#even stuff like the epilogues like. had some interesting ideas about narrative and meta concepts about what it means to be a story

[waitineedaname]

I've been relistening to the homestuck soundtrack album by album while working lately and man. it's reminding me how much I genuinely loved about homestuck, and how that made the aspects of it that sucked so much more frustrating

[coldtomyflash]

OH MY STARS YOU’RE WRITING AGAIN?!???!!!??????? THIS MIGHT BE THE MOST EXCITING NEWS I’VE HAD THIS MONTH!!!!!!!! Igkdnhidksjdkpfkejs

A question, forgive me if it’s been asked before, is there *any* chance that you might write a sequel to got a melancholic temperament? I was doing a reread the other day and it was just so fosofiakdidkfkdkekfkdicjgkvobodkakfkgkvifidiekdkfivdiddicokspsgkckvoejanamfgogiejdgoocisisodcoxnaj

Ahem. Just casually curious 😎

❤️❤️❤️

Less like writing again and more like reading back over my old unfinished pieces and seeing if there's any that still spark joy or require only minimal effort to finish and post 😂😅

I've also been writing this whole time just for supernatural instead of coldflash but shhh let's pretend I never betrayed coldflash

A sequel for melancholic temperament?? I'm genuinely trying to imagine what the plot would be??

One of the things I'm weird about with my longer coldflash works is always trying to end on a note of finality, one that makes things feel relatively wrapped up (some of them even get epilogues lol). So it's hard to imagine a "what next" for me because the core conflict and plot points should, in theory, be resolved.

For melancholic temperament... Obviously the age regression is fixed, and Len and Barry are still in this new fresh space but they're both approaching it from mutual understanding, and Len is accepted by the Wests.

There's the Flash detractors as the maybe obvious narrative thread that's out there dangling, and Barry with Mick and the other Rogues could provide some narrative juice. That's the most of what I can think of though?

I like to write around a developing romance because I'm a sucker for it, but in a sequel case, it would be more an established relationship thing? which isn't my usual bag except for short fics. I like to resolve a narrative at the point at which we know the characters are affirmed in their commitment to each other, partly because I tend to see commitment as an "all in" thing, so the tension of "will these crazy kids overcome the odds to make it together" is dispelled.

(not that stories about falling out and getting back together aren't interesting -- I actually really enjoy them when done well -- it's just that that's not what I've aimed for with any of my coldflash works)

But unless the sequel was a heavily plot-centric work, there would need to be some coldflash relationship ups and downs. I'm not a fan of manufacturing drama and miscommunication among characters who ought to be somewhat reasonable human beings, so any strife would have to feel earned and authentic. And I'm not sure how I would go about that?? Sure it's all new and fresh and there's a lot of potential hiccups but at the end of Melancholic Temperament was supposed they were supposed to be in a place where we (the audience) were confident they'd weather whatever came next okay.

And while I could (and likely would have to) tie their ups and downs to the Flash detractors stuff, it feels (at present, without concrete ideas to anchor it) sort of laden-on? In a "Barry can't catch a break" sort of way?

I don't know, I'm genuinely trying to think it through but there's nothing concrete for me to latch on to as a vision for how it would take shape. I could see an unrelated story in a canon divergent setting specifically interested in the Flash detractors concept, examining meta protestors and stigma and the Flash's role as this dual symbol of justice and subjugation, but that would have more room to grow as a standalone than a sequel?

Did you have something in mind for what a sequel would include?

[homestuckexamination]

The reason part of the epilogues rub me the wrong way is they just said fuck You to every canon gay couple except for davekat and even they only get one timeline, like hm maybe having rose cheat in both timelines, vrisrezi having one member assumed dead in either, dirkjake having dirk Like That and just giving up on Jake because reasons, or just having dirk straight up dead, Callieroxy isn’t a thing for like, no reason? Legit Callie just tailgates Roxy when the implication was they were together

As a follow up to my previous ask about the epilogues and hs2, I do think they make use some interesting concepts, I just don’t particularly enjoy how they went about all of it, some of it just feels so spiteful to me, like oh HAHAHA you thought we were gonna have ANY of our pre existing gay characters stay together!!! Sike bitch!!! Oh you wanted Roxy to be a trans girl? Welp too fucking bad sucks to be you!!! You hced Dirk as trans? He’s transphobic now!!!! Haha!!! Isn’t this so meta!!!

I mean, there’s an assumption of ill will to begin with there, like, “Oh you wanted Roxy to be a trans girl” specifically irks me majorly because I know for a fact of part of the Team that identifies with transmasc Roxy, and to imply that they’re doing this entirely to spite us personally is to erase the identities and experiences of the Team behind all of this.

You cannot assume like, intersectionality, it doesn’t work like that, people that are part of the community don’t always accept all of it, so it’s good to be critical of stuff like this as it’s presented. At the same time however, just equating bad things happening to the characters to be a specific jab at the community because they were queer, is also very loaded, considering like, everyone in Homestuck right now, is, so any damage done to any character is going to affect a section of the community, and of course any confirmed headcanon is going to piss off the side of the Fandom that had DIFFERENT headcanons of them.

There’s definitely a talk to be had about the Epilogues and HS^2 regarding Queer Themes, but to focus exclusively on the damage to these relationships ignores about some things that put it into context. Heterosexual relationships suffer just the same. Death, suffering and bad choices happen to practically every single character. And yet, even when things go wrong in the relationships, it doesn’t mean that the feelings aren’t there. Dirk is still pinning after Jake, and so is Jake thinking about him and miserable, in this complex tango they’ve been dancing for years. RoseMary split in Meat, yes, but it was an outside influence pulling them apart. The root of Meat’s conflict is the romantic attachment between these two leading to their eventual reunion, the voyage to recover Rose is inherently a sapphic love story. To bash down on Roxy for not being a trans woman is to disparage the genuine feelings conveyed by Roxy, in both Epilogues Timeline and in the Pesterquest Route, feelings that I feel resonate with a lot of people and that are ultimately very important to understand.

You can fault the Epilogues for being dark, bringing suffering and hurting characters, for dealing out a crude and unpleasant reality the characters have to slog through. You can, also, not think it’s going to get any better, I do believe it HAS been getting better and everything is going to look up more and more for these characters, but you can simply not believe that is the case. But to mark this suffering as erasure, like a ‘Fuck You’ to Queer People, to me, feels like shitting on the entire point of what the Epilogues ARE? The exploration of experiences regarding adulthood and growing up traumatized, as expressed by a group of queer authors. And yes I know. It’s good for things to BE good! For representation to be happy! And I look forward to seeing THAT happen in due time! But there’s a difference between a series where the Lesbian is the one that dies in the End, or where there’s Queerbaiting, and a series dealing around very hard and real topics through an inherently queer lens, by queer authors.

I don’t know, I just feel like there’s a layer of nuance that people are skipping over to cling to the superficial idea of something being problematic. The Epilogues are tough, they can hit very hard and make you feel quite bad. And I don’t think you need to find ways to twist them into making their intent problematic. Dislike them for preferring something more light-hearted, but do consider the full context of them when dealing with very negative feelings. Things can get heated and out of control easily.

(3) These relationships were never perfect to begin with, but I think what made them good was the implication that while they had their issues, they worked it out, they fought and made up, they loved each other very deeply and that was important, and to just? Throw that away for seemingly no reason. Some of is more reasonable then others but a lot of it just feels like it’s trying to elicit as much shock value and anger as possible, it doesn’t feel like it’s being made so you enjoy it anymore

Whoops answered early. And hey no, you’re right! The Epilogues deliberately lead relationships and characters down dark paths. I don’t think it’s quite ‘shock value’, however, as it’s... Showing various human ways to fuck up and various ways relationshisp can go wrong. Again. It’s deliberately dark. Hell, I defend them, but I would have LOVED it if the Epilogues were fluffy slice of life where nothing goes wrong, absolutely adored that shit!!! But it’s not what we got, and I am contextualizing the things we got, through the lens of the narrative they’re wanting to tell. And so far? I enjoy exploring darker topics, seeing characters fuck up, and the process of healing and opening up after said fuck-ups.