Interesting music choice in that flash there. A dense mix of old leitmotifs, including ones with nothing to do with any characters at the scene, like Upward Movement and Black. All associated with high-octane, plot-relevant flashes from the first half of the comic. That's got to symbolize plot-relevance, an essential Homestuck-ness which the Candy timeline has been missing. Very fitting.
Also that Vriska art at the beginning of the flash is a *great* reproduction of A5A2-style Hero Mode. I'm not sure if that's a callback to an art asset from Homestuck proper or completely new, but nice to see nonetheless.
excellent analysis actually, i did want it to represent "relevance" in the sort of roundabout way the characters whos themes i mixed in do. (the arpeggios from unite synchronization, killed by br8k spider)
since it uses a pesterquest song as a base and its mainly the hiveswap cherub/portal motif, i thought it might give it that cross-property "relevance" as well.
then, also, used penumbra because i thought it sounded cool and has that sort of mysterious vibe in a fandom way. anyway not an exact science and i AM talking out of my ass a little bit but im glad someone figured out the vague intention.
it wasnt going to be a [S] page until a few weeks ago, it was going to be a bunch of gifs but when we saw kim's animations we decided we had to go for it. there will be another short one soon, actually
Nah, I just periodically check in when updates happen to see what the community reception to them is, and couldn't pass up seeing the first [S] page in a very long time.
Thank you for the commentary! It's a treat whenever an artist in any medium chooses to spill a handful of their magic beans.
Does this pointed song have a name? Immediately after watching I went straight to the Credits page on the website to see if a Music Credits link had gone up ala the base MSPA site, and I don't know if that exists internally for future developments, but it hasn't yet been updated to even imply the project contains extended audio.
havent named it because its like a few seconds long so not really a whole song... but i name songs stupid shit so if one of you guys wants to take a crack at it thats fine.
I think it'd be really funny if you considered this comment thread a suggestion box for the next 24 hours or so. See a bunch of people comment and pick your favourite of the bunch, as a picometer-scale throwback to one of the notable functions of the MSPAF.
My own suggestion of this ilk is "Touchpoint". A little on the nose, but the phrase [has multiple definitions](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/touchpoint) and I think all of them have some relevance here.
Lite Korknot Reparations
(Lightweight corking reparations. Like a cork that is used to cork a bottle of wine, but is also technically buoyant in water, but making amends for the past and repairing the future, knotting everything back together with a single lightweight flotation plug made of light - since it has similar vibe motifs to The Felt too.)
Fantastic theming tbh. Really showcases the nature of a canon-locker. Which further exemplifies what the point might actually be. A singularity knot that ties \*everything\* into relevance.
At first I was also a little peeved.
But then I realized.
"Yeah honestly, for how much Vriska keeps being touted as main character material, she's never actually gotten a real main character moment. She has always been side support and just very \*loud.\* She has never actually done anything outside of character development and seeing other sides of herself and other ways of being."
John has been main character material for quite a long time, despite his seemingly less important role (depending on who you ask, I figure), but it's better this way because it further showcases how good John and Vriska are for each other, really. John clearly mellows out Vriska and her need to be the one doing things, so she can trust a bit better and lay low, allowing her to stop being what the narrative demands she be at all times.
But at the same time, John got the Plot Hole.
Vriska got the Plot Point.
John's a little ghostie theydy.
Vriska's an anchor point and public figure, so to speak. An arachnid's grip, if you will.
I like this a lot. Knowing the music motifs just makes it all the more apparent and palpable. Everything is being knotted into relevance.
Ok so in the homestuck books, Andrew hussie would write long strings of author notes and put them at the bottom of the page, which in the end would take up more space than the story itself. You should read some dude there pretty long
On Patreon, the artists and writers of Beyond Canon write commentary for the updates. After two months, they're made available to non-patrons. Maybe you already know about this, but if not, there's a large backlog you can look through for commentary from the previous team as well as the current team.
I'm curious too, but I doubt they'll answer with a percentage or anything like that. The closest I think they came to an answer is in this video [1], wherein, if I recall correctly, they said they threw the old outline out, but maybe some vague plot points would be followed. So I think not very much of it will be followed.
I don't have time to get a time stamp for the video. I think it was relatively early on.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmXm5VhMbIw
Some quotes from the video, now that I had time to skip through it:
58:20
**Questioner**: The original Homestuck 2 team was also given an outline for whatever type of plot they had originally --
**Roach**: Oh yeah, we scrapped it.
**Q**: *You* scrapped it, okay, yeah [laughter]
**R**: There's like a lot of, we took one -- hmm two -- ideas that were kind of like the major story beats of what's supposed to happen, where it's like -- I guess the outline of it we kept elements of, but we changed a lot of the details, mmm we kind of just rewrote -- I don't want to say fixed it -- because there was just a lot of things in it that were just like ehhhhh - we're not tied to that anymore, we can kind of do whatever with this, so it's like while we resolve these old story beats from like -- and a lot of people are like why not just retcon it, it's like because that would suck, it would not be a cohesive read. We'll resolve it in universe slowly.
[...]
I feel like because it's other people's writing -- that was one of the big reasons for it too, it wasn't entirely like "we hated that dogshit, and we threw it in the river", it wasn't like that entirely, it's just like other people wrote this who aren't here, and I don't want to use other people's work without crediting and all of that, and I think that we like can take the good parts of it, or rather the main sort of outline from Andrew and how things resolve and just make it work. Like, we can make it work, we're not fixing it, we're just making it work now. Which I guess technically is how you would define fixing something.
I believe that Vriska is an edit of [this Vriska](https://www.homestuck.com/story/3810).
Edit: From conversation on Discord I'll add that this particular panel is from a page explaining the concept of circumstantial simultaneity, which could be seen as an especially Relevant concept/panel to bring back.
[https://cdn.beyondcanon.com/assets/story/homestuck-beyond-canon/multimedia/653/html5/assets/hell\_tierwav.mp3](https://cdn.beyondcanon.com/assets/story/homestuck-beyond-canon/multimedia/653/html5/assets/hell_tierwav.mp3) \- Here's the raw link. Interesting that it's called "hell tier", not sure what it implies besides this being Very Bad for vriska
If it wasn't obvious, this is not THE \[S\] page they've been building up to, James says it was just something that got a bit more love because of how good the animations were coming along for this set.
Hiveswap act 3 gets yearly progress updates at SAHcon (Stuck at home con) which is a discord server, they have shown a few background characters, a few backgrounds, Cridea Jeevik, and the green limeblood ? character who is an axolotl type thing.
Has he aged? Been wondering about that. I mean, he's alive again but he's also been traveling around with Aradia, so we have no idea how much time has passed for those two
Bringing this up because years ago his and Roxy's ship name "Long Island Iced Bees" (which is so damn funny XD kudos to whoever came up with it) has stuck with me despite not shipping it, and if they're a similar age now (or at least both adults), the shippers finally have interaction between these two lol. Even if it's just platonic "and they were roommates" annoyance lol
Anyway, sorry for rambling, the name is just too funny to not share
So this is confirmation that Alt Callie has had and continues to have some control over Candy/was the Candy narrator. Which was theorised by most but I dont think it was actually explicitly confirmed up to now.
That first page was annoyingly drawn out going over information we already know, which is irritating story pacing. But they lampshaded it/used it as impetus for Vriska, so I guess it's fine. Good update overall.
There is now a mystery of how did the 'ruined juju arch' actually get there? They posted the last couple pages a little late, so I was initially annoyed that Callie built this and yet doesn't know how it works, but this was somewhat addressed later? It's a bit handwaved but whatever. Still, the mysterious origin of the arch is something I hope is not just there to be enigmatic and is something which will actually be answered.
I'm wondering where the 'specific' hell Vriska has ended up in is? It's clearly not as simple as just zapping her to Meat. Is wherever she is tailored to her personal trauma or something? What makes it 'specific'?
Oh god, I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. Vriska being an ult self... she'll at least realise what it's like to be a victim? And may finally grow? And maybe get the hell over herself???
i think her intentions are also to keep the story going
but in a direction different to dirk by making a session that breaches canon, rather than one that feeds straight back into it [dirk's session]
Vriska doesn't care about breaching canon though, she made it clear she just wanted to do stuff and care about the consequences later. If this doesn't end in Vriska learning a lesson, it's Act 6 all over again.
I freaking KNEW she was the narrator! It's why I hate the ship trio Candy refugees, because they know very well what's going on and refuse to do anything about it. Even though Sollux is pretty much done with it, at least he stayed around.
I think the “hell” is going to be her sitting with Death from problem sleuth playing board games for a while. Being able to do nothing WOULD be hell for Vriska.
Okay time to cook
"ROXY: you said you were being compelled by like hella visions n premonishes n mysterious psychic spatiotemporal intuitions n i kinda figured that meant you had this shit all ttly comprehended!"
This is a big "speculate!" line. Calliope didn't find the plot point on her own, she was guided via *visions* by somebody else. It explicitly *isn't* Al, and it makes no sense to be Dirk. My first thought is GavageCunctation, who has already been shown to have mysterious powers, and who I suspect is going to be the secret fifth kid (since the Omega's have 5-letter names), but the Juju is a "Skaian" artifact, and there's only one narrative force in Homestuck that manipulates via giving the kids visions: **Skaia.**
In early Homestuck, Skaia is hinted at being a more antagonist force. It's the one assigning kids roles, it's the one trying to fit them all into heroic archetypes. It's the story itself, against which the kids rebel, but it's also the source of all their powers. All the classpects, all the gods, even the ultimate selves are all Skaia's doing. The antagonism eventually got co-opted by Lord English, who IMO never fully worked. But Skaia's always been the OG authorial force in Homestuck, and I think it's re-asserting itself here. Dirk has alluded to having unknown assistants, and I think Dirk and Al both are getting played.
it also uses music from the early acts in vriska’s flash, when skaia was the main force manipulating the players. i mainly recognize black but can hear some others too.
I love leitmotifs, but I have no ear for music apparently. I found Black at the end after going back and listening for it, but people Killed 8y 8r8k Spider and I'm like ????
So what do we actually think the plot point does then? This isnt how the portals worked in Hiveswap. I would find it really funny if Vriska just got spaghettified and we never see her again.
Does no one else wonders what these enigmatic forces at play even are? Is it Calliope and Dirk they're referring? It is Al singularity isn't it? But they could also be referring to the forces beyond Calliope's control? Who could they be? Hmmm.
Fathoming...
based on the use of music from big stuff early on, the fact that it is visions calliope refers to, and dirk kinda hinted at there being something more aiding him (also another addition here) i am of the belief it is skaia. it is stated not to be alt! calliope and makes no sense to be dirk. skaia is the only force that would manipulate the players via visions in order to further the plot as well.
But Skaia is a creation force, it doesn't destroy.
Why would Calliope believe that it could destroy Vriska or even their plane of existence? Al also spoke of these enigmatic forces affecting canon... I believe they could be the readers or some manifestation of them? Hussie also joked about forces outside his control
Skaia does destroy, though. It activates defense portals to defend itself during the Reckoning. Even though it's self-defense, that's still Skaia destroying for the sake of creating.
Calliope doesn't know who it is, she's just having visions. And even if she did, the characters (especially the prospit dreamers) tend to assume Skaia is benevolent based on almost nothing.
This is our third one but the first one to actually be significant. Here are the other two:
https://beyondcanon.com/story/164
https://beyondcanon.com/story/282
This is the first official [S] page with "full" animation and music for HS2/HSBC, and basically the first one of them for the whole series in eight years, which is the big thing.
A few shots and some new music (or a pared down existing song if you want to) setting the vibe, I am more than happy to get these whenever they can be fit in.
I'm glad the new team isn't using every update to shit talk the fandom, but can the plot please actually start instead of extending this prologue into infinity?
I don't want Alt!Calliope to explain what just happened because what just happened is just more prologue bullshit that will not immediately lead into anything. I don't want to watch slow-mo footage of a game of pool's break, to do a shitty metaphor. Get to the actual game of pool. I want characters to start taking turns doing things they understand for reasons that make sense to them, instead of blindly setting up a story that has no clear direction, full of mysteries that not even the writers know the answers to.
>but can the plot please actually start instead of extending this prologue into infinity?
Technically this is Act 1, while the original Homestuck^2 pages are the prologue.
i'll be honest... that vriska getting sucked into the black hole animation (to be exact the bits of still image of her getting elongated) felt kinda cheap. or was it intended to be this way due to being in candy universe?
Interesting music choice in that flash there. A dense mix of old leitmotifs, including ones with nothing to do with any characters at the scene, like Upward Movement and Black. All associated with high-octane, plot-relevant flashes from the first half of the comic. That's got to symbolize plot-relevance, an essential Homestuck-ness which the Candy timeline has been missing. Very fitting. Also that Vriska art at the beginning of the flash is a *great* reproduction of A5A2-style Hero Mode. I'm not sure if that's a callback to an art asset from Homestuck proper or completely new, but nice to see nonetheless.
excellent analysis actually, i did want it to represent "relevance" in the sort of roundabout way the characters whos themes i mixed in do. (the arpeggios from unite synchronization, killed by br8k spider) since it uses a pesterquest song as a base and its mainly the hiveswap cherub/portal motif, i thought it might give it that cross-property "relevance" as well. then, also, used penumbra because i thought it sounded cool and has that sort of mysterious vibe in a fandom way. anyway not an exact science and i AM talking out of my ass a little bit but im glad someone figured out the vague intention.
I wish it was longer though. I wonder if Sollux waltzing into the room will make him an unwillingly active member of the group.
the song? it was done explicitly for that sequence, so thats all it will ever be.
No I mean the sequence.
it wasnt going to be a [S] page until a few weeks ago, it was going to be a bunch of gifs but when we saw kim's animations we decided we had to go for it. there will be another short one soon, actually
Thank you all for going for it.
Kim did a great job on the animations, they were very smooth and well done.
I guess you've caught up, then?
Nah, I just periodically check in when updates happen to see what the community reception to them is, and couldn't pass up seeing the first [S] page in a very long time.
Fair enough. This one's pretty understandable even if you hadn't read anything since the reboot.
It was cool!
Thank you for the commentary! It's a treat whenever an artist in any medium chooses to spill a handful of their magic beans. Does this pointed song have a name? Immediately after watching I went straight to the Credits page on the website to see if a Music Credits link had gone up ala the base MSPA site, and I don't know if that exists internally for future developments, but it hasn't yet been updated to even imply the project contains extended audio.
havent named it because its like a few seconds long so not really a whole song... but i name songs stupid shit so if one of you guys wants to take a crack at it thats fine.
I think it'd be really funny if you considered this comment thread a suggestion box for the next 24 hours or so. See a bunch of people comment and pick your favourite of the bunch, as a picometer-scale throwback to one of the notable functions of the MSPAF. My own suggestion of this ilk is "Touchpoint". A little on the nose, but the phrase [has multiple definitions](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/touchpoint) and I think all of them have some relevance here.
yeah ok lets do that
Lite Korknot Reparations (Lightweight corking reparations. Like a cork that is used to cork a bottle of wine, but is also technically buoyant in water, but making amends for the past and repairing the future, knotting everything back together with a single lightweight flotation plug made of light - since it has similar vibe motifs to The Felt too.)
Call it "The song that play when X" where X is a long description of the *next* \[S\] page. Confuse the shit out of everyone.
May I propose something like "Plot Singularity"?
"just like a regular w@rd"
hi james roach can you call the song "hi james roach'
"Hyperrelev8cy" >!~~(Vriska fucking dies edition)~~!<
Fantastic theming tbh. Really showcases the nature of a canon-locker. Which further exemplifies what the point might actually be. A singularity knot that ties \*everything\* into relevance. At first I was also a little peeved. But then I realized. "Yeah honestly, for how much Vriska keeps being touted as main character material, she's never actually gotten a real main character moment. She has always been side support and just very \*loud.\* She has never actually done anything outside of character development and seeing other sides of herself and other ways of being." John has been main character material for quite a long time, despite his seemingly less important role (depending on who you ask, I figure), but it's better this way because it further showcases how good John and Vriska are for each other, really. John clearly mellows out Vriska and her need to be the one doing things, so she can trust a bit better and lay low, allowing her to stop being what the narrative demands she be at all times. But at the same time, John got the Plot Hole. Vriska got the Plot Point. John's a little ghostie theydy. Vriska's an anchor point and public figure, so to speak. An arachnid's grip, if you will. I like this a lot. Knowing the music motifs just makes it all the more apparent and palpable. Everything is being knotted into relevance.
Bro kinda went Andrew Hussie author notes there
Huh? Context please.
Ok so in the homestuck books, Andrew hussie would write long strings of author notes and put them at the bottom of the page, which in the end would take up more space than the story itself. You should read some dude there pretty long
On Patreon, the artists and writers of Beyond Canon write commentary for the updates. After two months, they're made available to non-patrons. Maybe you already know about this, but if not, there's a large backlog you can look through for commentary from the previous team as well as the current team.
No I'm talking about homestuck^1 Can I say that? Homestuck^1
I'm sorry, I misread your comment. I thought you said "bro [I] kinda want Andrew Hussie author notes". But you said went. My bad.
Its okay
Ahh fair enough. Yeah I read some of those commentary bits in the first HS book. Always great. :)
I'm gonna need you to never utter the word "knotted" again please.
Why? What's wrong with the word knotted?
jade harley has one
Has what? A knot? Like a rope knot?
Great work on this! I feel these sort short musical pages really touch into the core identity of homestuck.
I am curious—how much of Hussie's original outline for HSBC from years ago has made it into the current plan for the comic?
I'm curious too, but I doubt they'll answer with a percentage or anything like that. The closest I think they came to an answer is in this video [1], wherein, if I recall correctly, they said they threw the old outline out, but maybe some vague plot points would be followed. So I think not very much of it will be followed. I don't have time to get a time stamp for the video. I think it was relatively early on. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmXm5VhMbIw
That's a little disappointing but in a strange way sort of completes the weird-ass meta stuff Hussie was working with I suppose.
Some quotes from the video, now that I had time to skip through it: 58:20 **Questioner**: The original Homestuck 2 team was also given an outline for whatever type of plot they had originally -- **Roach**: Oh yeah, we scrapped it. **Q**: *You* scrapped it, okay, yeah [laughter] **R**: There's like a lot of, we took one -- hmm two -- ideas that were kind of like the major story beats of what's supposed to happen, where it's like -- I guess the outline of it we kept elements of, but we changed a lot of the details, mmm we kind of just rewrote -- I don't want to say fixed it -- because there was just a lot of things in it that were just like ehhhhh - we're not tied to that anymore, we can kind of do whatever with this, so it's like while we resolve these old story beats from like -- and a lot of people are like why not just retcon it, it's like because that would suck, it would not be a cohesive read. We'll resolve it in universe slowly. [...] I feel like because it's other people's writing -- that was one of the big reasons for it too, it wasn't entirely like "we hated that dogshit, and we threw it in the river", it wasn't like that entirely, it's just like other people wrote this who aren't here, and I don't want to use other people's work without crediting and all of that, and I think that we like can take the good parts of it, or rather the main sort of outline from Andrew and how things resolve and just make it work. Like, we can make it work, we're not fixing it, we're just making it work now. Which I guess technically is how you would define fixing something.
Oh okay, that's a bit less absolute than I thought it was haha, thank you.
I believe that Vriska is an edit of [this Vriska](https://www.homestuck.com/story/3810). Edit: From conversation on Discord I'll add that this particular panel is from a page explaining the concept of circumstantial simultaneity, which could be seen as an especially Relevant concept/panel to bring back.
Yeah, the song clip went hard, I'm not too sure how the Homestuck albums go but I'd like to get it on Spotify at some point.
[https://cdn.beyondcanon.com/assets/story/homestuck-beyond-canon/multimedia/653/html5/assets/hell\_tierwav.mp3](https://cdn.beyondcanon.com/assets/story/homestuck-beyond-canon/multimedia/653/html5/assets/hell_tierwav.mp3) \- Here's the raw link. Interesting that it's called "hell tier", not sure what it implies besides this being Very Bad for vriska
You do have to use "save link as" on it though, directly opening it just shows the file as plaintext
Ah yes, high octane moments, or as AH called it, *meat*, fits with that being technically a portal to the meat timeline
knowing vriska this was most likely a minor setback for her
“Oh noooooooo! *Anyways……..*”
T'is but a scratch.
a \*scratch\* you say?
A minor one, a tiny light one, as a treat.
Yeah, she's so story relevant that she will make herself exist
If it wasn't obvious, this is not THE \[S\] page they've been building up to, James says it was just something that got a bit more love because of how good the animations were coming along for this set.
Ok good, I was a little confused if I had just gotten my hopes up a little too much
Hell yeahhhhh.
Prediction: Vriska is in Harley Manor, right after Joey left, and will be interacting with Jude Harley and, um, Dammok or whatever his name was.
Would be a great consolation for Hauntswitch likely never happening
Likely never doesn't begin to sum it up.
Ok that would be based as fuck. ...If unlikely.
Alternatively, she could wind up in front of an adult Joey and Jude and wind up bringing them back to Candy with her.
That would be awesome if it segued into an announcement for Hiveswap Act 3
Hiveswap act 3 gets yearly progress updates at SAHcon (Stuck at home con) which is a discord server, they have shown a few background characters, a few backgrounds, Cridea Jeevik, and the green limeblood ? character who is an axolotl type thing.
An official announcement of a trailer or launch date would be super cool though
Sollux fans continue to celebrate ayyyy
He has continued to be one of the best characters in this new era of HSBC
I love that Sollux's whole deal in Beyond Canon is just chilling out and being annoyed that the main characters are here
He needs to stop being an edgy teen though, especially since he's in his 30s.
Has he aged? Been wondering about that. I mean, he's alive again but he's also been traveling around with Aradia, so we have no idea how much time has passed for those two Bringing this up because years ago his and Roxy's ship name "Long Island Iced Bees" (which is so damn funny XD kudos to whoever came up with it) has stuck with me despite not shipping it, and if they're a similar age now (or at least both adults), the shippers finally have interaction between these two lol. Even if it's just platonic "and they were roommates" annoyance lol Anyway, sorry for rambling, the name is just too funny to not share
I think of their ship as being toffee-taffy, since Sollux's text is toffee coloured and Roxy's is an artificial looking taffy.
Hes not an edgy teen, hes just done.
He doesn't need to be that much of a dick about it. Also it's Earth, so he's obviously the alien...
One thing that's annoying is they shifted from his blind quirk to his half ghost one.
Meanwhile tavros and the other forgotten trolls bide their time
So this is confirmation that Alt Callie has had and continues to have some control over Candy/was the Candy narrator. Which was theorised by most but I dont think it was actually explicitly confirmed up to now. That first page was annoyingly drawn out going over information we already know, which is irritating story pacing. But they lampshaded it/used it as impetus for Vriska, so I guess it's fine. Good update overall. There is now a mystery of how did the 'ruined juju arch' actually get there? They posted the last couple pages a little late, so I was initially annoyed that Callie built this and yet doesn't know how it works, but this was somewhat addressed later? It's a bit handwaved but whatever. Still, the mysterious origin of the arch is something I hope is not just there to be enigmatic and is something which will actually be answered. I'm wondering where the 'specific' hell Vriska has ended up in is? It's clearly not as simple as just zapping her to Meat. Is wherever she is tailored to her personal trauma or something? What makes it 'specific'?
maybe al is trying to eliminate her to prevent her from becoming a threat but i think it'll backfire with the result of vriska becoming an ult self
Alt Callie certainly seems to view it as a kind of karmic punishment. She just says 'consequences', but it's implied to be a rash and bad decision.
Oh god, I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. Vriska being an ult self... she'll at least realise what it's like to be a victim? And may finally grow? And maybe get the hell over herself???
i think her intentions are also to keep the story going but in a direction different to dirk by making a session that breaches canon, rather than one that feeds straight back into it [dirk's session]
Vriska doesn't care about breaching canon though, she made it clear she just wanted to do stuff and care about the consequences later. If this doesn't end in Vriska learning a lesson, it's Act 6 all over again.
I freaking KNEW she was the narrator! It's why I hate the ship trio Candy refugees, because they know very well what's going on and refuse to do anything about it. Even though Sollux is pretty much done with it, at least he stayed around.
I wonder if the abandoned theories Callie mentions are referencing the old H² plot, before the reprise.
I think the “hell” is going to be her sitting with Death from problem sleuth playing board games for a while. Being able to do nothing WOULD be hell for Vriska.
first [S] since 2020 and it's a vriska flash 💙🕷️☀️ stay winning
Okay time to cook "ROXY: you said you were being compelled by like hella visions n premonishes n mysterious psychic spatiotemporal intuitions n i kinda figured that meant you had this shit all ttly comprehended!" This is a big "speculate!" line. Calliope didn't find the plot point on her own, she was guided via *visions* by somebody else. It explicitly *isn't* Al, and it makes no sense to be Dirk. My first thought is GavageCunctation, who has already been shown to have mysterious powers, and who I suspect is going to be the secret fifth kid (since the Omega's have 5-letter names), but the Juju is a "Skaian" artifact, and there's only one narrative force in Homestuck that manipulates via giving the kids visions: **Skaia.** In early Homestuck, Skaia is hinted at being a more antagonist force. It's the one assigning kids roles, it's the one trying to fit them all into heroic archetypes. It's the story itself, against which the kids rebel, but it's also the source of all their powers. All the classpects, all the gods, even the ultimate selves are all Skaia's doing. The antagonism eventually got co-opted by Lord English, who IMO never fully worked. But Skaia's always been the OG authorial force in Homestuck, and I think it's re-asserting itself here. Dirk has alluded to having unknown assistants, and I think Dirk and Al both are getting played.
it also uses music from the early acts in vriska’s flash, when skaia was the main force manipulating the players. i mainly recognize black but can hear some others too.
I love leitmotifs, but I have no ear for music apparently. I found Black at the end after going back and listening for it, but people Killed 8y 8r8k Spider and I'm like ????
cackled when Vriska pulled a Vriska and then immediately felt the consequences of her actions (Vriska moment)
So what do we actually think the plot point does then? This isnt how the portals worked in Hiveswap. I would find it really funny if Vriska just got spaghettified and we never see her again.
The good ending ngl
High quality upd8 for sure. Vriska makes the bridge between void and cannon (space). Not the first to do so, but many will follow.
WE FINALLY GOT AN ACTUAL [S] PAGE WOOOO!!!!
I can't believe Vriska is fucking dead. Again.
Does no one else wonders what these enigmatic forces at play even are? Is it Calliope and Dirk they're referring? It is Al singularity isn't it? But they could also be referring to the forces beyond Calliope's control? Who could they be? Hmmm. Fathoming...
based on the use of music from big stuff early on, the fact that it is visions calliope refers to, and dirk kinda hinted at there being something more aiding him (also another addition here) i am of the belief it is skaia. it is stated not to be alt! calliope and makes no sense to be dirk. skaia is the only force that would manipulate the players via visions in order to further the plot as well.
But Skaia is a creation force, it doesn't destroy. Why would Calliope believe that it could destroy Vriska or even their plane of existence? Al also spoke of these enigmatic forces affecting canon... I believe they could be the readers or some manifestation of them? Hussie also joked about forces outside his control
Skaia does destroy, though. It activates defense portals to defend itself during the Reckoning. Even though it's self-defense, that's still Skaia destroying for the sake of creating.
Calliope doesn't know who it is, she's just having visions. And even if she did, the characters (especially the prospit dreamers) tend to assume Skaia is benevolent based on almost nothing.
[S] page baby we made it it's all about the Mets gotta love the Mets baby.
Just a friendly reminder that the music track is titled "hell_tierwav.mp3" As that, you know, will heavily influence theories.
what a FANTASTIC update. homestuck 2 haters stay losing I am selling my soul to Roach & Co™
Wait, is this the first or second S or what?
This is our third one but the first one to actually be significant. Here are the other two: https://beyondcanon.com/story/164 https://beyondcanon.com/story/282
This is the first official [S] page with "full" animation and music for HS2/HSBC, and basically the first one of them for the whole series in eight years, which is the big thing. A few shots and some new music (or a pared down existing song if you want to) setting the vibe, I am more than happy to get these whenever they can be fit in.
Third
I'm glad the new team isn't using every update to shit talk the fandom, but can the plot please actually start instead of extending this prologue into infinity? I don't want Alt!Calliope to explain what just happened because what just happened is just more prologue bullshit that will not immediately lead into anything. I don't want to watch slow-mo footage of a game of pool's break, to do a shitty metaphor. Get to the actual game of pool. I want characters to start taking turns doing things they understand for reasons that make sense to them, instead of blindly setting up a story that has no clear direction, full of mysteries that not even the writers know the answers to.
>but can the plot please actually start instead of extending this prologue into infinity? Technically this is Act 1, while the original Homestuck^2 pages are the prologue.
That's a distinction without a difference.
So, where does this plot point lead?
JANE: I had to become an adult before ANY of you decided to catch up. Wow.
Lmao vriska is dead
I fucking wish.
vriska got slurped up lmao
VASKA 😩
i'll be honest... that vriska getting sucked into the black hole animation (to be exact the bits of still image of her getting elongated) felt kinda cheap. or was it intended to be this way due to being in candy universe?