#skullcap.ship

[nekropsii]

Admittedly one part of this question is outside your wheelhouse but as the main Alpha Trolls Guy I follow, what would you say is the purpose of the parallels between Horuss and Rufioh on the one hand and Dirk and Jake on the other? Esp since it was Rufioh, the Jake-figure, who was decapitated. Is it just an “All things come round again” example of Paradox Space doing its thing, or to show that Dirk and Jake wouldn’t last under the circumstances of the void session, or?

I swear to God I don't mean this to sound mean, but... I don't think there's any profound "purpose", because I don't think they parallel in any profound way at all. Similarities between the two are incredibly surface level, and I'm not really of the opinion that Dirk and Jake own the themes/motifs "being paralleled" or anything.

Typically the explanation for DirkJake/RufUss paralleling each other is that they're both Gay Relationships that have Communication Issues, and there's something in there relating to Decapitation. That's... It, though? Sure, that's a parallel in the technical sense, but there's nothing deep to it. Plenty of other things in Homestuck share one of those traits, and it doesn't really mean much. Hell, I'd attribute Horuss and Rufioh being a gay relationship with communication problems to Hussie genuinely just not handling gay relationships and characters all that well, rather than them being some god-tier writer.

I couldn't tell you the purpose because I'm not even sure if it was intentional. Everything else about them is so vastly different that I'm inclined to believe any similarities weren't intended. To me, it's purely a consequence of them having been written by the same author.

[nekropsii]

When it comes to "Fanon Stereotypes", which characters(aside from the Alphas because they're already criminally underexplored) do you think have it the worst? Alternatively; One misunderstanding or lie per character you see shown around as some weird truth?

As far as “Fanon Stereotypes,” as you’ve put it, goes… The first examples that come to mind that aren’t Alpha Trolls are Dave, Karkat, Kanaya, Dirk and Jake in tandem, and specifically how a lot of people portray June. John’s fine, people get weird with June specifically half the time, and I’m not talking about the discourse surrounding her…

For the “Misunderstanding Passed Off as Truth” part of your inquiry… Here’s a small and random assortment:

John has literally never used :B during the entire run of Homestuck. This is a Jane thing. That is a Jane emoticon.

Rose is not good at therapy. She’s never been good at therapy. She’s a 13 year old girl armchair diagnosing her brother as gay using Freudian psychoanalysis. If you take Freudian psychology seriously… I don’t know what to tell you.

Dave’s character arc is literally not about “overcoming toxic masculinity.” Yes, this is a trait he picks up from Bro, that is undeniable, but that’s genuinely not what the focus of his arc is. His arc circles around overcoming childhood neglect and abuse. It just so happens that being a little more forthcoming with his thoughts and feelings fell in line with that. Toxic masculinity, and the head-on tackling of it, was never the crux of his development.

Please for the love of god Jade is not stupid, and she doesn’t mean nothing to the plot. She’s just forgetful and also doesn’t want to be fucking miserable. She also doesn’t “get in the way of DaveKat,” because Dave and Jade legitimately had a thing going on way before Meteorstuck even happened.

Karkat’s arc isn’t about overcoming toxic masculinity either. What. His arc is about how he was born a Mutantblood and raised in a society that hates him. He’s the fucking Second Coming of Troll Christ. There’s so much pressure on him, and none of that pressure is focused in any way on his personal expression of/experience with his own masculinity.

Dave and Karkat do not have arcs that parallel each other at all. They aren’t narratively fated to be together, they aren’t masterfully foils, or star-crossed lovers or anything. The only ways they truly parallel each other in writing is due to the fact that they’re both Knights, and therefore are both interacting with what’s most important to them in generally the same or similar ways. That’s how Classes work. Revolutionary.

Kanaya isn’t stuffy, or boring, or overly-wordy. She isn’t a “mom friend” either. She’s just an extremely awkward girl who cares a lot about her friends and is very bad at social situations. She also isn’t fashionable or cool. I implore you to look back on her dialogue and on the outfits she wears. She is a mess.

Terezi is not a manic pixie dream girl. I’m in pain. This is still going on…

Jake’s character actually does extend past him being Dirk’s arm candy, actually! Jake isn’t just a “Sexy Lamp”! He’s very, very interesting, and he can exist outside of the concept of shipping- in fact, he canonically really, really wants to exist outside of the concept of being people’s object of romantic affections!

Tavros did not reciprocate Gamzee’s feelings. I’m not knocking on people who ship them, because I genuinely could not fucking care less, but I have seen people say that Tavros reciprocated those feelings, which… No, he didn’t.

Nothing to do with a character, but Moiraillegience is a romantic quadrant. It’s inherently romantic, just in a platonic way. It is not just “best friendship”- it’s more comparable to a Queerplatonic Relationship than anything. It is, in fact, weird to Paleship two siblings.

[nekropsii]

random question: what ship(s?) do you just not get the hype behind? just curious :•}

Getting my gay card revoked for this, but Dirk/Jake. I understand completely why it was a big deal- I wouldn’t call it revolutionary, but it was definitely the first time a lot of people had seen the gay guy “win” a bisexual love triangle, and that meant a lot to some people… But I don’t quite understand its staying power.

I genuinely do not think it is nearly as profound and well written as some people make it out to be. Hussie isn’t good at writing relationships, and Dirk/Jake is a really good example of this flaw. They’re not an exception, they’re Exhibit A. And that’s not me commentating on the fact that they had a troubled relationship- I don’t care that it was, they’re unsocialized 16 year olds with severe emotional issues, it only makes sense. It’s just that… If I recall correctly, we only really figure out they were a thing… When we see them break up?

I don’t know. As much as I’d love to, I just can’t get invested in them. I don’t think they were handled well. It’s all kinda clumsy. I don’t know how people who have it as an All-Time OTP live off of it, lol. No shade intended.

Roxy/John, too. They read entirely as just cute friends the entire time that I was apparently supposed to be reading them as having romantic feelings for each other… Lol. Was so hyped for the adorable little friendship going on that when the whole romance thing was stated it gave me genuine whiplash. It still does. It’s like a jumpscare. There’s nothing inherently wrong with them as a coupling or anything, they just… Do not feel like anything other than really good friends to me.

Also, John has incredibly strong Aromantic + Asexual vibes to me, so that doesn’t help. Lmfao.

[nekropsii]

fanon frustration: characters who barely exist outside of being the object of ship content nowadays. (not as a bash to ship content, just that sometimes characters should be allowed to exist on their own too)

Omg, I literally have a draft saved about this!!!!

Ship content is cool, relationships are an incredibly important aspect of the story, but… As you said, yeah, a good handful of characters now just about only exist within the realms of shipping, and it’s extremely hard to find content of them being allowed to exist as their own character. Especially when it’s devoid of any implication of shipping.

DaveKat/Knightship is the #1 most prominent example of this, currently. DirkJake/Skullcap is second, I feel- But DaveKat’s got the added fuckery of the fact that both characters are typically hugely mischaracterized in this content. It’s like a game of telephone at this point- no one wants to reread Homestuck, nor do they want to even acknowledge it outside of fan content, so their interpretations of these characters is slowly getting warped to the unrecognizable.

It’s sad and aggravating. The deeper you get into fandom, the less of a grip you have on canon.

[nekropsii]

Reminiscing on some old fandom stuff. No clue if this is still an active problem, and I don’t necessarily care, because I want to talk about it regardless.

It was always strange watching some people call DirkJake/SkullCap/whatever you want to call it severely abusive, or saying that either party in the relationship was the worst.

The finger-pointing and name-calling really just missed the point of how and why their dynamic was like that. Neither Dirk nor Jake are abusive, toxic, conniving demons who fully recognize “what they’re doing” is hurting the other- they are mentally ill/disabled 16-year-old boys who have been severely isolated from human contact their entire lives.

One has to recognize that on top of their age and level of isolation, Dirk is incredibly, incredibly mentally ill and Jake has untreated brain damage that just keeps compounding ACTIVELY in the story. We see Jake get pretty bad head injuries regularly! It’s a genuine issue!

The reason their relationship fell apart was not because they’re ultimately purposefully toxic figures, either on their own or to each other, it’s because they lacked the ability to communicate properly. They fell apart because of a breakdown in communication, not because they actively hated each other. It’s not that they REFUSED to communicate properly, they LACKED the ability to do so.

Dirk’s complete isolation from human contact his entire life, coupled with his mental illness, meant that he struggled with communication. Jake’s isolation from human contact, coupled with his legitimate brain damage, meant that he struggled with communication. Neither of them are totally, completely at fault for this, because they are literally just flawed 16 year olds with no romantic experience, and honestly, all things considered? They could be a LOT worse. They COULD have been actively abusive to each other- taking into consideration their living situations and how it could have affected them- And it would have even made sense if they were- but they weren’t. Maybe their version of “trying their best” isn’t relatable to everyone. Maybe the thought of what Dirk and Jake’s version of “trying their best” is makes one cringe at the thought of it applying to them. But here’s the thing- it’s not exactly supposed to be completely relatable, nor is it intended as being the pinnacle of relationships. Dirk and Jake’s relationship isn’t a how-to guide, it’s just a display of how their relationship functioned.

Jake’s perceived “Hopelessness” is derived from his impaired cognitive functions and his inability to communicate properly. That’s more than likely caused by his brain damage. Dirk’s self-perceived “Heartlessness” is derived from his own seeming inability to properly communicate with people, as well as his supposed potential for “evil.” That’s most definitely caused by his mental illness. Are these attributes- Jake’s “Hopelessness” and Dirk’s “Heartlessness”- also connected to their classpects, Page of Hope and Prince of Heart respectively? Abso-fucking-lutely. But we aren’t here to talk about that today.

Holding Dirk and Jake up to the exact same standard one would two perfectly functioning, experienced adults is weird and disingenuous, and completely brushes aside that these are two inexperienced, unaware children who are struggling to make things work on a fundamental level.

It’s ok to struggle and fail in a relationship. It’s a regular occurrence that’s happened to a lot of people, for one reason or the other. Not everything works out, especially on the first try, and that’s ok. Dirk and Jake’s relationship was the result of one of the most common reasons a relationship fails. Neither of them are horrible people for it, just flawed. And that’s ok. They just need to grow, is all.

[nekropsii]

It’s.... Very interesting how I almost only ever see certain characters in the context of ship art.

This is no hate against ship art- I do enjoy a good romance, there’s a good deal of it on my blog already, and I make a lot of it myself- but I rarely see Dave and Karkat being allowed to exist outside of being package deal, implied or otherwise.

Jake, too. Specifically the Jake part of the DirkJake equation. And... I kind of just want to acknowledge for a moment how ironic that is? A whole thing with him in Homestuck is how he wanted a break from being romanced and sexualized constantly. Jake specifically wants to be seen as his own person. He wants to be able to vibe independently. And he’s rarely recognized in fandom outside of shipping. It’s almost a little sad.