#guy of essay

[guyofthing]

Fun fact: obviously we all know that the trolls in Homestuck were initially inspired by, well, internet trolls. There's kind of an aspect of that in Fragments, but less the troll part and more the internet part. They're partially based on the ways we use the internet to harm each other. Wait, actually. This was gonna be a quick little paragraph but it's turning into an essay.

CONTENT WARNINGS: I don't think there's any strong content warnings but if there is, someone please let me know so I can update this.

WARNING THE SECOND (joke): my formatting is shit and my essay is EXTREMELY long. I'm still learning how to do long-form shit in a way that's concise and readable.

I first gained unrestricted access to the internet in 2019. Most of the fixtures of the internet that I talk about here came to fruition in 2020-2022, far as I can tell, though they'd been developing much longer than that.

I could write all fucking day about what makes our current internet the way it is (and in fact had to delete two long paragraphs of speculation on why people my age acted the way we did online as tweens), but it doesn't really matter. What does matter is how it impacts Fragments.

Fragments, fundamentally, is a comic about relationships. It's about how people affect each other. Indirectly and directly. Externally and internally. Positively and negatively. And just like the trolls in Homestuck are inspired by internet trolls and internet culture, the trolls in fragments are inspired by the unique ways online spaces affect people, usually negatively.

Leusse and Mentis' kismesissitude, for instance, is inspired by something I have witnessed so many fucking times on this fucking website. The moment someone in a marginalized position does something someone else doesn't like (primarily trans women, primarily the terrible, terrible crime of not wanting to have to plaster themselves with warning signs just to be allowed to exist), the offended party with find any and every excuse to label them as "problematic".

They will play to your pathos by positioning the party they are attacking (again, nearly always a trans woman) as having done something that strikes people as an unforgiveable moral wrong. A very popular tactic (surprise surprise, also done by the popular media to trans women) is to accuse them of grooming. This creates an environment in which a lot of trans women are afraid to even interact with anyone under the age of eighteen online, let alone be openly horny or engage with adult content.

Leusse and Mentis's relationship is not a direct translation of this phenomenon. That was, however, the inspiration. Mentis wants to control Leusse, and so she positions her as being dangerous. Leusse's whole thing, her whole fucking thing, is that she likes to pretend at being a villain. Key word being pretend. It's fucking campy, it's fucking cartoonish. She's not a bad person, she's Dr. Doofenshmirtz. She's Team Rocket. Mentis weaponizes this to make her look like a threat, and everyone fucking believes it, despite knowing that Leusse doesn't want to hurt anyone. I'll let you do the math. You've seen the witch hunts for trans women on this site. You've seen them get obliterated for something as innocuous as enjoying a piece of fictional media that's been deemed problematic.

Another cool example that's a little lighter is Rephel Eangil's relentless posturing. Rephel, being a mutant initially from Beforus, is easily the most similar character in Fragments to her Homestuck counterpart, Kankri Vantas, though it may not seem like it on the surface. In fact, the Eangils as a whole are incredibly inspired by the Vantases, especially so far as their relationship to authority. I'm not here to talk about Kankri, but if you actually understand his character, that fact is pretty enlightening. Rephel is a poser. This is incredibly important to remember.

Rephel is representative of the prioritization of optics over action in internet politics. Contributing in any way to activism or raising awareness doesn't matter. What matters is pronouncing your support for the Correct Thing. This applies to her identity as punk as well. She lacks the punk ethos completely, and doesn't actually stand for any of the things her favorite bands stand for. But she listens to the music, right? She doesn't just buy the merch, that's a no-no, she makes her own. She's loud and rowdy and rebellious. But politically? She falls completely flat. Her views don't differ at all from the clown cult she grew up on.

Meanwhile, she attacks her dancestor, Gabrie, for not rejecting the clurch (clown clurch). Of course, Gabrie's optics are terrible. She claims to be a rebel, claims to want to follow in the footsteps of her Ancestor, and yet she's a soft spoken little juggalo in clown paint and her highblood brother's colors. This is where the harm comes in. Rephel claims to be an advocate for lowblood's rights. She isn't even friends with any. Gabrie, meanwhile, used her connections within the Clurch to get better opportunities for lowbloods on Alternia. Gabrie spends all her time with a lowblood activist and a midblood class traitor, neither of whom fit Rephel's definition of what a revolutionary is supposed to be with. She sees this as a threat to her own self-identification as a rebel and a punk, and so she does everything in her power to undermine them. She is actively sabotaging her own movement just to make herself look better, and it's so incredibly similar to the kind of performative activism you see a lot here.

There's probably more, but I'm tired. But the bottom line is that the worst parts of today's internet are on full display in Fragments, and in that way I think it is very Homestuck indeed.

[blueskittlesart]

i think we all collectively moved on too quickly from hyrule warriors

[misscammiedawn]

Just read The Strange Case of Harley and Harleen and my god I needed a little bit of positive plurality in my life this week.

The way Pam and Harl's relationship adapts to accept the Harley/Harleen split makes my heart swell.

The way Pam sees the difference between her girlfriends.

And assures her that she accepts and loves all sides of her.

And does what she can to accommodate Harleen's memory holes.

The core relationship of this book is just so sweet and positive in accepting things as they are without judgment or pushing. Just acceptance and love.

And after finding that in our own life, I know what a powerfully positive thing it can be.

But the Harley/Harleen relationship is well handled too. There's friction and denial at the start but the two develop and trust one another by the end and Harley takes a seat as my favorite kind of character, the morally ambiguous protector.

I love the way Harley's protectiveness of Harleen is depicted and how she tries so hard to keep her from interacting with the criminal underworld of Gotham.

It's just saccharine and kind.

Highly recommend the book to anyone who just wants soft and kind plurality vibes. Heaven knows the majority of the fiction involving split personalities are flooded with angst and darkness and though this book contains a few dark plot beats like DV it never feels painful or sorrow inducing.

I'm so happy I read it.

[gerrykeay]

im not putting this post into words. beams into your mind The Parallels

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[egophiliac]

Your first initial impressions of any Twst character vs your current feelings about them?

honestly, my perception of pretty much every character went through some metamorphosis of "this guy looks like a jerk" to "oh, he's a stupid jerk? now hold on." it's all about that balancing act between a dark brooding asshole and a dark brooding asshole who is also totally ridiculous, and it really does make ALL the difference.

perhaps most ironically, I've mentioned before that I was absolutely not into the Diasomnias at first, because the impression the website gave pre-release was somehow even less favorable than for everyone else and I was mad at Lilia for getting my hopes up for a token girl). and then we got their stories and, well, I kind of just haven't stopped thinking about them since. 🤷

also, I went in thinking that Crowley was going to be. y'know. competent at his job. a helpful guide. a mysterious yet caring mentor figure, a fitting leader for this band of delicate young magic waifs with their fancy little magic outfits and their perfect, perfect hair. I've never been so glad to be wrong.

[noproveninterests]

he loves and supports you btw

underswap sans belongs to PopcornPr1nce/AU Community

original image under the cut

[inbabylontheywept]

Soviet Birds.

The secret facility that I work in has holes in the ceiling. We don't know how to get them fixed.

We tried asking the government to fix it, once. We told them that the holes in the older parts of the facility had gotten large enough to fit birds through, and that birds were getting through, and that, perhaps, a Soviet Spy could fit through as well.

After all, it is well known that Soviet Spies and pigeons are approximately the same diameter.

Our hope was that that this vague and nonsensical threat would put a little fire under Uncle Sam's feet. If the fed couldn't be bothered to give a shit about the giant gaping holes in the roof of our facility, perhaps they could be persuaded to give a shit about... Soviet Spies.

This attempt at manipulation 100% blew up in our faces.

See, the government does not need to be persuaded to give a shit about Soviet Spies. It still wakes up most nights, drenched in cold sweat, terrified and confident that a Soviet Spy is hiding in their nightstand. If it sees a rock on the ground, it flips it over, pistol drawn, ready to shoot the Soviet Spy it fully expects to slither out from underneath. Which is to say: The government is crazy. So when we dropped those two words - inflitration risk - in the repair request, they came in guns-a-blazin'.

Does that mean that they fixed the roof? Of course not. Don't be stupid. No, instead of performing basic maintenance, they installed a state of the art alarm system throughout the facility - lasers, sonar, the works - and told us to always be on the guard. Because of the roof holes.

Then they left.

So now we had an extremely good alarm system... and birds. Which have combined in incredibly obvious and predictable ways to produce an unending fountain of problems.

For Example: About once a month, someone gets called in by the local airforce dispatch because AAAAAAAAAAA a Spy is in the Rad Lab! We're all gonna die! Except every time, it's a bird. And I get why we have to check, but every time, the dispatcher is panicked and the person going out has to be like listen, listen: It's a bird. It's always a bird. It's been a bird every month for the last fifteen years. It will be a bird next month. All this stress? Bad for your heart.

Second Example: Sometimes, birds get in while we're actually working. And when it's in the morning, you know, it's a nuisance, and it stops testing (we are not going to risk irradiating a bird) but it's not an all-hands-on-deck situation because it doesn't take ten hours to get a bird out. But surprisingly often, the bird gets in riiiiight at closing time, and in that situation, everyone goes feral because nobody can leave until the alarm is set, and we cannot set the alarm while the bird is there, because the bird would immediately trigger it and then we'd have to stay another 4 hours to confirm that it was not a Soviet Bird.

So in order to go home, everyone's top priority is Get That Bird. And we have a system for it.

Step 1: The test stands tend to be located in rooms with 30+ foot ceilings. We can't catch birds in places like that - so we have to lure the bird into the relatively low ceilinged (8 feet only) upper offices.

We do this by turning all the lights off in the test rooms, then putting floodlights by the exits. I don't know why this works - some kind of evolutionary brain fragment shared by both Bugs and Birds - but work it does. The birds almost always follow after the lights. From there, it’s just two guys moving the floodlight and a third guy to turn off the lights.

Step 2: Everyone else has been waiting for this step. There is this long stairway up from the basement level into the offices, and in the final stage, the floodlights are brought to the base of the stairwell to bring the bird up. At the top of the steps there will be a group of tennish people, waiting for the signal. The light guys will set up the final transfer, everyone will tense, and then, swish...a bird will flit up the stairs and into the offices.

It's like watching werewolves on a full moon. Before the bird cometh, we are engineers. Nerds. Pale and skinny things, trembling under the fluorescent lights. After the bird, we are beasts. Feral, gnawing things, glowing under the orange sunrise of the 70's halogen floodlights.

And like all beasts, we cannot help but give chase.

Step 3: The were-engineers begin the hunt. The goal at the start is not really to catch the bird - just exhaust it. So the pack simply does not relent. Because the stakes are going home on time, the group is basically given free reign to go anywhere in the building. If someone's door is open, and the bird goes inside, they're going to have to deal with ten sweaty panting maniacs leaping around their office. They don't get to say that they're busy, or remark on how all this movement is a terrible distraction. They are allowed to sit in silence during the chaos, and perhaps thank the war party for chasing the bird while they sat comfortably on their ass. This has been explained several times, and it will continue to be explained until cooperation is achieved.

Anyway.

The chase can go on for quite some time. Sometimes, the bird will get tired and find a crevice to hide in, where it can then be reached through standard cornered-bird catching techniques.

Other times, it will slow down enough that someone can actually yoink it out of the air. But this will go on until someone catches the bird and triggers Step 4.

Step 4: The Finale. This is the get-the-bird-out-of-the-building stage, and it requires someone to adopt a specific role: To Become the Sacrificial Vessel of Bird Removal.

This job is both coveted and feared. It's coveted, because holding a wild bird in one's hands is a precious thing. To feel how small, and fragile, and scared it is, only to free it from the building? That is what it's like to be a benevolent God. But the cost! Oh, the cost. The entire time the Vessel is in motion, the bird will be biting the hell out of their fingers. And I cannot emphasize enough just how painful bird bites are. Their entire face is a set of needle posed pliers, and they know tricks the even the cartels haven't figured out yet. So there's always a little hubbub about who shall be The Vessel while onlookers, stranded outside The Office of Bird Capture, can only look on. Quiet arguments and pleas are heard, little fragments of fear and pride and glory trickling out of room like the silver dust left behind in a bag of well shook quarters. The sound of concensus is silence, and the argument will go on until that's all that's left. And then, from the darkness of the final office, the chosen sacrifice will step forward: Hands gently cupped, tears streaming down their face, fingers trembling from the pain of the ongoing bird chomps.

And this scene is what organizes people. Not leadership, not truly. No one can think and coordinate a crowd while their fingers are being attacked with a combination nutcracker/ear piercer. But the crowd sees the suffering of their annointed, and it is driven to do everything poossible to make the process flow. People instinctively flair out, finding the fastest path outside. Doors are held open. Paths are cleared. Someone, somehow, always knows the way forward and can describe it to the sufferer. Left, left, forward. Corner closet. Yep, there's a hall in there. Forward. Two-hundred more feet man, you're doing great. Just hold it together a little longer. You're killing it.

Then the final door swings open, and the bird flees out into what remains of daylight. And yet, even here, the deed is not yet done. I cannot explain it in words, but the crowd that helped is never content until they can see and speak on the Bird Vessel's wounds. They all have to pull the fingers back and see what was given. Estimate the price: One day to get better - No, three - No, a week! Are you blind? Do you see that blood blister? -Yeah, that's not going away anytime soon - Damn, can you believe how feisty those things are? Like wolves without teeth.

(They cannot help but touch as they go. It has always been this way. Even Thomas was not content until he felt the wounds in Christ's hands.)

Only when the last of the helpers has seen, and commented, and commended, will the engineers scatter. It is their return from the underworld that announces to the sun living surface dwellers that they too can go home. (@somerunner tolja it needed to be a post.)

[penceykills]

My Chemical Romance live @ Saint Andrews Hall, Michigan // June 18, 2004

[theashesofthefirststar]

God if I think about Edwin Payne too much I lose my mind. No one saved him. No one reached out a hand. He had to save himself. He escaped hell with only his own two hands to carry him there. And what does he do with his freedom? He reaches out a hand to Charles. He reaches out a hand to every ghost he can help. He could have been bitter. He could have said No one’s coming to save you. Save yourself. Instead, he says, you’ll escape, and you won’t do it alone.

[aceissomunster]

discowing + jaybin ! press for quality

txtless + ref under the cut

ignore my horrible art please i drew this on ibis paint x with my finger and the soft felt tip pen brush. and my crappy penmanship.

[counting-stars-gayly]

Book: "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you." "Why?" "Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain."

Show: "You've done more for me in the past few days than my dad's done for me in my entire life. If I have to stick with someone, I—" "Careful. I think you were about to call me your friend."

[guyofthing]

Swords, guns, and wands have symbolic meaning in both Homestuck and Fragments, but they're completely different symbolic meanings. This is for several reasons: one, even though one is a fanwork of the other, they are different stories with different themes; two, all of these things are phallic, and Fragments isn't about gender nearly as much as Homestuck is about gender, despite having more canonically trans characters (it's still about gender though. A little bit. Mostly with Vereni and the Tembits' story arcs); and three, Fragments has significantly more out there weaponry at times, and much of it is a joke (much of Homestuck's Is Also A Joke). This has been Fun With Flags, I'm Sheldon Cooper.

[st-hedge]

I can’t believe they’d managed to animate kusuriuri’s insane character design and then decided to make it even more insane. The most character ever

[lazylittledragon]

can't stop thinking about how well they nailed falin's 'weird little girl' energy. when she picked up a stick and said 'ooh a bug' i felt that

[14dayswithyou]

what is ren's schedule for the 28th? 💚☔️🩷

if it's not too much of a spoiler can i ask what the most fucked up thing that can happen involving our pretty boy? is totally ok if you can't answer this!

⌞♥⌝ Wahhh asking me for the most fucked up events feels a bit subjective (as it all depends on the person), but I will say that—

CW: 14DWY spoilers under the cut!! Also minor depictions of gore, torture, etc.

Depending on the Decay meter and everyone's affinity points, the player can potentially unlock a scene where Ren will literally carve off another character's face and wear it like a second skin. (He just wants to be Angel's ideal type, after all!! ^^)

And depending on the Decay and Purity meter, there's also another unlockable scene where Angel can essentially dehumanise(?) Ren and treat him like a wild animal T_T He'll sleep in a cage (or on the floor like in day 1 ghshjg), eat whatever scraps Angel feeds him, and kinda just?? act like how he would around his father in hopes of appeasing them.

I've also mentioned this a few times before, but there will also be an unlockable cannibal scene, a torture scene (Angel is not the one being tortured /gen), a red room scene, and your basic Room Tour After Getting Kidnapped scene <3 But I feel like they're all kinda self-explanatory, so I won't delve further kgjdfjgj

But, again, these are just some things that I personally consider to be the tiniest bit fucked up. However, others might have differing opinions once the full game is published, and I also don't want to reveal everything that will be in the game, as I feel like that takes away the fun of blindly experiencing something for the first time.

Also!! I want to reiterate once more that all these scenes (except one) are conditional and dependent on the player's choices! You can 100% go down a pacifist route where Ren is a Normal Guy With Normal Intentions — and you won't ever be pressured into making certain choices either. At its core, 14DWY is a game that shapes itself around the player's tastes and interests...

...Much like Ren.

[beastlyidiocy]

Feuċ, súile Dé go fuireaċ air