#optimisticduelist

[utopianparadoxist]

optimisticDuelist is dead. welcome to the eternal storm of the utopianParadoxist.

It took a little while, but I'm mostly put back together. Youtube videos should resume sometime this month or next. In the meantime, if anyone happens to be waiting for a sequel of Homestuck you might want to start checking out my 2017 Post-Epilogues continuation fic, THE APOCRYPHON OF JAKE ENGLISH.

Of course, that's only if you'd like to be ready for the real story it was meant to serve as a mere intermission for-a cascade of coloUrs and rhythmically violent divine yaoiyuri lovesavagery I can only describe through it's title;

PUMPKIN TRACK ACT 1 - W(I)LDSCRIPT BAROQUESTUCK

SUBTITLED:

FUSION IGNITION; THE STAR NAMED LADY ENGLISH.

It's c8ming. The UPD8 ST8RM is C8M1NG.

4ND 1, F0R 1.

C4N'T W41T.

[legallypumpkinn]

Genuine question, wtf happened w Optimistic Duelist?? I’m not on Twitter, so all that I’ve seen is that they posted this, disappeared for a while, a bunch of people started shitting on them on both Reddit and Tumblr (Reddit nothing new obvs, but it left r/EnglishPumpkinParty and r/AltHomestuck and began happening on regular old r/Homestuck)??

I saw the Dirk sui comic and their reply, but liek… is that really it?? Did they just see a comic they didn’t like?? And weren’t they literally a part of developing HS2??? I am so disengaged in the Homestuck community lore but this has been plaguing my teeny little mind so I must ask >:?

[bladekindeyewear]

Hello, what do you think of optimisticDuelist's Role-playing theory? Basically, he suggested that instead of inverting, Rose was role-playing a misinterpretation of her mother's classpect. He also suggests Terezi was role-playing Redglare's Knight class while investigating Murderstuck, and that Vriska and Aranea were role-playing each other's classes. I recommend watching "HSE: Guardians and Ancestors" for more about his theory. :D

Since I'm trying to get back in the swing of things (might still take me a few weeks), I might as well remind y'all of my earlier position:

I haven't read or watched optimisticDuelist's theories yet, and I probably ought to before I make any serious judgments on the matter. Plus, I'm not caught up with HS^2's recent new updates, and I was under the impression that oD had some input into HS^2 as a whole-- I'm not sure if Andrew gave the writers and collaborators on that project the latitude to make some changes from the system that was intended by Andrew in the original comic's run, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had, so for all we know some of those theories may retroactively fit the original comic even if they weren't initially intended! Or introduced as just a NEW thing that can happen! That's one sort of thing that I was originally so devoted to the comic's "original intent" that I wouldn't have accepted easily, but I'm coming to accept as a possibility a bit easier now, with how much Andrew has pushed Death of the Author and how much the ending of the comic showed that many of the things I judged were "important" in-comic weren't important to him at all.

However, if we're looking as far back as Act 5 Act 2, I believe there's a serious fundamental difference in scope and scale between trolls like Vriska and Terezi poorly cosplaying the trappings and aesthetics of ancestors whose classpects we didn't know at the time -- ancestors who were in fact constantly teased with words like Thief (Mindfang), Seer (Redglare), and Witch (Condesce) to match their younger descendants' classes even though Andrew likely intended for them to have had different classes all along -- and the severe, extreme, and powerful event that seems to be full-on hero role inversion.

Reading some Homestuck liveblogs lately, I was reminded of the strong and intentional connections that all of Homestuck has with Carl Jung's psychological theories and the concept of the "Shadow" self. And I'm not just talking about a superficial resemblance between the Shadow and role inversion, or the "assimilation of the shadow" and the uniting of one's Real Self and Dream Self to ascend to God Tier. No-- I mean that Jung's theories, even if somewhat discredited, are referenced by the complex stew of mythologies that make up Sburb and define how the game is played, just like all the pop and serious references to works like Lord Of The Rings that made it into the game's objectives. If you skim that wikipedia page you'll very quickly see what I mean:

Nevertheless, Jung remained of the opinion that while "no one should deny the danger of the descent [...] every descent is followed by an ascent",[54] and assimilation of—rather than possession by—the shadow becomes a possibility.

"We begin to travel [up] through the healing spirals...straight up."[53]: 160–1

There's a good reason that Rose was given an interest in psychotherapy leading into the comic. It's tightly tied to the whole story's themes! Trying to show players the potential they have as individuals, the power inherent in their very personalities, and setting them a stage to confront themselves and grow into someone who would shape the future and accept their own self-worth, is the entire point of the game and the answer to the Ultimate Riddle. Every major character had to go through the arduous process of confronting their flaws and talents and trying to accept who they were. The game IS the psychotheraputic journey from start to finish, complete with the same monumental challenges, pitfalls, rejection and acceptance (of help and of oneself!) that all sorts of different people must confront in order to simultaneously fully appreciate and become themselves, and also become the people they truly want to be. Because despite what self-loathing and toxic gender norms and all sorts of naysayers would have us believe, those two things are closer to the same thing than most can easily imagine. The journey to discover, accept, unite with and leverage the power of being you.

And when you tie Jungian Psychology to MBTI personality types, you can practically flip the letters into an opposed Shadow too, in a less literal but startlingly similar way to the class-and-aspect-flip Inversion Theory that we proposed. (DAMMIT i still need to rewrite the Aradia post to be less pretentious, that's been on my to-do list for years but I've never been up to it...)

Again, I still need to read/watch optimisticDuelist's theories (I've had a hard time emotionally looking deep into anything Homestuck for a good while now, and even though you're referencing some pretty old theories i was NEVER very good at keeping up with others' theories besides what was specifically brought to my attention, it was a serious problem), but from what I recall in-comic every time I saw someone mimic or cosplay an ancestor they were mostly... just cosplaying! Nothing is stopping a Seer from picking up a sword and trying to do some knight stuff. TRYING. The only issue is that they won't be very good at it, because they're not actually learning about themselves and leveraging the strengths of their own personality and power set. I have no idea how to use a gun or weapons; if I were to pick one up and try to suddenly join a battle, I would have no idea what I'm doing and would be more likely to get myself or others hurt rather than do anyone any actual good. And even when someone like Terezi picked up a (cane-)sword in the comic, she still mostly used it as a Seer would, as the threat to punctuate or act on explicitly foreseen possibilities. When she ran Vriska through, she was acting on a VISION borne of the realities that hinged on others' decisions and fronts, that revealed themselves through her understanding the Mind aspect. It was no martial superpower, no mental trick-- all Terezi had was the superpower of understanding how badly Vriska's move to fight Jack would play out, with the necessary certainty she needed in order to confidently stab Vriska.

(Brief edit: as an aside, many classes of Heart player might be more positioned to take on and leverage the skills and uniqueness of others. Roleplaying others was one of NEPETA'S strengths.)

Rose's inversion was very, very, VERY different.

The word "witch" was EVERYWHERE around Rose, almost moreso than the Void symbolism. "Witch" was plastered all over Act 5 Act 2 in both the text and visual representations. Other players like Eridan CALLED her a witch REPEATEDLY. We saw a Witch of Time using dual needles and magic. Andrew couldn't have shouted the word any louder. It came with IMMENSE power, the sort of power level we've deduced (and Doc and Rose hinted) comes from someone's Hero Title because it's more powerful than any other mundane, magical, or psychic power source, fitting to the Ultimate Riddle-- when someone pulls out their Hero Powers against any non-hero power source besides sometimes the Green Sun, the one using Hero Powers always wins. It isn't even a contest.

When Rose went grimdark, she looked like a Witch. She didn't look like her mother. And she didn't act like her mother either! Especially when we got Roxy Lalonde in Act 6, it was clear that Rose's Grimdark actions and modus-operandi were absolutely nothing like those of her ecto-sister, even with all the commonalities they shared as people. Whatever inspiration Rose received from her mother's behavior and aesthetics, all it seems she took from it in her Grimdark descent was the Void, and little else.

If you were to try and convince me that what Rose did in Act 5 Act 2 was meant by the author to convey to us the actions of someone behaving as a Rogue of Void and not a Witch of Void, you wouldn't just need to show me evidence of Roguish activity. You'd need to show me ENOUGH evidence that Andrew meant to hide Rogue behavior beneath an intentional Witch whitewash (like that prior tease with the Troll Ancestors being coyly made to sound like they matched their descendants that I described earlier), and that all the Witch symbology and actions were actually a bullshit red herring!!! Few readers thought there was any serious impact of her Grimdark phase to her Class until we stumbled upon Inversion Theory as an extension of Aspect Duality, and a red herring is pretty pointless if it doesn't convince anyone.

Saying that NONE of those witch hints mattered? THAT'S A REALLY TALL ORDER. "Witch of Void" is just way, way too strongly evidenced in my eyes, and almost half of our derivative understanding of classes and aspects is based on Seer <--> Witch duality! It'll be weeks before I have my mental health together enough to watch optimisticDuelist's theories, but like, Seer <--> Witch is the most confident I still am in any theory besides the Ultimate Riddle and Aspect Duality. It'd take quite a lot to make me believe otherwise, so expecting optimisticDuelist's videos to change my mind on this matter would be... er. A little optimistic.

And because of how dependent so many of my theories were on what we learned about aspect duality FROM role inversion, if Seer <--> Witch didn't happen, then you might as well throw out almost everything I've ever said on classpects with the bathwater and start over. Rightly call me biased, but I do really hope I don't have to do that!

(edit 1pm cdt: added a bit more to the second-to-last paragraph before the cut to hammer home that "Shadow (Psychology)" wikipedia article, seriously so many of the characters' journeys in the comic follow it like a playbook. edit 1:15pm cdt: fixed wandering read-more)

[davekat-sucks]

Wasn't that optimisticduelists dude the guy who kept talking about gnostism being a big part of homestuck? Willing to bet money the guy never even read the gospel of mary. It's a damn good thing these kids know a surface level grasp of spiritual concepts or esoteric literature. (Hussie had no grasp of these concepts either) I don't think I could fucking endure any homestuck stan saying that "June" represents Sophia because she is Jesus's female counterpart and John *always* represented Jesus. I can imagine the discourse now. "June is totally like Dirk's mother and Dirk is Yaldabloth so June is Sophia and was always supposed to be." Hussie being Yaldabloth is the only take I'm going to accept here. Pissed off angry god of flesh creating all of physical existence to imprison souls in a world of pain and torment. That sounds like the author of the story.

Yeah, they had made lots of posts and videos about Gnosticism playing a major role for Homestuck. Not be surprised they only know surface level because they aren't religious or not a fan of religion as a whole. Can sort of understand, but hey, my family is under Jehovah Witness. I am more willing to take in anything from Christianity or Catholic compared to JW propaganda. >"June is totally like Dirk's mother and Dirk is Yaldabloth so June is Sophia and was always supposed to be." When did this became like the reverse Baby Is You situation? Part of me actually wants that now for how fucking ridiculous it is. Hussie being Yaldabloth makes too much sense.

[mskoreodyssey]

The Hero Titles - III - Archetypes

[@utopianparadoxist​’s video]

As a quartet closest to the center with the most interrelated verb. It's easiest to describe prophets and magicians as two sides of a coin. Both are defined by their unique connection to magic. The art of using individual will to change reality in a way that would normally be impossible. They're also connected to the scientific process. As it describes the collection of true knowledge through the changing of variables.

As emissaries of their Aeon's divine will, prophets use their aspect as a source of knowledge. They're known for becoming experts and analysts. Often approached as consultants and sources of guidance. The speech of a Prophet is powerful, and the way they spell words will be often linked to their dialogue. Which is itself influenced by their aspect or the legacy of their prophecy. Their insight of the future and the rules governing reality allows them to issue prophecies, making these individuals effective guides. But they can also perform miracles, impacting reality directly through the sheer intensity of their thoughts. But both run the risk of becoming intemperate in their knowledge and arcane. Even alienating to the friends that should listen to them.

As sorcerers who wield their aspects great power, magicians use their aspect as a tool of change. Mighty beyond their kin, magicians transform reality and are altered by their aspect in kind. They're often looked to as leaders and sources of direction. Knowing best how to flow with reality and respond to change as it comes. Their speech is often marked by the way they spell words, as the locutions to a wizard's spell is always linked to the magic being cast. Successful wizards learn to take control of their immense power and use it for themselves. Witches will rest that power from their familiar. A living source of their aspect that both AIDS and controls them. Heirs must take responsibility for their magic inheritance or risk letting it consume them, and both risk turning to dark magic that worsens the world. Evil sorcery is practiced whenever we diminish ourselves or other people. Changing individuals into unhappier, more unfulfilled versions of themselves.

Whether they take the form of Robin Hood, pirates or cyberpunks. Outlaws are rebels who stand outside society's rules and prefer to live by the law of the land and their own personal values. Since their only community is the one which they make themselves. More solitary thieves tend to pick their friends carefully, only trusting those they consider equals. This tends to make them high-impact solo players, but they can sometimes go AWOL and take action with no regard for their group's feelings. If they think they know what's best. More group-oriented rogues tend to be friendlier to everyone, but are also intensely devoted to those who win their hearts. Sometimes to an unhealthy degree. Outlaws are skilled at stealing their aspect from reality and using it as a versatile tool. Thieves will use this ability to amass power and options for themselves. While rogues will spread their wishes like gifts to empower those around them.

Whether we're talking about warriors or butlers, servants are those who serve and protect. They stand defending the front lines of society or helping whether it requires structure. Acting as Guardians and assistance as duty calls. Feeling beholden to the expectations of society, servants often adopt some version of a Warrior's Code of Honor. Which factors into the persona they strive to project. Group-focused Knights try to make themselves seem reliable and dependable. Getting others to trust them to know what to do and how to help. Solitary Pages tend to use their personas to try to escape accountability. Convincing others to let them indulge whatever fantasies interest them. Because of their early reliance on others and self-serving nature, pages have the longest path of any class to reaching their true power. However, once they reach it, their vast reserves of untapped potential make them second to none.

Powerful warriors, both Knights and Pages shine at using their aspect as a weapon with. Which to serve their enemies as a weapon with which to provide their enemies devastating defeats. Whether it's in combat or conversation. Knights are devoted to serving their friends. Between either direct service or by making gifts out of or through their aspect. With which to empower them further. A Page's innocent and kind-hearted nature tends to inspire in others the desire to be helpful to them in turn. Like thieves, they'll collect both their aspect, the tools and allies that grants them to further empower themselves. However, both should be careful that they don't confuse their personas with their own inner selves. Or use them to deny their feelings and those of others.

Royals are those concerned with aristocracy and nobility. They're intensely concerned with the great figures who shape society. As such, share a focus on birth-rights and legacy. Their passion for society makes them intensely devoted to the causes they choose and the people they love. Never one to shy away from a challenge, the Royal will take on any fight so long as the cause is righteous in their eyes. These individuals are judges and revolutionaries. Tearing down what's old and stagnant to allow for the flourishing of the new. They're formidable attackers, but also effective de-buffers. As they remove their aspect from reality or wear down the enemy through its use. However, their reverence for high-class court society can make them judgmental and arrogant. Their greatest challenge is resisting the ego that would convince them they're above others.

Fairies are a kind of elemental, a being who is made of magic. Their identities are crafted by the weight of their own aspect above all else. Being so connected to their own inner-nature, insulates them from the society around them. Prone to meddling and mischief, fairies make a mark all their own, and the world can only stand by and watch. This tends to give them an ethereal quality that makes them stand out. They're healers and improvers, bringing into existence what wasn't there before. Though they can fight perfectly well on their own terms, they can also grant powerful buffs. As they add their aspect to reality or build up others through its use.

However, being so defined by their own inner worlds makes the fairies' greatest challenge handling their own extreme tempers. Depending on whether they're in a good or bad mood, they can evoke either of the two fairy courts.

Happy fairies evoke the court of the seelie, seeming lucky or blessed. The sorrows of the world never touch them for long. A truly hurt fairy can evoke the unseelie, seeming inherently unhappy and prone to misfortune. They can be unpredictably violent and intensely vindictive.

[sweetblogandhellaposts]

kinda seriously bugs me how most classpect discussion on this website still revolves around the old optimisticDuelist and bladekindeyewear theories even though those have been deconfirmed since hs2 confirmed maid is a passive class

[aptgrammatist]

Made Ukrainian translation for optimisticDuelist's aspect cards Feel free to use Переклав українською картки аспектів від optimisticDuelist

[homestuck-fanauthor-coalition]

THE APOCRYPHON OF JAKE ENGLISH

THE APOCRYPHON OF JAKE ENGLISH (53399 words) by optimisticDuelist, KeeperofManyNames Chapters: 8/8 Fandom: Homestuck Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Jake English/Dirk Strider Characters: Jake English, Dirk Strider, Rose Lalonde, Alternate Calliope (Homestuck), Original Characters Additional Tags: Suicide, Graphic Depiction of Suicide, Negging, Parental Negligence, Abuse, Manipulation, Xenophobia, Sexual Themes, Toxic Masculinity, Religious Themes, Pantheons, Discussion of Infidelity, Discussion of Genocide, Nonconsensual Immortality, Suicidal Ideation, Impalement, Shooting, Stabbing, Phallic Symbolism, Necrophilia, Mightve forgot other stuff, If youre worried pls have a friend vet it for you, Ill add tags if people deem them necessary, Epilogues Sequel, Canon-Compliant, canon non-compliant, Canon Divergence Series: Part 1 of Pumpkin Path Summary: If you didn't like the epilogues there's probably nothing here for you, but this was basically my emotional processing for them and I think what came out of it was a lot of fun, if fucked up. Anyway. dirkjake: not only still good, but better now that its worse actually. here's my thesis on why as well as my attempt to deconstruct the narrative pandora's box that is jake goddamn english.   Every hat in attendance MUST be doffed deferentially to sam keeper, who i made co-author because i swear to god this shit was never getting posted ever if she didn't step in to save my sorry ass with her bonkers efficient text formatting skills. I cannot imagine trying to color format all of this stuff by hand and even with the text formatting its probably only sometimes legible LOL. Let me know how that goes for y'all.

~~~~~~~~~

@utopianparadoxist brings us this brilliant work set in the realm of the epilogues. Jake English is giving us the pumpkin path! check out the blog to find out more.

[homestuckexamination]

Why does every time a Hope Classpect get mentioned, It's said to be sexual? What about hope is so sexual?

Hope is inherently tied to Charm, charisma and appeal, and in turn through these, physical attraction. This is, surely, accented by the Alpha relationship drama, but you can see some of it at play a lot when dealing with Hopebounds.

Eridan is at the center of a lot of the exploration on Quadrant Weirdness (And the failure of his own relationships, and driving potential concupiscent partners away) and Cronus is Literally The Horny Douchebag. There's also some parallels people have drawn between Hope imagery, in particular, and an almost Freudian brand of phallic imagery- And this is also almost kind of semi-confirmed with Diemen, whose whole deal is Hotdog Innuendos that are colored in a Hope hue?

Kuprum is all about being a 4channer horny for Trizza and her cybernetic tentacles, and canonizing that, yeah, Moirails Can Also Do That Stuff You Know. Daraya has the rebellious teen archetype, refusing to adhere to her Cloyster, and she goes out of her way to go to a party where she gets flirted on hard- By Chahut no less, another Hopebound. While neither of these things are too telling on their own, Jades are closely tied to religious nunhood, and as such, the idea of 'rebellious teen' opposed to a religious nun-like upbringing, could be said to highlight this stuff. With Chahut it's more minor, though I WOULD argue that the fact the Hiveswap Team made Big Mean Murderclown Lady in ITSELF is inherently Hope-coded in wanting people to thirst after her, but the same could be said of Marvus, and he's not Hope as far as we know. However- Chahut's Surname is Maenad. The Maenad are a cult of Dionysus, known for ritual ecstatic frenzy and orgiastic violence and bloodshed, so Take That As You Will. Elwurd also has a whole thing with being a massive flirt, having ex problems, hooking up at a bar and dumping you in the middle of the route, and then charming Joey to get a deal out of her. Finally there's Cirava, who's a bit of an outlier- But they still play off of the idea of Hope being tied to Charm by having been such a successful and charming streamer they ended up getting the Wrong Kind Of Attention, and gouging out one of their eyes.

Of course it doesn't mean that if something deals with physical and sexual attraction, it's inherently Hope- I point at Zebruh and Marvus- Nor that Hope is Always Tied to this kind of attraction- Like Cirava, and Daraya, who needs a bit of a push for it to be read that way- But it's one of the realms that seem consistently like. Considered for Hope. From Jake's Ass Shots and jokes about Amporas being desperate to hook up, to the obtuse imagery of a volcano going off in the background after Jake kisses Dirk's head (which is still a VERY funny point brought up by OptimisticDuelist, that is only reinforced by the fact it's A Volcano, Too, that sends the Genesis Tadpole Sperm Cell to the Skaia Egg), there's a bunch of stuff.

But ultimately, yeah, it comes back to the fact Hope = Charisma and Appeal. Yes, Jake's Ass on TV is Hope-Coded.

[utopianparadoxist]

Hi! I'm most interested on reading your version of HS extension(?) continuation? re-adaptation? Ever since I first saw your analysis on Dirk and Jake I've considered you with amazing grip of the characters and the HS universe over all, Dirk is one of my fav characters of all time (if not the), and there is nothing I'd want more for him than a happy ending, the epilogues were truly heart breaking for him (even though I was more than willing to see where they were going with him in HS^2 in hopes of seeing him reach a happy end) Homestruck was and still is one of my fav properties ever and I'd love to see more from you, I'm sorry you had a hard time but I'm really glad you're back, here and in a better headspace. That said, I guess I'm just somewhat confused on in you have something written already or if it's in the works or from where in the timeline you're continueing from ? Maybe you have like, a master post with your list of essays and fics?

I also loved your youtube videos btw

Thanks! It means a lot to read this. As to your question:

The main project I've been managing since the Epilogues got posted is Pumpkin Path/Pumpkin Track, a sequel to the Meat and Candy epilogues focused primarily on Pumpkins and Vegetables as an alternative form of fan consumption.

The first installment of this arc is THE APOCRYPHON OF JAKE ENGLISH (2019), which follows Meat Jake immediately following Ultimate Dirk's desertion of Earth C. Brain Ghost Dirk declares Dirkjake cancelled and (trigger warning) self-destructs, unleashing the inner barriers in Jake's psychology that he always used his inner Dirk voice to maintain.

Thus Jake's own mind begins to lead him down a rabbit hole of speculatory metaphysics, esoteric spiritual symbolism, and esoteric magic theory that ultimately leads to his ascension to Ultimate Self as Prince English: Himself wearing Dirk's shades and orange hat and essentially larping as a Prince in imitation of Dirk proper.

Through the power he gains from this, he blasts off from Earth C and tracks down Ultimate Dirk for a no holds barred 8eatdown in which he reclaims their lost love and makes Dirk his prisoner with chains of love and mercy, cancelling his ability to die and comitting to becoming the vill8in of Homestuck, as well as its Her8, if it means he can keep Dirk safe and alive.

In the process he finally establishes Dirkjake as indisputable endgame canon, and becomes the equivalent of the I AM Christian God, the new existential equivalent to Lord English himself, with a will that predominates completely over everything else in Paradox Space. There may be some surprises that happen along the way, too.

Now, That much of the story has been written and published since 2019. You can read it on A03 right now and always could. In fact, I'd encourage you to do so and @ me, as well as maybe tag it with #Pumpkin Path, #Pumpkin Track, or just straight up #Homestuck for all I care. I want eyes on this thing, and I wanted them 4 years ago.

That said:

I am now nearing completion on the follow-up to the Apocryphon as an intermission piece between the Epilogues and Pumpkin Track proper, with what is essentially ACT 1 of Pumpkin Track: W(1)LDSCR1PT-B4R0QU3STUCK, a high-drama spectacle driven continuation of the plot of the Epilogues centering on a confrontation between Ultimate Jake English and Meat Jade Harley, who must duel for the right to decide if Dirk Strider dies.

In the process of their battle and Jade's necessary Ascension to Ultimate Selfhood in order to Rise uP to the level necessary to compete against a being like Prince English, deeply hidden truths will be unveiled; about the lives of Jade and Jake, about the moral logic that rules Earth C, and about the very nature and purpose of Paradox Space itself.

If I have it my way, if all goes as I Hope, then nothing in Homestuck will ever be the same once it's posted. The Apocryphon was setup. Now it's fucking Sh8wt1m3, and I can't w8.

The first half of Wildscript is written and has been being beta'd for several months, and I have a full outline written for the rest. Anyone who gets their eyes on the thing seems to come away pretty excited. Sometime in the near future, I'll post the first four Chapters of Wildscript on Ao3 or some other platform, and update the rest as I go. And once Wildscript is finished, I have future Acts and Intermissions planned for the foreseeable eternity, tackling off the top of my head: Ultimate Ascensions for Rose and Kanaya, Vriska and Terezi, Roxy and Calliope, Jane Crocker, and Nepeta Leijon and Tavros Nitram as they lead the twin charges of Nepetaquest 3033.

There is no endpoint to my ambition for the future of Homestuck save simply: 8. The only question is whether the fandom wants to come along for the ride with me in the long run. I think Hope Remains that we'll have a great time here if they do.

If not, I hope they have even more fun elsewhere.

Let's rise.

[ghastly-enby-lover]

Hiveswap Headcanons

Author's Note: I know some of these are probably already accepted by the fandom but, I love thinking about them. It will range from headcanons about the trolls, to claspects or quadrants.

I like to think aspects could be ruled by the main aspect of the true sign. For example Tagora is a space aspect and the true sign teal blood aspect is mind so then his Space aspect would be ruled by Mind Aspect. (Tbh I mostly got that idea from optimisticduelist but, I do mine a little different. I don't think the true signs class effects the interpretation of their sign.)

Trolls whose sign has any animalitic features have more animalistic features. It could be their ears, shape of the eyes, teeth, nails or horns.

Trolls of a lower blood caste are warmer while troll of a higher blood caste is colder.

I like seeing the Black Quadrant more as a motivator compared to just hate sex. Like a person you hate so much that you strive to become better to spite them or to rub it in their face.

Trolls can 100% purr and I will fight people who say otherwise.

I headcanon Skylla as a Mage of Time, Tagora is Knight of Space and Zebruh as a Bard of Doom. I want to do a whole paper on why I think these classes and my on take how classpects work

Tbh that's all I can think of for now but, I will for sure make another Headcanon list when I get my creative juices flowing again. Thanks for listening to my silly little rambles

[bladekindeyewear]

Just so you know optimisticduelist was not involved in the project for very long, having left due to a mental health breakdown after the backlash from haters. As far as I know, none of their theories are actually canon to homestuck squared, nor does it look like they’ve returned for the continuation of the story. I think there would’ve been more chatter from OD himself if his theories ascended. 



Ah that's definitely understandable, hope he's feeling better... though I still would expect whichever team was / is now involved had/has a flavor of classpect understanding that they might prefer, atop the base that Andrew left them with. I'd also expect that if optimisticDuelist's theories WERE canonized then OD would actually play it close to the chest? That's what I'd do, in that position I'd be a party to the answer to the puzzle so I wouldn't feel I had the right to spoil it for people by explaining it.

[davekat-sucks]

What is your opinion on optimisticduelist?

Not a fan of him or his analysis on Homestuck

[mskoreodyssey]

The Hero Titles - II - Classes

[@utopianparadoxist’s video]

Besides Gnosticism, the father of analytical psychology established several concepts you might recognize from pop culture. Like the persona and the shadow. Jung also recontextualized the Gnostic world of ideas as the collective unconscious, an element of the subconscious mind that connects all people.

From this collective unconscious, Jung believed patterns of potential he called archetypes would emerge in the minds of cultures and individuals. Universally and eternally, infinitely. These archetypes would then be contextualized by culture, adding particular symbols that render the pattern into more specific examples of its source.

This includes patterns of behavior people might engage in, with mythic figures acting as the ultimate ancestral role models. In this sense, precursors are a little like platonic ideas for moderate people. Indeed, Jung considered Plato an influence.

In 1991, Dr. Carol S. Pearson adapted Jung's archetypes into a system similar to the MBTI, with twelve such forerunners describing different types of mythic heroes.

It seems likely Andrew was influenced by these as he developed the twelve classes. But it doesn't exactly seem like Hussie simply copy-pasted the archetypes from Pierce's model into his system.

Instead, he remixed them, condensing the 14 classes into seven pairs. Each linked to a verb that describes how they interact with their aspect. And an archetype that lets us know what classes are paired while fleshing out their abilities.

The pairings are divided into active and passive versions of the archetype, reflecting the Taoist concept of Yin-Yang. So while paired classes will use the same verb, they have some key differences. Active or Yang players tend towards exploiting or using their aspect to benefit themselves. While passive or yin-players be inclined to allow or invite their aspect to act through them to benefit others. Yang and Yin also carry over to most general personality traits. Active contestants have a tendency to be moreover proactive and self-driven, while passive players tend to be more reactive and group directed. However, tending is the operative word.

Central to Yin-Yang is the idea that all things change between each other, depending on the context. As complex and nuanced people, a player might flip any element of the dichotomy in the right situation. So we can sometimes see active contestants acting to benefit others, or passive players making direct use of their aspect. Class alignment does suggest which state of being the hero is happiest and most comfortable with, as well as what type of behavior might come naturally to them.

This tendency to shift between active and passive states is the final thing that sets classes apart. The roles exist on an active-passive spectrum, with the Master status Lord and Muse as the most active and greater passive, respectively.

The rest of the leagues have matching verbs, creating quartets of tiers with their own existential contrast.

The more intense the verb's effect on reality is, the moreover active or passive the classes in the quartet will be.

So Maid and Prince are a variety of the greater active, while Sylph and Bard are various of the most passive.  We can see this reflected in the way the heroes of these classes shape Homestuck's narrative. Players of all four classes tend to stick to either active or passive states for lengthily spans of time. They tend to be somewhat inflexible, either abstaining from undertaking entirely or taking highly dramatic action all at once with insignificant middle ground. The contestants also find it incredibly stressful to adopt their opposing alignment. As a result, these players tend to either keep out of the spotlight entirely as they quietly allow the story to continue. Or dominate the plot completely with the sheer impact of their actions.

This stark divide is lessened for the serve and steal classes, whose verbs conflict but can somewhat coexist.

And it's almost nonexistent for the change in no tiers whose verbs are practically interdependent. What these classes lose in direct impact, they gain inflexibility instead. That describes the base of the hero title system. But believe it or not, there's more.

(...)

Jung believed archetypes manifested in the instinctual behavior of individuals. But they could also be actualized when these roles enter consciousness as images. Homestuck uses both approaches simultaneously, presenting the latter through an additional game mechanic we'll call live-action roleplay.

(...)

While each character has an innate class that describes the behavior over which they're most effective. The characters are also exposed to archetypes through the ancestral figures they look up to. Or simply by their individual interests.

If the interest in the archetype is intense enough, they will sometimes imitate the behavior and verb of the corresponding class through roleplay.

Sometimes a controlling force will even make a character adopt a particular role, limiting their self-expression and personal desires.

On top of that, while each contestant has an innate aspect, there's another outcome opposite to it. We're told that a player resistant enough to their true calling or corrupted by outside forces could manifest their abilities as a different aspect entirely too. This creates an additional layer stacked on top of the structure the hero titles already give us.

(...)

This remarkable degree of complexity. Drawing upon established fields of existential and humanist philosophy is what conveys fans to the hero title system. Which makes it an appealing way to understand Homestuck's characters as well as personage from other stories and in many cases, even ourselves.

[ruthlesslistener]

People dislike Dirk? You're telling the same fandom that popularised the phrase "vriska did nothing wrong" dislikes Dirk? You know sometimes Im kinda glad that I read the comic a year after it concluded and a year before I became active on Tumblr because the fandom in it's heyday seems to span the weirdest talking points

anon the first two sentances was enough to tell me that you weren't on tumblr around 2016 and sooner. 2013 had everyone characterizing him as a brony weeb boy with the usual braindead borderline homophobic ship content of the time, but when I was really into Homestuck, claiming that Dirk was abusive, manipulative, and a narcissist was the common meta and widely-accepted fanon. Additionally, Dirk and Vriska being read as fucking character parallels was a common talking point as well, made popular by an asshole named swamp-wizard who was famous for being 'anti mogai' and basically scum of the fucking earth. People writing him as he actually was in-canon was a rare occurrance. Pretty much all of their 'proof' of him being manipulative and arrogant and him 'forcing' Jake into a relationship came from Hal's logs pre-entry into the session, and pointing this out would have you told that him and Hal were the same, even though Dirk himself fucking hated Hal. Being a Dirk apologist (aka anyone who actually knew his character) was seen as a major red flag and liking/kinning him made people think that you were some sort of condescending, self-important asshole. There was a guy called optimisticDuelist who wrote big meta posts on dirk and jake and dirkjake in general who was slowly working on setting things right, but then the epilogues dropped and everything went to hell.

I seem to be cursed with falling in love with complex characters that are horrifically butchered in fanon, but in Dirk's case, it's probably the worst example because a.) Dirk is hilariously sensitive and sweet in the webcomic, if you looked past how he THOUGHT he saw himself, and b.) The asshole writers on the epilogue team basically made fanon Dirk canon, both to specifically upset people and because they too believed him and Vriska were character parallels (fucking HOW). Which was such a kick in the goddamn nuts to someone like me, who was both a character analyser and a man who shared a lot of Dirk's insecurities/paranoia, struggles with his sexuality, and particular brand of depressive disorder. I don't know how/if the fandom changed, but when the postcanon shit dropped, the monster they made Dirk into basically became the smug 'I told you so' of the fandom. I left because it was legitimately deeply harmful to my mental health. And that's not even TOUCHING how bad people butchered Jake.

(Apparently optimisticDuelist was also on the epilogue/post-canon team and was trying to fight to make Dirk and Jake better, but got literally harassed into silence and kicked off under claims that as a man, him pushing for more nuance was him 'threatning people (women) in the workplace' or some other shit like that. So that gives you an idea of the type of people working on the post-canon content.)

[unoriginalpun]

Land of Wisdom and Folly: Sumeru and its overbearing Light.

Link to Kaveh: Maid of Space analysis

Link to Alhaitham: Seer of Light analysis

Link to Kavetham/Haikaveh analysis

Spoilers for Genshin up to the Sumeru chapter and for Homestuck as well! May include some of my personal headcanons for Alhaitham and Kaveh too.

Sumeru, within the land of Genshin it is known as the nation of Wisdom and Knowledge. It's renowned Sumeru Akademiya being a beacon for aspiring scholars to flock to. It's already so Light-coded, being associated with brilliance and the prominence that its students are granted brings attention.

Wisdom-seeking drives the scholars in the Akademiya, often do they gather wisdom in order to graduate from such a prestigious institution, allegedly driving themselves mad for its pursuit, echoing the role of the Mage.

Thus it can be concluded that in Sumeru, the people who live there are conditioned to take on the role of the Mage of Light.

Mage: Active knowing class => One who learns their aspect or one who experiences their aspect; one who learns their aspect for themselves. Alternatively, one who suffers under their aspect.

Light: Abstract => Knowledge, awareness, fortune, luck. Literal: Actual light (Brightness), Vision

Now what do I mean that the people of Sumeru are linked to a certain classpect? Well to understand that claim, I must summarize another point that's made in Homestuck's sister media Hiveswap about classpects, specifically roleplaying.

In short, a facet Homestuck's universe is the trolls who have a caste system based on blood color, 12 colors each represented by the 12 zodiac signs. Beneath those "True Signs" are 23 other signs, two symbols for each of the twelve aspects.

Each sign also has an associated aspect and two associated classes based off of the beta and alpha versions of the trolls that bear these symbols, so that any other trolls born under the blood castes have a role that they must strive (or are forced) to reach, regardless if it isn't the classpect they truly are. This is also known as roleplay.

optimisticDuelist's videos can explain this concept infinite times better than I can, so go check it out when you can!

So what does this exactly mean for those living in Sumeru?

Well, let's start with the obvious:

Its society emphasizes its archon's ideal, wisdom, and the importance of seeking it out, especially after the "death" of Greater Lord Rhukkatevata as she's no longer there to guide her nation. She leaves her successor in her reincarnation Nahida, who is then detained and locked up due to her not having any traces of the previous archon in her.

Afterwards, Sumeru and its Akademiya continues to grow into the institute that's notoriously hard to graduate from. Many have claimed that its more than difficult work to earn a degree from there, many have became "Raving mad scholars" while pursuing their research; suffering for knowledge so to say.

Two students currently studying in the Akademiya claim that they'll be old by the time they graduates, another one says that even the top student worries if she's going to graduate at all.

Lisa is one such person who managed to graduate the Akademiya in just two years, but left Sumeru because of not only the grind-like culture it sustains, but also due to what she had witnessed during her time studying: an uncontrollable desire for the hunt for knowledge.

This "uninhibited erudition" can be translated into Homestuck terms as "a selfish desire to know", which is what drives the scholars to keep studying at the Akademiya. This sentiment reaches farther though as this was the motive that drove the Sages, Sumeru's government, to create a god to replace Nahida through obtaining Divine (Forbidden) knowledge. They didn't believe that their current archon couldn't lead them into another golden age like her predecessor once did, so they created a mechanical one using all the wisdom they had at their disposal.

So Sumeru's governing body peruses knowledge for their own sake and thus encourages it within the Akademiya, which in turn forces their students to study and grind away for their subject of study for years, making them suffer for knowledge in order to obtain it. It echoes the arc of a Mage of Light almost perfectly.

So what does this all mean if everyone who studies in Sumeru Akademiya become Mages of Light?

That is not how classpects work, one cannot attain a different Aspect or Class or both. Yes it is possible to take on or emulate other roles, but one cannot adopt just a different persona or change who they are are at their core. It doesn't feel natural having to cover your true self under a mask most of the time.

Forcing a role upon someone that is not their own can lead a person becoming confused and conflicted with themselves and with their place in the world around them.

So how can someone end up in such a predicament? As explained above omeone could play a different role other than their own if their surroundings demand it, or alternatively: if they're unsatisfied with the role they already have.

And what two characters exhibit this system of roleplay perfectly than Kaveh and Alhaitham.

Kaveh and Alhaitham are a Maid of Space and a Seer of Light respectively. Both live in Sumeru and as a consequence of that they have hues of Light and shades of Mage colored in their roles.

Let's start with Kaveh first, as he has some of the most obvious Light imagery out of the two. Kaveh naturally is Space-bound yet he takes on the role of Maid of Light when he's out in public.

Though it does give him fame, Kaveh doesn't seem to really care for his status as Sumeru's most famous architect and instead likes to focus on the skills as an architect, specifically the facets that involve design and aesthetics.

Though try as he might to stay true to himself, there's no escaping the Light that Sumeru forces upon its inhabitants. I explain a little bit of it here, but I'll extrapolate what it means for Kaveh to act like a Maid of Light.

In order to survive and thrive in Sumeru's society, one must commit themselves into studying and pursuing knowledge, with attention being a byproduct of it. Kaveh is no different from the students that came before or will come after him as he, like them, had to grind his way through the Akademiya in order to achieve his dream of being an architect. There may have been some compromises that had to be made in the process, such as Kaveh needing to emphasize more on the numbers and math of an architect rather than the creative side of it since the arts are less valued in Sumeru: preferring Light over Space one could say.

There's also the fact that Kaveh teaches an elective at the Akademiya, aiding others in their study by providing them with knowledge of his trade.

Light also blinds people, warping their perception of what's in front of them. Kaveh's public image is perceived more as a brilliant genius rather than an artist. His title of "Light of Kshahrewar" was bestowed upon him by the Akademiya and gained notoriety from others because of it due to being a brilliant alumnus from his Darshan. It makes him some sort of figure to look up to for his fellow Kshahrewar.

Note how she thinks that Kaveh has made himself a title in the world as both fame and fortune are related to Light.

This forces him into a position that he must uphold in order to maintain a positive image for not only himself, but his darshan too, especially since it's gained a bad reputation over the last 400 years due to a specific doctor...

Let's continue on with Alhaitham, the Seer of Light.

Due to being Light-bound and the passive version of a Mage, Alhaitham has little trouble fitting in with his society. Yet unlike Kaveh, he has to take on many different roles

In his analysis, I point out that Alhaitham can easily change between classpects when the situation calls for it.

He has taken on 3 different classpects thus far:

The Aforementioned Mage of Light, the Knight of Light and the Mage of Void (the last two classpects I associate with King Deshret as well ;] ).

He showcases all three in the Archon Quest as well as his own Story quest.

In both instances, Alhaitham was able to uncover a plan that was void in the public's eyes, and after bring it to light was he able to plan and act on it, using what he has understood through his findings to protect either his current lifestyle or his country.

When pushed into a crisis scenario, Alhaitham will turn from a passive character into an active one despite claiming over and over again that he'd rather say back.

It's as if he doesn't really have a choice in the matter as he might just be the only one who can pull off certain parts of a plan that others might not be able to execute perfectly.

Especially during this Oscar-winning performance where Alhaitham has to pretend to be anguished from obtaining Divine knowelge. He has to act as if he's gone mad so that the Grand Sage would take the bait and divert their attention towards him, creating a distraction for the others to free Nahida.

In other words: Alhaitham has to roleplay as a Mage of Light to successfully pull off their plan.

It goes further though as Alhaitham does become the Acting Grand Sage after saving Nahida, which is the equivalent to being the Ultimate Mage of Light. Alhaitham already wants to quit since it's too much work for him but can't for there hasn't been a replacement for him as I'm writing this and because he's the only one suitable for the job. So for now, he's still got to keep up performing that role until a replacement is found and would allow him to quit.

I have mentioned earlier that those who emulate a classpect different from their own for too long tend to become unhappy with themselves and with their position in the environment they're in.

So are Kaveh and Alhaitham unhappy with their current lives in Sumeru?

Alhaitham would rather just relax and do his easy Scribing job forever instead of being the Acting Grand Sage, and Kaveh is far from living the life he'd prefer to be living...

But no, I don't belive that either of them are dissatisfied with the lives they are living right now.

And it has to do with their presence and impact that they have on each other's lives.

Aaaaaaaand that’s that for my Sumeru analysis and the 3rd part of a bigger series where a certain ship may or may not be the nexus of a theory I have in mind-