#ARG My Fantasy Children

[allmyfantasychildren]

New Episode: AUDIO DRAMA: A Letter From Nymphaea Lacus to Lumina Dawnspear

A message from the past, and the start of a new adventure... kool ot erehw wonk uoy fi.

cw: Memory Loss, Memory Erasure

[starrypeeps-headcanons]

Umm hi. Is it normal that I've found inspiration from analog horror ARGs and Emesis blue as a way to create some plot points and headcanons for my AU?

[game-stationed]

CW // Talk of nonspecific and fantasy child abuse/parentification

So I know some people were a bit shaken-up by the reveal that Mommy Long Legs - and many of the other toys - were made from and continue to be children (suggested in Chapter 3 ARG then explicitly confirmed in the official PPT Discord), but I actually feel like there's some interesting commentary to be made here.

I believe that this is intended to be commentary on parentification as a form of abuse, as a lot of Poppy Playtime's themes center on harm done to children. These children are taken and - quite literally, through human experimentation - forced into playing parental roles towards the other kids, halting their own ability to just be a kid themselves. This fits the bill for parentification, which, to my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong!), is especially common in some orphanages, where many older kids are made to step up and play parent for the younger ones.

As the toys also don't age after becoming toys, it feels like that could be commentary on how abuse such as parentification prevents kids from maturing in "normal" and expected ways. "Normal" is relative, of course, but abuse certainly does often throw a wrench in natural development.

I find the way kids being turned into toys works is pretty interesting in Poppy Playtime from a narrative and thematic perspective. It's definitely jarring to learn many, if not all, of these big toys, some of which play parental roles such as Mommy Long Legs, are essentially children, but it feels like a unique and interesting take on the subject of child abuse that also doesn't feel inappropriate or lacking in tact in my opinion.

[starleska]

hi! im a really big fan of your fanfics (especially the wally ones) and i’m really curious to know what are songs that you associate with him?? please don’t be afraid to share!!! i really like talking and gushing over wally darling with a fellow wally simp lol

hey there anon!! 💖 aww my goodness you are so lovely, thank you!! it brings my heart so much joy that you like my writing...i can't believe the surge of wonderful feedback fired my way over this past week 🙈🙈 what a fun question!! there's a few songs i associate with Wally right now, and i'm sure more will pop up as we learn more about him;;; some are less overt, and more to do with Wally x Reader vibes - or, my terrible musical taste/hallucinating scenarios while listening to the same twenty songs 😂 fun simp challenge!! have a listen to a few of these with your eyes shut, thinking about Wally. you're guaranteed to have a good time 😉

Songs I Associate with Wally Darling:

Touch-Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon. no one could've seen this one coming 😂 no, as soon as i discovered Welcome Home i knew i'd finally found the right character to edit this song with. the conspiracy theory, cryptic vibes, slight desperation and of course retro-phone theming all work so well for Wally! 🥰

Out of My Mind by CG5. total coincidence that this banger dropped just as i learned about Welcome Home, and there's something cathartic and hypnotic about that repetitive chorus that fits with a lot of theories about Wally's struggles with Home...i had this one on repeat while writing The Nightmare Picnic 👀

An Unhealthy Obsession by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra. this one's for all the yandere!Wally fans out there - i think every person who's a fan of terrifying, obsessive characters loves this song 😉 this is the one had on repeat while writing those yandere!Wally headcanons - i actually included it to listen to whilst reading in the original post, but i ran out of space!! 🙈

INSANE by Black Gryphon & Baasik. i know, strike me down for including a song made specifically for another Tumblr Sexyman on this list!!! but come on - the static, the showmanship, the overt friendliness masking a smiling, curious sadism...don't pretend like you don't enjoy this take on Wally, i've seen the fanart 😂

LA Devotee by Panic! at the Disco. this one's jam-packed with fun occult imagery and all about fame and obsession, so it feels perfect for our children's puppet show ARG!! something about it just hits right with how the fandom perceives the darker side of Wally 😳 i'm listening to this a lot at the moment as i've got a Metalocalypse MEP part to this song in the works, but my thoughts can't help wandering to Mr. Darling;;

Super Psycho Love by Simon Curtis. lord help me, you can tell i was in the AMV-making community in the late 2000s/early 2010s 😂 this song's a staple for attentive, manipulative, obsessive characters...even if we end up being totally wrong, and Wally is a Darling in more than name, we'll always have fun with our unhealthily possessive fantasies 🥰

Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. hey, i'm a basic bitch - i love listening to sugary-sweet, fluffworthy AMV music whilst writing my x Readers 🙈💖 a lot of the folks who request Wally often bear a little bit of their souls when asking - revealing insecurities about themselves, and wanting to be reassured he'd love them anyway. this is such a pretty, nostalgic song, and i think it captures the softness with which many of us would like to be treated by him ✨

Crush by Mandy Moore. similar to the last entry, yet leaning even more into that bubblegum romance vibe...i'm simply weak for blushy crush scenarios 🥴💖 i like this one a lot for x Readers, especially an embarrassed Reader absolutely overcome with how precious they find Wally 💖

Stray Italian Greyhound by Vienna Teng. one of my favourite songs of all time, and the perfect choice if you want your heart to ache 💔 i think this is a wonderful choice when thinking about a hurt Reader...someone who has fully given up on love, only to be confronted with Wally's relentless sunshine personality and falling head over heels 🥺 this song speaks to why i think many of us are infatuated with Wally...his charm coming from that childlike outlook, his tendency to love everything and everyone. lots of us could benefit from that kind of unconditional love, i think;;

[cr1ms0n4nd-ac3]

💜 🩵💙

[ Left GIF by @lavendergalactic and Right GIF by @rrozeta ]

Welcome Welcome! We have all been waiting!!

This is a multifandom blog where you shall see counts of the creator's art, posts, writing and even ramble! But the creator is also a rpEr, if you want to rp! Then don't be afraid, she had no hesitation to rp with you! (⁠��⁠▽⁠☆⁠)

But speaking of RP, here is her fandom(and oc) rp blogs!!

A New Baldi AU, it's in progress btw! - @ticktockpercy

Two Omori OC blogs, Charity and Charlotte! Two sisters!! - @xxm1sspurp1eriv3rs & @whata-pinkmemory

Sleep Token OC blog, Ace/666! - @ask-ace-dimensionhopper

Two Poppy Playtime Blogs, it's also in progress! - @alocalplaytimecoworker & @averybright-dogday

Next up, sideblogs! Mostly are active or inactive. ( WIP! )

An OMORI Kel-centric AU, it's in hiatus unfortunately but it'll be back! - @yorokobi-omori-au

My first and ever inspired Object Show but ARG & Digital Horror series, named "Objectivism Reality", check it out !!! -

@objectivismreality-archives

[ waiting for more... ]

The Multifandoms!!! (⁠´⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠`⁠)

1 - Horror RPG! ( Omori, IB, The Witch's House, Little Goody Two Shoes, Mario the Music Box, Deadplate and more! )

2 - Fantasy! (BG3, Final Fantasy 7, Kingdom Hearts Trilogy and more!)

3 - Analog Horror (Mostly TMC, TWF, Andy's Apple Farm, The Mythos Monument, Petscop and more!!)

4 - Vocaloid and Project Sekai!

5 - Musicals! (Hamilton, Epic, Ride the Cyclone, Heathers, The Falsettos and more! )

6 - Horror! ( Resident Evil Trilogy, Bendy, Poppy Playtime, Mr Hopps Playhouse Trilogy, The Last of Us, Hannibal, Creepypasta, Wii Deleted You, Baldi and more! )

7 - Animations and Cartoons! (TAWOG, MLP, TADC, Gravity Falls, Object Shows, Tom and Jerry and more ! )

8 - Anime! ( K Project, Nisekoi, Ramma 1/2, Ouran Host High School Club, Castlevania Nocturne and more! )

9 - Games! ( Madness Combat, FNF, Pico Series, Muse Dash, Kirby Series, Ace Attorney, Criminal Case, Sky: Children of the Light, Cookie Run Trilogy and more!! )

Musics:

Sleep Token

Bad Omens

Twenty One Pilots

Pierce the Veil

Nirvana

Odetari

Skillet

Fall Out Boy

MARINA

5 Seconds of Summer

And the list went on... ye.

! Creator's social medias !

YT account - here

Insta account - here

Tiktok account - here

And discord acc!!

And finally, here is some things you want to know about the creator!!

1. Kirby lover

2. Kanamafu and EnaNene lover

3. Sleep Token supermacy!!!

4. Kinnie of Shadow the Hedgehog, Kanade Yoisaki, Mari, Ena Shinomone, Sayori, Tsukasa Temma and Kuromi!

That should be all for now on, expect the pinned blog to kinda change a bit... Have a good day and night!!! ^^

Bonus:

( all are not mine btw!!! )

[starfayy]

Hello! My name is StarFay! Nice to meet you all!

Im a christian woman from Brazil! A programmer on the making & aspiring artist, writer and musician!

I might be neurodivergent, heavy suspicions on ADHD and MADD's....and anxiety......and depression oh dear Lord

I can speak 2 languages fluently (Portuguese ans English), and these other 2 i understand partially (Spanish and French)

I might vent a lot so uh....be warned

Expect seeing me yapping about my original stories smh

My other interests are:

GOD! JESUS CHRIST!! BIBLE!!!

Christian Fantasy (LOTR, Narnia, etc)

Fairytales! They fascinate me

MY GUITAR! Shakes it

Music! Huge rock n roll fan–

The Chosen (this series is amazing omg)

TTRPG, DND, Critical Role

Sky Children of Light, Cookie Run Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda, Sonic, Pokemon...etc

Indie Games & Gamedev

Programming (kind of)

Mascot Horror & ARG's/Analog

One Piece & Ghibli

Archeology/History

Mine and my co-writer's fantasy stories.... 👉👈

BOUNDARIES? BOUNDARIES I GUESS:

MCYT dni

Basic DNI

Im gonna talk a lot about my faith here, you believe me if you want, but please be respectful. I'd never condemn you, for that's not my place, but God's. I'll always look forward to constructive and respectful conversations /gen /lh

DNI antisemitism. Am Yisrael Chai.

[hmerus]

RECCOMENDATIONS...

MOVIES ; into the spiderverse, across the spiderverse, i believe in unicorns.

SHOWS ; yellowjackets.

GAMES ; fear and hunger, honkai impact 3rd, fear and hunger 2: termina, honkai: star rail, obey me! shall we date?, obey me! nightbringer, cats & soup, don't starve, cookie run: kingdom, guitar girl, tower of fantasy, little nightmares (2), very little nightmares, my child lebensborn, stardew valley, project sekai, fire emblem heroes, minecraft, fnaf (literally all of the games, including help wanted), sky: children of the light, tears of themis, pocket love, dangerous fellows, mystic messenger, identity v, adorable home, a girl adrift, the arcana.

ANALOG HORROR ; vita carnis, gemini home entertainment, the smile tapes, the walten files, monumental mythos, the mandela catalogue, trash bag/statue.

ARGS ; marble hornets, everymanhybrid, ben drowned, catastrophe crow, hiimmarymary, petscop, alan tutorials, catghost, this house has people in it, thesunvanished, local 58, daisy brown, gmod9fan.

MANHWA ; the villainess reverses the hourglass, my husband hides his beauty, how to get my husband on my side, the villainess has fun again, revolutionary princess eve/the princess imprints a traitor, the s classes that i raised, trash of the count's family, the greatest estate developer, leveling up by only eating.

[butterflies-and-bumble-bees]

6 and 9 for the book ask game

6. What book would you change the end of?

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz - there is a twist ending that (I at least felt) was completely out of the blue and only there for shock value. it drove me crazy (also they killed one of my favourite characters)

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9. Have you attempted to write a book or something? What?

I have like 5 writing WIPs atm

Ones that I actually have done some amount of work on:

The dystopian story I posted an excerpt from back in December, for the inklings challenge. ~ My word doc for the story, including the excerpt from the inklings challenge, currently has 2933 words. ~ I also have two more documents: one with a detailed outline, and another with character/world-building notes.

A short story I wrote a first draft for, about a little girl who gets lost while on a hike with her family and receives help from an unlikely source. ~ As I never finished typing up my handwritten draft I have no idea how many words

My dimension/time travel story. It kinda dips into a bunch of different genres including several flavors of scifi, fantasy, mystery, and more I can't think of rn. ~ I have written out multiple outlines/timelines for this story, (and made several Pinterest boards) to try and help me wrap my head around what happens/wrestle it into a narrative that makes sense to people who are not me.

A unfinished short story about Ni Ban, the Irish mermaid princess who became a saint. I hope to write a collection of short saint stories for children in the vein of Once Upon A Time Saints by Ethel Pochaki. But this is the only one I've begun work on for it so far. ~ My working draft currently has about 500 words

The Cow, an as of now completed short story I wrote about the traveling theatre troupe from the Comedia Del Arte plays my theatre group did. It's kind of a slice of life story about one of the many misadventures this group of wanna-be dnd bards encounters. ~ It's just about 1000 words. ~ I might post it if anyone's interested.

Ones I have living min my brain rent free

The (short?) story I came up with the basics of a few days ago. It's set in the western frontier. (Or a steampunk version of it {I'm not sure if I wanna go the historically accurate/or historical fantasy route just yet})

Another concept I just came up with that's essentially my version of the Twitter ARG gr3gory88, cause I watched the episode of creepcast about it and they came up with a bunch of different variations of the story that I wanted to explore. ~ I have at least 2 or 3 versions/ways the story could go rn. Part of this is cause I can see a few different approaches being taken by different protagonists. It also depends on how close one wishes to follow the gr3gory88 story. (I basically have a punnet square with protags on one side and different plots on the other).

[loominggaia]

Arg my weakness, trans men in fantasy settings! I can feel my brain latching onto Prince Jaq already haha. Does he think of himself as fully male? Or are things more complicated (perhaps by childhood memories)? Would he and Jeimos get along? Aaahhh there’s so much rambling I want to do that won’t fit in an ask! XD I hope we get to find out more when you have time. :)

By all means, ramble away! These are the type of questions that really help me develop these characters! You guys breathe so much life into them with questions like these because they force me to think about things I may not have considered otherwise.

I imagine Jaq probably has complex feelings about his body and identity. He has had a male body since childhood, but it was not something he chose for himself, it was something his father forced on him to keep him safe.

Jaq understands he's safer in this male body and he appreciates the extra freedom it gives him, but I'm sure he also feels some level of discomfort with it because it doesn't match the way he feels inside. If he had the freedom of choice, he'd probably choose to be female again. He is male-attracted, which complicates his love life, and he has always wished to birth his own children which is not an option anymore.

So long as his kingdom is infested by terrorists, skorpius, criminals, and other shady characters, existing as a male is definitely the better choice. Maybe one day Disgrace will get pushed out and conditions will improve for women, and if Roz is still alive, perhaps he'll transform Jaq back into a female. It's hard to say what will happen in the future. Roz already lost 2 children and he's just trying to protect his last remaining one, even if it causes that child discomfort.

Since he prefers the company of animals over people, I imagine Jaq is a shy individual with a deep connection to nature. He didn't fit in with his peers even as a girl, but he clearly loves his family a lot, considering the lengths he'll go to save his shithead brother. He strikes me as a reserved person who doesn't give his trust freely, but if you do manage to earn his friendship, he's the most loyal friend you could ask for. This is a guy who will never flake on you, he's a true ride or die mf.

Jaq and Jeimos would have a lot to talk about. I can imagine some fascinating conversations between them, and yeah, I think they would probably be friends. Although Jeimos is grounded in hard logic to a fault, and I think Jaq is more of an artsy abstract thinker, so they may have moments of misunderstanding between them. But ultimately, Jaq would respect Jeimos' intellect, and Jeimos would respect Jaq's integrity. They're both misfits in their own ways.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

[bones-sprouts]

Human Error series by teeth_eater - Alright, first up we have the Human Error series! This series uses the "humans are space orcs trope" in that Tommy is a human stowaway on an alien ship run by SBI. Hijinks and angst ensue. 

Questions for Ada series by SilverWing15 - Aka that one fic series in which Tommy is a werewolf who so happens to go through the foster system. He's placed into the SBI household and tries to keep his werewolf stuff a secret.

when the wolf comes home by ThatWeirdGuyInTheBushes - Clingy Duo oneshot of after the New L'Manberg explosion.

Dollhouse by Lacy_Star - Holy frick Cam can I not recommend this one enough. It's fic in which the premise is that Dream locks everyone inside Pandora's Vault so they can all be one big happy family again. It's absolutely chilling and lowkey horrifying in which some of the characters behave towards their new predicament. 10/10, leaves a pit of dread in your chest afterwards.

that's it, it's split (it won't recover) by Jk_Kat - Tommy is revived and gets addicted to being dead after seeing all the new changes to the server. Angsty but with a happy ending, I love it.

keep you warm and safe by always_an_anxious_mess - Bench Trio fluff + WingInnit = Very fluffy preening scene. 

dissonance by shrugofgod - Tubbo centric fic that can kinda act as a character study. Deals with him processing his trauma.

Adagio by eneli - Another one I absolutely adore. I enjoy most works by eneli in general, they're an amazing writer. But anyways, this fic is a modern setting AU with coming of age Tommy and his new friend Tubbo. Focuses a lot on Tommy's relationship with SBI and Tubbo. I must warn you however, if you choose to read the rest of eneli's fics you'll notice a certain trend with them (not bad, just ohohohoho).

As for another work by this author I recommend TommyInnit's unbeatable method of avoiding sudden death. Vigilante Tommy crack fic. So much crack. So much humor. Made me cackle several times while reading.

Saturday's at the Diner by justsummr - SBI foster family focused fic (surprise surprise, you can tell what fics I highly enjoy). Wilbur, Techno and Phil own a family diner in which Tommy starts visiting pretty often. Very heartwarming fic, I adore it.

where did my courage go (I think I left it under the rubble) by violet_sunflowers - Ah the vigilante fics I read. This is one of them and focuses on Vigilante Bench Trio + Superhero SBI (Phil, Wilbur and Techno). 

Saturday series by ScumbagSimon - Another vigilante fic series. The first book focuses on Vigilante Tommy and Bench Trio, in which Tommy gets into encounters with Villain Dream Team and Superhero SBI. The second book is more Ranboo centric with Villain BBH + Crimson.

Bee & Boo & Michael (and sometimes Tommy) series by Doodlebloo - Ah the series which I go to ignore canon. Heavily Bee Duo centric with lots of fluff and a bit of angst. 

Casualty and Consequence by skyestar7703 - The SMP is a hellhole Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo and Purpled are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Literally.

On another note, definitely check out the Living in the Circular series by the same author. This one has certain DSMP characters going through multiple "loops" and basically serves as a fic in which they go into several pieces of media and AUs possible.

east of eden series by subwaywalls - Holy shit Cam. This is another one I can't recommend enough, the description is beautiful and this series left me with a bittersweet numb ache after reading it. One of those fics that made me cry. It's an SBI foster family fic in which Phil is the equivalent to a biblically accurate angel, and Wilbur, Techno, Tommy and Tubbo are different magical beings. 10/10, I love to reread it.

ad astra per aspera series by cacowhistle - From difficulty to the stars. It's a canon divergent fic set near exile time in which Bedrock Bros heal together and more characters join in on healing. I very much adore this series.

I was a kid in the village, doing alright, then I became a prince overnight by sircantus - Phil's a king, Techno and Wilbur are princes and Tommy's an orphan who gets adopted into the royal family. Hijinks galore.

Another fic by the same author I like is Change fate by being aggressively kind. Phil's an avian in a world where avians are rare, Techno, Wilbur and Tommy are the Minecraft equivalents of the Antichrist. Cue Phil having another way to stop the apocalypse without murdering the children.

Honeycomb by khaoticwoes - Tangled AU in which Tubbo is Rapunzel, Tommy is Flynn and Dream is Gothel. Tommy's just accidentally caused crime towards King Phil, and we also have Sapnap and George as criminal brothers to Tommy.

Stream Labs LIVE by A_Non_ymousWriter - AU in which there's an ARG surrounding genius teen scientist Tubbo that is very highly produced. Turns out this ARG isn't an ARG an everything is happening in a fantasy world parallel to the modern one. I recommend other works from this author as well.

We'll (Ender)walk this long road together by Ravivkit - Bee Duo centric fic in which Enderwalk Ranboo cares about Tubbo very much, but Ranboo is unaware and afraid of it. Cue lots of fluff but also some angst.

Those are my fic recs for now! I hope you enjoy them!

[neonnoir-ao3]

Some Words of Comfort.

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of people (especially those who have read spoilers/are actively searching for leaked content) lament about their future reactions to the deaths of our beloved characters in-game.

We all knew this was inevitable, and that them living was not an option for the plot of the game, but the time has finally come to face it head-on.

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I understand that someone outside this community might be like “it’s just a game”, but I know it’s way more than that to many: the concept of a female villain that, to many, can be seen as sympathizable and even endearing, is a bit of a new concept— especially on such a large scale as this instance.

In addition, Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters have become a bit of a comfort item for some (with an emphasis on sapphics/wlw, from what I’ve seen personally) in the form of a large, protective, and caring hypothetical partner, or even just a maternal character one can appreciate simply because of her love for her children. Regardless, most of us are here due to some desire for comfort.

Take my own story with this community, for example:

(tws for death, covid, suicide, and general medical emergencies)

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Frankly, 2020 and the beginning of 2021 have ruined me. I lost two men who were the only two positive father figures I’ve ever had. The last of the two tested positive for covid and deteriorated within days, to the point where less than a week after testing positive, my family was making the choice to pull the plug. This all occurred days before Christmas and my birthday. On the first day of the spring semester, having not had the time to properly mourn my grandfather, my mother is in the ER for multiple days with an internal infection that doctors said likely would have turned septic if she had waited to come in any longer. This led to three surgeries throughout the next few months. (Oh, and one of my relatives quite literally dropped dead on that first day of class, too). I am also estranged from one of my parents, and they have been trying to contact my family: they have multiple untreated mental illnesses (severe NPD, bipolar, and more) and they are extremely aggressive in that state of mind and they are agitated extremely easily. That only brings more stress, along with resurfacing trauma and related emotions. Every moment of every day has been a struggle. So much so that I failed half of my classes voluntarily simply because I couldn't do them anymore.

To be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t expect to be here right now. I expected that the pain of simply moving forward would have finally overridden my fears of death and that I would have already ended my suffering by now.

Then, in late January, I saw something trending on Twitter. About a new female villain in an upcoming horror game. And it went from there.

As cheesy as it sounds, this fandom and its content seriously saved my life. In the darkest of days, I’ve come to this tag for comfort. The oddest way I found said comfort was through those who were attracted to Alcina aesthetically. I have extremely long-term trauma related to being bullied and being the victim of a hybrid catfishing/'Oreo Game' on early social media by peers in middle school to the point where I do not think of myself as being able to be loved, let alone being worthy of it. Finding this community not only provided a great form of escapism (and opened a door into a fantasy world where I could imagine my own person vampire milf gf), but also gained a little bit of self-esteem (as many of you know, I share a lot of visual qualities with Alcina. -yes, I'm still kinda freaked out about it-) via seeing people where features/attributes like mine were actively praised and desired rather than insulted and pushed away like they have been until now.

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(okay sorry that kinda turned into a trauma dump but I needed to emphasize the fact that this community has seriously helped me during a really dark point in my life, and I know I can't be the only one with that sort of experience)

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What I’m trying to get across here is that, like many others, this community and its content have been comforting and therapeutic, and it really is more than just a game to us. It’s entertaining and even a form of escapism in these extremely trying times. We all have some degree of PTSD from surviving a literal mass plague— and this is something we're using as a method of coping. a distraction. a coping mechanism.

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With that being said, here are some ways to hopefully assist in lessening the emotional stress:

(please note that I am not a mental health professional and these may not be healthy coping mechanisms for everyone.)

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Understand that it’s just a game.

I know, this sounds completely counterintuitive, but it’s more or less about keeping your level of immersion down. Personally, I can’t do scary shit in general: I have to listen to music on low volume while watching dark ARG vids at night or when I’m alone because I get too into it, and then my paranoia kicks in. Sometimes just pausing for a moment and grounding yourself/reminding yourself that this is a video game: a jumble of code and 3D rendering that doesn’t have to affect your views/headcanons if you don’t want it to. Did your favorite character just get slaughtered? Nope, that 3D rendering of them just got un-alived, that’s all.

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Ignorance is Bliss/We are the Captain Now

Simple: Capcom can’t even pronounce Dimitrescu right, or even acknowledge the way it’s correctly said in Romanian culture itself. How can you trust them to give you a perfect canon? That’s the thing: with that logic, you can’t. What they say is true means little (if anything, for that matter) to your headcanons and preexisting ideas of the Dimitrescus. In short: fuck ‘em.

I’m currently seeking a double major in pop culture, and one of the cool things I’ve learned so far is affirmational vs transformational fandom. Affirmational is where official canon is seen as the law of the land, and followed to a T. Transformational is seen as much more inviting for audiences, allowing them to bend canon as they wish to fit their own creations. This fandom is obviously transformational, so take that game canon, rip it up, and get back to whatever you were doing.

Capcom’s canon is not the end-all, be-all. Far from it, actually.

Want to still acknowledge canon? Godmod your way out of it.

Character A died? It’d be a shame if they emerged from the rubble they 'died in' a few hours later, very beaten but alive nonetheless... how awful would it be if they sulked away, nursed their wounds, and continued to live... (/s)

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Ignore it completely.

Remember: give it time. Once the game drops, there w be a wave of grief, but eventually, we as a community will recover, and get back to business as usual. Think about it like the in any way. Stay with the version in your head that makes you happy.

Get Creative!

If you're into creating fanart, writing fics, or even just posting a list of headcanons, take some advice from the late Carrie Fisher: "Take your broken heart, and make it into art". Make the fluff oneshot of your dreams! Draw the fanart you've been wanting to! dump lighthearted headcanons into the tags! Not only will it cheer you up, but sharing it with the community will spread the love!

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I know a lot of people are struggling with this emotionally (especially with the pandemic making entertainment like this even more important sources of escapism and coping mechanisms) and I hope that, at the very least, I was able to help comfort one person who reads this.

Remember: give it time. Once the game drops, there will be a wave of grief, but eventually, we as a community will recover, and get back to business as usual. Think about it like the flowers that bloom after major wildfires: after a period of loss, some beautiful can still come of it.

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💙

[allmyfantasychildren]

NEW EPISODE: Mirrored Ember: The City on the Moon (Feat. Juliet, Jacqueline, and Audrey)

In which one story ends, and a whole new chapter begins. It's time... to go to the moon.

The conclusion to ARG My Fantasy Children, a special Actual Play of Lamplighter's Festival by Ira Prince (with special guests Juliet (Folly on Cohost) from I'll Be Pod for Castmas, Jacqueline (@swampert) from Dead Teen House Party, and Audrey (@ladytabletop) from Alone at the Table, and a big announcement about the future of All My Fantasy Children.

We'll talk more about that announcement later today.

[trisofthewild]

Tris! I don't really have anything to ask about your fic, but I love your writing style. It has a real gravitas, in your Teba/Saki/Harth fic I just really love the stuff that remains unsaid and your whole...words! There's something very high fantasy about it? But maybe that's not quite right? Anyway, I love it, and this is me getting up in your ask box and saying: talk about how your style happened!

<3

Hi Sun! Thank you very much. <3 This is an interesting question, and I'm afraid my boring answer is "I don't know, but I suspect it has a lot to do with reading and music." I was a voracious reader as a kid, and imprinted hard on the wry, clever omniscient third person narration you often see in children's classics (think Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl). As a pretentious teen, I was once told by another pretentious teen that I "write with a British accent." This accent was blunted quite a bit when I got to fandom and became acquainted with the more "transparent" sort of prose that is endemic to fic, but you can see it more in my earliest fic. In fact, to liven this up a little I'm going to pull a few mile markers in my fic-writing career.

Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question is the first fic I wrote over a thousand words, in 2004. The title is an e.e. cummings quote and the epigram--there is an epigram of three different quotes--includes another cummings quote. I am 20 years old and I've read poetry for fun! Then the prose is like this:

"Good."  Lily nodded with slightly flared nostrils.  "Good, good, that's what I want.  Our mutual abhorrence of — ARG WOULD YOU PLEASE LEAVE."  She dug her fingernails into the sheets, forming bunches of savagely clawed linen in ripples 'round her knuckles, which were so white that they actually matched the plain Egyptian cotton.  James, clearly set on paying his wife's request no heed whatsoever, settled anxiously in the chair at the bedside, only to be smacked roundly over the head by the (rather hypocritical, James felt) mediwitch, who'd snuck up on him from behind brandishing a rolled-up copy of yesterday's Daily Prophet.

You can see hints of that omniscient third. You can also see, perhaps, that since my children's fantasy days I've gotten into post-war existentialism. I am 20 and my favorite books are Catch-22 and Cat's Cradle! Thus, structural fuckery: the fic is split into two alternating timelines and Harry's is in present tense and the omniscient narrator is feeling philosophical. RUN-ON SENTENCES OF EMOTION!

Each breath contains the sting of carbon dioxide, each sky holds a falling star, and every day is a disappointment.  Harry steels himself and starts again, because tomorrow, perhaps, will be better, though likely it will be worse, and next week, he might be a hero, or a coward, or a champion or a lover and he will never know until he gets there — if he gets there — so he shies away from the future and he hopes for the end and the beginning all at once, a child indignant and shrieking its first breath, a stowaway being lifted into the light.

Cut to a few years later and my prose has calmed down by at least 80%. Take A Story About the Time Pam and Karen Got Their Nails Done and Maybe Had a Little Sex (2007). No poetry; the title is literally just what it says on the tin.

The next day Roy enters the office to supposedly get some soda and really to check Pam out, by which she's obviously embarrassed and Jim is just as obviously anguished. Karen sort of feels like walking out of the office and trying to see if she can work out the details of her transfer via cell phone with Jan on the train home, but that would be pretty lame so instead she goes over to Pam's desk, smiles at Roy as he leaves the room, and asks her what place in Scranton gives good manicure.

The POV is no longer omniscient, but a tight third inside Karen's head. The narrative voice echoes the character's voice, and the tone matches the dreariness of the setting and genre.

But I like cool prose! I like fun words and rhythm and musicality. I love voice. And I love experimenting with all of these. Fic is great because it gave me a chance to try to write other people's voices:

C.S. Lewis

J.K. Rowling (not quite a fic, more of a thought experiment to prove that Dumbeldore could have been gay in the book, not just gay in an interview)

Janelle Monáe (this was a particular challenge because she is a musician, not a novelist)

I don't know if that really explains anything about how my style came to be, but basically what I think is: I read a lot. I experimented with voice and tone and rhythm. I played with structure. I tried both ends of the poetic vs. prosaic spectrum. And then I took nine years off of writing fic (and in that time wrote many academic papers and work emails). I do think I've changed as a writer since the nine-year-nap, but how exactly? Too soon to say.

[peakatseven]

Lyric prompt: i think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why

omg you used SEVEN LYRICS ilysm.

okay but fyi, i know the event is supposed to be about typography but i just wrote this long ass story about James and Betty as children and playing pirates and the dad obviously shows up and i absolutely love it. So i won’t tag this as part of the event, but you should still read it cause it’s gooooooood (i hope)

ps. i literally just wrote this, haven’t even read it through so like,,,, pls be kind thank you.

Who can remember the moment they grew up? Is there, or has there ever been, an adult who could pin point that exact moment when fairy tales and games started to be just fantasy and make-belief? Some psychologists say that a person stops being a child at 13, but James was only 10 when she first played a game she did not fully believe in. You see, ever since she can remember, James and Betty had been attached to the hip. There are few memories where they're not together, and there are even fewer where they're not playing pretend. They were pirates one day and lions the other, fairies by day and super heroes by night. Sometimes, when the grown-ups didn't bother them too much, they would go the whole day pretending. When she looks back to old photos and the memories rush in, James can't help but remember the imagined scenery of their games and their adventures within them. But from the day she turned 10 onward, those memories aren't as vivid as the others. She parked her bike in front of Betty's house just after dawn. As she walked to the front door, the dog barked from the backyard. "Shh." She said to the him. "You're going to wake up Betty's father." Although she had never met the man, the stories about him were frightening enough for James to be careful not to wake him up too early in the morning. Specially taking into account what she and his daughter had planned for the day. James climbed the tree on the side of the house -- a simple climb for someone as experienced as her -- and knocked on Betty's window. "That was fast." James said as she climbed back into another branch to make space for Betty. "You said you'd come before dawn." Betty smiled at her. "I'll let it slide, just because it's your birthday." As per usual, Betty stood on the back wheel of James's bike as they rode off to the woods just outside of town. Because it was James's birthday, she got to choose the game: pirates. And although it was Betty's turn to be the captain, she gave it up in exchange for being the superhero the next time. They hopped onto their pirate ship, and sailed onto the sea. Of course, anyone else would only see two girls trying not to fall as they floated on an old wooden door that someone had thrown away by the lake. But it served as the most magnificent ship anyone had ever seen. "LAND IN SIGHT!" Betty shouted when the ship finally turned around to face the shore. "Throw the anchor." Captain James commanded. "We are to look for the treasure here." The treasure hunt lasted hours. Betty and James had to scrunch their eyes to make out stones from leafs when they came across the giant. He was asleep, laying under a tree with his shirt all covered in stinky alcohol. "He must have gotten shot." James said, but Betty didn't seem like she believed her at all. "When you put alcohol in a wound, it heals faster. Mother told me." "Whatever, let's just get out of here." "Arg, no!" James said. "We have to help him. Here, I'll take his arms, you can take his legs and we shall carry him to the ship." "What are you talking about James?" Betty said. "He was shot! We can't just leave a man behind!" Betty simply stood there, astonished at James's words. Of course, Betty had grown up long ago. Anyone would have if they had to call that man "father". And all she could see was her once-more-drunk father laying on the ground far from town with something gray and black hanging from his pocket. James couldn't see it yet, but it was too dangerous for their game to keep going. Betty got in between her father and her best friend, holding James's shoulders and looking at her straight in the eye. "Don't." She said, voice low. "This isn't a game." "What are you doing?" James said, braking the game too. "Whatever happened, we do need to help him." "Trust me, we don't want him to wake up." "Why not?" James raised her voice just a little. "Do you want to just leave the man here? No one will find him and he might really be hurt." "He's not hurt." Betty's voice was strange. She sounded nothing like herself. "How do you know?" "I just-" "Yes, how do you know?" A broken, gave voice spoke from the ground. And just like that, all color was gone from Betty's face. When Betty turned around, she put a hand on her back. James instantly took it and felt Betty hold it a little too tight. "I'm sorry, sir." Betty said. If her voice was strange before, it was unrecognizable now. The man didn't say anything, he simply growled as he stood up. James had stopped playing already, but anyone could have mistaken Betty's father for a giant. "We were just pla-" "Wee werr jest playeeng." The man tried to imitate her. Betty's voice wasn't that whiny. James took a step forward. "We were, sir. We were just playing, it's my birthday." "We were just about to go back." Betty whispered only for James to listen. "We were just about to go back." James repeated. "We're sorry." "We're sorry." There was one second where nothing happened. An entire second where not even the wind blew, when the girls hoped their apology had been successful. At least Betty did, James heard her mumble a prayer behind her back. But the when the man smirked and his hand started hanging back, James sprinted under his arm, dragging Betty by the hand. "RUN" She said. None of them looked back, and James muted his screams as he chased after them. "We need to go." James said, his pirate voice back. "We need to get back to port." Betty was now crying. Running and crying and trying to ask James something. Maybe she was trying to tell her this wasn't time for games. And it wasn't, James knew that. But there was nothing more he could think of doing to help Betty not cry. "We're running from the giant." James said breathlessly as she helped Betty to climb over a bush.  She hoped over it and took back Betty's hand before they kept on running. "And when we get to port we'll take a ship that will take us far, as far away as possible." The man's screams got further and further away as the girls kept running. James figured it was his tired lungs that betrayed him. She lead Betty to a tree they both knew well. Two climbers like them could easily get to the top, but Betty's father would never make it past the first branch. "We can't stay up here forever, James." Betty finally said once she stopped crying. They were sitting at the top of the tree, high enough to see the stars and the moon clearly without any leaf getting in the way. "We won't." James said, squeezing Betty's hand. "We will get on the first ship that takes us away. And it's still Captain James." Betty laughed. It was a small one, but it warmed James's chest. "Where too?" "I don't know." James answered as she sighed. "Somewhere far away." Betty said in the same daydreaming tone she'd use when they were playing. James knew they were never going to get on a ship, and that as far away as they would go that day was that tree top. She wasn't playing anymore, but Betty was and she was not about to take her back into the reality that shattered her mere minutes ago. "How does India sound?" James proposed, and she felt Betty smile next to her, fully engaged in the game James had made up for her.

[officialleehadan]

Down the River Boat

The first town Adrienne discovered was a trading town, set into the curve of a lake. A river fed into, and out of, the lake on the far side, and the town hosted a busy port, where caravans form the mountains met with ships to take their goods up and down the continent. Fields and farms surrounded the town, but as Adrienne walked in through the gate, she discovered that the town, which was also the layover for several major quests, was significantly quieter than it generally was in-game.

So much for meeting up with others who had been sucked into the game too. This looked just like the little towns of her childhood, except significantly more fantasy-shaped. Stalls lined the road, and the marked hummed with activity. The roofs were mostly thatch, but they were sloped to deal with the winter snows, and the walls were crisply whitewashed. The smells of cooking meat and woodsmoke filled the air as she passed several inns and decided to wait a bit before getting a hot lunch.

The people were a fine mix of races, colors, and creeds. Here and there, she saw the ogre-people, who were often trouble but who also brought the very best lumber from the mountains. A trio of dwarves were hawking their steel and arging with two elves at the top of their lungs. And then of course, there were humans. This was primarily a human town, but as a trade-town, caravans brought glass, steel, and spices north, and returned with fine lumber, bone, and furs. There was also a rich sapphire mine even farther north, but that was part of a new expansion, and Adrienne hadn’t explored it yet.

On a whim, Adrienne followed the market though to a specific stall. She had been playing in this art of the world recently, and she was curious to see if the shopkeeper she saved in her last session was here. If he was, he could probably give her some sorely-needed information.

He was.

“Lady Dria!” he cried upon seeing her, and Adrienne jumped before remembering that he couldn’t possibly know her ‘real’ name. After all, in this world, she was Dria Shalla, an adventurer and hero, not Adrienne, the university student. “Welcome! How good to see you again!”

“Hi Gembis,” she said, glad she had just done this quest and knew who he was. He wasn’t all that distinctive compared to the other shopkeepers, but his mounds of spices were, and so was his hanging banner, proclaiming him a merchant of the great cities farther south. “You made it here okay?”

“I did indeed. And on the road, I found this! I insist you take it, with my thanks!”

He pressed a pouch of gold into her hands, along with a pendant made of crystal. It was carved in the shape of a feather, and hung on a silver chain.

Gembis, this is far too much,” Adrienne protested. She hadn’t really done that much for him. Just chased off some monsters and made sure he got to the town alright. Still, this at least was a little familiar. Quests like this always gave you a trinket and a little gold for your trouble.

Of course, Adrienne had just been chasing a completion-based achievement, but Gembis probably didn’t need to know that.

“I insist,” he told her firmly, and waved at his stall, which specialized in spices. “I could sell it, Lady, but you saved my life and business. It will bring you good luck.”

Trying to refuse again seemed rude, so Adrienne tucked the feather into her pocket and patted his shoulder. He was a good sort, as she recalled. A devoted family man who was trying to make a better life for his children.

“Gembis, you take the riverboats back down to Forest Hall, right?” she asked thoughtfully, and pulled out her map. There were ways to fast-travel in this world, but she didn’t know if they would work or not. A boat, however, was probably reliable. “Is there one leaving today that I could catch a ride on?”

“All the way to Forest Hall?” he repeated, and tapped a finger against his lips as he thought. “Not today, but I’ll be taking one myself tomorrow at dawn. I could certainly secure a cabin for you.”

“I wouldn’t want to put anyone out.”

“Oh no, this leg of the journey is light on passengers, and you are Dria Shalla. Who here would refuse you?”

Well, okay. She did spend a fortune building up her reputation as one of the good guys. Not everyone did that, but she discovered that a higher reputation score meant lower equipment costs later, and thought it was worth the cash. Apparently, she was more right than she planned. Now it would save her days of walking.

“I’ll pay, and I’ll protect the boat on the trip,” she compromised with her conscience. He went to refuse and she held up a hand. “I insist, Gembis. It’s the least I can do.’

He wavered, and then cracked a smile. “a hero to the bone, and a fine lass to boot. Alright, Lady Dria. I won’t lie, there have been attacks on the riverboats lately. Your steel might very well mean safety we couldn’t count on before.”

“It’s settled,” Adrienne said, and looked at his spices again. “Now, I’ll bet you know all the best inns in this town. Who’s got the best cook?”

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Cybersecurity 101

Adrienne is one of her server’s top players, but the game is more than a game, and she will have to face love, and betrayal, to survive.

Cyber Finals

For the Experience

A Quest Never Completed

Reorienting Home (Subscriber Only!)

Skills Already Known (Subscriber Only!)

Finish Them! (Free on Patreon!)

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MORE STORIES!

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[mmmmalo]

the king/father creates/births things while the queen serves only to impregnate (him with the idea for what he will create, like a muse, if you will)? idk i hate women being reduced to their reproductive function but this also seems misogynistic somehow. also does this make roxy's ability to create objects from nothing another "she's trans" joke?

I think the discomfort you’re apprehending is discussed somewhat when Crockertier!Jane tells Jake he will only exist to sire her children? Sexual objectification is probably a more familiar experience for women, but the unease in being subsumed by some sexual function isn’t necessarily gender exclusive… (the existence of domination play attests to that probably)

This subject is probably out of my depth, but I’m going to meander a bit and hopefully say a couple useful things.

First, some clarification: “birth” is the principle of separation and “pregnancy” is the principle of union. Thus birth-as-we-know-it is rendered equivalent to ejaculation, Breathing out, pooping – all of which involve separation from that which was once part of you. Likewise the image of a gestating fetus is equivalent to taut testicles, lungs full of air, a constipated colon – states in which the union is maintained. On this level, it’s apparent that any given body can participate in both halves of the dichotomy.

But as elaborated back in the Roxy-and-Dirk post, Sburb’s queens and kings are aligned with birth and pregnancy, respectively. As per Caliborn’s enchantment, this is treated a hat-switch, a reversal of expectations on who ejaculates and who gestates. “Birth” (which Caliborn likes) is coded as masculine, so that assigning this function to the queen is met as a reversal. While “pregnancy” (for which Caliborn fetishes his disgust) is coded as feminine, so that assigning this function to the king is met as a reversal.

The problem I’m facing is evaluating whether the birth/pregnancy dichotomy (aka separation/union, aka Breath/Blood) contains an intrinsic (ie inescapable?) gendered hierarchy, or if the gendered hierarchy is imported by characters (or us) onto what is actually a gender-neutral distinction. Though there could also be a broader point that binary systems are easily co-opted as mapping to the gender binary…? So that even if a distinction “ought to be” neutral, the matter remains that it has been /rendered/ gendered?

To avoid speaking too much in terms of generalities, I’m going to reorient this discussion around John Egbert via an ask concerning the ARG:

you gotta talk about it man come on

I read the ARG as a conspiracy theory that falls in line with the kids’ paranoid fantasies. In the same way that the very real trolls function as manifestations from the psyches of those around them, the world of Homestuck is, in general, shaped by the psychological profiles of its inhabitants.

I gather this partly from the nods to an irl conspiracy (eg declaring Obama to be a cross-dimensional immigrant), but mainly because the overwhelming paranoia that defines the narrative, the conviction that the world has degenerated and that every known authority is but a feeble puppet of a nebulous overlord. Comedians Laurel and Hardy are slowly corrupted and eventually infused with Evil, resulting in the birth of the Insane Clown Posse, which is to say ICP’s low-class status translates into degenerate art within the confines of the conspiracy. Albert Einstein is renounced as a fake, whose “insights” are mere scraps cast off from a feast of truth available to some unseen master. It’s all insurmountably stupid, but there is a unifying thread:

The idea is that the world is “fallen”, in two of the senses explored via John Egbert’s fear of heights (or rather, his fear of descent). 

1. John is literally afraid of heights, having fallen from the slime pogo. But John’s entry item is an apple because he experiences a pervasive sense that there is a perfect world of ideals from which he has been thrown down – a sort of intersection between the Fall of Man from the Garden of Eden and the heavenly Platonic Forms. This manifests partly in an obsession with authenticity, a subject that pervades Act 1 (x)(x). The Obama birth-certificate conspiracy attempts to frame Obama as “inauthentic”, and framing Einstein as a feeble peddler of inherited slivers of truth relies on the idea that there is a Godly figure with access to ALL the truth, a master presiding over the Pleroma. John is susceptible to this kind of thinking; after all, the paranoid idea of Betty Crocker as an Illuminati-tier omnipotent antagonist began as one of John’s funny delusions.

2. The biblical Fall is at times phrased as the corruption of humanity, and that sense carries into Homestuck. The other Heir, Equius, is revolted and titillated by that which he regards as base. His fetishization being lower class and other modes of degradation receives a visual complement in images of a falling ideal: the death-by-fall of man-horse Arthour, and Equius’s own descent through the caves of LOCAS (the circumstances of a lusus’s death and the features of a planet both bear relation to a player’s fantasies). John complicates the picture a little bit: he specifically has a fascination with “bad movies” (low status art), but also he regards the other side of the silver screen as a Pleroma of sorts, which simultaneously elevates the art.

But my goal is to demonstrate that all of this intersects with the original topic: the division of high/low is also projected onto masculine/feminine.

John wishes to undo his traumatic fall from the slime pogo, an event that has come to represent John’s fantasy of his own birth. As hinted at the start, the birth he imagines for himself is ejaculatory: Ghostbusters is “manbro bukkake theatre”, and John fancies himself a ghost busted directly from the loins of his heavenly Father. John seeks to re-merge with his image of God, a goal implicit in John’s attempts to reunite with Dad in a more familiar sense.

But implicit in John’s quest to give up the ghost and ascend to the Father is a rejection of the implicitly feminized earth and flesh, to which the self/soul is umbilically bound. This gendering is often shown via robots: 

Jake jokingly says that Dirk is “more machine than man” – this is a jab at Dirk’s terse demeanor, but placing machines in opposition to manhood potentially feminizes the machines, compromising Dirk’s desiring to be a paragon of dudeliness. The simultaneous masculinization of reason and dehuminizing jabs like Jake’s confuse and frustrate Dirk for a variety of reasons

The ghost of Aradia enters robotic husk to be reborn, imitating the insertion of the spirit into the body. She then finds that Equius has inserted something into her body against her will, and violently removes it and destroys it. “It” was a chip that controlled her feelings, but the intimate violation has tones of assault, and Aradia’s heart is effectively aborted.

There’s more examples, but this is just an aside to push the notion that the Fall (from high to low) entails the entry of spirit into body, which via the analogous entry of sperm into womb would seem to gender hierarchy itself. Masculine/feminine is entrenched as high/low by the metaphysics.

(Here’s a nice post that notes a gendering of the hemocaste system in Zebruh’s Friendsim route)

This leads me into thinking that John’s desire to merge with the image of the Father is connected to his love of pranking people, insofar as it becomes a assertion of domination/power (which is presumed to be the masculine position). The prankster’s gambit, at its purest, is a measure of Who’s On Top.

At the end of the Chaos Dunk scene (in which John symbolically enacts Rose’s rape fantasies), John pranks Rose by dumping a bucket full of gushers on her head. Buckets are receptacles, and thus occupy the balls/womb half of the divide. Evacuating the bucket all over Rose is a repetition of earlier symbolic assault, and the moment is embellished with a prankster’s gambit to emphasize the notion that there is an element of domination to the encounter.

The bucket prank is echoed in a  later conversation between John and Rose, beginning at page 2922. John asks repeatedly whether Rose “knows everything” now, says the beta kids “were in this adventure together” but with Rose’s occult knowledge, she is now “getting away from us”. John is not anxious that Rose is separating in a neutral way – his anxiety stems from the idea that she is rising above them. “Knowing everything” is a property of mastery, and John is confused by Rose being above him. At the end of 2922, John attempts to mock Rose’s words, but she tells him he’s being mean and he apologizes.

Rose herself expresses some anxieties about her position, saying elements of her wizard shtick have made her feel “ridiculous�� or “embarrassed”. Her choice of words invokes the manifestation of Eridan, who mocks Rose’s “ludicrous poppycock” – she has an ongoing worry that her phallus (masculinized symbol of power) is fake.

This is why the scene culminates in an play scenario, in which John promises to sweep in like a noble knight and banish Rose’s encroaching grimdarkness, and Rose in turn pretends to swoon. The joke is an ironic acquiescence to the (gendered) hierarchy that is implicitly being challenged by Rose’s rise to power (or rather, that the kids perceive to have challenged). Past this, the conversation goes on to the subject of the Tumor, in a way that I have difficult tying into some sort of conclusion for the gendered aspects of the conversation.

This probably bears some relation to Rose’s insistence that John is the group’s leader…? But again, I’m at a loss. Let’s wrap this up.

On your last point: Roxy creating items from nothing actually throws a small wrench into things: in another essay on Gnosticism I was reading (Schuyler Brown’s “Begotten, Not Created”), “emanation” suggested that the creation was originally part of something (God, the One, etc), and emanation was thus framed as being in opposition to creation-from-nothing.

This brings me back to the problem of not knowing which portions of Homestuck’s metaphysics are particular to a given character’s psyche, which portions are universal, and which portions are loaded with both personal and universal meaning, or personal meaning that are /rendered/ universal. The motif of Roxy throwing a dead cat out of bucket seems to carry multiple meanings at once… in the sense we’ve noted, it would relate to the terror of stillbirth and miscarriage that follows Mom and Condy around. But reading “birth” as ejaculation, the cat could also be read as a disappointed acknowledgement that she cannot create life on her own…?