DUDESTUCK

For 5 years you've asked, "But what about the men?!" and now they're getting a challenge of their own! The Dudestuck exchange will finally give Homestuck's male characters the attention they deserve.

[megaparsecs]

just realized that every tag is john/dave 

it’s over. the john/dave shippers have won. 

[dudestuck]

Thanks for capturing Dudestuck’s wide range of pairing tags, which (slipping back into character for a moment) we’re pretty sure will cover most prompts, and you can always choose the “Rare Pairing” tag if you want to request something less common.

We did have one excellent soul who nominated some pairings for us, and while they didn’t fit the pattern above, here they are for posterity:

[dudestuck]

(sorry if this comes off as rude, i really don't mean to be, but) is this satire? i can't tell o.o

Wow.

Do you think the equality of men is a joke??? I. I don’t know if we should even run this challenge anymore, if this is the kind of reception we’re going to get.

(We were simply ringing in the month of April in style, anon! Which is to say, yes. Credit goes to odditycollector for coming up with the idea, as well as doing most of the setup work and writing the ideas posts; your overlord Ink wrote the announcement post and helped tweak some of the infopages.

Thank you all for playing along with us so gamely, and be sure to watch ladystuck for further updates! We promise 100% callous indifference to the plight of men at all times.)

[dudestuck]

Dudestuck is a great idea, but I worry that it will focus on the usual boys that tend to get the most focus: Adventurous longfics from Tavros' POV, Mituna's journy through the afterlife, complex portrayals of Gamzee, the entirety of Rufioh's backstory and that characters like Karkat, Eridan, Dave, Dirk, John, etc will be real sidelined, as usual. :( Could we discuss an unpopular male quota to ensure we get enough Vantasses, Striders and Amporas?

Anon, we understand how you feel. Dave, Karkat, and John are great guys, and it’s frustrating when fandom spends time on other characters when we could be getting more stuff about them.

However, because of the nature of the Dudestuck challenge, we can’t enforce complicated rules about character choice. There are so many Homestuck dudes that matching will difficult as it is, and even another fic about Rufioh is one more place for a man to shine!

Our advice is to talk incessantly about your favourite male characters, and encourage your friends to prompt and offer the ones you think deserve more attention.

You can also make nominations for the Dudestuck tag and pairing list!

(PS: i remember that there was discussion last year about a Dave Strider specific challenge, to balance out jade-fest? Keep your eyes open, maybe we’ll all be lucky :)

[dudestuck]

I LOVE this idea! You know how Karkat is treated like the biggest asshole in fandom for how he treats his friends, when we could make sympathetic headcanons for him instead? Like, maybe he's physically tiny and under lots of pressure? Or maybe we should focus more on his heart of gold! Maybe in the context of Alternian society he's not that bad! And at the same time the Peixes and Megidos are treated like badass goddesses who did no wrong, not fair!

These are excellent thoughts! If there’s one thing Homestuck fandom needs more of, it’s sympathetic headcanons for Karkat Vantas!

We hope you use some of these in your prompts when Dudestuck signups open.

And everyone else - please let us know in your offers if you’re willing to write Karkat as a good guy despite it all.

[dudestuck]

Homestuck Dudefest Brainspiration

We know what you’re thinking, potential Dudestuckers. Homestuck’s ladies are so popular and compelling that many of us haven’t worked on man-centric fanworks for, like, minutes. The male POV might feel a little bit strange at first.

One quick way to get back inside the male gaze is to start with a lady-centric story, and reimagine it with only men! For example, you could choose a well loved classic like "folk etymologies" and pretend Dave and Eridan are the main characters instead of Rose and Terezi.

But this is only a starting point. Don’t forget that Homestuck’s male characters are more than reflections of the female cast: they have interests and relationships of their own!

Here are some ideas to spark your imagination:

John/Dave: they’re ready to make WooHoo, but first they must determine who tops.

After years of hard work, Caliborn is accepted into art school. But will he murder his roommate, or will they fall in a different kind of love?

Karkat Vantas could have his pick of ladies, but he only has eyes for Dave Strider.

One of the dudes does some sports. Maybe he does… too much sports?

Eridan is crying, but Sollux knows how to soothe the seadweller’s sad soul.

We don’t talk enough about Cronus.

Dave is heartbroken when he must arrest the Mayor for eating Erisolsprite.

a closeup view of like a dozen grey cocks. Or two dozen. How are these cocks all in the frame without their owners’ legs and torsos getting crammed into a pocket dimension? Are they all attached to the same person? Man, whatever, they’re aliens, who cares. Draw fifty cocks.

Horrus and Equius get in a sweaty, sexy fight over the supremacy of the English or Western riding style. Dirk prefers bareback.

Hopefully that’s enough to get you started! And feel welcome to add your own dudely ideas, maybe you can help someone else think more about the men!

[catchaspark]

It’s so nice to see equity come to Homestuck at last. I know that I’ve been a proponent of Ladystuck in the past, but it’s important to me that we all understand that men’s passions are also valid sources of plot conflict. As such, for the first person who actually rewrites folk etymologies to be about Dave/Eridan, I will send you five real dollars.

[thislousytshirt]

as much as i was baffled by the disembodied cocks i resent the implication that they are really dudely enough to qualify for dudestuck? nothing inherently dudeish about cocks

[dudestuck]

Oh, yes, this is a good point, sorry! Dudestuck friends, this summer, remember that the important part is not what genitals are in someone’s pants, but that those pants belong to dudes. Many dudes. Having anatomically improbable sex. Not that we know why you would want to draw anything else!

[dudestuck]

excited to give the dudes some more love but don't you think this contributes to the oversexualization of male characters, or encouraging the stereotype of stoic male introverts?

This sort of question is exactly why Dudestuck is so important.

We hope that by encouraging a variety of male perspectives, people will see that men can be more than either irresistible studs or indomitable action heroes. 

And Homestuck’s male characters are a great example of complex dudes that don’t get the recognition they deserve.

For instance, Jake English is both a lust object AND a Strong Male Character who knows his way around a set of double pistols (and a wink).

[dudestuck]

but what if I cant avoid having a girl in my story?

Not to worry, fellow fellow-fan!

We get that in a girl heavy canon like Homestuck, it can be awkward if not impossible to completely cut out the female cast. Of course you can include female characters where appropriate, but they should not be the focus of the work, and should only exist to further your main dude’s emotional journey.

Try not to have more than one woman in your fanwork though, and if you must, don’t have them waste the audience’s time by talking about anything except the male characters.

There are plenty of ways to acknowledge Homestuck’s women without letting them take undue narrative importance. Maybe Feferi has been kidnapped, and we follow Eridan’s rescue attempts? Or Rose is tragically murdered, and this gives Dave the motivation he needs to finally face Lord English? Or Jane is in over her head, but luckily Jake has mastered her teachings and can now step in to lead the Alpha Team to victory in the Betty Crocker Baking Championship?

If your recipient asks for John/Dirk, but you don’t want to just ignore Roxy as a canonical obstacle to John and Dirk’s true love, you could have John realize that she is a conniving, abusive bitch who everyone hates. That way she will quickly drop out of the story, and you can focus on Dirk patiently teaching John how to love again! Alternatively, Roxy can be the first to notice their simmering lust, after which she serves as a cheerful matchmaker! (This one is a difficult balance to pull off. Make sure not to let her have too much characterization or screen time; remember, the focus is on the dudes and HER job is to get them together—and maybe provide some comic relief along the way!) Or Roxy can die before the story begins, and when John learns she secretly gave birth to his child, he and Dirk must raise it together!

And say you aren’t writing romance, but you don’t want to disappoint any slash fans who might assume Dirk and Jake will end the story by having sex with each other. In the first scene, have them mention how attractive their respective girlfriends are, and that way no one will mistake their bromance for the sort of relationship that leads to open mouthed kissing. (If you change your mind about that later, refer to the previous paragraph’s suggestions.)

As you can see, there are all sorts of places for female characters, even in a challenge like Dudestuck!

These are just examples: you can swap out any lady/dude characters and these ideas will remain exactly as worthwhile!

[dudestuck]

Homestuck Dudefest Brainspiration

We know what you’re thinking, potential Dudestuckers. Homestuck’s ladies are so popular and compelling that many of us haven’t worked on man-centric fanworks for, like, minutes. The male POV might feel a little bit strange at first.

One quick way to get back inside the male gaze is to start with a lady-centric story, and reimagine it with only men! For example, you could choose a well loved classic like "folk etymologies" and pretend Dave and Eridan are the main characters instead of Rose and Terezi.

But this is only a starting point. Don’t forget that Homestuck’s male characters are more than reflections of the female cast: they have interests and relationships of their own!

Here are some ideas to spark your imagination:

John/Dave: they’re ready to make WooHoo, but first they must determine who tops.

After years of hard work, Caliborn is accepted into art school. But will he murder his roommate, or will they fall in a different kind of love?

Karkat Vantas could have his pick of ladies, but he only has eyes for Dave Strider.

One of the dudes does some sports. Maybe he does… too much sports?

Eridan is crying, but Sollux knows how to soothe the seadweller’s sad soul.

We don’t talk enough about Cronus.

Dave is heartbroken when he must arrest the Mayor for eating Erisolsprite.

a closeup view of like a dozen grey cocks. Or two dozen. How are these cocks all in the frame without their owners’ legs and torsos getting crammed into a pocket dimension? Are they all attached to the same person? Man, whatever, they’re aliens, who cares. Draw fifty cocks.

Horrus and Equius get in a sweaty, sexy fight over the supremacy of the English or Western riding style. Dirk prefers bareback.

Hopefully that’s enough to get you started! And feel welcome to add your own dudely ideas, maybe you can help someone else think more about the men!

[catchaspark]

It’s so nice to see equity come to Homestuck at last. I know that I’ve been a proponent of Ladystuck in the past, but it’s important to me that we all understand that men’s passions are also valid sources of plot conflict. As such, for the first person who actually rewrites folk etymologies to be about Dave/Eridan, I will send you five real dollars.

[dudestuck]

The Homestuck Dudefest: NOW WITH CASH PRIZES!

[dudestuck]

Homestuck Dudefest Brainspiration

We know what you're thinking, potential Dudestuckers. Homestuck's ladies are so popular and compelling that many of us haven't worked on man-centric fanworks for, like, minutes. The male POV might feel a little bit strange at first.

One quick way to get back inside the male gaze is to start with a lady-centric story, and reimagine it with only men! For example, you could choose a well loved classic like "folk etymologies" and pretend Dave and Eridan are the main characters instead of Rose and Terezi.

But this is only a starting point. Don't forget that Homestuck's male characters are more than reflections of the female cast: they have interests and relationships of their own!

Here are some ideas to spark your imagination:

John/Dave: they're ready to make WooHoo, but first they must determine who tops.

After years of hard work, Caliborn is accepted into art school. But will he murder his roommate, or will they fall in a different kind of love?

Karkat Vantas could have his pick of ladies, but he only has eyes for Dave Strider.

One of the dudes does some sports. Maybe he does... too much sports?

Eridan is crying, but Sollux knows how to soothe the seadweller's sad soul.

We don't talk enough about Cronus.

Dave is heartbroken when he must arrest the Mayor for eating Erisolsprite.

a closeup view of like a dozen grey cocks. Or two dozen. How are these cocks all in the frame without their owners' legs and torsos getting crammed into a pocket dimension? Are they all attached to the same person? Man, whatever, they're aliens, who cares. Draw fifty cocks. [zapped for cisnormativity]

Horrus and Equius get in a sweaty, sexy fight over the supremacy of the English or Western riding style. Dirk prefers bareback.

Hopefully that's enough to get you started! And feel welcome to add your own dudely ideas, maybe you can help someone else think more about the men!

[ladystuck]

Hello, faithful Ladystickers! It’s been a long four years, hasn’t it?

To be honest, we’ve been … struggling … in our hearts about the purpose of this challenge for some time now. We think it’s great that you’re all so excited about these characters, and you’ve made so many great fanworks over the years! But lately, some of the discourse about this comm, as well as around Tumblr more generally, has started to make us a little uncomfortable. It was never our intention to promote an imbalance, or to imply that stories about ladies are more important or better or more interesting than stories about guys. We want to make it a point to pay attention and care about /all/ kinds of people, not just the people it’s trendy to care about, or who traditionally get labelled by society as “oppressed.”

Don’t worry! Ladystuck isn’t going anywhere! But in the interests of being fair and balanced, we’ve decided to introduce a counterpart challenge. DUDESTUCK, an annual exchange celebrating the manly men of everyone’s favorite webcomic, will be coming to you May 7, and we sincerely hope it will help fulfill all your male bonding needs. Let’s talk about the oft-neglected depths of male emotion, the uniqueness of the father-son bond, and the pinnacle of enduring love that is the true brotherhood. This summer, let’s make it all men, all the time. We can’t wait.

More about Dudestuck. A guide to signups. Dudestuck pairings to request (help us by suggesting additions!)

There will be more soon, but for now, happy Dudestucking, and we hope to see you there!

- Ink and Karen