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#25 - MeGaLoVania
By Toby Fox on Homestuck Vol. 6: Heir Transparent
Appears on [S] Wake. (page 3297)
It seems we're starting off with a bang. Although this song is far more famous for its appearance on the UNDERTALE soundtrack, its Homestuck iteration is a more or less fully fledged tune, albeit slightly rougher around the edges. This version carries the same synthetic electric guitar tone that Toby used for his Vriska leitmotifs, which I'm sure was intentional, considering how prominent she is in this particular flash.
I can't overstate how much I like this Flash, actually. Along with Vriska making a ruckus as always, we get to see Aradia finally perform her one big hero moment, ascending to the god tiers and (temporarily) halting B1 Jack Noir's rampage. The constant ramping up of the stakes that would continue throughout the remainder of Act 5 Act 2 is definitively escalated here.
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#24 - Beatdown (Strider Style) and Beatdown Round 2
By NOROCK on Homestuck Vol. 3
Appears on [S] Dave: STRIFE. (page 836) and [S] Dave: ABSCOND. (page 871)
Here I cheat a little (and not for the last time). Since these are essentially two halves of the same scene and track, I thought it would be best to just lump them together. Although the scenes where Dave and his Bro fight are pretty uncomfortable with the benefit of hindsight, it's undeniable that at this early point in the comic, the animation quality of these Flashes and the intensity of these tracks were pretty hard to top.
I enjoy the way that the music speeds up and adds new layers in its second half, and I especially enjoy how this leitmotif keeps recurring throughout the rest of the comic, including a few tracks that will appear later on this list.
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#23 - Darling Kanaya
By Toby Fox on AlterniaBound
Appears on [S] Kanaya: Return to the core. (page 3321)
Although the first Alternia album was kind of a flop, the eventual sequel introduced some much more cromulent character themes and leitmotifs. Although they're all pretty nice, this is the only one that scrapes by onto this list. In contrast with most of the more bombastic tracks that will find their way onto this page, this song is quite gentle and playful in tone. It's orchestrated mostly on piano, bass, synth harp, and of course an old Radiation classic, sleigh bells.
The soft but whimsical instrumentation suits the character the song is named for, who will always remain one of my favorite cast members of the comic. She's often underestimated by fans, but as far as I'm concerned, her deadpan demeanor makes her the funniest character in the whole thing. No cap.
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#22 - Sburban Jungle
By Michael Guy Bowman on Homestuck Vol. 4
Appears on [S] Enter. (page 1149)
Probably one of the more iconic songs and leitmotifs of this soundtrack, Sburban Jungle appears in a short mix all the way back in Act 1 before recurring in full for the end of Act 3 Flash, "Enter". This somewhat frenetic tune most definitely gives off the impression of scrambling to meet a deadline, with the quieter bridge section giving a much-needed breather before the conclusion.
This is a pretty revolutionary Flash in the comic's history. Among other things, it's the first time where we see a character prominently rendered outside of the usual sprite art style. I just love the way the timing of the music is incorporated into it, too - especially the shot where the synth plucks are timed with the raindrops in the puddle.
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#21 - Hate You
By Toby Fox on Homestuck Vol. 9
Appears on [S] [A6I3] ==> (page 5308)
Hey, this "Toby" guy is already showing up a lot. Wonder what ever became of him?
This is the first of two theme tunes for this particular character on this list, and while "Hate You" is a little less jammable it is probably the more musically interesting of the two. As the title implies, this theme for Meenah is a twist on "Love You", the theme for Feferi, which appeared on some earlier volume I can't be bothered looking up. The resemblance is hard to spot at first until you focus on those otherworldly, arpeggiating synth notes that come in during the latter part of the song. These were also in that earlier track, so there's some fun paralleling here.
As far as a background track goes for endlessly wandering a landscape full of dead jerks in a Flash game, "Hate You" works pretty great. Meenah's kind of a jerk too, but definitely the most interesting out of the new characters we meet in the Dream Bubbles during Act 6.
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#20 - Crystamanthequins
By Erik "Jit" Scheele on Homestuck Vol. 5
Appears on [S] Make her pay. (page 2578)
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this track on a musical level is how tonally different it is from "Crystalanthemums", earlier on the same volume, which is the originator of this leitmotif. But while that track is light and mysterious, this track is heavy, metallic, and discordant. Truth be told, I could probably do without the sirens, but they're just as iconic a part of this song as those metal clangs... or the gong.
The Flash it accompanies is one of my favorites, illustrating more of the fraught backstory behind the troll kids and seeing the effects of that backstory coming back to bite Vriska. It's admittedly a little cathartic seeing Aradia get her revenge. The shots of the past Terezi in the forest are some of the comic's most memorable. And another shoutout is due the short scenes of the other trolls questing on their planets while all this shit goes down.
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#19 - Upward Movement (Dave Owns)
By Robert Blaker on Homestuck Vol. 2
Appears on [S] Dave: Ascend to the highest point of the building. (page 665)
Look, even from an objective standpoint, that bass and drum kick is fucking sick. It's no surprise at all that this would give birth to one of the most common recurring leitmotifs in the whole comic, and there is something strangely triumphant about this goofy sunglasses kid walking up his apartment steps.
This is a pretty memorable Flash from Homestuck's very early days. It's fun watching Dave make a joke out of the heretofore lengthy captchaloguing sequences by doing it all at speedrunning pace, and I enjoy the shot of the meteors pelting his city. Special mentions go to the traditional Hussie troll of the double fakeout at the end.
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#18 - Terezi Owns
By Toby Fox and Robert Blaker on Homestuck Vol. 7: At the Price of Oblivion
Appears on [S] Seer: Ascend. (page 3744)
Speaking of recurring leitmotifs, we immediately get a prime example. This is a masterful Toby Fox remix of the original track, interlacing the harpsichord typical to Terezi's themes into the drums and synth-brass of "Upward Movement". The song is also due praise for working in the leitmotif from "Crystalanthemums" toward the very end, calling back to the previous confrontation between Terezi and Vriska. Also squeaks. (Is squeak an instrument?)
Those illustrated flashbacks to the similar conflict played out by their ancestors are also a nice addition. I love that shot of Pyralspite destroying the pirate fleet.
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#17 - Three in the Morning
By Clark Powell on Midnight Crew: Drawing Dead
Appears on [S] [I] ===> (page 1267)
This particular volume doesn't seem to be as well liked as the numbered set, but to be honest, I quite enjoy the cod NuJazz / dark jazz of "Drawing Dead". I have always had a soft spot for the Carapacians generally and the Midnight Crew particularly, and the first Intermission remains, to this day, probably my favorite part of the comic.
This theme for Snowman/the Black Queen evokes Bond with its title, and has a smoky, nocturnal sound to it that I enjoy quite a bit. The "Aftermath" variant from Vol. 9 didn't make it onto this list, but it also deserves a little shoutout.
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#16 - Three's a Crowd
By Robert J! Lake on Homestuck Vol. 9
Appears on no pages.
This is the first track on this list that doesn't accompany a Flash in the comic, which is a real pity. This is one of the best "extra" songs in the whole soundtrack. I just can't get enough of that glitched-out jazz piano, or the musical callbacks to the previous song on this list, for that matter. (I promise this positioning was a coincidence.)
There isn't a whole lot that I like, per se, about Act 6 - but Diamonds Droog, or rather the B2 variant of the Draconian Dignitary, getting a bit of relevance back was definitely one of those things. It's a shame Hussie forgot about him by the time the comic was over.
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#15 - Orchid Horror
By David DeCou on coloUrs and mayhem: Universe B
Appears on no pages.
As far as character themes go, it's hard to find a stronger one in this comic than "Orchid Horror" for Rose. The song, though only a short four minutes, nevertheless moves through a few distinct movements, each with different instrumentation, both gentle and menacing in different proportions. I feel like this track successfully explores both the lighter and darker parts of Rose's character, and the string ensemble in the last minute is definitely moving.
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#14 - Showtime (Piano Refrain)
By Kevin Regamey on Homestuck Vol. 1
Appears on [S] John: Play haunting piano refrain. (page 77)
Ah, yes. The OG. The first song in the entire comic. There's something incredibly nostalgic to this tune, thinking back to how things were when it had just started. The "haunting" description is accurate, as far as I'm concerned.
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#13 - Moonsetter
By Toby Fox on Homestuck Vol. 9
Appears on [S] ACT 6 ACT 6 INTERMISSION 5 (page 7449)
This is actually one of the few songs on this list where I don't think the accompanying Flash elevates it at all. "Vriskagram" is a nice Flash, and the art style is hilariously cute, but I still think this song works much better as a Dirk track than a Vriska one. The naming parallel to the more bombastic Strider tune "Sunslammer" pretty obviously sets this as a part of that general leitmotif taxonomy.
Still, listening to that playful, jaunty piano makes me feel a certain way no matter what images accompany it. Top tier track.
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#12 - Apocryphal Antithesis
By Clark Powell on The Felt
Appears on no pages.
Here's another underappreciated release for you. Following vaguely on the same track as the Midnight Crew album, "The Felt" is a more surreal and experimental take on the same vibe. The award for biggest mindfuck of all has to go to "Apocryphal Antithesis", which starts with the Homestuck theme playing backwards before descending into a haunting cello piece. Definitely one of the most atmospheric and mysterious tracks on the soundtrack, and a personal favorite of mine.
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#11 - Even in Death
By Clark Powell on Homestuck Vol. 7: At the Price of Oblivion
Appears on [S] Roxy: Sleepwalk. (page 4486)
Yet another successful spin on the "Upward Movement" leitmotif. This time Roxy is there! Or at least she is a year or so after the original release of Vol. 7, since it seems this song was held in reserve until well into Act 6. Still, being a Rose song originally, the musical themes of this song still suit Roxy pretty well, and frame their brief encounter at the end of this Flash quite nicely.
I absolutely love that string instrument here, too. What is that, a sitar? I'm no expert, but I know that it sounds nice.
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#10 - Descend
By Toby Fox on Homestuck Vol. 5
Appears on [S] Descend. (page 1940)
At a mere 4:42 in length, this song somehow manages to pack an absurd amount of diegetic-musical information into it. The list of leitmotifs featured in this track on the MSPA music wiki is mindboggling. This just goes to show that our friend Toby has a very good eye for utilizing these motifs, a skill that would obviously serve him well when he composed his own game soundtrack further down the road.
The end of Act 4 is the most bombastic finale yet, and seems to be the first act finale that reflects the webcomic's growing mythology and symbolic weight. In particular, just as many timeloops are closed up here as new questions and plot events arise. And that ending foreshadowing the devastating meteor that's headed for Jade's island is just chilling.
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#9 - Dance of Thorns
By Joren de Bruin on Strife!
Appears on no pages.
I've heard the "Strife!" album be accused more than once of being too awesomebro, but I don't see anything wrong with the more high-octane tunes to be found on this volume. Although they're all pretty banging, "Dance of Thorns", the track corresponding to Rose, is definitely the best. I love the combination of chiptunes and violin with the hard rock instrumentation. This song genuinely sounds like it could be in a Castlevania game, which I mean as the highest of all possible compliments.
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#8 - Collide
By Seth "Beatfox" Peelle, Toby Fox, Malcolm Brown and Joren de Bruin on [S] Collide. (Link deprecated.)
Appears on [S] Collide. (page 8087)
This is probably the biggest cheat on this list, since this is officially listed as four separate tracks. But hey, if "Cascade" can be one track, why not "Collide"? Just let me have this.
"Collide" was special for the reason that it was the first Homestuck update I actually caught when it went live. Although Act 6 was a bit of a mess (and parts of this Flash kind of are too, for example, Jack(s) getting screwed over, Karkat's theme playing over scenes where Karkat isn't on the screen, etc), this was an epic Flash to end the comic's longest arc on.
"Creata", an evocative piano piece, sets the stage, picked up by the somewhat overenergetic "Oppa Toby Style". This second track has some interesting parts, like layering the "Rex Duodecim Angelus" and "Penumbral Phantasm" leitmotifs together, which align surprisingly well. The start of "Eternity Served Cold (Canon Edit)" where Serenity appears along with the leitmotif of John's land (full of fireflies, natch) is a great narrative callback, and "Heir of Grief" by Tensei is probably, individually, the second strongest song of the whole act.
For all this arc's flaws, I love this Flash. Props to everyone who was involved in making it.
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#7 - Fuchsia Ruler
By Sinister Psyche on coloUrs and mayhem: Universe A
Appears on [S] ACT 6 INTERMISSION 3 (page 5263)
The (slightly) superior piece of Meenah walkaround music. This actually had its beginnings as a theme for the Condescension on the first "coloUrs and mayhem" album, but it suits her pre-scratch counterpart just as well. This over-the-top piece of facemelting glubstep (okay, actually just glitchy progressive house, you pedant) is on just the right side of crazy. It definitely doesn't suit the slow pace you walk around the landscape in this particular Flash, but you'll be too busy bopping to care. Have fun with the Beforus exposition, guppy.
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#6 - Doctor
By Usagi(?) Buzinkai on Homestuck Vol. 4
Appears on [S] ACT 4 ==> (page 1358.1)
I was tremendously saddened back in 2018 to hear of this artist's passing. (I have heard here and there that she went by Usagi but I've seen just as many sources saying the opposite, so I'll stray toward safety and just use her surname.) It's an injustice that such a talented young musician as Buzinkai was taken from us. This had always been one of my favorite tunes in the comic, so it came as somewhat of a blow. I only hope that my glowing words for this piece can serve as a fitting tribute.
"Doctor" is one of the most unique and evocative songs in Homestuck, acting as a theme for both my favorite character and my favorite planet in the setting. All of the memorable occasions where it's been remixed or called back to haven't diminished the power of the original at all, or the mystery and wonder of exploring John's land for the first time. It's part of what really made this comic feel like a great adventure, and that's irreplaceable.
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#5 - Umbral Ultimatum
By Toby Fox on Homestuck Vol. 6: Heir Transparent
Appears on [S] Jade: Enter. (page 2927)
Alternate title: "John, w8ke up. You fucked up 8ig time." "vriska."
This is the point where I would tell Toby to slow down because he's making everyone else look bad - if I didn't know that three of the next four items on this list were also Radiation tracks.
I've always felt like "Jade: Enter" was a massively underrated Flash when compared with the bigger, more epochal Flashes on each side of it. As the event which screws over the troll session and basically sets up the rest of the comic, it's certainly momentous enough to deserve the praise! I just love the segment where the music fizzles out into chiptunes just before everything goes wrong for the trolls, and then the dramatic orchestral segment directly after.
This song utilizes the "Penumbral Phantasm" and "Courser" leitmotifs fantastically, and must go down as one of the most dramatic and impactful tracks in the comic's whole discography.
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#4 - Black
By Toby Fox on Homestuck Vol. 4
Appears on [S] Jack: Ascend. (page 1668)
One of the most iconic songs in the comic, and for good reason. This remix ramps the song up to 11 and serves as an awesome villain theme for Jack. As usual, it's a blend of genres and influences which makes this song so special, combining the jazzy tones of the Midnight Crew album with the electronic sound more typical of the main comic's soundtrack. The accompanying Flash is pretty sick, too, foreshadowing a number of things (especially given how prominently placed Bec is in one of the transitions, something which would only make sense a couple of acts later) and overall just being pretty darn neat.
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#3 - Savior of the Waking World
By Toby Fox on Homestuck Vol. 5
Appears on [S] JOHN. RISE UP. (page 3087)
If there's one remix of "Doctor" that hits harder than the original, it has to be this. "JOHN. RISE UP." is one of the most impactful Flashes in the whole comic, in my opinion. Symbolically, it is a pivotal moment in the ongoing storyline of John leaving his childhood behind; this time, he even leaves his original body behind, ascends, and enters a whole new chapter of his life. The animation of LOWAS, the fireflies, and all his friends watching the skies in awe definitely add to the almost religious overtones present in this resurrection scene. (And people wonder why fans read transgender themes into this comic?)
And as far as the music goes, I can't think of a more well-composed expansion on Buzinkai's work; I could listen to this a thousand times and never grow tired of it. (Oh and, fuck yes, the sleigh bells are back.)
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#2 - Cascade
By Joren de Bruin, Clark Powell, Malcolm Brown, and Toby Fox on Homestuck Vol. 8
Appears on [S] Cascade. (page 4109)
I think you'd be hard pressed to find something in any webcomic that's more epic than this Flash. Three of the main characters are killed and resurrected, whole slews of side characters die, entire universes are destroyed and a new one begins - and this is only the halfway point of the comic. All things considered, I'd say it's also the comic's high point, the culmination of the constant ratcheting up of the stakes that had been happening with every act climax so far. A whole different kind of story was about to begin.
Accompanying this seminal Flash - which I have to point out is now ten years old at the time of this writing - are four individual tracks making up this whole piece. Any of these four songs individually could have been contenders for this list. When they're all put together in this phenomenal medley, it becomes practically a list-topper. The cumulative tone is so epic, ominous and joyful in different parts, well suiting this particular moment in the comic.
The "Suckers." twist still gives me chills to this day, as does the rapidfire slideshow of panels from the early acts just before the curtain falls. If ever there was a Flash that deserved to crash entire websites, it was this one.
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#1 - Do You Remem8er Me
By Malcolm Brown on Homestuck Vol. 8
Appears on [S] Terezi: Remem8er. (page 7959)
Remember back in the entry for "Moonsetter" when I said that track was better served in its original context than by the Flash it ended up getting attached to? That is not the case with "Do You Remem8er Me".
Death is something that kind of gets taken for granted in Homestuck, with so many characters permanently dying and others, who apparently survive to the end, leaving behind a trail of their own corpses. In the comic's lore, every single death, whether it's the players' own pre-god-tier selves, their dream selves, or the infinite doomed selves that the setting's time travel also produces, adds another ghost to the Dream Bubbles. By the end of the comic, every last one of these ghosts is annihilated, or is about to be.
"Terezi: Remem8er" is one of the few pages in the comic that really takes tally of all this, reminding us of what the narrative often forgets: that all of those lives were important... or at least they should have been. It also gives us a denouement to the arc of two of the comic's major characters, Terezi and Vriska, through depicting two versions of these characters whom the narrative had already cast by the wayside when they died.
On a compositional level, the song is not very complex, and from having its context changed, the "Lifdoff" and "Showtime" leitmotifs no longer make much sense. But the song and the animation both elevate each other magnificently. I'm not sure if it's even what Andrew Hussie intended, but this Flash is one of the most powerful in the comic; it is an affirmation that love triumphs over death, that meaning can be found in the chaos, and that all paths lead to home. Baroque time travel plotting and clever wordplay aside - which each, in their turn, endeared me to this comic - it was this emotional payoff that turned it into something I would remember forever.
Thanks for reading!
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