#classpect thoughts

[sylph-o-life]

I've had a lot of... thoughts? about classpects recently so I'm just gonna ramble for a bit. Maybe i'll edit it into a coherent essay, maybe i'll just post.

I think there's a lot more to *all* the possible classpects than a lot of people give them credit for. I mean that for all of them too - the overanalysed and the underrepresented alike.

Doing some simple maths, there's 288 options for a classpect (12 x 12 x 2, I'm not including Muse/Lord here). But... I don't think there's 288 ways to be. What I'm saying is, two prospit sylph of life's are going to wildly different people.

And I'm not talking about irl differences like life experiences and whatnot. I'm talking within the confines of sBurb.

For me, I think there's a few different ways to "encompass" your classpect. Think of all the characters in homestuck who never quite lived up to their potential, or who completely rejected their classpect.

Feferi is a great example. On the meteor, she was acting very passive and resigned to her fate. She had little interest in talking to the new people everyone else was going on about - she just wanted to sit on that horn pile and chat with Sollux. Which is fine, but she's a Witch of Life, and she was acting like a Passive Doom player. She was pushing away her classpect and became her opposite.

Terezi never quite reached her full potential until she was leading John through the retcon, when she was doomed and died. Otherwise, she was a good Seer of Mind - a great one even! But she never quite reached the full potential of her powers and lived.

So, in my mind, theres 4 main ways to be your classpect; - Fully encompasses - Never reaches full potential - Pushes their classpect away - Fully reverses, often to the point of sabotage.

And within that, there's likely different ways to be each of those! I think a lot of people think about classpects in boxes. Which is fine, it's a story mechanic that is effectively character boxes! But I think there's boxes within those boxes, and more in those. It's still far better than the standard 4-trait categories, of course.

And this got a bit long, lol. tl;dr, classpects are like boxes with more boxes inside. (if this was at all confusing i can and will explain further)

[kravicle]

here is my masterpiece. enjoy

[wahhzo]

eddsworld if it was cooler

extra doodles of another possible scenario. edward and thorde and their two very horrible humans

[poorlydrawnstickmen]

Day 11

[valtsv]

obligatory silt verses homestuck classpect assignment post:

- carpenter: seer of doom

- faulkner: prince of blood

- paige: knight of rage

- hayward: page of hope

- VAL: thief of time

[clockworkreapers]

you should pretty please explain why you chose each classpect for each gas station character I want to see an analysis

ohohohoh BOY do I have a classpect breakdown for you (rubs my grubby little hands together) Jack: Mage of Doom, Derse Dreamer Doom is all about fate, suffering, empathy, wisdom and the inevitable. Whether he likes it or not Jack is tied to fate itself- he IS the main character after all, for better or for worse (usually the later). His own fate was even meticulously planned out from before the books even started everyone who has read vol4 knows what I'm talking about. He's the unknowing harbinger of doom y'all remember halloween night in vol 1? YEP! Even in tales from the road there is literally an entity telling him about an impending doom he can't avoid. He will survive it though, doom is about the journey but never the ending, mans not allowed to die permanently because without him you have no storyteller, he'll get to go though every painful thing the universe throws at him and still get back up. He's done this before, he'll do it again, he knows how it works, he will just suffer through it. He's a smart guy, he figured out how Bedside Manor worked and how to break it, he figured out how to cheat fate at the end of vol 4 by doing something he would NEVER do. He's learned the ins and outs of how doom works and once he does he can use that knowledge to find the loopholes, just like any other Mage of Doom. Jerry: Rogue of Breath, Prospit dreamer Breath is about freedom, adaptability, motivation, change and are all extremely social people.

You'd probs jump to Jerry as oh he's a Hope player, all the cult stuff- HOWEVER Jerry kinda royally fucked that up due to his own want and need for freedom. He didn't even care to follow his own rules he refuses to be boxed in by anyone or anything including himself. He's a flamboyant, chaotic social butterfly goblin of a man with a good heart who refuses to be restricted by others he's just as free and volatile as the wind. The fact that Breath players are also known to sweep others up in their own personal pursuits.... y'all know what he did- ON TOP OF LETTING IT GET WAY OUT OF HAND. He DID the Rogue thing, he took freedom at first a lotta people's freedom but since he didn't want to be in control he gave alllllllll that freedom back and that freedom ended up being completely misused. Past that though Jerry is selfless, sure he steals and takes from others but he's never doing it for himself, he's always doing it for someone else. Man stole food and clothes to give to homeless people, he steals shit from the gas station all the time but he overpays for each item he takes (we know he's the one leaving all that extra money in the register) he doesnt even do it for attention either he just does. Rosa: Sylph of Blood, Prospit dreamer Blood is the bond aspect, stubborn but charismatic, magnetic and uplifting, they are your most loyal friends to a fault.

Rosa... is so damn stubborn- dude that girl came back 3 times- 3 fucking times while Jack (not fully his fault) kept ghosting her while they were trying to hire new employees during vol 2. Not only that but she hung on to him though the whole mess of vol3 and still was like nope you're stuck with me you are going to be my friend and I am going to care about you no matter what shit you get into even if i have no clue what's going on. Oh man then in vol 4??? She did the thing- she literally did the sylph thing where they teach others how to heal their aspect- she helps him heal that broken connecting he has to Sabine. She is the only reason he figures out how to talk to her again she helps him heal that link even though its hella painful for him. She's also the only one who has ever gotten him in the vicinity or talking about his blood relatives and while she agrees that bond would better be broken than healed she does sorta help him come to terms with it all which is healing in itself. Amy: Knight of Light, Derse dreamer. Light is the straight up raw knowledge aspect, accuracy, perfectionism to the point people think its straight up luck. Considering Amy is a cop and she also actively looks into her cases because a lot of them confuse her (the town is weird) she is seeking knowledge at every corner. I'm not only looking at this from what she does in vol 2-4 but also during Finding Vanessa. She also plays detective, she on her own tries to figure it all out and uncover all this hidden stuff the town is hiding, and you can pick up on it when you go back and read her scenes. In Vol4 you get to see how much she actually HAS figured out without ever talking to the rest of them or even asking for help. If you read closely and you know how stuff works from Finding Vanessa there is a tell in vol 4 in the morgue when she steps out to take that call. She has far more knowledge of the events happening than she says aloud and she uses every bit of that knowledge to protect the other three at every turn, especially Jack. She actually does her job trying to protect the innocent unlike the majority of the cops in town, she even gets one past Roger in the end cuz she outsmarts the debt because she has the knowledge on how the deals work. Spencer: Prince of Time, Derse dreamer Time is about the beginnings and the ends, independence and perseverance and they have heavy connections to death.

What can I say, Spencer gets shit done. He has his grubby little mitts in everything moving the plot forward outside of Jack. Also like....isn't he technically undead/ immortal? Either way he's a time player, he is incapable of just accepting things as they come oh no, he never sits down and takes anything he's always pushing forward, always moving, he's always doing something. Dude is playing 4D chess though out the books in the background he works with the impossible, frankly its a bit terrifying cuz he never slows down or stops. Even when he's waiting its to strike at the most opportune moment. All of that is what also makes him a Prince (please make fun of his stupid pants and tiara) he is destructive and terrifying and he LOVES the attention he gets from it. Princes really like getting recognized for their efforts, whatever they may be, Spencer is no different he loves the thrill he loves to scare people and have power over them. If you think about someone who destroys peoples time... the guy who ends a lot of people's time? Sabine: Muse of Space, Prospit dreamer Space is always the aspect of creation, abstraction, inventiveness, new beginnings.

Oh yes... we have a Master Class. Sabine being a Muse makes perfect sense considering how shrouded in mystery she is- not to mention how she is NEVER actually there though out the whole story. Her presence lingers and she has massive sway on the journey Jack and all the others take. She's the ghost that haunts the narrative who has left such an impact on it she's forever influencing the world without her ever being there. And if you know vol4... with Spencer as the Time player and Sabine as the Space player.... mhm you see why that works? She gives everyone space or leads them to the place they are now, for better or worse. We saw their memories, she showed up in all of them influencing them to be where they are now. Space is creation, its new life, she makes sure others can have that, even if it means she sacrificed herself so someone else can start again.

[creativepup]

God Tiers of Revolutionary Girl Utena: Masterpost

The Main Three

The Student Council

The Black Rose

[dykefish]

Todays the Day

[beneathsilverstars]

In Stars And Time Classpects

Siffrin - Thief of Time Mirabelle - Page of Space Isabeau - Heir of Blood Odile - Seer of Heart Bonnie - Sylph of Hope

Explanations under the cut!

Siffrin - Thief of Time Of course Siffrin literally manipulates time, but Time as an aspect is also associated with death, destruction, and inevitability, which are huge themes in their story. Nothing says "time player" more than marching onwards through a thousand deaths, fighting against a fate that seems impossible to avert. And as a Thief, Siffrin specifically steals time from others in order to have more for himself. Whoops! Time players are relentless, and thieves are active, self-centered. They won't sit still and accept the inevitable; they'll struggle towards their goal at any cost. It's incredibly fitting for a Thief of Time to hold their objective so tightly that the reason they wanted it disintegrates in their grasp, lost to entropy.

Mirabelle - Page of Space As the chosen one spearheading the mission to collect the orbs and save the country, she seems like the obvious choice for the other essential aspect and its quest, collecting frogs and ensuring the continuation of life. Luckily, the metaphorical side fits perfectly as well: Space is about creation, just like the Change religion! But as a Page, Mirabelle doesn't use her aspect herself; instead, she leads using it, and leads others to use it. She inspires others to change, learn, and improve. Pages reach their potential slowly – they may struggle for a while with feelings of inadequacy and stagnation. After a long hard journey with lots of reflection and personal growth, though, they can end up the strongest of all! And for Mirabelle, as a Page of Space, that means learning to let go of the urge to force personal change, inspiring external change on a greater scale instead.

Isabeau - Heir of Blood Blood means relationships, trust, and obligation. Heirs embody their aspect, and perhaps attract it, receive it, are controlled by it; the perfect class for someone who specifically crafted himself into the kind of person others would reach out to. Heir is one of the most active of all the passive classes, but it's still passive – Isabeau makes space for bonds, commits to bonds, but doesn't take the first step to create the bonds himself. His choice to follow Mirabelle was a natural continuation of his obligations as defender. He couldn't bring himself to confess to Siffrin, but that passive crush was a powerful narrative force. Isabeau didn't assemble the team, but he reinforces the bonds that allow it to function!

Odile - Seer of Heart Heart is the aspect of self and identity, which is the heart (heh) of Odile's quest. She wants to learn about herself, and her chosen method is learning about other people. Seers seek a comprehensive knowledge of their aspect and then use it to coordinate and advise others; Odile analyzing enemies and deciding team tactics is a perfect example of this! The Seer prevents their party from making mistakes related to their aspect, so a successful Seer of Heart would understand each teammate's personality well enough to guide them through their character arcs and prevent self-destructive behavior. Odile noticed Siffrin's increasingly out-of-character behavior, and had the ability to figure out why they had changed... except he kept thwarting her efforts by stealing her time. But in the end she managed to thwart them instead, forcing them to stay put and go through their character development already!

Bonnie - Sylph of Hope Hope is one of the most literal aspects; Hope players raise morale, stick to their convictions, and believe that a better world is possible. The Sylph of Hope would be someone who uses Hope to heal other people, or fixes and maintains Hope itself. Obviously, Bonnie literally brings hope and healing by passing out the potions, but they're also the snack leader! Nothing boosts morale like a nice meal. Hope is also the antithesis to Rage, which represents possibilities being cut off. Bonnie reacts poorly to situations that invoke the Rage aspect, like the adults discussing death (the ultimate end of possibilities), and Siffrin getting injured in their defense (which no amount of belief can heal); in fact, they react with anger and an urge to tear down any positive that's left! Since Hope is associated with black and white thinking, it's not surprising that when Bonnie loses hope, they lose it, leaning into their aspect's opposite. But that's not where they stay – when they protect Siffrin in their friendquest, they're able to not just heal their own hope, but give hope to Siffrin as well. Bonnie believes that they and their friends can all protect each other, and in the end, they do!

[cringefail-clown]

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

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

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

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

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

[strilondism]

my problem is that as soon as i hear a classpect-related word my brain zones out & starts blowing raspberries & making jerkoff gestures. even if i know they're making good points

[solcohedron]

Realized that I never got around to explaining my classpect post (oops)

Hasegawa Ken - Prince of Void

So, Hasegawa definitely mirrors light—most clearly in the way that light represents knowledge (yadda yadda quiz show guy) and in the way that he pursues it: he’s the only person to find out about the audience and the other killing games. The main reason that I don’t think that Hasegawa’s directly Lightbound, though, is because of how he’s presented in the story—Light players are big actors in the story that they’re in, and as a result, they’re often in the spotlight. Look at Rose, Vriska, Aranea—these characters lay themselves out to the camera, we see their thoughts, plans and fears. They love to yap about everything, including themselves. 

Hasegawa, on the other hand, ducks out of the spotlight as much as he can. He’s a pretty unassuming guy that keeps to the background, both in canon and towards the audience. He doesn’t really have that “stage presence” that Light players typically have, and while we know that he can talk a lot on other topics that interest him, we never really see him talk about himself and his thought process in the way that Light players do—barring the final minutes of the fifth trial, of course. It might be a reach, but we could view that as kind of a swan song, where by answering the ‘why’ of his actions, he finally destroys the secrecy and ambiguity surrounding himself.

If we take a look at the Prince side of things, I mean—destruction through void? Destruction through secrets and mystery? Just take a glance at literally any part of chapter 5, that’s basically all he does! Something I want to highlight here is that one Ojima ‘grabbing’ scene, because besides it being super cool, it’s also a direct example of how the inherent vagueness of the medium is exploited to ‘cover up’ what’s actually occuring–super Voidy stuff!

We also see a lot of destruction of Void—Ken, like, hates Void. Like stated before, Ken abhors a mystery, and spends a huge chunk of time trying to dig deeper into the killing game.  Ironically, it’s this drive for understanding, and the acquisition of that knowledge, that (at least partially) breaks him apart, which is where we get that one really good line about ‘knowing’ near the end. (It’s also a very cosmic horror-coded line, which is another theme of the Void aspect, but I digress.) 

So, yeah! TL;DR: Hasegawa mirrors light, but embodies a lot of Void-y aspects through the way the audience perceives him and Prince-y aspects through the way he interacts with that Void.

[applestorms]

actually. @moonlarked you wanted someone to talk about near & light as parallels? cuz uh...

ok SO, my big hot take on near is something like this: one of the most common criticisms i see about near is that he is simply too apathetic/bored/uncaring/etc, and that because he is not as emotionally invested as L, his win against light doesn't feel nearly (lol) as satisfying as it could've been. this is a view that often frustrates me, but for a very particular reason— namely, while i think it is somewhat accurate in content, i think it misses a lot of important context (and also misses a lot of the importance of light's character arc, but we'll get to that much later).

one of the most important things to remember about the wammy's kids is that, whether they like it or not, each and every one of them is defined almost entirely through their relationship to L. this is perhaps more obvious in the case of characters like BB and mello, who are very Aware of this shadow being cast upon them and react in very overt, emotional ways (e.g. becoming a literal serial killer out of seemingly pure spite & desire to be noticed, idolizing him but in a very emotionally complicated, kinda detached sorta way, etc), but it is true for Every wammy's kid, purely because of how the house itself functions. these kids are being raised to be L's successor— the greatest (and second greatest, and third greatest) detective on the planet. this is the ultimate goal hanging over every one of their heads, and it places a constant pressure on every kid there.

oftentimes, i think (perhaps both out of story and in it, as well?) people get so caught up in comparing near to L that they forget he also falls under this umbrella— only, for near, his position is slightly different because he actually somewhat succeeds at the task? like, yeah, L never gets the chance to officially call near his successor, but between the fact that he's constantly called the #1 kid at wammy's and that he. literally does actually end up becoming the new L after kira, i think it's always been pretty clear what his path was going to be.

going back to my starting point, this is one of the main ways that near makes a really good parallel to light in my mind, specifically the light that we see right at the start of the series. in both cases, near and pre-DN light, we see a kid who has succeeded at everything they've been handed, and more notably, we see a kid who is bored out of his fucking mind looking at the prospects of what he's got.

in the case of light, this is maybe a little more realistic/easy to understand— light does well in academics, he does well in sports, he does well with people. he is likely to follow in his father's footsteps with something criminal justice/police/law related, but even if he diverges from that path it likely won't be too big of a deal, as he has shown himself to be capable in enough areas that he's likely to succeed no matter what. by all measurable standards, light's doing pretty good at the start of the series. and yet— there is something so distinctly and inherently Bland about his life before he gets the DN. i've said before that light wouldn't call the DN a curse even if he wanted to, but i think in that moment when he's telling ryuk he disagrees w/ his father after visiting him in the hospital, when he says, "I've never once considered finding that notebook and gaining this power a misfortune. In fact, it's made me happier than I've ever been." (ch.22) he's still getting at something real and truthful.

again, going back to my equating of boredom with depression in this series— light's life is pretty good by all measurable standards. he has a family who loves him, presumably more than enough money to get by with a pretty cushy lifestyle, and does well, honestly better than well, in every single system he is presented with. but even so, he's still unhappy. there is something in his soul that has not yet been satisfied. he's bored of the world, bored of his place in it, how easy it all is. what the DN really offers him is a challenge, entertainment— just the same as L, and just the same as ryuk.

near similarly suffers from this kind of boredom, though it is perhaps less overtly stated than in the case of light, L, and ryuk, and less easy to catch as it is not as realistic/common. again: near basically ends up the winner of wammy's house. he is the one to take the title of L, he's declared the smartest, bestest kid at wammy's, and he gets all the power and privilege that comes with such a title. but still— he's so. fucking. bored. much to the embarrassment of mello, this shit was never really a challenge to him. it's pretty obvious that near isn't really even all that attached to the title of L— don't forget that his first real introduction to the story involves him explicitly saying that he'd be just fine working with mello as essentially co-L successors. and this is a viewpoint that he holds onto until the very end of the series, actually, claiming that he was only able to best light due to mello's sacrifice. near doesn't really give a fuck about the rat race he's been slotted into, though it's perhaps for that exact reason that he ends up winning it anyway, and getting all the responsibility that comes along.

that being said, i think there are still two main differences between light and near:

light fucks up.

near never gets past his boredom.

in the case of this first point, i do not mean to say that near never ever makes any move/judgement that could be considered a mistake— mello killing the entire SPK is the first thing that comes to mind, which i see as blood on near's hands for the same reason that L takes at least some responsibility for lind l. tailor. rather, i mean that near never makes a such a monumental fuck-up that he has to overturn his entire worldview just to account for it in the same way that light does when he accidentally kills two people w/ the DN the first time.

it's like, if you've ever known (or been) the kind of kid who always got perfect grades in school, straights A's for K-12, only to reach college and suddenly bomb their first test and have an existential crisis as their only real achievement in life is crushed into dust, then you know light yagami. only for light, it's on a whole 'nother scale, because not only does he fucking oopsie daisy kill two people, but he kills in such a context that he can mentally manipulate it back into seeming heroic. i hate to say that suffering causes character development because that's terrible advice (it's how you react to terrible circumstances that matters, imho) but to some degree, yeah, having conflicts/hard times in life is just necessary to figure shit out sometimes. near (and L, oh goddd i need to write about L properly sometime) has so many things smoothed over and handed to him, and on top of that, he's a super genius very rarely fucks anything up, at least according to base logic. he doesn't even really consider the morality of anything he's doing until light straight up asks him in a desperate bid to keep talking at the end, it's all just logic and factors to consider.

this all leads to my second point, which is that near never really gets the chance to overcome his boredom in the same way as the others. ryuk at least gets his entertainment for a couple years, and light and L (and mello) get so invested in each other and their game that it literally kills them, but near just kinda. keeps going. he keeps being L, he keeps solving cases, he does the duty he was given and enjoys his toys... and that's it. he lies around, the only one left to live, never even taking credit for the end of KIRA, never gets another haircut, and keeps the title going. what a life, for a kid who dragged a god back down to earth.

sidenote1: toys

am i reading too into things? maybe. near's toys hold a lot of significance throughout the story in more specific ways, most notably the finger puppets he uses at the very end of the story while tracking different people's/kira's actions, though you could probably read some kind of meaning into every toy he has and the ways in which he plays with them. what i want to look at here though is more the general reasoning behind playing with them in the first place— a desire for a childhood he didn't get to have? a love of games more generally? (could track with him seeing the KIRA case, or really all detective work, as just another game.) you could also read into his toys as another source for near's apathy/detachment from reality, literally breaking every notable person around him down into a doll by the end of the story, speaking a lot to how alienated he is from the world (again, very similar to both L and light, there). i don't have much more of a point to make here, just wanted to add this in somewhere since it's one of his most striking visual character traits.

sidenote2: light's arc

going back to my point at the start of this post... light's character arc.

uhh. near winning is a good thing, actually. and i don't just mean that as a moral claim— DN itself as a story isn't really concerned with trying to answer any moral questions about good or evil or the justice system, so it makes sense & is fair to me that it doesn't try all that hard to answer anything along those lines by the very end of the story. what i mean to say here is that near winning is a good thing on the level of the character arc, specifically as an end to light's arc.

i made a post a while back while mid-manga reread talking through some of the reasons why L's death can feel kind of unsatisfying/paint the second half of the story in a less interesting light (hah) for a lot of viewers, with the main point i ended up on being that L wasn't really able to win because he never really had all that clear of a win state in the first place. i still kiiind of agree with this point, though i think there's a lot more i could add to that post... anyways. point is, i bring up that post because it touches on a similar thing to what i want to talk about here: light's character arc being a tragedy.

this is more speculation on my part, but i think another part of the reason why people get turned off to DN post-L death is not just the fact that L isn't really a playable character in the game anymore, but the fact that light's character arc takes such a dramatic twist after the timeskip. i talked about this a little bit in my little ramble on light & titles (which a lot of you liked, apparently!! ty for all the lovely comments on there, i love reading what you guys have to say ^w^), but light's character arc in DN is a tragedy to me, full-stop.

tragedies to me are cyclical— revolutionary, if you will. since all stories necessitate some kind of something to take place, a tragedy to me is all about a character beginning in one point, then continually getting hit by Event, after Thing, after Event, only to end up in essentially the exact same place that they started. any character changes or development that seem to happen throughout the story are ultimately nullified by the end— the main subject does not truly grow, does not truly reflect on their actions or traumas, does not move on. two steps forward is two steps back. even ending up in a position worse than they started is sometimes better than a true tragedy, in my mind, as at least then there is some chance they may still reflect or change or grow in the future, leaving the hope that they may still overcome this new circumstance later on. a true tragedy ends in nothing meaningful ever getting the chance to truly change, at least in the case of the main subject of the story.

light's character arc in the first half of the story is an upward, underdog kind of story. yes, light has the power of a shinigami, of a supernatural force that the rest of the world doesn't even know exists— but part of the real appeal of his conflict with L is how powerful L feels in comparison, having the wealth and respect and title to command a world's worth of forces against him. fuck, even taking down naomi misora feels like an incredible hurdle overcome, a teenager managing to charm and yap and flutter his eyelashes out of a shitty situation he was only just lucky enough to stumble across in the first place, to stop someone who could've ruined his entire plan with a few words. killing L was always going to be light's greatest accomplishment when it comes to his rise to godhood, not only because of L's great power but the comparative position of light at the time that he did so— not yet an adult, not even really out of school, perhaps barely out of his parents' house.

in contrast, light's arc for the second half of the story is a downward spiral. we see all of the consequences light has been miraculously avoiding smack into him like meteors in this half, his ever-growing ego torn to shreds as he's yanked back down to earth. and in comparison to the anime, the manga really beats this point into you, dedicating the entire second half of the story to light's fall from grace as he loses his mind and loses his humanity. like, while i do kind of prefer the manga ending to the anime, i have to admit that light's death there is fucking brutal. light goes through pages, chapters, purely dedicated to near tearing him a new asshole, only end the story bloody and delirious and crawling on his knees begging a god of death to fix everything— all just to die the exact same death as everyone else he's killed. i mean, look at these fucking pages (ch.107):

(that last fucking picture of him. clawing at the sky. it always fucking gets to me.)

it hurts to read this shit!! we spend the entire first half of the story watching this dude's rise to glory, the entire time stuck inside of his head, emotionally connecting with him even if we don't really mean to or disagree with his actions or question his morality. watching his fall back down, especially after all of that, is fucking painful— an in no way does near make the process any easier. if anything, his blunt, snarky bitchery, saying all the quiet parts out loud, calling light out for being a terrible replacement L and pointing and laughing at his failures to his face, only shoves more salt in the wound, only proves just how human he has been all this time, how meaningless any of his supposed "rise to power" ever really was. light got his fifteen seconds of fame, sure— but near is armed and ready to make sure that's all he'd ever get, that the name Light Yagami would never even be associated with the position he held for so long. six years was all he got— and it was all he was ever going to get, because light yagami did not do this for humanity, he did it for himself. all near did was collect the debt that L prescribed. he fulfilled his duty as told— nothing more, and nothing less.

i just have to wonder... is this why people hate him? because he has no sympathy for the fall? maybe. i don't know.

either way, i don't think i could ever really hate him. it's a big responsibility, being the only one left behind. but near has always been the one to hold such weights on his shoulders.

[whamss]

Every now and then I think I'm kind of sleeping on classpect analysis, but also what you have to understand about me is that I'm way less enchanted by the act of defining classes and aspects and way moreso by how individual Characters contextualize their relationship with their aspects and assign meaning to it based on their experiences

Something that I always found striking about late Act 6 Kanaya was the way she recontextualizes her relationship with her aspect as something so specific to her and her own experiences. Something about the juxtaposition between Alt Calliope mapping out hard rules about her classpect, saying "This is what it means to be a Space player" "This is what it means to be X" while Kanaya talks about how her experiences formulated her own relationship with her classpect. It's a fascinating difference between them where I never think that the story tries to say that either of them are Wrong about how they view Space. But there's such an underappreciated depth there where Calliope is demonstrated to be somebody who's obsessed with rules, strict categorization, while Kanaya says "this is what my experiences have told me, this is what Space means to Me." And Alt Calliope saying things like Space players are inseparably tied to loneliness are interesting claims, but also putting these beliefs in context with each other you can just as easily see how Alt Calliope's views of space can be formulated by her lifelong (deathlong) experience with isolation.

I think a big reason that I always found it hard to engage with a lot of classpect analysis is that there's this insistence that classpects must have strict categories that define people, when throughout the comic we consistently see how things like aspects and classes mean different things to different people. The way that Kanaya, Calliope, and Jade all see Space and their relationship to it is so so different, I sort of wonder if they'd have any common ground if they actually discussed it between each other (or wrote their thoughts down and passed it around, as Calliope would undoubtedly dominate that conversation lol). The same goes for Rose and Vriska with Light, the Time players... I don't know, it's striking to me. I can understand why the rumored Hussie Classpect doc is supposedly only a sentence or so per classpect because what do you even say? When the variety of experiences is so broad among them, it's impossible to define Classpects cohesively. Alternatively, aspects are something strictly defined by the meaning that people (characters) assign to them

[trollocs-ooc]

oc idea: sea dweller space heir based on gargantuan leviathan subnatica

anon. Anon please dont tempt me...i cant keep making these seadwellers bigger-

[spilled-milk-dotcom]

Hello to the maybe 3 people who like both Alien Stage and Homestuck. Rejoice.

MIZISUA | IVANTILL