Why is this not the only person writing for Batman ever

@thebibliosphere

been thinking about fantasy/scifi rule systems and free will

Teaching the baby ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

Gonna want the sound on for this one boys

diy_traps on instagram made this. The quail fall for everything, and it's so creative.

every single thing further i learn about the locked tomb series makes me more confused. there's...necromancy? memes? mythology? space? honestly at this point, you could tell me a main character is the reincarnation of both jesus and a homestuck character and i'd be like 'yeah sure, that tracks'

...you're shitting me

Closing my eyes and thinking really hard trying to send out psychic waves to people I've drifted apart from that say things like "you will always be a part of me" and "I was changed because I knew you" I'm doing this because I hate sending text messgwes

That Cinematic Where Uther and Sylvanas Talked in Shadowlands Plus Everything that Led Up To It Except Now I Like It

Fuck ittt, reposting this cos it's the 2 year anniversary of this wall of text hyperfixation comic I ACTUALLY DID finish, but was only an imgur link bc tumblr didn't support enough images before. putting this shit directly on the good bad site where it belongs

uh ok imagine the blades of grass things in the jailer's hand here are actually like glowing threads of her soul. i could prob color just this part to make it more clear but my body goes limp like a marionette when i think about exerting that small amount of effort to make my comic more legible

this ^ is one page i would maybe color sometime, actually one of my fave things i've drawn tbqhhh

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: 99% of peoples criticisms of the end chunk of homestuck completely fall apart if you take a thematic reading. homestuck is aggressively thematically cohesive straight to the end and SO many people interpret that as insulting the audience or a copout

Would you mind expanding on that?

I don't think I've heard a lot of the discourse around this, and I'd like to hear your thoughts!

I WOULD LOVE TO

So, basically starting from [S] Game Over and carrying straight through to Act 7, the bulk of the criticism leveled at Homestuck/Hussie's writing has been focused on satisfying narrative expectations. Nobody got complete arcs, the retcon was a copout, they didn't defeat the big bad they just ran away, etc, and holy shit everyone and their mother became INSTANTLY convinced that this was a deliberate insult because Hussie hates their fans and wanted to hurt us on purpose

And if Homestuck was a story, I'd get that. But Homestuck is a story about stories.

From LITERALLY page 1, Homestuck built on the premise of 'what if real people were subjected to Narrative?'

The characters are aware of narration, aware of stage direction, and they are able to express their opinions on what they are being written to do. This is in multiple layers- they are aware of the Game, and explicitly understand that SBURB is a grand YA coming-of-age narrative built around each of them, they are aware of story narration, the narrators, the literal author, and the fandom. They are CONSTANTLY slotted into major narrative archetypes and tropes, and they are aware of it and often push back against it. Sollux remarks on being a blind seer, entering the game requires acting out new beginning metaphors, the whole kisses to wake dead princesses thing, Dave's thing with Bro's sword- which he subverts by trying to break the sword instead, then subverts again by failing.

The prevalence of roleplaying and denial is another reflection of this theme. Vriska and Terezi and Roxy and Dirk and Hal and Jake all construct narratives that allow them to deny or distance themselves from their lives. Karkat imagines his life playing out like a TV show. John invents a grand story about his dad's job, and spends the entire game very deliberately playing into the hero archetype. Rose invents motivations for her mother. Dave constructs a narrative to rationalize his abusive childhood. All of these narratives are unhealthy and must be rejected for the characters to grow.

Over and over again characters are put in the most Narrativey narrative devices to ever narrative, and compliance is almost never the right choice- 'I am Brain Ghost Dirk. You killed my boyfriend. Prepare to die.' but he doesn't kill her! Jade gets crushed by a house but it doesn't matter. Rose tears the game apart instead of doing her quest chores and she is correct to do so.

Over and over again, from literally page 1, the characters freely express distaste for and reject what the narrative imposes on them. Because thematically speaking they are Real People, and what real people do and want is not always narratively satisfying.

I think Rose and Roxy's alcoholism is an EXCELLENT example of this. The audience feels cheated because we didn't get to watch them handle their addictions, especially that Rose got to just retroactively Not Have That Problem.

The audience... feels cheated... because a teenage girl didn't suffer for our entertainment.

Now I'm not saying there's anything wrong or perverse in wanting to watch characters overcome hardship- just that the central conceit, 'what if real people were subjected to The Narrative?' pretty strongly conflicts with showing us that. Real people don't benefit from suffering. Real people don't owe you a satisfying explanation for every major change in their lives. Real people are entitled to avoid suffering, even if that's boring to us.

And then they just... escape. They don't beat the bad guy, like we expected them to. Why did we expect them to? Because a big army showed up and they had all their fancy powers and weapons? So that should magically make the impossible possible? Maybe in a story! But in a story about stories, a story about real people being trapped in a narrative and having to break the story, break the game, defy the author and free themselves, what kind of ending would it be for the characters to succumb at the last second? To turn their backs on freedom and risk their lives to do the impossible?

Vriska chose that path. Vriska was so incapable of confronting existence without an external purpose that she chose vainglorious suicide over freedom.

_______

i just rediscovered this in my drafts and my train of thought has been long since broken. i didn't even get into the interplay between death/being dead and narrative development and i'm too focused on lego atm to change that BUT i hope this makes sense lol

you get back here and share your analysis with the rest of the class. too good to stay in the tags.

Alright, fine.

Caliborn's whole deal is that he is a very classical, run-of-the-mill antagonist. He opposes the protagonist, gets in their way, and generally remains stagnant in their beliefs throughout the narrative. He is, in every sense of the word, a "bad guy". An Iago-type, essentially.

But the difference between him and a regular "bad guy" runs a bit deeper. This is Homestuck, what defines someone as a "good guy" and a "bad guy" varies wildly from a classical story. The good guys of Homestuck's story are people that know remaining compliant in their acting roles is never the correct response (as the post above states). They know that fighting Lord English is an important plot beat, thus they ignore him.

In any other story, Caliborn would be an unstoppable villain. But in the story of Homestuck, he can only be snubbed by the protagonists, as it is their main way to escape the narrative and obtain true freedom through Earth C.

So what happens then? Which character is as consumed by their role in the grand narrative as Caliborn? Who will be the classical hero to Caliborn's classical villain?

It's Vriska Serket, 8a8y.

A classical hero is defined less by their morals, and more by their impressive feats and ambition. Vriska, by nature, is the classical hero to take Lord English on. Unlike the other protagonists, she is purely concerned with her status within the narrative. She created Bec Noir so that she could fight him and attempt to fulfill a narrative destiny of sorts. Because of her borderline obsession with her role as a "good guy", she just so happens to be the perfect match for Caliborn being the "bad guy".

That's why the ending really works so well for me, at least. The characters who wished they had no business being the main characters of some epic get to maintain their freedom (they go through a house door!!!! they're no longer homestuck!!!!!), Vriska and Lord English are stuck within the confines of the narrative and their roles.

Which is probably what they wanted anyway.

Robert Redford honors Paul Newman at the Kennedy Center, 1992 

First drawing of the 2023 lol Happy New Year

Me, sometimes, out of nowhere, at no specific time and for no specific reason.

Does this work for you?

@siverfanweedo

I can do this all day

@alchemyrainstorms

Today's Adventure is that I, after an unintentional 13-hour power nap,

Update:

Ok, so:

... further details in a bit I think the Vikings are here.

OK so.

Not to make this monster even longer, but I slept, and can answer a few questions:

Little Ham Man himself.

2. What was Illegal about what Officer and Mrs. Cunt Magnifique did?/If they're hosed, are you moving in?/Does Doris still have to move out?

I don't know all the details, but Officer Magnifique was going door-to-door, in uniform and armed, telling his neighbors they had to sign this paperwork or there would be legal consequences, which is pretty textbook coercion and abuse of office. Also If I understood the summary someone told me while I was dying of heat exhaustion, the actual legal setup they were trying to push was some shady land-ownership/tax evasion nonsense too.

But also. All of this happened YESTERDAY. Charges aren't files (tho they are definitely coming) let alone the trial held/conviction/payout or other consequences, so they could still be living there and involved in active litigation for like. A year. And it's an unfortunate truth that living near a cop that's having a meltdown is a great way to get shot.

So No. I'm not moving in there.

Also, Doris originally brought up the idea of moving because of them, but she is also very close to her granddaughter and they both want her to move out there.

3. You live like this/How do I get a life like that?

The process is fairly simple, but takes a lot of work. It goes like this

4. Are. Are you alright OP?

LMAO.

Things will probably calm down by Tuesday Afternoon, but until then I'm gonna be running on all cylinders until the wheels fall off. If you want to contribute to my "Stress Ice Cream/Herschel's Special Little Ham Boy Fund" You can Donate to my Ko-Fi, and if you want more stories, check out the #Family Lore tag on this blog, or head over to my Patreon for additional stories/to pre-order the book I'm writing about my and my ancestor's lives because this shit runs like rivers on both sides of my family.

5. Were you wearing the Cryptid Booty shorts for this?/Where did you get them?

They were a bespoke Wedding Gift from @theshitpostcalligrapher but you can always make your own with a pair of shorts and some fabric paint. My beloved Husbeast has a matching neon pink pair that say "BARD".

I am rotating them in my mind

The thing about Peggy hill is you see her in some episodes and you might think well this woman has some lesbionic mannerisms. but the truth is she's just one of those very sporty southern moms who inexplicably gets away with not upholding their side of the gender roles even in communities where everyone is kinda expected to do that. Like she kinda gets to do what she wants. Cause she's Peggy that's just how Peggy is. And she has a husband and a kid so they're like ok fine I guess

Like if you told her she looked gay here she would laugh really awkwardly and be like Well, I hope you mean that as in "happy", because in that case I am positively gay. I am so gay and in love with my wonderful husband Hank. And Hank would be like *texan sigh* Peggy, You can't go around tellin people you're "gay" for me. People are gonna start to get the wrong idea. And then shed accuse Hank of being homophobic and double down

elected fic of the year

bared fangs by sapphicjasper

There’s a lot going on in that little critter’s head right now.

1. Power move. 

2. Why do people whisked away to magical worlds just automatically believe the first creature that tells them what side the person needs to help? Where’s my isekai where the MC slowly finds out they got in with like the deranged zealots and are part of the evil faction, and not the plucky rebels? 

I think about this comic once per week. It’s funnier then anything I can conceive of. Mastery.