#hs rambles

[tipsygnostalgias]

basically here is homestuck (mostly rolal) fanart ive already made to lure you in and make you read some disorganized points of my homestuck meta.

largely focuses on the alpha kids Tho really it is about the kids in general.

homestuck is about domestic abuse and childhood trauma within the family unit. whether or not you beat sburb, playing it makes you complicit in the cycle of abuse. beating it means you create a new world, a child, and you have power over that child. i assume this is covered at least somewhat in homestuck^2 but i havent read it. at the end of homestuck everything is okay for the characters, sure, and they themselves are freer from how they were raised, but not free enough to stop the cycle.

homestuck holds many references to post-wwii (mainly 1950s/60s) usamerica, such as the levittown-esque suburbs shown above. (for those unaware, levittown was pretty much the first mass produced neighborhood/housing development in the usa, and led to suburbia being popularized). betty crocker is a staple of the housewife theme from those times as well, which is shown in both jane and roxy (who, due to living in the future, likely copied from what she knows about jane's life and the 1950s/60s).

anyway, back to the family stuff. family life was emphasized during this time, especially in media such as sitcoms and advertisements. homestuck's coding imagery leads to genetics imagery (ie coding for genes) which is another way it expressed the themes of family.

soooo... about trickster mode... :)

while i draw roxy as Black in my trickster mode art, and i doubt the decision to make the alpha kids white in trickster mode had much depth behind it, it's actually pretty interesting once you think about it. suddenly, all their problems are solved, they're super happy, and they wanna get married and make babies. well, except for dirk. imo this is extremely reminiscent of the american dream advertised in post-wwii times. a happy, white family. dirk, however, is not affected. this is because he is the "man" of the group. (despite how masculine jake may seem, he is repeatedly emasculated. similarly to tavros, actually! it's a page thing.) a man isn't expected to be emotional. while masculinity is, of course, expected, most of the pressure is put on the woman to care for the family, while her husband provides for them by earning money.

so, for trickster mode, the reason it affects the alpha kids so much compared to the cherubs is that the cherubs have a "tighter" family structure. what i mean by this is that the cherubs are much more trapped by this family unit. unlike human siblings, they share a body. the only way to escape would be to kill the other, which perpetuates the cycle. at least that is what i got from calliope's explanation. so trickster mode is more normal to the cherubs as they are already used to this type of family, while humans will be more strongly affected. (something i also find interesting is how roxy seemed to be the least changed by trickster mode [aside from dirk], and she also has a spiral in her hair similar to those on the cherubs' cheeks. she is closer to them than the others. she also leans more heavily into traditional gender roles & the role of a housewife than the others. food for thought ;3)

the alpha kids are p much a family. i personally would place roxy as the mother, dirk as the father, and jane and jake as their children, although arguments can be made for other arrangements. while all of the characters are isolated, jane, jake, roxy & dirk are uniquely isolated in a way that makes one another their only companions, and their guardians (3/4 of which are dead) the only people they have to look up to. thats why its much easier to explore the symbolism of a family with them, although it can also be found in the beta kids!

thus concludes my ramble. was it fun? check out my #hs rambles tag for additional analysis :3

^ some more art. to incentivize you to reblog. you dont have to but i liek attention LOL

[heart-select]

fav hobbit fic (mostly bagginshield) tropes that delight me to no end

dwarves making bets (esp on matters of courtship)

line of durin having horrible sweet tooth

Acknowledging Bilbo as the grandson of Old Took, the Thain (gasp he's a prince!)

courting each other without telling you're courting but everyone in the room knowing whats going on

Thorin coming back with Bilbo and people assuming theyre married (that one shire custom about disappearing and coming back together) (bonus if bilbo does not explain)

Bilbo wearing mithril mail Thorin gave and people assuming theyre married

Alternatively theyre married but people are making bets when theyre gonna get together bc they don't know

Bofur has the best stone sense out of the entire company (i like him smart stupid 😔 ❤️)

inseperable heirs of durin (bonus dumb shenanigans) (bonus bonus: theyre also actually competent, theyre both just bored)

Bilbo's family having a time with the dwarves (bonus: hobbits taking in dwarves well enough for gossip and work) (wbk its dori thats having tea with them every 3 days between luncheon and dinner)

Dwalin being really good with kids even if he doesn't like it (he's building an army)

Dwalin Clocking Thorin's attraction to the hobbit and making fun of him for it (still supportive)

Anything that has to do with Dis and her being a menace specifically to Thorin

[toupee-or-nottoupee]

need me a bagginshield fic that's doin a parallel of that scene in HUJ where thorin is all like "Why did you come back?" and bilbo is like "Because I have a home. And I'm going to help you get yours back if I can because it was taken from you."

and its a reshirement of Thorin going back to the shire like a year or three later and bilbo is like "Why did you come back" and mr dwarf goes "Because you helped me take back my home. And I have found, Master Baggins, that mine seemed to be with yours."

[fangirlinginleatherboots]

Current fave junekat flavor is they haven't seen each other in a century. June recognizes karkat but he doesn't realize that his egbert. Every human on this damn planet looks like one family line or the other or an obvious mix between the two. Karkat being drawn to her anyway, like falling for egbert all over again. Beating himself up for seeing an old friend in this beautiful girl he met. June feeling like a /person/ seperate from all her trauma because someone who's opinion of her she cares about is seeing her as her new, idealized self and /loves her/ but knowing it can't last. Knowing she has to tell him who she is. Knowing he's probably figured it out, because he saw her whole life before the game and knows her better than anyone. Finally telling him, before things get more serious. The moment of reunion karkat feels before realizing he re-fell in love with egbert, that everything he pities is exactly the same and shes happier and realer. June finally being at a point in her growth where she can accept someone loves her as she is. You feel me.

[vanityloves]

why must i feel the urge to revisit hiveswap

[yoitscro]

if you wanna make someone mad then tell them lanque is a porrim and cronus lovechild. 

[tipsygnostalgias]

to be honest i think the reason jujus affect the alpha kids differently than the cherubs is just because the cherubs have the concept of a nuclear family intertwined with their very existence, whereas its not as necessary with humans. like, a family forces you to live with and interact with your family members, but the cherub species seems to take that to an extreme. you have someone who you are forced to not only live with, but you also share a body, and one of you is supposedly destined to kill the other. (of course, i doubt this like, a natural thing that just Happens, but given one's situation and exposure to prior knowledge, it may feel like it comes naturally.)(i gotta brush up on my cherub species lore tho.) and to destroy the weaker counterpart, while freeing yourself, just continues the cycle. so callie discovers that this isn't the only possibility, but as a result, she is killed by caliborn. cycle continues, yada yada. callie *is* revived, but she needs to wear a ring (marriage!) + the creation of a new universe = continuation of the family tree

now while this is obviously reflected in humans, it is not so extreme, which is why their behavior changes so drastically. something i find interesting is that roxy in particular has a spiral in her hair, similar to the ones that represent the cherubs. while she wasn't raised with "family values" or the expectation of being a sort of housewife like jane was, her earlier appearances show her acting the most like one of these stereotypical housewives. as they play sburb, though, along with quitting drinking, roxy manages to cut back on her other behaviors like flirting with dirk. for her, this makes trickster mode more of a relapse. while jane and jake never spoke about getting married and having tons of kids before trickster mode, roxy did! she even decided to start drinking again during it.

going back to the whole housewife thing (i'm unfortunately obsessed with usamerican 1950's imagery/symbolism), trickster mode sort of reminds me of the "american dream". all of your problems are solved, you can live happily and be married and have kids, the end. it's that easy!

anyway i think the spirals represent, like. nuclear family, family unit, cycle of abuse, whatever you wanna call it. :p

[tipsygnostalgias]

MY CHERUBS PAPER!!!

Homestuck is a webcomic written by Andrew Hussie that has a long and complex plot. It focuses on the themes of family, isolation, and childhood development. One species in Homestuck, the cherub, concisely portrays the darker side of these themes with only their standard life cycle. Contrary to the standard biblical depictions of cherubim, Homestuck illustrates cherubs as a violent and brutal species. They are a dark green color, and despite the growth of wings later in their life, they are far from angelic. Cherubs are extremely asocial, growing up almost entirely alone. They meet only two other cherubs in their life: their sibling, who shares a body with them, and their mate. Homestuck uses this species to represent abuse within the human family by putting them in an inherently abusive situation and showing how they develop as a result.

Duality is a significant aspect of cherub culture and life. In a cherub’s youth, one sibling will be male, and the other will be female. One will be malevolent, and the other will be benevolent (pg. 5963). In adulthood, the dominant cherub will seek out a mate of the same disposition as their sibling. This links to the common depiction of a brother and sister, and the even more common depiction of a husband and wife. For cherubs, this duality means a constant struggle for dominance, which creates tension that leads to abuse. Additionally, a malevolent disposition is not inherent to male cherubs, and a benevolent disposition is not inherent to female cherubs. While in humans, being male or masculine is linked with aggression and being female or feminine is linked with passiveness, they are not mutually exclusive. Human roles in a marriage can be flexible between genders (source), and so too can capacity for aggression and abuse. Neither cherub wants to be isolated with their sibling, but the only alternative is to be completely on their own. As the sibling is an earlier version of a cherub’s mate, their forced proximity can be compared to forced marriage, which has a notable link to sexual exploitation and exploitation of labor (source). A cherub’s isolation with their complete opposite leads to conflicts where they can find no common ground and where their distaste for the other only grows stronger, which is common in abusive relationships.

During the first part of a cherub’s life, they are accompanied only by their sibling. However, as they live in the same body, there are some complications. While one sibling is awake, the other is asleep and dormant. In order to tell the cherubs apart, one must look at their cheek; a green spiral on either cheek means the benevolent cherub is active, and a red spiral means the malevolent cherub is active. The struggle of duality, and the isolation that comes with it, is necessary for a cherub’s upbringing (pg. 5963). This will eventually culminate in the stronger sibling essentially absorbing their counterpart (pg. 5964), which reflects how, in an abusive relationship, the only way to “survive” is to overpower the other person. However, the loss of this counterpart is what leads the successful cherub to search for a mate to replace the half they lost (pg. 5964). Likewise, humans may seek out relationships with those similar to someone who had abused them in the past for the same reason.

The cherub’s loss of their sibling leads to them finding a mate with the same gender and disposition as their sibling. While the siblinghood was forced, finding a mate technically is not; however, the relationship with the mate is highly aggressive, possibly even moreso than with the sibling. With humans, those who have gone through abuse as children are more likely to have dysfunctional relationships as adults (source). In addition, the only love a cherub can experience is kismesessitude, also known as caliginous or black romance (pg. 5968), which is a type of love  marked by hatred. For humans, it could be compared to “an especially potent arch-rivalry” (pg. 2395). In order to reproduce, two cherubs engage in a violent and drawn-out duel that may last for years. Eventually, the winner emerges, and the loser is fertilized with the winner’s egg (pg 5972-5973) This connects weakness with femininity, as from a human perspective, pregnancy is feminine. This view is shared by masculine lesbians as well (source). Even if one is female and able to become pregnant, pregnancy lies more in femininity than in the female gender. The inherent aggression and violence in how cherubs experience and communicate love would be considered extremely abusive for humans.

Homestuck does not end with the breaking of a cycle. The main characters beat Sburb, creating a new universe and beginning a new life for themselves where they are free from the hardships of childhood. Though there are no more cherubs born in this universe, cherubs are only a part of the larger cycle. Sburb and its derivatives do not simply end forever; rather, it is to eventually be played again by new players. Those created for the new universe will have to overcome the same struggles the main characters faced. Even when one has finished reading Homestuck, it does not end. The aspects of the real world that it reflects still ring true.

NOTE: this was done as my final exam in my world studies class. i did a lot of overexplaining due to this! i also did not accurately format citations as it wasn't required. i am aware that many of the sources i used are not at all recent. i think people should write about this more. i wouldn't have this problem if that were the case. ^_^ some sources may seem flimsy, this is because i mostly drew from wider perceptions of things rather than stuff that is all backed up by specific research papers. i understand that this is a flaw. U_U

on the topic of flaws! i bet this whole paper is flawed! BUT! i hope it accurately conveys the message i am trying to get across :P

EDIT: i made an addition go reblog that.