So I understand what you all mean. I get that the fandom has pretty much accepted post canon as being official continuations. I will say that it is not my experience that post canon is beyond reproach. I see people criticizing the epilogues constantly. Maybe not here, but in most fandom spaces.

If it makes you feel less alone, here are my critques:

1) I don't think they are a realistic portrayal of the average human experience. It is far too dour. There is a heavy focus on emptiness, betrayal, emotional decay, and alienation. There is very little joy. The reasoning put forward for this is that these characters have severe trauma. As something of a PTSD haver myself, I do not think this is accurate, or at least, it's not a complete picture. I would buy the epilogues a lot more if it was only John, or only a handful of characters who ended up completely miserable. Most people experience joy in their lives. In reality, life with trauma is more complicated than the "all misery and ceaseless emptiness", it's a lot of ups and downs. Yes, some people fall into despair and it destroys them. However, most people are actually able to reach some level of happiness and fufillment, even if their lives aren't perfect. People have survived wars, they've survived abuse, they've survived opression, and they've still been happy. In an attempt to make everyone miserable, for example, they set davekat back to square one. I don't think this is bad in theory, but it feels kind of forced to do an obligatory dave comphet arc when they could just...have him be bisexual? As much as I like dave's mall rant I do think it's revealing that dave is like "yeah i know bisexuality exists but it's funnier for me to think of it like this" like on the one hand, yes. Yes it is. On the other hand, I wish that the story did not constantly try and fit these bisexual characters into the "closeted, unhappy" when there doesn't really seem to be any external pressure for them to be in heterosexual relationships period. i could buy jake as closeted and unhappy, but why make them ALL miserable? just have dave and karkat be well adjusted and you can make a joke about how it's funny that these guys are the ones who ended up doing great.

2) Sensitive topics are not handled well. I feel like OG Homestuck was able to keep a good balance of keeping the cartoon violence and other such transgressions cartoonish and then managing the serious stuff when it wants to make a message. The epilogues treat everything with the same half-serious brush, and it is very awkward. I honestly think act 6 had this problem too. Is the abuse jake is suffering serious? is it funny? is it fetishistic and that's the joke? It's very unclear. Unlike tavros, who takes everything on the chin and doesn't seem bothered by vriska (giving her actions a softer landing), unlike Terezi, whose victimization is played 100% straight, and unlike Dave whose abuse is initially framed as a "joke" but is later deconstructed, Jake is put in increasingly toxic situations that traumatize him, but those situations are almost always framed for laughs. In the epilogues, he is violated by both Jane and Dirk, driving him to drink and leaving him a hollow version of his former self. However, (with the exception of one convo in candy, the revelations of which don't last) the epilogues can't bring themselves to pause and take this seriously for even a moment. It is very frustrating and as a result, Jake isn't allowed to have the development he needs to get even get back to square one. He's just a constant butt monkey and I hate it. I need it either to be comedy and have him not give a fuck, or i need to have it be taken seriously.

2) HIGHLY RELATED: all the characters (with the exception of karkat and kanaya) are assholes or pathetic and not like, in a funny way. Vriska is funny. Equius is funny and I adore him. Rose cheating? not funny. John as a deadbeat dad? Not funny. I understand this is the point, but it made me depressed.

3) A lot of the adult topics (Sex, drugs, alcohol, cheating) feel like they're added to the story to say WOW HEY THIS EXISTS NOW except it always existed? And were treated as a normal part of the universe? I feel like they shouldn't be treated as WOW SHOCKING so much as like, a normal part of the character's lives.

4) gamzee should have eaten shit after falling down a flight of stairs. his death should have been an accident and fodder for a sbahj meme. not...whatever the fuck that was.

Now, that isn't to say I think they're bad. I actually don't. I fully get them and I think they're interesting. I admre hussie and co for being ambitious enough to make something that's as meta and interesting as the HSE and HS^2. But these critiques are really common, and not just in the HSD.

However. Most people who i am friends with who like homestuck either haven't read dub canon, don't like it, or like it less than canon. I barely even talk about it with my homestuck friends. I mean, being a rose, a dirk, or a terezi fan is going to sort of screw you over more than average. I like the meowrails, who were not featured.

Again, I will say re "not feeling good enough" to create a HS ending. I mean, you just have to work hard at it. Most of the works in FR are from fans who have spent years honing their skills. I spent a decade learning how to write these characters. Nothing is stopping you from practicing. Nothing is stopping you from improving. You also