#contraplebicism

mind you that's not to say one can't criticize kankri's characterization. it's a delicate balance between spoofs of 1) a dude that is bad at sensitivity, vs 2) the concept of sensitivity itself. and delicacy... well hussie ain't always so good at that.

cosMic:

Except Kankri is made out to represent and mock almost the entirety of the ~*social justice*~ (heavy on the pejorative) movement excluding the segment represented by Porrim, who Hussie likes because she's "not boring" while talking about social issues. (Yes, because perish the thought that marginally oppressed people discussing their lived experiences not entertain the whims of a straight, white, cisgender, ablebodied, neurotypical, and rather well-off man.) 

To make things yet worse, fandom took Kankri as an excuse to mock and harass people who require trigger warnings because they have been through trauma and would like to be able to have fun online and in fandom like the rest of us without risking running into something that's going to violently remind them of the worst experience of their lives.

~MF derse: 

Sensitivity is conceptualized anyway out of a position of privilege  

Especially since being sensitive is "bad." 

Here's the thing EVERYONE is gonna grow up and be exposed to and process that information with varying degrees of success so everyone is gonna have varying degrees of being emotionally susceptible to certain information

That's basic human complexity 101, and when people are put into castes effectively in society, entire ideas/actions can become conceptualized/quick attacks to places in the psyche that some people will never know exist

It's hard enough to advocate for those parts to be acknowledged when empathy/sympathy are not emphasized as marketable human skills; marginalized people are already divided from the people that can help them because those people benefit from not seeing the other end as people or as being, in effect, hosts of negative aspects that aren't practical. So in effect theyre villainized

And Kankri is the stereotype of people that advocate for others in the eye of those privileged people, right down to the inability to "be helpful."

It's one of the reasons that people got upset about him being a character--he's nothing more to homestucks on tumblr as a name to call sjws in their fandom

Both recognizable and mutually agreeably terrible

Aaaand thats EXACTLY what happens when you parody/make fun of people when you are in a position of privilege; you just make it more possible and even acceptable for the exact people who dont wanna care anyway to dismiss people's arguments and reinvest in the idea that sensitivity (and those people) is a load of crock

Besides

A parody of a stereotype is just another stereotype 

You can't critique your own regurgit8ed notions over something you can't understand and can only annoy you in retali8ion 

upd8 thoughts???

Well, I don't see anything really new or serious.  I already covered Tavros's attitude in this post, how it may reflect role inversion, and Vriska seems about how I'd normally expect.

Though, since many of you guys seem to somehow be viewing disaster in this update, I guess I should clarify my thoughts on the matter...

thefinalwraith asked you:

Vriska appears to have finally lost her vital spark. Which is... a bummer. Maybe Doc Scratch considers empowering Jack Noir to be 'good enough'? Or fuck it, the whole thing was a prank.

thefinalwraith asked you:

So is Vriska inverting things now as well, or is this just what being dead does to you?

I have a question, tfw:  What comic have you been reading?!

Vriska seems nearly the same as ever.  Perhaps disillusioned with serious, flustered relationship pursuits by being, well, two years dead, and busy getting things done while probably leading Tavros on to speed things up.

If she'd lost her vital spark completely:

VRISKA: Dammit, Tavros. You can't 8e slacking off like that.  VRISKA: I told you, we aren't fucking around anymore. This is serious 8usiness. 

She wouldn't be so busy, would she?

Vriska isn't out of the game.  She has a plan, and is using Tavros to help search for something.  Something important.  I have no doubt that she's on a path to fulfill Doc Scratch's prophecy of Vriska-wrought unfathomable destruction.

Furthermore...

contraplebicism asked you:

hey I'm not sure but I think the John-rose-vriska-kanaya shipping n-drangle's wavelength just collapsed. john loses, he gets nothing. good day, sir. or so it would seem. vriska said it "didn't work out" with the beta john, in any case.

That's not quite the whole story when you think about it.

Here's the quote again, as a reminder, though I'm speaking beyond the quote and not to it:

VRISKA: It was fine. For a while.  VRISKA: It didn't really work out.  JOHN: oh.  VRISKA: We crossed paths every now and then after that.  VRISKA: Things stayed pretty friendly 8etween us.  VRISKA: Until he died. 

She broke up with an age-locked John who basically would not have been able to grow up.  Furthermore, she wouldn't have been able to grow up much, either!  Whereas - unlike beta John - our John has matured enough to realize Con Air was corny.  That's a big difference!

(And, though it's splitting hairs, we aren't presently aware which party wanted most to break up in their prior relationship, nor why.)

Anyway, none of that is too convincing or relevant.  However, there's a huge reason I can guarantee you that Vriska isn't out of the romance game.

I'll say it twice, the second time in large text, so you'll remember it.

Vriska's current relationship with Tavros is horrible, unhealthy, and will necessarily shatter.

Again!

Vriska's current relationship with Tavros is horrible, unhealthy, and will necessarily shatter.

It's inevitable!

The current state of things is clearly bringing out the worst in Tavros.  (See the role inversion link at the top of this post, for instance.)  Homestuck is not going to leave him in an eternity of this; that's a hell he really didn't earn!

So if the present situation is unsustainable, which ways can it go from here?  Let's itemize some possibilities for where Vriska will eventually end up.

Tavros undergoes severe, sudden character development, does a 180º, puts paid to the relationship... and decides to pair up with Vriska again anyway.  (UNLIKELY!  Recovery on Tavros's part will almost certainly lead to a permanent break.)

Vriska and/or Tavros end up double-dead.  (Why so much screentime, then?  Just to cause unfathomable destruction and then kill them off??)

The relationship ending or being separated somehow, Vriska comes back into the picture somehow and pursues John and/or Jake.  (BINGO!)

What Vriska and Tavros have right now is going to shatter brilliantly.  Either offscreen, or possibly onscreen to some plot or character development effect.  (Unfathomable destruction, for example?)  And almost certainly thereafter, the romantic loose ends will seek healthier resolutions, with the plot of the story all too happy to oblige.

As to the "John-rose-vriska-kanaya shipping n-drangle"?  That wavelength collapsed a little while ago, with a near - not absolute, but almost certain - confirmation of Rose/Kanaya recently.  John's side of things have become more complicated to make up for this, with the introduction of Roxy Lalonde to take Rose's place in the competition with Vriska.

I agree with you.

Everyone's got embarrassing and potentially offensive skeletons in their closet. I'm sure when Hussie started Homestuck he didn't imagine having a million-plus reader fanbase a few years later who would dig up his racist oneshots and call him out on his idiocy.

It's like applying for a job and having the interviewer talk about the dumb self-insert OC you created for [insert anime here] when you were young and ignorant.

Except it's not really like that at all because racism's worse.

I get extra paranoid about storms where I live right now because we've had lightning strike our driveway, and the neighbor's house... twice. It's a little unnerving!

contraplebicism asked:

And it seems to me you lived your life/ Like a candle in the wind/ Never knowing who to cling to/ When the rain set in/ And I would have liked to have known you/ But I was just a kid/ Your candle burned out long before/ Your legend ever did. - John Cougar Mellencamp.

I -

I dont have a gif of people waving lighters in the air? How is that possible. Gif folder, you have failed me. I'll make some later.

Time to head to youtube and play candle in the wind while I answer some questions. BAWS A LITTLE.

thefinalwraith asked:

Vriska has no one to blame for her death but herself? I wouldn't necessarily say that. Who was it who went in to the encounter dressed in playclothes and accusing Vriska of multiple homicides (including someone who was both alive, and a murderer in his own right) thus effectively torpedoing what little credibility she had? Not to mention how her own assumptions affected the encounter.

Of course, that's not to say Terezi wasn't also a victim in this. Remember how you were talking about what a jackass Doc Scratch is, with the whole 'injecting an already volatile animal' thing? Does that situation seem analogous to something you just witnessed? Like say someone who made sure Terezi was good and angry, and thinking about the past (both in regards to Ancestors and FLARP) and then literally told her where to find Vriska?

You really don't send in the easy messages!

Terezi was most certainly not perfect in her actions leading up to the fight. And I don't think she was treating it like it was play, even though she went up there in her flarping outfit. If I think about it, I would assume Terezi put it on to make herself feel stronger about the choice she was making. Possibly to make herself feel more like what she was doing was right. Or maybe to distance herself from what she was about to do, by using the cover of her FLARP character (and ancestor, whether or not she knew that.)

Terezi could have done things differently. She was kind of gunning for Vriska, but she wasn't treating it entirely flippantly. Once again it is the trolls' interactions with the kids that shows their uncertainties in things.

but I still think Vriska had most of the responsibility between the two of them for how things turned out. I'm not angry at either one, and I'm so sad for both of them. Vriska manipulated the dice. Vriska was too proud - or too scared to let Terezi know that she regretted things. She told her about Gamzee, but she blew off Tavros' death and her own feelings about it. Vriska showed nothing at all to Terezi to indicate that she might not be the same. She goaded her a little, and spoke much the same as her normal brash self.

And yes, I do see similarities with Gamzee, but I still just don't know what to think about him, or what is going on with him. I don't understand his motivation for anything at all. I would think he would want to take the girls out himself, not have Terezi do his dirty work - unless he thought Vriska could take him - and I think she could have. Or unless he knew about the god tier just/heroic death, and wanted Terezi to be the Just Ending for Vriska. I can't see how he would have.

And even with him hyping her up, Terezi isn't blameless. She was gunning for Vriska before Gamzee hyped her up about it.

I guess jury is still out on how I feel about Gamzee. I'm waiting for his story, I guess.

Anonymous asked:

i am so so so sorry for you. i knew you was coming up to the vriska death part and was like 'oh noo it's her favorite character she's going to be so upset ad hussie makes it so sad oh god why cant i hold her! :'( ' i really want to just make you some hot chocolate with marshmallows and sit with you and we'll click through the pages together. oh noel! OH NOEL IM SO SORRY!

I STILL THINK THAT I HAVE THE BEST FOLLOWERS. Even the ones who were chomping at the bit with eagerness to see me get to that part. YOU GUYS ARE JUST SO SWEET THOUGH, I regret not a single part of this whole liveblogging experience. I wish we could all go out to lunch and just hang out because that would be so much fun. And also I could legit collect on all these hug vouchers I'm racking up. Thank you, anon!

aceodarkhearts asked:

I PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE LAUGHING THIS HARD AT YOUR ACTUAL TEARS.

it's okay, no one will ever know about your grammar secret, aceodarkhearts. You only had 7 o in your no, so I am also going to mentally add an o to the other ask, too. 

Also I don't blame anyone for laughing at me while I had a quiet and prolonged weep. With caps.

homestuckspeculation asked:

I think Vriska's big confessional to John is probably her most controversial chatlog. Fans of Vriska, some probably newly converted, can point to it and say "see, she wants to be a good person, she just doesn't know how". Those who can't accept that she's a murderer & a bully can point out "but she hasn't actually learned or done anything yet; she went and got her friends killed anyway". And then she gets stabbed in the back before she has a chance to either way... damnit, I've teared up again.

COME HERE HOMESTUCKSPECULATION LET ME HOLD YOU AND WE CAN BAWW A LITTLE TOGETHER. (also do you have a name you prefer or are you good with your url? Sorry I just dont want you guys to think that I don't notice who you are/care who messages me because I reply to peoplewith their urls I do notice I promise)

Vriskas confession WAS a little awkward, but I assume confessions often are. I'm still not the person anyone would go to when it comes to shipping. What made me sad in it, though...

AG: And I won't have to worry a8out 8eing the 8est anymore, or proving what a ruthless killer I can 8e. AG: May8e I can try out whatever is supposed to 8e normal for a human. AG: Don't worry, it could 8e a human d8, whatever that entails. AG: No weird alien stuff, I promise! And no killing or murders, or even talking a8out killing or murders and such. Just whatever you like to talk a8out and think is cool. AG: I could even 8e persu8ed to watch more of your a8surd human films. AG: Do you like any others which feature that rugged human with the long hair and wounded arm? AG: You know the one. The sweaty guy with the mutil8ed animal and the speech impediment. AG: Those would 8e tolera8le to watch, I 8et.

Part of what makes me SO sad during this is how badly she is trying to be "normal" - even a human normal, and constantly trying to reassure John and offer the things he's interested in. >just whatever you like to talk a8out and think is cool

and the fact that we know she loves nic cage and wants to watch the a8surd human film but

vriska

Vriska, normal is a horrible word and I hate it I think it is the worst word and I am so sad that anyone would ever think that they're not okay the way they are and that they have to be "normal" VRISKA SWEETIE I AM SO SORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE and that you think John didn't really enjoy being your friend even with the weird alien stuff VRISKA YOU WERE A GOOD THING, AND YOU WERE LOVABLE, AND I AM SO SAD THAT YOU LOST ALL OF YOUR CONFIDENCE SO MUCH IN THE END

oops

ah

uh

i

i have a lot of vriska feels SORRY REPLYING TO THE CONTEXT OF THE ASK AGAIN yeah I can see that being a controversial part of her life for a lot of people. Every part of her life was, though, haha. I think she DOESN'T know how to be a good person. She thought that if she did something grand enough, she could make up for the things she did - that's pretty telling right there, confession or no.

The confession itself does read as a little awkward to me and I don't have feelings about it one way or the other, but I am the neutral shipper. It's me. I guess if I were going to ship them, it would be <>?? So I do think she wanted to be better, but I dont think this log in itself is the only, or best evidence to that. Her conversations with John generally did show a side of her that we didn't see anywhere else.

And the people who hate vriska... well. SHRUGS. I've always accepted that as a valid opinion that I will respect, even if I don't have it! I love Vriska a ton, and I don't think I've ever failed to own up to the fact that she's done terrible, terrible things.

Anonymous asked:

And one day, Hussie showed the world once and for all that our arbitrarily binary concepts of morality have no relevance to Vriska's life... or her death.

Vriska defies all things.

combobulatedprognosticator asked:

Vriska handing off her dice really, REALLY got to me. Not only because the symbolism of handing off her only heirloom from her ancestor, but because, well, gaming nerds are kinda super superstitious about their dice. There are some people, Vriska--competitive-types especially, for whom YOU DON'T TOUCH THEIR DICE, because your bad luck will rub off on them or whatever. So the passing of the dice, the passing of Responsibility to John...wow. And he took it seriously, because he improved his hammer

I didn't know that about gamers! I can easily see Vriska being like that. I thought I noticed dice in the hammer when I commented on the sigil, but ended up not commenting on it because it s...

it seemed silly wow I just had a thought about the function of those dice. Does that mean John rolls for luck every time he swings his hammer? John, Vriska is helping you while you fight, still.

Anonymous asked: 2012-07-03 17:31

you're only 200 panels from cascade.

And I am frightened.

inexchangeforyoursoul asked:

Btw just in case you get really close tonight... before a certain flash called [S] Cascade, pop some corn and shit. And rewatch it as many times and needed. Then look at the next flash. Proceed with a day off to devour information. Then [S] Treestuck: Enter once again. Okay? :33c

Seriously I am so nervous about the infamous Cascade. I dont even know what to expect from it. I just

have no idea.

Hopefully you guys enjoy whatever it is I feel about it, though!

Anonymous asked:

I'm surprised you didn't seem to have much of a reaction to the clock. A lot of people believe that Slick's breaking the clock on "just" actually caused Vriska's death to be permanent. It depends on whether you think her death was objectively just in the first place. Because all she did was stand there..

Maybe it would have stopped in the middle. Maybe it would have stopped on Just on it's own. I don't think I choose to believe that Slick stopping the clock had an effect on Vriska's death. I was thinking about the clock as a visual confirmation, not something controlling her.

but if Hussie pulls an All Dogs Go To Heaven and restarting that clock means that Vriska might come back, then I am all for it.

Anonymous asked:

Hello there treestuck, I am the anon who said "Oh boy, if you think you're getting feels *now*… *evil laughter*" And thus you responded: "You guys KEEP IMPLYING that my feels are going to get worse but how is that possible? how. Seriously. How." I will now respond: That is how. That Vriska log. You should trust us in the future. By the way, while I did do the evil laugh there I too was a sobbing wreck reading through that pesterlog, so don't feel alone.

Hahaha, LET ME HUG YOU TOO, ANON. HUGS FOR EVERYONE. Those logs were so sad! I didn't doubt that there would be more feels in my future, I just dont know how they could be worse. I still dont. HOW CAN IT EVER BE WORSE THAN IT IS WHEREVER I CURRENTLY AM?

I still think that everything bad that happens is just one big pile of awful, and one awful event isn't necessarily worse or less than another. They don't negate each other, they all just pile on together. Feels piles.

Anonymous asked:

We warned you. We told you about feels, bro. :( That hussie would step /all over them./

And now for a gif recreation of what Hussie did to my feels:

I don't have anyone stomping on things gifs, but I think the lightbulb/mousetrap one is still a pretty good visual.

Anonymous asked:

B-b-but we were all gonna get together and do the Schadenfreude Polka, don't goooo. ;_;

I'm a terrible dancer, anon! I can't even walk through my house without injuring myself, dancing is a very questionable act and it is much for the better that I stopped before we got to the Polka!

Anonymous asked:

The internet is basically standing in a circle around a girl reading Homestuck while she's in tears, with people taking a good look at her as part of their daily entertainment. She's the one crying, but we are the real tragedy.

It's okay anon. I don't blame anyone for laughing at me while I was crying at a fictional character death. It certainly doesn't make anyone a tragedy!

Anonymous asked:

While Vriska's death was sad, I can never take it seriously since the panel with DEAD over her corpse has Nic Cage's mug looking Vriska-ward in the background. Just wanted to mention this in case you were too caught up in the emotional roller coaster to notice.

Not even I was too far gone to notice it. I stopped for a second, facepalmed, and then kept reading. It just wouldn't be a Homestuck death without an awkward, undignified moment. (Equius' smile, Tavros' eyes, etc.)

Anonymous asked:

ahahahahahahahahaahahaha

I'm assuming what's going on here is a recreation of this video, only the joke is me and my feels. (It's okay.)

mmarycontrary asked: 2012-07-03 21:29

Ohh, you poor sweet baby Tree. I just want to wrap you up in all the hugs. I'd give you tea and cookies and a hug if I were there.

The feels train just needs to have a Hugs and Emotional Comfort Car. Maybe all of the cars need a Hugs and Emotional Comfort station. Ones with snacks and drinks and warm blankets for people to huddle in while I read homestuck and weep.

tollymain asked:

"Homestuck is like taking a dull dental too and scraping away at the enamel on my teeth in a vague and somewhat mindless attempt to make creepy mouth sculptures out of them."

...I like going to the dentist. My dentist is hilarious. And I would probably find creepy tooth sculptures interesting, like those sculptures made from the tips of pencils. Only weirder.

but that is a very unpleasant sounding process and yeah, Homestuck is pretty much a lot like that. Only excellent at the same time.

Anonymous asked:

Oh god I wasn't expecting you to legit start crying. Now I feel kind of bad for laughing at your reactions earlier in the day. Here lemme give you an anon-hug.

It's okay Anon, I don't blame you!