i will say that i’ve heard somewhere that jane could be talking about ectobiology here. and she could be. but i think her comments on jake’s body give it a sexual meaning, and also, if the roles were reversed and it was a guy saying, “your only value is being hot and i’m going to force you to have children with me,” it would not be ambiguous.
(also the prime time of jake’s life was after the brobot was in it which reveals that he never really found the robot more of an annoyance and inconvenience at times and certainly not as a sexual threat. because jake is scared right now, and i posit that if the robot really had been that kind of threat, jake would not be wishing to return to a time where it was in his life but i digress.)
“no, why does everyone want to kiss me? aranea, stop!”
context: this is after the conversation with crockertier jane. aranea has said before that she knows jake is attracted to her. she is about to “heal” jake and turn his hope powers up to maximum radiance and was going to do it by kissing him. jake Does Not Want to be kissed.
this is brain ghost dirk, during jake and crockertier jane’s conversation.
“look at our god tier pajamas. i look really stupid and it’s weird that my leg hair is gone! but i think your pajamas are decent.”
(and then like twenty minutes later brain ghost dirk, who canonically represents jake’s subconscious desires and understanding, calls himself jake’s boyfriend.)
like you don’t have to care or believe me. i’m sure i skipped some things but these conversations which all happen really close together have always really stuck out to me. but i’m just saying, please listen to what jake is actually saying and thinking. he’s not scared of dirk.
Yeah I keep hearing people say “It’s common to want to be protected by someone you’re scared of it’s a common facet of abuse” which is great and all except Jake…literally never once makes a comment even remotely implying he’s scared of Dirk, or really the Brobot for that matter.
Also worth noting Jake wants to go back to when he was dealing with “being tackled by a feisty robot”, not, say, back to when he was with his Grandma. The way Jake reacts to Jane and Aranea and describes Brobot also casts a lot of doubt on the idea that the Brobot’s “tender” behavior was anything other than some pretty chaste romantic overtures.
Also: People have argued this is Jane line is about ectobiology? Sorry to burst bubbles, but it’s not. She references the trickster mode “zillion babies” thing, which explicitly describes sexual relations. This is Jake being threated with sexual assault. It’s not particularly ambiguous.
I’m glad you wrote this out cause I’ve been meaning to write a post about how Jake literally never implies being scared of Dirk even a little. Thanks
Fun fact: we can acknowledge that Vriska abused Terezi when their relationship was flushed, and simultaneously acknowledge that they are both healthier and happier together in a pale relationship than they ever would be apart, given the circumstances of their universe.
obviously, the two are individuals, but so much of their characterization is tied together, if you try to logically explain half of the story without explaining the other, you don’t even have half of the understanding
(Terezi) and (Vriska), too, are important to the understanding of Terezi and Vriska’s endgame relationship.
(click through for what essentially amounts to an essay on their relationship status throughout chronology, and my own thoughts)
I don’t have much to add to this–just that I’d never read Terezi and Vriska as being flushed that early on before, and it’s an interesting reading since I think the feelings are definitely there, if repressed.
Unsure how I feel about Vriska and Terezi’s moirallegiance being healthy, too, but I’m genuinely not sure how the comic is aiming to present that and suspect I won’t until the Epilogue and Terezi finding Vriska in the bubbles. Guess we’ll see!
Either way this was an interesting read and I’m in a vrisrezi mood and jesus fuck i’d never seen that kiss panel so that exists. Vrisrezi is gay
Haha yeah I was being kind of flippant and facetious in the ask I think you’re referencing. I only want to start conversations, not impose a new understanding, so I’m happy to talk things out and debate views!
Tl;dr Jake wanted Dirk the whole time, he wants Dirk selfishly because he views Dirk has his protector and bodyguard and because Dirk helps him with whatever he wants help with, and he knowingly manipulated Jane into denying her feelings for him despite knowing otherwise for a fact because Roxy told him that she had feelings for him.
All of this is literally textual and in the comic.
Reading Jake as passive is the only reason anyone thinks DirkJake is ambiguous instead of one of the most mutual and passionate gay romances in all fiction, and it’s based on nothing but misinformation.
I’ve written so much about this it’s not funny, but feel free to read any of my various arguments on the subject and debate particular points if you want to follow up on something in particular.
Karkat: the reason there’s any people who think Karkat was turned into a joke and was never effective in the plot at all is because he almost always exerts his impact by “Allowing” his aspect, and thus ends up pretty effective all told despite not being aware of what he’s doing!
Tavros: reading Tavros as passive ignores the fact that Tavros fights and resists Vriska’s will every step of the way throughout his abuse, and is pretty capable about knowing who to get to help him in stopping her.
It ignores that the one time Tavros almost used his powers he was acting under his own agency, and that he quite expressly and dramatically is unwilling to do things the way Vriska wills them on him.
On Vriska’s end, ignoring that Pages inspire others to act for their own benefit paves over the element of her character that genuinely perceived herself as trying to help him, which is a textual element that complicates our view of her.
Obviously none of that is to say Tavros asked for it, or that any of what Vriska did is justified. But the way their wills play off each other is more complex than just “she bullies him and he’s a pushover”.
Tavros is NOT a pushover. He’s overpowered by force, but he tries fucking hard to resist his abuse. And Vriska doesn’t exactly just hate Tavros–there’s an element of her behavior genuinely rooted in a desire to help in the context of the fucked up world she grew up in.
But more than anything reading Pages as passive ignores Tavros’ motivation for raising the ghost army and turns it into “oh he ended up helping Vriska to her benefit in the end and that’s…his character arc?”
Which isn’t what that scene is at all. That scene is Tavros getting what he personally wanted to have closure for himself and move on from Vriska for good. Tavros healed. He moved on. He got a pretty gentle sort of revenge because Tavros is ultimately a kindhearted and gentle boy, but he used the ghosts specifically to aid his desire to own the fuck out of Vriska and then moved the hell on.
Reading Pages this way means that Tavros’ arc wasn’t written for the purpose of making a depthless joke of an abuse victim, which means you can understand Vriska’s character complexly without having to prioritize her over her victim.
I sure as hell wouldn’t call it, like, a perfectly handled narrative, but it does make it substantially better and make Tavros ’ ending a lot more satisfying. Also gives me more hope both Vriska and Tavros will be treated well with whatever on earth happens in the epilogue.
Homestuck was, if not good, at least only kind of shitty instead of dramatically in your face blatant abuse mockery shitty all along. Tavros is definitely treated as jokes, but he’s also given actual closure re:his abuse arc, that actually makes sense given who he is as a person. And understanding that means Vriska’s character was handled with more care, too.
Flying through Storytelling 