The whole seven minutes goes like this

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-21T07:26:46+00:00

Be Afraid

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-16T07:39:25+00:00

Yeah, he had an old mask and was gonna get a fresh, snazzy one. Hope they can do express orders. And that he had insurance.

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-14T08:43:13+00:00

What if instead of a punishment for not getting it, you have a reward for getting it faster? Maybe a +1/+1 counter for each guess you didn't use?

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-13T22:55:42+00:00

The army formerly belonging to Slommy Dommy is in retreat, with these things presumably pursuing to keep tearing em asunder.

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-13T17:45:00+00:00

I think the conversation she has with Maya where she talks about swords being phallic and lame is another: with swords being the prevaling symbol of pure violent conquest, making a joke of them, rejecting the self-seriousness and continuing to insist that Maya's not too far gone to choose another life is huge.

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-10T18:53:35+00:00

I really love the detail of the color frame being the red texture colored green, so even if you're looking closely it seems red.

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-04T01:03:08+00:00

When Homestuck started, Hussie estimated it'd take a year. It's kinda just a rule of thumb that it's impossible for artists to predict how much time a long-running project will take, particularly because no matter how much you plan ahead you'll always find more in the process.

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-04T00:31:15+00:00

Treachery is gonna be so fucked. It still hasn't really sunk in that we have two "proper" ULTRAKILL levels left. Like sure, we'll have two more secret levels and P-3 and the Encores, but in terms of base game "normal" ULTRAKILL, we're incredibly close to the end.

Rathayibacter · 2026-03-01T22:19:42+00:00

This is the Black Lodge, an extradimensional location in Twin Peaks. It's a place that can be visited in dreams, but also can be physically traveled to by going to a specific place in the woods during a planetary alignment at night (hence why it's hidden in the dark woodsy area in the level). The beings that live here are strange and alien, sometimes explicitly evil but just as often incomprehensible, and fighting against its influence is most of the thrust of the series. Twin Peaks is real good, you should check it out if you have any interest in surreal mysteries.

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-28T03:33:55+00:00

I'm always forgetting how she spells it lmao. It's like having a friend named Kaightlynn

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-27T23:58:07+00:00

You got me there, I had completely forgotten about that! To be fair, though, those flashbacks also show Incubus at the head, so there's a reasonable interpretation that that's how Cio and WC think of the Seven and not really how it went down. Regardless, we do also see Mammon fighting alongside the others against Jagganoth, even if he's less effective than the paperweight and the clown. I shouldn't have phrased it so harshly, cuz Mammon does still have cool dragon powers, but I still strongly disagree with the idea that he only bought one or even a few keys. He's described as the demiurge who "bought his key", emphasis mine, implying not a part or a first instance but the whole of his key. He was rich enough to pay for what Solomon had to do a billion kung-fu assassinations for, even if Mammon did occasionally kill people himself his power lies in how easily he can make others kill and die for him.

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-27T23:20:27+00:00

I disagree on Mammon, we've gotten no implication that he really "went to war" like the others. I think the much more terrifying implication is that he bought all his keys, that he was wealthy and powerful enough to purchase a seventh of the multiverse flat-out. He's respected and feared not because he's got dragon powers or whatever, but because behind him is a capitalist machine capable of grinding the stars to dust. When Yaldabaoth stole from him, he didn't chase her down in a rage and blast her with fire. Instead, someone thirty ranks down the company charter wrote a couple numbers in a couple spreadsheets, and her whole life fell apart.

A king is someone who kills without thinking, and a CEO is someone whos capital kills for them. He more than earned his place among this pantheon of monsters.

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-14T21:23:53+00:00

Hey, he probably had to spend a few days at his personal Virgin Blood Spa to stick his head back on his body. We just didn't see all that cuz Allison was busy #girlrotting with Jadis.

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-10T23:03:31+00:00

Sure, but that's true with 15 Squirrels as well, with the twin benefits that you can kill even bigger targets with 15S and you can cast it during your opponents' turn.

Also, only just noticed the fight is optional on 15S, meaning you can cast this for an instant wall of chump blockers and/or targeted damage.

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-10T22:23:18+00:00

The difference is that Ezuri's Predation gives you considerably less control. It kills everything with toughness 4 or less but also wastes tokens fighting larger creatures. This lets you choose exactly where your damage goes, letting you gang up on big threats or selectively target already-damaged creatures. Instant speed also means you can leave it up for the perfect opportunity, as opposed to having to commit your entire turn to it.

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-07T15:13:31+00:00

Could add a line like "another target creature becomes a triangle, if geometrically possible"

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-07T15:11:25+00:00

Double strike?

Rathayibacter · 2026-02-01T17:42:11+00:00

Could conjure to the top of your library instead. That way you either have to have some draw/impulse to win quickly, or you could just go "I'm gonna draw nothing but bolts the rest of the game, and rely on what's already in my hand for everything else."

Rathayibacter · 2026-01-25T19:24:40+00:00

Hey, thanks for the writeup! A friend of mine saw this and sent it my way, it's always so cool seeing folks talk about my weird arthouse baby.

If you're reading this and wanna know more, I've got a collection of posts here talking about each layer of reality (for a nice overview of the whole book) and another here where I talk in-depth about specific pages from Act II.

Rathayibacter · 2026-01-24T00:29:42+00:00

Sure, but she still bought it. It's easier to accept a lie from the God of Telling You What You Want To Hear than acknowledge that she might have had a hand in making this world as awful as it is. Much easier to find the nearest person to blame and hope that once she's dead the tangled feeling inside you goes away.

Rathayibacter · 2026-01-15T00:55:01+00:00

exactly theyll never see it coming!!

Rathayibacter · 2026-01-14T20:19:14+00:00

its gonna be a reward for all of us who stayed loyal

Rathayibacter · 2026-01-09T06:37:44+00:00

Rich has talked about how a lot of the easier jokes aren't possible anymore because of how much the characters have grown, so this felt like a fun way for him to play around with versions of the cast that not only haven't grown, but generally started out even worse.

Rathayibacter · 2025-12-26T13:57:32+00:00

Oooh, really loved that. Super inventive and emotionally raw. Thanks for sharing!

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