Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

A young man stands in his bedroom. It just so happens that today, the 12th of April, 2020, is the day before the 11th anniversary of HOMESTUCK and the 4th anniversary of SBURBS closed beta. It is currently in the midst of a week-long update for the anniversary. While you wait, there are certainly other events that you plan to do.

==> Enter name

I am sorry, but his name was already chosen at birth. This kind of joke would get repetitive and has no relevance to the story. Expect names to be given for everyone.

Your name is NOAH MORRISON. While you have a variety of INTERESTS, your main passion is for VIDEO GAMES. One of those GAMES is an MMO-genre game based on the webcomic HOMESTUCK called SBURBS. Your in-game god tier title on the game displays you as a MAGE of HOPE. As stated before, an update for the game started less than a week ago, meaning the servers are down to prepare for it. Right now, you have to prepare something for someone, and you have some time to kill before then.

Your bedroom consists of many articles of furniture and technology. Your bed consists of two memory foam pillows, a blanket, three drawers that hold your clothes, and a loosely-placed purple shirt with a stylized "N" on it.

Your computer setup is at one corner of the room. It is used when you stream your playtime on SBURBS or any other games you played on the PC.

On the other side of the wall is your Console-Gamer area. You are primarily an XBOX gamer, so you primarily play on your Xbox One X while on the couch. There is also a media cabinet where you keep your game accessories, comics, Funko Pop figures, and many other forms of collectibles and merchandise.

Your work desk is at the last corner of the room. You sometimes do art commissions with art that ranges from traditional pencil sketches to simple digital works with the help of your trusty digital tablet.

Surrounding your room is a plethora of posters themed around Homestuck, Video Games, and Music.

What do you do first?

==> Noah: Check what's on TV

Sure, why not? Guess it wouldn't hurt to see what's on TV. You perform an acrobatic pirouette on to your sofa. You grab the remote to turn on the TV.

The screen turned on and... Ah, man! You left the Xbox on. You were watching Maximilian Dood on his recent playthrough of Final Fantasy VII Remake. You were in the middle of watching his playthrough of Chapter 4 last night on YouTube.

You were attached to the development of FFVII Remake as you are a fan of Homestuck. Granted, you have played the original FFVII, and it was good. But from what you saw from the recent trailers and Max's playthrough, you are now heavily invested in this game. I mean, Sephiroth appearing literally at the beginning of the game is just pure hype, and you want to see how it plays out. You just wish you had a PS4 to play it yourself.

Speaking of Final Fantasy, you remember an event in SBURBS that occurred where they collaborated with Square Enix for a special event to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Final Fantasy. It was mostly to celebrate the then-recent release of Final Fantasy XV and the worldwide announcement for the DISSIDIA mobile game. There were quests where you had to fight monsters from Final Fantasy I-XV, and there were a bunch of "Homestuck-ified" versions of bosses from the games. Hell, they did a Homestuck take on One-Winged Angel, so you know it was hype. You managed to collect limited-time cosmetics, collectibles, and weapons in the game. There was also a special update to the game to go along with the event. It included the function of having Final Fantasy characters as summons and Homestuck characters as summons, the latter of which stuck around for later updates.

Sorry, you just couldn't help but get sidetracked by geekily reminiscing about SBURBS. There were many more events that happened after, enough to write a whole list off of, but you need to be more productive than that. Put that creative mind to good use, sir.

==> Noah: Go to your sketch desk

Ah yes, the glorious sketch desk. This is where you think of drawing all of the best things to draw about. You have a pile of papers complete with your trusty mechanical pencil resting on top of the pile, waiting to serve its only function, creation. You also have a tablet to translate your sketched-out drawings into digital format. Only Adobe is installed on that tablet, and you choose to keep it that way.

==> Noah: Draw something

You decided to try and draw something... But what do you plan on drawing? After some pondering, you decide on what to draw. You pick up your trusty mechanical pencil and start your epic anime-styled sketch sequence!

*Insert animated sequence*

It is done. You marvel at your creation. You don't know the specifics, but you tried putting whatever came to mind for you.

==> Noah: Go to your gaming computer

Ah yes, your glorious gaming set-up. Your BRO helped get this stuff for you on your 10th birthday. You like playing a lot of games, so much to the point that you're basically a youth internet celebrity. But, you haven't got any roles for tv film... yet. You mostly play your favorite game on here. SCRUBS is the name. Oh, you can't wait for the next update for the game. You bet it would shake up like it would be the end of the world.

*ding*

Oh, it seems someone is trying to contact you on your smartphone. You take it out from your phone from your CATALOG MODUS.

The CATALOG MODUS essentially works similar to an ARRAY MODUS, being able to fetch any card at will. This modus takes the form of a catalog magazine. Any item you collects becomes a panel on the catalog, 2-3 items per page. It also has info on what the item is, and it's organized in alphabetical order. You can select any item that you can physically carry and put it in the catalog. You can bring an item out of the catalog like a touch screen so you can use it.

It is a text message from your childhood friend and crush, Helen. You have been getting bored moving around your room, and you feel like talking to your friends.

==> Noah: Answer your friend

Oh look, your mom is calling you down. Probably for breakfast time.

You put away your phone and head to your door. You exit out of your room, expecting the usual weekend wake-up call. However, there was nothing going on. You look up at the installed shelf head of the door and notices it vacancy. You wonder if those two forgot. You sigh, thinking "Oh well," and go downstairs.

==> Noah: Head downstairs

You head outside the small hallway to the outside of the room. The familiar setting you have here is, what you might consider, the best birthday present you have ever gotten. While there are some notable allterations, this is pretty much a 1 to 1 recreation of the house inhabited by John Egbert from HOMESTUCK. Some of your family members had it made back before you hit double digits on your age.* years old probably?

You peer over the top railing and notice someone who is currently playing video games downstairs. It's your little sister, Lydia. She turns her head upward and sees you with a very gleeful smile

You head downstairs to give Lydia a proper greeting. Lydia pauses her game and jumps over to her brother. You both collide in a huggable embrace.

As you relinquish the hug, you look around the living room. Currently, Lydia was playing Super Smash Bros on the Switch. In front of the television set is a multitude of sofa segments arranged so that both sides will have seating, and the middle can be an easy hurdle to navigate. However, that wasn't what you were paying attention to; it was just something that wasn't there.

You head over to the kitchen area as Lydia chuckled at your declaration. Breakfast awaits for your stomach.

==> To be continued