#i get why karkat reacts the way he does jhbn

[jojotier]

Okey but I need to know what is Karkat character like in the CW version or if Karkat watches any of the shows

oh Karkat fucking hates the fact that these shows exist. He accidentally catches the HBO's Homestuck episode centering around murderstuck and it ends up sending him into a Depressive Spiral he's gotta call his therapist about. at first he tries to avoid any mention of the shows but then his friends start watching them and the little gremlin in his brain telling him to hatewatch shit is immediately activated.

so he finally does hatewatch them. understandably, he hates the CW's Homestuck more because it portrays him as a pathetic loser who only becomes even vaguely competent when someone's love lives are on the line. CW murderstuck is played as a slapstick comedy where CW Tavros accidentally stabs himself with a hidden blade in his Pupa Pan hat and CW Vriska just comically whistles as she walks away and CW Gamzee is dressed up as a human clown, not a jugalo, who rather than being given to religiously zealous rage just decides to play a series of pranks which increasingly go wrong. it's all a joke and Not A Very Good One.

and he hatewatches HBO's Homestuck but he just keeps being taken aback because it's so faithful but like... done in a tasteful way, almost? The murderstuck is exactly the same but this time the showrunner adds this detail where HBO Sollux, blind, wakes up and drags himself over to HBO Feferi's corpse, calling her name, voice cracking, breaking down as he gently cradles her in his arms; the bit where he's stabbed by Jack is exactly the same, but there's an added detail where before the final battle HBO Jack and HBO Karkat have one final goodbye.

HBO Karkat breaks down because he's sleep deprived and scared and 6 sweeps old and doesn't want to die (in real life, Karkat wasn't afforded this luxury) and HBO Jack kinda looks around and awkwardly consoles him, patting his shoulder and talking about the nature of fear and how sometimes it's better to feel it and do it anyway than to never fear at all. It's this beautiful bonding moment and Karkat's just stricken because HBO's Homestuck is 100%, completely sincere.

So he looks up interviews with the showrunner (hemoanonymous Leoxri, speaking gently, reverently, a troll through and through and so damnably open about his faith in the Gods) and the actors (they love each other, they support each other, the actor playing him is a 6 sweep old mutant, Risnel, who's so meek and gentle Karkat knows the kid would've never survived on Alternia), trying to find more to hate, but he can't, and it makes him so angry because in the end they're all still using his trauma and his dead friends for entertainment. no matter the intention. no matter the faith. they're just a story to these people.

CW's Homestuck is easier to hate. at least the showrunner hates Karkat just as much as Karkat hates him.