Please share this video I want a reason to yap about Homestuck

I think the Charlie would work if no one knew she was a princess. Let's make it that Lucifer disowned her because she is too kind,and naive,and ruins his reputation as a fearless leader. So she is undercover and if someone would discover her identity she would be severely punished by Lucifer,so she doesn't use her powers, because that would make other demons know she is a princess.  Here I fixed it in two minutes.

Vivziepop is what I’d call a gutless writer.

She WANTS to write about class systems and their consequences, but is too afraid to reflect reality or create genuine allegories for how classism affects society.
She WANTS to write about abusive authority, but is too afraid to depict genuinely bad people, so instead she resorts to Disney-style villains with no depth beyond being cartoonishly evil. Meanwhile, characters with a more active role (Stolas, some of the Sins, etc.) are constantly woobified, with their neglectful and abusive actions brushed aside and blamed on others.
She WANTS to explore the effects of emotional and physical abuse that victims endure daily due to societal structures, but is too afraid her audience might feel uncomfortable with realistic portrayals and take the subject matter too seriously.

Viv lacks the maturity to handle serious topics, and it shows in her constant fear of addressing them properly. Instead, she sugarcoats everything out of fear of alienating her audience, prioritizing fan appeal over genuine storytelling. This is why critics often describe HH/HB as a fanfiction of itself.
She leaves no room for gray morality, despite it being essential for stories like this. Instead, everything is framed in simplistic black-and-white terms: the supposed “good guys” are stripped of any real flaws, while the “bad guys” lose all potential nuance.

Let us all remember that Vivanne was trying to be serious with her caste system, Hussie was doing it as a bad scifi parody to mock bad alien worldbuilding, vivziepop being serious could not make something better than someone doing something as a joke

So basically, Vivzie introduced a caste system..... just for the sake of drama. For ONE episode!
-_-

Charlie seeing Angel be abused by Valentino and being unable to do anything INFURIATES me. Valentino is just a sinner! At the end of the day, he was sent to hell to suffer like everyone else. How come the princess of Hell can't ruin this guy's life and business?

“Vivziepop can’t write”.

Ah, yes. The floor continues to be made of floor

On the Purple vs Violet Bloods, while the Violets are technically higher, the Land and Sea Trolls basically fight and do not really respect each other's privileges.  The Condesce encourages this so none of the leaders of the Troll Race will ever challenge her rule.

yeah it is hard to write a story about discrimination when no one suffers from discrimination. rwby type of writing problem lmao

Alternia’s Caste system is very intentionally cartoonishly fascist, but it’s so well crafted and so indept that when it has moments of taking itself and the oppression that the Lower Caste goes through seriously it doesn’t feel forced. Striking said that adults are shipped off planet to join the empire, but there’s another reason and it’s to stop Troll Adults who were led in a rebellion by a mutant blood from not only retrying their revolution but to also stop their young from being educated about it. Teal Bloods hold the responsibility of controlling what knowledge and information is made avalible to the other Caste members to read on top of creating propaganda supporting the empire, the Condese and the Heiress which further reinforces their role in thr caste as law enforcement and evokes their zodiac sign libra

There are a lot of genuinely insightful things and character moments that surround the caste system. Like, Karkat, despite being a mutated lime blood, isn’t AGAINST the caste system. He just wants to fit into it, so much so that he dreamed of being valuable enough to serve the HIC as a right hand man type of deal. This is something that is VERY common for individuals who live under fascist regimes—hell, it’s common for people who live in generally terrible circumstances. The idea that, rather than being against the abuser, if you could become more useful, more likable, more *like what they want*, you can join them, and fit in.

And then there’s characters like Equius, who, while extremely prejudiced, exhibits a certain kindness and awareness of his power that few others among his rank simply don’t. He’s careful, because he doesn’t want to hurt or destroy anything, despite careless violence being ENTIRELY apart of Alternia’s way of life. He encourages Nepeta to stop talking to their other friends, but he doesn’t really go out of his way to stop her, or prevent them from talking to her. He very very heavily dislikes Vriska, but doesn’t relish in commanding her, and doesn’t exhibit that same euphoria he usually does when other characters command him. As a matter of fact, despite how much of a lack of interest he has in her, he displays a unique sense of tenderness and kindness by making her an arm prosthetic, even though that kind of weakness is not only looked down upon, but is considered practically a KILLABLE offense. He is still a MASSIVE creep and racist, but his character is tacitly given nuance, and the way he speaks and what he claims to believe, doesn’t always actually align with what he DOES.

These kids live in a dangerous, violent, and extremely rigid and restrictive society, but it’s very clear that they are not BORN that way. They’ve managed to develop traits that are entirely against the alternian norm, such as thoughtfulness, care, and kindness for their peers, whether they are above or below them on the hemospectrum. They do not necessarily or inherently have violent tendencies—it is ENFORCED upon them in every aspect of their lives, and the caste system is just one of those tools to serve those in power.

The caste system and even the quadrant system play a huge and heavy role in the oppression that takes place for the Trolls. The caste system creates a hierarchy, and prevents possibly powerful trolls (like rust bloods, bronze bloods and gold bloods) from rising. It subjugates them, and keeps a ruling class to help manage different aspects of the empire. But this is also very specifically, to make sure that kindness and love and unity is bred out. The quadrant system makes sure that violence in relationships is not only further normalized, but romanticized. Moirails prevent their partners from crashing out into inconsolable rage and violence. Auspistices keep kismesis relationships in check. Kismesis relationships are all about violent rivalry. Matespritships are the absence of that violence—but it’s implied that Matesprites aren’t supposed to indulge in the comfort aspect like moirails are, leaving them as whatever is left after the violence is sorted and taken care of. The quadrant system is very specifically unhealthy, and promotes violence and codependency. The reason why most of the relationships using the quadrant system don’t work out isn’t JUST because these are all traumatized children with a lot of issues to work through; it’s because the quadrant system in and of itself is flawed.

I think one thing that could (but won't) be explored about Hell's caste system in HH/HB could be the system itself falling apart because of neglect. The higher-ups seem more focused on their own dramas and power plays, and the lower castes are increasingly unhindered in doing their own thing. There could just be a point of "why do we even need to follow you guys anymore?" down the line.

I was so confused for the LONGEST time what Homestuck was. I didn't bother to properly look it up then, so I went from thinking it was an obscure videogame, to thinking it was an animated series, to thinking it was a one-off music video.

this made me realize what was annoying me so much about the hellaverse. because yeah, why ARE people insulting and questioning Charlie? why establish that imps usually don't start businesses only to show multiple other imps doing exactly that? why did Loona have the guts to stand up to one of the SEVEN DEADLY SINS and backed down, not because she realized she was messing with the wrong guy, but because she didn't want to upset her HELLHOUND?? boyfriend. what is this.

"helluva boss is what happens when you try to write a prejudiced society but are afraid of writing bad people" basically sums up my thoughts on this; and this not just being 'a bad society' but someplace as supposedly awful as HELL makes it worse.
and sorta unrelated but this is basically why I never rlly minded the magic high commission in star vs the forces of evil being racist against monsters. of course I didn't think all that was handled perfectly but I never quite agreed w/ the ppl saying their characters were "ruined" by that.

Insane that vivzie can't bear put bad people in her story about HELL 😭

I know NOTHING about Homestuck so that explanation was great. But also insane lmao.

honestly, even just the concept behind the trolls feels textured and nuanced. they're supposed to emulate internet trolls with their behavior... taunting, rage baiting, using every piece of information they ever get to tear you down... essentially the thesis statement is: what if there was a society that selected for the worst possible behavior in its people? what kinds of standards would beget a society of trolls? and this is only compounded by the fact that our cast of characters are young teenagers. they're immature, so the traits of their class are largely performative as they test the waters of the role they think they're supposed to inhabit in their society. but they're also nearing adulthood, which means that their actions can start carrying real weight, and inspiring less sympathy.

I think that's what makes someone like Vriska so compelling. she is, technically, a mistreated child. but she's also not special... some might say that the conditions and expectations of her class are inherently abusive across the board, or rather, these standards and practices are purposefully designed to create more abusers. which is absolutely what Vriska turns into. so you're left with this uncomfortable cognitive dissonance. in one corner, there's the consideration of Vriska's status as a child and a victim of her violent culture, and in the other corner there's the consideration of Vriska as a self aware and active participant in the violence that defines her culture. she is both autonomous and still developing, a victim and a perpetrator, and every reader will have to decide where their sympathy for her begins and ends.

but it's also the case that every class in this system suffers. for the lower classes it's more obvious to see how, but the expectation to oppress is a pressure that is laid heavily on the shoulders of high blooded children, and they're also expected to be in vicious competition with each other, as superiority still must be proven within the ranks of their same blood color. and each caste comes with unique baggage, like mustard bloods being used as living batteries if they're strong enough, or jade bloods being stifled by the high expectations of their restrictive upbringings, or indigos having potential religious trauma, possibly even while still subscribing to that same cult-like fanaticism. this is a system that benefits no one, even if the upper class likes to pretend they're winning.

but yeah, Alternian society has such good worldbuilding, and it contributes to such good character writing for the Alternian characters.

FINALLY someone who agrees with me on the fact that the caste system in Homestuck is awesome. I can't believe there are people out hating it because it's "not how racism works" despite the fact that no one ever said that it HAD to represent racism

lowk this video made me realize one of the reasons homestuck's caste system works so well: the "exceptions" are thought out and accounted for. feferi and charlie are conceptually pretty similar characters; they're both active "princesses" who hold less authority than a distant ruler, and both try to practice being in direct opposition to the systems of prejudice using the power they hold. the executions of this idea turned out much better in homestuck imo, as feferi is a literal 13 y/o and therefore a lot of her passion comes from a relative place of naivety and, and her actions are essentially kept in check the fact that a) the condesce is ultimately the one in charge and is staunchly pro-blood racism and b) the extent of the caste systems effect on the lives of every alternian runs deeper than she understands, which is reflected in the fact that even some of her closest friends are still supporters of and participate in maintaining the system. charlie on the other hand is grown woman who seemingly has nothing between her and the future she wants to create in terms of systemic roadblocks- her dad (this scenario's condesce) like supports her 1000% and is somehow more absent than the condesce in terms of direct control over the systems at play. this becomes especially ridiculous when like every other hellaverse "highblood" under charlie also doesn't participate in the subjugation? like girl what is keeping this system in place. anyways holy yap sorry for writing so must i really liked this video and it awakened something in me ig