aw man ok, i need to clear some things up because my wording in that post was pretty poor and now I feel kinda bad. I was excited I guess. But like this is probably overstating any impact I may have had by a fair measure? Buuut I really don’t like the idea of putting any of the good folks at wp in a position where they feel like they HAVE to make statements about stuff. 

I also don’t think you got QUITE the message I did from the tweet when I went over to look at it, either, anon. Just in case, here’s a big disclaimer: I OBVIOUSLY don’t know shelby or necessarily what she might have intended! All I can tell you is that what I read gave me a different picture of where she was coming from, ok? This, along with everything I post and say about Homestuck, is just MY perspective on a property I happen to know a lot about because it raised me, but I don’t know really anyone at WP and nobody should assume I know what I’m talking about when I talk about what they say.

Are we clear on that? Ok. I’m gonna do something I REALLY usually don’t like doing and post the tweet for clarity’s sake. 

This doesn’t sound like moving away from the Joey as lesbian hc to me. 

What it sounds like is that in my post–and i don’t know if others made posts to this effect, i doubt it was just me but i’ve been loud in fandom recently so, maybe?–I credit her with being involved in the writing of Hiveswap through admittedly poor wording on my part. What I should have put the emphasis on is that last sentence–I think it’s pretty obvious that there were LGBT creators and women who KNOW the experience of growing up like this, and who’s collective experiences and camaraderie and mutual understanding influenced the text of the story, no matter who wrote the actual text.

That focus on community understanding, teamwork, and mutual solidarity is probably the single factor I’d credit most in Hiveswap’s writing being so powerful. And I think that’s likely what she’s pointing to. Shelby didn’t personally do any writing for Hiveswap, and she’s NOT the only lgbt person who worked on the game, so it’s absolutely true that not all the credit should go to her. 

I wanted to thank her for tweeting about it in the first place and validating fandom suspicions, though, because that also mattered to me. And I’ll be honest: a bit of it is just the fanboy slipping out of me? I’ve been following Shelby–anyone affiliated with Homestuck as creators really–for most of my life growing up, since I was 16. I love Steven Universe and Neo-Kosmos is absolutely fantastic and brilliant (and by the way, if you’re hungry for more content while you wait for Hiveswap Act 2 GO READ NEO-KOSMOS??? ITS SO HOMESTUCK AND KIND OF STEVEN UNIVERSE AND AAAH).

So uh yeah. I get really excited and emotional and worked up and I’m not always PERFECTLY eloquent and making my points as a result. I feel bad about that in this case because I feel really weird about putting anyone at wp in a position they need to respond to, but really all this means to me is that thanks for hiveswap and joey should go to ALL the creators who worked so hard on Hiveswap and to craft this amazing character. Cohen wrote most of the literal text, but he made a tweet I’ll also post here only because it echoes a similar sentiment:

And retweeted a similar one:

And I think that perspective is rightfully deserved. Poinko, papers plase, james roach and toby and so many other people along with these two deserve all our thanks for working so hard under such durress to deliver not just an amazing product, but a thoroughly transcendent experience. The kind of story that changes the world for the better. That’s what I believe Hiveswap is, anyway.

I feel like somewhere along the way during the course of Homestuck, Hussie’s reputation as a troll and other stuff resulted in a culture prone to mixing genuine criticism and hurt with deeply-rooted irony and insincerity, and that only grew worse as the hiatuses and ending came about. At some point, we kind of forgot to praise creators for the work they do to entertain us, and I think doing so is…really important, personally. I’d like to see a return to a more appreciative and celebratory kind of fandom culture, if possible, on a personal level. 

Also, to be clear, I don’t think any of this has any bearing on reading Joey. I wanted to thank Shelby for speaking up through her tweet and confirming what many already knew, but I am fundamentally a very DOTA focused Homestuck reader, and that’s carrying over to Hiveswap as well. I don’t think Joey is canonically a wlw because Shelby tweeted about it, although that was useful in a highly skeptical and highly Word of God focused fandom.

I think Joey is a wlw because little kids who play as her and fill her shoes and read about her feelings will definitely connect with the similarities between her experiences and theirs. Because she reminds me of knowing I was into boys and pretending otherwise except for the moments I prayed to god to make it go away, to make it stop, to change me. Because I feel in my heart that the text speaks for itself, and if you let go of the 20 layers of Tumblr ideology and ways the story is problematic and w.e and try to imagine thinking like a KID for half a second…you’ll see that too?

And that’s important. It’s maybe the most important thing that can happen right now, when our culture so sorely needs to understand itself in new ways.

So like. Props to you guys, @whatpumpkinstaff . Sorry if this is weird but well that tweet literally says to do this even if I’m shy so like…yea.