#act 1 on reality

[girlbowser]

that intermission was kinda sad because those kids looked at their guardians trying to be better and are like "What's your angle"

And it isn't even a change come from introspection and genuinely changing, their guardians got specifically replaced by different people.

God, the angst that's gonna cause them if they figure it out

there's a few big things about bro-coded that are worth noting.

one - obviously, this is operating under the thematic consequences of Act 1's reality. (really good post that informs a LOT of the philosophy of bro-coded, worth a read.) act 1's Earth is not a real place, it's not filled with real people. Early John, when Rose starts modifying his house, cannot give less of a shit about his sense of reality rapidly unravelling -- his sense of reality did not really exist as a coherent thing in the first place, because it's just a series of symbols, a series of ideas.

(click READ MORE, i. ended up writing a LOT)

part of that is that the guardians are ALSO just ideas, and not people. i can't find who said it, but there's a critique of act 6 that always stuck out to me. Bro Strider was never meant to be dave's biological father. he was meant to be a metaphor for the weird/aloof cool/shitty older brother that you don't see. he doesn't have a room, or a legal job, because it doesn't need to make sense -- he's dave's perception of a person.

like, the point that post was trying to make is that there were several evolutions of who/what bro was. there's the initial state, where he isn't a person -- he's an absent, aloof older brother, with hobbies you don't understand, who you worship nonetheless. then later in act 4 he becomes a cartoon ninjadad, throwing a baby across a roof in a way that i think was still not meant to be interpreted literally, but... it was a huge change. suddenly bro actually HAS an impact on dave's life. suddenly it matters what dave's home life is like.

then by act 6, all of these conflicting shades of bro coalesced under the rules of act 6's reality. and act 6's reality is very literal, y'know? you're meant to find tragedy in the alpha guardians. you're meant to mourn humanity on the alpha earth -- we spend SO much more time expounding upon humanity's fate on alpha earth than on beta earth. the boots-on-the-ground reality MATTERS, all of the sudden, and so Bro Strider coalesces into a really, really, really, REALLY shitty person.

and i think that that's compelling, if done right! it can be good. but you have to unpack those contradictions and layers.

bro strider was not, initially, a person.

and that's what bro-coded explores.

i think i forgot to use more numbers but whatever. yeah.

point two is basically just that the beta guardians aren't people. not in the way the alpha kids are, not in the way the alpha guardians are (since they're based on characters we spent 4k pages getting to know). and definitely not people on the level of Emma or Viri, who are real people from the real world. homestuck is a game of contrasts, and bro-coded is HUGELY interested in exploring those contrasts.

throwing all of those contradictory iterations of Bro (the ideatic Bro Strider, a post-game Dirk Strider, a real human being who's a dirk kinnie) into one body?

now you've got some interesting tension.

the other big part of this tension is that like. viri and emma are very much different kinds of homestuck fan, in the way that caliborn and calliope are, right? emma IS very much into that ideatic, early MSPA iteration of Homestuck's world. she likes bro strider because she likes that version of Homestuck, she liked it when he was in play because he was cool as shit and a fantastic symbol. she never really gave much thought to his abusive tendencies because she didn't consider the world under the lens of, like, realistic consequences that Act 6 applies. (this is NOT to say anything CLOSE to "all early homestuck fans are abusers" -- it's that Emma Specifically is letting a toxic closemindedness cloud her vision.)

and like, both girls have both perspectives inside of them! sure, viri's the kind of person who'd use blorbos in her narration unironically. she's huge on the alpha kids, and on thinking about shipping, and all the tumblr calliope stuff you'd associate with her. she thinks her understanding of rose would help her win her over. but it doesn't. because her worldview is also incomplete without Mom Lalonde, who IS that same exact extremely symbolic persona that Emma likes. and on the flipside, Emma's conscience is being driven by post-act-6 Dirk Strider, an Alpha Kid, a character TONS of people hate. viri loves Dirk, but Emma's indifferent... at least until it matters.

both girls have an act 1 guardian, barely a person, more of a symbol, in their heads. both girls have an act 6 strilonde, a fully realized character, an angst machine dialed up to 12, chattering away in their heads.

for all that emma's chapters are sharp and quick and cutting and focused, and viri's chapters are slower and meandering and talky and more sentimental...

emma and viri are two sides of the same person. it's a self insert.

emma and viri are both me.

in conclusion i kinda didn't answer your question and just talked about emma and viri forever asjlfdgsdghsdsg BUT it was fun to talk about some of my ideology stuff for bro-coded!!!!

[madadrawing]

Joyce is such a fascinating character to me cause she feels so... defeated? In a way that feels at the same time distinct and very similar to Harry. I think the reality lowdown sometimes gets written off as being manipulative, and maybe there's an element of that, but she's also self-aware and vulnerable in a way I can't imagine a woman in her position would ever be with Harry. And she seems genuinely sad about how everything turned out; she wants to be forgiven by Harry, and if you do, she doesn't feel like she deserves that forgiveness anyways. She's intelligent, and aware of history in a way that real world CEO and economic leader types rarely, if ever, openly admit. She openly regrets the way all that history played out, and it's so fascinating to me that she chose her idealogy and career while knowing and internalizing so many emotions about the revolution. She wanted them to succeed; but she's a survivor, first and foremost.

There's so many characters I wish we would ever get to see more of, but at least for me, Joyce seems like a character I'd really love to learn more about her past. Especially with how she talks about Cindy, it makes me feel like she had a revolutionary streak when she was younger; I doubt it was lost in any way that wasn't boring, life washing away her edges until all that remained was what we see in the game. Maybe it'd make her less interesting to learn more about her, but she's one of the most fascinating characters in the game to me, in a game filled with some of the most interesting and thought provoking characters I've seen in the medium.

[redhoodie1723]

lando norris number one enemy now

[mxtxfanatic]

Ngl, I’m actually pretty uncomfortable reading my old posts defending the goodness of the common people and their right to defend themselves—as persecuted groups or as individuals—from hierarchical tyranny, given how easily in this current irl moment a not-insignificant amount of people have fallen into supporting an active genocide, because I cannot separate this from how much pushback I got (and still sometimes get) for being consistent in my politics

[y-rhywbeth2]

'Astarion outliving his friends and possibly SO' is angsty and good for those who like exploring the themes of bereavement and all, and it is a possible outcome (he's not helpless), but it is my firm opinion that there is still a damn good chance that guy is gonna die first and be outlived by them.

[emlynphoenix]

Only 19 states have the Seizure Safe School Act. Out of 50 states only 19 have mandated seizure first aid requirements.

Epilepsy is the 4th most common neurological disorder. It is treated as if it is rare causing the feeling of loneliness, and being misunderstood. Students and faculty alike cause some of this by not taking the disability seriously. We need to bring this to an end. All 50 states should be on board.

Anyone with a brain can have a seizure 💜

[adhderall]

well as you can see besides being ugly as all fuck I'm also extremely bitter so that doesn't help at all in making me appealing. but it also comes with the territory you see, being treated as a hideous freak of nature for your whole life kind of does things to your psyche.

also going into shit in the tags as an extreeeemely jaded individual who's been on every side of the discourse and KNOWS it all VERY PERSONALLY so I know many people will find all sorts of different reasons to hate me (if they want ig) because I'm ~politically homeless~ at this point because I'm sick and tired of everything but whatever

(also fuck I ran out of space in the tags so another post maybe idk. )

[darkwood-sleddog]

Can the balanced dog trainers please stop fucking talking about positive reinforcement as if those dogs are not “obedience trained”? A majority of competition obedience dogs I know were trained with R+. Letting your dog wander on the end of a line because you want to do so does not = untrained. It is simply…a choice.

[meeple-inc]

I acTually found ouT about mEeple through inanimate insanity! it had some great product pLacement i would recommend watching it if you haven't aLready! the Show always had great things to say aboUt the company, and I think it'S definitely worth The watch! plus tHe characters arE Very Interesting and ComplicaTed and they're dynamIcs even More So. i will warn you, Season one is a biT Of a ... trashfiRe but try to watch to at least season two epIsodE eight. that episode Shows a lot of the company! also sorry for the capitation my phone just keeps correcting it lol 😅

Great to hear! Our partnership with Inanimate Insanity has allowed both our company and the show to grow. Without our support, Inanimate Insanity may not have been able to get where it is today.

[a-shade-of-green]

yeah so that scene where mike kicks down the fort in his basement in s1 is definitely supposed to be paralleled by will taking down castle byers in s3. just if anyone cares about when mike turned his back on being a kid.

[airenyah]

Your essay on Joong's underrated acting skills deepened my Joong appreciation so much, that I watched Mafia the Series, I'm watching Ploy's Yearbook (even though there is a serious lack of Joong so far), and I'm planning on watching The Warp Effect too. I haven't watched het shows in over ten years, so this is a big deal! 😂 I really liked him with Dunk in their shows, but MTS gave me another facet of him, because he's so timid in it, unlike in SIMM and HA, where he's (seemingly) very cool and in control. So thank you for making me a full time Joong (and Dunk) girl 💜

i saw this message first thing in the morning when i woke up yesterday and it instantly put me in a good mood!!! <3

YESSSSSS I'M SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT

mafia the series might actually be my absolute fave thai het-show, it's just SO funny!!!! and the entire cast is so great, like, not just joong but the entire cast plays off each other SO well. and don't even get me started on gina virahya and her portrayal of anna kondra!!!!

you know, when i went into mafia the series i saw the poster and was like "ughh i really am gonna have to sit through this standard (overly) dramatic mafia show just for joong, huh. the things i do for my boy..." and then. AND THEN. you can imagine my surprise. i was crying tears of laughter throughout the show and i was actually laughing so hard that my mom made a comment about how she could hear my laugh in my room

beam is my loser boy and joong portrays him in such an adorably awkward way, i love it <333

and yes there IS a serious lack of joong in ploy's yearbook so far :((((

it was quite funny tho bc in the one scene where joong does show up i immediately recognized him by the back of his head, like!! i saw this:

and instantly went "OH there's my boy!!!!!" 😂😂😂

and i can't wait to see him with film bc film did extremely well with gun in not me and i feel like film and joong will also work together really well

you know, i'm always happy to turn people into full time joong (and dunk) girls!!!!!!

i've adored them ever since simm which i watched live from ep2 onwards. fun fact, actually: when i started simm i actually had no idea who they were (even though technically i'd seen dunk in bad buddy already, except i wasn't paying attention to the random high school bandmates and so i didn't actually recognize dunk and only realized later on ahahah)

aaaanyway, i had no idea who they were, right? and so in 2022 my mom and i spent two nights in prague during easter and in the evening we were in our hotel room and we were kinda looking for something to watch. and i was like "hey look, gmmtv has a new bl out and it looks kinda cute and fluffy judging by the thumbnails?? and like something that doesn't require too much brain power?? plus, there's also only two eps out so far, so we'll be caught up right away" and so we watched the first two episodes and then the two of us ended up watching every new ep together every week hahaha

i actually didn't really talk about it on tumblr back then and when you go back on my blog you'll see that there are hardly any simm post. but really, with every new simm episode that aired i liked joongdunk more and more. and especially once the characters started dating i was actually so in awe about just how comfortable joong and dunk were with each other and how they absolutely weren't afraid to touch? like, their physical affection was just so casual, like it was the most natural thing in the world to them in an "i'm-not-even-thinking-about-it-bc-it's-so-normal" kind of way and that was just soooo refreshing to watch?? i was (and still am) truly amazed

and when just a couple of months later, at the end of 2022 gmmtv announced joongdunk were gonna get another show together i got SO excited!! and also when it was revealed that simm was included in our skyy 2!!!!

and then hidden agenda started airing and then i was tagged in that tag game and then i went to watch joong's entire filmography and then i ended up falling into a joongdunk rabbit hole and here we are...

anyway, i have multiple agendas and one of them is turning people into joong fans and dunk fans and joongdunk fans sllksdfd

and my other agenda is getting people to watch mafia the series, bc it's truly a gem of a show!!!!

(speaking of agendas: the only thing that's missing in your message is you telling me that you approve of my fight for a sexy joongdunk vampire bl, like... that would have made the message and the influence of my joong/dunk/joongdunk blogging complete 😂😂😂)

[spacedlexi]

saw your reply about wanting to draw s1 and s2 art more often, would literally die for Lee and Carley in your style... i skim through your stuff often as well, probably one of my top three fav styles, and cant wait for your post s4 clemvi story, i know ill enjoy that as much as i do your art. have a nice holiday and happy new year friend :)

ive drawn lee before so if you mean more in a shippy sense then.. possibly? (im partial to both lee/carley and lee/lilly myself 😏 like i see it) i need to draw carley anyway im making a promise to myself to draw the ladies from the other seasons at Least once..because i love them and they get no attention (except for when theyre getting yelled at amirite). fucked up women of twdg my beloveds

so much kenny nick and luke art out there i will bring balance to the ecosystem 😔🙏

byut shdfkshjkd 🥺💕 THANK YOU!!! im excited to finally finish it and im making illustrations to go with it as well i just havent decided how many to do yet. i hope you have a happy new year too anon!!

[gilded-gheists]

I think my run's bugged as Gale just hasn't asked for a single artifact at all. Which is great for me ngl, free extra gold when i need to sell stuff.

But god, the angst potential of him feeling the weave underneath his chest strain, fight and claw at him, desperate and hungry like the starved beast it is. Feeling himself on the edge of death constantly but not wanting to burden his companions with the matter. Not wanting to burden you with the matter. So he just continues on, prenteding that there isn't something eating away at him inside, that he isn't a ticking time bomb quite literally waiting to explode.

[hella1975]

tams zuko's realism vs season 1 gaang's naivety FIGHT

[guavagyal]

I'd be cool with a lot of these edgy leftists on Twitter if they had actual, tangible plans for when shit hits the fan after Election Day. being snarky on social media isn't any form of mutual aid.

[cruelsister-moved2]

every year we get all this content from bisexuals in opposite gender relationships about erasure and straight passing discourse in which they will act as if bisexuals are a tiny forgotten minority of the lgbt community and being erased is just as bad as being hatecrimed and always shoehorn in the villainous gatekeeping gays (who I feel like in many cases are just the externalisation of the voice in your head telling you that you're not Queer Enough) and so on. and it's never anything new like no one ever has a new perspective on this issue and everything they collectively have ever said can be summarised in like 3 sentences so... can we move on. I think we all get it now. can we please talk about something else💜💜