Traversing Fandom
(Published 1/12/2021.)
First update of 2021 - now releasing monthly! (Also, Discord!)
Hey again, and welcome (as best one can be welcomed) to 2021! As announced in the last update's news entry, the new leading direction of the wiki is sharing and celebrating music created by fan musicians at large. In addition to fifteen new albums, this update builds on last update's foundations - details past the split - and we've started a Discord for visitors of the wiki as well!
Once again, thanks to everyone who helped out or sent kind messages during development! The launch of the new wiki went totally smoothly, and the encourgament from everyone we've spoken to about the wiki has been really astounding. Thank you!
Much of last update was spent planning and programming, but thanks to that groundwork, we have far more albums to share this time, each full of uniquely incredible music! To highlight that, we'll jump into the summary right away:
- From Unofficial MSPA Fans:
- (2017) Weird Puzzle Tunes, a tribute album for the ninth anniversary of Problem Sleuth
- (2017) 『H☯MESTUCK VAP☯RWAVE 2016 RUH-RUH-RUH-ＲＥＭＩＸ』アンドレア・ヒューシー・グーグル翻訳, a solo album by Jamie Paige that is exactly what it says on the tin
- (2017) Xenoplanetarium, an album inspired by Medium, lending depth and musical texture to the trolls' lands
- (2017) Gristmas Carols, a Christmas-themed holiday album and a reprise of the seven-years-earlier Homestuck for the Holidays
- (2019) Cosmic Caretakers, a tribute to all the guardian figures in Homestuck (yes, all of them!)
- (2019) Moons of Theseus, a fantastically produced tribute to Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido and the other works of Michael Guy Bowman
- (2020) FriendSymphony, a three-disc album inspired by Hiveswap Friendsim with a song for each of the much-befriended Friendsim trolls
- From Oceanfalls:
- (2017) Oceanfalls Vol. 1, the origin of Oceanfalls music and a solo album by triple-time musician, track artist, and comic creator nights
- (2018) Contritum, a single-track release for the conclusion of Oceanfalls' first chapter
- (2019) Oceanfalls Vol. 2, an album packed with music and art now from a diverse set of musicians (many who would go on to compose the esteemed catgirl music-pioneering Oceanfalls Vol. 3!)
- From Tee-vee (who also contributed several tracks to FriendSymphony):
- (2020) There's No Place Like Home, a prog rock medley album celebrating virtually the entire official discography of Homestuck music! (Be sure to check out the movie!)
- From Toby Fox:
- (2010) The Baby is You, the infamous pinnacle of T. ("Radiation") F. content, a shitpost we mere mortals are blessed by the birth of
- (2015) UNDERTALE Soundtrack, complete with interactive reference info just like the rest of HSMusic, courtesy of the Undertale Wiki
- (2018) DELTARUNE Chapter 1 OST, also with leitmotif information thanks to the Deltarune Wiki
- From tempest2k:
- (2021) [INHOSPITABLE DELISTED], a re-release of the now-delisted INHOSPITABLE Vol. 1 from 2017, featuring music from the original release of their comic, INHOSPITABLE
Phew! That's a lot of music. In fact, the Fandom gallery is starting to become kind of crowded! How is anyone supposed to find what they're looking for now?? (Or so we hypothetically project you asking.)
Well, you've probably noticed already: groups are the new feature designed to answer that question! They have two purposes: to improve navigability, and to improve discoverability. Conveniently, these go hand in hand - and they're so crucial that we've worked them into the layout of the site as a whole!
On the right side of the screen (or at the bottom of the page, if you are using a more compact display), you can now see the groups an album is part of. If you click to visit the group's dedicated page, you'll find a blurb introducing the group, and a chronological listing of their albums. Or you can choose the "Gallery" tab to view an album gallery, just like the Fandom and Official homes (which are now programmed as groups too)!
The inspirations from Bandcamp should be apparent to anyone familiar, but we've added a few bonuses unique to a colossal compendium like HSMusic: chronology links, for easily exploring the history of a group's releases, and external links, for visiting a group or project at its own homes.
Actually, those outgoing links shouldn't go understated: we're hoping their presence will encourage avid listeners to step further and delve into the worlds surrounding the music featured here on the wiki. (That's been the goal with, for example, displaying artist credit links up-front on the pages they contribute to - we want browsers to explore both the wiki and beyond!)
As ever, there are a few minor additions and tweaks, too - check out the changelog for full details!
Finally, some announcements surrounding the wiki (the meta, if you will):
- Discord: We've started a Discord server for the wiki! Actually, it's been around for a few months, but we haven't publicized the link properly until now (it's in the "get involved" section on the homepage too). Follow the community guidelines and rules, and all are welcome to join and chat about the wiki, Homestuck music, and similar such shenanigans! (Psst, WIP update teasers are frequently shared here!)
- Patreon: It occurred to us one strange, ominous night that Liberapay is not actually a platform most people are familiar with. So, we started a Patreon focused on the music wiki! As ever, there's no pressure to donate, but it would go much appreciated if you're able - this update took over 45 hours to put together, in all!
- Updates: Like we mentioned at the top of this news entry, updates for the site will be releasing once a month now, aiming for release every twelfth, provided no (un)natural disasters get in the way! This is kind of experimental, but we figure it'll be fun to have a specific day visitors of the wiki can get excited for.
As ever, thank you for the support and feedback. Besides the Discord, our usual channels remain open, so you're much encouraged to share any comments or music suggestions for the coming releases!
~ Quasar Nebula