I turned my laptop back on solely to reblog this fucking post because we just realized this and I am Livid. There is really no evidence that this is not possible. We know life powerups of some type at least can work on spirits and transition them into physical bodies bc of Aranea and the ring. This is entirely feasible. This is what happens when you introduce 20 ways to come back to life and then tpk your maincast. The Homestuck epilogue is Jane bringing the entire Game Over crew back to life and them dogpiling Aranea’s ghost.
Game Over dropped on my 19th birthday wherein one of my (both since disowned) patron trolls murdered my favorite kid. Then I spent the next few days an anxious wreck glued to MSPARP to cope.
So there’s that.
Thematically, I think Game Over fits snugly into Homestuck’s overall narrative. Destiny says “you’re done here”, the kids say “fuck you” and figure out a way around it. That’s what they’ve always done, except now they’re going to an even greater extreme and breaking the concept of narrative itself in order to do so. I have only ever seen the flash itself once (and would only watch again under duress and with protest) but I think it’s one of the last times Hussie used animation and the layout of MSPA to push the boundaries of what could be done to tell the story. Here’s reality falling apart, reflected by the characters shifting out of the frame and parts of the flash itself shoving other parts out of the way. In theory, this is a good “all is lost” moment, an end of the second act in a three-act structure where the heroes seem utterly defeated, only to rally and pull out a victory. In theory, this is a good extreme for John’s powers to go to. In theory, it plays out like a video game: the kids fuck up, die, and John starts them over from a save point with an extra life. Everyone learns from their mistakes and goes on to complete the game.
In practice, I think it became Hussie’s way of writing himself out of a corner. Except he was never in a corner. He was actually in a perfectly straight hallway the entire time. But this is the point where I break off and start rambling about post-retcon, so skedaddle here if you don’t want to hear me bitching about that.
tl;dr: I find the flash itself horrifically upsetting, but I’ve made my peace with its purpose in the narrative and can admire its construction. Bitching about the fallout of the flash starts… now:
just moving along like everyone else 