skaian-fiddler

[skaian-fiddler]

Is it okay if I ask you a session (or classpect) analysis? It’s a session with 12 players which includes having the Knight of Space, Thief of Time, Seer of Heart, Sylph of Mind, Witch of Hope, Prince of Rage, Heir of Light, Bard of Void, Page of Doom, Rogue of Life, Mage of Breath, and Maid of Blood?

You know what, sure. I’m feeling spunky.

To recap on previous analyses, its key to remember that when analyzing a session, the nature of Sburb is that the end goal is Creative, and typically requires a great amount of Teamwork. For this reason, flagging one specific classpect as a ‘potential problem’ in a game of sburb does not reflect their value as an individual. “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree” and all that. 

Since we have a lot of players to look at, lets break them down into 3 categories, and put them under a break bc shits long:

Good Signs

Maid of Blood: In any team-scenario, odds are your average blood player is going to be a great addition. With a Maid of Blood even more so, this player is going to be super in tune to making sure their team is falling in line.

Seer of Heart: Good intuition for understanding the internal insecurity and turmoil of their teammates. A good gauge to know when someone might be wrestling with more than they can handle. Couple with the Maid of blood For a good-ass combo.

Could Go Either Way

Knight of Space: In theory, a great addition as a loyal, die-hard, front-line problem solver. Problems may arise due to the fact that as a Knight and a Space-bound, they are their own helper in the creation of a new Genesis Frog. Additionally, as a Knight they are liable to refuse help from anyone out of fear of being seen as incapable of handling it on their own.

Bard of Void: Bards are usually red flags in Sburb matters, but this is a character who walks ass backwards into uncovering secrets. This could be good for trying to uncover the mysteries of the game, but bad for exposing people’s dirty laundry.

Prince of Rage: Again, Princes are also sometimes dangerous in sburb games, but a Prince of Rage would be great at putting down any resentment that starts welling up in people. If it goes too far however, they can be in danger of snuffing out their team’s motivation and will.

Mage of Breath: Will probably spend most of their game on a personal quest of self discovery and liberty. The question is whether they’ll ever stop moving long enough to help anybody else.

Witch of Hope: For some reason I see some real potential for them to be either leader or a villain. They will have very unique views on order, purpose, and morality, and will have really out-of-the-box ideas regarding the creation of the new universe that could either be inspiring or terrifying.

Heir of Light: Walking ass backwards into the secrets of Sburb, part 2. I think this character and the Bard of Void would have a lot of fun.

Sylph of Mind: Either really helpful or really annoying. Maybe both. Can read you like a book and tell you how you can be a better you. Would probably be at odds with the Seer of Heart more often than not.

Rogue of Life: Probably a peppy person who has hangups about actually expressing their positivity. Could be an asset if they figure out that their optimism is valuable and welcome.

Uh-Oh

Thief of Time: I’ve remarked before that this is probably the most active base class that exists. Spontaneous, brutally efficient, and does not trust anyone else in this session enough to count on them in a pinch.

Page of Doom: Would probably enter the session being not super useful (sry). They would come in with baggage and spend a lot of time feeling sorry for themself and their situation. If they ascend, then they would figure out how to turn their grief outward and help others learn how to heal.

TL,DR; The Seer of Heart and the Maid of Blood have amazing potential to snuff out personal and interpersonal conflict before they have a chance to boil over and cause problems for everyone. If they combine their strength, they will be able to spot potential problems such as ‘The Knight needs help’, ‘The Rogue of Life is afraid to Feel’, and ‘Where the fuck is the Mage of Breath’. The Seer of Heart would have to learn how to work with the Sylph of Mind as they battled to convince everyone to ‘be yourself’ vs ‘be who you need to be’, respectively.

If the Page of Doom and Rogue of Life figure their shit out before shit hits the fan, they would also be crucial in helping the team stay together and mentally healthy. If they don’t, they could just be dead weight. The Bard of Void and Heir of Light would traipse around the medium, stumbling into mystery after mystery and ultimately helping the team understand their situation and the world around them a lot better than they would otherwise. 

The Knight of Space will do fine if they do take on some help with the Genesis Frog. If they don’t, its possible that a corrupt Witch of Hope may take advantage and shape the genesis frog to their will, creating the perfect world in their image and ultimately breaking everything.

The Mage of Breath and Thief of Time will be hard to tie down. The Prince of Rage might help or hurt this, either by encouraging them to stop caring about the game and give up, or by lighting a fire under their as and encouraging them to go out and Wreck Some Shit that is In Need Of Wrecking. Its going to take the Maid of Blood, Seer of Heart, Rogue of Life, Prince of Rage’s combined strength to point the Thief of Time, in that general direction, however.

Lots of possibility for things to go wrong, but it wouldn’t be Sburb without it now would it?

[skaian-fiddler]

Have been a big fan of your blog for a long time. Just wanted to say I hope everything is going ok for you and that you're alright.

Hey, thanks. I know I’ve been pretty inactive on this blog in a while but I miss it a lot.

I guess as a quick update: I’m doing ok. I haven’t felt super inspired to post much for reasons that rhyme with “Boronavirus” coupled with all of the other horrible shit thats been going on in America. But, I can say that I am safe and in a stable living environment, so i’m counting myself lucky.

I really appreciate everyone who’s tuned in to listen to me scream when I have been active. I miss rambling about nonsense and talking to you all and I hope my mental capacity for doing more classpecting improves soon.

[skaian-fiddler]

Happy 4/13 Nerds

Alternate Title: Song That Plays When Meat!John Comes Back To Life And Kicks Dirk’s Ass

[skaian-fiddler]

if you have time, could i request a rogue of light analysis? and maybe, (but only if you want to!!) a bit on what differentiates them from a knight of light? i'm having some class confusion lmaoo -- have a great day either way!

Rogue of Light

Rogues redistribute their aspect, moving its concentration to the place where it is needed most. A Rogue of Light’s abilities lie in the instinct to inject situations with relevance, illuminating key truths as they become important that may not have been initially apparent.

One of the more predominant metaphors present in Homestuck is the use of a Theater Stage to represent stories and narrative as a whole. If we build on this, then the Rogue of Light’s role is the person operating the spotlight, illuminating the characters as their actions become important or relevant. The Rogue of Light is always looking for ways to elevate others when it is their ‘Time to Shine,’ so to speak. But as is the case with any Rogue, they don’t consider themselves to be good judges of importance, undermining their own instincts as to what should and shouldn’t be brought into the light. They more often than not suppress their instincts, letting the people around them decide what is and is not important, often resulting in what is actually important being buried beneath a tide of total irrelevance.

As they grow and evolve, their perception changes and their confidence grows. They become a bastion of truth, believing that not only are they a good judge of character, but possess relevance and importance in the grand scheme of things because of this ability, not despite it. They are the player at a D&D table who is always looking for ways to elevate the other members, making sure that more boisterous characters don’t hog the spotlight when their moment of notoriety has passed. In social and professional scenarios, they act as guides to the path of thought, always using their agency to curve the direction of conversation back to things that may have otherwise been displaced or skipped over. They know the truth, and they will always try to displace their companions back towards the Light.

...

Knights and Rogues have a fair amount of overlap, and the key difference for me comes with Perception vs. Trust. A Rogue feels an absence of their aspect within themselves, not trusting themselves to use it better than anyone else, but they don’t see themselves as a failure because of it. Knights do, and they build up a facade to hide that failure from the world. A Knight of Light begins their journey so terrified of being thought of as a poor judge of relevance, that they create a mask to convince people otherwise. Their personal journey has less to do with trust in the use of their aspect, and more to do with perception of it, both their own and the people around them. Hope this helps!

[skaian-fiddler]

i've been thinking about your tarot aspect analysis a lot and i can't help wondering what the emperor would be. do you think it'd be life, too, just like the empress??

The Emperor doesn’t strike me as a card that’s overly concerned with nurturing or optimism, instead representing all things that come with the ideas of Structure and Control. I would sooner put this card somewhere in between Hope and Blood. Hope brings order and structure to the table, making your vision a reality and reinforcing it with your own belief. Hope is probably the strongest case for the card, but it doesn’t completely encapsulate everything that comes with it. Blood places value on the strength of camaraderie and leadership, which tracks, but the canon specifically states that their strength is not borne out of a commanding presence, choosing to take a passive role instead. The Emperor is the manifestation of Command.

So, Hope with a splash of Blood would be my initial guess. After thinking about it, I actually won’t rule out Life completely either. Between Jane and the Condesce, there might honestly be more to Life’s association to rigid structure and imperialism than I give it credit for - other classpect blogs have certainly made that parallel before, and its not at all unfounded. But, the canon descriptors veer sharply away from the direction of that theory, so I’m choosing not to delve too deep into it rn.

[skaian-fiddler]

Is it safe to think about what your classpect is when you’re dealing with a lot if anxiety and depression, or is your true self too obscures by those things to get a good read on what you’re like?

I feel like the term “True Self” may be misleading in this context. Within the classpect system, the most important part of the classpect you choose is personal growth. The importance of the person you aspire to be greatly eclipses the importance of the person you are. Don’t know exactly what you’re like right this moment? No worries - scrap it. Instead, ask yourself what you think would be the most badass. Being good at helping people? Being able to read other people like a book? Being just absolutely batshit mad all the time? Don’t even worry about if you’re god awful at what your answer is - theres a class for that.

Maybe its the Mind in me talking, but I don’t believe in a True Self. Humans are constantly changing, adapting, and evolving, both in personality and in values. I definitely don’t want to minimize how completely fucked up depression and anxiety can make you feel. I know it can make you feel like you’re losing sight of who you are, and that the real you is buried under a thousand layers of horse shit. But, it can’t stop you from becoming the person you want to be, because that person hasn’t been invented yet. Only you have that power. The rest comes with finding out where you are now, and how to get from point A to point B. Thats all classpect is at the end of the day.

And most importantly, classpecting isn’t meant to be the be-all and end-all to all matters concerning personality. Its meant to be fun, and believe me when I say its not worth stressing over. Use it as an escape, not a prison. Get yourself some god pajamas. Do the windy thing. This is becoming a lot of words.

Nite nite, and happy classpecting ❤️

[skaian-fiddler]

i’m debating between maid of life and seer of life for myself, but i’m not sure which would fit me best personality-wise. would you mind helping? if not, thank you anyway!!!!!

Maids and Seers have a lot of crossover. Both of them concern some initial sense of perceived dependence upon outside influences for their own comfort and growth. With Seers, that dependence comes from outside sources information regarding their aspect. With Maids, it spurs from relying on others to create their aspect within themselves.

While a Maid of Life begins their growth cycle relying on others for their own personal optimism, a Seer of Life has no such qualms. The Seer sees - they already have an intuitive understanding of how minds and hearts can be lifted up. They just want to understand more. And to do that, they search for answers in the experiences of others who have walked their path before. A Seer doesn’t doubt their ability to generate their aspect, but a Maid does. A Maid of Life may feel like they need others to heal them, that they are unable to grow without external intervention. A Maid is less concerned with how their aspect works. The nature and understanding of optimism is irrelevant - only that it exists. Once fully realized, the two classpects begin to blur, but there are differences in their approach - a Seer of Life will use their understanding and intuition of healing and growth to guide their friends to self realization, but a Maid of Life will use their own journey of self realization to inspire their friends in an enthusiastic display of joy, eager for others to learn the lessons that have learned before.

[skaian-fiddler]

if we give you a description/explanation of what a character is like can you help us figure out what classpect they would be?

But of course, i’ll give it my best shot

[skaian-fiddler]

hey!! if you want to, what about a rogue of doom analysis? (also!!! i hope ur having a nice day!!!!!)

Hi!!!

Rogue of Doom

Rogues let their aspect to be redistributed from their own source, potentially feeling a disconnect from it despite their comfort with it. A Rogue of Doom would allow others take the reigns of suffering while they elect to suffer in silence.

A Rogue of Doom is somebody who lacks the assurance that the pain, grief, and anxiety that they feel within themselves is valid or noteworthy. They have a natural understanding of suffering and are typically pretty good and compartmentalizing their own stress and misfortune in a way that is manageable for them. They have become proficient in minimizing the impact of their pain and how it manifests so that nobody else will ever have to deal with the fallout. In the mind of the Rogue of Doom, the suffering inside them is in some way not important enough to air. Maybe they don’t feel as though their own pain is as great as the pain of others, or maybe they believe that the thing bothering them is merely a result of them being too sensitive. They allow the redistribution of Doom, making sure to ensure that others have space to suffer while depriving themselves of it.

The Rogue of Doom arrives at their full potential when they begin to let themselves grieve. They learn to confront their own insecurities and come to terms with the fact that, yes, they are hurting. That they are allowed to hurt. A Rogue of Doom that realizes this opens themselves of to the grief of others like an empath, and is more intuitively able to redistribute and allocate that grief. They are counselors and therapists, able to ascertain between one who is still bottling something up inside, and one who is caught in a cycle of suffering that they can’t escape.

Theres a joke about the track “Heir of Grief” in here somewhere? Idk im tired. But I am having a nice day, and I hope you are as well :)

[skaian-fiddler]

Would u be cool with helping someone figure out a classpect for themselves?

Always

A lot of times figuring out individual classpects ends up being a conversation rather than a simple question-answer, so if youre comfortable reaching out, PM me and we can talk about it

[skaian-fiddler]

well damn. your post on knights’ facades hits way too close to home for me, a knight of hope, and frankly in terms of the indie games the aspects should be playing you absolutely nailed it, undertale is pretty much my favorite indie game hhh-

Lol I love Knights, bc being a Knight whos into Classpect basically just means youre going to have to deal with constant call-out posts about how you never think youre good enough. Must be v fun for the psyche.

And hell yeah Undertale is a masterpiece thats such an inherently Hopeful game, every choice you make can just completely upend the status quo and allow you to will your ideal universe into existence in place of what was there before. Just fuckin *chefs kiss* Good Shit

[skaian-fiddler]

"Feels like a million punches all at once, huh?" said the big black beast with one thousand eyes.

Oh man I honestly have no memory of what this might be a reference to but it sounds raw as hell

[skaian-fiddler]

What classpect would you assign the 8 of Swords tarot card?

The 8 of Swords represents paralysis, whether real or imagined, and feeling powerless to escape your current situation. Helplessness, hoping for a hero to come along and save you. This mentality is most familiar to those bound to the Doom aspect, who often fatalistically resign themselves to suffer rather than seek to be their own solution.

An Heir of Doom, perhaps, would be most fitting. Someone who has accepted the idea that, “Hey, bad shit just seems to happen to me. This is just the next bullshit on a long road full of bullshit, and I just have to carry that burden for a little while.” - when in reality, the capacity for change may exist, but has already been given up on before it is considered.

Im sure you could make some cases for Blood or Rage as well - both aspects deal heavily with themes of self restriction, albeit more specifically in reference to one specific aspect of restriction rather than Doom’s broad suffering umbrella.

[skaian-fiddler]

Do we have enough information at all to predict the classpects of the Earth C Kids? Absolutely not. Is that gonna stop me for putting out my predictions anyway? Also no

Vrissy: Do genetic duplicates still share the same aspect? Probably? Is certainly more concerned about how she comes off to people than OG Vriska, she could make a good Knight or Rogue of Light if she does belong to that aspect

Harry Anderson: Im trying to choose between Heir, Knight or Thief but I dont know him that well yet. Hes got some cockiness for sure but I dont know if its organic, a mask, or because he just thinks hes the best, respectively. Space, Heart and Breath are my initial guesses

Tavros Crocker: Would be easy to choose Page but that seems too easy, hes also still a lot less delusional than OG Tavros. Seer, Bard, or Rogue maybe. Void, Hope or Heart perhaps?

[skaian-fiddler]

Which classpect(s) do you think would work best for a gambler? I've been thinking something light-related but frankly I'm.. stuck. Any thoughts?

I think Light and Mind are probably good fits as far as aspect goes, but in kind of opposing ways. A Light player’s approach to gambling is to obtain a calculated understanding of the rules in play, stakes, probability, and to make the optimal choice given the variables on the table. A Mind player’s approach would be that none of this matters, they only have to know how to best manipulate the other players perceptions of them to ensure that nobody ever knows whats going on behind the mask. A Light player folds when the probability of failure reaches a certain threshold, but a Mind player tries to convince everyone else theyre holding pocket aces.

Come to think of it, Light and Mind’s aspect opposites are also contenders - Void is the epitome of secret keeping, never giving any hints as to what kind of advantage or disadvantage they may possess while confusing the hell out of everyone around them. And Heart players might seem bad at gambling initially - they wear their Heart on their sleeve and odds are they wont be able to hide their tells. But I think they also have a really easy time exposing the tells of others, figuring out quickly how people act differently when they lie and calling their bluff.

Im sure if you think about it, any aspect has something useful to bring to the table, Space playing long cons, Doom always knowing when to fold, etc, etc. As for classes, I think Mage, Seer, Witch, Rogue, Thief, Prince, or Knight fit well.

[skaian-fiddler]

My remix of Black Rose / Green Sun by Malcolm Brown