I don't really know where or how to begin this thread but, I guess this is a plea for anybody to help me rediscover my love for Homestuck.
I've spent the last few years feeling at best indifferent and at worse upset at the state of the comic and its continuation, most notably since reading the Epilogues.
I suppose it doesn't help that I read them at a time where they weren't completely annotated for any triggering content in any serious degree and found myself rather blindsided by the overall more grave tone the webcomic took with regard to the characters and their interpersonal relationships and dynamics.
I've been desperately clinging to a hope that one day I'll rediscover the spark that made me enjoy it because I hopelessly miss being able to engage in the fan spaces and feel joy and jubilation at all the creative works that come out of it; I've been given advice before to "ignore" the Epilogue/HS^2/Beyond Canon content and all it entails, but that basically means I cannot actively engage in the fandom because that seems to be all that's left of it.
I think what I want to ask is, what keeps all of you invested? What are you excited for in the story now? To me, it felt like everything was coming to an end and we were getting a happy conclusion, only for the length of the already epic story to be extended for no apparent reason.
Arcs which seemed concluded were suddenly torn back open, relationships which seemed to be canon at the time of the story's end were suddenly backtracked to earlier stages and rather bizarre decisions seemed to be made with the character's behavior at times.
I came into the comic during 2011-2012, I officially got *caught up* just as act 6 started taking off. I wasn't exactly the best at keeping up to date, but I always found myself returning to the story because I was invested in the trajectory of these vibrant characters and ultimately invested in their victory and happiness; is that foolish?
The Epilogues, as much as they were their own epic, felt like a social experiment or literary experiment with regards to exploring more of the meta layers that Homestuck had previously engaged with on a less serious note, with little regard to the characterization or arcs of the characters that came before it. Is that a sentiment that's shared? I feel like sometimes that's a perspective that I hold alone, because everywhere I look the fandom seems to enjoy what they have to offer.
It should also be noted that I was a huge fan of characters like Jane, Dirk and Rose at the time of the comic's conclusion. (As well as Davepeta.)
So I ask, what brings you joy in the current comic? I miss that feeling.
