Openbound

Openbound is a series of interactive games, titled in Homestuck as HS 7163 ([S] ACT 6 INTERMISSION 3), HS 7208 ([S][A6I3] ==>), and HS 7298 ([S][A6I3] ==>), that are spread throughout Act 6 Intermission 3 of Homestuck. They are the first pages to employ HTML5, which Andrew notes is "more robust in some ways, but will have some issues with less common browsers".

In this game, you play as Meenah as she explores a dream bubble to talk to other characters, finds her other friends and rallies an army against.

The game largely parodies the microblogging website Tumblr, as Meenah and others often leave tags (beginning with the hash #) like Tumblr users, and in Part 1 after each conversation you are given the option of "rebubbling" it, with general Bubblr community responding randomly to each rebubble. (In Part 2 the feature is seemingly broken, as the icon has changed to that of a smashed dream bubble.) You are also given the option to "love" or "hate" a conversation, but this does nothing but light the symbols.

This game, like Myststuck, was divided into three parts for filesize reasons. Like Myststuck, the three parts were intended to be released back-to-back, but delays related to the Homestuck Adventure Game's Kickstarter campaign prevented that from happening. Instead, regular updates were posted in between the release of each part of the game. Kickstarter backers who pledged $50 or more got early beta testing access to the second and third parts.

Part 1, 2, and 3 scripts.

Part 1
Playable characters: Meenah Peixes, Porrim Maryam, Latula Pyrope, Kankri Vantas

Room 1
Act 6 Intermission 3 begins with a Flash animation of the crack in space created by, with some colorful bubbles floating past. It then cuts to Meenah smiling who runs down to the front door of her dream palace, where the interactive part begins.

If you walk to the right, you will notice one of the windows is missing. Walk through and make a right and you will see Andrew Hussie jump off of the castle.

You encounter Aradia first, who welcomes you to the afterlife. After walking down a flight of stairs, you are met with a mysterious trail of broken magic 8 balls. Is that ... sobbing? You briefly speak with a heartbroken Hussie. Bring him a horse, and he is yours forever.

Walk to the right, and you find yourself on a beach. This is where you hold most of the conversations with friends.

Room 2


Meenah and Aranea discuss plans to defeat. Meenah believes that she can assemble a ghost army to take him out and decides to recruit members for this army. Aranea has a different plan in mind: she is attempting to locate Calliope, whose disembodied spirit is said to haunt the Furthest Ring, with the hopes that she can be used as a secret weapon against, since they once shared a body.

You also converse with Rose, Kanaya, and Dave. Dave has discovered that he can leave "dave_ebubbles" lying around in Dream Bubbles. They appear to be a parody of the popular Twitter spambot horse_ebooks and consist of snippets of things Dave has previously said. These bubbles look similar to the ones floating at the beginning of the game. Like conversations, they can also be rebubbled. Dave is the only character you are given the option to "be", however he declines your request.

If you go down the stairs, there are two chests. In one of the chests, Hussie is hiding. He tells you to go find another hiding place—it's his, and is coming for him. HE IS COMING FOR US ALL. Amusingly, if Meenah has Hussie following her (having given him a horse), he is also still in this chest, leading to there being two Hussies on screen at once.

After going down and opening the two chests, retrace your steps and go back up to where you talked to Dave and head south to descend further.

Room 3
Travelling further you discover Karkat and his ancestor, Kankri, deep in conversation. Kankri is passionate about social justice and lectures Karkat extensively about "" (among other issues), continuously warning him of trigger words. Additionally, you can converse with Latula Pyrope, Terezi's dancestor, and Porrim Maryam, Kanaya's dancestor.

While exploring the Derse/Prospit-looking dream bubble, you come across an entrance blocked by a chest containing a twisted Cast Iron Horse Hitcher that once belonged to Spades Slick and was presumably bent by someone “incredibly strong, incredibly smug, and incredibly floppy when shaken.” (This would of course be, who bent the horse hitcher after Spades Slick beat him with it.) By returning to Hussie and bestowing him with the horse hitcher, he will love you forever and will follow you as you continue to explore the dream bubble.

Eventually you have the power to "be" Kankri, Latula, and Porrim, and while both Kankri and Latula decline the offer, Porrim allows you "become her", and you are able to unlock a dream bubble that reveals a staircase to the floor below.

If you resume being Meenah, you have the option of grinding down the staircase. After doing so, you are congratulated by Latula, who graciously allows you to "become" her. After doing so, you have the option of then "becoming" Kankri.

If you have Hussie following you while you're grinding down the staircase, Hussie will proceed to follow you halfway down the stairs before running all over the screen, near the staircase.

While being Kankri, if you talk to Meenah and become Meenah, you can convince Karkat to join your party, and he follows you around. Once he does so, he can be made to open the door with his sign on it to the final section.

Room 4
Karkat runs off to be by himself, however there is a booth occupied by Aranea who offers money for a chance to exposite on Kankri (revealed as a Seer of Blood), Latula (Knight of Mind), and Porrim (Maid of Space). At the far-right end of the room is the end of Part 1. Strangely Aranea offers Meenah boonbucks, but only gives her boondollars.

If Meenah goes to the end accompanied by Hussie, she will find the 2010 Spirited Horse calendar that Hearts Boxcars was punched into by Cans (yup he's still farming those goddamn horses).

Meenah walks off to the next section and HS 7164 (the game pauses.)

Part 2
Playable characters: Meenah Peixes, Mituna Captor, Cronus Ampora, Meulin Leijon, Kurloz Makara, Karkat Vantas, Terezi Pyrope

Rooms 1 and 2
The second part begins in Karkat's memory of an Alternian neighborhood. Walk to the right and go down the stairs. At the bottom, you will meet Eridan's dancestor Cronus Ampora. If asked where Karkat is, he will explain that Karkat has locked himself inside a nearby hive; opening the door will require four keys in the shape of the quadrant symbols. Meenah refuses to be Cronus, so open the chest next to the door and get the diamond key, then follow the stone path to a bridge.

If you head south of the bridge you enter a tiny room with three Prospitians who are mistaken for Problem Sleuth, Ace Dick and Pickle Inspector.

After crossing the bridge, Mituna Captor, Sollux's dancestor, appears on his skateboard and injures himself trying to grind on the bridge's railing. You have the option of becoming Mituna, who in turn can become Cronus by talking to him. While Cronus, you can find an Easter egg by walking into the foliage by the stairs and pressing space: Hussie appears and offers to go on a date with you. If you examine the skyhorse, however, Hussie will reveal that the date was just a ruse to get close to the lusus and rides the "seahorse dad" off into the sky. To resume control of Meenah, cross the bridge, then go back and grill Mituna; Meenah will show up to spare Mituna from Cronus' insults.

To enter the next room, cross the bridge and go up. Be sure to open the chest next to the exit, as it contains the club key.

Rooms 3 and 4
The next room takes the form of Skaia's giant lilypads. Walk up and you will eventually meet Kurloz Makara, Gamzee's dancestor, who is standing next to the chest containing the spade key. Kurloz is too creepy and uncooperative to become, so walk up to the top of the lilypads. There, you find Nepeta's dancestor Meulin Leijon and the chest containing the heart key.

You can become Meulin, who is capable of accessing the memory bubble located next to Kurloz. It makes another lilypad appear with a chest on it; the chest contains the codpiece from Gamzee's God Tier outfit. Talk to Kurloz and give him the codpiece. He will use chucklevoodoos to mind control Meulin, revealing that he and Gamzee are working together to help kill all of their friends. Once the conversation ends, you will automatically take control of Kurloz. Use the memory bubble at the top of the lilypads (where you first met Meulin) and a secret entrance appears. Enter it and walk down the corridor to meet with Gamzee and give him the cod piece.

Once the meeting of the Makaras ends, you will once again be Meenah. Return to the locked door in room 1 and insert the four keys, then go inside.

Rooms 5 and 6
Inside, you find a memory of Karkat's room. Meenah can talk to Karkat and the two talk about the pre-Scratch trolls and Karkat's dreams of becoming a threshecutioner in the service of the Empress. He eventually agrees to become a member of Meenah's army and decides to go for a walk. You can now control Karkat, so leave the room.

The surroundings have changed to become Terezi's hive. Go down to the base of the tree to find Terezi sulking by herself. She feels inadequate and useless compared to Latula, but Karkat tries to motivate her by insulting Kankri and Latula and telling her to be herself. Afterwards, go back upstairs; you lose control of Karkat and become Terezi. Follow Karkat upstairs and go into the doorway.

Rooms 7 and 8
The bedroom has changed from Karkat's to Terezi's, but Meenah is still there. Take control of her and go outside. Aranea once again has set up her exposition booth on top of the tree and will provide information on Cronus, Mituna, Kurloz and Meulin. Once you're done obtaining exposition, cross the bridge on the right to end the game.

Part 3
Playable characters: Meenah Peixes, Horuss Zahhak, Rufioh Nitram, Damara Megido, Kanaya Maryam, Rose Lalonde, Dave Strider

Room 1
The final part starts just to the right of where part 2 left off. Tavros's dancestor Rufioh Nitram is at the starting area. He will not let you be him because his lusus is missing; he suspects that Damara Megido, Aradia's dancestor, has stolen it and hidden it somewhere. Go to the right and down, passing a Fiduspawn host plush, to meet Horuss Zahhak, Equius' dancestor. You cannot become him unless you bring him a horse. Damara is at the bottom left of the room near two chests; one contains the missing lusus, but can only be opened by Horuss, and the other contains fiduspawn eggs. The exit is blocked by a giant piece of quartz placed by Damara. She can remove it by using a memory bubble, but you cannot be her due to her hatred of Meenah.

To advance to the next room, go back to the host plush and use the eggs on it. A Horsaroni will burst out of the plush, which you can give to Horuss to become him. Open the locked chest containing the lusus and give it back to Rufioh. Now taking control of Rufioh, become Damara and use the memory bubble to get rid of the quartz. If Damara goes to check on Mituna, Latula will also be there, threatening to kill her if she goes anywhere near Mituna. Finally, be Meenah again and exit to the next room.

Room 2
In this room, the meteor is beginning to physically pass through the dream bubble again. Meenah wants to go inside, but the door is locked and password protected. To the right of the door, Kanaya and Porrim have a conversation in which Porrim convinces Kanaya to continue her efforts to revive the troll race. Ask Kanaya for the password and she will refuse to give it to you. She will, however, allow you to go in the meteor under the condition that you stay under her supervision. You are now Kanaya (Meenah will follow you), so open the door and go inside.

Once the door is open, you can return to room 1, become Damara, and go inside the meteor as her.

Rooms 3 and 4
Within the meteor, Rose and Dave are busy with various projects. Rose is practicing alchemy (the traditional variety, not the Sburb item creation system) and trying to make beverages, and Dave is working on his raps, though he fears they may have become culturally out of date. You can talk to and be both of them.

In a room to the north, Karkat is sleeping in Gamzee's horn pile. There are different events that can take place here, depending on which character you are playing as:
 * As Meenah/Kanaya: Meenah realizes that this is an opportunity to get Karkat into the bubble to serve in her army, but Kanaya catches on to the plan and prevents her from waking him up.
 * As Rose: Gamzee is sitting next to the horn pile. He reveals to Rose that he is in a secret kismesissitude with Terezi and is unable to tell Karkat about it, since Karkat would probably kill him out of anger. Rose agrees not to tell anyone and warns Gamzee to hide in the vents before Kanaya finds him.
 * As Dave: Karkat's dream bubble self is standing next to himself. He wonders if dream bubble selves are tangible to the waking and asks Dave to touch him. Dave is weirded out and doesn't comply with the request.

To enter the next room, exit to the left of Rose and Dave's location.

''As Damara, you can talk to Rose and Dave; Damara will greet them in broken English and the two will welcome her onto the meteor, believing her to be harmless. If you enter room 4, Terezi will be sitting next to the horn pile, threatening to kill you if you try to do anything to Karkat, much like Latula did.''

Room 5
You are now Meenah again. The meteor starts to transition into Vriska and Tavros' dream bubble, and Aranea has arrived with her exposition booth. If asked about the search for Calliope, she will admit that she's spent all her time giving people information instead of looking, but vows to sell the booth and get back to the quest. In the meantime, she will give you exposition on Rufioh, Horuss and Damara. Once done, exit to the left to enter the final room.

''If you are Damara, Hussie will be running the booth instead, having purchased it from Aranea. He will give you his own commentary on all twelve of the pre-Scratch trolls. Exiting to the left will bring you back to room 1 instead of room 6.''

Room 6
At the bottom of the room, Vriska, Tavros and John are talking while Hussie watches behind a rock. Hussie is trying to find a way to take the ring from John so he can propose to Vriska again. Meenah offers to sell him a ring for $2,485,506 and he pays it, asking her not to tell anyone since he had promised to do something else with the money. He immediately regrets the purchase when he learns the ring used to belong to Cronus.

To end Openbound, walk over to Vriska, Tavros and John.

Part 1
Room 1 (Meenah's palace/Beforan moon) Room 2 (beach/LOBAF/Derse) Room 3 (Derse/Prospit) Room 4 (Aranea’s booth/Karkat’s neighborhood)
 * A dirty old fedora
 * A double trident
 * Some ancient serpent bones
 * Some boondollars
 * A Pyralspite scalemate
 * A bottle of motor oil
 * A bronze potion
 * A bloody cherub tooth
 * A boonbuck
 * A gold tiara
 * A Juju (an effigy)
 * Some throwing stars
 * A pair of Timetables
 * An Echidna statue
 * The Thorns of Oglogoth
 * A copy of Complacency of the Learned
 * Kanaya's sewing machine
 * A fuchsia potion
 * A Juju (an Oven)
 * A Dersite tabloid
 * The Ribbitar
 * A hiding Andrew Hussie (HE IS COMING FOR US ALL!)
 * A pair of cosplay horns
 * A lance
 * A Sufferer pendant
 * A whole stack of boondollars
 * A whole heap of boondollars
 * The Ragripper
 * Some authentic religious memorabilia
 * A Juju (an egg-timer)
 * A pretzeled horse hitcher
 * A Troll romance novel
 * The Regisickle
 * A Magic Cue Ball
 * Some licorice scottie dogs
 * The four-wheel device (from Latula)
 * A 2010 Spirited Horse calendar (secret item only available with Andrew Hussie)

Part 2
Room 1 (Karkat's neighborhood) Room 3 (the Battlefield) Room 4 (Kurloz's secret chamber) Room 6 (Terezi's forest)
 * An Alternian soft drink
 * The diamond Key
 * The Clawsickle
 * Some seadweller bling
 * Ahab’s Crosshairs
 * A copy of Game Grub
 * The club key
 * A seahorse-stealing Andrew Hussie (only available to Cronus)
 * A tarot deck
 * The spade key
 * A juju (a voodoo doll)
 * Another juju (a chess set)
 * An olive potion
 * A teapot
 * A pair of action claws
 * The heart Key
 * The codpiece (only available to Meulin)
 * A juju breaker (that is, a crowbar)
 * A juju chest
 * A Stabbing Cane
 * A sack full of embezzled beetles

Part 3
Room 1 (Terezi's/Rufioh's forest) Room 3 (the meteor) Room 5 (Aranea's booth/LOMAT) Room 6 (LOMAT/LOSAZ)
 * Some Fiduspawn cards
 * A busted robot head
 * A pair of Dutton Bubble Goggles
 * Some more boondollars
 * Fiduspawn eggs (to be used with the host plush to create a Horsaponi)
 * A priceless work of fine art (of a somewhat-pixellated horse penis... only available to Horuss)
 * Rufioh's Lusus (only available to Horuss)
 * East Beforan scroll (Transcript of Damara’s dialogue through Google Translate, as seen here. WARNING: very perverse.)
 * An Empty Bottle
 * (previously seen in a certain HS 3252 (intermission))
 * A can of Earth Tab
 * More troll blood! Some fruit juice
 * A boonbuck
 * An Alternian journal
 * A broken 8 ball
 * A pair of Rocket Boots
 * A heap of priceless treasure (who knew?)