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.

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.