#mage class

[temperqnce]

So, in DA2 we have three mages running around dressed like mages holding/wearing giant visible mage tools. In a Kirkwall where if you’re caught just Being as a mage outside the circle you WILL get got. So what are people’s headcanons for how that works for Anders, Merrill, Bethany and/or Hawke? Examples include

- Oh, it’s not a staff, it’s a glaive!

- retractable??? Staff???

- orb and dagger but retroactive

- book? Mages? Like the enemies in inq

- spellblade class like in origins

[starlit1daydream]

Introduction to my Classpecting Ideas

This felt like a good idea for something to put out before I put my Knight & Page analysis out there, since I plan on making this a 6 part series. (Potentially 7 if demand for a Lord/Muse addendum is high enough).

So, I'll be laying out my most important philosophies on the subject here for future reference.

Classpecting is...

Point A. Classpecting is malleable.

There is not one rigid, set definition for any Class pair, or any Aspect pairing. The freedom of the author is that they may assign any symbolism to a concept that they may like.

What I mean by this is that people often seem to think that manifestations of an Aspect within Homestuck's narrative paint that object or idea as a concept inherently tied to that Aspect.

Example: Pumpkins & Void. You would not believe the amount of people in the early fandom who swore by the idea that pumpkins were inherently just Void constructs because of their role in Homestuck's narrative.

No? Pumpkins symbolise Void in Homestuck itself and Homestuck itself only only due to a running gag inherent to Homestuck itself.

Anything, with enough narrative basis and existing thematic ties, can serve to symbolise an Aspect. Furthermore, two different authors may have different ideas of what Aspect something represents.

Some authors may see alcohol, for example, as a Void-bound concept owing to its obfuscation of fair judgement. Some may see it as a Light-bound concept owing to the idea of 'in vino veritas' and the tendency of drunkenness to induce truthful confessions. Some may see it as a Life-bound concept owing to its associations with hedonism and impulsive behaviour.

With enough narrative consistence, anything is possible. Homestuck's narrative is not as rigid of a point of reference as some people would swear by it being. This is deeply important.

Point B. Classpecting is not the whole of a character.

I can't exactly phrase this in a satisfactory manner, but... a Classpect is not a personality type in of itself. An individual being a Prince of Heart does not instantly make them Dirk Strider. It merely means that their core value is identity & selfhood, and they interact with it by destroying it. It is that simple!

I see, time and time again, Classpecting blogs acting as if a Classpect is indicative of a character's whole personality and giving guides as to the exact behaviours & quirks a character with that Classpect should have.

I am imploring you to explore wider possibilities when it comes to this. Even if it means sharing a title with a canon character! It doesn't mean you have to just rewrite that canon character because that's not how Classpecting works.

I've seen fanventure characters share titles with canon characters. (Sovereignstuck's Annomi Errata & Dynama Zarrow sharing titles with Dirk & Porrim respectively, and Porrim herself is also a player in that narrative, mind you!)

I've seen fanventure characters share titles with eachother. (Vast Error's Dismas Mersiv is a Rogue of Mind. One of my fantrolls is also a Rogue of Mind!)

In every instance, they are fundamentally different people. I cannot put it any simpler than this.

Point C. Classpecting is always applicable.

That is the perfection of the Classpecting system. You can give a title to any character, from anything ever made. It's not even that difficult if you're half-decent at media analysis!

Quite literally all you need to do is ask yourself two questions.

"What's this character's core value?" and "How do they interact with that?" Do that, and you've got yourself a Classpect.

That's the beauty of it! It's obviously not going to be as airtight as a story that has the Classpecting system baked directly into the narrative, but it's still going to work out!

Hell, do it to yourself! Do it to your friends! The world's your oyster. You can do anything you want, forever, for the rest of time. I'm a Seer of Life! My best friend is a Page of Blood! My mother is a Witch of Hope! Go wild.

Post formatting

For my Classpecting posts, I'll aim to give two related definitions for every Class.

Definition A is the narrative function, what the Class says about the person and how they interact with their Aspect as an abstract concept.

Definition B is the practical function, what the Class says about their role in the session and how they interact with their Aspect as a SBURB construct.

Therefore, we get an idea of both the abstract, personal definition of a Classpect, and the functional, game application of a Classpect.

I'll also aim to give about two or three examples for each individual title about how you could write a character with them, since there are always going to be multiple directions you can take with a Classpect.

Conclusion

tl;dr - what I'm trying to say is this. Classpecting is malleable, easily applicable & capable of saying any number of things, and my posts will aim to give two concise definitions of both narrative and practical function for every title.

I'll get the Knight:Page analysis done either today or tomorrow, and the rest of the Class posts will be staggered releases in order of poll results. Thus, the order is going to be:

Knights & Pages, Deficiency and Exploitation.

Mages & Seers, Experience and Comprehension.

Witches & Heirs, Adherence and Manipulation.

Princes & Bards, Instability and Destruction.

Thieves & Rogues, Inundation and Redistribution.

Maids & Sylphs, Maintenance and Generation.

And, potentially...

7. Lords & Muses, Absolution and Dominion.

And then, subsequently, the order for the Aspect posts, which I've decided based on relevance to the canon, roughly speaking anyways...

Space & Time, Genesis and Terminus.

Breath & Blood, Fluidity and Stability.

Light & Void, Potential and Simplicity.

Heart & Mind, Instinct and Dialectics.

Life & Doom, Progress and Stagnation.

Hope & Rage, Conviction and Iconoclasm.

I look forward to the next post. Until then, take care.

[xj4x]

[cringefail-clown]

so ive been writing out a more indepth analysis of TB!Hal for an ask and its,,, long, but i wanna share this one tidbit about the mage class ive got cooked up on its own:

I’ve got an ask once where someone concluded that Mages are the pathfinders of Homestuck classes, and I really like the implication of it. In the same ask, they summarized that Seers, as the passive counterpart, understand their aspect and steer others with that understanding, while more active Mages experience their aspect and steer others with that experience. (Slight tangent but fr if you’re the person who send this ask (sadly it was from anon) i want you to know that it’s been such a based take i think about it daily, and also i’m kissing you on the lips rn.)

When i was doing research about the classpects, people often concluded that Mages must suffer from their aspect and gain knowledge through that suffering. While both Mages we were introduced to in the original comic, ie. Sollux and Meulin, could steer people into believing that to be the case, i want to propose a different explanation: Mages job is to experience their aspect, and through experiencing it they gain a vast understanding of it. A big part of learning about a new subject is the act of failing at it.

Let’s make an example: if you pick up a pencil and decide to learn how to draw, you won’t produce the next Michelangelo masterpiece on your first try. Or your ten, or one hundredth. But, if you fail and identify why you failed – your proportions were wrong, your shading didn’t match the lighting scenario – and start to consciously avoid making those mistakes again, you’ll start to see the improvement. But the process is slow, and the results often don’t meet our expectations, which is what makes people give up and decide that drawing is just not their thing. Or sometimes people get stuck, frustrated with the lack of improvement, because they haven’t identified what mistakes they’re making and simply keep on making them again and again, instead of steering away from them, which also drives them into quitting.

The art of learning about any subject is a steady stream of constant failures, identifying what went wrong, remembering to avoid it, and at last realizing that you’ve improved and succeeded, and this is what the Mage experience is about. We keep on seeing miserable Mages because they either get overwhelmed and give up on learning about their aspect, instead avoiding experiencing it at all costs, or they gain the knowledge of why they failed and try to guide others with it, but they themselves are unable to apply that same knowledge to their own life, instead falling into the same fucking potholes again and again.

[ogdegenerate]

HOMESTUCK CLASSES EXPLAINED… badly

WITCHES: the aspect’s personal bitch until they decide it’s their turn to top

HIERS: the aspect’s poorly disguised self insert with unnecessary amounts to plot armor

MAGES: gets traumatized by their hyper-fixation for plot reasons

SEERS: HOLY SHIT ITS TIRESIAS FROM THE ODYSSEY!!!!

PRINCES: aspect-phobic crusaders with anger issues who makes hating this broad concept their entire personality

BARDS: green aura and flies taken to its most lethal state.

MAIDS: don’t you hate it when you try to put on the fitted sheet on the bed but the corners keep getting loose?

SYLPHS: your fairy god mother who has no sense of personal space and consent

THIEVES: [This description has 8een stolen 8y the thief of light ::::)]

ROUGES: the communist party your government warned you about

KNIGHTS: when you mask so hard it becomes your superpower

PAGES: IM A GOOFY GOOBER ROCK 🎸🎸🎸

[starkeaton]

MLP Classpecting post: This may be a Hot Take but Twilight Sparkle is a Mage of Mind. The whole Princess of Friendship thing is interesting to me because it makes her act outside her normal comfort zone, and she basically acts as her inversion (Heiress of Heart) to solve others' emotional problems and tell people how special they are. Good example of healthy inversion that puts a character more in balance

And no she's not Bloodbound. Blood is more than just the friendship aspect, its about responsibility and groundedness. She's not mainly focused on "stick together against anything that may try to break us apart" even though that is part of friendship. Applejack is a good example of Blood aspect

[igorlevchenko-blog]

A word on Constant Effect Enchantments

We've had occasion before now to reflect how constant Illusion enchantments are detrimental to one's mental health. @theseventhoffrostfall has aptly dubbed it "the dunmer version of lead-based makeup" which also underscores how it became a kind of fashion statement, to cloak oneself in, say, cumulative Chameleon enchantments, in civil setting. The harmful effects of illusion magic ranges from insidious to truly devastating: as is the case with Sanctuary spell, shown to be the main driver of disassociative disorders—conditions that involve experiencing a loss of connection between thoughts, memories, feelings, surroundings, behavior and identity. Under these circumstances, one can imagine how even the lowliest Light spell—if made into a constant effect—would be further exasperating these symptoms.

Here I refer you to my monograph: "On pathology of indirect Light spells", Black Horse Courier Press, Imperial city.

While Reflect and Detect spells (of Mysticism school) may work towards eroding one's circumspection—the ethereality, the ghostliness of Sanctuary is an assault on faculties most fundamental.

So once again I ask you to call upon your local Council-members to vote on banning this magical mal-practice!

[en8y]

[IMAGE ID: two rectangular flags with six horizontal flags each. each flag has these top two colors: dull yellow-green, and bright cool yellow. the first flag has these bottom four colors: pastel blue, light blue, medium blue, and deep dark blue. the second flag has these bottom four colors: pastel pink, warm pink, hot pink, and fuchsia. END ID.]

magetboy: a gender related to being a mage (in a homestuck way), and a tboy/trans boy/trans man.

magetgirl: a gender related to being a mage (in a homestuck way), and a tgirl/trans girl/trans woman.

@radiomogai @liom-archive @obscurian @fem-mogai

[publiusscipiospqr]

Old randomly generated Classpects

Prince of Time + Mage of Blood

Maid of Rage + Sylph of Breath

Rogue of Light + Knight of Doom

Thief of Void + Seer of Hope

Page of Heart + Bard of Life

If you have any idea on how this session would go, please let me know!

[bluejayy1]

Trollsona godtier fit

Real proud of this one :3

[land-of-classpects-and-analysis]

Mage Result Class Description

You're probably the type of person to unironically go "erm, actually," in one way or another, huh?

That's fine if you are. Mages are those often known for being some of the smartest, if also the most confused, of all the Classes. They're the types to correct people whenever they can, even if their own knowledge isn't entirely accurate. One of the biggest things Mages hate being labeled as is "wrong".

In regards to your friend group, you're someone few people can claim to having truly loved. Listen, that's not an insult, it's just true. Mages are those whose personalities and philosophies tend to be intimidating or overwhelming to other people. From one Mage to another, what matters most is finding people who just…get you. Even if they aren't exactly like you, or enjoy the same stuff as you, they still seem to catch onto your vibes that no one else can. They'll be really helpful along your journey to accepting yourself and your Aspect.

You can't ignore your Aspect forever, though. It left a mark on your life for a reason. Only you are the one most capable of opening your eyes to it. Your mind is a perfect temple for this restless force to make its home within.

Besides, let's be honest, your Aspect will most likely be one of the biggest frontiers that you will explore in your whole life. Whether your Aspect is Mind, Doom, Space, or any of the other several Aspects out there. You're afraid to look at it because you're worried about what it might say about you, I bet. Or, maybe you're worried about what it might reveal of your life, your friends, your family…That's why it's important for a Mage to not do their journey completely alone. Some Mages may do better on their own, but also remember that opening yourself up to seeing the different ways your Aspect touches on the lives of those around you can be a trove of knowledge in and of itself.

The journey of the Mage can often be difficult and challenging, but it can also be so worth it. Opening up your mind to things that make you scared or uncomfortable is important, but it's especially true for the Mage. They can become a great resource for a team, but they first have to learn to open their mind to the agonizing act of Knowing.

At the end of your journey, you will have gained a far better understanding of…well, everything. You'll understand your Aspect and how it works, where it rests, who in your life is more open to it, and more. And sure, that's fine and dandy, but that's not it. You'll also be able to understand yourself more, and be able to help those around you find who they are, as well. Mages can be great allies to have, whether it's for riveting conversations on their topic of interest or strategic planning for what the future may hold.

[heir-of-light-shenanigans]

I made a Google Sheets of every meaning I have for Classpects if anyone wants it cause I love Typology :)

[starlit1daydream]

Mages & Seers: Experience and Comprehension

Those who know, everybody. I love Seers - so this should be one hell of an analysis.

The Mage:Seer class dichotomy embodies experience, comprehension and knowledge of their Aspect. Their Quest and their role in the session revolves wholly around their personal comprehension of their Aspect; and the ways in which that may shift or change their (or others!) viewpoint.

I can't definitively say they're one of the Classes that say something about their session, beyond perhaps the concept that a Mage or a Seer will obviously have a well of knowledge on their Aspect present.

Canonical Mage players are Sollux Captor (Mage of Doom) and Meulin Leijon (Mage of Heart).

Canonical Seer players are Rose Lalonde (Seer of Light), Terezi Pyrope (Seer of Mind) and Kankri Vantas (Seer of Blood).

Point A. The narrative function of the Mage.

Mages know about their Aspect. They are that simple to understand. A lot of people will argue that the Mage is one of the more nebulous classes in Homestuck; and I'd argue this is because there really isn't much in the way of complexity with them. They've got a fairly straightforward relationship with their Aspect; having experienced it wholly throughout their life prior to the session.

It's almost, to me, as if their Aspect haunts them in a sense. We see this with Sollux's recurring visions of Doom and misfortune; considering that the Mages & Seers are meant to fill a sort of 'prophet' archetype.

Sollux is consistently depicted as knowledgeable on coding (a manifestation of Doom in the form of rigid order and regulation) and holding a vast well of knowledge and foresight on the topic of suffering. It's important to hold the distinction that Doom does not deal directly with absolute death (Time does), and so Sollux's visions are of the imminently doomed and the suffering, not the already deceased.

Meulin is a little more difficult to pin down, but inference from stray lines of dialogue and particularly her complex moirallegiance with Horuss give me some substance to work with. Toxic positivity? Alluded 'darkness' in her without elaboration? Her disability being inflicted directly as a result of her partner & lover? I think what we're looking at here is depression.

If Meulin has experience with Heart in all facets - this implies to me that she has a share of experience with emotion in all facets. Good and bad. And what better manifestation of poor emotional control than that? I think it's a very conclusive theory.

It becomes clear to me that Mages aren't absolute in their assertions, and so therein comes my theory that their quest involves an expansion of perspective and reconsideration of their knowledge. It is to accept that they may not understand their Aspect as thoroughly as once thought and subsequently grow to accomodate a wider worldview. They're stagnant, having experienced so much that they feel they have no further room to learn.

Point B. The practical function of the Mage.

This is a more difficult one to understand since neither Mage in the comic God Tiers and they aren't seen fighting much over the course of the story. Even when Sollux takes to action, he applies his psiionics rather than utilising Doom in any way.

My theory is that the application of a Mage is to inform. Mages & Seers may very well hold the same occupation broadly speaking, to accomodate for the gaps in co-players' knowledge and bring about newfound understanding. Being active players, the Mages presumably advance this through their own means. This is some of the most active conjecture I'll be writing, since we do not ever see a God-Tiered Mage in canon.

Point C. The narrative function of the Seer!

In case it wasn't obvious, I am very excited to get this segment done; after all, who better to talk on the topic of Seers than... a Seer?

Seers have a little more depth to their function involving their relationship with both their Aspect and its diemetric opposite. Seers begin their sessions holding a poor or deficient comprehension of their Aspect; to the point where they seek their opposite. The notion of their base Aspect comes into play fairly soon - though they may superficially seek their opposite, it is their Aspect they seek in actuality.

They do hold a certain level of foresight, but rather than the Mage's inherent comprehension, Seers tend to rely upon external sources and stimuli to further their understanding; Rose with the Horrorterrors, Terezi with Scratch & Aranea, and we can only guess with Kankri.

They are capable of having visions, though - as Rose & The Signless can both attest to!

Rose seeks Void. She seeks to breach the unknowable, catalogues the Zoologically Dubious and finds comfort in oblivion and the pursuit of ignorance. She resolves to leave the game to Void rather than seek its Light; at first.

Terezi seeks Heart. Her final speech to Vriska talks of her emotional insecurity and pursuit of self-assurance. She wishes most prominently for security in herself and her identity; and yet this manifests in a flawed pursuit of binary, deficient Mind.

Kankri seeks Breath. Having been coddled and patronised all his life, freedom is his ultimate aim. His rebellious spirit and compulsive boot-licking seem to be a direct manifestation of his desire to think for himself and be free in his direction. Kankri's a particularly interesting one given that he fucked up his quest, canonically.

...The Signless didn't, however. The Signless pursued unity through freedom his whole life.

Rose resolves to pursue knowledge through the unknown.

Terezi seeks logic through emotion.

All of them grow, the further they pursue their Session's aims, to understand their base Aspect. It's a reversal of the Mage's quest; the stagnant Mage must embrace diversity wheras the directionless Seer embraces their certain path.

Point D. The practical function of the Seer.

Apologies, this is going to be mostly just about Rose.

Rose's role in her session post-ascension is to understand and inform her session-mates about the most fortuitous path. Her visions allow her to comprehend Light and sift through the endless possibilities and synthesis of her Aspect to find the most precise outcome. They grow to be an indispensible well of knowledge; always learning and finding out their Aspect's truth.

Terezi does the same, albeit without ascending; her greatest moment of heroism is the prelude to the Retcon, which she directly causes. Terezi applies all of her knowledge of consequence, cause & effect to undo the resultant consequences of the actions taken by her sessionmates. She uses her comprehension of Mind to her utmost ability; which is why I find it gut-wrenching that she still believes she was never enough.

Kankri... does jack shit other than be a whiny little bootlicker, but The Signless certainly applies his Aspect for the greater good. The fire of his rebellion and his pursuit of unity and free communication on Alternia ignite the spark of revolution for generations to come; his quest for Blood bringing utmost comprehension and sight of unity.

Overall, this is one Class where the narrative:practical lines tend to blur a little, owing to the general non-combatant status of the Classes in general. Rose shows they're capable of using their Aspect in combat just as all players are; but it seems clear to me that they function the best as advisors.

Next week, I'll be elucidating on the Witches & Heirs; which will be an interesting one since it'll require me to actually understand what a Witch does. That should be fun.

Take care, everybody. I know nothing.

[shopwitchvamp]

Mage Skirts 💜✨

🖤witchvamp.com🖤

[nekropsii]

what are your thoughts on the mage class? i think ita really overlooked which sucks bc it sounds cool :(

If you're referring to fans overlooking it, that's because we have little to no solid knowledge of what a Mage actually is. If you're referring to canon overlooking it... Classic Hussie moment. Hussie never really elaborated much on Classpects as a Magic System.

In Sovereignstuck at least, Mage is the Active counterpart to Seer. Defined simply as this:

Mages have a very unique understanding of and relationship with their Aspect, and they very much so utilize it on purpose. Seers tend to try to explore their Aspect through the opposite one - Rose seeking Void, Terezi seeking Heart - but Mages are much more steadfast and linear in their approach. Base Aspect all the way, baby.

[propheticclown]

what do you think about Mages of Hope.... totally isn't related to my oc or something....

SO! As previously discussed, Mages are people who cannot fully grasp their aspect (Sollux only half-dying throughout the series, Meulin entering toxic relationships and denying what her heart actually wants) yet cope through different methods (Sollux constantly feeling stressed about his friend's demise, Meulin writing smut of all of her friends). However, as an inverse to Seer, instead of being able to see every little possibility, they instead can set something into stone, locking it into place. For example, Sollux's constant doomering causes the group to go through a lot of peril and Meulin's constant rejection of her own desires in a desperate attempt to be seen as lovable ends up with a lot of redroms that are kind of faltering and zero blackroms. A Mage of Hope would be someone who, while seemingly optimistic and cheerful on the outside, is filled with a deep, inner turmoil on the inside. They'd wish to appease the people close to them with their toxic positivity which just turns into strongarming people to keep their happy facade up, which turns into the ones closest to them just going along with whatever they want and ignoring the possible emotional/physical pain they feel. A Mage of Hope's arc would end with being able to put aside their own facade of positivity, acknowledging that they're sad and that's okay to be sad sometimes, and using that to help their friends when they're upset, lifting their spirits and quite literally putting HOPE back into their hearts. I hope this helps with your OC lol!