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Posted May 3, 2016 by GP Manalo in Community
 
 

Promstuck 2016 – Celebrating the Finality of “Homestuck”

IMG_2041Ah yes, Prom…. Whether it was a romantic comedy film or an episode of a teeny bopper Hallmark show they would promise that this moment will be the highpoint of your life. In the final year of Homestuck PH’s Promstuck entitled, A Night with the Gods it wasn’t just some other traumatizing memory (like anybody else’s senior prom) that would haunt you forever but more of an uplifting one that one would treasure throughout their life, It was the case for this writer -Despite the fact that he is 4 years’ worth of updates behind from the end of Andrew Hussie’s (yes that’s his real name), Homestuck, a story of how 4 kids played a game that started the end of the world (think SAO but with better characters).

Of course, I am getting ahead of myself here so let’s start from the beginning; Promstuck is an event by Homestuck fans for Homestuck fans. But truth be told, this kind of shindig has started off as just “a joke” back in 2012, after its first few members read an AU (short for Alternate Universe) fan-fiction in which the inhabitants of the game of SBURB (the video game the characters play and live in) are attending their own senior prom. After quite the hectic planning there was a great number of response from its attendees they caught on, gradually became one of the biggest events of HSPH. Promstuck became bigger and bigger year after year; starting from a small room with a pool to a function room of RCBC Plaza, and now in a fancy ballroom of Heritage Hotel.  Of course, with it being timed in time for the conclusion of Homestuck and the same week as 4/13 (the birth of the webcomic and its lead character, John Egbert) it only makes sense for them to go out on a rather god-tier level note.

Promstuck became more of a product of somebody’s late night rambling, but one of the most memorable nights of the lives of these people. Here we are, 5 Promstucks later and the environment of the said ballroom was filled with joy but more so there was still that sliver of disbelief deep inside where all of us were in unison saying “I can’t believe it’s over!” (we meant to say it for both the web comic and the event itself) and this time it’s not some joke or some sort of ruse.

Usually prom is a night where everyone felt involved just from Old friends meeting again or the once Internet friends meeting together for the first time, the wild dancing (mostly wild for this writer as the photos show). More so we get the wide-range of talents performing on stage whether it would be singing, spoken word poetry, flute playing that would give us heart wrenching flashbacks the series, or even a full on retrospective rap where they would be reminded of HSPH’s defining moments of their 6-year run together.

13071872_1147948801896162_8238139598405471909_oHomestuck PH was formed for the discussion of the world-building and the epic storytelling of these wonderful characters, but their love for this comic has brought something much bigger than a discussion and it has formed quite a homey place for its local fans. From the stories I’ve heard from the admins and other members I have spoken to, Homestuck has made such a big impact in bringing people together and the environment they surrounded them with.

Where it may had have taken place in the Facebook page or just a small fast food establishment somewhere these people form bonds and branch out to not only just Homestuck but other things where in a sense, lives and breathe on it as well. I’ve met people who made friends, found love, had fights, loss some and gained so much in this fandom. The once introverts become more active in speaking, the once damaged people be whole, the lonely becomes surrounded by so much supportive people, and so on.

From what we saw in the event (and for this writer, the people he had seen in the group page itself as well) we saw an interesting bunch of people (other than the common denominator of them being Homestucks); they have introverts, they have extroverts, people who enjoys different forms of entertainment, people who expresses and identifies themselves differently, children, and adults. You have all these people from very different walks of life gravitating towards each other almost instantly which is always a good thing. But the reverse side of this is that despite everybody having a different culture or what have you; everybody gets along and everybody relies on their strengths.

At the end of the day, seeing the Gods crowned, shed a few tears, and see numerous group hugs happening simultaneously it is quite amazing how Homestuck PH has come a long way to building this community together. There is this sort of significance to the theme of prom to the finality of the web-comic, where in some way these people have graduated from how they started off as fans and grow with the characters up to its end.  Me being an just a mere outsider, it was a joy to see how tight certain geek communities are.These are the people who been through both the heavens and the 9 circles of hell together and at the end of the day still stood strong. In your old Prom, there would be the part where your fellow students would declare “we are a family” but when these people declare that they are family, we can see that they really are, even without the presence of the other 2000-something people in the Facebook group itself.

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Another astounding thought would be how I, not being an active member in the group would still be accepted by these people and sees me as if I’m an equal. Then again I never liked being seen as “that guy from the media” and I was glad they saw me as “fellow trash”.  When I do try to be (since I didn’t have any time nor money to go all out for my trashy planned Dave costume) by personality alone and instead looked like “some dude who is about to close an executive deal” as one person told me. These people have embraced me in open arms to a point where I they would accept me in the ritual known as crowd surfing, a ritual I never experienced in my own Prom or even any concert. According to the great elders of HSPH, I came down as the first man in history who has ever attempted such ritual. To the people I have met in that ballroom, thank you guys for making my night and being super cool to this troll!

April 13, 2016 marks a significant end to the long journey of four kids and their wild other-worldly adventures. April 16, 2016 being the day these people celebrated its finality with a god-tier event. A remarkable one, where people have expressed their love for the comic and even to this large-than-life family. With that said, thanks for playing! If you haven’t heard of a place to discuss about everything Homestuck, do join Homestuck Philippines!  do join for the discussion and stay for the family. You’ll be welcomed with warm hugs!


GP Manalo

 
G.P. Manalo is a student by day, and a resident tortured writer by night. Writing to keep him sane from all the Business School papers and presentations piling up each week.