I don’t think I would be able to read the comic without this podcast explaining its context and occasionally giving voice to my frustrations with the more tedious parts of Homestuck. And my goodness, when the podcast gets to Act 6, we really see all the modern social media world coming into being in all its awful contradictions. I’ve developed an intense parasocial relationship with the hosts, and since there are only two of them my shipping chart is very easy to maintain.

Found this podcast series while looking for homestuck podcasts, and I’m glad I did. It’s illuminating for the context of how and where homestuck came to be, it's history, and the fact that, as a live reader, I was not in on the joke at my expense until Long after I stopped reading the webcomic. Thanks Ranged Touch.

Love getting the perspective of someone who was there when it happened and someone who knew what it was but never engaged until he was paid to do so.

I started reading Homestuck in about 2010. I was a kid who grew up on AIM, MSN messenger, flash games, ytmnd, something awful, /x/, etc. I found this series through their youtube recap, and my jaw dropped when I learned Michael was the original creator of smiledog. I was frequenting /x/ and sa at that time and I never knew he was into HS! A very thoughtful podcast, acknowledging both the bad and the good of internet culture of that time. I had so many internet friends at that time for the same reason; being otherwise isolated from people who liked the same things I did. The solution? Forums, chat rooms, places that were sometimes dangerous for me but sometimes forged lasting friendships, 20 years later. Such a great conversation about what is basically a time capsule. One that I wish the internet was mostly still like. At least google still functioned then.

i didn’t realize quite how impactful it would be for me to have a context for the cultural dynamics of the last decade of internet history, yet this is a place and time that played a part in nearly all of my adult life. so strange to see these bits and pieces of apocrypha put into a frame of understanding. also, Michael Lutz being the creator of smile.jpg is throwing me for a loop. what a perfect origin story.

i think i mightve written a review for this show already but i don’t remember what i did with it. im not going to argue for why this podcast is objectively bad because i dont think it is, but i’ll tell you some of the things i personally disliked about it. the analysis of homestuck this podcast offers is primarily plot driven rather than character driven. it’s an analysis of larger story movements and a literary analysis of how the story is presented, while the inner worlds of the characters and the dynamics between them are largely ignored, on the basis of cmrn just not really liking them and of michael taking no interest. fair enough for them to feel that way, but i’d argue homestuck becomes progressively more character driven over time and to ignore that aspect leaves a lot to be desired in any retrospective review of it on a similar note, i found the analytic detachment towards the then and current fans to be grating and mildly condescending? the attitude this podcast takes towards the forum posters is one thats very disparaging without ever really justifying it. i don’t understand the air of superiority that gets picked up towards the old fans. maybe i’m misreading it but it rubs me the wrong way to hear about all the ways the hosts insist old fans were engaging with the story wrong or less productively than they are. not understanding the appeal behind bloodswaps or shipping. the constant hampering on that one teenage dave cosplayer who said this was a bad podcast and taking that as an endorsement. why establish such a hostile relationship with the fans? holding disdain for them while simultaneously using them as a subject in your study is a very creepy combination, actually. it’s not kind. it’s unsettling and uncharitable and you implicitly place yourself in a position of authority over them. why do that? it’s weird. i just don’t think a podcast that’s ostensibly an analysis of homestuck’s fandom history has any real reason to be prissy or to avoid getting their hands dirty, so to speak. its comes across as if you think you’re above it. why think you’re above it? you take issue with the edginess, you take issue with the YA aspects, you take issue with the in-universe and narrative structures Hussie establishes, to the point where i wonder what you’re even getting out of this if nearly every aspect of the story hits the wrong notes for you. at the end of the day it’s perfectly fine to not enjoy homestuck. i especially can’t fault cmrn for not liking something he went into blind and he’s entitled to all the opinions he holds. i just think that as a homestuck fan, this podcast is largely detached from what i personally enjoyed about homestuck and i got very little out of it. having said that, i did listen to every episode. i can’t say if that’s because the show redeems itself in other aspects or because i just really like homestuck and will hear any perspectives on it. i wish i liked this podcast more! ok end review -

My favorite podcast about the social and media dynamics of the 2000s and 2010s internet, especially Homestar Runner

came here from friends at the table’s media club plus and am thoroughly enjoying this! i got into homestuck in 2015 and am too young to have experienced any of the 2000’s era internet culture, so it is incredible to learn about all the historical context and practices that allowed the comic to be created. especially forum culture which i only ever witnessed very briefly in the early 2010s, and the differences between being a serial versus archival reader!!

If someone said “critical analysis and contextualization of the webcomic Homestuck” at my funeral it would resurrect me

honestly i cant recommend this highly enough to homestuck fans. the context provided is illuminating and fascinating (especially to me as an archival reader), the dynamic between the hosts is fun, the analysis is very thoughtful and intelligent. it invites you to consider new ways of seeing homestuck and to challenge the ways you saw it before. i dont agree with the hosts on everything and thats maybe the best part--the show is built to accommodate disagreement. this can be rare in this fandom so i truly appreciate it and think that is much better than if i agreed with everything said. homestuck made this world, but homestuck made this world is making homestuck scholarship (and just maybe a healthier and kinder fandom culture <3). anyway i will definitely be forking over my money to the patreon just for the bonus episodes. thats how much i liked it.