Hey guys, I wanna make a post about the POC in Homestuck Tarot discussion [Edited]
Because it is of really great importance to me and I think I should probably comment on it from the perspective of one of the people to coordinate the project.
I think it’s absolutely reasonable to be troubled by the lack of representation in the deck; after all, this has been something that has been commented on with increasing regularity over the course of the last year especially. There is no “but” to this statement. Representation of POC in media and merchandise is very important, and for dropping the ball on that with regards to this project I am really sorry.
In hindsight, I really would have loved to include a message when sending the card prompts to the artists encouraging them to explore different body types and racial representations. The tarot project has been in the making since July of last year and was the first endeavor of its type! By the time it really occurred to me to worry about equal representation, people were already returning finished illustrations.
It was difficult as a project manager to imagine sending them back saying “could you actually change x instead”, especially since this was my first job coordinating any group of artists. This is also when we learned to ask artists for drafts to be approved before moving on to finalized (beautiful) illustrations. By the time we saw most of the cards for the first time, they were already completed and ready for print. We didn’t even realize until the majority of them had been turned in to us that representation was quickly becoming an issue.
Rachel and I considered asking artists to revise their cards anyways; however, worries about how to pay artists for extra effort if we asked them to do that gave us pause. Since this was the first project of its type, our budget was being observed very carefully. If we failed, there would probably never be another chance to do something like this.
We screwed up. There is absolutely no way around this. We are lucky to be living with the privilege to not notice issues like this, and it clouded our observations here. We are very, very sorry, and we feel horrible about this. Reading the reactions of people who are hurt, who are upset, who are feeling (rightfully) alienated and disrespected has been eye-opening, upsetting and a shock to the system. We’ve already started to try to fix this problem (see below) but from now on we will absolutely walk into any new projects with this fixed in our thoughts.
We don’t say any of this to try and minimize the importance of the issue of representation, or to dismiss our failure in that regard with this project thus far. I just want to shed a little light into the progress of this project that led to our end result. If we had a chance to do things over again, we would have done many things differently, we’ve learned a ton of lessons and are already applying them to merchandise which we’re really excited for you guys to see!
The lack of representation of POC in the deck is something that we’re looking into rectifying and we think we may have settled on a solution. We’re happy to announce that we’re offering our card artists a chance to change or touch up their cards in whatever way they find appropriate, including diversifying their character representations if so desired. We really appreciate your guys’ feedback and thank you for voicing your concerns.
Since we cannot go back in time to catch this before it starts, we’d also like your help. Do you know artists who prefer representations of the characters that we haven’t shown? Different body types, skin colors, styles, etc. We’re always looking for more skilled, professional artists to keep in our database and contact when we need art for new projects. If you know or are one of these artists, please contact rachel@whatpumpkin.com and/or tera@whatpumpkin.com with a few links or web-scaled attached portfolio images as well as contact information. Thank you so much.
Homestuck Tarot Announcement
Artist card revisions are not an opportunity for you to give artists your “helpful input” on cards. This is not an open revision process and it is up to the artists to give you the considerable luxury of seeing their updated cards and their process. Please do not feel entitled to send them unsolicited critique or suggestions. And even if you don’t listen to that, please do not be surprised when your input is met with silence or rejection.
It is not your card to revise, please respect the artists process.
I’m so done with Homestuck.
I tolerated a lot of the awful swear words, and the horribly offensive jokes about religion and things that Dave and John and everyone said flying in the face of God, and Rose’s worship of those pagan idols and the demonic-looking alien children and everything. I enjoyed it for the adventure enough to overlook some of these things, even though at times it made me feel like I wanted to vomit and left me shaking and crying. I even burned my laptop once, when Makara started talking about his pagan idols and it made me so angry I thought I had let Satan into this house and would never get him out. But I got over it because I enjoyed the story.
But tarot cards?
Tarot cards??????
Now that devil-worshipper Hussie is trying to force children into an intimate relationship with Lucifer through the despicable use of innocuous-looking cards. I cannot BELIEVE that anyone would be so sinister as to try and introduce Satanic elements into the lives of youths, like the sorceress J.K. Rowling with her evil books.
I really should have seen this coming. I should have known that this was all a gateway to lead the innocent astray and into a satanic trap. I feel so horrible and used for have letting myself become a part of it. I should have stopped reading back when I realized it was causing straight people to become homosexuals and draw homosexual art of the characters. I should have NEVER READ THIS EVIL, EVIL COMIC AT ALL.
I will take no part in this devilry anymore. I will NOT buy your demonic Tarot Cards, Andrew Hussie, and I will make it my life’s mission to make sure no one else falls prey to your satanic schemes. I rebuke you, Hussie, and I rebuke all of Homestuck!!!
ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!
Remember the God Tier Tarot Deck?
It never stopped being a thing. However, I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to make a tarot deck in anywhere near the same vein as the 72 card tarot deck with 168 cards. So, this god tier tarot deck is not going to function like the regular tarot at all, it is a completely new system that will eventually have it’s own spreads and completely different interpretation style.
For starters, The idea going into the God Tier tarot deck is that each card represents a God that when invoked will either bless or curse you. This means that the tarot deck, rather than being focused on telling/predicting the future, is more focused on change. Instead of flipping a card to ask a question about the future, you would instead present a problem or any area that is unknown to you.
The way drawing works is that for each card you draw, you also spin. If the card when revealed is right side up, the god has blessed you, if it is upside down, it is a curse.
As for the definitions of the cards, I will be releasing a page on each that will have about 1-3 paragraphs on the card/god and what it means. Any artist who is inspired or already has a drawing of the god tier shown and wishes it to be part of the god tier tarot deck can contact me, and i’ll add their art to the page. I have been amazed at the number of people willing to do art for free, and I apologize that at this present moment, I do not have any compensation for said art. Eventually I may start to commission art pieces though!
Everything homestuck god tier tarot related will be under the tag ‘god tier tarot’ from now on.
If/When I do finished all 168 cards and there is art for all 168 as well as a tarot back and border, then I will release (with the all of the artist’s permission) a pdf containing all 168 fronts and backs so that you can print out a deck of your very own. Here’s to hoping this project is completed!
