#Regardless of anything. Which is GREAT!!!

[dcxdpdabbles]

DCxDP fanfic idea: Cooking Teacher

Damian Wayne does not do failure. He always mastered whatever skill he put his mind to, regardless of the number of hours he invested in the work. His ability to mimic others ' voices, movement, and behaviors was so sharp that even without instruction, he was able to clean and effectively accomplish mastery of whatever struck his fancy.

It was a testament to his parents' genes that he was able to prove their mixing had produced the perfect offspring.

That was, until Drake bet him fifty dollars that if it was anything like Bruce, no amount of training, good genes, or instruction would ever help him in the kitchen. Father did not help this insult when all he did was nod and shrug his shoulders.

"The Waynes are cursed," Father said, waving a fork around. "Whenever one of us steps into a kitchen, disaster follows. Cooking is just... not a thing for us. But, we can sing"

As if being compared to a songbird was a good thing. Damain vowed to prove them both wrong. And thus he ventured into one of the Wayne Manor extra kitchens, clutching a bag of groceries and a simple cookbook.

He followed the instructions to the letter. He studied various videos and cooking blogs. He used only the freshest ingredients. Really, there was no chance for it to go wrong.

And yet, when Damian pulled out the vegetarian lasagna from the stove, it resembled a soiled baby diaper. He attempted to take a taste, assuring himself it only looked bad, but the second the food made contact with his taste buds, his entire body shuddered in disgust. Damian had to stick his head under the running water of the sink to wash out the vile taste.

It was infuriating that out of all the skills in the world, something as simple as cooking was evading him.

Not about to give up, he tried again the following day. And again, and again, and again, until three months of failed attempts forced him to seek out professional help.

Alfred straight up refused to lend a hand, not after the many years he attempted to teach Damian's grandfather and father. Apparently, the only times Alfred had gotten workers' compensation were when he stood with a blood-related Wayne in the kitchen.

Damain wanted to call him a coward for that, except when he went into the kitchen to confront the bully, the stove exploded and nearly burned the old man's face off. Damian barely even glanced at the dials. He had no idea how it was able to set off like that.

Well, no matter, there were plenty of cooking instructors in this city. They may not be as great as Alfred- for that man made even dirt taste delicious- there had to be someone out there who could teach him to make one decent meal.

___________________________________________________________

Danny Fenotn is short on cash. That tends to happen when your evil godfather somehow rips your ghost half out of you and flings your human side to an unknown parallel world.

Gotham City was large and dangerous in a way Danny had never known. Without Phantom, he had no skills he could use to make a profit, and without a form of identification, he couldn't even sign himself up for school or aid programs.

He had wound up on the streets, dodging police and other street rats as best he could, but he was not doing too well for himself. days turned into weeks, which turned into months, and he was still unsure how he even survived that time.

Just as he was starting to actively dream of a shower and a roof over his head, word began to spread that a wealthy individual was willing to pay top dollar and even provide lodging for anyone willing to teach him how to cook.

Danny wasn't the best chief around, but he was desperate, so he washed up in a park sink and scurried across the city to the mansion of a house.

Danny followed a giant group of people, all dressed better, looking better, and smelling better than he did. Many were wearing chef outfits, giving him disgusted glances, but he grew accustomed to the casual hatred over the past few weeks.

They were told to wait in the hallway, sitting on some chairs with a number. The kid who wanted cooking lessons would call them in one by one and give them an interview, alongside asking them to cook something simple to prove their worth.

Danny was number twenty-two out of fifty candidates. A few people left when candidate number five ran out of the room screaming, with half his clothes on fire. More got up from their chairs and excused themselves when three different parametric teams were called in to rush out number eleven, number fifteen, and number seventeen.

What really cleared the room, however, was the screams that came from number twenty's mouth as though they were ripped off her limbs from behind closed doors. In a stampede of movement, the hallway was cleared, leaving only Danny sitting awkwardly on his chair.

"Number twenty-two?" A tall, dignified butler questioned from the door, seemingly surprised that someone was still there.

"Um, yeah?" Danny scrambled to his feet, aware his appearance was less than presentable. He felt like he just dragged himself out of a garbage can, even after trying his best to tidy himself up.

"This way, young man."

Danny is led into a kitchen —or a kitchen that has survived an ill-fated war. There was food splattered against the walls, smoke was burning on three stoves, some tiles were missing on the ground, and the furniture was turned over.

Sitting at the only untouched surface area was a young boy of twelve years old, and Danny nearly winces at how close in age they are. He doubts he will be able to teach the kid anything he doesn't already know.

"Good evening," The boy says, holding up a clipboard.

"Oh, uh, hi?" Danny replies. The kid raises a brow, clicks his red pen open, and scribbles something down. Danny feels himself break into a cold sweat.

"We shall start the interview." The butler cuts in, taking a graceful seat next to the boy and picking up his own pen. "Please answer to the best of your abilities."

Danny fumbles his way through the interview, muttering excuses when they ask for any of his past information, and by the time the food test comes around, he can tell they aren't going to consider him. He decided to teach the kid a simple recipe just so he could leave quickly, and by the time Danny had taught the kid a simple chicken soup recipe, he was all but ready to run.

Until the kid's fist closed in his dirt-stained shirt - it was no longer purely white, now it had a gross, brownish hue to it - keeping him in place.

"You are hired." The boy says, staring up at him with wide, joyful eyes while clutching his bowl of soup like it was the last lifeboat in a sinking ship. "The curse does not harm you."

Well.....Danny didn't like that, but he really had no other choice, did he?

[aquaaquila]

Ok, now you're slightly getting ahead of yourself here, let's slow down and take a breath and establish something.

For one, I don't know who Hartman is, so I can't really say anything regarding this, so I will take your word for it, but I know who Thomas Astruc is and what his fan base is. TA without a doubt is a manchild and an asshole whose creative decisions indeed don't make sense are are inherently harmful along with his opinions and it is absolutely valid to believe in Death of the Author here (though once again, death of the author is not the same as killing something or someone over it), Miraculous fan base still choose the worst way to behave regarding this. Miraculous fan base specifically acts extra toxic and immature towards Thomas making him an asshole victim. He's terrible, but you take a step back, and you can still feel bad for what this man is going through, as it isn't pretty. Ultimately he did bring this upon himself, but neither side of this conflict is more moral than the other because Thomas is getting on the same level as the toxic stans who lead the death of the author movement in the first place. This reblog, in comparison, acts VERY decently, as by no means does it try to insult Dana or invalidate her skin. OP just refuses to accept what Dana stated without committing any harm. I assure you that Dana won't be upset over this and this is not a personal attack towards her, whereas with Thomas Astruc, while his giant ego would make him upset regardless of how well you approach this issue, he also has fair share of bad experiences that are genuinely upsetting and could potentially affect how he also sees people who are more civil as potentially pretentious. To be clear, I hate that guy and I refuse to believe anything he says at this point, but I'm not going out of my way to harass him while a huge chunk of the fan base still does.

Now, let's take it further, what OP does here: all OP did was express their feelings and intentions, which not only is valid, but is actually way more mature than people give credit for. Once again, human emotions are normal, and it's ok to express them as long as they're not actively harming someone. There's nothing wrong with venting and complaining as long as it's still respectful and doesn't try to bring someone else down. OP surely didn't do anything that would've potentially upset Dana in any way, not only because she's great like that, but also because there's nothing to get upset over here. We're talking about fictional characters in a concluded fictional story. Someone not believing something that was never properly established within the story is not insulting or world-shattering. We have known that Harvey is Willow's stepdad for only a few days, one week ago. If someone were to say that Harvey is Willow's stepdad and any other takes were invalid, they would be brought down by virtue of this never being stated or canonical or on par with other headcanons.

I understand where you're coming from with Lilith, as I feel this pain too, but there are differences here. For starters, the information about Lilith was revealed while the show was still running. It wasn't "after everything is said and done, this character was this kind of representation btw and you never knew lol" like no, we got to know more about Lilith further as we went down with the show, not when it concluded. What's more is that not only was the revelation about Lilith not something that can be found in a simple tweet (though with Harvey tweet would not only be enough but still very suiting if only such a tweet was send sooner), but it was something that involved actual VA getting into character to properly establish in a supplementary, canon material (though wish it was more popularised so it also won't be lost to time but I digress). Harvey didn't get that. What's more is that Lilith's arc does resemble the journey and virtues of the experience for AroAce people (like a direct focus on platonic relationships and how Lilith's issues don't stem from her lack of attraction, or how romance is never brought up and was never needed to be brought up) and I will say that people who usually shit on this headcanon forget that labels don't exist on BI so there never would be anyone stating Lilith is AroAce verbally as people in the story just wouldn't know or care what it means and therefore promptly ignore everything else that validates Lilith's identity as AroAce.

But this situation isn't like Harvey's because Harvey's revelation occurred after the show ended, meaning we learn this after we thought we already knew everything about him and now freaking out over it because it wasn't the case, and since Harvey was ultimately never treated by the narrative any differently than other parental characters to the point that we never even knew whether or not he was a stepdad, the representation just felt flat as while it's fantastic that Harvey is undeniably a dad like any other, him still being treated like any other great dad within the background context of him being a stepdad would hit even harder as we would be watching the show and his appearances within the story. Now, at best, we can do this in retrospect, which may not be as satisfying. Not to mention that Harvey's background info can still remain fairly obscure towards the casual viewers and I could argue if casual viewers guessing Harvey being a stepdad off the bat wouldn't come off as racist as it should be stated: lightskin people exist, Willow was ultimately mistaken for one for quite a long time and it can happen again.

Another thing we should definitely talk about here is your attitude. I already said that it's ok to vent and complain and express negative feelings as long as they don't actively harm anyone, what you're doing is, in fact, actively harmful. Dana won't be bothered by someone not believing her headcanon, but OP can very well be upset over your reblog and attitude in the notes. Whether they'd be a bigger person about it or not, they still have every right to block you for acting as a toxic, condescending asshole. Take advice from someone who also is done with everyone's BS and actively calling them out even in this thread and how I also am not above my own faults and how my behavior while both well-intentioned and to an extent still having a point came across a piushback due to me being a tonedeaf asshole over it, even if I didn't mean it. OP does not attack Dana, but you absolutely attack OP. You shame them and guilt-trip them for expressing their feelings on THEIR blog. They have every right to do it, the whole point of this hellsite is to post random trash like some vent thoughts regarding your favorite piece of media you can't exactly share anywhere else without it being invalidated in any form. You barge into someone else's blog and shame them for how they run it while shaming them for both expressing their emotions and even feeling a specific way, which is a horrible thing to do to someone. You call them childish for still having enough distance from this whole thing to not delve deeper into why they feel a specific way, because they just feel it, and there doesn't need to be some thought-out justification for it. People have every right to dislike something even for no real reason and express that too, as that's how you establish boundaries in the first place. Like, sorry not sorry, but you're indeed in the wrong here, and it's your reblogs that are uncalled for, not OP. Heck, even when I came to YOUR post that was venting about this specific issue, I didn't shame you for how you felt, I didn't call you childish or in the wrong, I simply provided additional context to the other side of the conflict we have on our plate. And you were upset by this alone, now imagine someone giving you the very same reblog you gave OP here, and how would that make you feel, regardlessof how right or wrong it is, as at this point it's not about who is in the right, but how do we approach each other.

Finally, I do agree with your statement regarding AI and how spoiled the fan base is, but I also can safely say that this is uncalled for and off-topic and misses the point of the original discussion. Even if the fans weren't spoiled enough to view content as something to consume, this very conversation could've transpired regardless.

I hope I made myself clear here. I do ultimately respect you and I see where you're coming from regarding this, but I also have to tell you that what you're doing is a big yikes on its own.

Willow canon content in the big year 2025 but at what cost 😩

Anyway death by the author they are both her bio dads to me, they were highschool sweethearts 💔

[imagine-darksiders]

What would Samael have to do to get a genuine hug from y/n? Like one of those unexpected, arms around the neck in a slow squeeze that lets you know they're there and they're saying thank you without saying anything kind of hug. I don't see Samael as an emotional person so I don't think he'd see it coming nor would he know what to do about it.

It'd have to be a pretty monumental occasion. The Horsemen have warned you extensively that Samael is the type to offer you treasure with one hand while holding a knife in the other.

He quickly learns that flattery won't get him anywhere with you because you [rightly] assume he only resorts to flattery when he wants something.

Only in a moment of rare and complete sincerity will Samael earn a hug from you.

He was angry - apoplectic with offence and outrage- when a lesser Demon calling itself a 'Prince' attacked the Black Throne, as if it had any right to challenge him in his territory.

But the demon's intentions weren't set on the Throne. Rather, they were set on the little bargaining chip that's been staying in Samael's West tower for the last few days, put there by the Prince himself to ruffle the feathers of four, uppity Horsemen.

The lesser demon made you a target, something that only became obvious when Samael heard your cry for help. He didn't have time to consider the excuse he'd have to come up for saving your life. He just acted. A maelstrom of twisted magics and bellowing heat, he tore into the chamber he'd been keeping you in and set upon the lesser demon like a rabid dog.

After he slaughtered it by ripping the scales from its flesh one by one, you found yourself presented with a monstrous, fiery tantrum, the likes of which you hadn't even seen from Fury on her worst days.

He certainly has a temper. All who serve him know it, as do those who don't. He's dangerous when he's angry, just as dangerous as he is when he seems calm and composed. Only fools would assume otherwise.

But in that moment, in the stretch of time after he'd saved you, and he stands hunched over in a battle-ready stance, claws and wings splayed, pupils thin as slits as he chuffs out great, grunting swathes of air, you couldn't be much else other than grateful.

Intimidated, certainly, but grateful all the same. What the lesser demon had promised to do to you.... Samael had saved you from a fate far worse than death. And now he looks as though he's about to spontaneously combust on the spot.

So, bucking off all the good sense Death has tried to instil in you over the years, you approach the hulking demon, treading heavily so that when he swings his immense head around, he only snarls at you a little in warning. A warning you neglect to heed.

You have to be careful. Anyone who puts themselves physically close to the Prince only does so with the intent to cause harm, even those he's shared a bed with.

But you move slowly, cautiously, stretching up onto the tips of your toes as he growls and snaps his teeth at you, eyeing you beadily down the length of his nose.

You have to keep reminding yourself that if he wanted you dead, he'd have let that demon finish you off for him, wipe his hands clean and offer the Horsemen the culprit so that he could walk away without inciting a incident with the Charred Council's enforcers.

Your arms are comically small against his throat, too small to do anything more than give his neck a gentle squeeze. Perhaps that's why he allows it. Either he's too stunned to pull away, or he knows you're about as much of a threat to him as a dead fish.

Regardless, Samael's movements still at once as you embrace him, though his mind races a mile a minute, wondering what the purpose of this is, analysing the scent of you pressed against him, the twitch of your muscles as you reach as far around his thick neck as your fingers will stretch.

He's calm in an instant, shocked into a stupor.

This... he marvels.... this he could soon get used to.

[vivlily]

Freesia Freeware

a merchant who DOES NOT sell her wares for free. Although her prices are always more than fair, it's somewhat of a miracle she seems to be making any profit honestly.

Despite popping up out of seemingly nowhere, her ridiculously low cost and quality goods has helped many people throughout the few years. Earning her quite the reputation as a merchant.

She often does her best to appear as shrewd and calculating as possible, unfortunately she's much to kind to ever fool anyone that spends longer than a few minutes with her. Whether It's suddenly having a super sale on medicine upon learning of someones sick grandpa, or offering candy to children in return for a random pebble on the side of the road, or giving free cheese upon purchase of two mangoes(it's good cheese). Her actions have earned the goodwill of many. The reason for such goods being sold for so cheap is often speculated.

Some speculate it's because she lives with a wise old alchemist in the woods who uses their alchemy to make potions for Freesia, thus cutting on costs. But that's unlikely as the last known great alchemist around these parts had already died many years ago. Unless there was some new young alchemist who went out of their way to keep hidden from society, who also just so happens to want to help Fressia for whatever reason. As it probably no doubt sounds, that's horribly specific and highly unlikely.

Some speculate that either her or her mantle has the ability to store things away in a pocket dimension. And that perhaps this is a reason she can keep costs so low, and can pull seemingly anything from out of it. This is utterly ridiculous however, the only known enchantment that mantle has is thermoregulation. Which while great for hot summer days or cold winter nights, isn't enough to explain the prices, so there goes that theory.

If this mantle ever be stolen it is likely that Freesia would cry for a whole week, and it is also likely everyone would do their best to find the vile cretin who stole it. As for the fate of such a vile bastard... it's also likely they'll get what they deserve. There may or may not be precedent for this.

Regardless of how or why she does what she does, everyone loves when Freesia Freeware comes to town.

She's also cute.

so there's that too.

[tarithenurse]

Destined - 2

Fandom: MCU. Pairing/starring: Loki Odinson x fem!reader. Word count: 2589. Content: Love, fluff, adversary, abuse of sort by father figure so angst. A/N: So I wrote a bit more even if no one explicitly said they wanted it...I just couldn’t get it out of my head. As per usual please like, comment, reblog. Here’s my TAGLIST and my MASTERLIST for more.

2.

You sit immobile even as Loki withdraws, watching you intently. Your soul is singing, your heart fluttering. It had felt so right, like the part of you that had been missing was returned to you.

“I’ve missed you,” Loki confesses.

“And I you. It’s been...hollow.”

“Like something had been carved out of my chest.”

You nod before seeking out his lips again, melting into his touch. There’s an edge to the kiss this time, a desperation as if it might be the last already.

And it might very well be because a soft cough alerts you to the arrival of a stately figure. Frigga has found you and while there’s a soft smile on her lips, she also eyes the two of you with sternness.

“Your parents are searching for you, lady [Y/N],” she warns you.

Of course they would be. They’ve been watching you like hawks since you arrived – if not in person then by proxy – as if they were afraid someone would steal you away the first chance there was. Joke’s on them because it did happen after all.

But that’s when it hits you: all the letters you wrote which never reached Loki...you had given them to your parents to send off with all the other correspondences for Asgard. Did they never send them? Did they confiscate the letters he sent to you?

But you get on your feet, knowing you must go back to your parents regardless of the mistrust brewing inside you.

Curtsying to the queen and with a last long look at Loki, you walk away towards the sound of the party.

The flames of the bonfire are reaching high into the sky, illuminating the anxious faces of your parents. You see them before they notice you, having never considered looking towards the private garden’s entrance. There’s a bitter resentment welling up inside you, filling your lungs like the smoke from the fire. Uncertainty tears at you too: what will you do? Confront them? Ignore it and think of it as in the past?

Whatever you are to choose, you must decide now because they have spotted you and are rushing this way. Mother is wringing her hands and likely her face is wrought with worry behind the fox mask as opposed to your father who clearly is angry.

“Where have you been?” he hisses, grabbing you by the wrist.

“Why have you taken your mask off, dear?” your mother whimpers as if that would be the great concern.

But none of them wait for answers, instead they drag you off towards your home despite your protests. You manage to look over your shoulder once as they pull you away from the courtyard and you see Loki there, both your masks in his hand, looking after you with furrowed brows.

---

You parents had barely spoken to you when you got home. They sent you to your room to get changed and afterwards they had you go to bed – well, they could make you settle down in your room but they couldn’t force you to sleep.

You are lying awake, thinking of Loki and the kisses you shared. Of how right it felt to see him again. Your mind is flooded with images from now and your childhood, all of it with his bright smile and emerald eyes.

---

“We’ve found you a suitor,” your father proclaims the next morning.

Shocked, you clutch your cutlery as you stare at him. “What?”

Your mother looks concerned, gaze flashing from him to you but she doesn’t say anything.

“One of the gentlemen from last night. He’s approached me, asking for your hand in marriage and I will allow it,” is the cold explanation.

“You will not!” you gasp, slamming the cutlery down on the table, making it all shake. “You cannot make me marry someone I have no interest in!”

He glares at you, threatening as if a look alone would make you change your mind but for once you’re not cowed and glare back instead.

Just has he’s about to retort, there’s a knock on the door. The maid answers and moments later she shows in an einherjar – the royal guard – who bows in salute.

“Lady [Y/N]?” he asks, already looking at you.

Nodding, you stand though you aren’t sure why.

Pulling out a box, he hands it to you but rather than leave, he remains and you realize he’s been ordered to do so until he has assured everything is as it should be. You are tempted to ask to go with him back to the palace. Instead, you open the box and find a gold chain with a single emerald dangling from it and a letter beneath which you open with trembling hands.

“Dearest,

You left early but I refuse to accept being kept from you again. Come to the palace tonight and ask for an audience with me. Together we can overcome any obstacles.

Yours, Loki.”

It’s with a wildly beating heart that you put on the necklace, the stone resting just at the top of your cleavage, cold against your skin. Everything you do, you are doing in defiance of your parents who are watching with a mix of contempt and anger in their gazes but they don’t stop you – not even as you turn to the guard.

“Tell him...I will be there and if I’m not then it’s not of my own free will.”

Your mother snatches the letter from you, eyes quickly scanning the few lines before she sighs and hands it to your father as the guard serving as messenger bows.

“I shall let his highness know,” the einherjar promises.

“Thank you.”

You don’t dare look at your parents but sit down slowly, looking after the man as he leaves, but this is the one chance you will get at prying the truth from them and you swallow hard as you gather the courage to finally confront them

“You never sent the letters, did you?” The voice barely sounds like yours because it’s void of any emotion, any intonation.

None of them answer, forcing you to look at them finally.

Your mother is fearful, glancing between you and your father while she’s wringing her hands and you understand that whatever happened...it was not her choice but his. Pinning him with a glare, you dare him to lie to you but he drinks his tea as if he has nothing to atone for.

“Burned. Together with the ones he sent you.”

“Why?”

“I do not have to explain myself to a child,” he scoffs. Then he returns your gaze. “If you go there...consider yourself cast out.”

There’s a gasp from your mother and you feel like the world has dropped out from under you even as you get to your feet.

“Then I suppose I must pack my humble belongings.”

With that you stride away, locking yourself in what used to be your chambers because you have no doubt that your father means every word he has said. If only you knew why. Most parents would be thrilled if their child was amicable with a prince...so why this hatred towards Loki? It makes no sense.

Looking around, you pull a few of your favourite dresses from the wardrobe before thinking better of it and putting them back. You can’t very well show up at the castle as a homeless person begging for a roof over your head but you also do not want anything to do with the old life.

You can hear your parents arguing – something you’ve never experienced before and it makes you feel a bit nauseous at the idea that you are causing it.

No, you decide, this it their own doing.

---

The day passes slowly. At one point you think you hear your mother outside your door but she never knocks or enters and you have no need to seek her out. Even if this is all against her wishes, you can’t imagine she has stood up for you until maybe today...unless that was for her own sake.

Lying on your bed, you watch as the sun begins to set, painting the sky in colours of purple and dark blue with golden edges on the clouds.

It is time.

Opening the door, you quietly make your way through the house to the entrance without meeting any obstacles. Not a sound.

Breathing deep, you look around one last time before stepping outside into the cool evening air.

“If you do this,” your father’s voice comes from behind you, “there is only pain to come.”

“If I don’t, the pain I’ve felt since we left will never end,” you quietly remind him.

Then you leave.

It’s not a long walk to the castle but even so, it feels like ages before you reach the grand gate that had been open for everyone the night before. Now it is closed, but simply stating your name is enough for the einherjar stationed there and you are allowed through as if you’re expected. You suppose that you are.

Crossing the courtyard, there is still evidence of the grand bonfire, the ashes wetted to prevent them blowing about and potentially igniting something.

You see the entrance to the private garden, your belly fluttering at the memory of what took place there and it steels your nerves, allowing you to hold your head high as you step up to the front doors of Valhalla and the einherjar positioned there.

“I seek an audience with prince Loki Odinson,” you explain with only the hint of a shiver in your voice.

Snapping out of her straight posture, the einherjar looks to you. “Name?”

You give it and she nods, opening the door for you and handing you over to a servant that comes rushing at the sound of the door.

The grand hall is as you recall it: reaching up high and flanked by staircases on either side it is only an appetizer of what the great hall or the throne room are like. Black marble floor inlaid with gold in runes and sigils of ancient origin that you cannot decipher. Tall windows allow the last light to enter, slanted across the walls where tapestries depict landscapes you’ve never seen and the ceiling painted with stars.

“This way, my lady,” the servant brings you out of your reverie.

You are led not to Loki’s chambers but to the great hall and you realize that the royal family might still be dining.

“Am I intruding?”

The servant turns to you with surprise in her gaze and merely shakes her head.

The doors to the hall stand open, allowing the sound of conversation and the scent of food to reach you before entering. You stomach lurches, realizing you have not eaten since this morning but even so you are too nervous now to feel truly hungry.

Signalling to you to wait outside, the servant enters, clearing her throat: “Lady [Y/N] for prince Loki.”

The chatting stops save for one voice: that of Frigga.

“Show her in and set the table for her.”

To dine with the royal family is more than you’ve ever done and your nerves change character. Looking down over yourself, you worry that you should have changed to something more flattering but there is no going back now and there is the servant, motioning for you to come along.

Your feet feel heavy, barely willing to follow the order of your mind but you manage to get moving.

They look...normal. Just a family of four having dinner. Yes, it’s lavish and they are dressed finely but the way they sit and the smiles on their faces are like you would have expected from your neighbours. From your own family. The thought stabs you in the heart and you push the image of your parents aside so you can focus on curtsying properly.

“Pardon the intrusion,” you manage, staring at the dark floor by your feet.

“Please,” the gentle voice of Frigga greets you, “come, join us.”

Looking up, you see that Loki is already at his feet, pulling out a chair for you right next to him and somehow, although your knees seem weak, you walk over and allow him to push the chair in under you so you can sit.

Before you can say anything, table wares has been placed before you and a goblet filled with wine. It feels surreal. What about this did your parents not wish for you?

Thor and Odin are already back to talking about the crown prince’s last duel, Thor waving his arms animatedly as he explains a particular daring move that brought him the victory.

But Frigga’s gaze is still on you together with Loki’s and you smile softly at them.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” you manage, grateful indeed for the kindness.

“Never hesitate to come to us if you need anything,” Loki smiles. “Here, try some of the fowl, it is delicious.”

He plates you a variety of things and you have to stop him, fearing you won’t be able to finish it all.

“We mean it,” Frigga suddenly say, gaze boring into you, “anything you need. Do not hesitate.”

The words hit hard despite the kindness in her voice. Somehow it pierces through the shield you’ve erected to ward others from the pain left by your father. Clutching the cutlery tight, you turn your gaze to the plate of food, blinking as it swims before your eyes.

“[Y/N]?” Loki asks, a hand softly resting on your shoulder. “What has happened.”

Wiping angrily at the tears that are rolling down your cheeks, you shake your head in desperation rather than denial of his question.

“I was...was asked t-to make a-a choice,” you hiccup, barely audibly.

“And you choice to come here,” Frigga guesses, causing you to nod. “Oh, my dear.”

No one speaks for a moment as you combat your roiling emotions. When you finally get them under control, you manage a weak smile.

“I just...I shall search for work and lodging,” you tell yourself more than the family, “become self-sufficient.”

“Wait...what happened?” Thor asks but you cannot find the words to answer him.

At your side, Loki has tangled his hand with your, a thumb rubbing your knuckles softly as if the motion could calm your soul...and it does. Squeezing his fingers carefully, you breathe in shakily and straighten up.

“Our sweet friend is no longer welcome in her parents’ home,” Frigga explains. “But,” she turns to you, “I stand by what I said...anything you need. If that is a roof over your head, then so be it. We have room enough.”

“I cannot accept th-”

“Yes you can,” Loki interrupts you. “You can and you will. And in the morning I will go and speak with your parents.”

You object at the same time as Odin but where your words peter out and become nothing, the All-Father maintains a clear gaze on his son as he explains that not all battles can be won.

“I used to know the man you intend to talk to. We’ve fought side by side when you were naught but a baby.” The king rubs his brow. “While you may be the prince, you have no say in the matters of his family and he is a stubborn man. Opinionated.”

You can see on Loki that he doesn’t like what he’s hearing but he accepts it at least and the dinner continues, only interrupted by Frigga organizing that a room is prepared for you.

[ghostwithateacup]

Hey so maybe I’m crazy but am I the only person who thinks that the “all characters can be romanced regardless of player gender” approach to queerness in games with romance is… I dunno, a little odd? I mean, on the one hand, it’s a positive. Everyone is queer! And as long as you don’t end up with a gay button situation that is a valid approach, especially if it’s acknowledged as just being the norm.

However, at the same time, thats not really accurate to the queer experience? Some people are just gay, some ace, not everyone is attracted to everyone.

I think Fire Emblem: Three Houses had… sort of the right idea there. Only some characters could be romanced regardless of gender. However, these characters were still bisexual with none being anything else. But it makes their queerness feel a little more real, and I think if the idea were expanded upon, with different characters having different explicit sexualities, that may actually be better and more accurate than the player-sexual approach games like, say, Stardew Valley take.

Even games that are quite queer, like Fields of Mistria, ultimately have casts that are essentially entirely pan, which, though cool and great for gameplay reasons, is somewhat a loss. Lesbians, for example, just don’t really exist in that world unless the player decides they are one. This of course does make sense given the game’s closest thing to a gender tracker is pronouns, and keeping track of every potential gender identity would be incredibly difficult, but I still think it’s a missed opportunity to breathe life in to characters, not just in this one game.

I’d love to hear counter arguments though, I genuinely would like to be proven wrong here cause it feels like I’m missing something.

[rulersreachf4n]

HEADCANONS PART II: electric boogaloo

This version he is a finalist/winner because I refuse to believe that season 3 is canon

When gi hun tried to kill him he thought he’d die thinking everyone hated him and/or didn’t care about him

Jun hee reminds him of his sisters and they is why he is always near her and taking care of her

Has a lot of childhood trauma and PTSD from his father

Would try and hide in his closet, behind the door or under the bed when his dad tried to yell at him

Was taught crying ment weakness so he learned to cry in silence and his sobs are barely audible

After winning the games he traveled all over Korea to find/reunite with his sisters

Hates his dad but if anyone says anything bad about him he will defend him

Dae ho hates the fact that he defends his dad but also hates the fact that he still loves him

Complex relationship with his sisters since he was spoiled and babied as a child and his sisters would be upset at the unfair treatment of them

Didn’t have a lot of friends in his life because of his femininity

Was bullied/harassed for showing his feminine side

Horrendous fashion choices cause all his clothes would be oversized hand me downs from his sisters or dad

The games where both the most traumatic but also best thing in his life because of all the friends and found family he made

Hates the fact that the happiest he’s been was in the games

The plan is to find/reunite with his sisters and move to America to escape their abusive dad

Is ambidextrous (not self projecting)

Still feels guilty for the rebellion (it’s not his fault and I’ll defend him with my life)

Likes his hair long and LOVES it when people style it

After care KING

Still hasn’t had his first kiss (never had a relationship that lasted that long to have one)

At prom he brought his best girl friend

A lot of his friends frowning up where girls but still didn’t have that many friends regardless

Energy drink addict

^ light sleeper and would wake up overhear his parents fighting and drank them to stay awake during the day time

^ made him an addict to stimulants which contributed to his debt

Cheapskate

Love language is physical touch

Hated how he was villainized for the rebellion failing

The Squid Game’s where the place he felt most appreciated ‘cause of his gonggi and skills

Has a lot of rewards emails and mailing lists due to his sisters

His mom would take off her shoe to defend herself against his dad (which is why he took off his shoe when gi hun was chasing him in the maze)

LOVES cooking/baking but cannot do it himself

^ is able to cook/bake complex meals but not the easy recipes

^ he’ll burn toast, set microwave meals on fire but is able to cook a pizza from scratch and everyone is like how

Did great in school until college then dropped out without his family knowing (his sisters and parents still don’t know)

^ dropping out led to his debt

Is great at art and drawing

Some of the rooms in the maze game looked a lot like his sisters rooms and got nostalgic but couldn’t reflect on it since gi hun was hunting him down

When no contact and moved out at 18 (misses his mom and sisters but know if he reaches out to them they’ll try to get him to reconcile with his dad)

Hadn’t talked to his sisters or mom in almost 20 years till after he won the games and split the money with his sisters and mom (not his dad though)

Hates how his dad treated him growing up but also loves him deep down but also hates the fact that he loves him

Whenever he gets mad or upset he fears he will turn into his dad

As a late teen/young adult has been told he looks like his dad (hates it so he grew his hair out so others would stop saying that)

daeho has a whole herd of nieces and nephews that he loves spoiling and looking after

As much as he loves kids he himself doesn’t want kids outta fear he’ll become his father

daeho is used to isolating himself when it comes to his ptsd and any other issues

^^ not just because it's a coping mechanism, but because he doesn't want others to see him as anything but happy and smiley, because he's afraid they'll see him differently

when he was a teen, he somehow managed to find a four leaf clover he has it with him at all times (even in the games)

as kids, him and his sisters they used to make keychain charms with each other he doesn't know if they still have them but he does

Goes to get his mom out of her marriage and finally stand up to his dad saying “I’m not the same man I was before” then casually walking away

Gi hun died proud of dae ho (I refuse to believe he killed him let me live in denial damn it)

Goes to Jung bae’s family to give them closure ala gi hun s1 with sae byok’s brother

Has survivors guilt from the rebellion and from winning the games

His PTSD has gotten worse

Hates the number 3 and the number 8 because of his player number 388

^ hates the number 9 and 0 as well for 390 Jung bae

He and his sisters all move to jeju island together

DAE HO HEADCANONS

(For @cherrybombdaeho)

In this version he is a finalist/winner and survives

Dae ho has a pet rabbit

He sees Jung bae as a father figure

Hasn’t talked to his sisters in 15 years because he is ashamed of all the debt he has racked up

Isn’t able to hold a full time job (according to Kang ha neul) so he stopped caring and eventually got laid off (which led to his debt)

Is an AMAZING gift giver

Owns an iPhone 8 lol (totally not self projecting here)

Parents would cut his hair but when he moved out of his parents home he grew it out

His sisters are more like parental figures than his actual parents

He was babied and spoiled as a child being the youngest and only son (and in SK boys are ‘treasured’ more than girls)

His father would verbally abuse him

His mom would work really late nights so he learned to be independent at a VERY young age

He’s a hopeless romantic

He loves art and creativity

Is very clingy and ruined a lot of his relationships and thought that he wasn’t good enough not realizing he would come off as “too much”

Has PTSD from the marines (I don’t care what the show says he’s a marine in my head)

When they where little him and his sisters all wanted to live together but as they got older his sitters got closer and thought they didn’t wanna live with him which is what led to his debt

Challenges others to gonggi matches (wins every time)

Yelled ‘ack’ every time the recruiter slapped him (the recruiter got weirded out)

Sees Gi hun young il jun hee and Jung bae as his found family (his gay uncles and his dad and little sister)

Would stand and block his sisters from being hit by is father

Had a lot of girls or fathers clothes as hand me downs

HORRENDOUS fashion choices because he grew up with girly clothes and oversized clothes form his dad so he didn’t know what when with what

LOVES have his hair styled

Gives partners the princess treatment

The reason why he was shipped off to the mariners is because his dad thought one of two things 1 he’d come back tougher or 2 he’d die in the marines but his dad didn’t care

Got dishonorably discharged or failed basic training which contributed to his debt

Tried to kill himself in is early 30s to avoid paying off debt but didn’t because he thought about how his sisters would feel

Paid off his debt when he won and gave the rest of the money to his sisters

Went both no contact with his parents and moved out at 18 due to his dad (he misses his mom but knows that if he contacted her she would try to get him and his dad work stuff out)

Owns a lot of stuffed animals and plushies

Is great at styling hair

Terrible speller (totally not self projecting)

Great memory (both blessing and curse)

Tried to reach out to and find his sisters when he returned from the games

Bought his mom a house so she can escape her abusive marriage

Has nightmares of his dad yelling and abusing him and his sisters

Light sleeper and would wake up and overhear his parents fighting a lot which game him an addiction to stimulant to not fall asleep during the day that contributed to his debt

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Actual Ultimate Classpecting Guide

For real this time.

Buckle up, this is a really long one. For everything that's posited, I can provide textual evidence; that being said, I'm not going to be including the textual evidence within the essay itself, because it's already long enough as-is. As such, please feel free to ask for clarification or sources on any assertion, and I'll do my best to provide.

Before we begin, there's some things to discuss about how we're going to be approaching classpect in the following essay. In numbered list form for our short attention spans:

1. There is a concept Hussie talks about multiple times in his book commentary, "personality alchemy" - the idea that there are these "platonic ideals" of certain characters, which can be mixed and matched with others, in order to create new characters. The examples he gives are of how Eridan was a proto-Caliborn, how Kanaya has shades of Jade, how Nepeta was a proto-Calliope, and how Sollux and Eridan have shades of Dave in them. Classpecting is fundamentally a form of this personality alchemy:

2. Class describes the character's arc and emotional hurdles, while Aspect describes the character's base personality traits by which this arc is experienced.

3. For example, all three Seers struggle with hubris: Rose's need to be the smartest person in the room led to her being manipulated by Doc Scratch, Terezi's obsession with meting justice led to her engineering a situation where the only option was to kill Vriska, and Kankri's desire to be seen as a spiritual leader amongst his friends led to him furthering their divisions and harming them.

Then, when their pride is shattered, they cope by inflicting willful self-blindness: Rose turns to drinking herself stupid (the opposite of Light's sway over knowledge), Terezi gets down with the clown (the opposite of meting out Mind's justice, as it's a Gamzee W), Kankri goes celibate (Blood L) despite his clear romantic feelings for certain teammates.

4. As for Aspect: note how all three Life players share the personality traits of optimism, stubbornness, and obstinacy. All three Breath players share an immaturity and naïvety, and are quite frankly irresistible to people for some reason. All three Light players share a need for the spotlight and a tendency toward long-windedness and persnicketiness. So on and so forth.

What's interesting is, if you start analyzing characters that share Classes and Aspects, these specific types of similarity crop up over and over - all our Knights struggle with insecurities and facades, both our Bards have a crisis of faith. All three Breath players have an aspect of immaturity and childishness to their characters, and all three Light players are deeply concerned with appearing intelligent and feeling important.

5. As a result, this guide is NOT intended for classpecting real life people, because we are complicated, we contain multitudes, and we don't have arcs. This is primarily an analysis of what Class and Aspect mean in Homestuck based on textual evidence, because I genuinely believe that you can basically figure it out if you read carefully.

6. Duality, and the idea of "equal and opposite," are major themes within Homestuck - Prospit and Derse, Skaia (described as a crucible of birth and creativity) and the Furthest Ring (the literal afterlife). Which classes are involved in an Active/Passive split, and opposing Aspects, are the same way. This is the primary method I used to determine the Active/Passive pairings and opposing Aspects. After all, as Callie describes, both Thieves and Rogues are classes "who steal" - so, too, do I try to unify Classes by a common theme, even if they diverge wildly in how that theme is expressed (as Thieves and Rogues do). In the same way as the opposite of "up" is not "apple," but "down", because "up" and "down" are both fundamentally concerned with relative vertical position, so too can be defined concepts like Breath and Blood, Hope and Rage, Light and Void - as well as the reasoning behind Class pairings like Heir and Page, Maid and Knight, and Seer and Mage.

7. Descriptions for both Class and Aspect are left deliberately vague and up to interpretation within the comic itself, and this is by design: the actual manifestations of an Aspect can vary wildly given the Class, and even individual person, that it's tied to. Calliope even makes note of the fact that, under the right circumstances, someone can manifest effects that appear to be the opposite of their aspect. She's also careful to couch her language in "may" and "can" - because these concepts are intentionally somewhat nebulous and malleable. As such, while this guide certainly lays down what can be gleaned and inferred from the text, do note that Homestuck runs on a soft magic system, and as such, nothing stated is firm, 100%, must-always-be-this-way - just an overview of what we've seen.

8. There is often great overlap between Aspects, Classes, and Classpects - which Calliope herself notes. Heart and Blood are one of the most salient, as they both have a fixation on relationships, and Calliope mentions that under the right circumstances, a Classpect may even be able to manifest what appears to be the opposite of their Aspect. Again, Homestuck operates on a soft magic system, so this is a feature, not a bug.

ASPECT

There's a little less to say about Aspect, not because it's less complicated, but because "base personality traits" are much more nebulous compared to Class's sway over character arc. Still, Aspect represents the fundamental way a character is, and thus, color every interaction that character has. There's a reason Ultimate Selfhood is sought through Aspect, not Class - Aspect is the core of the character's being, what makes that person that person.

That all being said, Class has major sway over how an Aspect manifests, and certain classes can even invert the Aspect and even the character's role in the party. As such, these descriptions must be parsed carefully in relation to Class. Moreover, due to the soft magic system, there is at times overlap between unrelated Aspects, which can also be exacerbated by Class - Heart and Blood being the most obvious in this regard. Still, overall, you'll find the Aspects to be fairly distinct from one another.

Please also note that every Aspect can deal with its literal counterpart by default - Light players can wield lasers, Breath players can wield the breeze, et cetera. Because this kind of goes without saying, and because the non-literal stuff is more interesting to discuss, I'm not really going to go into too much detail about the literal qualities.

Finally, something interesting to note is that nearly every Aspect follows its own Hero's Journey cycle - full actualization for each one usually means reaching around to its opposite Aspect, and taking lessons from them - for example, Breath players need to learn maturity and responsibility, while Blood players need to learn relaxation and whimsy. Thus, an Aspect at its worst manifests in two ways - either a toxic overabundance of the Aspect's worst traits, or such a dearth of the aspect that it begins to resemble its opposite. Only by reaching into the opposite, however, can the player be tempered and reach full maturity - can they become more of who they are.

SPACE / TIME

Space and Time are both concerned with physical reality, goals, and the way one approaches them.

Space is associated with "the big picture" - with recycling, reproduction, and the interconnectivity of all things. The aspect also presides over the enjoyment of the journey over the destination - Space players serve as reminders that the present moment is as important as the end goal. Space is often a more passive Aspect, being the stage upon which the story is set. They're the hosts of the party, and the one who marks the ending.

Its players reflect these tendencies, often being feminine, with penchants for life-giving acts such as gardening. Their personalities tend towards frivolity and silliness, finding it difficult to stay on-topic or bring full gravitas to serious situations. Perhaps a better word would be "distractable;" when the aspect is so concerned with all things in connection with each other, it's easy to lose track of details, and it's easy to enjoy things simply as they come. Space players tend to be kind, patient, and forgiving, which is a strength as much as it is a flaw; it's easy for malicious actors to take advantage of this compassion, or for the Space player to find themselves in a poor situation by being overly permissive. They can easily be painted over by stronger personalities, and tend to struggle with romantic relationships, as they attract many with their kind and giving natures, and few are naturally so considerate of the Space player in turn.

"Passive" is a good word to use; at a toxic overabundance of their Aspect, Space players are trampled underfoot. They become enablers, servants to dark forces, or so lost in their own worlds that they neglect the one they live in. With their Aspect "inverted," a Space player becomes a demon of poor prioritization. Distracting not just themselves from their true purpose, but others, too, the Space player will wreak havoc by overemphasizing unimportant topics and ignoring important tasks. This superficially resembles Time, in that the Space player will become fanatically dedicated to their task, but note that the poor prioritization is still Space-esque at its core.

Still, within this nadir is a valuable lesson: the strength of self-assertion, and the determination to see a goal through. These will allow the Space player to weed their garden, separating good from bad, allowing it to flourish like never before.

Time, in contrast, is associated with "the little things" - with details, minutiae, and processes. Time presides over the struggle toward something greater, the endurance of hardship with an eye on the prize - the destination over the journey. Time players are the ones keeping track of the tasklist, marking off each item as it reaches completion; they are the tireless workers keeping the whole engine running.

Time players, thus, are ones whose lives are marked by struggle. They are highly goal-oriented; in contrast to how Space players can easily move from goal to goal, task to task, Time players feel bound to see things through to the end, finding satisfaction only when they've achieved their desired result - and only until they come across the next goal in their journey. A Time player isn't happy without a goal to work towards, a craft to polish, a prize to win - but this driven nature can easily be its own downfall, as it leaves little room for the player to admit to their own shortcomings, or ask for help from others. Moreover, their focus on minutiae can leave them blinded to the bigger picture, and it's easy for a time player to fall to despair, able to do nothing more but spin their wheels. They're prone to directionless anguish, frustration, and resentment towards the seeming futility of their actions, becoming destructive and defiant even when it doesn't serve them to do so.

At a toxic overabundance of their Aspect, Time players become explosively destructive. The ultimate "goal" of all things is death, with which Time is associated, and accordingly, Time players have a penchant for aligning themselves with futility and entropy, struggling so hard that their thrashing leaves a trail of annihilation in their wake. With their Aspect "inverted," Time players detach entirely - they can become so fed up with struggle that they simply opt to lay their weapons down and let the end take them. It's very easy for them to come to the conclusions that either everything matters, or nothing matters. This superficially resembles Space and its big picture thinking, but note that its framework of struggle, and whether or not a goal needs to be pursued, makes it a Time concern.

But the inherent meaninglessness of existence is, in itself, an important realization to make - that whether or not anything "matters" in the grand scheme, things can still be worth doing, worth caring about, and worth investing in. This realization allows the Time player to attack their goals with renewed vigor and greater clarity, which in turn means that the party becomes an efficient, well-oiled machine.

BREATH / BLOOD

Breath and Blood are both concerned with directionality, interpersonal relationships, and autonomy.

Breath is the Aspect governing freedom, liberty, and independence; it is a force that breaks shackles, clears out social norms, and refutes "the rules," whatever those rules may be. Breath players can't be tied down, whether by physical bonds, societal rules, or even the ineffable forces of the narrative itself. They are leaders of example, pioneers, and trailblazers, opening new paths for their teammates to follow.

Breath players are goofy and gullible, often with hearts full of childlike whimsy, naivety, and even immaturity. They are friendly and well-meaning, fond of simpler things, and easily swayed by others. They approach the world with a sincere and innocent good-naturedness, like a baby animal before it learns to be fearful of danger. Something about this sincerity seems to make Breath players irresistible to others, and they often find themselves the subject of romantic attraction. However, in this childishness is also the great pitfall of many Breath players - their natures are naturally conflict-averse, and egotistical the way a child can be, failing to see beyond themselves. They can be incredibly callous when not considering the consequences of their actions, or the viewpoints of others.

At their worst, Breath players are irresponsible and callous. They'll shirk the consequences of their actions, blaming anybody but themselves, or simply choose not to care who they hurt in order to get what they want. They may even choose to stop making choices for themselves, leading to the "inversion" of their Aspect - a voluntary loss of freedom and independence, derived from an Breath-like aversion to responsibility, which superficially resembles the bondage of Blood.

But if they are able to overcome these tendencies, a Breath player will learn what true responsibility looks like - responsibility for themselves, their choices, and the effect they have on others. Armed with this, a Breath player's ability to break bonds can be focused into a clear force for good, clearing away all obstacles and harmful societal standards, leading the charge into something new and beautiful.

Blood, in sharp contrast, is the aspect that governs bondage, contracts, and interdependence. It is a force that binds. Under Blood's sway are not only romantic entanglements, but familial, friendly, and societal ones as well. This aspect sees overlap with Heart, but the division is this: Heart concerns itself with feelings, and Blood concerns itself with compatibility. Blood players are diplomats, forces that remind us all that we are more similar than we are different, and that that similarity should bring us together when we are on the verge of pulling apart.

Blood players, reflective of their Aspect's association with bonds, tend to be neurotic and obsessive. They have a tendency to over-examine and overthink, constantly fretting over the infinite and infinitesimal variables that influence the shape of society and interpersonal relationships. However, this judgmental nature stems from a deep well of idealism and empathy; Blood players can't help but care about others and wish for the best for them. In a way, this makes them one of the most mature members of the team, being concerned with its overall well-being. Unfortunately, their prowess does not extend inwards, and their assessment of themselves is usually direly incorrect - all the worse because Blood players always feel responsible for those around them. Blood, being the Aspect concerned with interdependence, is the weakest one when all alone.

Thus, it's easy for the Blood player to wind up controlling - desperate to make sure everyone is moving according to their vision, they'll become iron-fisted dictators, with a "my way or the highway" approach to social interactions. It's easy for them to wind up pariahs of their own making, becoming so critical of others, or so adamant about enforcing their own will, that they inadvertantly sever their ties - something that superficially resembles Breath's independence, but is truly a result of Blood's neuroticism.

But with that space and separation can come great clarity. Blood players must learn to relax their grip, and allow people room to breathe - including themselves. Once able to grasp that sometimes bonds must be forged with a soft touch, Blood players' natural empathy shines through, allowing them to build something so much kinder and greater than the sum of its parts.

LIGHT / VOID

Light and Void are both concerned with knowledge, ontology, and "narrative relevance".

Light (as well as its counterpart) are perhaps best understood through the lens of "narrative" - this idea that, of all things that do and don't exist, and all events that do and don't happen, only the ones put to page are "relevant". Thus, Light is associated with knowledge and luck - that is to say, it's associated with the knowable, the objective, and the concrete, and the ability to determine "important" events. Light players have read the book they're participating in, and able to serve as luminary guides from one plot point to another, lighting the lampposts for others to follow.

Light players, naturally, are erudite and educated, possessing keen intellects and cunning minds. They are fond of knowledge itself, of markers of status and prestige - whether that's wealth, the adulation of the masses, or a massive library. They harbor a desire to be important, to be seen, to be acknowledged, and are happiest when they are looked up to. Conversely, they deal poorly with being looked down upon. Their confidence transmutes easily into hubris, and they struggle with having that pride challenged. As such, they tend to be volatile and unpredictable, quick to retaliate against those who threaten their egos, or obsequious to those whose acknowledgement they desire.

Their desire for the limelight can quickly spell disaster - they can become incredibly cruel, harsh, and egotistical in their pursuit of narrative significance. They forget, in their obsession, that they, too, are fallible and flawed, and the inevitable reminder can come very harshly. Light players struggle with moderation, and as such, when they feel shame, they'll often take drastic measures to cope with it - deliberately darkening their own influence or intellects, removing themselves from the "story" entirely - something which superficially resembles Void's penchant for the background, but which is firmly rooted in Light's obsessive need for drama.

But in experimenting with narrative insignificance, Light players can reach an epiphany - in their absence, others may shine, and that can be a wonderful thing. Light players, then, can learn to shine not just for their own sakes, but for the sake of others, allowing them to weave a story even more brilliant than any that can be weaved alone.

Void, in contrast, is the blank spaces between the words. That which is secret, subjective, unknowable - these are Void's domain. It's associated with taboos and hidden things, sexuality and pleasure. It's also associated with the empty canvas - the blank space before creation, and the oblivion to which creation is eventually destined for. Thus, it stands for infinite possibility, though the collapse of those possibilities into a reality removes that reality from Void's domain.

Thus are Void players ever cosigned to the background, though this generally suits them fine. Void players are very self-possessed. Where Light players tend to exaggerate and complicate, Void players are honest and simple, preferring straightforward solutions. They don't tend to think very hard, instead letting intuition and emotion guide them to where they want to be - which makes them one of the more stable personalities on a team. However, this simplistic, feelings-driven approach often leads to pleasure-seeking behavior, poor impulse control, and overindulgence in vice, and from there, to irrelevance, with which Void is so closely interlinked.

Void players are especially prone to vice, and at their worst, will become so drunk on pleasurable activities that they pursue them to the active detriment of the party's goals or the Void player's self-improvement - making them the ultimate irrelevant character. They can also very easily drag others into their mélange, with a forcefulness that resembles Light's illuminating guidance, but which is ultimately rooted in Void's pursuit of personal pleasure.

But there's a lesson to be learned in Light's domain: how to bring themselves into relevance and greatness. A Void player, once they learn to pursue not just personal pleasure, but a greater satisfaction for the collective whole, can drag the Void behind them, kicking and screaming, to where it'll be of use.

MIND / HEART

Mind and Heart are concerned with what it means to be a sentient being, with identity, and with why we do what we do.

Mind is the Aspect associated with logic, rationality, karma, ethics, and justice. To a Mind player, they "are" because they "think". They are keenly aware of the consequences of every action, and well-versed in cognition and behavior, such to the point of manipulating others with ease. Deeply concerned with the "effect" of cause-and-effect, Mind players are always cognizant of debts and credits, where justice is owed and where it has been over-meted, and their subtle machinations culminate, like well-placed dominoes, in grand and explosive finales.

Mind players are schemers - it's in their nature. They have a tendency to view the world as a puzzle or game, with themselves and the people around them as pieces on a board, and set as their standard rules the laws of ethics and karma - owed debts and overhanging credit - guilty and innocent. Mind players are wickedly cunning, and have an high success rate with every scheme they commit themselves to, but the grand downfall of all these tendencies is that they tend to lack in a sense of identity, and have a poor grasp on their own emotions or desires. While they may know how to provoke a desired reaction, they don't know how to change someone's mind. They often find themselves grappling very painfully with their own selfhood, with feelings of emptiness, inadequacy, or uncertainty.

Thus, a Mind player at the worst zenith of their Aspect is heartless and cruel. Leaving no space for empathy or even personal feelings in their plans, the Mind player will plot for an ending as heartless as they are. But a Mind player is never truly without emotion, and ignoring their own feelings causes them to manifest in terrible ways - Mind players have a tendency to seek toxic, codependent relationships, hoping to find external validation, subjecting themselves to the wishes of others, which can appear like Heart's fixation on feelings and desire.

But in recognizing their own need for emotional validation, and the importance of their own feelings, a Mind player can realize that there's an entire dimension to the game they've been playing that they've been ignorant of. When a Mind player learns to temper their schemes with empathy, compassion, and kindness, how much more success they'll see - and how much happier that grand finale will be!

Heart, then, is associated with feelings, motivations, intuition, the soul, and the self. To a Heart player, they "are" because they "feel" like they are - and they're keenly aware of the multitudes that are contained within themselves. Deeply concerned with the "cause" of cause-and-effect, they're drawn to desires, those of themselves and of others, especially where strong feelings are concerned. Heart players are gifted with an intuitive understanding of those around them, both their good and bad qualities, and are tasked with the grand task of bringing out the best.

It stands to reason, then, that Heart players have a firm grasp on who they are and what they want. For the same reasons, it's difficult for a Heart player to truly hate or condemn another person, because they are so adept at understanding them. However, this understanding comes with a price - because the Heart player is so aware of themselves, they can't escape their own worst traits - nobody self-loathes as accurately as a Heart player can. Nor can they ever truly be untruthful with another, making them poor manipulators. Capable of presenting a different facet of themselves as the situation calls for it, certainly, but just as it's impossible to lie to a Heart player, who always knows how someone really feels, it's impossible for a Heart player to lie to themselves.

With this sincerity comes vulnerability. Heart players wear theirs on their sleeves, and at their worst, this can make them demanding, needy, and sensitive - so eager to connect with others emotionally that they'll cramp themselves to fit others' desires. But they can't ever keep this up for long; Heart players have a tendency to withdraw from others after being hurt too often, finding it easier to be alone and silent about their feelings than to deal with the pain of rejection. They may even work to manipulate others, preying on their emotions and desires to force them to act in their worst interests. This superficially resembles Mind's cold logic, but unlike Mind's cool rationality, Heart's aloofness is a mask, an attempt to avoid pain by pulling away.

But this isn't purely a negative, because a Heart player can learn a healthier form of detachment, and separate out healthy and helpful desires from harmful and detrimental ones. Given this clarity, the Heart player becomes the team's emotional core, able to raise up each teammate's best qualities, while helping them deal with their worst, enabling everyone to be the best possible version of themselves - which the Heart player knew them to be all along.

LIFE / DOOM

Life and Doom are concerned with outlook, with journeys, and with trials and tribulations.

Life is an aspect concerned with healing, growing, and improving. It is associated with beginnings, optimism, and positive emotions. The very essence of Life lies in its healing abilities, in this idea of overcoming the odds and triumphing over hardship and difficulty. Life is action, movement, and motion, and its players can scarcely hold still. Life will find a way - and Life players harbor the same immutable belief; they are the most stubborn weeds in the garden, the cockroach that survives the apocalypse, and the beating heart that refuses to stop.

Life players tend to be optimistic and confident. They are self-assured individuals, with a stubborn belief that good things are on their way, and any hardship they face is not only temporary, but something that can be overcome. They can find the silver lining in any cloud, and enjoy themselves under any circumstance. They love to nurture, to care for others, though this love has a tendency to be one-sided. Indeed, Life's stubborn nature is its players' greatest pitfall; their persistence easily becomes obstinacy, and their confidence can become condescension. Their self-assured nature easily becomes egotism, and they can have great difficulty grappling with those who don't share their views - even coming to oppose those who bring emotional pain and suffering that can't be easily fixed.

It's very easy for a Life player to decide another person isn't worth their attention, and opt to leave them behind - after all, Life has to move forward, no matter what it tramples in the process. At their worst, they're stubborn to the point of not listening to anyone but themselves, confidence becoming blockheadedness. This focus on forward progress without looking back can even cause Life players to become harmful to others, so focused they are on their own growth that they don't notice that they're choking everyone else out. This may resemble Doom's death in its worst case - arresting everything else, eventually blocking even their own path with unruly, out-of-control fecundity.

Thus, a Life player needs to learn to more gracefully accept Doom's influence - to pause, slow down, and consider viewpoints that are negative, unpleasant, or difficult. A Life player, endowed with moderation, will be able to cultivate a bountiful garden, rather than an unruly jungle - a place for all to flourish and live in plenty, never wanting for anything.

Doom, then, is the aspect concerned with death, with rest, and with endings. Doom is associated with suffering and with negative emotions, with peace, with sleep, and with dreams. Doom players have a natural penchant for prophecy, and are often dual dreamers, able to take advantage of both Skaia's oracular clouds and the Horrorterrors' voices over Derse. All things must eventually come to an end, and not all times will be good; in these troubling times, Doom players shine, as they are the guides who call the murk home, and know best how to navigate rough waters, course-correcting until the storm passes.

Doom players tend to be deeply pessimistic. They experience, to a much more magnified degree than others, negative feelings and impulses, and it's difficult for them to see the world without seeing its flaws, first and foremost. They are not healers, but commiserators, those who understand greatest that sometimes there's no way to deal with tragedy but to simply sit with it and wait for it to pass. The counterpoint to Life's insistence on breathless positivity, Doom is a reminder that pain, grief, sadness, shame, and guilt are not unnecessary things - in fact, excising them can lead to terrible consequences. Doom players are the universe's martyrs, often taking it upon themselves to course-correct, to sacrifice themselves in order to give others a chance to continue on, to avert a terrible fate.

Unfortunately, this tendency also brings with it a tendency for Doom players to wallow in misfortune, or worse, to take themselves out of the picture, giving up entirely on seeing a better ending. As if energized by their own sense of futility, a Doom player at the "inverse" of their aspect may seem to echo a Life player's focus on forward progress and motion, actively spurring their team on towards an untimely demise.

A Doom player must learn to harness this sense of progress for good, rather than harm. A Doom player, once able to grasp the joy of life even in the greatest depths of despair, will be able to fill even the darkest hours with peace, meaning, and hope.

HOPE / RAGE

Hope and Rage are concerned with permission, and are the lens by which we define reality.

Hope is described by Hussie in the book commentary as being "framed as the most powerful aspect" because it is, literally, an aspect that defines reality. Its specific ability is lies in reducing the "fakeness attribute" of something, thus making it "real". Hope is associated with convictions, with idealism, with faith, order, holiness, and, of course, with magic - which Hope turns real. Hope is permission itself - a reality-breaking ability to look at the world and decree that it must be another way, a way in which the Hope player believes it ought to be.

Thus, Hope players tend to be hard-headed zealots, with no self-awareness whatsoever. Their inclination towards powerful beliefs makes them very difficult to dissuade from a path they've set their minds to, and their specific suite of abilities makes them terrifyingly likely to make their vision come true. Hope players are usually not particularly cunning, nor particularly intelligent, nor even particularly empathetic. Given the Aspect's focus on conviction and faith, it's usually very difficult for Hope players to notice anything occurring beyond their own minds and feelings. Thus are Hope players hopeless optimists, hopeless romantics, and hopeless in general - often great sources of embarrassment to their teams, as their naked sincerity is painful to witness. However, their ability to define reality does not leave them when their beliefs are faulty (which they often are, given Hope players are not particularly introspective, either), which is what makes a Hope player so dangerous.

A Hope player can easily be set on the wrong path - as convicted as they are, and as difficult to shake from that conviction as they can be, Hope players can easily march down a path of destruction, if not persuaded with a deft touch and gentle guidance. In the event that their faith is broken, Hope players easily become despondent and lost, floundering and wishy-washy, which superficially resembles Rage's self-consciousness, but is truly just a lack of direction.

But Rage has a powerful lesson to teach Hope players - that of questioning themselves, interrogating their own beliefs. Once their convictions have gone through rigorous scrutiny, revised into the best, brightest versions of themselves they can be, a Hope player is a worker of miracles - speaking into existence a beautiful future on faith alone, proclaiming that how they see the world is how the world shall be.

Rage, then, is the power of denial. If Hope reduces the "fakness" of a thing, then Rage reduces its "realness". Rage, too, is a means of defining reality, in this case taking a torch to the aspects of reality that it rejects. In more passive Classes, this works in subtler ways, stoking others towards destructive fury. Rage is associated with anarchy, chaos, revolution, destruction, anger, and nihilism. A Rage player will not suffer a world that does not satisfy them, breaking it to pieces, such that something new can take its place.

Therefore, Rage players are prone to harboring anger and resentment, discontentment with the status quo, and faith only in that what currently exists must somehow be dismantled. However, unlike Hope players, who can't help but be pathetically sincere, Rage players are incredibly self-conscious, and often try to mask and hide their embitterment and anger. This, ironically, leads to further ostracization, as others can tell they're being inauthentic. This only further compounds their sense of alienation, and drives them further into smoldering resentment. This makes Rage players sound volatile and dangerous, and they are - but the same fury that moves them is the fury that ignites revolts and tears down oppressive regimes, a necessary and vital well of energy and momentum. It takes careful handling to ensure that the team's Rage player can channel this energy towards righteous causes, rather than marking all as a target for their destructive ire.

In the worst-case scenario, the Rage player turns that rage out indiscriminately, deciding that there is nothing worth fighting for - only unpleasant things to be brought to ruin. This is Rage at its toxic overabundance. Conversely, a Rage player can retreat so harshly into their mask that they allow others to dictate their beliefs, taking them to heart - an action motivated by Rage's destruction (this time, turned inwards) that superficially resembles Hope's convictions and faith.

The true path for a Rage player is a healthy balance - to allow themselves some of Hope's sincerity, and by doing so, to become more sincere and true. This will let them release the pressure of their mounting ire, such that it can be converted into productive, rather than destructive, energy - the heralds of a revolution, razing away the faulty, corrupt old systems such that something better and new can take their place.

CLASS

As previously stated, Class governs a character's character arc - the character's starting circumstances, whether their conflict is primarily internal or external, and what major aspect of their Aspect becomes a hurdle for them to overcome.

In the same way an Aspect's sways tie into the character's base personality, the character's Class abilities tie into the kinds of struggles they face, and have great influence on how their Aspects manifest.

That being said, a character - and their Class - are always subject to their Aspect, as their Aspect is tied fundamentally into who they are. Thus, it can be said that a Light player will always have an affinity for knowledge and provide Seer-esque guidance even when not in a Seer role, a Doom player will always have prophetic abilities even with a non-prophetic class (note that Mituna, an Heir, still had prophetic visions, despite those generally being the realm of Mages and Seers), and a Life player will always have a penchant for healing, even paired with a destructive Class like Prince or Thief (the Condesce, after all, could still extend life; a Prince of Life would likely manifest not as one who causes plants to wither and die (this would actually suit a Prince of Doom), but one who destroys in the way of nature overtaking an abandoned shack, or a forest breaking down a body).

This means that when a character's Classpect inverts their Aspect, it doesn't mean that they suddenly become a hero of the opposing Aspect - rather, it means that, at their very worst - at the nadirs of their character arcs - they will lean so much into their Aspect's worst traits that it will superficially appear as the opposite, when all it really is is an absence of themselves. Dave, a Time player, usually so attentive to detail (despite his disaffected facade, he's always paying rapt attention to Karkat's rants, and noticing all the clues pointing to his destiny of defeating LE), at his lowest emotional point (arguing with Grimbark Jade after sobbing about his lost childhood whimsy), states that he doesn't think Lord English is that big a deal, and never even did anything directly bad to him or his friends - when he was literally directly haunted by LE via Cal his entire childhood. Similarly, Rose drinks herself stupid in order to cope with her mother's death.

Note how, superficially, this almost appears to be an invocation of Space's "big picture thinking," its passivity and permissibility, or how Rose's case appears to be Void's tendency to indulge in vices and pleasure - but they're not. Time's worst traits superficially resemble Space, Light's resemble Void, and vice versa - Grimbark Jade is the Condesce's taskmaster, and Porrim at her worst was as much of a nag as Kankri, trying to do a Time player's managerial job. Horuss and Equius at their worst won't shut up and won't stop talking over their partners. So on and so forth.

Finally, Calliope tells us a couple things about Active/Passive pairings. The first is that Calliope introduces the idea of paired classes with the idea that both Rogues and Thieves "steal" (and later, that both Princes and Bards "destroy"). This presents the idea that both classes can be roughly summed up with the idea that every pairing can be summed up with a common theme.

The second is her description of what makes a Class Active versus Passive - that Active Classes move their Aspect to benefit themselves, whereas Passive Classes allow their Aspect to be moved in order for others to benefit. In a way, they're like active and passive voice in grammar (to tie in with the way Classes and Aspects are so tied to ideas of narrative and character arc) - an Active Class performs their Aspect, and a Passive Class allows the Aspect to be performed "by others" (the famous piece of advice regarding telling the two apart being that a sentence written in passive voice can have "by zombies" tacked to the end of it - eg, John is attacked "by zombies", as compared to active voice - John attacks).

Thus, the Class pairings, along with their basic themes, are as follows:

KNIGHT - / MAID +

"One who controls."

Knights and Maids are paired together through two key factors: the first is that they both hold leadership or managerial roles; the second is that both classes carry the connotation of serving a Lord. Fittingly, they are both struggle with the control of malicious forces - Knights with prophecies indicating their role as heroes, Maids with direct usurpation by malicious forces.

PAGE - / HEIR +

"One who inherits."

Pages and Heirs are paired together because they both fundamentally deal with the great inheritances placed before them. Pages can come into incredible, limitless power - but they must struggle and work hard for it; Heirs begin the game in societal comfort and wealth, and must learn to defect from their decadence.

THIEF - / ROGUE +

"One who steals."

Thieves and Rogues are highly adaptable, as Thieves are capable of fantastic on-the-fly adaptation, whereas Rogues have an infinite toolbox at their disposal. They are both provocateurs, shakers of the status quo, though the Thief does so for personal gain, while the Rogue does so to right injustice.

MAGE - / SEER +

"One who guides."

Mages and Seers are tied together by the gift of prophecy and future sight. Seers are privy to the endless branching paths that the future may take, while Mages are gifted with the ability to outright determine a future that will certainly happen, appearing to be prophecy.

WITCH - / SYLPH +

"One who changes."

Witches and Sylphs are individuals blessed with great magic, but poor judgement. Sylphs heal and nurture, but are drawn to those with strong desires, and enable them to cause great harm; Witches, meanwhile, possess strong emotions, which they often use as moral guidance, for better or worse.

PRINCE - / BARD +

"One who destroys."

Princes and Bards are representatives of society - the one who determines its course, and the one who recounts its passing. Princes suffer from a toxic overabundance of Aspect, and are prone to spectacular meltdowns, whereas Bards are always poised for a crisis of faith. Both are responsible for catastrophic failures - but also breathless victories.

INDIVIDUAL CLASSES

KNIGHT

"One who controls [Aspect] or controls using [Aspect]."

Knights are frontline warriors, rallying points behind which the party falls into line. Although they are often leaders, just as often, they are logistical planners, strategists, or simply the team's beating heart. They are almost always thrust into positions of narrative significance, often carrying grand destinies or even outright heroic prophecies on their shoulders. The are the party's rallying force, its center, and a guiding light - the one to lead the charge, behind which the party will follow.

The primary character struggle a Knight will have is with crippling insecurity. Knights are prone to self-loathing and imposter syndrome, and will often adopt a façade in direct opposition to their aspect (ie, their fundamental personality) in order to cope with their feelings of inadequacy. Thus, their relationship with their aspect becomes love/hate - though they're naturally drawn to their aspect, and even naturally skilled at utilizing it, they have a tendency to become their own worst enemy, as their insecurities make them push their façades, and their façades distance them from their aspect.

"Controlling their Aspect" means that the Knight has easy access to their Aspect, wielding it like a tool or weapon - for good or for ill; "controlling using their Aspect" is what grants Knights their leadership abilities, able to dictate how others ought to act in accordance with the Knight's Aspect - whether their understanding of their Aspect is high or low, whether their advice is good or bad.

Therefore, at their worst, a Knight will fall prey to their insecurities, retreating into their facades, rejecting their Aspect, which will allow disharmony or misuse of it to proliferate throughout the team. They may even wind up deliberately twisting their Aspect's presence within the team so that they never have to be confronted by it; these distortions ripple outwards and eventually culminate in major catastrophes, all on account of the Knight's negligence.

But at their best, a Knight is a shining beacon and guiding light; when they come to terms with themselves, and allow themselves to be comfortable in their own skin - when they no longer allow themselves to be ruled by their insecurities and anxieties - they ensure that their aspect is harmonious wherever it appears throughout their party, and can wield it expertly as a weapon, as if it were their own flesh and blood.

MAID

"One who allows control through [Aspect] or allows [Aspect] to be controlled."

Unlike Knights, which take positions of frontline prominence, a Maid is a managerial presence in the backlines, though no less crucial for the smooth functioning of a party. Just as the invisible hands of the hired help keep a household running, the Maid will be called upon to provide vital services to keep the game stable, even if those services are more noticeable by their absence than their presence. Maids are often the party's unsung heroes or even shadow leaders, tugging at invisible strings, fingers on the pulse.

A Maid's primary character struggle will be that of escaping oppression. Maids tend to start the game in positions of subjugation or subservience, especially to malicious forces, and their abilities often end up being exploited to serve their masters' ends. Therefore, one may even have the impression that a Maid is ruled by their aspect, held prisoner and slave - at least until they're able turn the tables.

"Allowing their Aspect to be controlled" means that Maids are capable of directly dispensing their aspect unto others - a Maid of Time can dispense time unto foes, pausing them in their tracks; a Maid of Life can grant so much life that they can revive the dead. Their boons are great and direct, straightforward in a similar manner to Knights. "Allowing control through their Aspect" grants them their uncanny managerial abilities, as their aspect dictates the realm in which nothing occurs without the Maid's knowledge or permission, a realm made available to whomever the Maid's allegiance lies with.

Thus, at their worst, the Maid becomes a saboteur. Exploited by malign forces, their abilities to allow control over others through their aspect, or control of their aspect, makes them perfect vehicles by which their aspect can be hijacked or usurped, and made to turn against the party, and they often find themselves placed into these positions through no fault of their own. It takes the party banding together to shake off the forces that would keep a Maid in bondage.

However, at their best, Maids ensure that the party can never go too far off the rails. There is a place for everything, and everything will be in its place; a Maid is a supply line, a safe haven, and a promise that everything will be neat and tidy when the party returns from war. When the Maid belongs to themselves, their homestead becomes a fortress, and nothing occurs under the Maid's watchful eye without their express permission.

PAGE

"One who works to inherit [Aspect] or inherits [Aspect] for themselves."

Pages are a class defined by promise. As the name suggests, a Page begins weak, but has the great potential to develop into one of the most powerful players in the game. The exact nature of a Page's powers are vague, not because they are insignificant, but because they are so great that it's difficult to encompass them all. At the apex of their arcs, Pages are capable of miraculous feats, overpowering even Lords and Muses - if only they could reach that point and stay there.

A Page begins the game weakest of all, reflective of their long journey of growth. Where most classes only fall into deficit of their Aspect at their lowest emotional points, Pages begin their arcs in deficit - exhibiting character traits opposite to those their Aspect normally encompasses. Moreso than any other class, a Page must learn to grow into their Aspect. Weak-willed, naive, and easily hurt, Pages require careful nurturing if they're to come into their own.

"Working to inherit their Aspect" describes the endless journey of growth the Page must undertake - one with many missteps, backslides, and setbacks along the way. Still, they "inherit their aspect," meaning that their full potential, when realized, is overwhelmingly great - practically becoming their Aspect in humanoid form, capable of utilizing it to its glorious full potential.

However, their nature defeats them, and even if they can attain this state, the Page usually can't stay there for long. At their very worst, the Page's deficit of their Aspect's better qualities can turn the Page into a gravitic well of misfortune - an albatross about the party's neck, the centerpoint, if not inciting incident, of a massive disaster, as their team is sucked in by the Page's natural weakness.

But this is only true as it contrasts to a Page at their best - having grappled and won with the greatest of all weakness, a Page is poised to come into the greatest of all strength. Shown kindness, compassion, and support, a Page at full power reflects a party at their best. A Page at full strength is breathtaking to behold, an unstoppable force of nature, their Aspect made manifest.

HEIR

"One whom [Aspect] grants inheritance or inherits [Aspect] for others."

Heirs, in contrast to Pages, start the game strong. They usually belong to the upper echelons of their respective societies, a position of great wealth, leisure, and comfort, and are set to be inheritors of even greater wealth. Similarly, their Aspect comes to them as if of its own will - it is powerful, but difficult for the Heir to control, reflecting the wealth and status they've enjoyed as birthright.

An Heir's main challenge is that of examining their privilege, and learning where they wish to spread the gift they've been given. Because of their positions of sheltered comfort, Heirs are not particularly world-wise, and often harbor massive blind spots to the suffering of others and the ills of society. As such, they tend to be fairly aimless, given great power but no strong motivations, and have a tendency to simply indulge in their Aspect without contributing great help or hindrance to their team at all.

The Heir's Aspect is practically an independent entity. Being one whom "their Aspect grants them inheritance" refers to how the Heir starts powerful, able to summon their Aspect to perform great, miraculous acts. However, it is highly intuitive and difficult to control. The Heir's challenge lies not in attaining great power, but in attaining control over, and the ability to direct, their existing abilities. Once they do, they can "inherit their Aspect for others" - Heirs become a conduit through which their party can experience their Aspect, making it a usable pool of wealth for them all to draw from. However, because of their comfortable positions, many Heirs end up dallying, finding no pressing need to do so.

But this dallying hides a ticking clock. An Heir's inheritance will come to them, one way or another, and if they aren't ready to receive the great responsibilities that come with such great power, then the power will eventually consume them. An Heir with no clear direction will eventually become lost to their Aspect, entirely removing both from play. Like how wealthy inheritors simply become part of the status quo, so, too, does an Heir disappear into their Aspect, fixing it in place.

Thus, Heirs must learn where they have been blind, where they have been foolish, and what it means to be underprivileged. Then, once they turn their energies towards addressing those injustices - to taking responsibility for building a better future - when their wealth comes to them, they'll be able to distribute it where it's needed most. An Heir, fully-realized, brings their Aspect to heel, and makes it a resource available to their entire team, as if welcoming them all into the family.

THIEF

"One who steals [Aspect] or steals using [Aspect]."

Thieves are, as the name suggests, greedy - much of their arc revolves around a desire to amass wealth, though what's considered "wealth" varies based on the Thief and especially their Aspect. They tend to be callous people by nature, capable of ignoring or trampling over the feelings of others in order to take what they want, in the hopes of filling an emotional void the Thief may not even be fully aware of.

The Thief's playstyle is one of careful resource management. Reflecting a natural tendency to take "wealth" from others, Thieves are unable to use their Aspect without first "stealing" it - a subtractive act which leaves the victim bereft of the Aspect, weakening them in the process. Because of the finicky nature of these abilities, it takes great cunning to be a Thief, and the Class both demands and requires the player to be adaptable, flexible, and quick on their feet, able to effect complicated schemes and engineer the perfect situations for their powers to have the greatest effect. Thieves aren't necessarily strong, but they have a very high victory ratio, because they're experts at turning a situation to their own advantage.

"Stealing their Aspect" refers to the fundamental way in which the Thief class is played, this resource management game; "stealing using their Aspect" reflects how the Thief often becomes a malignant force within the party, viewing their own teammates as caches of wealth to plunder. Thieves are naturally prone to hurting others for their own purposes, craving drama and attention, and being of such callous dispositions that they're able to perform extreme acts of cruelty given the right motivations.

Thieves often become a target of ire within the party, disruptive forces whose quest for personal wealth and fulfillment comes at the cost of those around them. At their worst, they can bring so much heat down upon their own shoulders that the party feels the need to treat them like an enemy, which is disastrous for party harmony. Moreover, it's disastrous for the Thieves themselves, as Thieves seek wealth to compensate for some emotional emptiness, and making enemies of their friends only serves to deepen their ennui.

Thus, a Thief must be taught that true happiness and fulfillment doesn't come from the struggle for wealth, but from the building of something better with those they care about. A Thief, thus turned to heroic purposes, becomes the party's pinch hitter - an adaptable spy, an unpredictable maverick, an element of surprise - and above all, a reliable ally, capable of turning any tide in the party's favor.

ROGUE

"One who steals from [Aspect] or steals [Aspect] for others."

Rogues, on the other hand, call to mind such figures as Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to distribute to the poor. Rogues are at their best when they're agents of a well-planned heist, as they possess an unlimited toolbox - their own Aspect - to play with. Their Aspect is a treasure trove, just waiting for the Rogue to plunder it and share its riches - if only the Rogue can figure out how.

Rogues are forces of revolution. They naturally carry a rebellious spirit, one which bristles at injustice, takes a stand against authority, and questions the status quo. Their ideas are unfocused, however; they know they must rebel, but usually don't start with a clear idea of against who or what. They know that their society is injust, but they don't know how to address that injustice. They know there are villains, and may even know these villains' identity, but they don't know how best to defy them. In a similar way, they're often lost as to how to utilize their Aspect beyond its most basic applications, and usually require external assistance in order to bring out its full potential.

Rogues' true potential lies in "stealing from their Aspect" - an additive act, rather than a subtractive one, as a Thief's stealing is. Rogues are capable of removing their own Aspect's sway over another entity, allowing it to exhibit the characteristics of the opposite Aspect; a Rogue of Void can create things out of nothing, a Rogue of Heart can tease out behaviors and actions. They can also "steal their Aspect for others," allowing them access to their own Aspect's suite of abilities as well. This allows the Rogue incomparable flexibility, their abilities - like their dispositions - rebellious and subversive.

But their rebellious spirit, coupled with their lack of understanding as to who their real enemies are, is dangerous when left unchecked. Rogues often suffer from a failure to start, giving up on trying to understand the deeper implications of their abilities, and of the society they can't seem to find contentment in - but they can also suffer from a worse fate: rebellion without a cause. Rogues' free spirits can lead to them bucking the status quo in ways that actively harm others, performing acts of taboo or poor taste just because that rebellious energy needs to be put to use somewhere. These can have disastrous knock-on consequences, as some things are taboo for good reason.

Thus, Rogues need to be guided - to make connections with others, and come to a greater understanding of the world at large. Once they know their target, and what needs to be done, the Rogue makes sure there are no obstacles along the way - no safe is uncrackable, no prison inescapable, and no problem unsolvable, so long as the Rogue is there to work their magic.

MAGE

"One who guides [Aspect] or guides [Aspect] for themselves."

Mages are prophets, of the "always correct" variety - or so it seems. In actuality, Mages don't "predict" the future, they "choose" it - in a setting where the future is mutable, the Mage's ability is to speak into existence a future they desire, to tip the scales of causality and collapse possibilities into a single definite course. Their Aspect is the lens through which their "prophecy" occurs, a realm in which they command the fabric of reality itself.

As if to karmically balance this incredible power, Mages are afflicted by deep and terrible sadness. They start the game miserable, having been subjected to the greatest injustices their Aspect can offer, tormented by guilt, shame, and self-loathing. Their worldview has been shadowed with a lens of suffering and anguish, and so, too, is their view of the future. Mages usually begin the game having already set several prophecies into motion, and these early prophecies are usually obstacles that the party must overcome.

Mages "guide their Aspect" - this refers to the way their prophecies, that is, their chosen futures, always come true. Their visions may be limited to the sway of their Aspect, but it remains a powerful ability nonetheless. "Guiding their Aspect for themselves," then, outlines the Class's Active nature - the futures the Mage picks must be ones the Mage believes will come to pass.

Unfortunately, Mages have a tendency to pick ugly futures. This isn't out of malice or anger; this is because Mages start the game sad, and without intervention, grow sadder. They're prone to spirals of negativity, self-loathing, and depression, and as their outlook dims, so, too, do their forecasts. Mages suffer, but even suffering can grow familiar - can even appear comfortable or desirable, if the Mage suffers long enough. It's easy for them to grow so accustomed to misery that misery is the only outcome they can see - spelling doom for the rest of the party, one prediction at a time.

But a Mage whose party shows them kindness and forgiveness, compassion and empathy, can pull them out of their misery. How beautiful, then, the future appears! A Mage who believes in a brighter future is a force to be reckoned with. When a Mage can bring themselves to say, "and everyone lived happily ever after," you had better believe they did.

SEER

"One who who is guided by [Aspect] or guides [Aspect] for others."

Seers, meanwhile, are the true future-sighted, able to see the myriad paths the future could take. Like Mages, their Aspect serves as the lens by which their vision is colored; the Seer can sense, with fine accuracy, which paths are closest to the sway of their aspect, and which paths will take them further away. As if gifted with a guide to the game, their intuition is tied directly to the mechanics of SBURB, and they serve as the party's guides, a role indispensable in a game with so many moving parts.

Seers will struggle with blindness, first by hubris and ego, and then by self-harm. Seers begin the game quite full of themselves, proud of their prowess in their Aspect - usually arrogantly so. When this pride is inevitably shattered, Seers have a tendency to deal with their feelings of shame and guilt with willful, self-induced blindness - as if flipping a switch, they become ashamed of the pride they once placed in their Aspect, and seek to place as much distance between it and themselves as possible. There's comfort in ignorance, even if it renders the Seer useless.

Seers are "guided by their Aspect" - able to sense its presence, they gravitate toward it, and towards futures with it in abundance. And, in the same way, they "guide their Aspect for others," lighting the way for others down the path of greatest reward. Seers truly love their Aspect, no matter how much they may misplace their faith in it, and seeking it out is a great joy for them.

This is why a Seer at their worst is so tragic. By inducing intentional blindness within themselves, they are functionally deadening the strongest part of their soul. No matter the temporary relief this brings to the sharp, jagged pain of shame, it invariably deepens the Seer's suffering, as they deny themselves not only their own joy, but their ability to help others - another act which inherently delights them.

Thus, a Seer needs to be made to deal with their shattered ego head-on, to accept their own shortcomings, to become at ease with the idea that they don't have all the answers. Once their vision becomes clear, and their view becomes honest, the party nevermore has to fear becoming lost or straying from the path - the Seer will see to that.

WITCH

"One who changes [Aspect] or changes [Aspect] in others."

Witches are the winds of change, tweaking reality all around them until it suits their desires. A Witch is presence that commands both fear and respect, and their Aspect bows down before them, reduced to a mere minion in the Witch's presence, ready to attend to all their needs. In a way, the Witch's powers are straightforward - they can manipulate their Aspect as they desire, changing its qualities as they see fit. "How they see fit," then, is where the issue lies.

Witches are usually of "outsider" status, never truly being part of the society from which the rest of the party descends. Free from the same rules and common sense that govern the others on their team, Witches instead operate on a value system heavily reliant on their own emotions. What a Witch deems to be correct, to be true, or to be righteous, are often based not in any objective measure, but in subjective, emotional bias - and they're emotional creatures, indeed. Prone to fits of great anger, Witches can be benevolent one second and malicious the next, and their abilities let them imprint, to a greater degree than any other Class, their desires onto the world that comes after them.

Witches "change their Aspect," as in, the crux of their abilities lies in manipulating the qualities of their Aspect in their surroundings - extending, shortening, magnifying, shrinking, growing, removing… so on and so forth. It's a fearsome power. They also "change their Aspect for themselves" - their Aspect is hapless but to obey their desires; Witches change the world to suit themselves, and their feelings of how things "should" be often become how things "are" in short order.

Thus, a Witch who has been swayed toward evil entities and nefarious ends is a truly dangerous opponent - and it is unfortunately easy for this to happen. Witches' social isolation means they tend to trust their emotions, and a force that flatters these emotions can easily win a Witch's trust. By the same token, those that fail to flatter the Witch are often considered enemies, even if they're benevolent forces. A Witch's morality can thus become warped and topsy-turvy, which has grave consequences for the world that the Witch then shapes.

Therefore, a Witch's struggle lies in learning to see beyond their own emotions, to take in the opinions and assistance of others even when it seems superficially unpleasant, to move beyond the childlike rejection of that which is uncomfortable. Once able to see a more nuanced form of right and wrong, once able to tell evil from good, Witches can build even utopia.

SYLPH

"One who allows [Aspect] to change others or changes [Aspect] for others."

Sylphs are nurturers and healers; they bring to mind fey folk whose very footsteps cause plants to grow. Wherever they go, whatever they touch, all becomes suffused with the Sylph's Aspect, which flourishes under their careful cultivation. Sylphs adore their Aspect, and their Aspect adores them; Sylphs generally feel at peace with themselves, surrounding themselves with what they like.

A Sylph's main challenge - or rather, the main challenge that Sylphs wind up posing the rest of the party - is that Sylphs are enablers. They're attracted to those with strong wills and extreme dispositions, amused by the havoc they wreak and pleased by their attention. Sylphs love to pick out favorites and lavish them with care and attention, excusing any wrongdoing on their behalf and shielding them from consequences. At the same time, those who don't strike the Sylph's capricious fancy find themselves discarded in the Sylph's mind, shut out from the boons the Sylph can provide.

A Sylph is "one who allows their Aspect to change others" - this almost always manifests as healing, as it's an additive ability (that is to say, the Sylph can grant more of their Aspect to someone). "Changing their Aspect for others," on the other hand, explains this enabling nature of theirs - the Sylph will intervene to make the world into a playground for their favored individuals, even to the point of turning other, less "interesting" teammates into playthings for the Sylph's beloved.

Thus, while the Sylph themself isn't particularly prone to wild mood swings and acts of malice, their influence can still cause disaster by allowing unscrupulous individuals to flourish - even encouraging their worst tendencies. A Sylph's touch is subtle, but that subtlety only lends it an insidious quality, as the Sylph quietly works against the good of the many for the cruel, selfish pleasures of the few. At their very worst, the Sylph can deem themselves their only favorite, and render everyone else a minor character in their one-man show.

Thus, Sylphs must be challenged. They must be made to reckon with the fact that favorable treatment is not necessarily kindness, and that bias can easily become harm. When a Sylph is able to grasp the difference between bias and doing good, and tune their approach toward that greater good, uncolored by bias and personal preference, then there is no place safer, kinder, and more conducive to growth than the Sylph's embrace.

PRINCE

"One who destroys [Aspect] or destroys using [Aspect]."

Princes are the most anxious, psychologically anguished members of a party. They suffer from a toxic overabundance of their Aspect - its traits are taken to an extreme, and not only the Prince, but those around them, are made to suffer for it. Princes are naturally set on a path of self-destruction, the culmination of their uncontrolled accumulation of their Aspect, and their meltdowns are spectacular, taking their Aspect - and whoever is unlucky enough to be in the same room - with them.

A Prince's challenge, therefore, is as simple to understand as it is difficult to overcome. The Prince needs to learn how to calm down, relax, and find inner peace. Princes are terribly prone to circular thinking and downward spirals. Their natural inclination is to feel anxious and responsible, like they carry the weight of the world, and this causes them to act out in extreme and aggressive ways. Eventually, others pull away, put off by the Prince's intensity. This only deepens the Prince's malaise, and Princes are - pushed by this hovering sense of urgency and catastrophe - willing to employ drastic, desperate measures to enforce compliance with their wills. They wake on their moons early, reflective of their driven natures. They're determined to a frightful degree, and no sacrifice is too great, no work too dirty, if it means achieving what they see as the greater good.

Princes "destroy their Aspect" in this way - by presenting their Aspect at its worst, they make others take distance, ruining it for everyone else. Their hard wills, intense emotions, and unshakeable drive to do what (they feel) needs to be done - at any cost - is their source of power. Thus, Princes "destroy using their Aspect" - their toxic overabundance of Aspect lets them channel it into a pure, annihilatory force; what they lack in the delicate utility of the other classes, they make up for in raw, ruinous power. Princes can easily deal the greatest damage in a combat scenario, their ability to destroy overriding nearly everything that would stand against it.

Thus is the problem with Princes. They're ticking time-bombs of anxiety and frustration; when they finally go off, they carve a path of destruction, before ultimately self-destructing, leaving no trace of their Aspect behind. Not only that, but it's very difficult to defuse the bomb early; Princes have finicky, aggressive, and complicated personalities, and tend to react poorly to straightforward attempts to calm them down and reason with them. They often appear to be their own worst enemies, marching inexorably toward their own destruction.

But Princes not only can be saved, but must be saved. They must be saved because kindness and compassion must exist for their own sake, and a Prince rescued from their own worst tendencies is living proof of the truth of that sentiment. A Prince, given the peace they need to reorient their priorities, will not rest until they see a brighter future realized. They will be the first to rise, and the last man standing, banishing - as if by royal decree - all obstacles, all enemies, all misfortune, and all ills.

BARD

"One who invites destruction through [Aspect] or allows [Aspect] to be destroyed."

Bards are the wild cards of a party, responsible for both improbable victories and catastrophic defeats - sometimes both in a single session. The methods by which a Bard works are a mystery to even the Bard themselves, which make it easy for the party to dismiss their powers - and, by extension, the Bard themselves. After all, who would expect there to be consequences for something so ridiculous as a Bard?

Bards are usually targets of abject ridicule by their teams. They can't help it - they're religious types, or at least types that hold great, lofty, ridiculous beliefs near and dear to their hearts. A Bard's primary struggle invariably winds up being a crisis of faith. Bards begin the game with a positive, "correct" faith in their Aspect; however, something will inevitably occur that shakes the Bard's faith in this viewpoint to its core. In this state, Bards are incredibly fragile, and it's very easy for them to succumb to whispers of cruelty and destruction, for their beliefs to warp, and for the Bard to come to serve the worst aspects of the society they represent.

A Bard "invites destruction through their Aspect" - their powers are subtle, but have catastrophic effects. Bards are instinctively drawn towards causing the first flap of a butterfly's wing, which cascades into a grand, impossible karmic backlash. They "allow their Aspect to be destroyed" by being the conduits for the forces of their faith - whatever faith they hold - to wreak unimaginable consequences across the game.

Thus, a Bard must not be allowed to fall into darkness. The cost is too great. They must be treated with kindness, patience, and sincerity, and given a chance to re-establish their faith in a better, brighter future. If this can be done, then at the party's direst moment - in their darkest hour - they will find that kindness paid back a thousandfold, as an innocuous act by the Bard that no one remembers balloons into a miracle.

[stars-inthe-sky]

Tagged by @apollabarnes

Rules: You just got an old car and it doesn’t have Bluetooth. You can only buy seven cds and you can’t repeat an artist. What are you getting?

Chess (2003 BC/EFA concert cast, I know there's not an "official" for-sale recording but shh, I'll buy the bootleg I've been listening to for two-plus decades)

Hair (2009 revival BCR)

Graceland (Paul Simon)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles)

Pippin (OBCR)

In The Heights (OBCR)

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (OBCR)

no pressure tags for @ballroompink, @miabicicletta, @village-skeptic, @running-rabbit, and @awkdinosaur

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

tbh i think that even unwinnable fights should be winnable. some of the BEST fights i've ever run as a dm were ones i built kill the players (in a fun way. I had some cutscenes prepped so even the loss would be a different flavour of win)- but then they were clever bastards and managed to either win the fights or pull themselves out of trouble. I think it's perfectly fine to plan for a fight that players aren't supposed to win, but you need to let them. if they can't win, they can't lose, and the meaning of that encounter is diminished. do that too many times, and they stop trusting you to give them roleplay prompts and start expecting to sit there waiting while you drive the story for them.

but if they can win... if there is always the chance to win, no matter how impossible the odds, then they ALWAYS have hope. they always get invested. they feel the big emotions of success or the big emotions of failure, and you fucking Win as a dm/roleplay prompter/lead bastard.

[zytes]

••• 🚬🙏😮‍💨

[mobius-m-mobius]

a mr tesseract thought: the tva has so many infinity stones… just sitting there… they might not notice a handful of paperweights go missing

Anon you've got my full attention 👀👀

Absolutely living for all the renewed Mr. Tesseract theories and origin stores going around because he's just too perfect to continue the current story!?? I'd always pictured a Mobius variant eventually entering the picture, having succumbed to the power of the Tesseract after needing to save Loki in some way but never in a million years imagined before now that *our* Mobius could end up in that exact situation...

Plus tbh I almost feel Loki going about their self-sacrifice in such an isolated way, reliving all those centuries determined to find a solution without involving anyone else, had an obviously noble goal but a means in such a misguided way which has almost ensured Mobius will do something similar.

Mobius isn't okay. He's on a timeline that can never be his (partially to escape the memories of Loki by his side everywhere he looks in the TVA and hopefully so that back in the flow of time Loki can at least see him again as some form of company still), looking at a life I think he greatly admires but wouldn't personally want even given the choice, and seemingly the only one left directionless and without purpose with Loki being gone.

It wouldn't be a stretch to think loneliness would turn to frustration (because he's done nothing but repress *everything* in the past and deserves to finally burst and be angry and figure out how to express his emotions), confusion, and finally desperation at the thought he might be the only one who cares enough to burn things to the ground in an attempt to either find Loki again or bring him home. I've been headcanoning that similar to Loki in the last episode, Mobius will start putting himself more and more at risk searching for a solution and cut everyone at the TVA off while doing so to keep them from worrying about what he's getting involved in and stop him, which of course eventually leads right to the Tesseract as potentially one of the only methods left of traveling to what I assume is the end of time or somewhere similar.

Bonus points if Loki is watching every moment, unable to do a thing as the Mobius he knows slips further and further away while experimenting with the Tesseract until finally he can't see him on the timeline at all anymore, and as he mourns a crackle of blue energy opens nearby. Loki immediately realizes what's happened and calls desperately for Mobius, but when the figure who exits steps closer he's all cold, hard lines and an blank, electric blue stare. Temporary amnesia v4.0 let's go but make it even more angsty this time 😂😅 Eventually the Power of Love™ wins out of course but that's pretty much my dream arc for now!

[frankenfrights]

also tbh i always sympathized with the creature but i was never like, super invested in him as a fave for whatever reason. that is... starting to change, i think.

[sol1loqu1st]

re: my tags on that last post that's actually something I've been thinking about a lot. I mostly show my love by doing things and showing up (either materially or emotionally) for other people when I recognize there's a need, and 1. a lot of people like to deny out of politeness or think I'm doing it with an expectation that it's transactional, and 2. most people don't really seem to show up for me like that. which is... fine, again I don't expect it to be transactional, but--especially when people get used to it and it becomes an expectation rather than a gift, it can really start to feel like I'm being taken advantage of. Idk how to tell people that without making it seem like I don't want to do things for them!!! Because I do!! I just want to be appreciated for it. An offer to pay for gas money (which I'll deny), a "hey if you ever need help with (x) hmu," even just a genuine thank you (especially if your resources are stretched thin--sometimes people can't offer anything and that's ok)--just like... idk, I want to know people appreciate me and a lot of times it feels like they don't

[rindemption]

I have a question

Posting my drawing practice and doodles and wips has, in the past, been a pretty effective way to get me to keep drawing. Accountability and all that.

Would there be any interest in seeing those posts here on my main blog, or would people rather I kept it to a side blog?

[wind-up-thancred]

smthg about katsu being what really feels like the first person to go to ryne and be like "hey. i know you've found a good place right now where you can make decisions for yourself but still want to follow in minfilia's footsteps but like. you've been living your life for someone else for so long and if you ever decide you just want to live for you, not for anyone's benefit but your own, i'll always be there to support you. no matter what you choose to do" i don't necessarily think thancred and the scions pressured ryne at all to take on the role of oracle after minfilia faded away, i think it was still ryne's choice to honor her legacy after all she did for the first. but i wonder sometimes if she adopted thancred's whole thing of "i need to be working my whole life because i'm alive to help other people." aside from ranjit, he WAS her first real role model, after all. and i think, especially after he goes through his DRK/arch knight arc post 6.4, katsu knows very well that dedicating every bit of your life to helping others without saving spare time for yourself is... definitely not great for your mental wellbeing and sense of self. and knowing what ryne's been through, i think he would hate to see her go through a burnout of the sort that he had. i don't think she would nearly have it anywhere as bad as thancred, but we see in 6.5 that she's still focused on restoring the empty via botany. i think katsu's line of thought would be "well i'm not really sure if this is a problem she has or not right now, but i'm going to reinforce to her that she'll be supported no matter what she does, just in case. couldn't hurt, right?"