#I can't even tell you you are wrong cuz the elements are clearly there for you to take and run with them

[naruthandir]

"Likening Italy to Númenor" Ok who's gonna tell her.

Pretty good article shared on twitter by a Tolkien academic I follow that, whilst short, is excellent at introducing people to the indelible connections white supremacists have to the Lord of the Rings. This exert here is literally what I've been trying to explain for years.

[reineydraws]

For the mishanks body swap au, how would luffy/zoro/perona react? How would other people they know react?

hi! this got long so i'll put it under a cut, and there aren't really any drawings since that's a bit more effort and time i don't have rn 😅 but i wanted to answer this!

the people i cover are:

benn & yasopp

perona

zoro

luffy (and rayleigh, kinda)

kid luffy

buggy & croc

kid uta

thanks for the ask!!! :)

this is how i had some of shanks's crew react:

i think yasopp and benn, who have likely known him the longest and best and who have probably seen the most of mishanks together, would recognize mihawk's body language, even when it's on shanks. i also think ppl who spend a lot of time together and/or love each other a lot pick up each others' mannerisms, so benn and yasopp have probably already seen their captain exhibit little tells here and there that clearly come from mihawk. when mihawk himself somehow ends up in their captain's body, it's weirdly familiar for them, and they realize it's 'cuz they're not just seeing echoes of the swordsman in shanks, but the real thing.

for perona, i imagine shanks would roll up to kuraigana thinking like, "i should try to be like mihawk so as not to alarm them, esp 'cuz hawky probably would rather they not know" but when he steps off hitsugibune, he waves to perona and greets, "perona," and she's immediately like, "who are you!" she noticed that shanks buttoned the shirt he picked out of mihawk's coffin-crate wrong, and mihawk would never wear that shirt with those pants like that! and she thought maybe mihawk was having an off day until "mihawk" waved in greeting and called her by name. at this point, shanks is sweating lol.

zoro, i think he'd probably notice something is Off right away (shanks continues the charade bc he explains the situation to perona and perona thinks it's hilarious and wants to see how long zoro goes without noticing) but wouldn't really care until "mihawk" draws yoru for some training. zoro would scowl, annoyed but not alarmed bc perona's not alarmed, and he'd be like, "okay, that's it. mihawk would never hold yoru like that, he keeps at least another hand's-width distance in his grip for better support, what the hell," and shanks is just like, of course i got the sword thing wrong. of course his sword student would notice. 🤦🏻‍♀️ mihawk would only train interesting and competent people, and that's luffy's swordsman! c'mon shanks.

(i am a firm believer that shanks is the only other person that's ever been allowed to handle yoru in the time she's been mihawk's sword, and as an extension of that, i think it'd be cute if he held her in a slightly different grip bc shanks's style when using yoru is a little more hilt-heavy and defensive. he hasn't done this since losing his arm though, so it's actually nostalgic to be able to wield her with both hands.)

(i say this but i suppose, like with all body swap au's, there might also be an element of muscle memory involved. in that case, zoro probably confronts shanks when shanks reaches for beer instead of wine at dinner. but i like the sword thing better haha.)

luffy? luffy and mishanks aren't interacting in canon rn so i can't imagine where he'd meet up with them body-swapped, unless one of them goes to rayleigh at sabaody for help. (i say "one of them" but while shanks would be alone, poor mihawk would definitely have the red-hair pirates as a peanut gallery following along lol.) in this case, i think luffy (and rayleigh) would just laugh. like, a lot. so much.

if it was mihawk (looking like shanks), luffy would probably ask him a lot of questions regarding zoro and proclaiming his time is almost up as wgs, and then hang out with the rhp to catch up, show off his improved abilities a little, and tell yasopp about how usopp's been doing. with shanks, i think they'd catch up and then end up horsing around, and it would be extra funny bc from the outside it looks like dracule mihawk is having an eating contest with strawhat luffy. rayleigh will take photos for posterity.

if it's kid luffy and this happens before luffy's a pirate, i think luffy would probably ask mihawk-as-shanks what being a pirate is like, and also stories about being the wgs. and mihawk would tell him about fighting marines and his coffin boat and luffy would get a little starry-eyed but also maybe want to fight him lol.

other people they know... i can't help but imagine what kind of fuckery shanks would come up with if he rolled up to karai barai looking like mihawk. 😂 buggy and croc would be so unnerved.

i think shanks would take the opportunity to fuck with buggy a little by bringing up inciting incidents between them from when they were kids, like their really stupid arguments, and buggy would be caught between arguing back heatedly, creeped out that mihawk knows and is smiling all i-know-something-you-don't-know at him *shudders*, and wondering if the weird amount of knowledge on buggy's childhood mihawk has means that mihawk and shanks are fucking or something. (they are, but buggy doesn't know that. mihawk is a little annoyed at shanks for getting this revealed 'cuz he was holding onto their relationship for a more dramatic reveal if it ever presented itself, and he wanted the source of the blackmail he had on buggy to be a little more enigmatic. now, he can't creep buggy out bc he'll just assume all his blackmail material is from shanks. ugh.)

croc would be a little baffled that "mihawk" has suddenly started interacting with the clown way more than he used to, before realizing there's something deeply wrong with "mihawk". he seems too personable, too trusting, too... smile-y. it's weird. he doesn't like it. he is forced to go to buggy about this when his own henchmen don't seem to know what else to do about it, and they end up relictantly working together to find out what caused this personality change. when it eventually gets figured out that "mihawk" is actually shanks, buggy is livid and crocodile's already thinking about what this might mean for the cross guild, if the red force is going to come to karai barai, if that will cause problems for what he's trying to do, and of course, how he can use this situation to blackmail mihawk in the future. it's annoying but he can admit it's also kinda funny.

totally self-indulgent addition, but kid uta would take the oportunity to play dress-up with her dads since they've now effectively switched fashion senses. both let her, bc they are both charmed by how happy this makes her.

[kimoralov3]

taking a quick study break

how they would react to you coming out to them

warnings: swearing, fear of coming out, i say kill and murder like once, erik's is kinda silly tbh

if you wanna

alex summers

you and alex had already been together for 5 months now

logically you knew that you had no reason to be afraid of how he would react

but that little voice in your head just wouldn't shut the fuck up about him finding you repulsive and leaving

but you had to do it while you had the courage

so you decided that if this was gonna be your last day with him, it'd at least be nice

you convinced charles to exempt alex from any mission that day (he obviously knew what you were planning, and wished you the best of luck)

you got the recipe for his favorite meal from scott and prepared it as best you could

"what's all this for" "I just felt like cooking, and you mentioned that this was your favorite meal"

now alex may not be the brightest guy in the world

but he can clearly tell when his s/o has something they want to get off their chest

"babe, whats wrong? you've been acting weird this whole time"

your heart momentarily stopped

there was no time like the present

so you told him

it was silent for a few seconds before he let out a chuckle

"is that what you were stressing about? sorry if this sounds insensitive, but that was a stupid thing to be worried about. i love everything about, and nothing will ever change that"

(also you cannot tell me that alex isn't bi)

loki laufeyson

I think we all know how open loki is about their sexuality/gender identity (I envy them for that)

so again, there is literally no reason for you to be scared to come out to them

like at all

but you didn't really need to come out to them

because they already knew

but they weren't going to say anything about it until you brought it up yourself

but they would drop little hints that they knew

and you knew that they knew, but saying the words out loud was proving to be quite the problem

"i need you to read my mind" "...why" "because i need to tell you something important but I can't say it out loud"

they pretend to read your mind (they know what you want to say, they're just humoring you)

they don't really say anything they just look at you and nod

"that's it? no reaction" "i knew a long time ago, and it doesn't really bother me. as long as you're happy"

erik lehnsherr

I feel like erik is the type of guy to not say anything about the community (because he's focused on his "kill all humans before they kill us" vibes)

so you're not exactly sure how he'd react (but you shouldn't be cuz erik is fruity as hell)

so you decide to just drop a few hints

which erik doesn't pick up on because...it's erik

"what do you mean you're fruity? I thought your mutation was element based"

everyone just watches in amusement as you grow more frustrated and erik remains oblivious

charles is like: "just straight out tell him, you know he'll never figure it out if you continue on like this"

but you have faith in your man (even tho deep down you know charles is right)

"y/n, why are there a bunch of rainbow flags hanging in the living room" "damn you maximoff"

eventually (like after a year) erik puts two and two together

"....OOOOOH"

he comes running into your classroom one day while you're grading papers

"why didn't you just tell me you were gay" "where the flags not enough of a hint for you"

he's very accepting and loving (I honestly think erik is a very loving person, if you ignore all the murder and stuff)

[vegalocity]

In your Oblivion fic, do you think red son would have some ptsd of what happened with Porty clone? Like he still trying to return to his old life but has flashes to what Porty clone did to him or it could also be like he tries to attack MK in another evil scheme but he can't bring himself to hurt his beloved Xiaotian, ooooor i read somewhere that red son would have trouble talking about what happened and would lie unconsciously about what Porty clone did to him

ooohhhhh Afterstory trauma i love thinking about afterstory trauma!

(funny how I got this right after i finished up that art there -x files theme-)

TW: discussing addiction

Okay so Yeah Red Son is totally walking out of this with some new nightmares thats for sure, If we assume the ‘fixing’ process was done in more of an ‘addressing the magic elements enabling this’ way, thus enabling more of a ‘snap out of it’ sort of fix, he would definitely WANT to return back to Business as Usual, but find himself unable to

But I think what would really bother him isn’t in the classical PTSD way like fashbacks and stuff, so much as it would be really leaning onto the addiction aspect of this whole thing. Cuz like, Red Son didn’t really have any coping mechanisms to deal with stress before all of this, that mental state, no matter how unhealthy and messed up it was, had been a releif from constant pressure, that was part of the reason why he fall into it so easily. And I could imagine that THAT’S the hardest thing to get rid of. That if he’s working on a project or pounding through a thesis and it’s just.. a LOT. If he’s just really highstrung and stressed over it-

-he might find himself still wanting it. Fantasizing about the darkened club with the neon lights and how he’d feel when the music played, how there was no space in his head for stress and anxiety...what would be the harm in testing out if that old trigger still worked? He could just lock the door and set an alarm like he used to and take just a liiiittle hit-

The words are on the very tip of his tongue and his fingers are positioned in a snapping motion when he catches himself. It’s bad enough having his autonomy forcibly taken away, but the fact that he’d been convinced that he wanted it was the part that wasn’t shaking so easily, because he still doesn’t HAVE a healthier way to deal with stress, so he’s stuck constantly disgusted with himself for still wanting the only relief he’d ever had from it.

I think he might not be able to trust that he was ‘fixed’ as it were, with that lingering desire as proof.

Sure he’ll provide tech for his parents schemes but lowkey plead to not have to go out into the field for actual missions. Not until he can trust that he’ll be okay, that he WON’T immediately fall back into that mindset the second he sees Xiaotian the Noodle Boy and fall to his beck and call. Though then the worry comes if he’s being too obedient to his parents too, was he always like that? He'd always wanted their approval sure, but he would also be fine with acting alone, didn’t he? Did- Did he really always want their approval or did he not care as much but he’d been convinced he did to make it easier for him to fall into line? Did he ever actually have feelings for Xiaotian The Noodle Boy or was THAT a lie too to let the clone sink his claws into him easier? How would he know? how COULD he know? Should he treat any desire to please someone else as a red flag? Should he be acting more rebellious just to make sure?

And maybe that part of him that still longs for the peace oblivion would give him whispers that it would be so much easier if he still had someone who could just TELL him what to think about all of this, no matter how little sense that made in the context of the problem itself.

He doesn’t show up for battles for AWHILE. And the first time he does he doesn’t even fight, just lingers in the shadows, so if there ARE some lingering effects at least nobody will see him struggle with them. I don’t think he actually REMEMBERS a lot of what happened granted how much Porty Clone was fucking with his memory, or if he does it doesn’t completely feel REAL, like the memory of a dream, but the first time he claps eyes on Xiaotian after all of this is when it all properly snaps into focus, and he finds himself caught between three very extreme reactions, rage, fear, and unsettlingly, longing. He- he wanted to hurt the damn Noodle Boy for all he’d put him through intentional or not, no he wanted to run to turn heel and get the fuck out of there before anything could go wrong, No he wanted to- To....

No that’s the bad one, that’s the one that wasn’t his. Xiaotian’s eyes flick to the side and unintentionally meets his gaze, and for a moment the longing almost wins anyway because he remembers, he remembers clumsily trying to seduce him on that disgusting lumpy couch and his warmth and his scent and- He chooses fear and runs.

He doesn’t go back out into the field for a long while if he can help it.

Ideally his parents did find out about all of this beforehand so they’d probably be understanding and leave him to work things out on his own.

..

...

though if a bitch wants some extra fucked upery i wouldn’t put it past at least Iron Fan to try and see if there’s anything that... lingered... that they could use, like imagine how fucked up it would be if Red just feels like he’s in the zone while tinkering and is maybe excited that that means he’s deriving joy from his work again and that HAS to mean he’s really on the mend only to accidentally evesdrop on a rare yet INTENSE argument between his parents...and finds out his mother’s been using his more fragile mental state and possibly making him WORSE because ‘he’s more efficient like this, doesn’t talk back near as much’

Well he’s certainly gonna be talking back NOW-

If we go That way then Red Son hits a proper rebellious phase, actively fighting off any upset he has over disappointing his parents because clearly that’s not him. he has to not actually care, he HAS to, feeling physically sick at the idea of them looking at him with disappointment is just another thing the clone DID to him. He’s fine. He HAS to be fine.

And he should probably look into doing something different with his time because he is NOT helping with any schemes if he can’t find it in him to even FACE their enemies, AND his mother has been messing with his head while he’s at home when he’s running support staff.

Possibly even moving out for awhile because oh geez he doesn’t feel safe in his own home anymore.

[dachi-chan25]

Haven't done this in a while but I had the time so why not?

1.- Pizza Girl by Kyoung Jean Frazier

🌟🌟🌟🌟

I really did like it, reminded me a lot of "Convinience store woman". Like clearly our protagonist needed thrapy ASAP to help her deal with her dad's death, her pregnancy, her attraction to women and hell just for existing as an Asian woman in the USA, but I liked how messy and obsesive she was and how the author allowed her to be fucked up and take bad decisions, I love to see female characters simply exist, it's also a pretty short read so I definitely recommend it.

2.-The Authentics by Abdi Nazemian

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Daría is a persian teen who is really involved in her cultural background and feels that the most important thing one can be is authentic, so that's the name she and her friends take for their clique. But everything comes crashing down on her when she discovers she is adopted, and soon follows an identity crisis. I loved it so much, it felt pretty realistic, like Daría could be self absorbed and unlikeable at times, but who wasn't as a teen? And we get such beautiful heartwarming moments between Daría and her family and friends. Totally recommend it.

3.- The Mall by Megan McCafferty

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Cassie has her life completely mapped out but nothing goes quite as planned, first she gets mononucleosis and after she gets better gets dumped and fired almost simultaneously. Determined not to let it get the best of her, Cassie gets a brand new job, reconnects with an old friend and even finds a hidden treasure. This one is so much fun, all the 90s references and the growth Cassie goes through is amazing, honeslty i would love to see this as a Netflix movie.

4.- Luster by Raven Leilani

🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book was hard, Edie is a very raw character, at first she seems flippant even when describing disturbing facts about her past or details about her relationship with a much older man she seems to be talking about something that happened to someone else all this to cope dealing with her solitude, her trauma, her self hate. And gosh it was so intresting to see her interact with Rebecca and Akila, especially Akila as Edie finds kinship in this young girl not only cuz they are both black but because they are both lost and afraid.

5.- Lakewood by Megan Giddings

🌟🌟🌟

Lena decides to participate on a financially compensated medical experiment so her mom can get proper medical care and to lessen their debts after her Grandmother's death.

So I had many mixed feelings about this, on one hand I liked that we are adressing how sistematical racism has permited experiments on black people with no consequences at all and how it has been happening for decades, but there were certain parts of the book that I couldn't enjoy as much because they were very trippy like I get we are on Lena's mind as things are becoming muddled up because of the medications and all those mind games and the words they have her memorize and repeat but all of it took me a bit away from the story. Still I do recommend it just be aware there is quite a bit of body horror in this so if you are sqeamish better skip it.

6.-The Voting Booth - Brandy Colbert

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Marva and Duke meet on election day as she helps him find the precint he is registered on.

This is very enjoyable, the story is very straightforward, and it insists on our right and responsability to vote even if we feel our vote alone can't possibly change all the injustice we see in the world. And also the romance was cute and developed slowly as Marva and Duke are just knowing each other. Really cute and quick read.

7.- Such a fun age - Kiley Reid

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Emira works as a babysitter for the Chamberleins' . She loves her little charge Briar, although she feels preassured to seek a 'real job' by her friends and by her own economic troubles. Emira soon finds herself in the middle of a tug of war between her boss Alix who tries to befriend her, and Kelley the guy she is dating.

So much drama. This is a great example of what performative activism looks like, first Alix is completely nuts, from her obsession to be seen as this wonderful understanding girl boss activist and the down right creepy sense of entitlement to Emira's friendship and intimacy. Like it doesn't surprise me she chose to victimize herself instead of recognizing it had all been a misunderstanding. And even then she still wants to seem atractive to the man she feels victimized by. Girl no.

Kelley is the ultimate fake woke ally. Dude Robbie was wrong period, he had no business inviting people over to someone else's house no matter the color of his skin. You don't get to talk over Emira on matters of what a person of color should do or feel on certain situations. That said it was so funny when he and Alix called each other out for their fetishization of people of color and yet none of them actually gave a damn about what Emira thought/felt/percieved. They just wanted her stamp of approval so they could pat themselves in the back for being such good allies.

8.- The Life and (Medieval) times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

🌟🌟

Kit is working as a serving wench at the Castle, medieval themed restaurant run by her uncle, though she really wants to be a Knight, not only cuz the better pay would help around the house but because she really admires Joan of Arc, problem is the Castle management doesn't allow for anyone who is not a cis male to be a knight. Kit is set on changing that.

Ok so I feel a bit lukewarm toward this. Kit in my opinion doesn't get much growth, it seems she just can do whatever and her friends have to be ok w it, her romance w her friend feels pulled out of nowhere like Jett at one point tells her he is not intrested in dating her and then he is ???, those GoT references killed me, I get it I watched the show and sometimes even enjoyed it but it's not representative of anything medieval and Kit was always talking about how much she liked the actual history of the medieval times so...

Also as much as this book was about feminism and how we should fight for equal job oportunities, it feels as though Kit only cared about medieval woman who fought physically and not on the badass medieval woman, like idk it feels as a rejection of tradicional feminity like even the girl playing the Princess is a jerk. But I did like some parts, like her decision to confront her asshole dad to help her mom and the girls training together.

9.-Cien años de soledad de Gabriel Garcia Marquez

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

En Macondo, una población Colombiana a un lado del río, vemos como una de sus familias fundadoras crece, se expande y cambia a través de cien años.

Me encanto, hace mucho tiempo que no leía una novela de realismo mágico que me provocará tantos sentimientos. Creo que todos los personajes reflejan aspectos de la humanidad tan diversos y complejos que sería inútil tratar de enlistarlos todos.

Ultimadamente siento que lo que condenó a la familia Buendia a cumplir las profecías de Melquiades fue sus propia naturaleza que ellos nunca tuvieron intención de pelear, siempre sucumbian a las locuras o pasiones que los inundarán sin mesura alguna o consideración por las consecuencias. Y creo que aún así lo prefiero pues es lo que hace a cada personaje por confuso que a veces llegue a ser la repetición de nombres (que para mi es el simbolismo de una naturaleza y destino continuos) único e intrigante. En verdad espero que se den la oportunidad de leer este libro por lo menos una vez en sus vidas.

10.-The Monsters of music by Rebecca F. Kenney

🌟🌟🌟

This is a gender-swaped modern retelling of the Phantom of the Opera.

It was creative to make Mel, our Phantom, a true magical creature, and the singing contest was also cool. Like don't get me wrong I did have fun reading this but it also felt pretty unpolished like most characters were teens on the contest and that kinda made me roll my eyes a bit, like unless it's the Voice Kids age ranges are quite ample on this kind of shows, also kinda clumsy the addition of the magical elements with the modern setting, Kiyo didn't make much of an impression with me even when Christine is my fave on the original book. Still if you are a Phan like me you might wanna check this one out.

11.- Anna K by Jenny Lee

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is a modern americanized ya retelling of Anna Karenina.

Not gonna lie this made me cry so much at the end. I really liked Anna and Vronski together so much, and I don't like the love at first sight trope, but here it felt so inevitable. Anna was so self contained until she met him and could truly explore being herself and they really loved each other so much. Also I liked the treatment of the side characters Kimmie and Dustin were well developed and I really enjoyed this one can't wait to get to the second book.

12.- Wonderland by Zoje Stage

🌟🌟🌟

It was ok, but I was actually a bit disappointed cuz I had such high expectations for it. Like for about half the book I was really into the atmospheric vibe the book pulls you into, but as we get the reveal it started to go down hill for me, and the ending left me feeling meh. But maybe it was just not my cup of tea.

13.-Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book is so well crafted!!! I love how it goes back and forth between past and present , first it feels as if history is repeating itself, then as both narratives unfold we start to question and discovering things and the twist at the end was chillin and masterful, I truly and wholeheartedly recommend it.

14.- The Girl with the louding voice by Abi Daré

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Adunni, a teenage girl, flees from her husband to work as a maid in Lagos, though everything she has ever wanted is to study.

This broke my heart, as it reflects how people coming from rural backgrounds get taken advantage of in the City, like similar things happen here in Mexico, but also it made me glad to see Adunni fight and keep her spirit so no one could ever silence her.

15.- The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Immanuel does her very best to fit in Bethel, follow the scriptures and the Prophets words, but nothing seems to be enough to erase her mother's sin especially when the Darkwood seems to pull her in. As a plague starts to ravage Bethel, Immanuel has to face her past to save her people.

So frickin' good !!!! This story is great, mainly about the explotation of woman and young girls by people in power (in this case a church), the atmosphere is always tense, Ezra and Immanuel 's relationship is very well developed and one can really see how loyal they are to each other. A great option for horror fans.

[maybe-homestuck-now-or-something]

oh, thank god, I've been wondering about this for a while now.

okay so like, I just really hate the whole idea of all of that. why would Jane and Jake ever try to get married, after everything that happened?? I'm not really the type to take shipping super seriously, but man... Jane and Jake didn't have much chemistry with each other at all in my opinion. or at least not romantically. and that's not even to speak of the fact that, as far as I can tell, they just treated Jane like her being possessed by the Condesce never stopped being a thing. or rather, after getting unpossessed, she just grew into all the same traits that she had when she was possessed, all on her own. it's such a weird way to go with her character... I really don't understand what anyone would find appealing about taking her in that direction. it makes Jane seem just kind of stupid, like she's totally unaware of herself. does she give a crap about literally anyone anymore? and Jake just honestly deserves better, both in the sense that they write him as totally spineless, and in terms of the life he leads, which seems just awful. I can't even be mad about either of them... just disappointed.

but yeah, like, the early homestuck fandom was a riot. I miss update culture, or like, all the bonkers off the walls fan creations. the fact that there's an actual pesterchum chat client that is actually useable is insane to me, cuz someone literally just did that for fun because they liked homestuck a lot. that was kind of how the comic ended up with music in it too, as far as I know. like, I think creativity was a big part of fan unity, and the fact that homestuck was so insanely multimedia really added to what the fans were invited to do for it. for a lot of shows or comics, it's basically just still art and fanfiction... which is more than fine! I myself am more of an artist than a writer (in spite of all the word vomit 😬 my art blog is rwendellartdump in case you're curious) but like, I have this theory about how homestuck invites people to get inventive with their own creative endeavors based on its own presentation.

basically, homestuck starts with a syle that is very simple, and very representational. the fact that it's simple is nice for the creator of the comic, cuz he can just move the character sprites into different environments with no redrawing and minimal editing. I'm sure that's part of how he was able to crank out content so fast. but the simplicity of the style, and the transparency of the fact that this is done to cut down on a bit of effort, makes new or underconfident artists think "hey, this seems manageable" or "my style isn't gonna look like it pales in comparison to this" which makes it easier to put something out there. it makes the comic a good jumping on point for new creators, who then get to practice their skills and improve, as the comic gives them new ideas.

but then the comic also has a collage element to it. the assets are all clearly single drawings that can be moved wherever they need to go from scene to scene, and the backgrounds will include photos of things as either wall art, or backdrops. most notably, Prospit and Derse's environments are all just heavily edited real images of basically any cathedral, and the Felt mansion is photos of real rooms, but green. it feels experimental, but also like... whatever works, y'know? it gives fan artists permission to mess around with the style. and because all the characters just have simple sprites that are probably more like representations of what they look like, rather than a literal depiction, you're kind of invited to invent whatever you think a more literal depiction of the characters would look like. it lets people's character art diversify without anyone ever really being wrong. and to this day, I think homestuck still boasts the most variety in how each character is depicted by different artists within the community.

and like, I guess as an example of what I mean, hiveswap is gorgeously illustrated, but its visuals are more explicit than homestuck itself ever was, like, this is an art style that you could replicate by drawing on your own, and there's a level of consistency to what everything looks like. hiveswap is basically what homestuck would've looked like if everything in homestuck were drawn by hand, rather than collaged together. but homestuck broadcasts the idea that it's okay to take visual shortcuts, and it's okay to interpret the visual information it puts forth in a way that isn't strictly literal. it's putting things in a visual medium without getting too hung up on a lot of the roadblocks that people usually hit. and this kind of "throw it at the wall and see what sticks" feeling only heightens with the addition of more gifs, or animations, or music, or games... one of the parts that absolutely floored me when I was reading homestuck for the first time was when Doc Scratch was talking directly to the audience and the whole site layout went green. like. he used web design as an indication of both setting and character! we were in the Felt mansion... and Doc Scratch is an omniscient character, so his awareness extended outside the usual boundary of what the story could affect. I absolutely love that level of detail, and like, I very much see that as the precursor to Undertale's extreme ability to fuck with its own medium, even outside the boundaries that most games don't cross when interacting with you. homestuck even jokes about breaking "the fourth wall" as a physical object that exists within the story, like, its just super dense with these ideas.

homestuck without a sense of innovation just doesn't seem right to me... it was so baked in, and it was what everyone was responding to. and it kept people from stepping on each other's toes too much because when it came to ideas, the more the merrier. plus almost all of the kids had some kind of creative hobby... programming, art, writing, roleplaying, music... its all stuff that the kids did, and it's all stuff that homestuck was made of, and that the fans were invited to join in making. the comic, its creator, and the characters were relatable to one another. we were there to have fun. and yeah, I wish HS2 could've been leveraged into creating more of that kind of atmosphere.

also, yeah, I didn't really mind the retcon, but that's mostly on me being fine with anything that leaves the characters in a good position by the end... I don't think your dissatisfaction with it is an unpopular opinion, I think I'm just easy to please in that kind of way. that said, my first time reading homestuck, I only read it when it updated, and didn't really reread in between, so because of the update schedule, things got reeeeally disjointed there at the end. it was only when I went to reread it way later that I actually like... retained solid information about act 6. and I ended up enjoying it way more than I thought it would. it just felt so much more cohesive to read it straight through without all the months long interruptions. go figure. ^^;

oh, yeah, and with Fruits Basket, I'm biased towards the manga because that's how I originally experienced it, but the art style is super outdated by now... I would most definitely recommend the newer anime, like, the old anime stopped halfway through and is like... similarly really dated. there are good things about the old anime, like, it has that 90s anime feel to it, which seems appropriate, but there are also some really annoying things about it. I think the best thing about the old anime was probably the OP, like, I get the most nostalgic about that. otherwise, it desperately needed the new adaptation. but yeah... when I got into all that stuff, I got into manga first, cuz I could find it at the library, and I wasn't sure how to watch anime without buying a ton of DVDs. and my tastes weren't very discerning, so I had a weird mix of favorites.

also, wait, Detective Pony? is this like, someone's take on what Dirk's version of Pony Pals would've been like? because that would be awesome.

it is time.

I want to compile a more complete rundown of my thoughts about homestuck 2. I want all the stuff in my head to be in one place, and I know this is going to be incredibly long winded and I don’t care. I want to be honest… I want to understand why I don’t like this media. on more than a “but of course” level because there are a lot of people who have it as a gut reaction that this stuff isn’t right. but I think there are layers to what produces that. I wanna get in depth with this. so that’s what I’m gonna attempt to do.

Keep reading