I feel kind of like a dumbass for being into HS for the lore, classes and potential for alien races and not fully comprehending all the paradox mumbo jumbo

No need to feel bad my dude. Homestuck is a multi-faceted story, it’s okay to be more into one part of it than the other. Ain’t nothing wrong with that, I know the time shenanigans can get p. confusing if you’re not good with that stuff.