#beforus.pdf

Uuuuugh. Okay, to my understanding, the logic is predicated on two concepts:

Kankri is Correct, there is no Misogyny on Beforus.

Since Beforus has a Matriarch, "complaining" about the Oppression of Women on Beforus is the exact equivalent... Men complaining about men being oppressed, despite us living in a Patriarchal society.

This is a terrible argument, because... Porrim literally explains in detail that that is not the case.

Yes, Beforus has a Matriarch... A Superficial Matriarch, where the woman in power is more of a Figurehead than anything. Law Enforcement and Politics are handled mostly by "Higher CIPs" - Ceruleans, Indigos, and Purples - which are predominantly born (hatched?) as men. ... If all of the Social Order and Politics are Enforced and Dictated by men... Then that... Is a Patriarchy.

So, we have it directly explained to us that Beforus is Superficially a Matriarchy, with a Governing Body largely composed by Highblood Men, who canonically benefit from the subjugation of women, because having women be of generally lower class than men means that... Men can cull women, potentially on the basis of being women. You know, that social system, enforced by the predominantly male-lead government that allows for what is essentially the ownership of people you deem incapable of caring for themselves as pets? The system that will take any excuse in the book? Sure, that may have been a social rule implemented by their version of HIC, Feferi fucking Peixes, but it's still being used as a weapon. Just because something was made by a woman, does not mean it cannot be used as a weapon against women in the name of misogyny. You think Alternian Culling doesn't work the same damn way?

There's a sharp cut of irony you have to feel at the fact that Porrim literally says that conversations of Misogyny on Beforus are often shot down using "The Matriarchy" as an excuse. If Misogyny wasn't a thing, why the fuck are Rufioh, Kankri, and Cronus literally, textually, purposefully Misogynists? Why the hell is Latula like that, then? I don't think this is a 1-to-1 allegory for the real world, man- Troll World Building has NEVER been a direct, clean allegory for the real world. I do not think she was ever intended to be read as an analogue to Men's Rights Activists, I think she was intended to be read as an Alien Feminist. If anything, this feels less like an MRA, and more like someone getting shut down for trying to have a conversation about how Misogyny Exists in, like, Thatcher-Era England or something. Well, there's a Female Prime Minister, isn't there? Misogyny is over, clearly.

Porrim is constantly posed as an Exposition Fairy on the same level as Aranea, just... With Politics and World Building rather than Character Analysis. Porrim is portrayed as cool, collected, and correct. Do you think Andrew Hussie - literal Andrew Hussie - would portray a fucking Men's Rights Activist with that level of grace and style? Because the answer is no! Every time a character is a Misogynist in Homestuck, they are comically terrible! Rufioh, Kankri, Cronus, fucking Caliborn! Hussie is a lot of things, and yeah, some of these things are bad, but none of these things include the label Misogynist. Hussie is well known for... Not doing that, actually, that's, like... A major appeal of the comic. The female characters in Homestuck are known for being really, really well written and really, really well handled!! If there was a Men's Rights Activist in Homestuck, we would know about it, because that character would be comedically terrible, constantly dunked on by everyone around him, totally bitchless, and posed as a relentless fucking menace who does not deserve to breathe the same air as any of the women in the story. You know, like Cronus! And Not Porrim!!

How do you think mituna Pre-game life has been based on his classpect? Heirs usually have a certain privilege over the aspect they inherit, they dont have to work hard like a page to get it, however they either dont know what to do with it or the aspect get to take control of the heir. Do you think Tuna got to live a more comfortable life for beforus standards? How would the doom manifest in him? John became wind, equius became irrelevant, pehaps mituna great act of heroism was doom taking control of him instead of him learning how to take control of doom.

We actually can infer quite a bit about this. He was Cassandra. The logical conclusion is to keep adapting the Cassandra myth, and to assume his Doom is being Cassandra.

Mituna was an incredibly powerful psionic and basically an oracle. In the game, he knew whenever something bad was going to happen, and tried desperately to tell people. They never listened. I wouldn’t say his story follows 1:1 with that of Cassandra’s, where his Doom Vision was granted to him by an Apollo figure… But it’s pretty damn close, and I’d have to assume part of why they never listened was because he still got Apollo’s subsequent curse - to see the future, but never be believed. Considering this is a destruction of others’s belief, and the curse came as a punishment for Cassandra telling Apollo she doesn’t want to date or have sex with him… We already know who the Alpha Trolls’s Apollo figure is. It’s Cronus, Bard of Hope. Destroyer of Beliefs, and Known Sex Criminal. Due to the severity of the abuse he inflicts upon Mituna on screen - the violent bigotry and insults, the blatant disregard for his clear, desperate, repeated exclamations of his lack of consent, the molestation - we must also assume he fulfills the role of Ajax the Lesser as well.

Following this train of thought is the idea that people would actually readily listen to Mituna’s advice on Beforus. If he told someone to cut shit out, they’d listen to him. He likely didn’t have all that much mysticism surrounding him, considering he entered his SGRUB session at 13 years of age - it likely would’ve manifested in the same way Jade’s friends listen to her because she tends to be right about everything, inexplicably. They think it’s weird he can do that, but just shrug their shoulders, puzzle about it, or think he’s cooler for it.

Although he was an able-bodied male and carries an extremely useful ability, he was still a Goldblood, so his life was not privileged. He was pretty high on the Culling block, with him actually likely being specifically sought after due to his unique ability. Perhaps he evaded this through means of reclusion.

Getting culled might, theoretically, adopt you into the potential for wealth of a Highblood, but your autonomy is still getting stripped away from you quite violently. You are a trophy. You show wealth and status. You’re a novelty toy. You’re shown off like a cool knickknack, as if you’re not a person with a life and feelings. Everything is decided for you - what you wear, where you can go, what symptoms you’re allowed to have and express, what you eat, etc. - your control of your own life harshly limited to the whims of the Highblood. You are a foster child in middle class white suburbia, and your life is hell.

Yes, it's true. You have to remember that Beforus and Alternia exist because of a Scratch. It's always going to be the same deal as the Kids and Guardians swapping roles.

Dave is Dave in the Beta Kid session before the Scratch, and Bro is Bro. Then, when the Scratch happens, the Alpha Kid session exists, wherein Bro is Dirk and Dave is Bro. Kankri is Kankri on Beforus, but The Signless on Alternia. Similarly, Sollux is Sollux on Alternia, and would have his own Scratched version wherein he is filling the role of an Ancestor to Mituna, similarly to how The Psiioniic fills the role of Ancestor to Sollux.

So, to reiterate, yes, Beforan Feferi is real, and she's why Beforus is like that. Just like how The Condesce is real, and that's why Alternia is like that, and why Meenah exists alongside her. It's Scratch shenanigans.

Um… Nope. That is a very specific medical condition that real people suffer with, and Beforan Culling quite frankly does not fit the terms of it. There is a reason why Munchausen by Proxy is also referred to as Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another- it’s a highly specific form of abuse and manipulation.

That would imply that the Cullee is falsely imposing onto the Culled what they’re culling them over- like they’re manipulating them over a long period of time to believe that… They’re actually a Lowblood, or actually Disabled, or actually a woman, et cetera, when they factually are not. That just isn’t true, the Cullee isn’t inherently making anything up, they’re following their society’s rules by responding that way to what is in front of them. The Cullee isn’t making anything up, their society just genuinely sees the Cullable as lesser, wholly incompetent subhumans. This is not inherently a problem with the Cullee, the Cullee isn’t manipulating the Culled into believing something that isn’t true, it is a genuine social issue.

Beforan Culling, like Alternian Culling, is not a clear cut metaphor. Hemoloyalty is also not a clear cut metaphor. It’s very, very individualized, and you can take any angle you want with it. It can be an allegory for racism, for classism, for misogyny, et cetera. But I personally find Beforan Culling tends to lean in the direction of being an ableism metaphor.

That descriptor there takes the fangs away from the topic a little too much, honestly. The "pet adoption" analogy isn't meant to say "these characters are genuinely analogous to animals", and more me commenting on how Beforan Culling is based in stripping people's agency and autonomy in a way that dehumanizes them severely.

It's a system that treats "lesser" people like helpless children, regardless of their actual capacity to care for themselves, and regardless of their need for independence and space. It stunts the growth of the culled severely. It disables them from experiencing negativity, conflict, and consequence. Cull means Coddle. Remember, their ruler is Feferi, a Witch of Life.

The reason I specifically remarked upon them being treated like animals is because the lower castes, disabled, and mutants essentially have the same rights as them. Beforan Culling actually does parallel a real world form of bigotry: Extreme Ableism.

Yes, absolutely, 100%. This is genuinely a thing.

If you're deemed Cullable by literally anyone who assumes a higher social standing than you, you're going to get culled. You'll get culled for being a troublemaker, for being mentally ill, for being a woman, et cetera. It sucks, and is a thoroughly bad situation. Yes, the most talked about and standard reasons one will get culled is due to placement on the Hemospectrum and Disability, but really, you'll get subjugated for fucking anything on that bitch of a planet.