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I think one of the arguments I saw for "Bro is abusive" was that he wasn't acting as a parent should. Their argument was that he didn't care for Dave (porn puppets and weapons everywhere, where is the food, fighting him with deadly weapons, etc) as a parent would for a child. But anyone with an older brother knows that that describes a sibling's relationship PERFECTLY. They aren't supposed to be parent/child. They're brothers. It's a different status.

Anonymous

yeah i think that irl it must be really difficult to assume guardianship over a brother, and homestuck kinda simplifies that for the sake of jokes. but the perceived relationship isn’t parent/child, it’s brother/brother. and i think the jokey brother-brother thing is what hussie was going for but ugh.. it’s difficult because taking it as it is looks abusive but the context is that bro is kinda there as a joke?

and i think you know its there for a joke because dave is never talked about as being under-nourished or suffering from ptsd or any kind of psychological/physical trauma? it’s never talked about as this serious issue? just, ahah oh swords in the cupboard….. smuppets….. ahah oh bro. oh dave. thank god we have the comedic relief from alcoholic mom and overbearing dad and the fact a girl was raised by a dog instead of a human.

and so outside the usual man-pain route, i do understand why people legitimately think it’s abusive because it appears so but….. the writing just hasn’t set it up to be like that. i feel like the only ‘serious’ dimension we get to bro/dave is when bro dies. whereas you constantly have rose’s development with her mom and alcoholism, john’s with his dad’s overbearingness? (not really sure if jade gets any that isn’t more about bec than herself) but dave and bro is just always a kinda joke…..

so yeah a more serious response to address the genuine issues that fans bring up. yes throwing a baby is abuse. yes not feeding a child properly is abuse. yes storing your cupboards with weapons is neglect. but.. in the context of homestuck…. it’s written to be a joke. which is kinda terrible now that i sit and properly think about it? but yeah.. dave/bro isn’t really abusive because it wasn’t written to be abusive…. even though it would be if it was real, instead of a joke? god i’m just literally going around in circles but hopefully you get what i mean by context & intentions over presentation.

That question about Bro and Dave reminded me of someone trying to argue with me that Bro and Dave's relationship was abusive? Was there anything in canon that at all alluded to this or is that just completely fanon stuff and up to peoples interpretations of things?

Anonymous

the only dubious thing is that dave was 13 and knew his brother did puppet porn, and the fact that the porn puppets were all over the house. and the swords…. but these are nit-picky points that dave has never seemed to suffer abuse from? he just takes them in his stride and gets on with it

a small apartment doesn’t mean abuse: that makes assumptions that small house = low income = abuse :// does no-one stop to think that maybe dave and bro just liked having a small house. it was just the two of them, why do they need a huge mansion? bro could afford somewhere bigger, but maybe dave would have been too lonely, or maybe he just really likes sleeping in the livingroom?? maybe theres 10,000 other reasons that aren’t ‘they are poor so bro hit him :’(’

bro wasn’t perfect but none of the guardians were (bec ur a dog ill let you off a little more), and he was just trying his best? and it seems to have worked, seeing as dave is healthy and only suffering as much as everyone else around him–nothing specific to being abused; specific to the fact he’s in the game.

so yeah, as far as i can see its fanon 4 man pain!!!!