#((lynera unironically

[wakraya]

Okay I’m going to try not to actively engage in Lanquecourse this time around. I’ll respond to stuff from time to time I’m sure because hoo boy there is a LOT to unpack, but now that it’s morning, after the shock of everything yesterday, I have a few things to say.

vV Obvious Friendsim Spoilers! Lanque’s Route! Vv

First of all, let me say, I was worried about Lanque, and I was worried about him in many ways. He was one of the most awaited characters, he is trans, there was already discourse about him, basically he was just a ticking time bomb that could disappoint in many, many ways. I worried that the Fandom backlash from last time would make the Writers write him extremely safely, I worried that the writers would try to include something explicit about him being trans that could fall flat with the fans, I worried that if he wasn’t perfect in every way there would be more discourse. But honestly?

What they did for him exceeded any and all expectations of him. They could’ve gone many ways developing him, they could’ve done this in many ways, but what they opted to do was do meta commentary on exactly the things I was worried about him and his route.

I would’ve liked some comment about him being trans, yeah, but what we got was an immensely interesting commentary on Fandom Reaction to Lanque, Fandom Purity, and the general absurdity of the Friendsims and a few Homestuck/Hiveswap themes, while also having genuinely entertaining stuff and character development. 

First of all, the Valid Route. Already at that point the 4th Wall had been shattered to pieces, and we had literally gotten an in-setting 18+ warning. Deciding to not delve into the more crude themes led us to a poetry session with a very kind and gentle Lanque- Now first of all, while this one is OBVIOUSLY a reference to character woobification and purity stuff, I don’t think it’s ALSO 100% untrue. Lanque is stated to be an occasional poet, and while his gentle demeanor makes us empathize with him more here, his poem is long-winded and melodramatic and you can bet your ass Lanque does write that kind of monology stuff. The Flower Crown was fantastic, as many people have pointed out, with stuff like, True Crime Fandom putting it on serial killers and generally downplaying unsavory traits of characters to make them softer and more Fandom-friendly, it becomes a symbol of the softness the route portrays him with. He becomes the ‘perfect baby’ a lot of people seemed to want him to be, 100% unproblematic, and it’s really a fantastic but harmless jab at that kind of stuff. Sure, it’s making fun of it, but it’s also 100% going along with it as a good ending and development for Lynera, honestly. It’s his ‘gentle side’ as the achievement puts it. It’s played up for the route with the purpose of Fandom Commentary, but it’s still part of him.

Lynera too, hoo boy, that moment when you ask her if she likes Lanque and she responds to it like “No! I liked a girl before, it’d be problematic if I did, lol.” A lot of people are salty about this, and I can understand that, but that’s honestly such a raw take against bi erasure and militant pushing of some headcanons by some people. Like, if you headcanon some characters as gay or lesbian and even if you see some attraction as forced heteronormativity and don’t feel they count, that’s a 100% valid take and it’s exactly how I feel about Rose. But also there’s been huge amounts of discourse and, as per usual these days, bullying and death threats loaded from that kind of forceful headcanoning, and having Lynera drop that line instantly killed me. Ultimately, the route ends up in a ‘Valid’ end, and, even with how meta it is and how it toys with these themes, it’s still totally valid to unironically like this route.

But the other one. Oh my stars the other one.

First, starting with Ardata preempting the discourse and laughing about not mentioning the party is too problematic in social media was fucking amazing, and alongside the commentary by Hussie about how talk about controversial topics are part of the experience, it makes me feel less “Oh god why” about this Discourse, and more strongly about how this is... Very much exactly what the Team expected would happen with this route. It’s like, embracing the train wreck.

So let’s cut the chase.

Lanque is sexual and crude and a total asshole. I’ve seen a lot of people confused about the two Lanques and how it seems like another Fozzer thing, but as I mentioned before, the Soft Lanque route is very much meta-commentary. Some of it may be true to his nature, what with him playing with Wanshi and writing poetry, but THIS seems to be the facade to puts on when he’s out partying and seems to embrace more canonically. Casanova, go-getter, pushy, Marvus was apparently written to be ‘that one hookup  you regret’ but honestly Lanque is that 100x times.

He calls out Lynera and makes her cry, he gets uncomfortably grindy with you and offers you drugs, there’s no sugarcoating it, he’s nasty, but also, he does cede when you refuse the drugs, and he does ask you about the kiss and sex. Like, he’s pushy and bad, like Kevin from SU, but he’s also not a scumbag that would force you or trick you. He’s very blatantly there to have sex, and he’s there to have sex because as a Jade he’ll be forced not to once he goes off-planet. 

He’s a lot like Daraya in that aspect, except instead of taking nihilism to protect himself, he’s thotting it up in a big party trying to experience something he’ll be forbidden from soon enough.

And I think that’s the beautiful part of it. He’s very sexual and forward, but there’s a clear reason for it, and in the Good End we see him cede and be like, a bit more chill. He also doesn’t attack Bronya back or get angry with you at any point even if he does tease around a lot. Sexual, but not violently so, and I can really appreciate that.

He’s not trans representation- In the fact that he’s not necessarily someone pleasant most people will project themselves onto and be happy, but maybe that is why I like it so much? Because he’s his character first. I would have loved some allusion to trans stuff, but with the rest of the tone of the Friendsim I’m also kind of glad there wasn’t, because I feel it would’ve only fanned the flames, fallen flat somehow. He’s not trans representation, but he is a trans character. It’s just a character who also happens to be trans, and with how Alternia is about gender and sexuality stuff, it also makes sense that there wouldn’t be much of a fuss about it?

He’s also the only confirmed trans guy, yeah, but that doesn’t mean he’s the only trans character. After all, as I mentioned before, Stelsa is Jewish because Cohen didn’t want just Xultan Matzos to be Jewish. That pretty much guarantees there are more characters that are trans we just have not been told about. I do have a big headcanon that Xefros is trans, and if that does turn out to be canon, the main Troll of Hiveswap would be great trans rep! I’d love that. I feel we’re just in too much of an isolated bubble regarding the other characters that will take a part in Hiveswap and the writers’ intent to really get militantly mad that the ‘only trans rep is an awful dude’.

So yeah. This entire route? It was very crude, it gave no fucks and went all meta on us to make commentary about a lot of topics. And I like it precisely because of that.

Oh also the comment making fun of how the Homestuck Characters are all #FFFFFF, both teasing the fact it feels a bit like a cop-out while fully embracing the representation that comes with it, and the bishie Lanque sexy times skip picture? 

I stand this was very interestingly handled, and I have no fear in saying the writers have done an astonishing job at mixing actual plot stuff, meta elements, and social commentary about the Fandom, Homestuck and itself, in a way I think was completely successful.

EDIT: I was talking about trans guys and trans girls specifically, but it’s true, Cirava and Charun do fall under the trans umbrella. They may not be specific rep for trans men, and we have yet to have a confirmed trans girl, but there’s them and they’re both great. So Lanque is not the only confirmed non-cis rep.

^ Spoilers End Here! ^