paulscoolplace asked you:

What was the inspiration behind the source new names? Why not just open the suggestion boxes to the floodgates and start anew with names?

There are only so many names that fit the format (4 letters), and people would just suggest them all. I already have access to the field of all names to choose from. In this case I just went with some super simple vanilla names starting with J and similar to the names of their counterparts. Besides, their placronyms were already engraved years ago. My hands were tied.

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cruxtrudeir asked you:

Does Jake English’s last name make him affiliated with LE in any way? Or is his name, shirt, and poster just a result of how LE has influenced Earth?

That is so totally the sorta question it makes no sense for me to answer!!!

Without commenting on why he has that name or any of the other stuff, I will say that I think, HS story ramifications notwithstanding, Jake English actually is a pretty badass name for a dude. Also, it means he has the same initials as John.

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katrka asked you:

How excited were you to get to this act and reveal these new characters?

It’s hard to say, because most of the excitement over the idea was generated when the idea itself was formed, which was around two years ago. The whole kid-guardian swap thing grew out of the development of their ectobiological origin story, and I thought it was a fun idea to build toward. In fact, a huge amount of the way I structured the plot was centered around this idea. A big part of the inspiration for the hard reset concept was to facilitate this idea I thought had a lot of exciting potential.

But then after the excitement of the initial conceptualization, there’s the long trek to get there, accompanied by grueling labors of execution. There were pockets of time when excitement was reinvigorated, like during weeks of tedious animation, it’s hard not to think “man it sure would be way more fun to make some new kids go on cool adventures instead of this bullshit.” But for the most part, once it was time to put the idea in play, it had been around in my head so long, the reaction is more like “welp, here we are.”

Additionally, because this idea was around for so long, there is a huge amount of foreshadowing groundwork laid for it, much of which is barely veiled. By the time we got into the little backstory arc about the scratched ancestor session and their swapped roles, it was pretty loud and clear. That was like me sitting in a lifeguard tower yelling in a bullhorn “GET READY FOR THE KID GUARDIAN SESSION, THIS IS WHAT’S HAPPENING.” There are lots of major curveballs thrown at you in HS. I personally don’t think this was one.

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meddlingfashionista asked you:

When will you give us Younger Bro And Mom?

In a little while. Guaranteed: not as soon as you want.

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irisu-syndrome asked you:

How do you feel about people shipping you with the creator of Hetalia? Does it creep you out or anything? :o

I don’t care to the Nth power about crap like this. I am like an acrobatic thief breaking into an art museum, and the security lasers are me giving a shit. Then I don’t steal anything because it’s all anime.

I noticed there were a few Hetalia ads on MSPA though. So I guess SOMEBODY must be shipping HIS CASH with MY WALLET!!!!!!!!!!!!

XD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Which I promptly flushed down the server expense toilet.)

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serendiipityriising asked you:

What’s the deal with the Ophiuchus troll?

Well, the deal is that somebody, somewhere, is sitting at a computer.

The computer has a Caduceus symbol on it, which is sometimes, but not definitively, associated with the 13th zodiac sign, which contrary to recent news, is not a new addition to astrology. It’s been around for centuries, but was not incorporated into the zodiac most people are familiar with, for whatever reason. Hence, the “13th troll” has been a point of furious speculation since the first appearance of the trolls in the story. So…

That is what the deal with that is.

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sprinkletit asked you:

what’s the sweet bro and hella jeff moive plot?

I don’t know, but I think plot is probably the wrong word.

Opening the film with a ten minute montage of bro falling down some stairs would probably be the conservative approach. Just some really solid stage setting, established in classical film making tradition to butter up the critics. It also clearly sets up a strong antagonist for the moive, stairs. It is a foe which is never bested, for you see, the film is an American tragedy.

Other than that, probably lots of profane non sequitur and hug bumps issued by Wilson and Stiller, who will have been heavily coached in their acting to achieve a sort of rigid, surrealistic demeanor just off the mark of any heretofore observed human behavior. Like the uncanny valley of mannerism. Lace heavily with artifacts, visual and audible, and don’t be surprised if at some point a 20 minute clip of a completely different movie is inserted, uncut, flipped vertically, and tortured with various Photoshop filters. Finally, the climax will be the stunning resolution to a series of dilemmas not previously introduced in the film, all of which center around the inability of either character to perform simple motor functions. Then we see oversaturated low quality footage of Tony Hawk doing grinds while the credits roll, which contain not a single word which isn’t “fuck.”

Also, I think Geromy would be this guy.

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cruxtrudeir asked you:

Will another 12 alternate trolls be introduced?

That would be such a shitload of trolls!!!!!

Do we need twelve more? I mean, if I introduced twelve more trolls, I might as well introduce another hundred. Right?

Which might be fine??? Hey, who wants me to introduce a hundred more trolls? Any takers? Probably lots of people, I bet.

How about if I introduce 10,000 new trolls? Watch this.

I hereby declare all of your fantrolls to be canon.

Yes, even the shitty ones.

(I think I answered two questions from that guy. How is that even fair??)

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kohikki asked you:

Dear Mister Andrew Hussie Sir, Will we ever see Spades Slick again? Is he okay? I will spend countless nights up, worried about him.

I am nursing him back to health in my house, like a baby bird that fell from its nest too young.

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ialsolikestrawberries asked you:

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THIS PORN OF YOUR NEWLY INTRODUCED CHARACTERS, MR HUSSIE

The pornos happen fast, I will give them that.

Thank GOD I aged them up to the ripe year of 15. Conscience totally fucking ameliorated.

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idontdrawcats asked you:

Is Homestuck going to make more sense anytime in the near future? The plot is super cool, i just feel like it’s a friggen puzzle sometimes. Also, will ending be happy, sad, bittersweet, or OH GOD I’VE BEEN CRYING FOR MONTHS AND IT WONT STOP AAAHHH

The thing is, Homestuck is both a story and a puzzle, by design and by definition. If asked to define it, “a story that’s also a puzzle” is as close to true as any answer I’d give.

Should all entertainment be like that? No way. But something should be like that, because something like that should exist. That’s why puzzles exist, because puzzles are cool sometimes, and are challenging. We don’t go up to a jigsaw puzzle and go, “why the fuck is this in so many different PIECES, what kind of IDIOT would break this nice picture into TINY LITTLE BITS?!!” Nor do we want all of our nice pictures broken into bits like that. Some we just want to hang on walls and look at.

But unlike a jigsaw puzzle, there’s much to enjoy without having to solve it. Fun characters and silly moments. But if you turn your brain on, you can engage with the complexity and depth. If you turn it ALL the way on, you can get everything, and solve the puzzle. There is a range of ways to interface with it, from the casual to the maniacal. Failing to grasp everything shouldn’t preclude basic enjoyment, nor is it a symptom of failure by either the reader or the story.

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Here is the very last question that squeaked in before I shut down the box.

wweenie asked you:

Thank you for making such an amazing webcomic!

You’re welcome, and thanks for reading it!