Act 1: Part 2
[OS-8]
Dipper takes a sigh. Better get ready
"HEYO!"
Dipper was suddenly jumped when a voice shouted behind him, he turns to see his twin sister, MABEL PINES.
"What are you up to?" she said. Looking over the computer, just when the boy clicked onto the Homestuck page.
Better tell her.
"I'm just looking at this strange web series." He tell, "there's also a game that I don't know what it means, but I'm very curious."
"Oh, can't I look at the web series?" Mabel asked.
"I don't know about that," he cautiously says, "it has some swears and maybe some inappropriate things."
"Still want to watch," she reassured her brother, "if it gets too much then I'll walk away."
"Okay then," Dipper said, as Mabel brings up a spare chair and sat next to him. to which he starts explaining what happened in the story so far before clicking on the highlighted text.
[51]
Dipper:
"Wait, why is he burning a magazine?" Mabel asked as Dipper left out the Game Bro magazine during the explanation.
"Trust me, you don't want to read it." He answered.
Webby:
"Even if Game Bro doesn't have good reviews on games, at least they care about mother earth," Webby commented on the burning magazine.
[52]
Dipper:
"Oh no…" Mabel said, feeling a little sad about John's nana, thought a little happy that John's father pays respect and have a portrait of her to remember her.
Webby:
"So she lost her nanny…" Webby said, feeling a little sad about John's nana, it made her think about her nana and feel happy that she's still alive. She doesn't know what to do if she lost her.
Though the McDucks is part of her family, her nanny is the only real relative she has.
(Author Notes: this takes place before the series finale, she doesn't know.)
[53]
Dipper:
"Of course, he does that," Dipper said when John topples the urn.
Webby:
"Let's hope ghosts don't exist in this story, otherwise his nana is going to be angry at his grandson." Lena joked while Webby was a little upset that John accidentally topples the urn.
[54]
Dipper:
"Hope that's a fake smoke pipe," Dipper said, still seeing the disgusting being ridiculous.
Mabel, now realizing John's appearance, snickered at how funny he looks.
Webby:
"Adding more to the disguise." Webby thought while chuckling a little at John's appearance.
[55]
Dipper:
"A Back to the Future reference," Dipper said towards John's gift. Now curious about what John's father got for his son.
Webby:
"That's very great advice," Webby said, now also curious about the gift and a little excited when she clicks on the hyperlink text.
[56]
Dipper:
"Another clown!" Mabel said, remembering Dipper mentioning that John's father is into these harlequins.
"A very disappointing gift," Dipper said.
Webby:
"Hey, don't worry about the gift John," Webby said to the screen, fun to talk to John even if this is just a story, "you can use it as target practice."
[57]
Dipper:
"Better to put the ashes back into the urn before his dad shows up," Dipper said.
Webby:
"Hey, captchalogue ashes, very neat…" Webby said.
[58]
Dipper:
"Agree with whoever wrote this," Dipper comments on the hindsight of using a broom dustpan. "also there is still some dust outside the urn, so not all of it is in there."
Webby:
"Sure," Webby agreed, "but you wouldn't be using the unique inventory tool, good to know what happens when you merge things together…"
[59]
Dipper:
"Yeah, good luck with that." Dipper said in a sarcastic tone, "I'm sure your father wouldn't notice…"
Webby:
"Let's hope your dad is blind then," Webby said.
[60]
Dipper:
"What good is there with fake arms?" Dipper said.
"Maybe to prank someone with arms falling off." Mabel suggests, "I would do that, maybe add some ketchup for the blood effect."
Webby:
"Wonder what he's going to do with those arms." Webby said before noticing the words mentioning the pesterchum once again. "oh no, not another chat with Turntech…"
[61]
Dipper:
"Just more posters of terrible movies," Dipper said. When the room reveals the 3rd and 4th wall of John's room.
Webby:
"Okay, seriously what's up with these weird creatures?" Webby asked, looking at the poster of creatures that she has never seen before.
"Have to agree with you Web," Lena said, leaning closer to see these black and white posters, "what are those things?"
[62]
Dipper:
"At least it's not Turntech," Dipper said, a little happy that John is getting pestered not by a swearing friend, but someone else, if it was Turntech, he would of ask Mabel to not read further in fear of her seeing swear words.
Webby:
"tentacleTherapist." Webby read the user that's pestering John, "are they like a squid or an octopus? Or what?"
Lena smiled, "sounds like they're really into dark stuff."
[63]
Dipper:
Dipper and Mabel looked at the words of the new user, talk seems to indicate that tentacleTherapist is a girl. Other than one word that seemed a little rude, it was a comment on how she might get used to people who do annoying stuff.
Though Dipper finds it a little strange from the colour, remembering about how their text is colour coded, as though they have a connection.
He assumes he would be blue, meaning that he would be John and Webby is purple, so that means she might have similarities with tentacleTherapist.
He might have to mention this in their next chat, but in the meantime, it was something to think about.
Webby:
Webby notice the wording as well, finding the purple text a little off, noticing the colour codes compare with her chats with Dipper, which indicates that she has similarities with tentacleTherapist.
Sure, the triplets can be goofy at times, that's what makes them fun, but she wouldn't describe them as 'insufferable pricks'.
"Also a good eye on disguise tentacle" Webby pointed out when the new friend realise that John is wearing a disguise, a little surprised as it seems that there's no video chat in this story, just text chats.
[64]
Dipper:
"Oh! I know what he's doing!" Mabel said.
Webby:
"Are you sure frosting would work?" Webby asked, "doesn't seem like a suitable adhesive, it's not strong as glue."
[65]
Dipper:
"so, John has arms but the Harlequin doll has no arms?" Dipper questions this, "I would just assume it's the same as John."
"Wait, he has arms?" Mabel asked.
Webby:
"The creepy Harlequin has acquired arms!" Webby announces. Enjoying herself with John's antiques.
[66]
Dipper:
"Seriously?" Dipper questions the strange pun in the burn paper ad. "yeah, it's better to put it all in the fire, the thing is made for annoying 'bros' that tries to be cool."
"Like you, Dipper." Mabel turns to her brother.
"Hey, I'm not like that!" he complains.
Webby:
"Better finish what you started," Webby said.
[67]
Dipper:
"Good," Dipper said, "now there's no evidence towards the ridiculous book."
Webby:
"Nanny would be proud of him," Webby said from the text reading that John is just cleaning things up and the room looks very clean.
[68]
Dipper:
"Okay, so there's a limit," Dipper said, "you can't carry large objects like a bed, so that means we can say, that a large book is a maximum size and weight for every card."
"Dipper." Mabel said, "you're being a nerd again."
"better than a bro," he said. Taking a mental note for when he practices he newly received captchalogue system.
Webby:
"Too bad," Webby said, a little disappointed but understood the reason. "but it shows how large you can carry for every card. Otherwise, it would be ridiculous to carry like a cursed statue in your pocket."
[69]
Dipper:
"A very outdated joke book." Dipper said towards the shown page of the book and reading the text below comments on how hilarious is, which it isn't, "what do you think Mabel?"
"I don't get any of it." Mabel answered, "but I like how that guy in a moustache is wearing a funny hat."
Webby:
"Seems like the humour Scrooge McDuck would find funny." Webby nervously chuckle, not finding the joke book funny, but good to read.
[70]
Dipper:
"Of course he goes to the study," Dipper said, having a feeling that the story is just padding the pages just to explore John's house.
Webby:
"Wonder what secrets his Dad has," Webby said, a little excited to see what's inside the study of John's father. "aside from his interest in harlequins of course."
[71]
Dipper:
"not just more harlequins, but also some interesting stuff," Dipper said, finding some parts of the study a little interesting, such as the big painting and the piano
Webby:
"Very disappointing." Lena comments as Webby looked at the image before clicking on the quick page. "expected some terrible secrets, though I wonder what's inside that safe…"
[72]
Dipper:
"So, his father has a peanut allergy," Dipper made mental note in his head.
Webby:
"Why would they even have peanuts if he has an allergy?" Webby questions the can on the desk.
[73]
Dipper:
"Again, you're not making a good disguise kid," Dipper said as John puts on a different hat.
Webby:
"Good," Webby smiled, "to hide in plain sight, you need to be inconspicuous!"
[74]
Dipper:
"Yeah, I would expect your father to use that pipe." Dipper said, "though a little strange that he has many around the house if you ask me."
Webby:
"Very true," Webby said on the part about the pipe and a roughneck with a toothpick, "though I'm starting to think that a pipe wouldn't work for your disguise, John."
[75]
Dipper:
"I was wondering about that captchalogue." Dipper thought, "does that mean those cards are visible, can I pull out a captchalogue card for myself?"
He might want to experiment, but decided to do it later, if not, then maybe not since he doesn't want to mess with his captchalogue.
Webby:
"Ooh, didn't notice that captchalogue card!" Webby pointed to the desk, "does that mean he can expand his inventory space?"
[76]
Dipper:
"Seriously?" Dipper said, "so you are only stuck with 3 captchalogue spaces? Then what's the point of having a physical captchalogue card?"
"Maybe he's using it wrong," Mabel suggests.
"Maybe," Dipper said, "hopefully it's possible to expand.
Webby:
"so John has captchalogue a captchalogue card in his captchalouge deck?" Webby recalls, "that's a lot of captchalogue, it's getting meta!"
[77]
Dipper:
Dipper click on the next hyperlink, what follows was something he didn't expect,
He and Mabel listen to John playing the piano, expecting him to not be good with it, but utterly surprised when he plays a good song.
For the twins, it sounds very sweet and very uplifting, the song flows very well.
"looks like this John kid has some secret talents." Mabel smiled.
"yeah," Dipper said, feeling calm after listening to the song.
He also noted on the bracketed text about '[S]' showing that it will feature sounds. The introduction to this concept was very nice.
Webby:
Webby click on the hyperlink and what follows was music from John playing the piano.
For her, it was calm and lovely, something to dance to on a snowy night. Something like Swan Lake.
"Didn't think John would be great at the piano." Webby said, "thank you for that great song…"
Lena too listens to the song and was caught off guard by the sound compare to John's character. It was very unexpected and yet a little sad.
Hopefully, it will follow with some silly pages.
[78]
Dipper:
"So he has the allergy too." Dipper takes a mental note, "or is it both him and his dad, or is it just him, might of read that part wrong…"
Webby:
"might be stupid, but that's what happens when you're all by yourself." Webby gave a nervous chuckle, remembering the times when she has the manor all by herself and not find any friends until the triplets showed up.
Lena looked like a Webby and felt pity, especially when she can't talk to her due to her being in the shadow realm.
[79]
Dipper:
"Better get out of the way," Dipper said, wanting to know about the mailbox.
Webby:
Webby looked at the gif image of the commercial, as it shows another weird creature, but also a drink called 'Etco Cooler'
"Should have expected it from John, but these creatures seem to have a similar social structure and technology as we do." Webby pointed out, "interesting, need to know more about these Johns."
She decided to call the strange creatures John since there isn't a real name for these creatures and the boy in the images is named John, so better get to the closest name for now.
[80]
(not much to say as the image and text is not much to react to)
[81]
Dipper:
"Meaning your confrontation with your father is imminent," Dipper said, wondering about the relationship and their interaction will show how well they do to each other.
Webby:
"Better find your dad to find the game," Webby said, also curious about the father and son relationship john has.
[82]
Dipper:
The next page showed long text and a surprising short cutscene of John looking around his neighborhood, before showing the sun and the title 'Homestuck'.
"wait, so we're properly introducing the story now?" Dipper said, "then again, most games do this, as a way to get people into the game before starting it fully. So, I can't complain."
The cutscene was also interesting, showing where he's from and the full house, as it seems that John lives in a regular neighbourhood.
The text however shows that this is going to show more than it already showed, something big is going to happen.
Webby:
The next page showed long text and a surprising short cutscene of John looking around his neighborhood, before showing the sun and the title 'Homestuck'.
"This is so exciting!" Webby said, liking the long text and the scene, along with the wind and sounds as she reads, giving a vibe of a calm before a storm.
"better enjoy this view while it lasted," Webby said, as she replays the video three times, before clicking on the next hyperlink, in which Dipper was waiting during her first replay.
[83]
Dipper:
Dipper looked at the hyperlink and was a little unsure about what's going to happen next based on the text.
"oh, what is he going to put in to surprise the mailman?" Mabel wonder, who hasn't seen the page in which Dipper has a bright idea towards the suggestion.
All he can say is, "you don't want to know…"
Webby:
Webby looked at the hyperlink, giving a frightful sigh, hoping that John wouldn't do what the text suggests.
[84]
Dipper:
"Thank you!" Dipper said when John refuses to do what he was thinking. "and don't think that it beckons!"
Webby:
"So much for the calm before the storm." Lena said, a little pleased that the serious part was over and it went on to something ridiculous."
[85]
Dipper:
"So much for the game then," Dipper said, a little disappointed that John has to wait till he gets the package that he expects contains the game.
Webby:
"Now you really have to talk to your dad," Webby said.
[86]
Dipper:
"so, to top it all off, John's father smoke a pipe loves harlequins and do a lot of baking…" Dipper summarized the idea of the father. "yeah he sounds very weird."
"Sounds like a cool dad to me," Mabel said.
Webby:
"There's the game!" Webby said, a little excited, " now you just need to get it!"
[87]
Dipper:
"Aww, one of the arms fell off…" Mabel said, feeling sad for the armless harlequin toy.
"if this 'clever disguise' works, I'm just going to throw my hands…" Dipper commented. Getting ready to click the next page.
Webby:
"Alright, get that disguise ready and encounter with your father!" Webby said, "also I know cake frosting doesn't work like super glue."
"Kind of obvious, isn't it?" Lena pointed out.
[88]
Dipper:
The scene shows John's father.
Both Dipper and Mabel were a little surprised that the father doesn't have any weird aspects from him, as it seems to be a regular businessman with a hat and tie.
They click on the next page.
Webby:
Webby meanwhile was also a little interested to the father, as to her, he looks like a regular man, a very basic man she'd ever seen, and that's not even without any appearances of a duck or a bird or a dog or a pig.
At the same time, she wasn't sure about why John doesn't want to see his dad, as the scene shows him giving a big birthday cake to him. which should be a good thing right?
[89]
Dipper:
"Knew the disguise wouldn't work…" Dipper pointed out, "in hindsight, even if it does work, he would see him as a stranger invading his house, so it would still bring problems either way."
Webby:
"I guess it makes sense." Webby said, now realizing that John's 'clever disguise' isn't going to fool his father.
"Well time to confront him! get ready to… strife?"
Webby looked at the next hyperlink with a strange word, in curiosity, she clicks on it.
[90]
Dipper:
The following screen reveals an interaction, with John 'strife' his father. With John holding the hammer and the dad holding the cake.
There were two buttons that Dipper pressed one of them, one has John attacking with his hammer while the other has the dad giving John his cake which John refuses.
All with a song played in the background.
"What the heck is going on here?" Dipper questions the scene before clicking on the next button.
Webby:
The following screen reveals an interaction, with John 'strife' his father. With John holding the hammer and the dad holding the cake.
There were two buttons that Dipper pressed one of them, one has John attacking with his hammer while the other has the dad giving John his cake which John refuses.
All with a song played in the background.
"What the heck is going on here?" Webby questions the scene, strangely repeating the same words and did the same interaction as someone she never met in person.
[91]
Dipper:
"Seriously becoming an RPG turn-based battle isn't it?" Dipper comments, thinking about a few games he played. "you can't run away from a battle and he's preparing for his attack, are they making their interaction as a turn-based battle?"
Webby:
"Watch out for the pie John!" Webby said, wanting John to get through his dad and grab the game so he can play it.
[92]
Dipper:
"See! There's one good reason for the disguise!" Mabel said, watching the GIF of John using the clever disguise to block the father's pie attack.
Webby:
"Pie absorbed!" Webby cheered, "now it's your turn, John!"
[93]
Dipper:
"Actually, as ridiculous as the inventory modus sounds, this might work for John's favour," Dipper said when the smoke pallets went out of the deck.
Webby:
"Great, the smoke pallets are out!" Webby said, feeling a little excited for this small interaction that turned somehow into a battle between father and son, "now use them, blind the dad and grab the game!" she quickly click on the hyperlink text.
[94]
Dipper:
"Of course." Dipper said, "should of expect the smoke pallets not to work."
Webby:
"Oh…" Webby smile drops when the smoke pallets didn't work, "a little disappointing…"
[95]
Dipper:
"So, a big harlequin doll can't be collected, but a giant cake can?" Dipper questions when John's father gave John the cake and John somehow captchalogue it.
Webby:
"Sometimes, you need to make sacrifices to find victory," Webby said, "don't give up, use this for your advantage!"
[96]
Dipper:
"Okay, that makes sense." Dipper said, as the book went onto the smoke pallets, triggering them, "they need to have force first. Like how Stan uses his."
Webby:
"Oh yeah!" Webby said, a little excited that the smoke pallets work, "they need a little force for them to set off, forgot about that!"
"Either way, this is John's chance," Lena added. Smiling at her friend's cheering on a fictional character in a story.
[97]
Dipper:
"Yep," Dipper said, "time to get the package…"
Webby:
"Now get it before the smoke clears!" Webby said to her computer.
[98]
Dipper:
"Okay, now that part makes sense," Dipper said, making a mental note, "if I ever find one of these, 'captchalogue cards' I just need to add more stuff till it gets added into the deck."
Though thinking about it further, the modus still sounds ridiculous, to the point where there's no good point to use it in the future. Dipper might have concerns about his own captchalogue system and consider how he's going to use it if he decided to use them at all.
Webby:
"Not only you got the first thing from the table, but you expanded your inventory space," Webby said, a little happy that there's a good reason to captchalogue the captchalogue card.
With the revealing page showing how it can work.
"Now get the other stuff!"
[99]
Dipper:
"probably a good reason why it has the beta with it," Dipper said.
Webby:
"Ooh, you got more than just one delivery…" Webby said
[100]
Dipper:
"And it took you literally a hundred pages to get this…" Dipper asked. "meanwhile, my game of SBURB is downloading."
"Sometimes, the start of the journey is much more fun than the journey" Mabel pointed out, "or maybe the side quests, the preparation is a little boring.
Webby:
"It's about time!" Webby said, "time to get it out of the kitchen and play the game!"
Unknown to her, it's going to take a few more pages for it to happen.
[OS-9]
In the meantime, Webby looked at her computer and notice that the download is fully complete.
However, it now reads shows that it wasn't completely done.
.
SBURB - M EDITION version 0.0.1
© SKAIANET SYSTEMS INCORPORATED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
SBURB host is running
Waiting for server to establish connection…
.
If it has connections, it would mean that whoever Dipper is, he might be downloading and waiting to connect with her.
Though it only made her curious about her being a 'host'. Meaning that she might be the responsible leader to help his friend through this game.
Overall, she's excited to see what this game is, while she waits for Dipper's download to complete, she continues with the story.
[END of Act 1: Part 2]