MS Paint Adventures V: THIS IS STUPID

[Squark]

So... Question for long time MSPA readers from a new addict here. Delays like this usually mean Andrew's working on a flash, correct? Because the anticipation would at least help with the withdrawal *twitch*

[Shadow of the Sun]

Yes and no.

He could be working on a flash, or he could just be at conventions.

Andrew does devote most of his time to Homestuck, but not all of it.

That said, I am sure that when he returns it will be a goodie.

[Friv]

Often it does mean that. However, this time it means that he was at TCAF, so I would be surprised to see a flash animation.

[Teln]

How long does the site store "saved games"? It seems like mine only last for 24 hours or so.

[Androgeus]

How long does the site store "saved games"? It seems like mine only last for 24 hours or so.

Looking at the cookie it gives you, it should save your page for just under a month.

[Friv]

How long does the site store "saved games"? It seems like mine only last for 24 hours or so.

It should store it until your browser refreshes its cookies.


On a different note, and since I don't want to double-post, I am bored and in Homestuck withdrawal, so I went ahead and decided what would happen if SBURB existed in another setting.

Community - Heroes? of the world
(Note - spoilers from the end of last week's episode are inside)

Spoiler

Show

Everyone starts playing because they are pushed into it by Abed, who has realized that the world is doomed and they have to do something. Abed prototypes his broken Batman DVD into the kernelsprite, getting Batsprite (but it's the Nolan Batsprite, so it's not as bad as it could have been). Troy acts as his server player, and he enters the Medium as the Seer of Space, understanding everything that is happening, but kind of missing the 'why'. Once inside, he knocks Starburn's ashes into the kernel, creating Batburnsprite.

Troy enters next, after accidentally prototyping his kernel with Pierce's horrible troll doll, which haunts him. He becomes the Page of Heart, seeming weak at first, but growing ever-stronger through his connection to and help from his friends. Annie helps him out, being a little weirded out about where Abed went.

Now meteors are crashing down, and Annie enters the Medium with a little help from Pierce (she asked Jeff, but he was "busy". Her obsession with perfection and plans serves her well as the Witch of Time, and she begins organizing things to keep Troy and Abed alive. Her kernelsprite is prototyped with... someone help me, I got nothing.

Pierce is the fourth Grouper to enter, determined to be the muscle. As the Rogue of Doom, he causes almost as much trouble as he solves, spreading it liberally around the session. He prototypes the lava lamp which he is convinced contains his mother's soul, and refuses to acknowledge that the pretty patterns on his kernelsprite are not her speaking to him. Shirley reluctantly agrees to act as his server.

This leads Shirley into the game with the help of Brita, and she enters the Medium as the Mage of Light. Certain of her nature, she accidentally makes the game easier when she drops a tray of muffins into the kernelsprite, making the imps of the game somewhat tastier but not much more dangerous.

Brita is the sixth to enter the game, ready to help. Jeff, finally seeing the world kind of collapsing, reluctantly acts as her server player, and Brita becomes the Thief of Hope. Filled with boundless optimism, often gained at the expense of her friends and enemies, she blasts her way through all opposition. She also completely fails to prototype anything, so it's a good thing that there's a seventh player...

Jeff, the wild card. Abed helps him into the game, and while he's setting up in the study room, the Dean comes in with bad news re: the end of the world, trips over the hem of his dress, and falls into the Kernelsprite. Now haunted by enemy Dean-monsters everywhere, Jeff enters the Medium as the Bard of Mind, mostly coasting through the game but occasionally applying his understanding of motivations to accomplish Operation Regisurp in a single evening or to nearly ruin everything when he starts a civil war between Pierce and Shirley's consorts.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Man, Dirk.

You're a prick.

Even if you're just a random brain implant.

[Scowling Dragon]

You can't even GIVE me the chance to like you, can you Dirk?

[AgentPaper]

Man, Dirk.

You're a prick.

Even if you're just a random brain implant.

He's not a brain implant, he's a...

A uh...

Hm.

No, I don't know what he is either.

[Barefoot Monkey]

That week without HS updates was hard. I blame Canada!

[Calemyr]

He's not a brain implant, he's a...

A uh...

Hm.

No, I don't know what he is either.

I'd call him an echo, like a song you just can't quite shake out of your mind. Given that it's the Prince of Heart's voice and the Page of Hope's mind, thing's get a little strange.

I wouldn't hold this frame against Dirk too strongly, though. If you strip out the absurdities, what you basically have is two sixteen year old guys, one of whom is being tongue-tied and a little stupid in front of an obvious crush. On that basis, Dirk's behavior is not just understandable but expected. In my experience, that's just what guys are like at that age.

A few other things to note:

* Besides having an ego large enough to balance out Dave's, Dirk is almost certainly emotionally stunted. He's grown up in an environment without any local human guidance or companionship. It doesn't seem like he's even met Roxy in person before. Frankly he seem exceptionally well adjusted given his upbringing. Some goes for Ms. Alcoholic, truth be told.

* Echo Dirk is at least partially defined by Jake's impression of the real guy. As with AR, he's a bit too far removed to be a completely accurate of Dirk.

* Once again, a hero of hope is tied to romance. Again, this is a sixteen year old boy, so it really should be taken with a grain of salt, but it just kinda sticks out to me.

[Scowling Dragon]

Id say hes a perfect recreation. If he wasn't a prick all the time, I might think otherwise.

I friggin hate Dirk. Meddling jackass.

[Calemyr]

Id say hes a perfect recreation. If he wasn't a prick all the time, I might think otherwise.

I friggin hate Dirk. Meddling jackass.

Fair enough. I personally hold to the Gigamesh Wulfenbach school on that matter: Dirk may have an ego, but his actions are not malicious. He genuinely wants to help his friends. He thinks he's smarter than he is, he thinks he's able to multitask better than he can, and in general he over-estimates himself at every turn, but his goal is always to help.

Of course, my internal description of Dirk ("Vriska lite" - all the manipulation and confidence with half the murder and sociopathy) could also explain why some people hate him.

[Gez]

I don't think he's trying to help; what with distracting Jake and planting thoughts in his mind. I have no idea whether he's genuinely a figment of Jake's imagination as he claims or some external influence, but in either case he is trying to sabotage Jake's chance with the blue spider girl by embarrassing him, all the while claiming he isn't.

[Scowling Dragon]

Which is to do with Dirk wanting others to be like him.

He punishes Jake for not being a smooth lady guy (Instead of however Jake does it)

He punishes Jake for using guns

And he punishes jakes for being too accepting

He is a sort of "Vriska Light". Which perfectly explains why I hate him ( His love of Ponies only add to my LOATHING! Im not saying that I hate people who like ponies. Just that its MLP in Homestuck)

[Calemyr]

Which is to do with Dirk wanting others to be like him.

He punishes Jake for not being a smooth lady guy (Instead of however Jake does it)

He punishes Jake for using guns

And he punishes jakes for being too accepting

He is a sort of "Vriska Light". Which perfectly explains why I hate him ( His love of Ponies only add to my LOATHING! Im not saying that I hate people who like ponies. Just that its MLP in Homestuck)

Punish? Really? How?

This whole thing over Aranea... well, that's a bit up to personal experience I guess. I've never been the most outgoing soul in the world, but I remember being a guy at 16. I remember very well that males of that age group tend to use harassment and abuse in the place of affection with other guys in some vain attempt at masculinity. Adult males are often like that as well, I've found - it's somehow easier to show backhanded affection than the straight forward sort.

Dirk isn't punishing Jake here - not really. He's giving him grief, and he's trying to cajole him into action - any action. If you've never heard a conversation between two teen guys around a girl one of them is attracted to, this might sound like just being a jerk, but I remember enough of my youth to see it differently.

If you're talking about brobot, who pretty much renders Jake's guns useless, remember where Dirk is. Remember when Dirk is. Jake is on the verge of Armageddon, and his last name and grandmother put him right in the crosshairs of the Batter Witch, Page of Hope status notwithstanding. Dirk doesn't want to abuse Jake for having guns, he wants to make Jake tough enough to survive what's coming - Jake doesn't have the excessive font of mangrit known as Dad Crocker to protect him, he doesn't have anything and he's on the top of the hit list. I doubt Dirk cares what method he uses to defend himself, as long as he becomes effective with it enough to overcome brobot.

The gullibility thing is similar. Jake believes whatever he's told, no matter how outlandish. That will help him adjust to the Medium, but it makes him extremely vulnerable to manipulation - and the Batter Witch is better at that than even Dirk could claim.

Edit: Frankly, he's behaving exactly like Bro did for Dave. Bro can easily come off as a jackass older brother because of his stunts, but in the end it's fairly clear that he cares for Dave and wants nothing more than for him to be safe - and, barring that, able to take care of himself. And he'll do whatever it takes to achieve that, even fighting an immortal physical god to the death to keep it away from his brother.

[Scowling Dragon]

Punish? Really? How?

By showing off instead of actually teaching him anything.

I remember enough of my youth to see it differently.

Im IN my youth and I still find Dirk acting like a ****. A **** is a ****, just because hes a YOUNG **** doesn't mean hes any less of a ****.

Why doesn't he create an opponent Jake can actually overcome? Unless hes such a dumbass that he doesn't understand that people need practice to get good at something its like me sending a bulldozer against a new boxing student of mine. Hel punch all he wants (For YEARS even) but it will do jack ****.

Why not make a good gun for Jake? One that will be effective when the time comes? We have seen that guns can be effective in Homestuck.

If jake wasn't gullible he would end up NOT believing anything Dirk tells him

"Oh, yeah- Were going to enter a world of talking chess pieces and that the Batterwich was an alien and that the apocalypse happens. Nice try bro".

If anything, in this where he NEEDS to be more accepting.

Bro was better. Dave followed in his footsteps himself (His bro didn't force him). He was born with innate speed dash abilities (Jakes interetses are adventuring and marksmanship). But when he wanted to branch out, bro did not burst into his room and point out how pointy shades where a bad Idea and that Sweet bro and Hella jeff are SO much worse then when he was trying to imitate him.

We seen what Jake can become without a meddler-

A billionaire, adventurer, explorer with a bad-ass gun. Dirk makes puppet porn.

[Squark]

I think this is a case of Dirk trying to do what Bro did, but since Dirk is just a 16 year old boy, not an adult (and this isn't even that, but Jake's subconscious recreation of him), he's failing heavily. Dirk does care about people, but given that the only live company he has (that we know of) is a demonic dummy (and that's giving the word live a pretty big stretch), he's really bad at showing it. We learn a lot of how social interaction is supposed to work from our elders (and how it isn't, for that matter). Dirk has none of those things. Is he still a bit of a jerk (or a huge jerk. YMMV)? Yep. But at least it's understandable why he's making these mistakes.

As for what's happening now... Yeah, this is just one teenager giving another teenager a hard time about being awkward in front of his crush? Is it kind of nasty? Yeah. But at the end of the day, it's mostly just trying to push your friend to do better, and giving voice to your own problems.

And, to be fair, Granpa Harley had an even worse guardian (The Batterwitch and a Dog. The latter is just horrible, while the former is only qualified to raise puppies, and may or may not have been lousy at that, too).

[Calemyr]

This is obviously registering on an emotional level. I have no desire to debate on any level beyond the intellectual/narrative level. Forgive me for starting something so unpleasant.

Switching gears to later segments of the debate, Dirk's logic with Brobot isn't to give him something he can beat. It's to give him something to train against.

Maybe it's Dirk's glasses that bring it to mind, but there's a scene from Dragon Ball, where Roshi (the hero's mentor) disguises himself to enter a tournament with the sole purpose of defeating his prized pupil. His reason? Once the kid had proven himself the toughest in the land, he would have no reason to push further. It was losing that inspired him to go further. Likewise, Dirk wants to make sure brobot is always better than Jake.

[irenicObserver]

I'm not seeing any reason to really hate Dirk so vehemently. I'm seeing a good interpetation to do so, but not anything concrete.

[AgentPaper]

I find it strange that people are holding Dirk accountable for Jake imagining him doing something in his head. This isn't Dirk, or even a copy of Dirk. It's a representation of how Jake sees Dirk. The reason dirk is pestering Jake is because Jake thinks that Jake would be pestering him in this situation, which speaks more to Jake's insecurities. There's no reason to believe that the actual Dirk, or any of the Dirk-alikes, would act this way in this situation.

[Scowling Dragon]

Again. Im not emotional about this. I just kinda came off as If I was.

Dirk has no idea how to actually "Train" somebody to be tougher. Throw a guy into a ditch. Break his legs. Throw a guy into increasingly large holes as he learns how to lessen the falls impacts. Teach him how to avoid falls.

Also, that anime was pretty stupid. Why didn't the old guy just ask his student to continue fighting him until he could beat him? But again, this is anime.

[irenicObserver]

I'm finding it interesting how the players have subconscious knowledge of the game. Even more coincidentally, Jake having a sign beckoning back to Rose shares subconscious knowledge.

[Scowling Dragon]

My experience in Skia Net:

WHY
Aaww
WHY
Heh
WHY
Aww
Aww
Thats too ****ing cutesy
WHYYYYYYYYYY
Heh
WHYYYYYYYYYY

[Derjuin]

I end up disliking Dirk because he's so boring. In his big reveal story thing about the future and waterfalls of blood and all that clown jazz, I kinda started skimming after the second huge block of orange, and only looked at the pictures after that. He's simply so droll I end up drifting off. Also I think I accidentally skipped some pages because I don't remember Aranea being introduced/introducing herself.

( His love of Ponies only add to my LOATHING! Im not saying that I hate people who like ponies. Just that its MLP in Homestuck)

*loads the crossover cannon*

pchoooooooo

[Squark]

*loads the crossover cannon*

pchoooooooo

Yes. Boop yes. Hell. Booping. yes.


And you're right, Scowling Dragon, Dirk isn't that great at what he's trying to do. Because at the end of the day, he's still a kid.

[Scowling Dragon]

Why did you do that? Where you trying to spite me?

Edit:

I have no idea how a peaceful society based partialy on hate (or even strong dislike) can exist.

Maybe THATS why they suck so much. Thier socity breeds by mixing least wanted genetic material with each other, thus getting weaker with every genaration.

[Derjuin]

Yes. Boop yes. Hell. Booping. yes.

Glad you like it! I was going to do more, but got distracted by non-art things... C'est la vie. *shrugs*

Now I can't wait for the scene to change back to the afterlife desert thinger. I'm really curious about what Vriska (and Tavros I guess?) are going to do about it...

[Shadow of the Sun]

Oh wow.

Hussie, are you implying what I think you're implying?

Because if so...

[Scowling Dragon]

What you think hes implying?