I just had a conversation with my girlfriend about how the first time she read Homestuck, she missed a lot of stuff. So for example, she didn't really get what was going on in WV: Ascend (EoA2) at first because she was trying just to catch up. But for me, that's where I really got hooked because there are so many little details and foreshadowing elements in there.
Anyways
It made me realize how drastically the storytelling in Homestuck has changed. Originally, the plot would be hidden in all those weird details, but they would be almost TOO subtle at times and as a result Hussie had to write a few huge recaps to make sure that the readers didn't miss important elements. Some of the stuff in Recap 1 legitimately blew my mind because I hadn't picked up on it completely and only had the pieces floating around.
But compare that to now where we have to have all these big infodumps to explain everything and it just feels unnatural (not that big fourth-wall breaking recaps aren't as well). There's a few characters in particular that he very obviously uses for this express purpose, so it's not like a big secret. But sometimes it almost seems like he has to forfeit those characters' entire personalities just to explain what the hell is going on.
I don't think that's a fault of Hussie so much as how crazy large the scope of the story has become, combined with the unique medium for showing the story, and the sheer amount of exposition he needs to convey, but I don't think I had fully realized how many ways Homestuck had fully changed since the first few acts. It makes sense, because I remember him saying at some point something like the first four acts were about questions and Act 5 was meant to bring answers. Act 6 seems to be somewhere in between at this point, although it feels like the story could go literally anywhere from here. Including a semi-remake of Jailbreak, apparently.
</rambling>
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