The Serendipity Gospels Part 1.
As promised, my review/recommendation of The Serendipity Gospels by schellibie and urbanAnchorite.Â
Again thanks to StarPaint for links to the first story, and to GalacticMigraine for this one.
Opening with a few of their illustrations....
"Act One" is complete, and posted, and I'm sorry to say I don't know when or how fast they post new stuff. But if you're interested I would really encourage you to go ahead and read what's posted currently; there are four chapters up and each one is very long, containing three or four delicious illustrations at ideal moments.
Some of you may have seen my promo post about the author's previous fic,The Last Hearing of Gamzee Makara, which was also told in second person from Terezi's point of view and had heavy focus on her relationship with Gamzee. I went into this one expecting more of the same, which was a mistake.
Thereisromance here, betweenmanytrolls and tapping into three of the quadrants, but I wouldnotcall this a romance.
In all honesty, I would call it more of an epic.
The authors have written this story that takes place two 'sweeps' later than Homestuck would have, in an AU in which Sgrub never took place. So there are no humans, no double reacharound virus, no exiles, etc., just trolls, and troll culture.
And it's fascinating. It opens with each of our familiar trolls recieving a message of which career they have been selected for, and Terezi, the protagonist, is paired with Gamzee as legislascerator and subjuggulator on a massive space ship full of such partnerships between indigo and teal. The plot includes details into troll life and relationship, using Hussie-language (nook, bloodpusher, thinkpan, etc) and idioms. It's intriguing, to say the very least, reading about what it might be like for a young troll who has never been among adults its whole life be moved onto a ship and trained to be part of the Empress's Fleet that we're always hearing mentioned in Homestuck.
There are a few OCs, which is a neccesary evil. After all they're packed in a ship full of other troll classmates, of course there is going to besomeinteraction. Still this does feel a little weak, and fortunately the authors use the OCs where one is needed and mainly stick to canon characters.
The familiar kids we see often are Terezi, Gamzee, Karkat, Sollux, Tavros, and Vriska. Which is pretty cool, because the writing explores and celebrates the unique relationship between each one of these guys and each other. They keep in touch through colored chats, just like in canon, though outside that the dialogue does not use typing quirks.
On that note, I felt that the writers had a better grasp of Terezi and Gamzee inThe Last Hearing. They aren't out of character here, but I don't get slapped-in-the-face-this-is-Terezi like I did in the previous one. There's also a constant, corrosive stress on Terezi and later Gamzee, from outside and then each other, throughout this first act, and while it didn't turn me off, it did wear on me.Â
There were sections where the writing was weak, not for being bad, but for feeling like there could have been something stronger in its place, or because the writing had been strong and gripping and released too soon.
On the flipside, though, the writing is never amateurish or boring. It never drags and it kept my interest the entire time, frustrating me for wanting to know what was going to gosh-darned happen between the characters. The writers are, quite frankly, bastards, and I was so at a loss as to what would come next they had no problem in jerking me around and startling me with abrupt plot developments. God bless 'em, they know how to keep you wondering and hoping.
While not as often as they did inLast Hearing,they again used the illustrations as storytelling tools, often using a picture to tell a portion of the story rather than writing it out, and this always seems to be used at the most palpable emotion times.Â
The characters too; I kept assuming it was just going to be Terezi and Gamzee but nope; others are brought into increasingly prominent roles and it is no small feat to take all the history, trivia, timelines and customs from Hussie's monster and synthesize them into a powerful, engaging story.
Ultimately,The Serendipity Gospelsis a fanfiction that doesn't even read like fanfiction and worth the time it takes to get through it. It's emotional, broad-scoped, charming, and frustrating at once and I really can't wait for more.
You have all of the respect, schellibie and urbanAnchorite. All of them.
Now the rest of you; go read and enjoy.
