why those who can’t even find the courage to read them are afraid when surely they’ve read the rest of Homestuck and potentially parts of Hiveswap and Friendsim that are upsetting.