Andrew Hussie, the First Ironic Memer
Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff
Usually the birth of ironic memes is considered by the appear of Dank Memes or Coaxed Into a Snafu. However, origins of ironic memes lie deep, back in 2009, precisely in the Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff webcomic. On March 17th, Hussie published his first attempt of such a work in order to parody the 'Higher Technology' comic, posted on Penny Arcade forums. He managed to mock amateur low-quality webcomics, using such trope as the Stylist Suck and stuffing the comic with elements of junk art, JPEG trashloss effect, and deliberately distorted slang. Because of the strong compression, substandard fonts, intentional grammatical errors and general stylistics, SBAHJ can be considered as an example of proto Deep Fried Memes. As it turns out, by plot SBAHJ is the comic within the universe of Homestuck and is a work result of the character Dave Strider who draws it ironically, later even getting the opportunity to create ready comics from photos. Being inseparable connected with Homestuck, SBAHJ, by Hussie's words, is important to understand the whole essence of it.Levels of Irony
Hussie not only foresaw stylistic features of future memes, but created one of the fundamental concepts of ironic memes, the "layers", or the "levels" of irony, as Andrew called it. Technically, he deconstructed memes before they acquired basis and necessary tools for deconstruction. The term of "levels" itself originally appears on the 448th page. On the same page, Andrew explains the whole point through Dave Strider:
"…this is no ordinary irony, or anything close to a pedestrian TIER 1 IRONIC GESTURE which is a meager single step removed from sincerity. This is like ten levels of irony removed from the original joke. It might have been funny like eight years ago to joke about Mr. T and how he was sort of lame, but that was the very thing that made him awesome and badass, and that his awesomeness was also sort of the joke. But in this case, the joke is the joke, and that degree of irony itself is ALSO the joke, and so on".Actually, irony is an important basis of jokes in all Homestuck and also the personal thing of Dave (and other Striders) who overuse it and do it really wrong, which gives the situation even more irony, building up layer after layer. More to say, irony is his lifestyle: he ironically collects katanas and "weird dead things preserved in various ways", maintains some humorous blogs and profiles, and even raps. That's why it's no secret that SBAHJ is considered a part of his unconscious. Despite all the coolness, Dave is not the most ironic character in Homestuck; it's his Bro who uses this irony to pester his younger brother. All their relationship in the first acts are built on this conflict. As for Hussie himself, irony for him is not just a tool, but a topic which could be explored. In terms of Homestuck, irony can be considered a real character.
In fact, Hussie himself is the true lord of irony. It is proved by the single fact that he came at Anime Expo 2017 in a Minion t-shirt and with a pair of spinners. Indeed, Andrew is a genius who has always been ahead of his time.
An Ode To Homestuck
Since Homestuck is a very complicated and significant phenomenon, and there is no point in writing a separate article about it, I would gather all my thoughts right here. These are slightly relate to all information above, serving as a generalization of Homestuck's originality. Also, note that these are just speculations that reflect my subjective vision of the picture.
Few can argue that Homestuck is truly a paradoxical phenomenon. On the one hand, it is a product of its era (some can note that Homestuck lasted during the era of Obama), on the other, a piece that was ahead of its time. Homestuck is famous for its diversity both from the point of a content and a form, as the "reading" process is made an unforgettable experience by means such as mix of text, static and animated images, flash, and even HTML5 animation and games. Homestuck is that rare adventure where the transmedia storytelling is tied to its very essence and works inextricably from the context of the work. Via his creation, Hussie raised, explored, and even deconstructed many pop-culture and storytelling cliches, serving up old concepts like a time travel in an unusual and insane sauce of quality symbolism. The Homestuck universe has its own rules, as well as exploits, and literally every thing has its own place and meaning. Now, Homestuck as a comic is officially completed, and its universe has been expanded by spin-offs, such as games and the epilogue. The community is worth noting too, as the fans have been highly influencing and even changing Homestuck. Of course, much of it is hidden behind the curtains, so there will be some speculations:
The case is that an epoch-making character of Homestuck had played a trick with the comic and even with Hussie himself. With the introduction of trolls (who are, in fact, a human reskin), and a variety of specific relationships between them, Homestuck began to getting more and more attention from different strata and subcultures. Including the young Tumblr "marginals" which would then become known to the world as the "SJW" movement. Because of them the fandom has gained its ill fame. With time, they have been surrounding and affecting Hussie. This was preceded by the so-called gigapause, during which Andrew had been getting over with his father's passing and financial difficulties caused by the drama around the Homestuck video game development. Considering that at some point Hussie could have been arrested, these events turned out to be too rough for him. Probably, by 2016, after the "Caucasian" and "White rapper" incidents, Andrew has finally gotten with his disappointment in the fanbase, and wilted. Having lost his interest in Homestuck, he allowed the "invited" artists to finish the last pages of the comic, which spawned many conspiracy theories about the seizure of narrative and self-inserts of Shelby and Cohen. That is, Hussie became a victim of the circumstances, overestimating his strength.
The late ages of Homestuck, in particular, its backstage, are full of secrets and speculations. For example, in 2018, the part of What Pumpkin team had gone. It is unknown whether it was a mass dismissal, or they just decided to leave, but eventually Homestuck passed under the wing of Viz Media. Until recently, the role and impact of Hussie in Homestuck has remained unclear. Nominally, he was the main author and led all the projects, but nobody knew what was happening behind the scenes. In January, after the release of the mysterious Skaianet ARG that probably will be uncovered only in 2029, he dropped the Homestuck timeline, full of bizarre, Hussie-esque jokes and twists. However, it was the result of Andrew's arbitrariness, and nobody on the team was aware of that. Eventually, he has removed the timeline due to some "offensive jokes", and even wrote an apology, breaking his radio silence. Then came the Epilogue.
Speaking of the Epilogue, I still am not sure what to think about it. Obviously, that is a big parody of fanfics that also deconstructs the concepts of "canon" and "canonicity", but why does it have to be so intrusive and provocative? Considering its contents, the Epilogue looks like a massive trolling, a mockery of the Homestuck universe and the fandom itself. The ambiguous (mostly, negative) community reaction shows that many fans took the Epilogue as a very offensive gesture. Remarkable that Hussie wrote only a part of dialogues, while all the rest was made by Cephied_Variable and ctset.
What if the team just wants to frighten away all the fans, hinting that Homestuck is dead? That would be pretty silly, but nobody knows for sure. Maybe it's just a global meta-ironic game that we cannot understand and evaluate. Even though its canonicity is in doubt, the authors knew what they were doing, and are now responsible for the fans' disappointment. So, the team's reputation has dropped dramatically, and sooner or later Hussie should get out of the shadows and put everything on the table.
UPD: Eventually, in late August 2019, Hussie gave a commentary on the infamous Epilogue. As expected, the team made the Epilogue so intentional, motivating it by experimenting and challenging the community. Sure, experiments are great and important but, again, creating such a work is a very risky move. As for myself, I consider the Epilogue a failed experiment in the first place, being very rough and narrow. The idea of canon deconstruction and the "challenge" would be of greater value if it was served in a less aggressive and straightforward manner. Although, again, the team knew what they were doing, so the future of the community also depends on them.
At the moment, Homestuck seems to me as a prolonged adventure, Hussie's main work that has been turned into his own curse, not allowing him to develop. Homestuck is an epoch, and it should have already been ended. However, as the original author and founder of the project, Andrew is doomed to bear this burden until the end of his days. So, good luck to him in this difficult task.
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