Homestuck

 If you have not heard of Homestuck before, prepare to be enlightened. Homestuck is a webcomic created by author Andrew Hussie. The gist of it is that a group of friends who know each other from over the internet decide to play a game together that leads to major unintended consequences. Saying anymore would be getting in too deep and is best left to actually reading it. Homestuck is unique in a great variety of ways. It is a collection of static images, gifs, and occasionally interactive games and flash pages. It is also the longest webcomic currently on the internet, with over 7000 pages and still ongoing with daily updates. It is also unique in the relationship between the author and audience. The audience is an active part of what happens and can actually influence events in the story. The story uses the process of starting small and building up until actions spiral down paths that most people wouldn't have even considered considering the humble beginnings. Homestuck is a blend of almost every type of genre including comedy, drama, romance, and action all at once. The characters are alone for the most part of the work. Most of the characters interactions with each other occur in the form of a pesterlog, which is a chat log between two or more of the characters. These pesterlogs reveal many things about the characters themselves, and their feelings and thoughts on the others. Pesterlogs are what help to further develop characters and highlight each one's unique personality and quirks. Homestuck has many pop culture references throughout the entirety of it. These references help make Homestuck feel like a living piece of work and further the flesh out the details of the world as a whole. Nicholas Cage is a recurring character that has has critical plot significance. Hussie attempts to confuse and enlighten  readers through the use of shenanigans. He uses things such as time travel, instantaneous teleportation, multiple universes and instances of them, and made-up words and ideas to convey the scope and spectrum of their journey and what failing would mean. He uses different cultures and alien species to show how people can put aside their differences to work towards a common goal. Unless they join forces to fight a common foe created from the hubris of some, they will perish and whole universes will be destroyed. Death is a concept that carries less wait in Homestuck then in other works. The dead can still contribute and work towards a common goal. This shows that death can be as much of a beginning as it can be an end. There are many themes to be found in Homestuck including teamwork, life and death, fate vs. free-will, coming of age, etc. Hussie uses the media available to him to the fullest in order to make an enjoyable story. Some people even consider it to be the Ulysses of the internet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLK7RI_HW-E. If anyone wishes to begin the epic tale that is Homestuck the website is:http://www.mspaintadventures.com/.