ardenttheories

[ardenttheories]

Though I’m several months late, I feel like I should bring this post back considering recent events. 

We still live in a society where people like J.K.Rowling will write a murder mystery story about a cis man dressing up as a muslim woman in order to murder cis women. We still live in a society where this is considered acceptable fiction. We still live in a society where this concept can be published, filled to the brim with transmisogynistic, islamophobic ideology, and mass-marketed to the world - and where it can be done so craftily that only those who are being actively harmed and targeted by it will notice it and speak out. 

It’s what she did with the goblins in the bank for Harry Potter, with their big, hooked noses and ineffable greed. It’s what she did with Reeter Skeeter, who is “mannish for a woman” and borderline pedophilic. 

We still live in a society where minority groups are written as villains and monsters, stereotyped to hell and back, and slated, brutalised, and “rightly punished” for their horrific misdeeds. We still live in a society where the correct response is to hate the Jewish greedy goblins, to hate the transwoman brutish, pedophilic reporter, to despise the transwoman man in a dress slaughtering “real women”. 

We still live in a society where charactures are used to incite violence against real people and real groups. 

In this society, where big, vocal, and well-known authors are actively against us, harming us, hating us, we have to rely on smaller creators - on fandom groups, on cartoons, on comics, on fiction that they have very little to no hand in - to provide us with counter-representation. 

We need them to show us characters who are trans and well written, but not villains. We need them to show us characters who are Jewish and well written, but not monsters. We need them to show us characters who are Muslim and well written, but not killers. 

Having villains be non-cis, non-white, non-heterosexual, non-Christian, neurotypical, and non-male is acceptable, yeah, and sometimes it can be interesting, and fun, and if they’re well written they are more sympathetic than could ever have been imagined - 

But as our world stands, most of the villains we see are us. We are their villains. And the cis, white, heterosexual, neurotypical Christian man? He is still the hero, still slaughtering us, or locking us away, or inciting “righteous violence” against us. 

So, when it comes to Homestuck^2, at the moment? The representation is awful, and damaging, and hurtful, because it’s just playing to the same tune as the big voices we’re trying to escape, trying to fight back against. 

What they’re saying to us, what they’ve told us from their characterisation so far, is barely different to J.K.R. Neurodivergent men are violent, controlling monsters - and if they’re black, they’re pedophilic and drug abusers (Gamzee). Transwoman are violent, murderous sex offenders (Vriska). Bi woman cheat and abuse their children (Jade). Gay men are manipulative, borderline-incestuous, and abusive to their partners (Dirk). 

This really isn’t what we need right now. We don’t need more hatred. We don’t need more characters representing us who are violent, volatile, stereotypes. 

We don’t need characters like us to be perfect. We don’t need them to be infalliable. They can fuck up, they can make mistakes, they can do bad things. They can be three dimensional. We WANT them to be like that.

But they can be that and not be a harmful stereotype, and that’s what we’re not getting. And we’re tired of it. 

This is a lot of the reason why I’ve stopped reading HS^2. I’m tired of seeing the stereotypes. I’m tired of seeing the hurtful representation, and tired of it being passed off as something good. I’m tired of being told that we’re just “too sensitive” when we’re getting no reprieve from the daily fucking hatred of our existence. 

We don’t want representation if all it does is hurt us more. Especially from a series that is so imbued with fandom culture - that made fandom culture as we know it today - that it’s personal in a way a lot of media just isn’t. 

I suppose, really, the TL;DR is: we can have villains who represent us. That’s okay. But right now, villains representing us are being used to incite violence against us. Right now, characters like us who are categorised as bad people are being used to make people hate us. To perpetuate stereotypes. We don’t need that right now. What we need is three dimensional characters who counteract the negative stereotypes. We need representation that isn’t perfect, but that isn’t harmful, that doesn’t turn people against us. We need interesting, engaging, human characters - to remind us, in the face of big media, that we’re seen, heard, and loved, to remind us that we’re seen as human, and to show other people that we’re human, too. 

A genuine question I mean absolutely no harm with, please don't hate me: is it so wrong to have trans characters be bad people? I get wanting to have good rep (speaking as an enby) but not all trans men are UwU soft bois. Or is this more of a case of "they're the only rep we've got so them being bad people brings real trans people into a negative light as well"? Again, there's no malice or ill will behind my asking, I'm just still a baby when it comes to these things.

It’s okay! I’m more than happy to answer a question like this - I’m by no degree upset, mad, etc... at all. 

Having trans characters that are bad people isn’t inherently bad, no; wanting good rep is great, and it’s always nice to have a hero be trans, but it doesn’t necessarily mean having them be perfect. You still want them to be human - to fuck up, to make mistakes, to have feelings and emotions and motivations, even those that are questionable - and you still want them to be 3 dimensional enough to be interesting. So having them be bad people? That’s engaging! 

For instance, Vriska could be decent trans rep. Yeah, she does a lot of absolutely awful shit, and she is genuinely a terrible person; but her reasons behind it, the moments when she is genuinely nice, how she feels about people and about herself - they even her out and make her more believable as a person and more interesting as a character. Like, you can’t deny that Vriska is a victim on her society to some degree - but you also can’t deny that she thrives in that society as well. 

That’s not the inherent problem with her. She still has experience that transwomen associate with, and a lot of her past - especially in Pesterquest - can absolutely hit home with transwomen. Even her actions and maneurisms can make her amazing rep for transwomen, regardless of how good or bad she is as a person. 

The actual issue is how the writers treat her, and how they use her being trans to erase all her wrongs. To them - especially to Kate - Vriska being trans excludes her from taking any and all blame for the horrible things she’s done. She’s trans, so she can get away with paralysing one kid, blinding another, and outright killing a third. In this light, she represents every anti-transfem sentiment and stereotype I’ve ever seen. That is NOT the sort of representation we want. This isn’t what we want to be associated with; this supposition that abusive trans people don’t exist, simply because they’re trans and apparently free of blame.

It’s also a tiny bit suspect to me that, out of every character they could have canonised on the main cast first, they went with the one that people are abuse apologists the most for. 

On the other spectrum of things, it’s very much the latter point you gave; that we don’t want all of our trans rep to be negative, and so far, that’s... all we really have. It’s either that, or trans people so badly written that they just don’t come across as trans or could be read as absolute stereotypes (such as Roxy, who is just badly written transmasc, and Lanque, which I’ve gone over before having my own issues with). 

If they made Dirk trans on top of that, we’d have an actual, outright villain who’s gone back to toxic abusive behaviour as our transmasc rep. As much as I’d love Dirk to be transmasc, I don’t want him to be transmasc now. If the other trans rep we had was better then I’d likely be happier with it, but at the moment we’ve got no genuine, actual, acceptable representation that doesn’t make me internally cringe or infuriate me to some degree. 

Trans characters can be bad people, but if you only ever portray them as bad people - and rely on stereotypes or struggle to write them well when they’re not bad - then that’s when we get an issue. 

If you only ever canonise the bad people as trans, that’s also a huge issue. You’re indirectly saying that you could only ever see trans people as bad, abusive, and toxic. 

Characters in representation don’t specifically need to be good people, but you desperately want to avoid falling into stereotypes that could harm the groups you’re trying to represent . You desperately want to avoid putting characters into boxes of “interesting but horrid” and “boring but good”. 

[ardenttheories]

Delectable takes and info on Hiveswap. Though it does make the entire situation seem even bleaker than before, and I think at this point I’m coming to despise Hussie and anyone he works with. 

PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE!!!

https://blog.giovanh.com/blog/2020/10/03/the-hiveswap-fiasco/

ok so, an article was just released to the public detailing the ENTIRETY of the hiveswap fiasco. it's the most detailed and in-depth examination and explanation of the whole shitshow that i've ever seen, and i highly suggest everyone who's interested in hiveswap should read it.

I'll warn you, it's super long. I read through the entire thing and it took me like 4 hours. But it's really informative and super funny. I'll put in some highlights.

i wish i could add more examples but i'm at the photo limit. anyways please go read it right now

[ardenttheories]

Apologies for doing this again. 2020 really is just the year of one thing after another. 

Donations needed to remove a rotten tooth without going through starvation for the month

Hello everyone, we're very sorry for once more asking for help, but we really need it.

While we are eternally grateful for the donations connected to our previous post, which definitely saved us, for the past week our rotten tooth has started to hurt almost constantly, and due to it being in our mouth for around 3 or 4 years now, our most solid conclusion is that it might be an infection. We need to get it removed as soon as possible, and our appointment is going to be on the 13th of October, but it will cost us around 200 euros to do so, which means without help, we will be spending most of the month starving.

Below is a picture of proof of how our tooth currently looks (and even so it looks like in better condition than it actually is, since most of the rot is located on the area that's not visible)

We would really appreciate any amount of help.

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/elisabetenogueira0

[ardenttheories]

Hello, everyone. I know I haven't been active lately, and this isn't blog content, but my (old) roommate needs help.

Any donations or reblogs would mean the world to us. I really don't want to lose my best friend, and I'd pay every penny if I could, but I'm not working at the moment and can only give a little of what I have left in my savings. Even $1 would be amazing. Even a reblog would help.

Thank you.

Please help a mentally ill and disabled family of two to not be homeless.

We’ve tried to avoid doing this post but we’re in a very critical financial situation. On the 8th of June we left England and returned to Portugal to the host’s mom due to COVID-19, unfortunately the mother lost her job a month ago and ever since we’ve been very unlucky with finding new jobs, and the fact that we are both partially disabled and mentally ill isn’t helping the situation either.

Our bare minimum goal is 350 euros by the first of October, if we don’t get the money by then we have a very, very high chance of losing our home, so we would really appreciate it if you could share and donate if possible. https://paypal.me/elisabetenogueira0

[ardenttheories]

For more context, because I know I haven't been active:

I finished my MA (yay!) and am now waiting on results (to be released Sept 28th)

I am on ADHD meds (yay!) but had to wean off of my anti depressants, which sucked, and I had some horrific withdrawal

I actually ended up getting sick on top of that (which sucks), and might be having nausea as a side effect of the ADHD meds (which also sucks)

So atm I'm just waiting for sickness to leave so I can go back to my regular posting, of which I am DEEPLY excited to get back to this blog again.

[ardenttheories]

I am alive, exist, and have been exceedingly sick for about a month.

While I recover, please enjoy my latest venture now that uni is over: writing commissions. Because an entire Masters based on Creative Writing wasn't enough.

(Note: Though most of my examples are like, over 4000 words, I’m still happy to write smaller amounts!)

[ardenttheories]

oh yea I link your posts because you just explain things so well!! if you want me to stop I will! thinking on it now I should’ve asked permission first so I’m really sorry. I used twitter so if you want me to take them down I will. Anyway I think you’re really cool and I always love reading what you say❤️❤️

Nah you can keep doing it!! I find it really flattering and also really interesting! Plus like if it continues discussion then that’s always a good reason to let people use my posts, because that’s what they’re there for!! 

Also, thank you and I’m glad you do!! ;w; 

[ardenttheories]

hey i just wanted to make sure you’re okay! i know the june cult hasn’t quite spread onto tumblr but a lot of your posts have been being linked to combat the June Is Always Canon stuff and i’m worried you might get some hefty backlash for it - you good?

I’m okay, yeah! I haven’t had anything on my blog yet, thankfully, and I’m staying away from Twitter for the sake of my blood pressure and sanity. 

I’m actually kind of surprised that people are linking my posts! Like, the idea that my posts are actually spreading around like that is sort of wild. Always makes me feel a lil humble and kinda gushy that people think my posts are good enough to use as sources in debates, haha- ;w;

But yeah! Right now I’m still on hiatus because of uni - which I’m hoping to have done and dusted by the end of the week if not tomorrow! - and that’s my only source of stress. Hoping it’ll keep up like that, but we’ll see as time goes on!

Thank you for your concern!! <3

[ardenttheories]

I have a question! if you don’t want to answer it’s okay! so I’ve been on hs twitter recently and I knew about the june discourse but man seeing it up close? absolutely wild. they’ve separated into 2 or 3 groups (junebuggers/hardjuners(like the people who call others transmisogynic for liking John) and johnlikers) anyway the whole point of this is that the junebuggers keep saying june will appear in hs2. I don’t think so and even if she did I don’t trust them to do a good job. what do you think?

I’m admittedly torn on this, because I can genuinely see two outcomes:

- June doesn’t appear in HS^2 at all. We keep waiting and nothing happens, because they decide to pull the rug from under our feet. The writers have actively shown that they hate us, and that they’re not interested in writing something that’s actually good for the fandom. Just not having her show up at all is very likely, and will probably be done out of spite.

- They do have June appear, but they fuck it up like they did with Roxy and Jade. She ends up being a transmisogynistic charicature and isn’t treated as a transwoman so much as she’s treated as a joke. That, or she’s treated as a “well, you got your rep, fuck off now” - or they just don’t write her like a trans woman, and write her like a cis man or cis woman, because apparently the writers don’t know how to write trans people.

Admittedly, I do lean towards the latter. This is the same group of writers who canonised Vriska being trans in Pesterquest, and come from the hard junebugger setting. This is also from the same group of writers who said that June could be a bisexual lesbian, and that Vriska being trans excused all of her abusive behaviours. It’s also from the same group of people who refused to say whether or not Vriska was canonically trans, despite actively shitting on people who didn’t see her that way.

Admittedly a lot of those last parts are Kate-exclusive, but she’s still in touch with the team. Even if she’s not actively writing, I genuinely don’t trust how much influence she might have over the comic - and I definitely don’t trust how often all of them have said that they own Homestuck, and they will make it hell for the fans to read.  

My other worry is that it’s treated as a joke or that they brush over June’s transition because they can’t be bothered to figure out how it’d work for an older person to do so. That like, we get a “it’s the Candy timeline! Wacky shit happens all the time!”, and June’s treated as a wacky outcome of the fucked up timeline rather than as a person who genuinely was in a position to think about her identity. Or that like, we’ll get “man in a dress” jokes over June and then no actual talk about her and her validity. 

I want her to talk about her identity seriously, maybe with Roxy, and then later see Harry Anderson correcting Vrissy and Tav that they’re talking about his mom, not his dad, and that she’s called June, not John. And then June moves forward and it’s great because it’s actually done well and she’s real and valid and they didn’t make any transmisogynistic jokes out of her.

I just don’t think they’ll actually do that. That’s how little trust I have in them at this point. I genuinely, 100% believe that they will fuck this up. I could be wrong, and I really hope I am! But, yeah. Personally? I think this is going to be a trainwreck, because they don’t have a good track record - with Vriska, with Roxy, with Jade, even with Callie. 

They’ve had four goes at this. If fifth time’s the charm, then I want to know why the hell they didn’t do it sooner for the other characters they ruined with horrific, transphobia representation and outright ignorance.

[ardenttheories]

Genuinely one of the most beautifully sad pieces I've seen that also references back to plain ol' Homestuck in the best goddamn way and accurately portrays what grief is like and how much it outright hurts and isolates you, but also how it can bring you together with other grievers.

Dave, Jake, Jane, and Roxy laughing over Pony Pals because it's Dirk's voice talking to them through time and space and death is so fucking sweetly sad. A scene like this makes you wonder how much Jane poured over that book in the days after Dirk's death, if she jealously guarded it at first as her last remnant of him or if she eagerly shared him with Jake and Roxy as soon as she worked through her own initial isolation.

And then Jake talking about "the good old days" even though they're not that far back in time but they're completely unattainable now - and then you start to wonder how Roxy must feel, when she talks about the past, knowing that she lost the only person she had for the longest time in her youth.

It's just one scene - one chapter - but oh GOD is it amazing. It would have been genuinely amazing to have something like this in Candy. A unifying and humanising piece (which I suppose is why they didn't do it; nobody in Candy is anything more than a characature) that also invokes memories on the reader to encite sadness in them, too.

Jayayey you did something genuinely amazing here that also had me tear up a whole lot. So when are you rewriting the rest of Candy-

@ardenttheories i wrote the scene i mapped out in that dirk/davekat post reblog.

sorry i screenshotted all of it i just didn’t know how else to share it properly lmao

[ardenttheories]

Very tastey analysis on Dirk’s suicide and how genuinely unfortunate it is that we didn’t... you know... get to see anything of the emotional weight behind losing Dirk from any of the people who actually loved him. 

Considering this was in Candy, too, you’d almost expect to see it? Candy’s so focused on emotive action and personal interaction, but I suppose it only wants to focus on those things when they can be portrayed in a negative light. People grieving over someone they loved and coping with the help of each other? Preposterous. 

i think to me one of the worst things about epilogues davekat is that in context it makes them both seem like horribly self-absorbed creeps. their lack of visiting their extremely depressed and isolated BEST FRIEND, john, is played as a joke at the start of candy, but like... that’s terrible? candy dave regrets not dating karkat more than his brother’s suicide (that he could have prevented and chose not to?) fucked UP

The Epilogues make light of every damn mental illness there is, and it’s deeply frustrating, especially when you consider how many of these kids are mentally ill or have trauma. 

Like, an interesting point of depressed John could have been the reasoning behind why people didn’t go to check in on him. 

Why would Dave, someone who was stifled for years and kept inside a very small apartment filled with traps and danger, not want to spend more time outside with his friends? Why would he, who only spent time with one person for 13 whole years, not want to experience life with other people? Why would Dave, who repressed his own trauma so much that he was more concerned about Jade seeing his dead body than he was with touching it, completely blank that the same thing is happening in someone else? Why would Dave, who understands the importance of being able to open up to someone about your struggles and have them validated, not immediately check in on someone who clearly struggles post-game?

Does he just want to spend some time for himself? Is he being selfish because he was never allowed to be before? Is he hesitant or even scared to face what he never acknowledged while in the game, and talking to John would make him have to face that? Is he unwilling to see his childhood hero at his worst? Or does he just genuinely think that John can’t be struggling, because John never struggles, and his own impression of John is blinding him?

Like, there’s so many things that could have made Dave’s lack of interest in John’s welbeing interesting - or having Dave go to visit John in and of itself would’ve been amazing to see. They’re fucking friends. If one of your friends doesn’t come out for a few months, you don’t just not check on them, or take their “I’m okay!” at face value. 

And I think a lot of this is what I mean when I say that they lose a lot of their individuality when they get together. Dave, for some reason... stops being Dave. He stops existing outside of Karkat. They become weirdly reclusive, existing only with each other, like none of the people around them really matter. They spend so much of their time trying to get people to leave in the Epilogues? It’s actually pretty bad, all things considered. That’s not what a healthy relationship looks like. It’s not even what a healthy friendship looks like. 

It’s also frustrating how little Dirk’s suicide is actually acknowledged in the characters who loved him most. Dirk dies, and that’s just sort of it. I get that it’s Candy, and that things are made irrelevant all the time, but Dave literally gets one speech to mourn Dirk and it pretty much never comes up again.

People don’t just get over loved ones. Even to this day, ten years after my granddad died, I can still remember one of his favourite poems and sometimes cry thinking about it. Four years after I lost a good friend of mine, I still break down over how unfair it is that they got taken from me. It’s not easy to just accept that someone is dead. It’s not easy even years later to be okay with it.

You definitely don’t just move right the fuck on after a funeral with little to no other thoughts on it. Like. Geeze. What a way to be insensitive to the people who’ve lost those to suicide and to suicidal people who saw how few people cared about Dirk when he was dead. But also, just how infuriatingly unrealistic that depiction is?

Do they really think that out of everything, Dave's biggest regret would be Karkat? Someone who’s still alive and who he can actively chase after and mend things with? That he’d think of Karkat over his own brother who he actively went to seek help from, who he felt actively lost without the guidance of? Like. You can regret things at equal capacities. If nothing else, they could’ve had Dave regret losing both Karkat and Dirk. Loss does that to you!! If you lose one person, losing another stacks on top! It doesn’t override it, especially if the second person is still alive! 

DaveKat shouldn’t overwrite everything else that Dave and Karkat live for or have going for them in life. DaveKat shouldn’t stop them from spending time with their friends, shouldn’t make them recluses, shouldn’t erase their own friendships for each other. It shouldn’t stop Dave from caring as much about Dirk as he clearly does. 

It’s frustrating and I completely agree with you. They just lose so much of who they are for this weird unity that they become, I assume because the writers can’t be arsed to write a good, healthy MLM relationship for once. 

(On a side note, and going back to John for a sec, because man does it frustrate me: Even Rose was shit at this. Rose, who only calls John when she actively needs him, despite being a Seer and likely Knowing that he’s struggling. Rose, who is struggling herself, and didn’t think to tell John that she’s sick, despite him being her friend. Rose, who is into psychology, and probably would have known that John was struggling to reach out. Did they just forget everything about her character, or?). 

[ardenttheories]

Heinoustuck^2

I’ve never really submitted anything anywhere on this site before, so forgive me if I’m doing this wrong. I just noticed how you mentioned Guidestuck continuing as well as Heinoustuck being dead. The thing is, though I haven’t read it, I’m fairly sure I’ve seen a pretty quality looking Heinoustuck^2 on MSPFA. Not sure if it’s “official” or not. Just thought you might like to know.

You did it right, don’t worry!

It’s an unofficial continuation, by the looks of it, and it’s looking pretty good so far! It doesn’t have the most frequent update schedule - going from pretty much every day from Nov-Dec in 2019 to every other couple days in Jan 2020, to once a several panels once a month in May and July with no August update yet - but the content seems amazing, and the writing is pretty phenomenal! Still in-character and very reminiscent of the original Heinoustuck despite being an unofficial continuation.

Definitely something I’m going to be reading soon. And, in case anyone else wants to - here’s a link to Heinoustuck^2: Mutation Continuation!

[ardenttheories]

dude i’ve been going through your blog for like the past three hours and all i can say is that your takes are immaculate and that you’re a super intelligent dude. love your shit and keep sharing it bro!!

YOU. 

A.

Y’ALL IT’S ONE OF MY FAVOURITE ARTISTS??

Holy shit hi!! I’m honestly a little flabbergasted? Thank you so much for this ask!! You’ve got me highkey speechless and maybe a little a lot happy stimmy. 

I’m glad you like the content, and also that you can handle my absolutely long-winded rambling for three hours! I’ve seen a lot of your tags on my reblogs (and also your own additions because I always read things people have added on), and you have some incredible takes as well! I think I saved your response to the Dirk/DaveKat post because it went into some depth on Dirk’s suicide that I hadn’t gone into fully, and it was a really poignent response and read. (I should hopefully be reblogging that soon-)

Thank you for your interactions! I’ll definitely be continuing to post for as long as I’ve got content to talk about, which....... looking at all my asks, I definitely have more than enough to keep going for several years. 

[ardenttheories]

Should I feel bad for liking Homestuck? I went on Twitter a few days ago (I don't have an account, I just kind of browse through it to see what's happening there) and I saw a post asking about - for a lack of a better word - controversial topics in the Homestuck fandom. Many of the replies in the post spoke about how the fandom and comic (pre and post HS^2) was a mess, how other people didn't enjoy seeing it on their feed, about how contrived the relationships in HS are, etc. The thing is (1/2)

(2/2) I'm a fairly new reader, having read Homestuck two years after it ended. I enjoy many of the characters and the story, and I'd like to upload some artwork in appreciation for it. However, with the fandom tearing itself up after the epilogues and HS^2, I'm worried that people might see me in a certain way because I like something that people seem so negative about.

Absolutely not! You should never feel bad for liking something that genuinely appeals to you. It’s why I say, for all I dislike HS^2, that if someone likes it I’m genuinely glad for them.

The thing with Homestuck is that it’s as wonderful as it is bullshit. I’ve been going on five years in this fandom now, and I’ve seen my fair share of both sides of the argument. It’s impossible to say that Homestuck isn’t a piece of fiction that defined a generation and brought so much more to the fandom world than existed prior, but it’s likewise impossible to say that Homestuck isn’t filled with outdated humour, genuinely harmful representation, and fandom drama that’s been going on since it started.

Homestuck is a controversy in and of itself. That’s a fact. But you can still enjoy it - as much as all the followers I have on this blog do, otherwise they wouldn’t be consuming my content - and you can still create for it. People still are! The Homestuck tag updates daily, and even slightly less-popular ships (like JohnDirk) are updated at least every other day on AO3. 

Twitter is probably the worst place you could go to for HS content, admittedly. It’s an incredibly toxic environment, and not one I would advise anyone take part in - let alone someone so new to the fandom. People will always have their disagreements with Homestuck, but you can still enjoy it disregarding things like the relationships and whether or not people enjoy it on their feed.

The fandom is in a huge state of disarray at the moment, yes. But we’re still desperate for content - especially old Homestuck content. People are even hungry for more HS^2 content! So whatever it is you have to share, please, share it. We’d all love to see it, and you absolutely deserve to share your art in appreciation for something you enjoy. You should be able to have that enjoyment, too!

If anyone sees you in a certain way for liking Homestuck in general? Then that, frankly, is their issue. Liking Homestuck isn’t a death sentence. It just means you’re a fan. 

[ardenttheories]

Hi! I was going through your blog and found that you showed an anon some post act 7/hs fanadventures and I wanted to throw another! Mr tambourine man is a fanadventure made by odditycollector that follows John as he discovers that his retcon powers make him unable to get to the new world, and how he deals with that . It's made by edits of hs proper, and also made in a different website, but it should show up just by looking mr tambourine man Homestuck. They also made a good Jane interactive fic!

I gave it a quick look through, and then got entirely TOO addicted to it, so I’m definitely throwing it out here for everyone!!

Mr. Tambourine Man: Like roboticsorcerer said, this fanventure takes place immediately after Act 7. While everyone else is capable of entering the new universe, John is unable to; his retcon powers have rendered it completely inaccessible to him. There’s some amazing detail and analysis on the consequences of retcon power, and the characters so far read incredibly in character. The jokes are very Homestuck-esque, too! The only thing I would say is that it can be a little slow, but part of that is to up the feeling of isolation John feels initially; so stick through the initial frantic clicks through panels. 

The edits are incredible! A lot of love and effort has been put into this, alongside some original content (such as things odditycollector has taken liberties to put in that happened off-screen in the original Homestuck). Also, it’s really nice to see a fanventure focus on John and his feelings, as well as the feelings of his friends - who are all reluctant to go on without him. They actually feel like friends again, which is a lot more than HS^2 can say. 

Oh, and a hint: when you get to the first password screen, just hit submit. I was an idiot and didn’t recongise that you just have to accept what John says and that there’s no actual password you have to find and put in. 

[ardenttheories]

The specific problem I have with trans Vriska isn't just that she does bad things, it's that those bad things include a drawn-out on-screen prior-planned sexual assault of a disabled fellow child (the sequence after "Vriska: Wake up" - Tavros was NOT HAPPY in that scene at all, as shown clearly by the fact that she had to MIND CONTROL HIM) which we're supposed to think is funny. "Sexual assailant" is quite possibly THE absolute most widespread and harmful stereotype of trans women. Not good!

I forgot about this scene! It’s the one where Vriska plays out Pupa Pan while degrading Tavros about his disability that she caused him the entire time, and upon kissing him and not having him kiss back - because he can’t tell if she’s callignious or flushed for him - she dumps him on the floor! Then, wonder of all wonders, she manipulates him into not just kissing her, but actually being FLUSHED for her! The only reason she gives up is the realisation that, yes, he is still disabled and can’t actually stand up. Again. Because she paralysed him. 

This is definitely one of the deeper problems with trying to put trans rep into characters who were never originally written as trans. No trans writer would write this scene about a transwomen in their goddamn life. Noone trying to represent a genuine and accurate portrayal of a trans woman would even THINK about writing a scene wherein she forces her abuse victim into a kiss - not just once, but twice. 

I honestly don’t think I could put it better than you did. Sexual violence is the most prominent and harmful stereotype of trans women. Nobody in their right mind would write this for a trans women unless they were actively trying to write into that stereotype. Or, as is the case here, unless that character was never written as trans to begin with and trying to retcon a trans identity on them now has deeply unfortunate implications.

When you read this piece, the comedic effect is meant to be at Tavros’ expense - that he’s a weak and weedy boy who can’t even kiss a girl he’s actively interested in when she’s trying to instigate - and not meant to be a slight against Vriska’s character. We’re meant to laugh because a female abuser is abusing her male abuse victim, and that makes Tavros pathetic. They’re not trying to shine a negative light on Vriska herself; you can tell this by how much they focus on her genuine disappointment that her plan fails. You’re meant to sympathise with her, somehow.

This is bad enough when Vriska is seen as a cis woman. When you put the trans identity on top of that, oh, boy does it become just ten times worse. Becuse not only does it focus on this deeply harmful stereotype, it also tries to make you think that stereotype is actively okay! That it’s funny! Again, no shit do people like Kate say Vriska can do no wrong as a trans woman; scenes like this only emphasise that fact. 

This admittedly is the difference between having a headcanon and genuinely making those things canon. 

When you headcanon someone as trans, you tend to put things into them that don’t actually happen in the comic, or you retcon out certain things because a trans person wouldn’t actually do them, or you slightly change others because a trans person would see them in a different light. Headcanon!Vriska still isn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but transwomen aren’t going to perpetuate this scene in their headcanons when it’s so genuinely harmful to them. They’re going to create scenes for her instead; experiences they’ve been through to replace some of the worst shit she’s done. 

When you canonise that identity, however, you are explicitly taking them out of that headcanoned context. You have to see them in their canonical light. You have to accept literally everything that character has done, said, thought, achieved, whether it would come across as inherently transphobic or not. Headcanon!Vriska might never do what canon!Vriska did to Tavros, but canon!Vriska can never undo that. So she becomes a transmisogynistic stereotype instead of a genuinely cared for and built up piece of representation that the fandom loves.

This is why we need more trans representation that was always legitimately meant to be trans - and good trans representation at that. The issue I just described is always, always going to be a problem unless Hussie and co. start writing trans characters from day 1, and not just writing cis characters and slapping on an identity when the fandom attaches a headcanon to one long enough. They need to start being genuinely aware of how they’re writing their trans characters and if they’re falling into - or ever fell into - transphobic/transmisogynistic stereotypes.

Trans representation isn’t good enough if it perpetuates hatred and violence against trans people. 

Unfortunately on Vriska’s behalf, there’s nothing we can do about that scene. It’s canonical. It’s always going to be there, and it’s always going to be a transmisogynistic slight on her character. I think the best we can hope for is that future trans women aren’t written like this. 

Dear god do I hope future trans women aren’t written like this.  

[ardenttheories]

ardent, I have a real rough question to ask you. is it worth it to read hs^2? Ive been avoiding reading it because I didnt want to ruin what I loved about homestuck, but seeing the amount of art and interaction makes me feel like I'm missing out. I know it's not going to be good, but do I still take the risk? are there homestuck fanprojects you'd suggest instead?

An anon asked:  Hi, may I ask what is your opinion of fan creation inspired from Homestuck? I'm not the biggest fan of where homestuck is heading but was wondering on your opinions of fan comics. I'm leaning towards reading them over Homestuck2 because of some of the writing that Hussie and his team of writers have produced in Homestuck2 feels off and a bit weird for Homestuck. (Ps. Have a lovely day.)

I forgot to answer the anon when I first got it, but since both mention fanvantures, I’ll combine the two!

I would absolutely not recommend reading HS^2, personally. There’s just a lot wrong with it that I genuinely don’t like and am deeply uncomfortable with. Futanari Jade making Rose cheat on Kanaya to have a baby she then completely abandoned is really just the tip of the iceberg, from what I’ve read and seen; there’s also just an outright lack of care for triggers (the warnings for which were taken off chapter by chapter, so you’ve got no idea what you’re going into anymore) and so much bullshit around facts from Homestuck not being taken into consideration during writing (for instance, Rose tells Terezi about the Exiles despite Terezi being the one who told Dave about them back in Act 5).

It’s uncomfortable, sloggish, uncaring, actively written to ruin Homestuck for fans, and overall just unpleasant to read. Not only is it a bad continuation, it’s just bad fiction in general. Some of this of course is exacerbated by the writers themselves, which is another reason I refuse to read it; I do not want to support them in any capacity. 

I wouldn’t say you’re missing out. There’s some genuinely interesting things in HS^2, but a lot of it is overshadowed by how bad it is. That’s why I stopped reading, personally. You could always give it a go, see what you think and if you can handle it or if it appeals to you - because it’s different for everyone! Some people genuinely like it, and that’s okay, too - but I wouldn’t recommend it.

If you read the Epilogues just fine, you should be okay? But if they were rough for you to read, I’d definitely say HS^2 will be worse. You can still enjoy the content on the peripheral, though; for instance, acejams/sarcasmprodigy draws some HS^2 bits, but only really the designs that she likes. Consuming fan content while avoiding the comic itself is no issue, as far as I can tell.

That said, I’d 100% recommend reading fanventures. There’s a lot of benefits to them, actually!

Firstly, since they’re made by fans doing it for free, there’s a lot of love that goes into them. You know that what you’re getting is going to some degree be a homage to Homestuck, and that even if it’s an AU or divergent somehow, it’s still going to be loyal to characters you love. 

There’s a lot less - and I mean a lot less - bullshittery in fanventures than HS^2 proper. It’s done for fun, for love! It’s going to connect with you, as a fan, a little more, because it’s literally written by fans for fans; by people who know what the fandom wants because they’re actively part of it. 

Also, the writers don’t want to ruin the characters, so that’s an incredible bonus.

That said, here are a few fanventures I’d recommend:

SOULSTUCK: A fanventure that takes place in the Soul Eater universe, following Roxy and Dirk as they work towards getting that sweet, sweet final Witch soul to become a proper duo. I haven’t read too much of it, but the art is beautiful, the writing is well in character, and it’s also pretty faithful to the original Soul Eater while staying uniquely Homestuck, too.

Guidestuck: A pretty wellknown fanventure that started up again recently, following a kidswap universe where the kids’ initial sprite prototypings (the Harlequin doll, Jaspers, Bec, and Cal) are the kids (Cal Strider, Bec Harley, Quinn Egbert, Jaspers Lalonde), and our kids are their associated items (John’s a plush toy; Bro and Dave are dolls; Jade is a puppy; Rose is a cat). Also features a very unique look at what Alternia would be like if the lusii were the sapient species, and the trolls the symbiotic one.

TLCstuck: Double Death of the Author: A fairly interesting redo of Homestuck, taking control of the narrative a little after Game Over - so, essentially completely changing the story of Homestuck partway through Act 6. There’s a FAQ to give you more information - on how it’s written, how it’s changed, and how it works overall. 

Note for TLCstuck, though; it’s very explicitly ship-neutral. This means that although characters’ sexualities remain the same, no actual shipping generally happens in the comic. It also, since it continues from Game Over, doesn’t have a lot of the content that occurred in the Retcon timeline - including DaveKat and Davepeta (alongside the other combosprites). Keep this in mind on whether or not you want to read it, but I think it’s still a good read regardless.

Act 8: Might be one you’ve seen in the tags before! Unsurprisingly, it picks up after Act 7, and works a little like TLCstuck in that it changes the narrative from that point on. Just before the kids can go through the door to Earth C, the white door explodes. It’s animated beautifully, drawn amazingly well, and is well written! If you want to continue Homestuck’s story with the Retcon changes, this would be best for you to read. 

Well, that, or...

Act Omega: Like Act 8, it picks up after Act 7, only this time before they can claim their reward, a foe we’ve seen before appears to take the win from their grasp. It’s incredibly well animated and drawn from what I’ve seen so far, with an amazing initial fight sequence. It’s well written, and even from a cursory read-through, they reintroduce most of the main characters (including the Alpha trolls) for a second try at characterisation. Pretty nifty!

Homestuck: Subscript: I know significantly less about this one, except that there is some gorgeous art and design in it. It’s an interesting take compared to the others, since it actually happens on Earth C - so it’s more of a HS^2 replacement than anything else I’ve shown so far. It’s also incredibly different, though, and takes a little more a of a Candy route in so far as it focuses a lot more on relationships. It depends on your tastes!

Karkat goes to a Convention: Everything I know about this comes from a friend talking about it. It’s entirely satirical, I think, and a bit of a pisstake more than anything else? It’s quite literally what it says; actual Homestuck Karkat ends up at a normal, everyday convention. From what I understand it does get more detailed and involved as it goes on, but it’s also good for laughs. 

Abodebound: A webcomic a friend of mine wrote! It’s a completely original fanventure, essentially a fansession. There’s music and animation, as well as Homestuck-eqsue writing and original comedy, and some really sweet videos. I’ve never read it all the way through (life’s a bitch like that) but it’s what inspired me to create my own fanventure, and for something completely original but with the same feel as Homestuck, it’s pretty spot-on. 

Also, though it’s never been finished, what little exists of Heinoustuck is a delicious treat if you’re into horror. And Prequel -or- Making A Cat Cry: The Adventure is a really good Skyrim comic done in the old Homestuck style. Definitely NOT Homestuck, but it’s got the same art and humour, as well as games and animation - so it’s pretty sweet to look into, if nothing else.