Roxy Lalonde: The Drunk Who Became a Trans Icon
This article is entirely spoilers for the infamous comic Homestuck. You’ve been warned!
Tipsy Mom to Heroine
Roxy Lalonde is the second adult to be introduced in Homestuck. She’s often seen with a martini glass, and after being sucked into the game SBurb, she’s murdered along with the protagonist’s father. After the universe-altering event dubbed “the Scratch”, Roxy is born again and she and her best friend Dirk are the last two humans alive. They both grew up in isolation unlike the other Alpha Kids, Jake (who was raised by Jade until she was murdered by the Condesce) and Jane.
Post-Scratch Roxy is introduced in Act 6. Her pink text, slang, and typos make her out to be, in my opinion, the most charming and relatable character in the comic. She retires from her party-girl lifestyle after entering SBurb, admitting to Jane that it was “a problem”.
It’s also worth mentioning that she gives Calliope the Ring of Life to resurrect her. After becoming a god, the only way to die in Homestuck is to either have a just or heroic death. Because of this, Roxy is still able to die and could’ve kept the ring to herself but instead chose to give it to someone else. This might be a direct reference to her Classpect, the title given to her by SBurb; Roxy is a Rogue of Void, someone who takes to give to others.
Dirk, who’s an incredibly active member of the Alpha Kids, confirms Roxy’s importance, calling her their secret leader.
“It’s the feeling that it would make perfect sense if a session like this had a dark horse leader. A leader who was invisible to us all along. Fittingly, a void player to lead a void session. She would be a leader not in name or in spirit or in function, whatever that means. But more of an emotional leader, who would selflessly try to hold everyone together while the rest of us did our best to fall apart.” —Page 5830
Roxy is a badass, plain and simple. Her power is creation— she can create anything by focusing enough; and does she do this to create whatever she wants, whenever she wants? No, she does it to create the egg for the next Mother Grub which she gives to Kanaya. The Mother Grub is what the trolls need to repopulate their race, and their species seemed to be doomed after its destruction. Aside from a fuck ton of generic green cubes, she’s never seen using her Void powers again. This is because she’s such a selfless person.
Breaking the Gender Binary
“and so i got to thinking
what even is gender
amirite lol?” — Meat 19
Please note: I am going to change pronouns depending on which ones Roxy uses in that timeline.
The Epilogues consist of two timelines — Meat, where John meets his demise, and Candy, the “non-canon” reality where John is a depressed divorcee. In Meat, Roxy begins to use they/them along with Calliope. In Homestuck², he uses he/him and sports a pair of sunglasses, a trademark of the male half of the Strilondes. However, in Candy, she uses she/her, eventually acknowledging that her feelings toward gender changed after becoming a mother. This shouldn’t be misinterpreted as a statement about transitioning being optional, but rather that gender is complex and impacted by the human experience.
“Her breasts, which she’d not really known what to do with or how to feel about, suddenly had a specific, practical purpose. It had allowed her to retreat from the concept of gender entirely, grounding herself only in the physical reality of using her body to make another, two heartbeats blending in a rhythm that was nothing but human.” — Candy 38
Roxy is a giver, so her being a devoted mother who puts her identity on the back burner and embraces in creation. Not everyone was happy with Roxy’s coming out; a lot of people either already pictured her as a trans girl or perceived this new twist as something forced and out-of-character. I, for one, know that Homestuck has often reflected the reader, and believe that having a character come out as trans is a beautiful thing that should be celebrated instead of criticized.
Roxy as a makeup-wearing man who’s non-dysphoric is a refreshing divergence from the tortured trans narrative. Roxy didn’t change his name or even use his Void Player powers to cook up some T, emphasizing the theme of identity as a unique journey which is also prevalent in Dave. In fact, all of the Striders and the Lalondes are part of the LGBTQ community in some way, with Dave as gay or bi, Dirk as gay and Rose as a lesbian.
As of this Christmas, it will be two years since the last update. Many people lost interest in Homestuck² after the team was thinned out, with the last chapter running scarce with development and incredibly underwhelming with its lazy art style. I have hope, however, that in another year (since it’s a 3 year journey to Deltritus), Homestuck fans everywhere can finally receive some closure. Will Dirk be beheaded once again? Will Rose come home with Kanaya, her wife? And what about John’s body? Terezi has it — will she be able to bring him back to the land of the living? Hopefully, all these questions and more will be answered by the promise of its completion.
