Truth about epilogue hate and why its bullshit

To be clear I'm not trying to imply you're a fool or a dipshit for reading her as a transfem equivalent. I just think a bit of patience is due when its a matter of an equivalent, yknow? But I also understand having a harsher takeaway.

I am one of those people whose opinion has unfortunately been swayed by the public. I was looking forward to reading HS2 when while reading I heard opinions about how bad it and and the Epilogues were. Don't even get me started on how Jade was handled in Candy, that dog thingy was the reason I have had such a vendetta against her.

I really enjoyed the epilogues when reading them, (omg candy john... candy john save me... and ult dirk ofc), and only really understood a lot of the cooler meta narrative stuff after. However, I don't feel as if they were bad on purpose because I never experienced them as bad? I lovedddd seeing the characters go through various issues, especially since i read it at a time when my own mental health was quite low.

But yeah the shit about candy!john having to realise that the people around him WEREN'T just fake when that's the assumption the reader was also lead to was amazingggg

being bad on purpose is a very weak defense. there was a way to accomplish a "we're trapped in a non-canon fanfic hellscape" without being nearly as bad and offensive.

for example candy's epilogue, if we ignore gamzee's characterization please god, has a decent start with characters just starting to say things and get married and have funerals etc. the scene where rose and kanaya talk about vriska being a hero who defeated lord english to john's confusion is a great example. imagine if they went further with this making john watch as his loved ones stop existing in subtle ways.

but instead of sticking with the "too much sweet will make you sick" thing it was going for, it dropped the nothing is real thing pretty quick and started focusing on non-sweet stuff like genocide and divorce. it feels like it just gave up on doing something interesting in its attempt to piss off the fandom.

meat is a bit better but it could have focused more on being the polar opposite where shit happens constantly. jane's dictatorship and genocide would have fit way better there where things are supposed to be bloody, high stakes, m e a t y.

the epilogues have some really high highs, specifically in its more serious character interactions when it takes a break from rage baiting, but its lows are so very low.

those are the generalized broad issues with the epilogues imo, but if we went into character specific stuff we'd be here all day.

I've always just throught it's because the people who hate the Epilogues the most have more often that not haven't actually read it. They hear their friend (who also hasn't read it) prattle off a plot beat out of context and use that to burn down the whole thing.

I have my complaints with some of the content within the Epilogues but I can't exactly say that it's poorly written.

I will say that the writing decline from the Epilogues to HS2 is incredibly noticeable on a reread I did earlier this year, though.

Oh god I've got to drive through like 6 different takes in 1 post.

I'll start with the broadest topic first: The Epilogues aren't bad on purpose. We know what Hussie writing bad on purpose is she did it like through a dozen different characters in Homestuck. They're not bad either but that's not something to prove or disprove.

The Homestuck Epilogues has a simple premise: What happens if Homestuck didn't end? The phrase "Dubiously Canon" has come to sever the webcomic from its own continuation (without the other way around). Problems arise, things get messy fast, and some characters start dissolving directly into the medium. No that that Medium.

The perils of the Epilogues are also the price of victory. The Epilogues begin in media res: Oedipus has saved the city; now we wait for the punchline. SBURB is supposed to see its player mature over the course of a healthy session. With how much cheating and rushing was needed to survive, the lessons for kids that remained unlearned hurt twice as much. The traits that kept you alive in a traumatic situation only start problems in times where there aren't any.

No matter how hard you try to cleave the two, Meat and Candy remain inseparable in weird ways. Events run perpendicular to each other. The narrative is played with in similar yet distinct ways across both timelines. But more than that, the presence of Candy is in the Meat (and vice-versa). Some of the dumbest, most shipper-induced shit happens in Meat. John leaves so Roxy and Calliope can be alone. Dirk mind-controls a lesbian couple so he ends up with the girl. At the same time, groundbreaking character development and plot-relevant discussions happen in Candy. I'll be honest, I found John dancing with Jake sweet. John reconciling with Roxy brought me to tears.

And ffs, Jade isn't half as bad as other characters describe her. That's what misogyny looks like; call her a whore for actually going on dates and take offense when she retaliates. Some people would rather say Hussie hates women than consider that maybe Karkat and Dave have weird ideas on women they never actually addressed.