#throwbackfrihorse

[blindrapture]

After the break, the remainder of this post will be Andrew Hussie’s newspost from 11/08/14. In it, he goes pretty in-depth about the symbolism and intent of Homestuck’s GAME OVER flash. I wanted to share this because it’s one of the most concise examples I can think of that stresses why I still think he’s goddamn lovely. It also contains his own rather clear declaration that he prefers Death Of The Author over Word Of God (”Now, since they can no longer depend on answers which I supply between horse jokes and snappy retorts, they are lost in the woods to fend for themselves against the wolves of dubious fanalysis.“), a sentiment which echoes darkly through the fandom these days. You could argue he pretty much spends most of the newspost trying to explain how to read the ending to come. And plus I can say this is a #ThrowbackFrihorse thing, even though it’s nowhere near Friday.

Spoilers ahead, those of you who have not yet finished reading Homestuck.

Andrew: There comes a time in every young Homestuck's life when they must face the fact that a notable comic author has swindled them into getting on a bus labeled "cool updates", only to swerve said bus off the highway and into a precipitous gulch of unmitigated sadstuck. But the old wives tale says that sadstuck was just a thing that happened in our fanfics, the bus children wailed. That's what they said about the tricksters too, a veteran child in the back replied. They said the tricksters would never see the light of canon, but where are the doubters now? Where are they now. Propping up six feet of dirt is where. The veteran child is weirding everybody out, so they stop looking at him, and turn to the driver. But the driver is now a spooky skeleton and the kids lose their shit. The skeleton head does a creepy 180, and speaks his scary curse. Heed me bus youths, for I am the ghost of future sadstuck. I have traveled back in time and am on a bus for some reason I guess, to punish you for your maudlin fics. For every time you murmured sadstuck while having a feeling, for every fic you pastebinned by candlelight, my curse has grown stronger, and my legend, dumber. Then the skeleton ran out of stuff to say, and looking a little embarrassed, turned around again to keep driving. Then he screamed once he remembered the bus was falling. Thanks for listening to my short story. We like to have a good time here at MS Paint Adventures, The Website. The gigaplay is off to a rocky start of unhewn feels. If your kerchief has become too soggy with tears from emotion, skeleton terror, or just plain admiration for my skill as a short story writer (can't blame you there), and you wish to lighten the mood, I recommend moseying over to Paradox Space, which is currently running a 24 page comic I have written about Crowbar. I am alert to the desires of readers every single day, and the one thing I hear them clamor for above all else, is more stories about CROWBAR. We want more content about Crowbar, RIGHT NOW, they say, and make that content consist of 24 beautifully illustrated comic pages, MINIMUM. I just give the people what they want. Fortunately, Homestuck's Premier Felt Fan #1 Jones was available to do a spectacular job of illustrating this comic. My rambling noir-style monologues have never before overlapped such lovely artwork. GOD TIER TALK! I don't answer Q's about Homestuck much anymore. It was a practice which I think used to be some people's lifeline for decoding the enigmatic runes of this story. Now, since they can no longer depend on answers which I supply between horse jokes and snappy retorts, they are lost in the woods to fend for themselves against the wolves of dubious fanalysis. Pulling the ripcord on the Homestuck machine again, combined with recent story events, makes me think something FAQQY may be in order. The thing is, when you make a big story, and allude to rules for a complicated system dictating mortality, people tend to REALLY, REALLY want to understand how it works. Speculation naturally fills the vacuum in lieu of concrete data. Theories are crafted. Headcanons, congealed. Then, when additional data is presented (DEAD KIDS), which happen to chafe with fanon constructs, feelings run ragged, and Bullshit is called. Then Bullshit shows up, and says, you rang? And the fanonistas say, yes Bullshit. Look at this mess. LOOK at it. This in NO WAY jives with my views on what constitutes heroism and justice. Bullshit nods sagely while lighting its pipe. Earlier in HS when god tier folk were more scarce, the story was more cagey about these verdicts. The Vriska ruling was presented as a close call, which maybe could have gone either way. Then Slick smacked the clock to Just before it could settle, leaving the true verdict ambiguous, and the 'moral debate' intact, so to speak. But now that there are a lot of god tiers running around, with the stakes raised and the body count piling up, the game (or, story) is starting to be more liberal with its rulings. As in, more likely to come down hard on Just, Heroic, or Neither verdicts without intervention or obfuscation, helping us better understand the boundaries of heroic and just action through example. Not necessarily by moral definitions, but as dictated by the rules of a game. So that turns the story guy (sometimes known as an "author") into something like a ref at a basketball game. He blows the whistle when he sees the basketball guy (the "baller") take a half step without bouncing the ball. The home team crowd does not detect the subtle violation and goes boooooo! Those homers can boo all they want, but you know, the guy is really just some bozo with a whistle. The rules are the rules! There's reason to think there is a nuanced scale ranging from Heroic to Just inside the clock. There may be many shades of justice and heroism, some forms just barely qualifying to seal one's fate. But there's nothing nuanced about Alive vs. Dead. The result of a coin flip is absolute, even though there may be many subtle factors contributing to which side it lands on. Such as whether the coin is pure of heart, and whether the table it lands on has ever killed a man. You get a sense for the nuance of the judgment when it comes to these "close calls", like with Vriska, or more recently, with Jade. In her case, she was subject to mind control when she racked up her misdeeds, which ordinarily would probably exempt her. But it wasn't ordinary mind control. More like flipping an "evil switch", removing her ethical filter, thereby letting he personality come through, and giving her license to act on impulses which she'd ordinarily suppress. So this gives the clock something to work with. Still, her behavior is compromised, so it's by no means a slam dunk. (BASKET BALL! that is still the metaphor.) So it's very close, and perhaps the clock even spares her... except for Aranea, whose luck lets close calls break in her favor, and nudges that needle one hair to the Just side. Very unlikely that happens if it's not close already though. Jane's situation is basically the same, and so is her verdict. How about Jake? He's the only player who's had two rulings. The first time, he was blustering Ronald Reagan quotes at the top of his lungs when Jane forked him, which I think we may agree safely disqualifies him from heroism (though the Republican party may disagree). The second time was ruled Heroic, when he took a realmaginary ninja sword through the chest for a friend. This corresponds pretty closely with most people's definition of heroic, so I doubt anyone would consider this one controversial either. Dave? Probably not much to debate here either. Fighting while attempting to save a dead friend, to bring her back to Jane for resurrection. There's a moral element here, tied to common ideas of heroism, so there's not much in dispute. When factors stray somewhat from moral notions of heroism, that's when there is more fuel for debate. So what about Rose? Wasn't John killed by Jack under similar circumstances to how Rose died? So why did he survive, and Rose didn't? The circumstances were very similar, on the surface. But I would suggest that the similarity of the two situations, both leading to different outcomes, helps clarify the rules in play, not confuse them. The reason for this? SCIENCE. If you were a scientist in this fictional world, trying to test this fictional construct, these are the exact kinds of situations you would seek out to prove or disprove whatever hypothesis you had. Situations that are very similar, with most factors isolated, and varying only in minor and controlled ways. That's how you would start to understand where the line is between heroic and non-heroic conduct. So what varies between the situations? What line does Rose cross which John doesn't? It becomes pretty obvious if you break the two scenes down. John was standing there, poised for battle with Jack, for all of two seconds before Jack auto-stabbed him from behind. Not even to speak of the underhanded tactic by the villain, I think what's more important is John didn't even get a chance to move. Or specifically, to prove through action that he was prepared to do battle with a foe. In fact, hindsight may tell us he wasn't. He hadn't been through much then. But years later, when he reenacted that scene with Jack through a dream bubble, he was ready that time. He had years to think about that moment, to reflect on the damage caused by Jack, and what he might have done differently if he'd been more prepared, and if the battle wasn't cut short. But during the first encounter, there was no time for heroic intent to translate into action. Compare with Rose's situation. Her feelings are unambiguous. Her mind is made up, and committed to action in the form of forward motion. Sorry Rose, you took a few too many steps through the paint on your drive to the hoop. Gotta blow the whistle! The two similar situations illustrate where one of the lines are for heroism (as a game rule, not moralistically), and in this case, that line is action. It would seem it's not good enough just to have heroic intentions or bold feelings. It doesn't cut it to strike a pose and look cool for two seconds. The intent should be expressed through commitment to an action. The action is what proves the intent. For all we know, John wasn't ready to back up his posture. For all we know, he was terrified! Rose wasn't though. Her action proved it. Why does Rose lashing out in vengeance count as heroic? If you wanted my personal opinion on heroism, I would say a vengeful act is not heroic by itself. We all have our ideas on what heroism means. But I think this is the wrong question to ask. The concern here is less about the moral definition of a heroic act, and more about how heroism is defined in terms of a series of rules which a game system can enforce. Based on some evidence we have, and some things Doc once said about god tier immortality, it's pretty safe to make at least one generalization about heroism as a game construct. The game/story regards your behavior as Heroic if you make some effort to defeat or kill someone who is villainous (or in other words, someone worthy of a Just death). The state of the hero's mind is just an additional consideration, such as whether they happen to be motivated by anger or vengeance. But let's imagine for a moment that a vengeful act is automatically unworthy of heroism, even if directed against a great evil. Wouldn't this be a MAJOR loophole for god tiers to avoid dying heroic deaths? It would mean to qualify as a hero, you couldn't feel anger toward a villain who has almost certainly done something to provoke anger. If a hero ever experienced loss at the hands of a villain, their natural emotional state would exempt them from the heroic consequence of the actions resulting from that anger. They would be completely invulnerable to a villain, so long as they maintained a grudge! The thing with villains is, they tend to have a way of inflicting loss on others. If being wronged precluded heroic behavior, villains would suddenly discover heroes to be incredibly rare commodities. There's a lot to think about here. It's a combination of how you want to morally define heroism and justice, and how to pragmatically construct enforceable rules to that effect. The latter is something that can get very technical, and boil down to hairline actions such as whether one exhibits clear enough forward motion or such, roughly the way sports are officiated. There's no way I'll ever come up with a full list of rules, or even get much deeper into the rules than I have here. But I believe this is a rational outline for the way the subject may be examined, if you wish to do so!!!

[rapturebones]

#ThrowbackFrihorse

THE FEART CRITIC: Slender Won't Back Down

This week, on The Feart Critic, we will take a look at the blog Slender Won’t Back Down. This blog is still ongoing, but of the existing posts we think there’s a substantial possibility for critical exegesis once textual deconstruction is applied.

Slender Won’t Back Down, on the surface, is the blog of Christopher Lloyd, a thirteen-year-old boy who attempts to answer questions about the Slender Man Mythos but finds his life distraught by a coalition of proxies working for the Slender Man. His girlfriend is threatened, his friends’ lives fall apart, and the proxies on multiple occasions succeed in kidnapping him, though they have yet to successfully convert him into a proxy. The writing style is fluid, brief, occasionally informative but usually rather stream-of-conscious. However, there are recurring moments in the blog that seem to suggest a deeper interpretation.

Chris at one point posts a history of the Slender Man’s relationship with proxies. A very recent era is titled “The Deconstruction of Proxies.” Now, understand that deconstruction is strictly a post-structuralist linguistic and philosophical concept– it is a method of approaching texts, of approaching the concept of meaning. Deconstruction argues, through differance, that a text by definition conveys its own intended meaning as well as multiple simultaneous opposing meanings– a text is its own contrary evidence. There is no other definition for “deconstruction,” so by bringing up such a clear philosophy in this post, Christopher is pointing us in the direction of approaching his text in this manner. He wants us to interpret it, to break it down and see what it is saying. And that is precisely what we do.

So. According to that post, it is not just any deconstruction but the deconstruction of proxies. In the blog, the proxies are a constant opposing force for Chris, but a key element to post-structuralism is that opposing forces serve a sort of symbiotic relationship. You cannot have “good” without “bad” (and vice versa), you cannot have “meaning” without “nonsense” (and vice versa), you cannot have “proxies” without “Chris” (and vice versa). That is the conclusion drawn by breaking down his use of words– all that just in “The Deconstruction of Proxies” (placed in a central location, drawing attention to itself, begging for analysis, insisting importance). So we have established that: Chris and the proxies are opposing forces, and so they need each other to survive. There are many ways to interpret this, but we will call for more textual evidence first.

Early on in the blog, Chris gives a list of his accounts, with a consistent number in a lot of them being “111.” When he discovers the blog of Proxy, the url given is “legendary111.” The two characters share the same number. If we go on legendary111, we will find among its posts this telling quote: “WE HAVE CHRIS HES IN STASIS FOR HIS SHIFT AS PROXY WHICH IS ME”

His shift as proxy which is me. It’s almost as if Chris and Proxy are two conflicting Parts of the same Whole– perhaps fragments of the same psyche, battling for control (their “shift,” as it were) over the body.

Further support: A recent update shows photographs of the coalition of proxies. Aside from a couple of images taken from copyrighted material, the majority of proxies are clearly played by the same actor as Christopher himself. We don’t believe this is a coincidence. We believe this is a deliberate ploy: Christopher is all of the proxies. They are all battling for their “shift.”

Aside from the proxies, there is also the question of other characters– namely, Chris’s friends. The most important is his girlfriend Sierra. A blog is linked to early on, described as hers, but the blog is empty. As Sierra’s presence in Slender Won’t Back Down rarely becomes apparent, we can deduce that Sierra might not exist either, that perhaps she too is another fragment of Chris’s psyche– a missing one, his mythical “goal” to protect, his “baby girl” (a telling description). What this implies, who can tell? For now we’re only giving the evidence.

In fact, very few characters in the blog get much presence. Some of them might be real people, marginalized in the theatre of singular experience. We think it’s more likely, and bear with us here, that all characters are Chris. This blog is the pained story of one blogger’s wrestle with unity, with mind.

Then what of the Slender Man? Of all characters, his presence is the most often felt. Chris describes him as an ancient entity originating in 2300 BCE, whose “Golden Age,” back when “he knew what he was doing,” consisted of the moment the Slender Man sought cults for himself, but whose reign has died down in recent years for reasons never truly stated but implied to be related to proxies. If we recall that “proxies” are fragments of Chris’s psyche, this can be read as Chris attaching a nostalgic significance to a past before his was a mind torn. To connect this with the Slender Man almost seems a red herring, but clearly at some point he ceased to know “what he was doing.” If the Slender Man is the one who instigates, who recruits proxies, he must have some connection.

A constant question on the reader’s mind while reading this tour de force is “Does the Slender Man truly exist as a character, or is this meant to be a running commentary on mythos conventions?” This question is first raised in an early post, where Chris introduces himself as “knowing his away [sic] around The Slender Man Mythos, The Fear Mythos, The Willow Mythos, and The Cthulhu Mythos.” All four are known and established communities of fiction, so if Chris knows his way around them, he must be aware of this. But now that we have begun approaching the text with the psyche interpretation in mind, a third option opens up: The Slender Man is also a fragment of the same psyche. This early post, this mark of awareness of the four separate mythoi, seems almost.. an acknowledgement, a poignant cry for help. “I exist in four mythoi. I am fact and fiction. I am a mind torn,” it seems to say.

One last motif of conflict is this strange association of geography with terms of feminine appearance. Cleveland, Ohio, is described as “beautiful.” Hollywood is associated with “Whore.” A character named Bailey who moves from “beautiful” Ohio to California turns out to be a proxy named “Deformity.” Coincidence? You decide.

So. To recap: Everyone in Slender Won’t Back Down is the same person. The conflict is one of a boy’s mind at war with itself, possibly suppressing memory of some past event. The plot, then, opens up immensely. Proxy, once an obvious beacon of evil, now looks morally ambiguous. Chris, once a blatant source of good, now comes into question. In one post, Proxy posts the famously cryptic “BOOP BOOP BOOOOP” followed by an admission that he will listen and be good now. Chris denies him his chance of redemption– Chris knows the two must oppose, that (to use an analogy) if Shem were to become Shaun, Shaun must then become Shem. A profound philosophical subject covered so subtly in a Slenderblog, affixed so iconically to a series of boops. Archangard had to cover his face at this point in the reading, he had tears in his eyes.

We have obviously only covered a portion of the text, and we have only introduced this interpretation; we have not gone far. That is left up to you. You have all the tools. We will leave you with this: While the question of what split Chris’s psyche has yet to be answered, a fairly recent post gives these dark and telling implications: “Murder and me don’t go together well.”

Breathtaking. Where Slender Won’t Back Down is going, only its author can know, but Archangard and I await future posts with baited breath and recommend its psychological turmoil to all.

See you on the other side, Fear Mythos.

[blindrapture]

and #ThrowbackFrihorse to Pig Bruiser, a 20-minute dance song I made MYSELF

[blindrapture]

also #ThrowbackFrihorse to this short little ditty. Summer’s come and gone by now, but this song fucking sticks. This song is what Summer Sucks is all about. From the start to the finish, this is my best editing work and some of our best writing.

I’m gonna post the lyrics here because why the fuck not, I can be proud of my own work.

I: Here Comes The Sun Country glen with shouting men Growing star erases our Liquid lenis leaving only the Ruptured tenebrious loud thundercloud memoir:

RANGI (WHAT THE THUNDER SAYS): Are you afraid? When we're together I can almost feel you shake. Let me cry for you, though my tears evaporate. Even if the light should destroy us, Wouldn't you... like that? Uh, hm, ahem.

II: The Wind’s An Invisible Jester You left home To satisfy your convic(pass)tion Shun pain, watch, trap it in ice Invisible Jester, come home. I see now, The hurt surrounds us all. To this extent, their flames are meaningless! Clowns falter 'fore impermanence. Invisible Jester, commence. Talk to the wind.

When, how, why? White Jester, White Jester Talk to the wind. Yes, I'm afraid When we are together. I'm afraid my pride forbade me from seeing Exposure to the light hardens victims

Here's a Clown His name's Eugene, eugenicist. "Hey Sunsetto," calling you home "Hey Sunsetto, won't you come home?" Shareholder With dividends in high places, you see. He claims he might be Death. "Hey Sunsetto," calling you home "Hey Sunsetto, you're coming home. Or else!"

III: Ready Your Engine, Eugene Oh, I am too tired for this.

EUGENE: You're tired Hardwired And burning on flaming wings, money. You're tired Unsteady Overwhelmed You can't win, Pig Bruiser. Nerves fired Not ready There's no chance

ME: Yes, I'm tired Hardwired Better keep up! Ready your engine, Eugene.

[Lucius kills Eugene.]

See? I'm tired Hardwired And still take down Any Clown.

IV: Ghost of Capitalisms Past So yeah, summer goes on.

Archangel calculus, How infinitesimal! To go towards but never reach; How maddening to think you were once heresy!

Growing star closing in Melting cars on saucepan roads I know it's dynamo, not personal Still a sad show. Treading so slow Maybe when Aleph Null is full we'll see the afterglow? From bottom-up is impossible.

Adiaphanous number

(VOICE OF) CHORUS: Trapped in birth aging illness death In suffering, you're mine.

V: Kurentovanje III- Duration Of Inferno Seas flood with blood As Death slays War Rise, second sun Soon even blood will dry up

Somewhere Yggdrasil withers Until it's hard as stone.

VI: Watch For Rolling Rocks

VELES: Out of Yggdrasil a giant I am Veles, king of the rocks Come and sleep under the tree You'll see the workings of Society With Papa, mother under Eshu cenotaph asunder Sky bring horrors, make you wonder Meet with Rangi when comes thunder

Clowns won't bother you under the ground You'll be with your new family In restful slumber, peaceful Lay on your back, wait for landslide

Summer comes round The sun comes down Earth is ablaze Mind your young eyes, don't hit your head Or mind your music tastes instead To the Supermarket Yggdrasil, Drop to your knees and pray for skill Pray for balance And pray consumers choose their meal

Sleep under the Earth September Clowns believe just this, remember: "Their anabasis comes at your expenses... Crush them."

ME: O Goodnight, Yggdrasil Summer's too long for goodbyes But a goodnight may be wise O So goodnight, Yggdrasil Yeah, goodnight Yggdrasil Pray consumers choose their meal Else the Clowns will choose for us.

VELES: By the third sun, mountains will bake Mighty clouds will eat the atmosphere and choke whatever remains, Leave Earth as toxic wanderer. Fourth cruel sun won't even grant that, Molten rock combust to plasma, Making Earth itself the fifth sun, Solar system hideous beast. Still the stars will not be done, The next two take our gravity, And by the time come is the last one, We will all become as one sun.

VII: Landslide Lay on your back We will all become as one Wait for landslide What other choice do I have? Actually... I can think of just one thing: Ask the Clowns to dance. Predator, I'm not afraid.

Atop Mount Meru, He reclaims the thirty-third power for the Clowns. Power to erase all evidence, Transcend and escape samsara.

CANIO: There's something higher than God, Beyond form Neither perception nor lack of perception

He longs to define the shape of Shaping He doesn't see me climb the mountain

My first fragment returns from the Chaos, A spring in his step. He has conquered. I open his ears, and he joins the dance that never ends. I send him on his way.

Canio ain't happy.

CANIO: Messing with the balance!

ME: Ah, but I'm not done Pierrot, Canio, or whatever your name is. And then the second falls out of the sky. They found their name: "I'm Sunsetto." I hate to lie, that's not a surprise. Anyway, they join the dance. There was no Conquest, Famine or Death, was there? Just a planet of shades' lament.

CANIO: If you are quite finished, I've got business to do. You know I won't dance? Tarantella's not for me but you.

So he snaps his fingers and he's now a mockingbird Flies away and leaves me here without another word

VIII: The Wordless Sunset INSTRUMENTAL

IX: Remember Sunset

And the world goes dark But it's odd, feel the water rise.

The wind picks up, a sonata It's enough to vibrate the water And if I hold my body still I can just about make out the words:

"It's time to go, we begin again. And this time, no more supermarket; The Clowns will have a better task."

X: The Grand Reopening Gardens all across the Earth are green As up comes a new sun But I'm dancing at the roots of a new Yggdrasil And I still can't stop

The shops open again and no one goes in. The well of destiny: Puddle in the spring.

[blindrapture]

some strange midis.

Look, man. I love making midis. I want to share some too. Song titles are links to Google Drive, where the files can be listened to online or downloaded at leisure. I reserve the right to use any or none of these songs in more ambitious creative works, but my creative soul is a fickle one and I don’t know when I’d be able to show any of that publicly. So, I want to remove excerpts from context and just post music in the wild. For reasons.

Here’s a demo for something which I’m tentatively naming “The Sinking Song.” It’s a part of We Excavate, where many songs that are about water go.

Here’s “Lower Coestts,” a demo that is lost to time now and I probably won’t remake it. But the spirit of the song is loud and clear, even if there’s like a whole minute of silence at the end.

And #ThrowbackFrihorse to my one Homestuck song, “THE BLUE GHOST AGES. AS HOURS PASS.” I still stand by this one. It’s purportedly for, or related to, “Caliborn’s rap album,” but really it’s a pretty personal expression of something.

I refer to this one as “Tension,” but I wouldn’t actually say it’s a tense song, just about tension. I would classify this as more of a bop, myself.

“grungey” is a file I’ve been playing with pretty recently. I know it’s gonna go somewhere, but up until now this is all that’s felt right for the song.

Okay, now for the weird one. Yes, the weird one. Here’s “Windows Vista.” I have never been able to tell what the heck this song is, at any stage of the creative process. I follow urges and associations that feel right, then I see how I can interpret the result. And I... think I like this song?

Finally, “dark city.” Named after an Sonic level that doesn’t exist and has never existed for my entire childhood, in fact for a lot of people’s childhoods. All we have had has been music and aesthetic for what the level would probably be, and our imaginations have grown. There’s some real influence in this piece from songs my best friend has written, and then there’s a passage I can only describe as ‘fun.’

I don’t want to give you a perfectly sensical song just yet. This is only a link-post.

EDIT: .......OH YEAH FUCK, and “Egg Dance” take 2. Military + Religion + Eggman = something.