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Post by G on May 3, 2013 16:19:56 GMT -5
I know now that my life has turned into the final phase of complete shit. Not that the previous periods were any less shit than the current phase, but now I have personally added something to it that I would have never intend to do. It goes against every belief and moral fiber I have in the world of comics. But yet, I find myself drawn to it.
Awhile back I started reading Homestuck.
Now, I haven't been reading it faithfully. In fact, I just skipped like a whole 2 months without reading a page. And, I'm not very far into it. I've only read like 200 pages so far and from what I've heard, there is like more than 5,000 pages to get through.
I didn't know what Homestuck was and had never heard of it but it came up on the CGC Forum site and an accompanied video from YouTube talked about it. It said this was the Modern Ulysses. Or let me stand corrected, the Internet's Ulysses. Well, I had never read or heard of Ulysses either. But I watched the video and I thought the narrator sounded like one of those artsy, nerdy but people see as someone comic convention cool, gay guys. If that makes sense. And he described both Ulysses and Homestruck.
He described them both as something that is so tedious to get through that when you finish, or in Homestuck's case, get current because the guy is still not finished with it, you feel a sense of euphoric joy of having accomplished an amazing feat.
I forget the term he used, but he made it sound like the more you suffer through something, the more you will enjoy it when you are finished. And the word challenge was used as it challenges you to stick with it.
He also described Ulysses and it sounded like something I would have no interest in reading, but I understand there are so many word in it and you may end up looking up a ton of the words to figure out what it means, only to discover that a lot of the words aren't even words, but instead are something the author made up. And described it as a euphoric feeling for getting through that. I don't know why, but I found myself wanting to read both. I doubt I ever will read Ulysses, but I have computer access to Homestruck and a lot of time on my hands and a good challenge is what I might need during this period of my life.
Well, I started reading it. It seemed so much against my nature and I must say, it started out so completely boring. I was actually hating it. But a part of me just tells me to keep going. Well, after a two month hiatus, I read about 50 pages today and I found myself starting to get into it a bit. I'm still waiting for something good to happen, but I feel it building up to something and now I'm ready to get hooked.
I will not at this point, recommend this to ANYONE. But perhaps later, I might be. I watched a few more YouTube videos about it and there seems to be a mixed bag of reviews. Some calling it Overrated and extremely boring and others who say it was the most awesome thing they ever read. For some reason, the challenge appeal of getting current on this seems like something I want to do.
When I was a kid, I used to want to run marathons. Just to feel like I did it. A sense of accomplishment for having endured what others wouldn't. This strikes me in much that same way.
I'm also appreciating the plight and the originality of this use of the web comic medium. That anyone who sticks with something can create something of a cult following for just having the guts to go out there and do something and stick with something. It's not like it is hard to do when someone gets started on something. The hard part is sticking with it and I guess that is why I am starting to appreciate what I am looking at.
As I progress, I may update this thread from time to time to deliver my feelings. Again, I won't push it on anybody. But there is a link for it at the link box at the top of my page.
I'll be honest with my feelings on it. As of now, about 200 pages into it, I feel like I suffered through what may be the worst of it and I'm starting to see something take a little shape. Maybe it's a breakthrough or maybe I'm being lead to something more and more disappointing. But there is a feeling that it's about to get me. And I actually hope it does.
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Post by defiant1 on May 3, 2013 17:16:55 GMT -5
I just watched a video that said "Don't read it". Reverse psychology annoys me, so I'm going to take the guy at his word and not read it.
df1
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Post by G on May 7, 2013 12:46:02 GMT -5
I just watched a video that said "Don't read it". Reverse psychology annoys me, so I'm going to take the guy at his word and not read it. df1 I think you are referring to this video which I think is hilarious. Because even though it IS reverse psychology. Yes indeed. He gives you all the reasons NOT to read it and at the same time draws interest to it too. I thought this video was hilarious. Here is the video I saw while on CGC which introduced me to this concept and actually got me curious and started reading it. Now, I have to admit, this guy is as hard to listen to as Homestuck is to read. He talks in this Brainy, Artsy, Nerdy, Hipster, Gay way that makes you want to turn him off instantly. However, if you can get yourself past that for 5 minutes and just listen and watch what he is saying, he displays the good, the bad and the ugly of Homestuck. And introduces the term I missed earlier...Effort Justification. Which I much say, has a lot to do with ATTEMPTING Homestuck. As an update, I'm on about page 600 now. I've made it through the 1st act and finally I have something to watch and hold onto. Where as you just wonder around the 1st 150 pages or so. The reason for watching finally gets revealed around page 200 and thus the real story finally begins. Now being this far into it, I'm finally hooked enough to want to finish it. I somehow find all this reading, picture looking at, animations and game play enjoyable. It once again is totally against my nature. I absolutely HATE with a fucking passion anything that has to do with Anime or Manga. And while this isn't exactly Anime, it does seem to have a great influence from it. It's obviously told in a simplistic manner so even young kids can watch it and follow it. In fact, I sent a link to a young girl, shes 14, I know on Facebook who is into Anime, art, simple stuff and I told her she should read this. Or, I said, when I read this, I thought of you. Which I did. She replied that she has known about Homestuck for a long time and she is a long ways into it. She said she used to be ate up on it but had to stop because computer problems. She said it used to be her daily life. But she found it hard to keep going. At this point, I was still on the most tedious part, the beginning. And I said I couldn't wait for something to happen. For them to get out of their room. And she said don't worry, it gets better. And right after that, it did. This tale is obviously written for a group of outcasts and caters to the young but it also has enough for geezers like me to find interesting. I guess I am intrigued by the work of it all. It's massive. Some of the links introduced give links to other facets of the book and are their own entities unto themselves. It would be terribly easy for me to stop reading this and never pick it up again. But I find myself wondering what is going to happen here or if this gets even better? I'm not sure I will. It feels 50/50 at this point. I might get to the end and feel like it was a great waste of time. And it probably was. But I feel like I'll get to the end and experience the effort justification as mentioned here. Maybe 10 years from now, this work is still being discussed (which I believe it will) there is a Kickstarter that is trying to make a real game out of this. I believe it will succeed. This kid will LIVE off this work for the rest of his life. And in that. I find admiration for it. It's an accomplishment. But I find I want to be one to say I read it and actually know the story. I have nothing in real comics I want to read right now. I actually hate comics on the internet. Or let me explain. Paper comics reprinted on the internet. This seems to be a internet comic that becomes the 1st great internet comic novel that was started and intended as only a internet comic and not to be a comic company first and makes its way to internet comics (which I can't stand). This was obviously this guy's intention and he obviously played his cards right. And with all the people out there who follow it and are addicted to it. I want to say I read it and have a legit opinion of it, pro or con. I'm unsure I will ever finish this. It IS INDEED A CHORE. But, I want to try.
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Post by defiant1 on May 7, 2013 16:17:26 GMT -5
I know now that my life has turned into the final phase of complete shit. Not that the previous periods were any less shit than the current phase, but now I have personally added something to it that I would have never intend to do. It goes against every belief and moral fiber I have in the world of comics. But yet, I find myself drawn to it. Awhile back I started reading Homestuck. Now, I haven't been reading it faithfully. In fact, I just skipped like a whole 2 months without reading a page. And, I'm not very far into it. I've only read like 200 pages so far and from what I've heard, there is like more than 5,000 pages to get through. I didn't know what Homestuck was and had never heard of it but it came up on the CGC Forum site and an accompanied video from YouTube talked about it. It said this was the Modern Ulysses. Or let me stand corrected, the Internet's Ulysses. Well, I had never read or heard of Ulysses either. But I watched the video and I thought the narrator sounded like one of those artsy, nerdy but people see as someone comic convention cool, gay guys. If that makes sense. And he described both Ulysses and Homestruck. He described them both as something that is so tedious to get through that when you finish, or in Homestuck's case, get current because the guy is still not finished with it, you feel a sense of euphoric joy of having accomplished an amazing feat. I forget the term he used, but he made it sound like the more you suffer through something, the more you will enjoy it when you are finished. And the word challenge was used as it challenges you to stick with it. He also described Ulysses and it sounded like something I would have no interest in reading, but I understand there are so many word in it and you may end up looking up a ton of the words to figure out what it means, only to discover that a lot of the words aren't even words, but instead are something the author made up. And described it as a euphoric feeling for getting through that. I don't know why, but I found myself wanting to read both. I doubt I ever will read Ulysses, but I have computer access to Homestruck and a lot of time on my hands and a good challenge is what I might need during this period of my life. Well, I started reading it. It seemed so much against my nature and I must say, it started out so completely boring. I was actually hating it. But a part of me just tells me to keep going. Well, after a two month hiatus, I read about 50 pages today and I found myself starting to get into it a bit. I'm still waiting for something good to happen, but I feel it building up to something and now I'm ready to get hooked. I will not at this point, recommend this to ANYONE. But perhaps later, I might be. I watched a few more YouTube videos about it and there seems to be a mixed bag of reviews. Some calling it Overrated and extremely boring and others who say it was the most awesome thing they ever read. For some reason, the challenge appeal of getting current on this seems like something I want to do. When I was a kid, I used to want to run marathons. Just to feel like I did it. A sense of accomplishment for having endured what others wouldn't. This strikes me in much that same way. I'm also appreciating the plight and the originality of this use of the web comic medium. That anyone who sticks with something can create something of a cult following for just having the guts to go out there and do something and stick with something. It's not like it is hard to do when someone gets started on something. The hard part is sticking with it and I guess that is why I am starting to appreciate what I am looking at. As I progress, I may update this thread from time to time to deliver my feelings. Again, I won't push it on anybody. But there is a link for it at the link box at the top of my page. I'll be honest with my feelings on it. As of now, about 200 pages into it, I feel like I suffered through what may be the worst of it and I'm starting to see something take a little shape. Maybe it's a breakthrough or maybe I'm being lead to something more and more disappointing. But there is a feeling that it's about to get me. And I actually hope it does. Ummm! Okay. Still not curious. Watched the videos. Too much rambling. No substance. I'd prefer a synopsis with examples before investing time in a poorly drawn comic. If something is a chore to read, I have no interest in reading it. df1
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Post by G on May 7, 2013 17:46:52 GMT -5
Well you would be the last person I would try to talk into reading this and I knew that before I ever made the 1st post about it. I wouldn't even try.
I'm not trying to make anyone else read it either. It's really a personal choice if someone wants to read something like this. In many ways, I feel like I'm going to feel let down by it. But I guess I want to see for myself. There really is very little for me to like about it. But it's mixed in with just enough....I don't know....shit.....that my curiosity is up.
I think I would rather read this shittely drawn web comic than 99.998% of the new comics being put out today by comic professionals. That is how bad current comics are to me.
There is something pure about this not being corrupted by pose covers and mini series, crossovers, shock and awe and all around shit stories.
I keep getting tired waiting for comics to get great again. So, this for some reason appeals to me. Not so much as a comic, but moreso as just something different. It's an anti-comics pure disgusted with the medium....read.
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Post by defiant1 on May 7, 2013 22:30:18 GMT -5
Well you would be the last person I would try to talk into reading this and I knew that before I ever made the 1st post about it. I wouldn't even try. I'm not trying to make anyone else read it either. It's really a personal choice if someone wants to read something like this. In many ways, I feel like I'm going to feel let down by it. But I guess I want to see for myself. There really is very little for me to like about it. But it's mixed in with just enough....I don't know....shit.....that my curiosity is up. I think I would rather read this shittely drawn web comic than 99.998% of the new comics being put out today by comic professionals. That is how bad current comics are to me. There is something pure about this not being corrupted by pose covers and mini series, crossovers, shock and awe and all around shit stories. I keep getting tired waiting for comics to get great again. So, this for some reason appeals to me. Not so much as a comic, but moreso as just something different. It's an anti-comics pure disgusted with the medium....read. I understand. The biggest turn off for me is the psychology trying to promote it. You haven't seen Team America but for me it reminds me of the scene where they try to use psychology to get Gary to join the team and it completely backfires. I laughed my ass off because that's how I'd respond. df1
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Post by G on May 8, 2013 1:02:38 GMT -5
I've seen a decent portion of that movie, but never seen the whole thing. I need to. What I saw, I thought was funny as hell. Parts of it were a bit corny, but for the most part, it was laugh out loud kind of funny. See when something is pure like that and doesn't give a shit, I can get into it more. Now if Team America was a movie meant to be taken seriously and they wrote it seriously, it would probably suck ass. The fact they burned the comic and made it into a joke really has a pureness to it and it's easy to like. For far too many new comics these days, it takes itself way too seriously and it delivers on a shit level and still calls itself great. One reason the old days were great is the creators respected the company and the characters they were writing and drawing about. What came forth was pure. No pose covers, stare downs, no shocking moments of gayness or race changes or things like that. Just pure work that spoke for itself. People got famous after creating something amazing. Now, if someone appears to draw good, we immediately Knight them to Superstardom without them needing a real breakthrough moment in their resume. At least I can say things like.....John Byrne - X-Men, John Romita Jr - Iron Man, Frank Miller - Daredevil, George Perez - New Teen Titans, Jack Kirby - Fantastic Four (or too many other titles), John Romita Sr - Spiderman, Steve Ditko - Spiderman/Dr. Strange. John Buscema - Silver Surfer/Conan, Jim Shooter - Valiant, Alan Moore - Watchmen.....You had to actually DO something to reach superstar status. Now all they have to do is draw a couple of poster covers and call it a career. Be present for a 4 issue mini series that was decently received. The bar is so much lower now. You don't have to do anything anymore. In THIS way, I can at least say Andrew Hussie (Homestruck) did something to create his own legacy. This kid is going to not have to REALLY work the rest of his life because he came up with this 5,000 page web comic and it harnessed a cult following. Even if it turns out to be a shit story in my eyes, I can respect the work he did to manage to achieve his moment of fame. He approached it from a pure form. He put the work out there and let the work speak for him. I have far more respect for that than seeing a book I seen advertised on my Facebook earlier today which gave me no insight into why I would or should want to look at it but lots of comments was saying "This is badass!!!! ....
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Post by defiant1 on May 8, 2013 5:00:22 GMT -5
That comic book gives me no clue as to why I should buy it. BTW, Team America the movie has NOTHING to do with the Marvel comic book at all.
df1
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Post by G on May 8, 2013 9:39:26 GMT -5
That comic book gives me no clue as to why I should buy it. BTW, Team America the movie has NOTHING to do with the Marvel comic book at all. df1 That was my point with the Batman book. You can't tell a damn thing about it. I thought I read or was told by somebody that Team America was related to the comic, they just decided to scrap the comic concept and go for this comedic puppet concept. I don't know. I stand corrected. I'm not to up on the history of that movie obviously.
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Post by defiant1 on May 8, 2013 16:06:29 GMT -5
That comic book gives me no clue as to why I should buy it. BTW, Team America the movie has NOTHING to do with the Marvel comic book at all. df1 That was my point with the Batman book. You can't tell a damn thing about it. I thought I read or was told by somebody that Team America was related to the comic, they just decided to scrap the comic concept and go for this comedic puppet concept. I don't know. I stand corrected. I'm not to up on the history of that movie obviously. Funniest movie I've ever seen. I was laughing so hard it triggered asthma-like reactions and I was was suffering even as I was busting my gut with laughter. df1
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