#i mean its INTENTIONAL dont get me wrong. we dont see this with other characters

[wheelercore]

Suuuuuuch a fan of Nancy's hair actually being naturally curly idc if she actually had straight hair for the first two seasons. She was actually straightening it during that time. Nancy told me herself.

[zan0tix]

Hi tumblr user Zan0tix, I have to say that I love that you draw Jake as big and hairy AND fem. It's such a rare combination outside of mean-spirited caricatures, every time I see your Jake I get a big smile on my face. :)

Hi tumblr user HermitCyclop ^u^ here is a jake drawing for you 🫶

The transmisogynistic demonisation of these features is so maddening!!! I agree! Im glad that the intent (appreciating these features) of my jake design reaches you c:

GOING TO PUT IT UNDER THE CUT BECAUSE I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY. But jake english gender meta because i think about it Too Much and am taking this as an excuse to infodump abt it. 😁

The alpha kids and their specific defiance of both homestucks gendered narrative AND real life societal expectations are so fun to think about to me!! but since we are talking about jake, his specific defiance of both homestucks models of masculinity and femininity in the context of his queerness is like the reason he is my fav character.

He props himself up that he wants to be the adventure "hero" in the homestuck sense (the hardheaded blue femme fatale) and the western media sense (the hardheaded action man) yet whenever pressed to actually act on what he says he always refuses or obfuscates. Because really what he wants is to just be himself! I really love the alpha kids because they all just want to be Themselves, not be restricted and defined by what is expected of them, (all the characters have this but the alphas particularly really hammer this home for me)

The heavy emphasis on their beta selves, the heteronormative archetypes they embodied and what went wrong in their lives that manifest as fears in their alpha selves... im always thinking about it. How differently society affects queer ppls choices in life and then the fact that they all get a second chance and getting to watch them live out that second chance and realize their queerness and them all caring so much abt eachother and wanting to aspire to be better FOR the ones they love!!!!!! it always tugs at my heart strings to ponder😢😢

IM SO GOOD AT GOING ON TANGENTS MY BAD but basically. The alpha kids explicit queerness and how despite the comic itself protesting, they are all shown to be deserving of love (of all kinds) And as a person who super heavily relates to jake, his experience with his own identity (and dirks unending adoration and love for him and likewise jakes belief and admiration of dirk) serves to me as a reminder that yknow! We are all worthy of love!! Even if we dont think ourselves to be (this is just the message of shrek.) and there is always hope to be found in things improving!!!!

But in a text thats explicitly queer and not shy about letting its queer characters do wrong in realistic ways i think this message is incredibly powerful and certainly one of the best things about the comic in my eyes. And i love embracing that in my art of the characters! Drawing queer (but here specifically trans) characters all getting to be proud of themselves and their appearances makes me feel proud of myself alongside them and I think its wonderful to be able appreciate other trans peoples experiences and looks through it too!!

I specifically in homestuck fandom dont really see anybody but twinks (usually dirk or eridan LMFAO) portrayed to be fem in any manner 😢 when jake is the most explicitly feminine man in the comic. (I think the transmisogyny thats kind of rampant in this fandom means people dont want to consider those outside conventional attractiveness being feminine or transfem identities outside binary transwomen if even that😭😭) I am being the change i wana see in the world 🙏 The amount of transfem fat gay bear jake in the world increases by one every time i post

[romanarose]

The Bikeriders as a metaphor for bisexuality

Now I ain't saying this was intentional because I'm pretty sure it's not but this is how I read the struggle between Johnny and Kathy for Benny just feels like Benny's internal struggle between homosexuality and heteosexuality, how neither of it fits him so he was always walking that line.

For the record Im speaking in terms of binary gender because this is just a simple movie theory. I am well aware of other genders but this is just how I see it.

Spoilers below

Kathy tried to get him to leave, he wouln't do it. It's like he wouldn't let go of that same/sex attraction, the queerness, the subversive side of him.

Johnny never tried to get him to leave Kathy for him, but his pull comes in the two times he tried to get Benny to take over the club. Benny refused, because that full commitment to the club, the lifestyle, would be rejecting the other side of him.

He didn't want to choose. he wanted to just be himself. I think his happiness came in accepting that.

Benny didnt give up riding because Kathy made him. He gave it up because Johnny was dead and that broke him. He was ready to settle down. Benny didn't choose "being straight", I think in his crying, his finally crying he and Kathy new what Johnny was to him and I think Benny accepted who he was. Then he was happy with Kathy, because he did love her. I think she was wrong that he didn't miss it. I think he did. But I think he misses it in a sense that we as people will always long for the past.

Another way I see it is that yes, he's happy. Yes he has a good life. But Maybe he was always going to end up with Kathy as the "settling down". Johnny didn't equal settling down. I think a lot of times, especially back then, homosexuality was viewed as a phase, like the trope of college girls going through a "gay phase" or concepts of homoerotic military men secluded from women. That its something you do for a while then you "grow out of it." But thats not how it really works. I stand by that Benny loves Kathy and is happy at the end.

He smiles, which is rare for his character. He's smiling when Kathy isn't looking, so he's not performing for anyone.

But I think when you look at it in the context of the time, she was the option if he wanted to settle down. That, as bisexual people, maybe you have some crazy times in college but then you find someone in a heterosexual relationship and settle and try to put that behind you. It doesn't mean he's not happy, as bisexual people in straightpassing relationships are happy. It just means, when the motercycle sounds echo for him, he still thinks about the past. the what if.

And thats just a human thing to do.

I saw The Bikeriders on Saturday and then twice, yes twice today (sunday). I was bawling at the end the last two times when the bisexual metaphore theory came to me. I read Benny as bi right away.

Johnny is said to have gotten his inspiration from Marlon Brando. Bando has talked about being bisexual. Another famous name and face of Brando's era was James Dean. Although Dean was more a car guy in the end, he was deffinetly into motercycles. Dean's sexuality is speculated but many close friends say he was bisexual.

I think it would be almost impossible not to have homoerotic subtext with this sort of thing if the movie was true to inspirations of the era. I don't know how you can watch it and think benny and Johnny dont want each other.

Personally, I don't think Johnny was bi, I think he was gay. I think because of how little emphasis on his wife there was, how she never quite seemed to get him, not in the way Benny got him, I think he was gay. I think he married and had kids because thats what you did.

Anyway all this to say I fucking love this movie. At first watch I wasn't a fan of Austin butlers performance but now I get it. Wow. I get it

I know its not anyone intention making the movie for it to be a metaphore for bisexuality but I can just see it see clearly.

This came out during pride month for a reason

[botanikos]

before i send this it isnt hate but criticism

so your stolas is good but its kinda annoying that you think your the best, tbh its like i'm reading the same 50 things i read on other stolases so its just all repetitive and ig itd be nice to see something different

also its good to have confidence but idk. you give off vibes that you think your THE stolas and better then other stolases and like you think your the character??? idk its offputting bc i wanted to follow and write with you but you just give off uppity vibes and its weird you think your stolas/THE stolas

your writing is good, dont get me wrong but maybe try to not be so uppity and bragging abt it/being stolas :/

I debated on whether or not to address this at all, but since it's a criticism and not hate-mail as specified, here we are. I'll be quite honest, I was not expecting something like this to come to me anytime soon.

If the impression I give is that I am The Stolas, I apologize. This is NOT the intention. That being said, I must politely disagree to some extent with this criticism. My friend, I am new to this fandom. Not role-playing or the community itself in general, but Stolas is a new character for me, and the fandom is still fresh (for me). I have actively AVOIDED interacting and following people without first being followed due to my anxiety. Even though I have promised myself that this would be (and is) just for fun.

I will say my portrayal is good. I'll even say great. But that does NOT make me better than anyone else, and it never will. I am an avid believer in diversity, variety, and kindness. To think there is someone here, watching my blog, thinking I view myself so highly is alarming. Even the people I have become mutuals with, I am still refusing to reach out to just yet, as I work on my writing for Stolas and through my own doubts. I am not Stolas. I am not the Stolas. I am Jude, an avid writer, enjoyer of media, and someone who has found a connection with Stolas. I am... Just a person here to have fun.

I won't say I'm a perfect person, I am very flawed! I make a lot of mistakes! But I STRIVE to provide a safe, inviting, and friendly space for people, be it for interactions or just as a potential friendship.

If this is going to be a continuous problem, I will have to find a means to continue writing without further involvement. For now, I will be cautious and take your words to heart (to some extent). ♡

I am alarmed and hurt that this message has found my inbox. I will be reconsidering my posting and approaches.

I sincerely apologize if I have made anyone feel as though I am unapproachable.

[beneathashadytree]

i sorry for saying this but i have to be honest, i dont understand why the LnDs MC having a gender is a problem, i mean, i understand you making a gn OC for some kind of support or representation but not why the MC, who already have a female body (and with that i mean biologically, the old fashion way everyone would visualise in their minds at first when they hear "female body", after all even if we young ones think this patter is wrong it still a pattern old ppl and from different cultures, and almost everyone understand and learned at first at a very young age) and if im not wrong also refered as "she" im the game, cant be described with anything that isnt gender neutral, i also have no idea why someone would be offended or feel not included reading about a MC with a gender, we all are different and is impossible to include everyone, ppl can feel not included for things you cant even imagine would be a problem, and not being able to see yourself on a story once isnt a big problem, you can ignore or jump to the next one, or just see the character like a character or another person that isnt youself.

I hope you dont get mad at this (and was able to understand my point, i usually have problems communicating with others and since english isnt my native language it gets worst), its that i just dont see the point in all this, i understand having a preference or incentivating one but not feeling somenthing bad and being against the other...

I understand what you’re trying to say, nonnie, but I have to point out a few things first. First off, I shouldn’t have to explain my own boundaries because at the end of the day, they are boundaries and should not be discussed. When something makes me uncomfortable, I shouldn’t be negotiating why people should respect that and stick to it without questioning my motives.

However, I understand you have no ill intentions, so I will be answering you—not because I’m obligated to, but because I want to point out where your line of thinking comes to harm marginalized communities.

The very simple answer is this: Because I’m a fanfic writer.

I’m not creating the MC in a game where she physically has a body and an appearance. Otome games were initially made as fantasies for their players to picture themselves in romantic situations. But since most Otome games have female MCs with very stereotypical appearances, most people who do NOT look like that end up having to imagine an OC/someone else in their place. It’s a shitty feeling; to feel left out because game producers can’t be assed to create more diverse options.

Second of all, the “old fashioned way” was already fucked up from the start, because even female bodied people are much less likely to look like Otome game MCs—who are almost dauntingly pretty, have virtually no physical blemishes, have straight hair, big eyes, and are incredibly thin. Now think of all the people who do NOT fit that physical description and are almost always excluded. When I visualize a female body like you say, I don’t instantly picture a perfect-looking skinny fair-skinned girl who looks not a day past 18. Because female bodies aren’t just one thing or the other. It’s a beautiful spectrum.

Third of all, leaving “old fashioned thinking” as it is is already a harmful concept. Should we ignore white people’s racism because it’s how they were brought up in the old-fashioned way? Should we allow sexism & misogyny in our communities because it’s how they were brought up back in the day? Should we encourage fatphobia by not silencing people because being thin and encouraging EDs was acceptable? Should we let homophobic hate crimes keep occurring because that’s what used to happen?

The number one goal of our new generations should be to reconstruct society and dismantle all the harmful practices that were done by our predecessors. Ending the cycle is our responsibility and no one else’s, and to do that, we have to take active measures to undo what they’ve done and erase what is “the norm.” Just thinking it’s wrong isn’t enough; we must take action to cut that shit out.

And because these were the “old-fashioned ways” it’s still the default for almost every writer to create for a female audience. Imagine a fandom has 200 writers. 190 would write for female MCs, and only 10 writers would write for more diverse MCs. Should everyone else that is not female (and, by the way, gender-queer people represent a massive percentage of fandoms online, and males do exist within our fandom spaces) just keep living their lives having to picture other people instead of themselves, because not enough people care enough to include them in their writing?

Here’s a realistic representation of what you’re saying: let’s say there are 2 million LNDS players around the world. 1 million are female. 1 million are not. The second 1 million will never get to see themselves as the MC. Now they can’t even picture themselves in fiction? Should the second 1 million be forced to feel left out in their own fandom space?

The same also happens with race representation in fandoms. Less than 50% of the world population is white. Yet we don’t see except very few people in fandoms writing for Black people, Latinos, Arabs, South-Asians, South-East Asians, Inuits, Native Americans, etc. Why is that? It’s because fandoms are catered towards white people. So should we just let the entire half of the globe never feel included in the art/writing fandom creators make? Do they not deserve representation and comfort too?

So when I write, I write for everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE. Because I think everyone deserves to see themselves loved and cared for by their favorite characters. Because everyone needs that sort of comfort. Because I myself have spent my entire life looking for that comfort in fandom spaces and never finding it. Even if the game doesn’t allow them to do that, I’m giving everyone a chance to enjoy the game through their own eyes, without having to be a stereotypical skinny girl with sleek straight hair and a dainty face. Because we want representation, and if the canon content can’t give us that (even though they claim it’s supposed to be “us”), then at the very least our fandom spaces should provide this. I hope you understand why my rules are there now. They’re a protection for both myself and everyone else in this fandom.

Fanfiction was created by the people, for the people—not just for a certain demographic that fits beauty standards and “old fashioned thinking”—and it should always be for ALL the people.

Being as inclusive as is humanly possible is never a bad thing. Refusing to see why consistently excluding others is wrong IS a bad thing, though.

[pizzatowerconfessions]

Ever since i finished up the game, ive always wondered why is that the tower has so many weird decisions when it comes to the structure, building or just decorations inside the tower.

let me elaborate on that a little further; lets first start with the fact that every level you play in the game is tecnically inside the tower (perhaps that is a little obvious but whatever). At first glance, it isnt that really surprising. But what about levels that are like.. huge and look like you're actually outside the tower? like Deep-Dish 9 for example. The structure of the level is already odd enough, but at somepoint in the background, there's a huge planet in the distance and also a space pizzamart, as the game refers it. And if we think about it, that means that the tower must be HUGE, like REALLY HUGE, because how do you fit a (probably way smaller than average) planet? And there is still all the other levels and bosses too! Ill talk about The Noise's battle section because he's stupid and he's probably one of my favorite bosses in the game. Once again, the room is HUGE! Peppino is obviously not allowed to roam around these places as this is a videogame and in this case he needs to fight The Noise but if you look at the background, you'll see that there is a literal building in the background (as well as huge Noise balloons and stuff). I personally believe thats just really nuts because, once again, that shows that the tower is really big!

But back to the important part of this rant, the point is that the tower is really big and has these huge rooms full of stuff with each room having a way different theme than the other. And if we think back to the intro of the game where they sort of explain the history and context behind Peppino being in the tower, i believe its implied that the tower was not there before the events of the game. So, considering the fact that Pizzahead had to build this whole tower by himself, this makes me really wonder why is it that there is so many rooms with really random stuff and everything is built in a really odd way.

Although we do not know fully what is the intention behind the actual tower building, we do know that the tower was probably meant to protect Pizzaface/Pizzahead as he was about to destroy Peppino's Pizzeria. But i then think, why does Pizzahead need a room that's full of bacon and has a menacing pig in the background? Why does Pizzahead need a secret tunnel that leads to a pumpkin grandpa on a chair? Why does Pizzahead even need a pig city in the first place? I could go on and on about this but i guess you get the point.

And at first i thought: "Oh well, all of these levels and other things are just meant to protect Pizzahead and distract Peppino for eternity!" And although i believe that is kinda true, (its never confirmed in the game but i guess its some sort of headcanon?), in the game its confirmed that it doesnt work and if you progress in the game it means that Peppino was strong enough to get through all of the tower's obstacles. But yet, i still think there are some rooms that are just unnecessary and dont even help Pizzahead in anyways (like the bacon room, as i mentioned it earlier if im not wrong).

The closest answer i ever had to these questions was the possibility that Pizzahead was just fascinated with the idea of having a tower, so he just had all sorts of stuff in it because he was messing around and he found it amusing. If this is even true at all, which probably not since it's a headcanon of mine, i still think its pretty funny to think about Pizzahead in this way.

(a quick side note to my rant, i believe that there isn't as much Pizzahead content in the Pizza Tower fandom despite him being one of the main antagonists of the game and it would be nice if people would start making more content about him as i believe he's a really interesting character, despite how little he appears in the game.)

I wanted to clarify that im aware that im probably thinking way too much about this silly pizza game and most things are probably just there because it was funny and its also a goofy videogame. But yet i still find entertaining to overanalyze it and make all sorts of theories because i love this game that much and im sure im not the only one who gets all nerdy over this but yeah you get my point.

.

[fictionfixations]

corporate needs you to find the difference between these two pictures /hj

(from this post translating the departure ova, or basically the prequel to world heroes mission bc idk where to find it normally)

screenshot from this video cuz i cant replay cutscenes lmfao

like. okay so i started thinking about hawks and aventurine in the same thought train and i just. couldnt let it go. and then i remembered that departure ova where he had those sunglasses(?) (IDK The name of stuff. im just gonna call them glasses.)

didnt realize that they're kind of doing similar poses. thats because hawks had the glasses on his eyes but he pushed them up, and here aventurine is about to remove his glasses during the cutscene

MAJOR MHA & HSR spoilers

(if it gets confusing im begging you to read parts of it with the other character's part because im trying to connect them but it might get confusing reading it first)

no but listen me thinks of two boys with not great childhood in greedy corporation who h as. probably wronged them-

well in all honesty i dont remember shit about if the hpsc has done horrible things. scratch that they have because literally nagant. sorry ive forgotten so much mha story its been awhile (i was gonna go on a rant about how its just another thing the fandom considers canon because yes. like. i dont think tsukauchi has ever been confirmed to have a lie detector quirk, its just that his sister who appears in the vigilantes(?) manga does)

hawks cozying up to the league to get secrets (i almost said league of assassins im crying. batman go brr.) backfires

forced to reveal shit (remember dabi revealing in like his video in Dabi's Dance Hawks' backstory?? also portrays him in a negative light, viewing him as a murderer)

he also tries to make himself seem righteous like 'i couldnt let these injustices stand!'

(from wiki. also his wings get damaged, they can regrow but not to what it was before) ALSO fakes death (temporarily. LMFAO tokoyami)

also this is kinda weak but gets hit while hes down

(technically) hawks is still alive but his quirk is still kinda gone forever i think

anyway i think he appeared in the latest chapter. he seems to be doing well. tbh i have such a shit memory. uhm spoilers for that chapter but i just got so distracted by the todoroki family and dabi like holy shit

FHSOIfh i think hes the HPSC president now.???? DAMN good for him ?

bACK ON TRACK. aventurine cozying up to the family to find out the 'truth'

sunday does his weird shit to force aventurine to say the truth or get punished (asks him about his past and personal shit like 'do you love your family more than yourself' or something, asks about him being an avgin, if hes the only survivor, if he wants to destroy the world) (also sunday thinks of aventurine as like a liar?? like. like. i forgot what it was but he viewed him as like an ill-intentioned person he needed to get rid of. thinking of him in a negative light and probably partially because he was associated with the IPC.)

he calls him a villain. i. DAMN (from the wiki) so like. you see what i mean? also acts righteous acting like aventurines the bad guy while hes the one in the right

bruh gets told he has seventeen system hours to live

cheeses through it (nihility able to cut through it if you were confused during the story on how he lived) but fakes his death (temporarily. he can come back out around 2.3 lOl but it still took a strain on him)

gets threatened while hes still recovering from the aftereffects of the nihility and everything

genuinely dont remember hawks getting hurt during afo fight (and toga) but i also got so confused on what was going on reading the manga cause it was a lot. i dont think he got saved tho

aventurine survived but the cornerstones gone forever

also while im here since yall probably dont know

also he bet that he'd get a promotion but we dont know whats going on about that (and it doesnt seem like we will. or. theres implications that that the xianzhou(?) war dance is connected to the IPC cause of the special program where owlbert said he was gonna quit and that he got a better offer for the wardance. and it was revealed that actually it was them who gave him that better offer?? so maybe we'll see in next update(?))

like. like. hah ha hawks getting promoted? eh?? eh?? you see????

tbh i didnt think i could connect them at all but here i am now finding more and more

also off topic

i thought this was a mistake or jab at mineta im CRYING his names GRAPE JUICE???

your brain when you want to go to sleep because you have something you're looking forward to to do tomorrow (or today because its THREE AM) but you need to not be tired for it but then it pulls this thing out of nowhere to fixate over knowing you cant ignore it because they're characters you love and that the idea wont go away until you express your thoughts so you get the keyboard out to make a short post but then you keep thinking about it and it gets longer and longer cause you keep remembering more shit to add:

[ggren-mainz]

Don't worry about the reblog, I think you were not offensive. Yeah I watched Gou and Sotsu in like 2021, I don't remember it at all, I remember I dropped it and I watched specific episodes other friends told me to watch because of *lore*... and like, no, no. It has so many errors in it, it's completely not a "shit" or some insult, because the tv series itself is an insult to the world of higurashi Now, I'm going with spoilers, so don't continue if you don't want them. Or avoid this if you don't want to suffer because a group of authors decided to ruin an entire saga because they have to capitalize on everything >Hanyuu's origin as a demiurge/homunculus of another goddess is completely made up and I think it's incoherent not only to Higurashi Rei where they explain Hanyuu's goddess origins, but also to the vns where we meet other goddesses >Rena in actual Higurashi continuosly deal with her past life, always having the trauma of her biological mother's behavior (I'm not divorcephobic, neither Rena I think, but being pregnant for another man meanwhile staying with your husband and husband-daughter is... bad, at least for me). But hey! Higurashi Gou and Sotsu isn't only about bullying Rika everyday in physical and psychological tortures, but also making Rena's father abusive! Yippy! My god Ryukishi... >Satoko as a villain. Let be honest: Satoko has nothing wrong, she's a protagonist, she has good intentions just like the other characters, she matures herself a lot after all the loops together with the others, she became independent af AS A KID, like can you ever imagine such strength? Losing parents, losing your beloved brother, suffering under an abusive family, but you still can take care of yourself, you still continue your life, but no Ryukishi needs a yuri yandere >as mentioned before, Rika being a punchbag. Guys, it's not funny at all, literally. After Higurashi Kai, after what we see also in Higurashi Rei were Rika was panicking because of another loop, you literally have the gut to say "Nuh huh, we have to infantilize Rika again, we have to loop them again". But also, most important thing: Rika already suffers for many things, so WHY THE HELL EVEN AKASAKA KILLS HER? IT'S NOT EVEN POSSIBLE THAT RIKA WOULD CONTINUE AFTER THAT EPISODE, I WOULD LOSE ANY WILL OF LIVING IF I WAS HER >Umineko isn't connected to Higurashi. I know this is a strong take, I understand that if 50% of people appreciate gou and sotsu, 80% or even 90% of when they cry fanbase thinks that all the universes are connected. My personal interpretation is that Bernkastel, in Higurashi, is a Rika's chuunibyou to cope about her condition as superhuman/not-human, considering she lives things no one understand until Answer Arc I growed up with Higurashi, I suffered too abusive adults and family so like I relate so much about Rena's behavior, but also I always felt love for every character. The horror of "friends killing you" is a thing that I think it would've been, narratively speaking, stopped as a topic in the Question Arc

AKASAKA DOES WHAT!?!? Oooo I'm getting mad, someone hold me down (figuratively). Yeah I heard that gou/sotsu were bad but glad to see its even worse. The fact that they made satoko the villain always irked me so bad because I just can't see the ingame satoko do those things. You mean to tell me the satoko whose most violent L5 symptoms were pushing people off places and that loved her friends dearly would just start torturing them?? In my humble opinion I think she'd just give into despari very early, but it is true that i dont know the whole context.

And also a thing that annoyed me about it (and an issue I had with the first season of the og anime too, although not as bad) is how it seems to depend a lot on the gore parts. And just seeing the edits I can tell these people never got the actual meaning of higurashi, which I don't even kmow if this anime is even trying to send anymore. They just got "Oh my gosh, cute anime girls but make them murderers!!! Wow gore gore, blood and psychos ☆⌒(≧▽​° ) so kawaaaiiii". The og anime isn't as bad on this, but I do feel like it fails at sending the actual message many times. Depends a lot on the arc, like I hated how they did meakashi but I thought that onikakushi was pretty ok.

And also another thing I don't get...why? Why did ryukishii do this? I have heard that he apparently gave just an outline and other people refined the story and I hope that's true because otherwise I just don't get it. Did he really fall off that bad, or does he just suck at doing animes? Ig we'll see with silent Hill F/whatever new project he planned.

[usercelestial]

okay putting my real and comprehensive opinion on bvddie here even though no asked just because i feel like i dont make it very clear

i ship bvddie but i do not think its happening, i lost hope for it around season 5 when i dropped the show because i felt like we were constantly being baited and tbh i couldn't stand what the fandom was. thats mostly why i dont post bvddie a lot because ultimately i don't want to interact with the loudest portion of that fandom. after buck came out as bisexual, i stopped caring about it even more even though i still enjoy the idea of it because instead of just thinking about buck being queer, he actually was. first and foremost, i like canon queer representation so bucktommy obviously takes precedent because eddie isn't canonically queer (yet, idk, maybe tim minear will pull a fast one on us). i care way more about hen and karen than i do about taylor/lucy, even though i like both ships. i'm okay with criticism of it, especially of the fandom because to be honest, i do think it's fair to call bvddie theories ridiculous and out there because they kind of are, BUT i don't think it hurts anyone to think that or hold out hope, and it's nice to see speculation and theories bc thats what fandom is all about. that couch theory still has a hold on me even though i dont think it's intentional lol. i don't think it's okay to directly make fun of any bvddie for having crazy theories because we've all had ships that make us crazy and thats okay. the exception here is if that particular bvddie is making fun of bvcktommys for their theories n stuff because at that point its hypocrisy. this goes both ways. if you're gonna come up with a crazy theory, you can't look at other people's crazy theories and claim any high ground there, which is unfortunately something i see a lot in both fandoms.

although one thing i will not do is say "well both sides are equally bad" because objectively bvddies have been around a lot longer and done much worse things. that doesn't mean bts are all innocent either however, one ship clearly has dominance over this fandom and has a large, extensive track record of harassing actresses/generally being aggressive about their ship before bt ever even happened. so there are many, many more cases of those shippers feeling threatened and lashing out unfairly while the others are often just acting out of defense. if there's a bully on the playground picking on someone else, and that person kicks them in the shin, i'm obviously going to hold the bully much more accountable for their behavior than i am for the kid defending themself. while that's obviously not always the case, (i've blocked my fair share of bvcktommy girlies for being weird about female love interests) when it comes to the "both sides" argument, we literally just know that's not true. also most of the shit said about tommy by antis is deeply homophobic so jot that down.

tbh i think being anti bt is much more egregious than being anti bvddie because that's actual queer rep that you're bashing and hoping dies. but there's a difference between being "anti" anything and just not liking it and thinking its annoying.

at first i think i understood it because i think bvddie kind of was the underdog when it first started bc it's was non canon queer ship between two canonically straight characters but thats obviously not true anymore and hasn't been for a while. bvddie has the attention of the actors, has the positive acknowledgement of journalists that get to directly interview those actors, and has the popularity within the fandom. so it's kind of just punching down at other ships at this point, especially ones including female characters who already don't get a lot of development.

that being said, again, I STILL LIKE BVDDIE, and have plenty of bvddie mutuals that i love so i try to avoid the generalization of "ALL bvddie shippers are like this 🙄" because obviously thats not true and there's nothing wrong with shipping bvddie obviously lol it's just a ship and a cute one at that. i think its ridiculous to care that much about hating a ship you just don't like that much, which is fine but like i think many ppl in this fandom need to take several steps back and realize it's not that fucking deep, just like the things you like and leave everyone else alone.

tldr: i like bvddie but im not gonna avoid criticizing a big part of that fandom. ultimately i think ship wars are silly and i don't really understand them. i like queer representation and i like queer headcanons but im not gonna hold out hope for anything. im very ship and let ship until you start to be a dick about other people shipping and then i think you deserve to be called out, especially if you're actively being homophobic/misogynistic/racist. also i think bvddietommy should be endgame lol, let chris has THREE dads and then everyone's happy :D

edit: oh and obviously i like bvcktommy if that wasn't abundantly clear lol

[cloudyscreams]

aikatsu stars 2nd season rant

ok im couple of episodes in now and its a good thing im working while watching because i would rage quit otherwise

have to preface this with wow this is even gayer now with elza being so open with actions and words...

there is a fatal flaw to that though, i cant claim it 100% since im obviously not very deep in the story but she seem manipulative as fuck to me and i would take it if it wasnt so...yucky i guess

like despite me hating edgworth at first manipulation was the fun part with his character and dont even get me started on nahyuta because im playing aa6 rn, i love the guy

elza is just...weird. she is the out of touch rich kid who made fun of you in school. she is regina george of aikatsu (how fitting for her to be in a trio too lmao) ive seen a comment saying its because of her mothers approval but i feel like there were so many ways to set up and develop her character even up to this point that doesnt do....whatever this is. im not the greatest writer (barely one at all) but i personally would make these changes:

dont make hime and some other older and/or experienced characters acknowledge elza to the extent they do. with aikatsu so heavily revolving around feelings and intent i cannot fanthom how anyone would say that perfect but soulless perfomance (and focusing on perfection in the first place) is truly perfect. elza cant be the worlds "greatest idol" because she doesnt really break through, she just maintains the status quo (as a rich person i guess it is in line with her character) to perfection. her brand does look amazing and i think admitting that and her perfomance skills is good and neccesary; but i think its weird for hime to refuse her yet somehow not see that she lacks the fundamentals aikatsu likes to preach about (friends/rivals, individuality, emotions and all that which dont get me wrong i love)

following point 1, i would love to see elza perform more and actually break overtime (maybe it will happen and i will be glad if so). similar to yume's power the perfectionism WILL destroy you and eat you inside (if we are talking about some realism here but even in terms of simple childrens lesson), it would make so much sense for her to one day collapse and have to build up all the fundamentals from the ground up (which is not even that hard to do, she is obviously surrounded by people who genuinely like her and she *is* passionate, just in the wrong direction)

no way people actually like her. skills aside, she is nasty to people she perseves as worse than her...personality is a staple thing for an idol, she doesnt even hide being a mean girl??? if even two cases of her being rude got known i feel like she would lose a lot of fans (happened irl at least in k pop several times!!). maybe its too realistic of an approach for aikatsu but it would make sense for her to be two faced, at least

thew thing i hate the most about aikatsu - they dont commit to the antagonists being antagonists at all. the stakes in dreaka arc were so high (according to the show itself!! they literally set it up as a job competition situation) and then it was just a big nothing because wow dreaca idols are actually good and we all get jobs. i get that being a bigger person for mc is the route they take (and with ichigo it genuinely made sense, she is just like that with everything) but no one being even a little hesitant about their supposed rivals?? not even mentioning how mary sue most of dreaca episodes were (again, especially seira) where they got the jobs just because they were the new characters. the conflict was set up and then not developed at all!!!!! either make them so evil im allowed to hate them and not cheer for them or dont make them so mean spirited in the first place, esp now with eliza. i hate that they make it seem so serious but then you are supposed to be like wow i love these new girls. LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER

ambiguous and morally grey characters are great dont get me wrong, but what aikatsu does is just inconsistent with what they themselves set up the show to be. i loved the first season of stars because the rivalry and conflict was there with yume and laura but it wasnt showed as laura just being a rival and nothing else. even if they werent friends with yume (or more from what i see lmao) i would take it because her growth arc is amazing. there were no antagonists but the stakes were still high and it was interesting to watch. i think the most beautiful aikatsu arcs come from similar place: admiration, chasing someone out of reach, battling yourself and *friendly* rivalry. i love akari's story even though its a weaker season compared to the first one because it was mirroring ichigo's arc so much

all of that yapping basically to say that antagonists in aikatsu are always inbinsible somehow: no matter how good the mcs get, no matter how many "thinking" mistakes that were already overcome by mcs they make they never fail and it pisses me off because its just not following the universe?? world logic?? rules. i get that power of love cant make you sing better irl but fuck its such a central theme in aikatsu that i refuse to believe they suddenly decided not to apply it to elza for any reason other than "she is better because we said so"

[cosmics-beings]

posting twitter thoughts here - again.

You know, I really do think that Starscream deserved better idw and to have an actual, fleshed out redemption arc that gave him respect. Idw had such an amazing opportunity to expand on him because it expanded on other evil, later turned morally grey/good characters. Especially Megatron, but I just don’t understand why Starscream didn’t get that same love and depth.

Part of me thinks its because the writers, like  a lot of people were just stuck on the fact that Starscream himself is an incompetent leader that doesn’t deserve redemption because he will always be evil and unstrustworth. And that REALLY sucks because a.) other continuums have shown us otherwise and b.) in idw where so many characters got to have better written nuance and unique characterization that subverted what we believed their intentions were, how come Starscream couldn’t have that?

I think it was 100% possible, the writers didn’t want to commit to it. I am not saying that he had to be redeemed or made into this innocent, flawless person. By all means, keep him flawed, make him struggle with what is right and wrong, but actually give him growth. Make him be the leader that he imo deserved to be, but also make him prove it and show us that he can be a great leader.

And I would’ve loved for him midway to find out that prophecy was bogus – which to be fair he thought it was, but actually develop as idk a good leader and a decent person.

A lot of people say his sacrifice was his ultimate redemption and yeah—but I also think he deserved better. I think we deserved to see him be redeemed and get an actual character change where he isn’t written as an unapproachable idiot who is just determined to being evil and pushes people away. Any by change i mean someone who is just like, a better leader and a better perosn. Still make him sly, still make him have questionable thoughts, make him tricky and wicked - but like also make him have an actual narrative where he changes, where he leads, where he is good when he's supposed to be and more importably is a loved and appreciated leader because he cares.

What would've been great too is that when optimus talked shit about stascream to windblade, starscream completely subverted most of what optimus said to her and she saw that he was actually struggling and growing to be a good person and she helped him with it and they actually became really good friends and she vouched for him, same with bumblebee.

like yeah he isn't 100% goood but he changes.

Starscream’s greatest enemy in idw was the writing because from the trial (which made starscream a joke) to his ending they didn’t really know how to handle him. And I think writing him as an incompetent leader and not giving him and clear nuance outside of him being morally ambiguous but actually a shit, and not giving him the same amount of redemption care and arc as megatron got is just unfair to his character.

Its why, as much as I love IDW and what it does for other characters I think I hate what it does to him. But it sucks because idw star is my fave.

i get 'not everyone has to be redeemed' and that's true, but also when you have a character that has been through a lot and the writing is possible because it HAS happened before, and other characters who have done far worse than and to that character get redemption, then what's so wrong with that?

and it goes without being said but no im not excusing starscream's actions or acting like he's an innocent person. i just wish he got the same redemption arc quality/writing as megatron did. and i dont even dislike that megatron got a redemption arc, for all that happened to him i think he deserved one, but why not starscream?

[system-of-a-feather]

[A vent and flow of consciousness letter to the system and those that might relate]

I don't think it is fair that those who have become high functioning because of sheer survival often find themselves in the situation where being mentally ill becomes an option and thing they can turn on and off via dissociation and repression

Because when you get to that point, it no longer becomes a "you are mentally ill and because you can "choose to not be disabled" you should choose to NEVER be disabled and anytime you turn that off to vent out the passive build up, you are choosing to be mentally ill and disabled and you dont get the same consideration or care as those "not so fortunate"."

If I could not have a mental breakdown / meltdown that could stress and hurt those around me, then I should choose to right? If I know how to turn it off, not turning it off is reflective of me being an inconsiderate and abusive piece of shit right? But at the same time, when that is always an option, when do we get the chance to let the inherent mental illness we have and all its ugliness get a chance to air out so we can heal and live?

When do we get the courtesy that "less functioning" individuals - those who never developed the ungodly ability to cancel out any genuine experience and repress it so heavily - get? When do people start giving us a break and the understanding that we have over 5 Very Serious Mental health issues when we slip up and struggle? When is the decision to NOT cancel our experiences stop being considered a reflection of our personal character and values?

No amount of pain or personal issue excuses abusive or harmful behavior that is true. Nobody on any form of coping gets to use it as an excuse, but no one reassures those that are high function and "low support needs" that its fair to struggle and fair to take support and care. It's okay to NOT be high functioning and that it should not be a reflection of your personal character. It's okay to be sick and make an effort like other people have to inorder to make amends.

High functioning labels are bullshit. Low functioning labels are bullshit - thered a reason aspergers was thrown out of the book.

Just because we look good doesn't mean we aren't sick. Just because people buy into and cant see past the compulsive external beauty and perfection and hold you to a higher standard than your peers doesn't mean you should hold yourself up to their blind vision of who you are. You deserve the same level of respect and understanding your peers get. You aren't special because you look special. Those that treat you as some messiah, some perfected angel and saint of life - thats their issue.

If they deserve the patience you give, you do too. If they deserve the understanding that sometimes people are stupid and fuck up regardless of their intent, then you deserve that too.

If they deserve the benefit of doubt that when they make a mistake and hurtful decision that you assume and accept that they are just human, so do you

And anyone who says otherwise? Anyone who looks at you and judges you? Assumes that you aren't doing your best? Anyone who holds you to a higher standard than your peers? Fuck em. They can apologize, they can make their mistake for holding up the double standard and struggling, but if - even after hearing how unfair the double standard is, they insist that you are not due the same courtesy and benefits of doubt you hand out to others?

Well, fuck em.

You can be hurt even when you might have been in the wrong, even if you should have known better, whem you make a mistake. Honest mistakes don't have blame. You don't judge others when honest mistakes are made, they should return that lack of judgement.

If they disagree with this basic principle, then we aren't compatible and they aren't needed to be kept around.

If they don't like the real you, the you with ALL your garbage, then they dont deserve the usual you. Let them be gone, let it be a good riddance.

I'd rather live alone with myselves than live with those that demand we hold ourselves to their perceived standard of functioning based on our trauma sourced coping.

XIV said, if people hate you for being angry, for being cringe, for caring about something, then fuck them

I say, if people judge you for doing less than your best, for being vulnerable and weak, for making mistakes that are inherent to what they knew when they chose to be involved with someone with an extensive amount of hurt and pain to heal, then fuck them.

We do our best, we usually are astoundinf, amazing, an inspiration, goals for many and that can hold true while leaving space for us being Ugly and Hurt. There is no value in feigned strength built on false premises. The strongest strength comes from authentically knowing your pain, holding it up and persisting against all the ugly.

No radical acceptance exists without radicall acceptance of your wounds.

XIV says you can be ugly and hated and still love yourself and feel beautiful in your ugly ways.

I say you can admit you feel ugly and hated and still be beautiful.

And you know what? Riku says the world is beautiful - that everything in the world and everyone in the world - it is inherently beautiful.

Nothing needs to change about anyone to have beauty in the moment.

[joshriku]

Hi!!! I just read how do you sleep at night, your WandaJericho fic, and I'm having so many feels right now!!! Wanda's decision to getting a break from her relationship with Jericho made me like, oh wanda!

Her getting constantly anxious that nothing big is happening after their semi breakup was so sad. Girl is having grief in her romantic and maternal life since Vision's disassembling. It happens in reality too, when you are having constant drama and trauma in your life, you can't just suddenly adapt to peace. And you just start creating the drama and the unstable ness, whether you want it or not. Self Sabotage, or craving drama, you name it.

But the consequences that come with it—what always happens when she loves too much, the things that get ruined, the life she tries so hard to keep under control—it’s all so paralyzing. It’s as paralyzing as this touch. Oh dear!

And Jericho was so supportive! He was extremely right to be hurt, but I think he must have gotten an inkling later(maybe pietro?) about why is she behaving like that. I loved their Astral plane conversations, and "simply souls waving each other hello." This is so good!!

Also pietro!!! I loved how he just knew why Wanda is behaving like this. Self Sabotage indeed. The twin sense must have gotten activated. He is actually more emotionally intelligent about people he loves and cares, so that wasn't a surprise when he knew what wanda didn't want to admit yet. Also I knew it when he said he likes Jericho! Honorable mention Wanda's thought on how easy is to fight with pietro. Hope next years mini does twins justice.

Also Happy New Year!!

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 happy new year!! firstly thank you so much for such a lovely ask it really means a lot that you'd take the time to let me know you liked my writing, i really appreciate it!!!! 🥺🫶 already made my 2024 a great year!!

second AHHHHHH THANK YOU.. I LOVE WANDAJERICHO SO MUCH. ever since SW #9 when they reveal they're inexplicably exes / still have feelings but with "no strings" i've been like. oh?? what?? 😭 at first i was like, oh thats funny they dont strike me as characters who'd do No Strings Attached thing. but then i gave it more thought and started thinking of ways they COULD be and wanda essentially growing uneasy and anxious over a relationship that was going so well, when she is so used to things going wrong, came to me and i was like ohhh yes... thats it... now we got it 🫵 i can see her cutting things out before them getting "ruined". i really wanted it to be like, this relationship is *fine* and thats whats freaking her out!!

when i wrote this i wrote jericho with the intention that he knew exactly why she did it, but knowing it didnt change that she did hurt him, and the whole crutch of this story being that theyre both unequivocally very in love with each other still. still the case does remain that jericho is also very committed to his duties in the academy, esp after everything they went through - something wanda would also know firsthand. i think all those student deaths/the death of doctor strange/mandatory other marvel events would take its toll on anyone tbh i can see them trying to put at least a pause on everything while they try to fix the world. As Usual. i didnt write jericho immediately taking back wanda too because, yknow, it takes two to tango! BUT THEYRE SO GONNA WORK IT OUT. BECAUSE THEY LOVE EACH OTHER THATS THE WHOLE POINT.. THEY NEVER STOPPED..IN MY HEAD. CAUSE I SAID SO AND THEYRE MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SHIP...

and AHH THANK YOU.. pietro in that fic was my favorite part 🫶 he loves wanda and hes really good friends with jericho of course hed have a deeper understanding of whats going on! i think pietro is a lot more emotionally intelligent than what most writers give him credit for. and if theres anyone who knows about self sabotaging or recognizing it on someone itd be him, and ESPECIALLY on wanda. defo one of my fave scenes to write in that fic 🥹 MAXIMOFF TWINS MY BELOVED..

Anyway this was a really long reply just to say that thank you SO much and this ask made my whole year and i am really grateful that you liked my fic!!!!!!! i liked writing it too!!! 💛💛💛

[cr0w64]

VORTEX TIME BABY

yes i am putting tws for this post because IT IS required in context of everything im about to dump onto you crows

(putting the tws here to just to be safe. TW: g0re,mention cann1bal1sm(trying to get someone to do that),kn1v3s sui implied and l0ss of a b0dy part)

with that out of the way lets get into the oc rant :D

so- just fair warning- i did change some things around in the cannon lore but its not a full COMPLETE change- but you'll see what i mean later on SO- oh and also caines a tiny bit of a dick- BUT unintentionally because i think he just doesnt realize what hes doing is wrong (at least in this aus context but maybe also within the cannon au)

in my au- vortex has been there the longest INSTEAD of kinger- but kinger has been there the second longest. vortex has been in the circus for 20 years (since they were 7 btw and yes this was intention of me) and caine wasnt perpared for humans he tended to leave vortex alone a lot

AND THUS before the group we all know and loved showed up a unlucky group of seven people showed up- think of the group as pomni but worse. the group wouldnt really listen to vortex when it came to the circus so they all tended to avoid vortex/stay in there rooms- which led to all seven abstracting- one by one and vortex having to watch it happen. so of course- caine wasnt around so vortex was stuck waiting for caine to appear while trying to survive abstractions- WHICH THEY DID HURRAY- but they didnt go without getting injuries (im not going into detail on said injuries- at least not by much-) which ties in with his design- SO

"vortex was almost all black..with their teeth being white,the tips of there hair having color- red,blue,green and purple,their eyes having color- one being blue the other being orange. and their tail- which the tip had some red on it followed by other colors. their body was covered in scars. their face,tail,back,arms and legs had scars."

"vortex DID have clothes..but- they were always hard to makes out. the clothes they were (forcably) given were a black tanktop,a flannel which had very few hints of color. the color being a few hints of red here and there. same with the shorts expect they had hints of green instead. they had boots were more of a black-ish grey-ish color"

moving on-

so- you may or may not have already assumed vortex isnt the biggest fan of caine BUT DONT WORRY I HAVE ONE MORE POINT TO PROVE AS TO WHY THEY DONT- so vortex was kind of a "test subject" for caine right? (not a literal one because- its a digital place-)soo- caine put the virus in vortex to see how much humans can take in the circus (mentally of course) which resulted in vortex having glitching episodes! and eventually- the glitch became sentiant just because of how attached it was to vortexs code at this point- and you'll never believe it buuutt- it wants vortex to eat the members of the circus- huuurraaay- moving on- because were sort of coming back to that.

how i imagine the circus is- its like a show but it has its own spin off game- and as for the show i imagine that like within the cannon universe people can like literally watch what these characters are doing so i like to imagine they all have acts- and the rooms they have are decorated by said act they do. unforunatly- vortex being the test subject he is- doesnt have an act so..what does his room look like?? well-

"vortexs room was pretty empty compared to the others rooms. they had a bed,a desk and a closet. that was about it for things that were in there. they had some random plushies that they had found around the circus while they were alone. they also had a projector with a remote to change colors. he tends to keep it blue and red along with the green dots which represent stars. the project itself was meant to represent the northern lights. there room was also dimly lit just because he tended to find the circus overwhelming. the colors were always to much for her whenever she decided to explore the circus."

one silly fact before i go back to the glitch- since vortex doesnt have an act he likes to watch all of the other members preform and hehehehe. soo- you know pomnis eyes in that one scene where she sees her door? think of that but for vortexs eyes- but not as wide yk? and i like to imagine that their tail is gently wagging and me and my freind made a joke that the camera thats recording the circus members acts just pans to vortex and vortex is just like "..oh heey-" and awkwardly leaves somewhere else lmao

OK BEFORE WE OFFICAL GO BACK TO THE GLITCH- the glitch does have a design

"the glitch is basically an all green looking entity. it has a few other colors here and there but it was mostly green otherwise."

anyway- so. since the glitch is- VERY relentless when it comes to vortex it just keeps telling them to- y'know eat people. but eventually one day vortex had enough of the glitch and- cut their arm off. BUTTT DONT FREAT- they get a prosthetic made by our favorite silly jester (midheard this again on a call with a friend when they actually said their oc lmao)

oh one last thing. you wanna get rid of that glitch? well good luck- you cant do it without whipping vortexs memories- so basically a hard reset.

OH AND- vortex (since they were alone for so long) has this like tent where they put a bunch of stuff they collected while being in the circus- and yes there is a lot of shit in that tent- trust me

WELL THATS ALL OF THE IMPORTANT STUFF- FACT LIST TIIIMMEEE (some of the facts i already typed out but shhh. also this is where the kn1f3 tw comes into play- its the VERY last fact. also the su1 implicantion. I ONLY CALL IT IMPLICATION SINCE YOU CANT DIE OFFICALLY IN THE CIRCUS FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND. if you want to change it to attempt instead dont hesitate to ask ^^)

-vortex can bypass the swear filter only because he was the test subject for the digital circus so caine didnt put that into her code

-vortex has a fear of abstractions because a group of seven people came and all seven abstracted. he also had to see queenie abstract

-when people first see vortex when they hear about abstractions they think shes abstracting 

-they have scars from abstraction attacks

-hes scared to get close to anybody in the circus (unless he already got close to them) 

-they dont really trust caine

-hes explored the circus so many times out of boredom

-the fake exit triggered her abstraction trauma

-her tail wags when she gets any sort of affection (headpats,hugging,hand holding ect)

-autism

-showed up alone BUT a group of seven others came and abstracted

-11’5

-vortexs nickname is air because bobbin (a friends oc) and bubble make bnb so- with vortex having the nickname air its airbnb

-voidy. just- voidy.

-uhhh vortex once had a bad glitching episode- SO BAD that they stabbed himself- and they are very ashamed of it because his mind wasnt clear- and she wasnt in to much control anyway

[bonesandthebees]

5. rocketduo

thinking about rocketduo again bc damn them, they have captured my brain

glass!rocketduo are so fun to me, like what do you mean you didnt know tommy and wilbur survived lmao, like yeah, I understand, they probably didnt want to ask about it to not be weird but its still funny to me, poor guys had quite the scare (for what they did more than deserved tho)

that brings up the question of what do deathlings think about ghosts? it would make sense for them to believe, krisitin not accepting a soul or a soul not wanting to go until they get peace, anyway I got distracted again

I think they regretted what they did. they probably didnt get enough time before seeing crimeboys are alive to have fully admitted that to themselves, but just going from their initial reactions right after killing tommy and to seeing them alive and than dealing with the consequences its clear they havent thought it through, they didnt think about howd they feel about killing tommy, how it wouldnt be worth the revenge. like im not saying they are necessarily morally above murder, but this is tommy and they used to be friends and it all happened in a burst of emotions, anger, but in the end it couldnt have been what they wanted, right? we see they regret it, clearly niki wasnt counting on losing wilbur, even tho it was pretty clear of you thought about what they wanted to do, but even jack and tommy, I believe

the truce. its yet again super interesting to me. bc after what jack (and niki) did, being the last to strike, basically, it had to be proposed by tommy, the one whos turn it is, going with basic revenge rules. otherwise it would seem a bit weak, desperate coming from rocketduo. but on the other hand tommy is who started this and the one whose stubbornness caused it to go this far (ive been saying it this whole time and ill say it again, tommy shouldve apologised AND admit he was wrong (which he was, even with his intentions he mustve seen it, looking back at it) bc this whole thing couldve been avoided with this (its so cool to see your characters being so human, not always doing the right things and having ugly traits and not being perfect, im just loving digging through the complicated moral stuff in this story)) and so him proposing this truce, giving it the same weight as his murder attempt at jack, to me, looks like admitting that his murder attempt was just as justified as jacks was (aka admitting that he was as wrong for doing so as jack was, on one hand doing it as a self-preservation (in one situation of their dignity/freedom in the other of their actual lives) on the other just being wrong

also interesting is how the truce is formulated outloud only between jack and tommy but bc of the nature of their relationships or automatically translates to wilbur and niki too and how they just accept that decision, stating their feelings about it (the trust is lost, but there care is still lingering and will probably never go away)

anyway, I wonder what was going through their heads when they showed up when tommy and wilbur were leaving, like how much of it was show-up-so-others-dont-ask (tho others know about the tension from the first murder attempt) and how much was no-matter-what-happened-i-cant-let-them-leave-without-seeing-them-one-last-time, id like to think its mostly the other, for niki its pretty obvious with wilbur, but tommy, niki and jack lived together for quite a while, jack and tommy would often go on runs together, they were friends, jack and wilbur were also somewhat friends, and jack must recognise, maybe unconsciously, that wilbur didnt really cause any of it, just got tangled in. and going completely away is very different from just ignoring each other so after all is settled and they have the "truce" ofc they had to go see them before leaving yk

we see jacks gaze, lingering on tommy, revealing some regrets he might have about what he did, now that the anger has been pushed out (literally) and now all he sees is what (who) he lost. and with niki and wilbur, obviously, wilbur doesnt trust niki but he still waves back, he makes sure she can see his metal fingers (he knows she will understand what that means to him, plus its something they have in common, another way they can understand each other, bc while the trust has been broken the care and understanding remains)

(if I ever try and get adhd diagnosis ill just show them how many parentheses I use and speedrun it)/j

in my head the reason rocketduo didn't know that wilbur and tommy survived is that rocketduo got back from the palace stinking of smoke with their throats raw having just worked together to murder their friend. they did not talk to a single person, they both just went to their rooms and passed the fuck out. and everyone else in the temple was pretty much in the same boat in terms of being exhausted, so no one really bothered going to breakfast the next morning. phil just did a headcount to make sure everyone lived and everyone kind of just meandered out on their own time to get their food. and both jack and niki made a point of not talking to any of the other deathlings because they both had some conflicted feelings over what they'd done. if they'd had another few hours, niki probably would've gone to the infirmary on her own to see if wilbur had made it out.

deathlings don't really believe in ghosts but you know how irl there's always people who are like "I don't really believe but like if I see evidence-" that's kind of how I see jack. niki, not so much. if you notice she didn't actually say anything about them being ghosts. that's because unlike jack, she knew they weren't ghosts. she knew the moment she saw them that they'd both survived and realized that now she had to face what she'd done

tommy absolutely should've admitted that he was in the wrong when he tried to kill jack before. all of this could've been avoided. but he didn't, because tommy has a lot of issues. but he's also started to learn from his mistakes. example: him calling the truce. tommy finally realized that meeting anger with anger doesn't get you anywhere. an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind and all that. he understands that if he were to try and get back at jack for killing him, the cycle would just continue on and on. and of course, like you said, he recognizes that jack was justified in doing what he did. he sees now how his own actions led to this.

niki and jack both showing up to see tommy and wilbur leave was 100% them wanting to see the two of them before they went. there was no matter of appearances. it was the lingering care they both still have for their friends despite everything that's happened. it's wilbur and niki yes, but it also genuinely is the lingering attachment both jack and niki have to tommy. they've been friends with him for years. they both cared for him for a very long time and despite everything that care isn't completely gone. they have to see him leave. both of them.

but of course niki and wilbur have the most tension in that moment. because wilbur makes sure she sees his fingers, and she knows what she did to him. she deeply cared about wilbur and still does, and wilbur does still care about her as well. like you said, it's an understanding they now share. and in a way, wilbur choosing to wave at her was a peace offering. one that says he's not going to forget what happened, but in the future when he and tommy come back, maybe they can recover some of what was lost.

[davekat-sucks]

You want good homestuck ships? Really honestly and truly? Look at the early ships. Look at JohnDave, DaveRose, DaveJade, JohnJade, JadeRose, JohnRose. Sure its friends to lovers, which is a trope. But its a trope for a reason because it happens in real life all of the time. You become friends with your S/O especially around childhood and that friendship grows into romantic feelings. Yes its overdone, but at least when you go this pathway, you have literal evidence for their relationship developing. I dont even LIKE JohnDave, and I could be convinced that they actually had romantic feelings for each other if you showed me the right pesterlogs. I cannot imagine DaveKat. Like I just cant see how these two would end up in a relationship together, they dont even look or act like they even like each other and things like that laundry room kiss seem extremely forced, Davekat is together because the narrative simply wills it and not through natural character progression. Dont want to start with a relationship already established? Thats fine, have characters meet for the first time and develop over time. Early Rosemary, Spiderbreath, DaveRezi, JadeKat. The Patron troll ships were interesting because both parties had to talk and learn about each other and gradually form a relationship. Early Rosemary was actually goddamn readable and you could feasibly see this badass witch that wanted to break all the rules of sburb fall in love with this incessant mom friend. The pieces were all there, they were just put together wrong. I mean, fuck my mans John "Goddamn Chad" Egbert is out here with a harem of potential pairings, that he actually developed organically. Sure, he was already friends with Jade and Rose. But what about Vriska, or Terezi or Roxy? Each of these girls were given a fair chunk of screentime for John to get to know each of them and they him. I mean, fuck, you could even argue he has a better relationship with Karkat then Dave does, because I can believe that John actually LIKES Karkat (Im not a homosexual conversation aside) The ships that were never meant to be have more believe ability, more evidence and are quite frankly much more fun then the canon borefests we ended up with. And when they intentionally try to write the ship out, its some of the worst writing Hussie has ever done, but when he doesnt give a shit, its some of the best.

Everything you say here does ring true all the way. Preach it!

Especially John Gigachad Egbert. Fuck fans who call him boring. He is the true main character.

Ships centered around only just the human kids are the best. Beta Kids should have been the main focus of the Homestuck series. Trolls were a fucking mistake, as the saying goes. Maybe Hussie had intentions of making a canon couple for a few in the early acts. Such as Dave and Jade getting closer, if only because Dave is just another partial self-insert of himself and rumors that Jade was based on someone Hussie knew and had a crush on. I say the writing for that romance were at least tame compared to the shitfest we got now.