Even for the most hardcore fans, explaining what “Homestuck” actually involves is no easy feat. Between its vocabulary, character cast and weird plot shenanigans, “Homestuck” is hardly coherent. That being said, it is the most confusingly brilliant story you could ever encounter.
Created by Andrew Hussie, this 8,130 page web-comic seamlessly blends comedy with the heartbreaking grim. When the massive project began on April 13, 2009, no one was quite sure what to expect. Even now, over 10 years later, “Homestuck” remains an entertaining, albeit complex, story.
It follows the adventures of a 13-year-old boy named John Egbert and his three friends. After uploading a reality-altering sandbox game titled “Sburb” to their computers, their world starts to fall apart. The game forces the kids into a bizarre new dimension called the Incipisphere where an endless war between light and darkness rages on; the main objective of the game is to create a new universe in which everyone can live.
During the kids’ mission to beat Sburb, readers are introduced to various locations inside the Incipisphere. Two planets, Derse and Prospit, serve as the home-worlds of light and darkness. Their eternal battle is over the planet Skaia, the center of it all. Known as the “dormant crucible of unlimited creative potential” in the story, a giant chessboard-style terrain called The Battlefield lies beneath its cloudy sky.
Amidst these worlds, a number of beings wander about and try to complete the game. These “players” consist of humans, cherubs and trolls who communicate with each other through different chat forums. Each character has a unique username, typing quirk and title which provides the player extraordinary power.
Titles are made up of two parts: the class and the aspect. Classes are roles such as mage, knight or lord. Aspects on the other hand are elements like space, blood and doom. Along with these denominations, players have an inventory called a sylladex and a weapon of choice which is stored in what’s called the strife specibus.
Perhaps the hardest part to understand about “Homestuck” is the game’s mechanics. To speak in simple terms, a session of Sburb in “Homestuck” starts out like an ordinary video game: players fight monsters to obtain a monetary reward of boondollars and a substance called Grist which can be used to build anything. In the process, players climb the Echeladder; in essence, they level up. After reaching the top, players can become God Tier; that is, unlock their title powers. However, the only way to do this is through death and rebirth.
In the hopes that anything said here made sense, there are many other fascinating game mechanics, locations, characters, events and themes not mentioned.
“Homestuck” is an extensive masterpiece and explaining it all in such a short space or time simply isn’t possible. In order to fully comprehend the excellence of this web-comic, all one can do is dive right in. The madness of it all is scary at first, and many strange things happen. Nevertheless, there are in-story guides and a comprehensive wiki capable of shedding light on the complexities. “Homestuck” can be found online at https://www.homestuck.com/story/1.
