myfriendsdontlikehomestuck

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

I've heard people say Ellie's guitar, or the guitar in general, represents her and Joel's relationship, and i have to say, I only half agree. I think guitars in The Last of Us represent Ellie's relationships, not just with Joel.

Massive spoilers for Part II.

The first time we see a guitar in the either game is in the Prologue of Part I, in the Miller's house, but I'm mostly going to brush it off as part of the set. So the first time guitars are referenced in a meaningful way, I think, is in Salt Lake City at the end of the first game. Joel promises Ellie that he'll teach her guitar, and shortly after he offers to take them back to Tommy's Dam. Of course, this is establishing her relationship with Joel. He is the most important person to her, after all. But I don't think it's inconsiderable that after offering her an olive branch, Joel takes initiative and forces Ellie into a community for the first time since Military School.

Joel teaches Ellie how to play guitar, specifically the song "Future Days." This specific song is representative of their relationship. Everytime it is heard in-game, it is when Ellie is either grieving Joel and cannot complete the tune, or when she is learning it alongside him. Ellie being unable to finish the tune is essentially the same as her being unable to accept the end of their relationship, and how it will never be resolved. This unfinished tune also ties into the unfinshed guitar in Joel's house. Finally, the last time we see a guitar in the context of Joel is the flashback to the night before his death, when he's playing on his porch shortly before he and Ellie begin their attempt to reconcile. The unfinished guitar and tune tell us that their relationship will never be fulfilled.

Now, let's look at Ellie's second most important connection in Part II: Dina. Ellie and Dina's interaction in the Music Store on Seattle Day One is the main thing telling me that the guitar is Ellie's relationships in general. In the music store, Ellie begins playing Future Days, but is unable to. When Dina enters, Ellie recalls "the night by the bonfire," and plays "Take on Me," which allows Ellie to appear genuinely happy for the first time since Joel's death. Ellie and Dina discuss that they both had feelings for each other when Ellie initially played it for her, which I interpret as Ellie using music to bridge gaps between herself and those she loves. Ellie also offers while in Jackson to play her original songs for Dina, which I think is her attempt at opening up more to her, since this is not long before Ellie tries to reveal her immunity. Finally, when it comes to Dina, the last guitar symbolism is at the farm. Before she decides to leave, Ellie plays the song that she and Dina had danced to at the party. Ellie's guitar is often used as a transition into flashbacks, and this is not an exception. Ellie begins the tune that began her and Dina's formal relationship. Something I'm less sure of is the guitar in the theater. I've wondered if Ellie being unable to finish her song is because she's mourning Joel (which is what I would initially think since Future Days is being utilized) or if it's maybe because of her driving a wedge between herself and Dina for the first time. I also don't want to use it as anything concrete, but the trailer where Ellie is playing for Dina only increases my belief in the guitar being all of Ellie's relationships.

Finally, we come to the most apparent symbolism in the game. After Ellie returns from Santa Barabara and finds the house desolate, she attempts to play the guitar. Now missing two fingers, the song is hardly melodic. She puts the guitar down and leaves. The guitar is the primary reason I think Ellie did not go back to Jackson. If I am correct and guitars are symbolic of Ellie's relationships in general, then Ellie being unable to play and leaving music behind tells us that Ellie has abandoned all relationships and has self-realized her biggest fear.

Ellie has ended up alone.

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

Thinking about the last of us and character parallels.

Started by thinking about Abby II Ellie, which turned into Abby II Joel II Ellie, which turned into Joel II Bill.

I like Bill and Frank's episode in the HBOMax series, however, I don't like the removal of Joel and Bill's parallels.

Bill was what would have happened to Joel if he had lost Tess and not developed a relationship with Ellie (similarly to how Ellie in the end of TLOU2 is like Joel if he'd stayed a hunter [presumably] and Abby if she'd lost everyone and never met Lev and Yara or never got revenge). Bill is calloused and trusts no one after his fallout with Frank, like how Joel was immediately after Tess died.

But in the series, Bill is just happy. Nothing wrong with that, though I'm not fond of the bury-your-gays part. But Bill and Frank being dead and happy is not a parallel to Joel. It's something Joel can never have. Which, I suppose, makes Bill more of a foil or shadow to Joel.

Tl;dr: hbomax took away my Bill-Joel parallels and I'm sad because I love parallels.

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

i love these tags this person is so right

actually, can you imagine if dave was raised by B1 roxy?

i wanna get into this actually

(ok i had to spend a few hours rewriting this because IT DIDNT FUCKING SAVE AFTER FIVE HOURS OF WRITING WHEN MY COMPUTER UPDATED WHILE I WAS AFK so it would mean a lot to show this post some appreciation)

even though these things mom does are presented in an extravagant, kitsch, jokey way, her intentions always came from a place of sincerity. she is simply Funnie

but rose reads too far into it and assumes things that aren't there, that her mother is passive-aggressively feigning interest in rose's interests simply because the things she does are so extra. "why do all of this if not to mock me"

im telling you right now if dave lived in this household he wouldn't assume antagonism, he'd go,

don’t forget who LITERALLY patented tangible jpeg artifacts as their post-scratch adult self and scattered shitty scummed up statue of liberties all over the planet. theres no way some of that overboard artful shit wasnt post-ironic / circling back around to genuine funny sincerity

dave's natural state is funny sincerity like roxy. he's had the natural capacity for this type of humor from the start and this is the direction he goes towards when he grows out of his brother's shadow by the end of the comic. dave and roxy share an earnest “so bad its good” type of humor

(lots more under the cut; the length of this meta analysis just got unwieldly with all the pictures and whatnot)

despite the alcoholism, roxy is a supportive mother. she's not the ideal guardian but hells of a lot more supportive of her kid than bro is. if she knew dave's interests she would totally indulge in them with some over the top silly goofy haha shit as a genuine gesture simply because she loves him

rose isn't too keen on it though. but she is more similar to dirk in her natural state of thinking of overthinking shit and assuming the worst, like the tags said

and yes dave got the sweet cuddly yet sometimes backhanded ouppy gene from roxy

roxy's even said rose "sounds like girl dirk"

side tangent here, but this is something i wanna talk about.

i dont think bro should ever be in custody of children ever but if theres anyone who would be up to the task it's rose probably. i know she'd be able to keep up with him. not only does she have a defined personality (dave is more malleable and absorbs his environment like a sponge), if anyone can pick apart B1 dirk's batshit brain and probably be right on the money it's her. lil cal has been pumping patriarchal nonsense into bro's head and rose would be able to bring the fucking facts to the table without losing her own and being a living example of a badass little girl. i also don't think bro would try to force masculine roles onto rose like he did with dave, seeing as she is a girl, so she would actually have more of a leg up and get some passes that dave was never afforded. and rose wouldn't stand idly and accept any bullshit; she is no doormat. and i think this would earn bro's respect

but anyway, from this, couldn't we conclude roxy "sounds like girl dave"?

yeah okay

so, dave's environment

the sentiment "god you hope you can be as good as your bro at this some day" might have been genuine at the time when he idolized bro but of course he's not able to express that in any sort of sincere fashion because he's in dirk's fucking household. and this level 10 irony shit isnt doing dave any favors

his role models were the Internet and a vague idea of what Bro was like. So he built up his facade based on irony–not the literary definition of irony, as Rose might be quick to point out, but a popular concept of irony based on the idea that things that didn’t make sense actually made sense in some roundabout way. As a master of irony, Dave probably reasoned, he could see in a way other people couldn’t why a world that was scary and didn’t make sense really did make sense, and could therefore convince those people that he was superior to them. And he would wield his knowledge to maintain the appearance of superiority by calling everything ironic and pretending he didn’t care about things that didn’t make sense, and he would use walls of vaguely rhyming words to keep everyone at arm’s length so they wouldn’t discover his insecurities (source)

roxy's style is the embodiment of post-irony. being raised by mom lalonde would be like being raised by joel vinesauce ok

what can i say ….. (getting meta about this actually, hussie got these jpeg wizard wallpapers from a spyware website. link takes some time to load because internet archive)

rose is quick to read post-irony as actually being a joke/insincere, which in bro's case would be true. but i believe dave's natural instinct, outside of the influence of bro, is to read post-irony as genuine, which is exactly how mom serves it. we see this as early as act 3 from him; he understands her motives better than rose does herself:

but the thing is, it's always genuine from her. dave wouldn't have to second guess it because he's not one to naturally second guess someone's sincerity; that was learned due to his bro being virtually unassailable

there two types of ironies at play here:

seems like a joke, is actually genuine (roxy)

doesnt seem like a joke, is actually a joke (dirk)

you can make the argument that argue the second is is more psychologically destructive because it makes you question the reality of what is genuine sentiment and what isn't. dave never knew what was genuine and what was irony so he just sort of existed in this sincerity-ironic limbo and always did the opposite of what he genuinely felt on principle even if it always did originate from a genuine place.

"it just a joke bro i was just being ironic i dont actually x" is so much more trust-breaking and psychologically damaging than "wait are you being serious" / "i am being so fucking fr rn davy gravy" / "ok thats actually pretty fucking awesome. giant ass wizard statue" / "RIGHT"

how much about dave would change do you think? his character arc would be completely different for one thing, i think he'd have it good aside from mom's alcohol issues. he'd be left with the sweet and funny parts of him that we see at the end of the comic. the fake coolguy stuff is out, but this remains. this is dave in his element and we see it as early as act 1

he'd probably have no shades growing up in the lalonde residence* either cause those were given to him by bro straight out of the crater as an extension of his own cool image. and john gave dave ben stiller’s aviators for his 13th birthday to replace them so he could “spread his wings”

dave said he was wearing them for the ironies but i kind of doubt it. maybe post-irony but there was some reacharound to it being genuine because dave never put those pointy anime shades on his face again.

*though... it’s kind of hard to imagine him without his shades at all? B2 dave still got stiller’s shades from stiller himself so maybe getting them is a universal constant. i can imagine mom getting him them as a birthday gift cause shes pretty wealthy and probably could buy it out in an auction

dave is actually a lot more genuine and easy to read than he lets on even when grappling with his upbringing with B1 dirk (again, see this post). this can be seen all throughout he comic but a good example is the evolution of thoughts about his interest in the preserved dead things in his room:

if B1 roxy was dave's guardian he probably WOULD have pursued paleontology because she wouldve indulged him in it and probably find it cool and worthwhile to pursue, instead of allowing dave to flounder under ironic detachment, being poisoned by irony to the point of gaslighting himself into believing he doesnt actually believe he thinks this shit is cool. even if it was indulged in this such a way; a superficially kitsch and ironic appearing presentation, it comes from a genuine place and inspires genuine interest. just read the comments.

basically, i think if B1 roxy raised dave, their relationship would have a surface level appearance of being bizarre or over-the-top but they’d have an unsaid mutual understanding that it’s completely in earnest and just build on each other's funny and absurd gestures of affection. rather than seeing it as one-upping each other, it'd more like collaboration of some silly bullshit that you take a step back and look at full and just say, "fucking incredible"

speaking of paleontology, mom had the proto-ectobiology lab. maybe they'd be able to use the equipment to appearify paradox ghost imprints of the dead shit to create paradox clones of things from the cambrian era??? sounds like a fun mother son bonding activity. and theyd actually put the sciencey shit in the household to use

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

Wait nevermind on the BONES OF BLACK MARROW. I’m new to your blog and just got to your DirkJake feelings posts. If you’re not a fan of the ship then it’s probably would not be your cup of tea

I might check it out anyway. I think DirkJake is really situational, but I've read a few fics where it was really well written. If I do, I'll let you know my thoughts. Thank you for the rec!

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

Which one of you caused me to come back to more than 100 notifications.

Rose has such an interesting character with such a rich history that is far too frequently swept away in favor of making her the "smart therapist" character, despite that her entire arc was about NOT being that. Rose's story was about accepting that she didn't have to pretend to know everything and that people would still like her in her worst, most pathetic state.

Rose has such a complicated relationship with motherhood, and family in general. The only person to ever treat her like family were her friends since her mother was nearly always inebriated. Rose is attracted to someone who exudes motherly energy because it's what she lacked growing up. Rose needs a stable support system. Kanaya can give her that, to an extent. Of course, Rose's trauma cannot be completely undone by Kanaya, but she can help. And in return, Rose helps Kanaya through her feelings of failure and emotional exhaustion.

Rose has dealt with so much from a young age, and it's devastating to me to see her as nothing more than the "intelligent" one, even though Dirk is also characterized as very smart, but doesn't receive this same treatment from the fandom.

Rose's trauma pertaining to Doc Scratch, the Horrorterrors, and going Grimdark are also very interesting to me. As a child who just wanted to know how the game worked, Doc Scratched encouraged and pushed Rose to consult the Horrorterrors. All the while, he made some uncomfortable comments with sexual insinuation. Rose was practically groomed by Doc Scratch into thinking he was someone she could trust, before breaking that trust and forcing Rose to come face-to-face with some of the most horrible things she could ever know. Right after this, she found the body of her dead mother and watched one of her best friends die.

Doc Scratch pushed Rose to the edge and forced her to come to terms with things she wasn't ready for, which forced her into seeing the most traumatic things of her life and eventually, her own death.

Rose is one of the most interesting characters in Homestuck and is so tragically forgotten in favor of being a backup character to whatever misadventure Dave is getting up to.

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

We, as a collective, don't focus enough on Dirk and Rose as siblings. I see Rose & Dave, Rose & Roxy, Dave & Roxy, Dave & Dirk, Roxy & Dirk. Where is Rose & Dirk?

They're both massive nerds who take themselves way too seriously. Dirk is massively self-destructive, and Rose is observant and nitpicky about the people around her and their attitudes.

For the love of god, give me some of that WLW MLM solidarity through Dirk and Rose. And like. Not in the background.

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

Dirk analysis for funsies

Dirk Strider is a character defined by poor self-image and loss of self. Of course, this is all related to his title. He must shatter his personality across timelines as the destroyer of self.

The primary manifestation of self-destruction is in his splinters, specifically Hal. Hal is a window into what Dirk could have been. Hal is Dirk. With his 13-year-old mentality, a dangerous possibility considering the fragility of Dirk’s mindset. Dirk’s entire character is about not being, similar to a void player. With Hal in the picture, that wall of void is amplified. Beginning at Dirk’s introduction, Hal lies continuously to the Alpha Kids, mostly Jake. The purpose is to deceive, and considering that Hal is a near-perfect replica of Dirk’s brain, it’s not a difficult feat to accomplish.

The issue with Hal comes from the repetition of his behavior. Unlike Dirk, Hal is predictable and calculable. Dirk detests the predictability of being human and goes out of his way to be surprising. Dirk has a mind for logistics, but not like a robot. Hal’s flaw is that he is in no way human and will never be human.

Dirk struggles with this in life, though to a less extreme extent. Since he is human, Dirk fights with personalization. He has seen all these different versions of himself, some terrible people. Dirk’s struggle with his identity comes from knowing all the other identities presented. He has no sense of himself, seeing that he has been strewn across timelines and will never be one solid thing.

Dirk is a profoundly pessimistic person. He is harmful to himself and, on occasion, others. He has caused physical harm to himself to further his plans and caused mental damage to others. Dirk cares about his friends deeply but is unaware of what may or may not be harmful to them, as his devotion to his plans blinds him. When Dirk decapitated himself, it was for a purpose. It was for a strategy that worked. However, in the process, he exposed his closest friends to his dead decapitated head, voiced by a robotic version of himself.

The issue of being influenced by a robot is the lack of consideration for others and the psychological effects it may invoke. Hal is utterly inconsiderate, and when Dirk listens to his plans, it causes him to lose all sympathy for the situation he is placing his friends in. Dirk is not easily influenced, but he can’t argue with logic. In his attempt to pursue reason, he loses empathy, sympathy, and understanding.

Dirk’s self-destructive behaviors also turn his friends away from him. He effectively sabotages his relationships to be perceived as logical and infallible. This shield of reason is a driving force, though it also drives others away. His friends, especially Jake, detest the side of Dirk that simply pushes for results without a second thought.

Dirk drives Jake away from him with his consistent apathy and pushes him further with the clinginess he exhibits once Jake closes off. Dirk wanted Jake to always be there for him without considering how he may feel about Dirk’s stunts.

Dirk is not a manipulator, but a dumb child who grew up in the middle of an ocean. Dirk never had anyone around for him, and because of that, he grows clingy but self-destructive. He believes he is an immoral person, but he isn’t. He is blinded by logic, reason, and emotional instability. Dirk completely loses himself without an emotional anchor, and the anchor in his life has consistently been Roxy.

As such vastly different characters, Dirk and Roxy are perfect anchors for one another. Dirk’s straight-headed logic contrasted with Roxy’s fun-loving ditziness. Roxy tends not to think some things through, and Dirk has the opposite problem. Roxy is emotionally wise, while Dirk doesn’t know his emotions or those of the people around him.

Roxy and Dirk are children who grew up without people or guardians, but historical figures they followed in the footsteps of. For Dirk, this meant he had nothing but fake portrayals of people on a screen. Roxy was left with complex narratives and alcohol. They are both children who are deeply flawed but balance each other out.

We see that Dirk and Roxy have one of the best relationships in the entire comic. Dirk encourages Roxy to stay sober, while Roxy encourages Dirk to live a little more. Roxy’s persistence in Trickster Mode directly contrasts Dirk’s inability to be affected. Dirk needs the emotional stability that Roxy provides, and Roxy needs his logic.

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

dirkjake is interesting expressly because it is unhealthy. the relationship HAS to fail the first time around so they can each complete their character arcs, after which they can either go back to being friends or re-attempt a relationship on healthier terms. relationships in fiction are an exploration of these sorts of character complexities; they don't exclusively exist to be someone's wank fantasy or ideal relationship. once you realize this, it becomes a lot easier to understand why people write and draw "unhealthy" ships.

I guess I can understand this, but I don't think we even say Dirk and Jake together after the breakup in the proper comic, that's not considering HS^2, which I haven't read yet for my own mental state (/hj).

I could understand shipping them if they got the development together after the breakup, but they just didn't (past the credits, where they played soccer together (wow, so romantic)). To me, it feels like Jake was kind of dejected by Hussie, since he felt just too much like Tavros.

I love Jake, but I feel like he completely lost any importance or personality after his Page thing where he gets super depressed. I feel like his abilities weren't even sufficiently shown outside of hypotheticals and that one time in Game Over.

Meanwhile, Dirk is given the treatment of "Dave^2, this time with self-loathing," which I think brushes him aside as less important than Dave.

TLDR: DirkJake got development separately, but we don't see how that affected their relationship in the comic. This is no hate to DirkJake, by the way, I think they're cute together. But their relationship feels forced in the narrative post-breakup (and even before, being Dirk literally forced the relationship).

Sorry for the delayed response, I'm not on this account much, and also forget to check my inbox.

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

I think I might as well post my Homestuck gender/sexuality headcanons

Beta kids:

June: Transfem Lesbian, she/her

Rose: Asexual Lesbian, she/they

Dave: Transmasc Bisexual, he/him

Jade: AFAB Nonbinary Pansexual, she/it

Alpha kids:

Jane: Transfem Bisexual. she/her

Roxy: AMAB Genderfluid Abrosexual, they/them

Dirk: Gay Demiboy, he/it

Jake: Aroace, he/him

Beta Trolls:

Aradia: Demisexual Biromantic, she/bones

Tavros: Transmasc Gay, he/him

Sollux: Bigender Bisexual, he/it

Karkat: Agender Asexual Panromantic, he/hir

Nepeta: Demigirl Aroace, she/mew

Kanaya: Transwoman Lesbian, she/her

Terezi: Girlflux Pansexual, she/it

Vriska: Transfem Lesbian. she/they

Equius: Aroace, he/it

Gamzee: Transmasc Bisexual, they/xe

Eridan: Boyflux Pansexual Demiromantic, they/he

Feferi: Fingender Asexual Panromantic, she/fin

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

Rose has such an interesting character with such a rich history that is far too frequently swept away in favor of making her the "smart therapist" character, despite that her entire arc was about NOT being that. Rose's story was about accepting that she didn't have to pretend to know everything and that people would still like her in her worst, most pathetic state.

Rose has such a complicated relationship with motherhood, and family in general. The only person to ever treat her like family were her friends since her mother was nearly always inebriated. Rose is attracted to someone who exudes motherly energy because it's what she lacked growing up. Rose needs a stable support system. Kanaya can give her that, to an extent. Of course, Rose's trauma cannot be completely undone by Kanaya, but she can help. And in return, Rose helps Kanaya through her feelings of failure and emotional exhaustion.

Rose has dealt with so much from a young age, and it's devastating to me to see her as nothing more than the "intelligent" one, even though Dirk is also characterized as very smart, but doesn't receive this same treatment from the fandom.

Rose's trauma pertaining to Doc Scratch, the Horrorterrors, and going Grimdark are also very interesting to me. As a child who just wanted to know how the game worked, Doc Scratched encouraged and pushed Rose to consult the Horrorterrors. All the while, he made some uncomfortable comments with sexual insinuation. Rose was practically groomed by Doc Scratch into thinking he was someone she could trust, before breaking that trust and forcing Rose to come face-to-face with some of the most horrible things she could ever know. Right after this, she found the body of her dead mother and watched one of her best friends die.

Doc Scratch pushed Rose to the edge and forced her to come to terms with things she wasn't ready for, which forced her into seeing the most traumatic things of her life and eventually, her own death.

Rose is one of the most interesting characters in Homestuck and is so tragically forgotten in favor of being a backup character to whatever misadventure Dave is getting up to.

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

DirkJake is such a weird and uncomfortable ship to me, and I'm pretty sure people only ship it because it's m/m...

Like on a base level, I understand the appeal of science dork/movie dork, but we KNOW their relationship was unstable and had a bad dynamic in practice.

Dirk's clinginess and need for validation don't work well with Jake's commitment issues. Jake needs time to be alone, and being around other people (especially those as clingy as Dirk was), is emotionally draining for him. So despite the fact that Dirk clearly likes Jake, I'm not sure if the relationship would work.

We also never saw the same amount of enthusiasm from Jake's side about the relationship, only his being sad and overwhelmed.