Pesterquest: Volume 11, entitled Live, Laugh, Bake, is the eleventh installment of Pesterquest, a Homestuck spinoff visual novel. The befriendable character in the eleventh installment is Jane Crocker. Volume 11 was written by Pip Dillistone and released on February 5, 2020.
Plot[]
Volume 11: The Call Of Leadership[]
It's a beautiful night on Alternia, but there's a distinct sense of panic in the air. Visibly worried, Karkat asks whether Dave's alright, fervently hoping that it's just grubsauce. Vriska denies doing anything, until Terezi's disapproving glare forces her to admit the truth. Dave nonchalantly reassures Karkat that everything's alright, saying that spilling grubsauce was bound to happen at some point during a picnic. Everything returns to normal, and you watch as Feferi, Rose and Kanaya discuss the number of tentacles Gl'bgolyb has. Pleased with your ability to be a good picnic host, you lie back and see Jade and Nepeta enjoying themselves.
However, a squabble takes place when Eridan tries to help Nepeta and Jade, even though neither of them specifically asked for his assistance. Sollux spends a few moments reprimanding Eridan, until a fight breaks out between them. Not wanting all your hard work to crumble under dumb boy drama, you step in to defuse the situation. Gamzee gets in your way at first, ignoring the terse situation at hand. After the purpleblood states that gender equality is the biggest miracle ever, your dream breaks apart and you wake up alone in your old hideout.
Upset with the fact that it would be a very long time before you can get all your friends to settle their many differences and come up with a real plan for social reform, you despondently look back on how much time you've spent trying. Whilst thinking about your past conquests, you realize that John had been strangely absent from your dream. Since it's been quite a while since you last saw him, you decide to pop on over to his place.
You zap back to Earth, deciding that John certainly has a special spot in your heart (probably due to the fact that he's the first friend you've made). Eyes settling on the mailbox, you suddenly worry that John has forgotten you with all new friends he's made. After all, you and him weren't particularly close to begin with, and you'd also thrown all his birthday gifts down the sewer on your first meeting to boot. Guilty, you decide to make it up to him by being a better friend, then peer into the mailbox to see what's inside. Maybe if you make sure to actually give him his mail, you can atone the mistake you made with him the first time round.
- If you choose to pilfer the post, you think that making sure he gets the mail is a great way of apologizing and that nothing can possibly go wrong with this. You stick your hand in the mailbox to grab the package, only for it to explode. You lose consciousness immediately. BACKFIRED!
- If you choose to reconsider, you slap yourself in the face for even thinking about such a dumb idea. After all, you got in trouble the first time because you were rifling through John's mail; now you're doing it again? Instead, you raise the mailbox's signal flag, then zap away before John can see you upstairs. In his yard, a white cat hisses at you before vanishing into thin air. Even though you're a little weirded out by the cat, you focus on pranking John. When the person steps out of the door however, you realize that it's not John at all. You stand back and watch the stranger retrieve the mail, until a flash of pain hits you. Without thinking, you rush ahead and zap the stranger out of the way and back into their room. Outside, you heard the mailbox explode, though you're not entirely certain how or why you know the exact sound. While Jane recovers, you peer outside the window to confirm that the mailbox had indeed exploded. Irritated and brandishing a giant red spoon, Jane asks who you are and what just happened. Since you're beyond confused with where John had went, you fail to answer any of her questions. Deciding that it would be her job to suss out the truth herself, Jane mistakenly identifies you as Problem Sleuth cosplayer (since you bear quite the resemblance to the characters in one of Jane's posters). You're twice as confused now, but decide that it's better than pretending to be a mailman. Once Jane settles down, you finally explain how you managed to appear in her room with such ease. She doesn't seem particularly surprised with your abilities, though she's somewhat put off with the multiple attempts on her life so far. After a bit of chatting, Jane remembers that you're still an uninvited guest and offers to show you to the door. After asking whether someone named John had previously lived in the house, you are mortified to learn that the Crockers keep a stuffed corpse in the living room (who is apparently John). Struggling to accept the fact that you may have travelled way too far ahead in the future, you wind up looking quite dismayed and upset. Not quite getting the torrent of emotions running through your head, Jane is beyond delighted to see someone that actually knows of her dear grandfather. Seeing as you're a family friend, Jane allows you to stay in the house to chat. However, she's not entirely sure what to do as a host. You take a quick assessment of her hobbies and interests, thinking about possible activities to bond over.
- Should you choose to practice some self care, you are suddenly aware of how tired and hungry you are after your many, many shenangians in the past. Jane is more than happy to bake a cake with your help, and you are quite excited with the prospect of baking something amazing. Using her high-tech baking spoon, she speedily goes about measuring ingredients and mixing them together. Not wanting to ruin her fun, you stand aside and watch in awe as she does things on her own. Suddenly she gets a message on her phone, and she bashfully asks whether she can take a break to talk to a certain someone. She hands you her primary cooking utensil so you can continue preparing the cake, but you can barely keep up with the instructions issued by the spoon, since you're not familiar with baking ingredients. Too engrossed in her phone, Jane doesn't notice the pickle you've gotten yourself into. You try to find the speed setting on the device, only to bungle up even more. Determined to not be a failure, you search about for a way to set things right. You dump an entire bag of sugar into the batter, feeling satisfaction for getting at least one thing right. Jane finally returns, apologizing for the long wait. Feeling like utter garbage for ruining the batter, you wait for her to deem you unworthy of her friendship. Not angry in the slightest, Jane places a comforting hand on your shoulder and cheers you up. Jane gently reminds you that sometimes forcing yourself ahead may not be the best solution; at times cutting your losses and starting again would be more adequate, which is not the same as giving up. Realizing that she was also at fault for leaving you to dry in an unfamiliar situation, Jane apologizes for not being a good leader, though she does appreciate you participating in her hobby. To make it up to you (also since you'd save her life earlier) she decides that you can choose the recipe while she bakes it, promising to not get distracted again. Feeling happy and grateful, the two of you go on and start again with the cake. CUTTING OUR LOSSES..!!
- Jane hands you her tiaratop to use, since she doesn't exactly want you to see some private things on her phone. The device overloads you with one single command, and your will crumbles altogether. You are now a lowly servant of the Batterwitch, and leave a horrified Jane behind as you teleport to the Condesce. There are problems everywhere that require her attention all over the universe, and you're more than willing to be her prized tool. OBEY
- Should you choose to solve a mystery, you mention that finding out whoever keeps trying to assassinate Jane would definitely put an end to her troubles. Even though Jane is on board with the idea, there isn't a lot of evidence for the both of you to work with. Since it isn't likely for the mailmen to know a whole lot about the parcel, you offer to travel back in time to see how things really went down. Skeptical as ever, Jane questions your ability to move freely through time. To prove your point, you zap her back in time and introduce her to her past self. Jane is flustered with the demonstration, but you focus on the exploding mailbox and take her outside. One hour into the past, the mailbox is still empty, so you pick a spot to hide and watch. However, Jane is panicking over the fact that she's stuck in the past, texting her friend about her new predicament. While she explains everything to her friend, you keep your eyes peeled on the mailbox. An unmarked van comes by, but the two of you realize that it's hard to discern anything useful from such a distance. Jane suggests a more direct approach by detaining and interrogating the person, so you grab some rope and prepare for an assault. Once the postman is tied up and brought to the back yard, Jane begins asking a series of questions in a terse manner. The postman stammers that he isn't aware of anything, so Jane unties him while you hope that he gets the apologetic vibe you're sending out. You allow Jane some space to process what just happened, and she's quite shaken with the notion that her own company would try and kill her. After a long while of texting, Jane slumps to the ground, miserable and tired. Wanting to comfort her, you fish about for something to soothe her frayed nerves. However, she picks herself up in no time and regains her chipper attitude towards life. She thanks you for showing her the truth, then informs you that she has an existential crisis to avert. EXISTENTIAL CRISIS!! >:B
Character Sprites[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- When Karkat's freaking out over Dave's supposed injury in the very beginning, he goes 'PLEASE JUST BE GRUB SAUCE' repeatedly. This is a direct reference to this
. - When Jane appears to retrieve her mail, she's clad in her Clever Disguise.
- Upon hearing that the MSPA Reader hasn't had cake in a long while, Jane sadly goes “Now if that isn't just about the saddest thing I've ever heard :(”
- Most of the instructions issued by the Junior Battermaster's Bowlbuster Stirring Solution 50000 have disturbing subliminal messages tagged at the end, some of which are identical to those shown in the BettyBother chat client.
- When the MSPA Reader is brainwashed into being the Condesce's puppet, the Scorist symbol on their hoodie has a trident added at the end.
- When Roxy is cussing Dirk out for apparently tricking Jane into believing she's stuck in the past, she goes "stridrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"
- Jane's good ending directly references John's second bad ending, down to the picture layout and the subtitle "Existential Crisis".
- The fortuitous number of the volume may relate to Jane being introduced on 11/11/11.
- The second bad ending is a reference to the events leading up to GAME OVER.
- Jane uses her Epilogues text color rather than her Homestuck text color.
