Hi, James here. 15 whole years, huh? Like a lot of you Homestuck has touched my life in a way I can’t exactly quantify. Instead of just me saying whatever I want, this time around I wanted to let the team say a few words too.
I’m still going first though.
In the 15 years I’ve been here, my relationship with Homestuck has been a nuanced and complicated one. It has been by my side through incredible highs and devastating lows. It introduced me to the most important people in my life, as well as a cavalcade of villains. It’s allowed me to grow creatively in ways I never would have dreamed possible. When I look back on just how often I’ve felt like I’ve been at what felt like the end… it's fair to say Homestuck has saved me more times than I can count.
So many of us got our start here. So many of us have used this space to push ourselves forward. It can’t be overstated just how much of an impact this has all had on the very heart and soul of creative spaces. That has always been a part of what made it so special. Lately, things have been changing. I’m at a crossroads in my life that I don’t quite know how to navigate, and it scares me to be perfectly honest. When I see your support and I feel the love this community has given us it makes it feel a little easier. It makes it feel a little more manageable. To quote my favorite character, I am very much Alive, and I intend to stay that way.
It is such an honor that I am able to keep this going, even just a little bit. You all mean the world to me, and it is my absolute privilege to be here with you.
—James, Director
It’s crazy to think when I first started reading Homestuck, I was literally the same age as the beta kids at the beginning of the webcomic. Back when the comic was still actively updating, a particular detail I always found endearing was that the characters would age in real time with us in-universe as well. Every time it was April 13th irl, it was actually John’s birthday within the comic as well; It’s like we were all celebrating his birthday with him! I was celebrating 4/13 all the way from when I was in middle school, through high school, and college – and now I’m all graduated and grown-up! From being a sparkly-eyed tween fan to, years later, actually getting to contribute to several official Homestuck projects like the games and even the official sequel… It wouldn’t be completely unreasonable to say at this point I quite literally grew up with Homestuck.
And, just as I have grown up and changed so much throughout the years, so has Homestuck evolved. It’s been quite an incredible 15 years this webcomic has come this far. Not just because of official means too, it’s all thanks to the fans out there, new and veterans, who are just as passionate about this story and the characters as we are. Now that’s what I call a culturally impactful piece of media if it manages to stay with people this long, something we always find ourselves coming back to.
Thank you and happy birthday Homestuck for such an inspiring 15 years, as both a webcomic and a fandom! Let's see how many more years we can keep the dream alive!
—Kim, emotional about a webcomic
Hey guys, Miles here. On this most holy of days, I want to take the opportunity not only to celebrate 15 years of this beloved, incredible story, but to really contemplate my place in it. All of our places in it, really. Homestuck has been with me almost as long as it’s been around, since I got sucked into it a decade and a half ago as an impressionable and insatiable teen, and as a writer it’s perhaps a personal failing that I can’t fully put into words how indescribably important it has been in my life. Creative influence, longlasting friendships, and of course at the most basic level just real, real love for the story, characters, and world... I owe so much to Homestuck. So many of us do. It’s a beautiful mindfuck.
I could gush on, and on, and ON about how much I love it, and I love loving it, and I love watching other people love it, but being here actually writing it makes today even crazier to me. I got brought on last year and Freaked The Fuck Out. If you told 16-year-old Miles that this was happening he would probably have had a heart attack or done some kind of weird somersault and broken something. It is an actual literal dream come true, and it’s a dream that’s only possible because Homestuck loves its fans as much as we love it. What a motherfuckin’ miracle... I am unfathomably grateful for the opportunity.
God DAMN I fucking love Homestuck. I love it with all my heart, and I hope that as we run with it you guys can see that love, and maybe feel new permutations of it yourselves. There is so much more coming, and it is legitimately one of the great honors of my life that I get to share it with you all. What more could a Homestuck fan possibly ask for?
Thank you so, so much to the team, for putting up with my nitpicking and constant editing and letting me write insane shit and do this with you. Thank you Andrew, for something, I forget what. Writing something. It’ll come to me. Thank you to every Homestuck fan who ever was, for making the past 15 years that much more colorful and exciting, and for loving what I love. Thank you to the fans who love us now, and even to those who might be on the fence right now; we’ll do all we can to make this an adventure worth remembering. And thank you, of course, to Homestuck itself, without which I would have been probably an unrecognizably different person. Happy birthday. And, with any luck, many more.
—Miles, who is sorry for rambling.
Happy 15th birthday Homestuck! You’re One Year Older! And so am I! I had no idea that Homestuck would become an even bigger part of my life, and this is something my younger self would have never imagined either. Really, this is a dream come true. My 13 year old self would be losing her mind, and I’m happy to be doing her proud right now. Mind you, I’m 26 now! I’ve been here for like 13 years!!!!! I graduated middle school, high school, college, lived through a pandemic, and now have entered graduate school as a Homestuck. Wtf!!!
I’ve made sappy tweets about this before, but HS was the start of my art everything. My first fandom experience was Homestuck, I made my Tumblr so I could meet other fans, I started to draw on a tablet because I wanted to join in on the fun, experienced the Golden Age of 2010’s HS… and now I’m still here, over a decade and some change later! My life was forever changed in a HUGE way because of this fandom, which is crazy to think about. Maybe I would have gotten into something else, but I would have emerged a completely different person, which is such a strange thought. Isn’t it crazy how influential pieces of media can be on your entire life? Superwholock Chumi could have existed in another universe (I have never watched any episodes of these shows). I honestly can’t imagine my life without Homestuck in it.
Homestuck is THE fandom to me, and it always will be. I started here, I’ve been here, and hopefully I will continue to be here for years to come!
Thank you guys for your support, past present and in the future. Right now I’m trying to hold onto these memories as tightly as I can, so I can cherish this time for a long time to come. I’m working with a bunch of amazing and creative people (my friends!) on a project that I love dearly. Thankfully HSBC is still in its infancy, and there’s so many new things to look forward to! Cheers! Onto the next update!
—Chumi, I like being sappy and everyone’s notes are making me sappy a
Happy birthday Homestuck. You've been one of the few reasons I kept doing art. The many reasons I felt that I could take on anything creative if I put my mind to it. I’ve been into this thing since I was 13. Many of my friends above me have already said a lot of what I was thinking. That something as innovating and engaging as Homestuck has undeniably been a part of our lives in significant ways. Not just for me creatively but as well as helping me come to terms with my identity. With the diverse cast first showing me that it's possible to be a lot of things and it is okay. Diving into this universe was like a sanctuary for me to escape the less merciful parts of the world..
I’ve always felt that if I had been like one of those kids and got to experience a game that sent you off on a fantastical journey, I’d fit in so seamlessly. The world of Homestuck does not discriminate between its players to the dynamics and personal characteristics you bring to it. Your desires, strengths and weaknesses become your primary quests along with your personalized rewards and to me, it was a dream to be able to escape to a place like that. How insane that I found those stakes to be preferable. All this to say: it got me through the toughest years of my life when I was younger.
Older me has still enjoyed delving and exploring such a world with endless ideas, and it's surely carried over to my own ideas and projects. It is a once in a lifetime deal to be able to grow with your favorite characters in real time and I am so happy it was Homestuck to be that experience. I am extremely, beyond proud of my team and all their combined strengths creating such awesome and ambitious work. I know they work really hard so please let them know your appreciation any time you can. Thank you everyone, for supporting us as long as you did and sticking around. Hopefully to the end.
—Andi, currently stuck in an airport
It’s truly wild that this time last year, last 4/13, I really had no idea we’d be in this position and making something we all love so much. We’ve all lived through this same day so many times, every 4/13 got to see a different version of us as we progressed and grew through life. My artistic journey in particular can be organized into a 12 year slideshow based on work just for this damn holiday. It’s funny, even at my most unmotivated or pessimistic about art, I could always find the will to draw more Homestuck.
Obviously I have a lot to owe to these comics, they were integral for me in understanding what I love about stories, what I hate about stories and what my own authorial voice is. It was one of the first works I encountered that asked me what a story was. What a story could do! And why I expected this or that when really anything could happen. Honestly a game changer.
I feel like I’m talking all over the place, because I am, but the baseline is that I’m grateful. I’m grateful to the comic, and to all the people responsible for making it happen over the years. I’m grateful to have a job that is so rewarding to work on, and with a team that is so genuinely inspiringly passionate. And I’m grateful for all the friends I made a long the way, who were attracted to the creativity of the comic and in turn have poured creativity back into the community tenfold. Ultimately, I have changed for the better because of them.
Every 4/13 that passes I get a little more grateful, a little bit better at art, and little older. And now I’m so excited to see what every new 4/13 brings for this crazy fucking story and all the beautiful people that care about it.
—floralmarsupial, outside breathing air
Happy birthday Homestuck! These last few months have seriously been like a dream. It's impossible to overstate my love for Homestuck. It still feels unreal that I get to be here doing this and with friends no less. Eternally grateful to be able to give back to this story that's given me so much. I grew up alongside these characters; I started reading Homestuck back in 2011 when I was 13, murderstuck was in full swing and I kept seeing fanart on deviantart and I had to see what all the hype was about.
I distinctly remember running into my Home EC class in 8th grade to gush about the newest update with my friends, being 16 sneaking into the computer lab during lunch to check if one of the Act 6 Act Something Intermission character select screens had updated with more options, running back to my college dorm because I got a text that the Act 7 Flash finale dropped... 13 years of my life have been spent talking about, arguing over, and losing my mind about this story and its characters. 13 years later and I still cant shut the fuck up about Homestuck.
I don’t think I could live without it.
—Haven, still stuck at home
