#theres still of course a chance that a “well adjusted” john becomes june later in life

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

Egbert and Lalonde

John and Rose shared a very sweet relationship at the start of Homestuck and honestly, I feel that both John and Rose share a similar trajectory after the game ended.

Both felt shackled in the aftermath. Rose's classpect has done more to stifle the "rebellious" girl who sought to write her own quest, than anything else. But of course, any woman carving her own path in the world is considered "rebellious" when she's just doing her thing. And after the game, Rose feels beholden to the "Narrative"/Fortune as she Sees it, and doesn't seek a path that she cannot See.

And we all know how John fell apart.

In Candy, they actually made similar paths as well. John married Roxy, Rose married Kanaya. They had wedded bliss. But at some point, they just started going through the motions - which is INFINITELY more interesting to me than wedded bliss. John and Roxy eventually divorced but Rose didn't. Again, this is part of her Seeing a path and feeling chained to it. Kanaya even asks in BC: "when did you stop trying?"

Both John and Rose (either in Candy or Meat) suffer from an intense loneliness. To quote the show Kaos, "There's no loneliness quite like that with someone you're falling out of love with. Especially when that person doesn't know it yet." And I suspect that's what happened to Rose. Whereas John in Candy eventually divorces Roxy (though how in love he was is actually unclear). And John in Meat has sex with a Terezi that fell in love with his Candy version, and was also dying, so how much of his love is true and strong is also dubious.

This depression makes sense, and I'm not mad at all about the way Hussie wrote this (TBH). But I am also hyper invested in how this all shakes out. I think Hussie made a bold decision in writing truly pathetic characters who made awful decisions. Because to me now, the End feels like a Beginning all over again.

(I also am okay with Jane becoming the Bad Mom/Worst Villain, bc we need more of those and honestly, her being a Good Mom would also be death of her character however More palatable that would be to the fandom. At least this character "death" is fucking interesting. I support women's wrongs. Go get 'em.)

(And honestly the way I feel like the narrative should wrap up is by making the End as the Middle instead. But thats my writerly preference)

So, I think... Rose and Kanaya should probably break up. Kanaya doesn't deserve the bullshit Rose put her through and if Rose is falling out of love, they both deserve to be honest about it. This is Rose "breaking the game" all over again, and by that I mean Rose "breaking the Happy Ending norms that society likes to enforce on the populace". Sometimes, divorce IS what leads to the Good Ending. Sometimes, love ISNT forever. I am delighted by this sincerely.

But the story shouldnt end with the divorce (thats too normal!!!). Lets be weird. Anyways, Rose owes herself the Truth. I hope the story kickstarts both her and Kanaya's stories again and maybe... Maybe they'll hate each other and they'll end up as kismesis bc Kanaya is wasted in Flush romances gurl I know you can tear a body in two. And uh... well... let's fade to black here. Heehee.

As for John... I actually really love June as his next development. But here's my thing. I dont believe John is one of the people "who always knew they were going to transition". I dont buy that the only "valid transperson" is someone who knew from a young age that they were "trans". I know people who were Cis* for a good chunk of their life and through a confluence of events realize hey... That cis* isnt working for them anymore. (*for a given definition of cis)

I think John follows this trajectory. Dont even get me started on people who think that devaluing ANY transition bc "oh you were traumatized so youre only transitioning out of trauma". First of all, those people would devalue ALL transitions at the drop of a hat. Hey, newsflash, your past experiences in fact inform your present realities. And hey, sometimes, that means a cis*boy decides that instead of doing a piroutte into death, a better and more hopeful change maybe in becoming a woman.

I dont think John becoming June will magically remove her depression. I think June needs some prozac on top of the girlpill. But you know... It feels like a breath of fresh air for June to Become something new. Because John deserves to rest, and June deserves a chance to scratch and bite her way into a new life. I looooove June as a way of Egbert forging an identity thats not part of the game anymore. It honestly feels narratively perfect to me. She's still going to be depressed and traumatized but she's relearning how to be.

Tl;Dr I think Rose Lalonde and J. Egbert should Become Something New. Maybe that means Rose dates different people and maybe that means John grows into June.