I'm sorry I didn't really respond to this thread, I logged off the forums for a few days and forgot to check back. Oops. Anyway, I want to thank everyone for their posts, but also clear up some of my original thoughts, as I feel like was being kinda pessimistic and not really explaining myself very well, and I think I finally realized one of the bigger issues I with it all.

So, on the topic of Dirk: I love him!! He's easily one of my favorite characters from Homestuck, and I honestly do like Ultimate Dirk, I really think its a cool concept, you guys helped me realize my hate isn't really with the concept, but more so just the execution, and lack of satisfying screen time it gets (mainly talking about HS^2 with that last complaint). I feel like that's a sentiment I hold with a lot of the stuff in the Epilogues, which moves me onto my main point...

I think the story of post-canon kind of just has a really big pacing issue in general. It's obviously not entirely the fault of the original team, as post-canon stuff in general has had notoriously troubled development, but it was just really disappointing to have that initial gut reaction to reading the Epilogues the first time, then hopping onto HS^2 to see where this was all going, and sitting through update after update of just... nothing of much substance, and then it died for like 3 years. I wouldn't want to wish peak Homestuck Hussie's schedule upon anyone, but its been 6 years since the Epilogues came out and it only feels like we're just now starting to get somewhere with the story.

Anyway, I'm really really sorry for just whining about post-canon again lol, it's not at all what I wanted to make this topic for. I really do feel like I'm starting to gain a bit of a better appreaciation for it as time goes on, and It feels like a lot of the things the Epilogues set up are actually starting to have some tangible effect on the plot, and updates also seem to be coming out way quicker, which is nice. Again, thanks everyone for your posts, I really like seeing everybody's perspectives.