#the vantases

[artblohggg]

have some dope ass vantas art.... this could be a cover to something

[4getful4444]

i think they might be related idk

[rhythmic-idealist]

[Images: photos of a sketchbook, featuring five (well, six, but two are grouped together) scribbled drawings in black pen. Individual image descriptions in captions. End image description.]

Pen doodles from last night!

The Kankri and Signless doodle is a request for @make-them-laugh​. Please forgive the pupils in the eyes, and thanks for the request! I would also like to point out that this is the first time I’ve actually drawn the Psiioniic anywhere close to my headcanon, and I feel accomplished.

[mrsegbert]

F U C K A S S

[artblohggg]

made these for an animation thingy, ill share em here too though

[artblohggg]

kankri and karkat! 🦀

enjoy this vantas post for todays art :D

(ignore how kankris TQ isnt being used, i didnt think about it at the time T_T)

[rhythmic-idealist]

[lemme just pop my disclaimer up here k thx]

Oh man oh man okay so I typed up this long silly thing wrt the Kankri post from a few days ago buuuut it’s only marginally interesting and I may or may not post it

But on the OTHER hand

@psock​ and @theenglishmanwithallthebananas wrote some fantastic replies - both to posts involving humanstuck AUs making the Signless and/or Kankri “homophobic because religion,” a fandom trope I’m not a fan of in part because it’s OOC and in part because it would be nice if we stopped writing “everyone who’s religious is going to be blindly intolerant” - and I haven’t stopped thinking about them:

@psock​ wrote (on this post): this reminds me, it's e x a c t l y the same with the signless too. "homophobic fire and brimstone preacher signless, only there to make young gay karkat suffer" is the bane of my existence. he canonically lived under a constant threat of death for something he couldn't control, where would he get off condemning someone for something they can't control in any universe, regardless of what his belief system is??

@theenglishmanwithallthebananas​ wrote (shortened from this post, though I definitely recommend reading their full comment): i think the problem is that kankri is such an asshat but like. guys. kankri a) comes from a world where he hasn’t really experienced a lot of REAL problems that affect him personally, and b) is NINETEEN. [...] Signless, on the other hand, grew up not only knowing what real actual suffering looked like, but also depending completely on the kindness of strangers to stay alive. [...]

And anyway, these both raise the same really cool idea: Homestuck has some really, really cool philosophical questions kinda buried in it about how much of who you are is born into you, and how much is environmental.

This is something I think about a lot - because clearly, Kankri and the Signless are not the same person. A more prominent example, especially in the fandom, would be Dirk and Bro. The comic doesn't really ask questions about this directly, but I think it's pretty clear that Hussie's playing with that - how did Beforus and SGRUB make the Signless into this (and I say this with love) absolute disaster, how did growing up on Alternia make Kankri well-adjusted and loved, what is Karkat supposed to take away from the idea that Kankri is some version of his ancestor?

That's off topic, but just a smidge, I swear. The point is that we see very clearly how different universes - canon AUs, if you will - create these totally different characters. But humanstuck generally serves a different purpose from the Scratch, in that despite the change in environment, we usually want to see the same characters. People even write Kankri and the Signless into the same universe, often both with very similar upbringings. So clearly, something distinctively Signless and something distinctively Kankri must carry over - and if we follow Homestuck’s suggestion that they’re intrinsically the same person in different environments, that’s tricky to accomplish.

So hang on - if the environment is different, why can't we make the Signless a total douchecanoe, why should he understand what it's like to be persecuted?

In my opinion, it's because at the end of the day most humanstuck isn't and isn't intended as an exercise in making characters as different as possible. It's not making the same point as the Scratch, and unless you're pointedly setting out to show how an environment can make the Signless a hateful and discriminatory person, I think you should maybe reconsider. (I mean, his humanstuck backstory isn't constructing you when you’re writing it.)

Your Signless didn't grow up poor? He was never persecuted? He's never had any reason to take to the streets in protest, he's not surrounded by people who are being taken advantage of and hurt and killed, he's never seen institutions harm people and never learned to question them? Then yeah, I guess depending on what you headcanon as the intrinsic core of his character once the environment's stripped away, you can probably justify writing him as a homophobic fire and brimstone preacher.

But here's the thing: you've been handed the canon equivalent of a troll-queer ("transcending the quadrants," transfer that to humanstuck or don't as you will) man of color, born without any rights because his existence violates mainstream religious and political beliefs, represented as one of the most powerful and good historical figures of his time. Honestly, what is even the point of throwing that away?

[rhythmic-idealist]

I suddenly just really, really needed some Vantas brothers being a good family to each other.

In order:

Karkat tries to run away from home once (they agree Dad has too much on his mind to mention it)

Kankri burns out halfway through senior year and it’s awful for everyone (this is only partial scholarship material Karkat how am I supposed to pay for Stanford)

And speaking of Dad. Reckless self-endangerment and breaking unjust laws took a backseat once he had kids, but there are exceptions on occasion. Kankri takes care of things until he comes home, and should know better than to be disappointed. (I drew Signless on the other side of the glass in the finished drawing, but I don’t like how he came out so you’ll just have to use your imagination.)

The next picture was gonna be the two of them watching Love, Actually on the couch together and eating dollar store ramen because Kankri can’t cook but I got tired. Later tonight, maybe.