I've been holding off on a small review of Homestuck for the last month, instead preferring to relax and take time for myself while I gathered my thoughts. All in all, there was so much I had forgetten since I first read it as a 12 year old over a decade ago, so I was definitely overwhelmed with how much there was to the story. I can say with certainty; I loved it. The themes resonated with me now as they did then, though now I'm able to see it for what it is rather than imposing what the fandom assumed ten years ago; it's a story about growing up.

Despite being a fan of older media (I'm a huge fan of Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion), I'm not prone to nostalgia very often. My desire to reread was inspired by a handful of meta essays covering classpect, which is what I focused on during this read, but towards the end my read was more for pleasure and interest in how each character grew over actually analyzing it.

My gripes before my praises, I will say, Homestuck is a product of its time. There are slurs, though nowhere near as bad as made out to be, but still there. It mirrors the political culture of the late 2000s, one of "old school" racism, homophobia and transphobia. The narrative pacing itself, while slow from acts 1-4, rapidly picks up pace at a sickening rate in act 5, and act 6 tends to meander with action packed bits littered throughout in an attempt to keep interest. In act 6 especially, there were pages I felt like I was slogging through just waiting for something to get interesting. There were pesterlogs that made me roll my eyes at various slurs used where I felt they had no place other than used as shock factor when a more crafty insult would've fit the character (Karkat and Meenah in particular). Some characters were not fleshed out but rather racial charicatures, such as Meenah, Gamzee and Damara, and their roles in the story made it hard to ignore. My issues with the racism is not new, this was being discussed and condemned while Homestuck was being actively written.

Now, with all of that said, it does remain a fairly strong story, especially in the beginning. I personally am a huge fan of a slow build to climactic action (Hello A Song of Ice and Fire!), and the intrigue Hussie was able to craft through the long pesterlogs, the switching perspectives and late introductions and foreshadowing kept me interested. I recall my first time reading I hated it, but now I was able to enjoy it for what it was.

The switching perspectives allowed both for a wonderful build in the story and an opportunity to expand the worldbuilding from four kids stuck in their rooms with various degrees of antagonistic parents to a cast of characters ranging from the humane to the inhumane, space and time. The various storylines occurring on different planets, at different times or the same places at the same time, concurrently, allows for a grander tale that was not just a group of kids playing a game.

Overall, Homestuck's strengths lie in Andrew Hussie's abilities not as just an artist, but an author as well. It's weaknesses are a culmination of a couple of things: One - Hussie's worldview and culture leading to the more unsavory bits of racism, homophobia and transphobia; and two - Hussie's continuous output that led to daily updates, but later years-long hiatuses that often lost fans while it was continuously updating. Another thing of note is, despite being on the internet and "lasting forever", Homestuck is now only truly maintained on an unofficial collection made into an app, preventing potential readers from accessing the work if they lack a computer. Despite these, Homestuck has made a fantastic mark on both fandom and culture at large, especially when it comes to cosplay. Had it not been for this multi-media bildungsroman, cosplaying would probably not be as mainstream as it is now, or not in the way we perceive it.