Looking for God in Homestuck

[JC5ever]

Sup? This is my first time on here, but I was wondering if there were any Christian Homestucks on here. I've been looking to discuss calmly and rationally whether Homestuck is okay fo rus believers to read (I mean just the canon stuff by this). Now, I do pray...a lot...about everything. Homestuck is something that, while I don't feel convicted about it (probably because I don't read fanfics or look at fan art) I've been wondering about. I mean, I restrict myself from a good amount of the things most of the fandom is comfortable with. I'm really very careful about anything that might be against the Bible. I only ship pale or flushed and only hetero ships for flushed and I believe a lot of the destruction and chaos is a direct result of some characters being too influenced by the big bad (representing Satan). Honestly, it's hard to tell whether it is mocking Christianity (like the fandom likes to do) or just making references or maybe even *gasp* something very Christian to be found in it, but I don't like to base things on a fandom (just as I didn't choose Christianity because of other Christians. So, I'd love to talk to fellow believers who read this webcomic and are looking for good, Christian messages in it. I believe I've found a few already, but I'm looking to find other people interested in the subject. Thanks!

[Nate]

liek dis if u cry evrytime

[JC5ever]

0_0 Um...what?

[mechana2015]

It's a reference to your username and the original meme that it's referencing. I haven't read more than a few comics of Homestuck though. Not really my sort of webcomic.

[JC5ever]

Oh! 5ever's origins...duh-doy! I thought you were talking about JC and I was like "that stands for Jesus Christ, yo!"
Anyway, did you get anything from reading what you did read of Homestuck?

[mechana2015]

I really only read the first few pages. If I remember correctly, the art style really put me off it, but I can't get back to look over it now and make more coherent comments since it's been a few years and the servers are currently down, probably due to the hurricane.

Other than that the... fanbase has not made me eager to try to go back and give the comic another shot.

[Xeno]

Read whatever you want. Seriously, if you go around trying take sure you're only ever reading the purist of Christian reading material, you'll either never have anything to read, or be incredibly bored by what the options are. If something interests you, just read it.

[Atria35]

I only ship pale or flushed and only hetero ships for flushed and I believe a lot of the destruction and chaos is a direct result of some characters being too influenced by the big bad (representing Satan)

Okay, I'm dying to know: What does "only shipping pale or flushed" mean?

Also, I'm with Xeno. Reading only Christian or Christian-friendly books limits what you can read/watch/whatever in a lot of ways, and many books that aren't necessarily Christian-friendly still speak to human experiences... which are just as important to read and know about.

[K. Ayato]

One of my favorite authors is Stephen R. Lawhead. While some of the content is intense because of the setting, I still consider it clean because the author clearly took time to research the culture and tradition of the period he writes about in a given book and the reader can still relate to at least one of the characters in the story.

[rocklobster]

heck, a lot of the stuff I watch, read, and listen to is certainly not Christian. I don't think we should only look at Christian stuff because then we are unprepared for the world.

[Neane]

Okay, I'm dying to know: What does "only shipping pale or flushed" mean?

pale/ashen= Platonic
flushed/pitch= Sexual

[Atria35]

^ Much appreciated!

[Nate]

Okay, I'm dying to know: What does "only shipping pale or flushed" mean?

To build on what Neane said the shipping goes like this:

The four quadrants are:
Matespritship, the flushed quadrant (♥)
Moirallegiance, the pale quadrant (♦)
Auspisticism, the ashen quadrant (♣)
Kismesissitude, the caliginous quadrant (♠)

♥ is basically love for each other.

♦ is kinda like how you love a family member, or can mean that you're just bros.

♣ involves three people, with one being the "mediator" of sorts that keeps the other two in line.

♠ is basically seething hatred for each other.

It's complicated yo.

[Yuki-Anne]

I... I had no idea. I thought shipping was either straight or slash.

[mechana2015]

I'm pretty sure this is a homestuck exclusive bit of terminology.

[Davidizer13]

It's complicated yo.

Nate. Calm down. Everything's going to be all right. Just put down the bucket, and step away from the computer. We're all your friends here, we're all here to help. All you have to do is take the first step and accept it.

[JC5ever]

Okay, I'm dying to know: What does "only shipping pale or flushed" mean?
Also, I'm with Xeno. Reading only Christian or Christian-friendly books limits what you can read/watch/whatever in a lot of ways, and many books that aren't necessarily Christian-friendly still speak to human experiences... which are just as important to read and know about.

@Yuki-Anne: Like mechana said, it's Homestuck-exclusive. I don't ever ship slash, though. I used to, but not anymore. There is a highly popular slash ship involving two Alpha kids (Jake/Dirk) that most of the fandom loves but here's what i see in that: There's another Alpha kid, Jane, who's in love with Jake (everyone's in love with Jake, but from what I can understand, Jane is actually meant to be with Jake, like since birth) and when she lies about not liking Jake in that way, Jake asks her advice on his potential pairing with Dirk. Dirk's god tier title is Prince of Heart. Prince, as I've understood, means destroyer. And Heart means love. So, could that mean Jake's possible relationship with Dirk would mean destroying his real love with Jane? Either way, I've found that your ships never really last when it comes to this webcomic, but it's not over yet so we'll see...

They're two of the ways trolls define their relationships based on positive emotions. The other two, ashen (platonic) and calignious (romantic), are

Pale: Essentially BFFship

Flushed: Romantic, like soulmates

Yeah. It's also important to guard your heart against anything in your entertainment that's against your beliefs.

Two things I especially wanted to talk about:
-The recurrence of 413. I noticed one day in church that this number kept appearing in especially popular Biblical quotes
-The Sufferer- I'll see what anyone else who reads Homestuck has to say about this before putting my views on it.

[Nate]

Just put down the bucket, and step away from the computer.

Jesus dude why did you mention buckets in a Homestuck thread? WHY?

[Atria35]

@Yuki-Anne: Like mechana said, it's Homestuck-exclusive. I don't ever ship slash, though. I used to, but not anymore. There is a highly popular slash ship involving two Alpha kids (Jake/Dirk) that most of the fandom loves but here's what i see in that: There's another Alpha kid, Jane, who's in love with Jake (everyone's in love with Jake, but from what I can understand, Jane is actually meant to be with Jake, like since birth) and when she lies about not liking Jake in that way, Jake asks her advice on his potential pairing with Dirk. Dirk's god tier title is Prince of Heart. Prince, as I've understood, means destroyer. And Heart means love. So, could that mean Jake's possible relationship with Dirk would mean destroying his real love with Jane? Either way, I've found that your ships never really last when it comes to this webcomic, but it's not over yet so we'll see...

They're two of the ways trolls define their relationships based on positive emotions. The other two, ashen (platonic) and calignious (romantic), are

Pale: Essentially BFFship

Flushed: Romantic, like soulmates

Thank you for the information.

Yeah. It's also important to guard your heart against anything in your entertainment that's against your beliefs..

Completely missed the point of what I wrote. I think it's very important to occasionally watch things against your beliefs, because it gives a bigger worldview. And people's beliefs grow and change as they grow older and experience more of life, so it's important to have some grounding outside of what you believe and experience as a child.

[Xeno]

Yeah. It's also important to guard your heart against anything in your entertainment that's against your beliefs.

Seriously dude. Expand your horizons some.

-The recurrence of 413. I noticed one day in church that this number kept appearing in especially popular Biblical quotes

You'll find enough recurrences of things in anything if you look hard enough for them, it's just a matter of searching. It means absolutely nothing.

[JC5ever]

@Atria: I just realized I forgot to write that the other two were based on negative emotions. Sorry!

No, I didn't miss the point of what you wrote. I watch and read a lot of things that aren't necessarily Christian as well. I'm just saying it's important to be careful about them.

@Xeno: I just found some of it interesting, like connecting some stuff from Homestuck to stuff in Revelation (Aradia Megido- Megiddo, the place where Armageddon is supposed to take place in conjunction with her trollian name, ApocalypseArisen; Tavros's Trollian name, twinArmageddons; Jake English's Pesterchum name, GolgathasTerror). I thought these types of things would be an interesting discussion point to start talking about Homestuck on this site.

[Neane]

This thread is not going to end well.

[Atria35]

@Atria: I just realized I forgot to write that the other two were based on negative emotions. Sorry!

No, I didn't miss the point of what you wrote. I watch and read a lot of things that aren't necessarily Christian as well. I'm just saying it's important to be careful about them.[.quote]
N/p! Okay, I see where you're coming from.

@Xeno: I just found some of it interesting, like connecting some stuff from Homestuck to stuff in Revelation (Aradia Megido- Megiddo, the place where Armageddon is supposed to take place in conjunction with her trollian name, ApocalypseArisen]Armageddon[/B]s; Jake English's Pesterchum name, GolgathasTerror). I thought these types of things would be an interesting discussion point to start talking about Homestuck on this site.

While I agree that a lot of these connections are shaky and usually purely our minds working against us (people's brains love to make connections where there aren't any), this little activity looks like fun just because.

[Xeno]

@Xeno: I just found some of it interesting, like connecting some stuff from Homestuck to stuff in Revelation (Aradia Megido- Megiddo, the place where Armageddon is supposed to take place in conjunction with her trollian name, ApocalypseArisen]Armageddon[/B]s; Jake English's Pesterchum name, GolgathasTerror). I thought these types of things would be an interesting discussion point to start talking about Homestuck on this site.

The Da Vinci Code is another piece of fiction that borrowed items from the Bible, but it's FICTION. Know what else has borrowed heavily from the Bible? The Lord of the Rings, and it's got nothing to do with the Bible, but if you pay attention to things you can certainly see the parallels. Geez dude, it's entertainment. Either enjoy it or don't. Stop trying to read things into it because you think you might see some super secret squirrel illuminati pattern.

[goldenspines]

I don't know man, whatever you want to watch or not watch is fine with me (and probably everyone else).

The only time you would run into issues is if somehow some form of entertainment separated you from God (which could be caused by many other things, not just entertainment), but beyond that it's free game.

Just because something doesn't scream "This is filled with CHRISTIAN THINGS" doesn't mean it's been condemned as evil. By "Christian things", I am referring to the religious symbols/ideas/numbers/etc.

You don't have to make connections in order to watch something. If you're trying to "justify" actions that are not "outright Christian" (stereotypical, at least), then look no further than 1 Corinthians 10:23-33 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2010:23-33&version=NIV

[Davidizer13]

Jesus dude why did you mention buckets in a Homestuck thread? WHY?

Because I know exactly what I'm doing.

While I agree that a lot of these connections are shaky and usually purely our minds working against us (people's brains love to make connections where there aren't any), this little activity looks like fun just because.

Yeah, I don't think it's so much that the guy's trying to make a spiritual connection as much as the fact that there are some really awesome names in the Bible. What's more, some of them have certain connotations or connections that he's trying to work off of in his story. Like if I wrote something and called one of my characters Solomon, I could invoke comparisons to the Biblical Solomon, talking about how wise he is, etc., but if I had named the same character Plato, it'd have the same kinds of connotations. Those names you mentioned, Megiddo, Armageddon, Golgotha, all of those have associations with judgement, coming destruction, stuff like that. Based on that, I'm going to guess that they're bad people, or harbingers of some sort of destruction; it's not so much a spiritual thing as much as those are the associations we've made over the years with those names.

[Xeno]

[quote="Davidizer13 (post: 1595947)"]Yeah, I don't think it's so much that the guy's trying to make a spiritual connection as much as the fact that there are some really awesome names in the Bible. What's more, some of them have certain connotations or connections that he's trying to work off of in his story. Like if I wrote something and called one of my characters Solomon, I could invoke comparisons to the Biblical Solomon, talking about how wise he is, etc., but if I had named the same character Plato, it'd have the same kinds of connotations. Those names you mentioned, Megiddo, Armageddon, Golgotha, all of those have associations with judgement, coming destruction, stuff like that. Based on that, I'm going to guess that they're bad people, or harbingers of some sort of destruction]

Indeed. Say, does this Homestuck thing happen to have a character named Adam in it?


Or a guy named Brian?