#puppet master classpect

[homosuck-why]

idk

uuuh a homestuck blog, gib me session and player analysis requests

with sessions gib me as much info as possible a player needs at least classpect, and lunar sway

if i have species i will try to add that into it

this can take a while be patient

i also talk abt random hs stuff and theorys

I can theorize with multiple scratches

I am okay with 12+ player sessions

[adhesiveapoidea]

this post is about @superxstarzz combined classpects, specifically the classes. if you don’t know what i’m talking about, then go check it out!

warning: veeerrry long post. i will be talking a lot and it might not make sense because it’s two in the morning right now.

a pretty long while ago now (probably around october of last year), i had the idea to get super autistic about superxstarzz (aka casey)’s combined classes. since the combined classes are derived from, well, combining the normal classes, the best place i could think to start was by simplifying the function of the canon classes into just a few words. here’s my list below:

maid - mend self

page - grow self, utilize in self

mage - self suffers from; suffers for self

knight - defend others

rogue - distribute to others

sylph - meddle with others

seer - understand/see for others

thief - steal for self

heir - self becomes

bard - invert in self

prince - destroy in others (i know that bards destroy too, but princes destroy more actively than bards)

witch - manipulate others

with this initial task out of the way, figuring out the combinations of the classes became simply figuring out how to combine the functions. this took me only a couple hours of wasted class time, so if you’re a fan of superxstarzz’s combined classpects, feel free to find your favorite class and please enjoy my interpretation of its function!

(note: descriptions will be formatted with the two base classes that combine to make the class, the name of the class, its whole function, and one word to describe its function)

maid/page = CONDUIT - heal self through utilizing. “grow”

maid/mage = REPENTER - heal self through suffering. “recover”

maid/knight = MOTHER - defend others through healing self. “nurture”

maid/rogue = DUCHESS - distribute the healing of self to others. “empower”

maid/sylph = ARTIST - heal self through meddling with others. “interfere”

maid/seer = AUTHOR - heal self through understanding others. “learn”

maid/thief = COLLECTOR - heal self through stealing for self. “gather”

maid/heir = AVATAR - heal self through becoming. “accept”

maid/bard = INVADER - heal self through inverting in self. “subvert”

maid/prince = SOVEREIGN - heal self through destroying in others. “circumvent”

maid/witch = PUPPETEER - heal self through manipulating others. “guide”

page/mage = BEHOLDER - utilize/grow through suffering. “realize”

page/knight = CHANCELLOR - defend others through growing. “master”

page/rogue = ANARCHIST - utilize/grow through distributing to others. “donate”

page/sylph = DOCTOR - utilize/grow through meddling with others. “prescribe”

page/seer = MENTOR - utilize/grow through understanding others. “study”

page/thief = MOONLIGHTER - utilize/grow through stealing for self. “covet”

page/heir = OVERACHIEVER - utilize/grow through becoming. “crescend”

page/bard = KEEPER - utilize/grow through inverting in self. “reflect”

page/prince = OVERLORD - utilize/grow through destroying in others. “devastate”

page/witch = MANIPULATOR - utilize/grow through manipulating. “command”

mage/knight = GRANDMASTER - suffer from defending others. “martyr”

mage/rogue = ARCHIVIST - suffer from distributing to others. “sacrifice”

mage/sylph = NEUROSURGEON - suffer from meddling with others. “collateral”

mage/seer = PROPHET - understand others through suffering; suffer through understanding others. “witness”

mage/thief = VICTOR - steal for self through suffering; suffer from stealing for self. “shield”

mage/heir = VICTIM - suffer through becoming. “transform”

mage/bard = TRAITOR - suffer from inversion in the self. “deteriorate”

mage/prince = SCOURGE - suffer from destruction in others. “languish”

mage/witch = DISPLACER - suffer from manipulating others. “disrepair”

knight/rogue = SCOUT - defend others through distributing to others. “fortify”

knight/sylph = CLERIC - defend others through meddling with others. “adjure”

knight/seer = TOMEKEEPER - defend others’ understanding; defend through understanding others. “conserve”

knight/thief = CONFIDANT - defend others through stealing for self. “redirect”

knight/heir = CONTRIBUTOR - defend others through becoming. “burden”

knight/bard = ANTITHESIS - defend others through inversion in self. “misdirect”

knight/prince = WARDEN - defend others through destruction in others. “prune”

knight/witch = HACKER - defend others through manipulation of others. “coach”

rogue/sylph = NURSE - distribute to others through meddling with others. “inspire”

rogue/seer = SCRIBE - distribute understanding. “teach”

rogue/thief = PILFERER - steal for self through distribution to others. “tax”

rogue/heir = BEACON - become distribution; distribute through becoming. “emanate”

rogue/bard = ARCHER - distribute through inversion of the self. “agitate”

rogue/prince = VANDAL - destroy in others through distribution. “poison”

rogue/witch = IMPROVER - distribute to others through manipulation. “change”

sylph/seer = HERBALIST - understand through meddling with others. “acquaint”

sylph/thief = MISTRESS - steal for self through meddling with others. “intrude”

sylph/heir = WEAVER - become through meddling with others. “mediate”

sylph/bard = POLLUTER - invert in self through meddling with others. “suggest”

sylph/prince = CHEMOTHERAPIST - destroy in others through meddling. “implant”

sylph/witch = REMNANT - manipulate others through meddling. “micromanage”

seer/thief = PLAGIARIZER - steal understanding; understand others through stealing for self. “cheat”

seer/heir = MONK - become through understanding others. “enlighten”

seer/bard = REWRITER - invert in self through understanding others. “question”

seer/prince = GATEKEEPER - destroy in others through understanding; destroy understanding in others. “erase”

seer/witch = JUDGE - manipulate others through understanding. “convince”

thief/heir = FRAUD - become through stealing for self. “usurp”

thief/bard = HOARDER - invert in self through stealing for self. “pickpocket”

thief/prince = PARASITE - destroy others through stealing for self. “drain”

thief/witch = ADAPTER - manipulate others through stealing for self. “preach”

heir/bard = SABOTEUR - become through inverting in self. “revise”

heir/prince = SUPERNOVA - become through destroying in others. “obliterate”

heir/witch = SUITOR - become through manipulation. “advise”

bard/prince = ANNIHILATOR - destroy in others through inverting in self. “uproot”

bard/witch = SORCEROR - manipulate others through inverting in self. “masquerade”

prince/witch = WARLOCK - manipulate through destroying in others. “siege”

and that’s all of them! thanks for sticking around. if you wanna see me do this for the combined aspects as well, let me know :3

sorry for making you wait so long for this, superxstarzz, i completely forgot to make this post at all. hope you enjoyed though qwq

- stickybee

[daily-rcp-poli]

*It seems that Dave was asleep but quickly got up, ready for whatever bullshit (his and my words, not anyone else's; after all, Homestuck itself is that) he had ready. Although IRL school demands IRL, not transitioned Dave to study, in this hour he's good to yap*

Alright...the thing is, a part of me alwahs doubt my own judgement on others, especially as I'm poor with judging myself. But there's no denying that I was already in the right track all along! So, you got: Knight of Mind! Some powerful classpect, although every one of them are powerful when used properly (although since I'm no SBURB player, at least this "THE Dave", I got no classpect powers. But my classpect is pretty neat as well).

So, since I'm lazy af rn, here's a quote from a tumblr blog that focuses on classpects: "Knights use their aspect as a weapon, exploit their aspect for any situation, and defend others with their aspect. Mind is all about logic, decisions, the outer self and tactical planning. Therefore, the Knight of Mind uses their mind to fight and defend, allowing them to be masters of battle tactics."

Knights also...hide under a persona. Either that is a shadow of their true potential, or hiding their true selves...mostly the latter, most of the time. As for you, you seemed to be quite a good example of such classpect used with (almost) full potential! You used strategies to make your fellow Rescue members organized, and no offense to Jin but you had more leadership effort since you're way more present than her. <-Blud still thinks Jin is the 'true' leader and will die on that hill

Although there is a canonical Knight of Mind in Homestuck [who is it? I ain't telling; go read the gogdamned comic or search ;) ], you were quite the opposite of her. You used your knowledge for real instead of hiding it, but even then there's that case of an "outer self" with you. However, unlike Roy, you seemed more stable with the emotional and mental parts of your identity, although still something...that may or may not be quite concerning, I suppose?

I've met many Polis who were as strategic as you but used it for other reasons, whether for good (like my Murder Drones AU!Poli/Price) or evil, others who emphasized the "No usey knowledge" thing—although it's not in a "cool lad" persona but in a kinda stoic sona instead—and some who were supposed to be a Mage, which understands their aspect quite well. Although that case for that last one is due to various...shenanigans.

Although the thing is...I wonder if that first variation of you that I've met as a kid is still around. As in, "narratively significant" around. Maybe he is, but who knows, really? We're all puppets of fate, and for someome like me...myself. But in the end, all is good...and I wish it was in my actual world.

I was far from it for a reason...

"Oh my word.."

Poli blinked several times, processing said information.

"Well, good morning to you? Woah, you manage to type up a whole storm after waking up? Impressive."

"Knight of mind, huh? That sounds like a cool title. So I'm sort of a knight? Also.. there's other Poli's out there? Like, other versions of myself?"

"I seriously learn something new everyday from you all.."

[rogue-of-heart-classpecting]

Hellooooo you seem like someone who understands things well, I’m stuck between thief of time and sylph of space for classpecting myself and I was wondering if you could explain those a bit?? No worries if not!! 💖💖

Sure!

THIEF OF TIME

Now the thief… I have been reading the homestuck book 4 with andrews notes in it and vriska’s entire life since day 1 was spent in pursuit of attention. And she’ll get it from anyone she can. A thief of time would be trying to steal as much leisure time for their own purposes as possible from anyone around them. “Can you do my chore for me? Thanks!” “Cover me?” Or they would be stealing with time. And stealing can really mean anything. Sending someone on a goose chase to ransack their house, or monopolizing someone’s time to get information out of them. Just whatever the thief needs at the moment. Later in the game, they would be able to suck years off of others’ lives. And keep those years for themselves. They might be able to freeze people in place and speed themselves up by stealing the person’s normal passage of time and adding it to their own. Thinking up powers is fun because if you can think it and justify it it is yours. A lot of players got their powers by just wondering if they could do it, whether that’s in the parameters of their classpect, and trying it out. And then they can just do that and continue using it forever. This part is particular to the individual. I don’t know what you would want out of time or your powers, but you could think of a way of stealing something that would get you to that goal. The thief is manipulative maybe on a sliding scale, like meenah to vriska. Meenah encourages or prods others into doing her bidding. Vriska manipul8s people by controlling their fucking brain and makes them jump off cliffs or kill their girlfriends etc. This class is well suited to leadership in a boss-like way. Dictatorially (literally, in case of meenah). They are also girlboss. You know what I mean? They’re like… I don’t want to say sassy bc meenah is such a racist depiction already… but you know, they’re charismatic and con man-esque. They’re persuasive. And good orators.

SYLPH OF SPACE

We have a represented classpect here! Let’s take a look at kanaya and then we can talk about universal traits and possible differences. As you know, I share my classpect with nepeta, and I do have a core connection with her behavior and outlook, but I am. Very different from her. But she does help demonstrate what the classpect Can look like. Sylphs are generally backstage of the show. Ignore aranea. She spent like 1000 years being a side character before flipping out. Kanaya usually pulls the strings on more “important” characters, those who act more. She is constantly called meddlesome. However she isn’t really an orchestrator of anything the way a puppet master might be. She’s more like everyone’s conscience. “Are you sure you should be doing this?” “It’s okay to turn back.” That sort of thing. As she progresses through the story she starts taking more and more action. Out of nowhere she comes back from the dead to be the plot point that kills eridan. She gets more serious about her relationship with rose. She eventually makes rose stop drinking when before she could be considered an enabler (not encouraging bad behavior, but allowing it or not stopping it). Sylphs are calm controlled people who encourage growth and healing of their aspect or through their aspect. Now about space. Kanaya designs her own clothes and fashion, but she has a much stronger connection to the idea of a virgin mother. I kind of hate the christ metaphors in homestuck, not because I am Christian, but because I hate Christianity. But she literally has a virgin mother grub as her mother. And her chastity modus… and porrim her ancestor raised the signless like a mother. And he’s. The Jesus guy. Anyway kanaya needs to get the matriorb so she can hatch a new mother grub so trolls can keep being born. And jade bloods are supposed to tend to the mother grub in this parental sort of role with the baby grubs. Like an oldest sister. Kanaya also has this intense desire to auspitice other people to keep them from killing each other, also like an oldest sister. She has this extremely caretaker role in everything she does. And she ends up breeding the frog. Space players don’t necessarily have to be parental or feminine; jade wasn’t really like that, nor calliope. Those are some examples of other space things. Jade actual space and calliope storytelling and creativity. If you are laid back and accepting and likely a passive player (oh god, this is a big concept so ask in the notes if you don’t understand.) and you care about the journey more than the destination, that is what a space player is like.

It sounds like you have the right theme idea with the aspect since you picked out a dichotomy! The important part is asking yourself how you interact with that aspect and which one is more important to you or dictates your life more. Is your life spent in pursuit of “time” or are you someone who cultivates “space”? Are you nurturing or abrasive? Are you goal-oriented or meditative? And most importantly which one do you just straight up like more.

[understandableparadox]

?????? Achlys

19 yo Mage of Void hemoanon, Achlys is a air-headed party girl who likes to take it easy, life is definitely too short to be worried about every little thing. She's quite friendly for a troll and always knows what to say to please people. She changes quadrants pretty often.

However when SGRUB begins she seems to know just where to look to learn all the rules and easily makes herself the leader before anyone notices. Not to mention her fake lusus and dreamself that seems to be puppeted by horrorterrors…

penanceLarceny

PL is a Cobaltblood troll who lived on Alternia long before Karkat and his friends. He's a master thief, who mostly breaks into highbloods' hives to steal expensive things, and also hats that he takes a fancy to. Seriously, he really likes hats.

His theming is mostly around hats, and also foxes and the number 5 (his 5 eyes don't give him special powers like Vriska, however). His quirk replaces f with 5, o with ø, and x with ×. His lusus is a 5-tailed Kitsune (Japanese fox-spirit) who can walk on walls, and has partially taught PL to do the same.

Speedruns video games, specifically Super Snario Iliad (Troll Super Mario Odyssey).

Friends with Altair (another troll I submitted to this bracket). Altair is PL's server player.

Strife Specibus: Throwing-knifekind. Fetch Modus: Hat Trick Modus.

His classpect is Rogue of Time, and he gains later in the story the ability to locally reverse time (within a certain radius) and travel back to the alpha timeline in such a way that allows him to absorb the memories of his alt-timeline self, thus un-dooming himself and dooming them instead (stealing time from himself).

8 sweeps old.

PL cannot mind control others like regular Cobaltbloods. He can, however, manipulate them in such a way that they specifically are unable to remember having seen him.

He's cocky, but smart. He is in a rocky kismesistude with another troll, which is being auspistised by a third. He also has a reciprocated flushed crush on his best friend, but both of them are too scared to tell each other.

Has a funky gender, but uses he/him because he hasn't found any other pronouns that fit him yet.

Did I say he likes hats? He really likes hats. And heist movies.

Designed with Xamag's Trollmaker.

[ultra-clashpects]

THE LORD OF BLOOD

The Lord of Blood is someone who can control, affect, and embodies the idea of bonds between people and relationships. They are a master of creating friendships and lasting bonds between people, or they can just as easily destroy a person’s social life by turning everyone they once knew against them. The Lord of Blood will dominate their aspect, Blood, which means that they are directly responsible for making people get along or hate each other, or any other sort of relationship dynamic you can think of.

They can play and control other people like puppets, the relationships being the strings they use to influence everyone around them, and being a Lord means that it’s incredibly hard to stop them so usually what they say is the final word. They might be the single factor keeping all their friends together, an anchor of the friend group, or they can be the reason why everyone refuses to cooperate with one another.

If the Lord of Blood decides to insert themselves into your life and your relationships, you had better hope that they don’t hate you so that you might still be able to keep the life that you had built for yourself. The Lord of Blood is a curious and interesting classpect simply because of the amount of power they hold over those around them, and whether or not they make your life a living hell is dependent on the specific Lord, but either way you should try to stay on their good side.

[anachronistic-falsehood]

THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE? THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY. FUCK. i wasnt even thinking abt operator having a classpect i was thinking abt it more in the eldritch embodiment of an element type thing but GOD DAMN IT the IMAGERY of lord and knight is so fucking cool. whiskey your mind

RIGHTTT????? like YES the concept of it being just. the literal embodiment of an aspect. and not in an heir way just in like. a terrifying incorporeal supernatural way. that's INSANE and i LOVE IT. but the closest thing to that in the session would be some kind of master class mixed with some weird fucking glitches, lord english style. lord of void glitched beyond recognition. u know caliborn's weird obsession with dave?? his lil homosuck interlude where he's puppeting dave around as he wants?? endlessly tormenting him as lil cal??? the lord is the master of his aspect and wants to use the knight of the same aspect for his own gain. can you hear me mac

[gaphic]

quickly adding to the Good Tags highlight reel:

First of all: I genuinely can't believe I never thought of that before. The Ultimate Reward isn't just a door out of the game, it's a door OUT OF A HOUSE!

For Calliope, I think her class is a big indicator here: Muse. The personification of art, and the source of artistic inspiration. The Calliope of mythology is the muse of epic poetry, and considered the greatest of the muses. That makes Callie both the personification of Homestuck AND the divine source of inspiration that created it, as well as the literal patron goddess of the genre of art that Homestuck is. She is also, notably, the personification of fandom. The fandom IS Homestuck, and it is only through the fandom's efforts that the characters are able to have their happy ending.

And I think it's very sharp to say that Caliborn usurps the author and becomes the narrative. He doesn't become the author! Authorship requires creativity. I don't know enough about Arthurian legend to have any clever takes about the Excalibur link, but I think it's telling that he's named after a sword. Calliope (mythology) is often depicted with writing implements. The pen is mightier than the sword. The 'born of Cal' and Caliban connections are more immediately meaningful to me- the first referring to the ouroboros loop of Lord English's existence, the second referring to a character whose wikipedia page is a fucking goldmine of analysis. Just the quote 'he's always looking for someone to word him into being' is SO. AAAAAH. Calliope is creation! Caliborn is created!

Caliban is a slave who resents his master. Prospero treats him badly because Caliban tried to rape his daughter, which he shows NO remorse for, claiming if Prospero hadn't stopped him he would have 'peopled the island with Calibans.' There's that ouroboros thing again! The only thing Caliborn is capable of or interested in creating is more of himself! And when Caliban escapes Prospero he doesn't seek freedom, he seeks a new master. In the same way, 'escaping the narrative' never even crosses Caliborn's mind. He is a puppet and he likes it that way.

So if Callie is fandom, what is Caliborn? Not 'bad fandom' and not 'haters'- he does not like OR hate Homestuck. No, Caliborn is something much worse.

A killjoy.

The only reason he cares about Homestuck at all is because he knows Callie loves it. It's something he can take from her. Caliborn wants to break his sister's toys, and he is so incapable of wanting anything else that he gladly enslaves himself as Guy Whose Job It Is To Kill Callie's Favorite Characters AFTER SHE IS DEAD.

And in keeping with the trend of dichotomies, while Callie is dead, Caliborn is unkillable, forever creating himself- like a cancer.

Immortality, in Homestuck, seems to be a sort of badge of narrative compliance. People die... but legends don't. Going godtier incurs great power and conditional immortality, and it turns you into an archetype (note to self: post classpect/planet/moon hot takes). Being dead removes you from the narrative. It's supposed to remove you from existence, but Feferi happened, allowing (Vriska) to demonstrate the healing power of irrelevance.

Vriska is, in a way, Caliborn's tragic counterpart. Where he enslaved himself to the narrative as the Bad Guy, she enslaved herself as the Hero. I think that's why she's such a positive influence on the meteor- the Hero is, by definition, a saving grace, therefore the narrative will validate her decisions. Vriska is the only character who will never, ever choose to escape the narrative, which is exactly why she's the one who gets the alive/dead plotline; (Vriska) proves that freedom is healing whether you want it or not. That making bad choices means you won't grow, not that you can't grow

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: 99% of peoples criticisms of the end chunk of homestuck completely fall apart if you take a thematic reading. homestuck is aggressively thematically cohesive straight to the end and SO many people interpret that as insulting the audience or a copout

[techtakesoff]

let us play a game sburbanalysis mods. and by game i mean ummm what land would you give a violetblood thief of hope. who dreams on derse. and then after i will tell you the land i gave him. for funsies

- Land of Dreams and Desire. As Hope is an aspect very based upon these two thematics, it only makes sense that SGRUB in this player's case would be surrounded by it. But there's a catch.

The smiles on these consorts seem a little too forced. Is everything okay? Something deeper must lie beyond this, and it's up to the Thief to figure out what. External tampering due to the Denizen?

Maybe a traitorous sessionmate, if you have the right classpect for the session. The Thief needs to find the source of this forced overexcitement, and steal the reigns right underneath them. You can't outclass a puppet master.

- Land of Fields and Gratitude. This is more of a reference land to Shaymin, the mythical pokemon of gratitude. I think it could work here due to the thought process of it, stay with me here.

Flowers. Flowers upon flowers. For a seadwelling troll, this might put them off, depending on situation or stance of living in the sea versus on land. Thieves are generally given a good hand upon lands, but to be fair the only Thieves in comic are shown favour towards the narrative.

But in the case this Thief is given a more shit hand, this could work well as a driving force. Pissing off the Thief who drives to take the desires of everything just perfect. This land could serve well under a more "classic" Thief. One who plays an antagonistic role, especially a Thief of Hope, works perfect for this land.

- Land of Carnivals and Calamity. Maybe the natural order of this land is to work off of a no-rules situation. Chaos and discourse is everywhere you turn in this ever-blaring land, even though this is more of a purpleblood-like land idea, it could spare well for a violetblood, as royalty/near to sure loves entertainment, no?

How does life fare when you are the attraction, though? Inspiring everyone? As if you weren't already a catalyst to begin with? No. That won't fare well for you, dear Player.

You see the hopes and dreams of these individuals making a fool of you, and you cannot handle it anymore. Your goal is to confront the Denizen and tell them off directly. This will almost surely lead into a battle, which must be won for the Thief to succeed in their endeavours.

- Land of Coral and Chaos. Take Carnivals and Calamity, change you from being the clown, to the jester, and place everything underwater. But be warned, these consorts do not like being made the fool, and will attack you every step you take towards their direction.

This is a quest moreso suited towards people with Yaldabaoth as their denizen, as this is a TOUGH quest to get out of alive. SGRUB knows that this player will make it, and will fight tooth and goddamn nail against this Player.

This Thief has gone on their bullshit for too long, and it's up to this Player to either be sat the fuck down and humbled by their antics, or to do what a similar "negatively aligned" class of Hope to do, and break the core aspects of the land to nothing, slaughtering everything within their path and to live up to what they think they were supposed to all along.

Good luck, and I'm excited to see what you choose.

[knochengeier]

Drawfee Classpects???

I set a while ago to spitefully Classpect the Drawfee crew because they rightfully made fun of homestuck.

PREFACE:

I should state clearly that this is not meant as an attack on any members of Drawfee, and that I will be leaving out the majority of the negative aspects of the analysis. It should also be mentioned that this is more of an analysis of their online personas rather than who they actually are.

I did mention that I would leave out most negative things, but some things are core to a persons persona something they consciously and willingly put out into the world; again, this is not what I actually think these individuals are like, and is not a reflection of how I feel about them as a person. Things like "Julia doesn't know media" and "Jacob is the bad boy of Drawfee" that are explicitly stated as part of the persona is free game.

So, without further ado

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Caldwell, Prospitian Muse of Breath:

A Muse is the embodiment of and the inspiration to others through their aspect. The Muse class is one in a pair of incredibly powerful and rare classes known as the “master classes.”

Breath is the aspect of individuality, drive, optimism, and most importantly freedom.

As the Muse of Breath Caldwell inspires others to be themselves and be free, motivating creativity and driving others to pursue their dreams. Caldwells unbound optimism and resolve is a force to be reckoned with, in fact he so embodies freedom and enthusiastic ambition that he left Drawfee to pursue his own creative endeavors on the west coast.

Caldwell commands not only the forces of Skaia, but Skaia itself; his inspiring aura would be strong enough to end the war between Prospit and Derse in an instant, and even those that opposed him would find it hard to stay committed to their cause for long.

Caldwell would have the power to: a. control the wind, weather, and possibly even lightning by freeing the electrons from their atoms (though that might be an active ability) b. bypass any restraints, physical or otherwise, by any means necessary which c. Also means that he can most likely teleport at will and d. Probably turn incorporeal.

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Nathan, Prospitian Sylph of Hope:

A Sylph is a person who passively invites the healing and generation with their aspect.

Hope is the aspect of possibility, inspiration, and positivity.

As the Sylph of Hope Nathan is the light that helps others with his positivity and inspiration, not only does he help people but he inspires them to create their own hope. A Sylph of Hope would be able to see the potential for positivity in everything, and seek to be as amiable as possible, in turn helping others do the same.

Drawfee is as much a show about success as it is failure, it’s something that people can watch and say “These people make mistakes just like me” and they inspire hope for those down on their art.

One of the longest held of these humanizing aspects of the show is the apology at the end of every episode, which only became a thing after Nathan disliked a drawing so much that he was compelled to apologize, and it stuck. As much as that drawing might have sucked it inspired others who weren’t happy with their art to keep at it, and we are reminded of that after every episode.

Nathan is one of the first members of the crew to assure somebody that even if the piece didn’t come out the way they wanted, that it still looks good and is impressive nonetheless.

Nathan is the glue that holds this session together; with the presence of a prince, a bard, and a lord this session should have been doomed since the start, but Nathan’s pure awe inspiring hope promoted the best in everybody.

Nathan’s powers would include: a. A buff akin to bardic inspiration that could affect people to fight harder b. Healing abilities c. Probably an energy beam d. Manifestations of other’s hopes and dreams in the form of glowy specters like a JoJo stand.

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Julia, Dersite Lord of Void:

A Lord is the embodiment and commander of their aspect, not through inspiration but rather assimilation and domination.

Void is the aspect of confusion, secrets, and doubt.

As the Lord of Void Julia is the sovereign of secrets; unpredictable, unknowable, and the proprietor of unknown knowledge Julia uses her runes and studied knowledge to summon hideous abominations creatures from the void.

Void players have an inextricable link to the furthest ring; the furthest ring is the incomprehensible and unnavigable space that exists outside of the universe. The furthest ring acts as an impassable border between universes inhabited by massive eldritch gods called the “Horrorterrors.”

Julia would not only have the ability to traverse the furthest ring and visit other universes, but she would also have the ability to bend the horrorterrors to her will. She would be able to switch in and out of grimdark mode at will, and most likely would not be adversely effected.

Julias powers would most likely include: a. The creation and manipulation of black holes and the general desperation of physical matter b. The ability to turn invisible and probably teleport c. The ability to erase peoples memories and mute their senses, and d. The ability to speak, read, and write the language of the horrorterrors.

——————————————————————————————————

Jacob, Prospitian Prince of Rage:

A Prince is a destroyer of and with their aspect.

Rage is the aspect of fate, defiance, and rejection.

As the Prince of Rage Jacob is the destroyer of and through failure, negativity, and rejection. Jacob forged his own path, he destroyed his fate as a writer and destroyed the limits and expectations for what an artist could be, and he got a job at college humor despite the odds.

Jacob is also, or was, a punk; a subculture that is predicated on the destruction of barriers through rebellion.

Even though he can use Rage for good he often doesn’t; he is well known for stirring discourse, his particular brand of Rage elicits anger and hatred thanks to his flaming hot takes.

He is also known for his infinite petty anger at dumb things ex. “see animals shouldn’t live under ground,” “lizards shouldn’t have to lick their eyes,” “muppet is short for man-puppet,” “mayo is food lube,” and “if god’s ever been mad at anything I’ve said, he hasn’t done shit about it.”

Jacob’s abilities would be: a. Becoming physically stronger the angrier he gets, or somebody gets at him b. The ability to create and control lightning c. The ability to pacify or remove the anger from somebody d. The ability to make people fear him or e. turn against their own allies.

——————————————————————————————————

Karina, Dersite Knight of Heart:

A Knight is a person who precisely uses and exploits their aspect as a weapon or a tool.

Heart is the aspect of emotion, passion, and identity.

As a Knight of Heart Karina uses feelings as a weapon. Not only does Karina use her powers to literally use the emotions of her characters (see Schmidt and Nando) as a tool to effect others, but she also has deep passions like Neopets, Digimon, and Yugioh that she uses as a weapon to torment the Drawfee crew.

Karina is passionate about her identity, never missing a chance to mention any of her favorite things like Beelzemon, Seto Kaiba, catboys, or her Texan roots (Bucky’s).

Karina would have honed impulses, knowing when and where to act and how to do (or draw) something challenging. She also has the ability to hype up her friends, strengthening their resolve.

Karina’s abilities would be: a. She can create a powerful glowing weapon by materializing her soul b. She could find out the weaknesses, emotions, and insecurities of enemies c. She could split into multiple versions of herself to create a veritable army of clones, and d. Enter a soul form where she is basically impervious to most attacks.

——————————————————————————————————

David, Dersite Maid of Time:

A Maid is a person who heals and regenerates their aspect or with their aspect.

Time is the aspect of machines, music, and endings.

As a Maid of Time David heals time; more often then not time is not an abstract thing, and the responsibility of time players is to keep the timelines in order and fix paradoxes.

David, as the chief editor for Drawfee is responsible for taking whatever dumb shit the crew gives them and edit it to make the video palatable.

David is also interested in theater (see “Artists Draw Posters for Musicals (They've Never Seen)” one of the only episodes in which they appear) which is related to time through music.

An interesting thing to note about Time is that it is often equated with heat, fire, and lava, something David has experience with, revealed in the episode “Drawing What We're Thankful For In 2019” in which Nathan depicts David with an overheating external drive (something that is also mechanical).

David could: a. Essentially freeze time, making moments last for hours b. Heal paradoxes in the time line c. Fix events so they go favorably, or d. Speed up time to heal a wound

——————————————————————————————————

Tristan, Prospitian Mage of Light:

A Mage is a person who understands their aspect by experiencing it.

Light is the aspect of fortune, luck, relevance, and knowledge.

As a Mage of Light Tristan has an innate and personal understanding of lore; Tristan, through his interactions with pop culture, knows a lot about said things.

Mages often experience their aspect in a negative way, seen in the frequent possession of Tristan by the Lore Librarian, and his burden of knowledge about absurd and obscure facts about nerd media.

Tristan is one of the only people on the crew who understands how the game works and what the final boss’s deal is, but you know he’s going to be cryptic and vague about it because it’s funny. Tristan would have the uncanny ability to know what something is without having seen it before.

Tristans abilities are: a. Foresight, he can tell exactly when and where something will happen and manipulate them in his favor b. He can give people luck or take it away c. He can manipulate light and probably use it as a projectile, and d. Know exactly what has to be done at any moment.

——————————————————————————————————

Willie, Dersite Bard of Blood:

A Bard is a person who invites the destruction of or with their aspect

Blood is the aspect of bonds, stability, and unity.

As the Bard of Blood Willie actuates the severing of bonds and the dissolving of stability.

Willie is a change maker, he breaks down the stable and familiar structure of the established group dynamics in Drawfee often in an antagonistic way; Willie is well known for his hatred for Jacob, and his very presence elicits the rage in both of them.

Videos in which Willie appears are marked by hostility, but through him new and interesting things get made.

Being a bard isn’t all bad, Bards of blood are not one sided; A bard of blood has the ability to destroy using the bonds they have, uniting a group of people under a cause to destroy something, like rallying the crew against Jacob.

Willie, like a lot of the crew, has a lot of buffing abilities; utilizing his bonds he can make others more powerful and fight harder than they could otherwise.

Willie’s abilities are: a. Control of literal blood b. Group sync, he acts as a conduit through which the coordination and damage output increases, and c. Dismantle, he can break the bonds of atoms and make physical matter crumble away.

[land-of-classpects-and-analysis]

Seer of Breath

Freedom is one of the most important things in life, and it is something that everyone strives for. Whether it be the freedom of expressing yourself, being able to buy whatever you want, go wherever the winds and whispers of travel pull you along, there is always that yearning for change, action, and autonomy. It is a fear among many people to have this freedom taken away and instead be bound with puppet strings that never gain any slack. To be bound to one place, routine, job, and perhaps even person and/or relationship is something some people simply do not wish for. Give these traits to someone bound to the Aspect of Breath, and you are most certain to meet someone with the truest and freest spirit of all. That is to say, you will meet them if they are not a Seer of Breath.

Although Breath-bound are known to be rather expansive, often stretching themselves across many interests, hobbies, places and more, much like the open sky and ever shifting winds themselves, the Seer of Breath is one who would fail to see the appeal of this stretching. Why have all these different hobbies, some of which may become left behind or lead to unfinished projects, when they can just as easily stick to one or two hobbies and learn to master them? Why travel anywhere in the world when their home has everything they need to survive? Why break the routine when it has kept them safe and secure for all of these years? Why risk getting hurt by the world when you can stick to what you already know and trust, even if it’s a life-plan forged for them before they were even born?

The Seer of Breath, in the beginning of their journey, could be considered a stickler for the rules and overall kind of boring or bland. They don’t go to parties, they don’t have many hobbies and the ones they do are fairly mediocre or mundane, so on and so forth. If someone were to bring this up with the Seer of Breath, they most likely would just shrug and remark how it doesn’t bother them, so why should it bother others? Deep down, though, it is bothering them in the sense that they are not living life to the fullest. Even if the Seer of Breath wanted to break away from their routine or the plan set for them, the thought of any possible consequences or repercussions for this action often scares them away from doing anything. Change is difficult and sometimes downright terrifying to the Seer of Breath. Even if there is no immediate threat, the possibility of them losing their way and becoming stranded far from the safety of their home and routine is a difficult boundary for them to break down.

Much like all the other Seers, it would have to be up to the Seer of Breath to eventually invite knowledge of Breath and its properties, whether it be through the very select few people in their life or simply by the world around them. However, the Seer of Breath is a little special in that they have a little more flexibility in how they obtain knowledge. They can choose to invite knowledge of Breath and the freedom and leadership that comes with it, but they can easily flip the coin and instead invite knowledge through Breath, or rather through freedom, leadership, and more. Let’s stick with the former of the two options for now, though.

No one can dictate when the Seer of Breath is ready and willing to invite this knowledge of Breath other than themself. In life, the Seer of Breath may experience quite a lot of criticism from those in their life on how they live their own. They may have people in their life who do have rather distinct, daring, and thriving lives, but with these people will come the constant pressure and nudging, pulling, tugging, etc. to break free of the rhythms the Seer of Breath already follows. Even if some of these people have the Seer of Breath’s best intentions in mind, if caution is not taken, the Seer themself may decide to take matters into their own hands and instead close themself off from the world even more and bury themself even deeper into their rut of routine.

It may be difficult to pinpoint when exactly the Seer of Breath would become open enough to invite this knowledge, but chances are that when the Seer of Breath sits down and is ready to learn, it would be smart for those around them to act fast - who knows when another chance like this could ever pop up again? There are many reasons for the Seer of Breath to suddenly choose to come out of their rut and shell, especially since each Seer of Breath is unique in their walks of life. Maybe they have finally realized the monotony of their life and that with the way they are going about life, they might as well be dead already. Perhaps they wish to rebel against an authority figure or more in their life, realizing that they are more than some plan or legacy bound to them before their own birth, and as such they want a taste at this freedom. 

Maybe, just maybe, they’re tired of being a follower and now, instead, wish to learn what it means to be a leader. If that is the case, then that perfectly leads to the case of when a Seer of Breath invites knowledge through Breath. For those who wish to seek out that connection to their Breath Aspect via experiencing and/or witnessing it can sometimes be far more courageous and strongwilled than those who simply invite knowledge of it. To invite knowledge through it is to allow themself to fall at the mercy of their Aspect and rather experience it in all its different shapes and forms, good and bad. The best example of the Seer of Breath inviting this knowledge, this wisdom, through Breath is to seek out the strongest winds, whether physical or otherwise, and ride it as far as it can take them. They would seek out roles in leadership and try to obtain as much knowledge from it as they can, even if this role of leadership is not for the strongest group in the world.

The Seers of Breath who invite this knowledge through their Aspect are most likely well aware of the dangers that come with it. As gentle and loving as the breeze can be, it can just as easily shift into that of a heated and dry rage or a suffocating and freezing blizzard. They must be willing to take these blows as they travel on, taking whatever chances of leadership and freedom they can get, no matter how wonderful or harmful it may be. However, none of this means they are guaranteed success in forming that connection with their Aspect. Failure will always be a threat to any Seer in regards to connecting with their Aspect. It just so happens that those who wish to invite knowledge through it are the ones who decide to take on the most difficult way of forming this connection.

In the end, though, the Seer of Breath can become someone who is just as full of love, life and courage as all the other Breath-bound. Once they have formed their connection with their Aspect, they are one of the Breath-bound Classpects eager to step up and take the role of leader, whether it be for a day or many years to come. With a clear mind and steady hold on the group, they could lead themself and everyone else to the best places, scenarios, and/or situations. However, oftentimes this leadership/heroism could be accidental, as the Seer of Breath could be going about their business until gaining the sense that they must shift the breeze of themself and/or others into another, safer direction. After all, the best vantage point to gain any visions of a promising future would most definitely be at the head of the group - which is where the Seer of Breath would stand amongst the group. They are not exactly the captain of the ship, but rather the one who looks out over the sea for any icebergs or looming threats. If something needs to be changed to ensure everyone’s safety, the Seer of Breath is one who would be able to feel the shifting of fate’s breeze, and as such would (hopefully) know to act accordingly. Having come out of their shell, the Seer of Breath proves how no chain is strong enough to hold down anyone forever, and that no rut is too deep to crawl out of. All they have to do is welcome the breeze to come pick them up and take them away.

[classpecting-thoughts]

Oh boy.. I hope I can explain this well without sounding completely out of my mind. You’ve opened my favorite can of worms @freelancerofthetriforcekeyblade

So, it is a reference. Specifically it is a reference to the system of Classpecting from Homestuck. Classpect is a portmanteau of the words Class and Aspect, which are the two components that I am discussing here. An Aspect is both a representation of parts of a character’s personality and a shorthand for the general power set they would have if they were to be players in the game the plot of Homestuck revolves around. A Class is sort of like a modifier to the aspect. It’s how the character interacts with their aspect, what they use it for. In this case, I’m not focusing so much on the Homestuck game side of things, and am more using it as a way of analyzing these characters.

There are 12 aspects and 14 classes (two of the classes are different though, but I won’t go into that here.)

From the things I said in the original post, Blood and Heart are Aspects, Knight and Heir are Classes.

Blood as an Aspect is all about bonds, relationships, and leadership (typically more in an inspirational role than a physical one, but not always)

Heart as an Aspect is the soul, the self, and identity.

Knights weaponize/exploit their aspect, and are more likely to use their abilities for others than for themselves. (That’s what’s referred to in the original post as a passive class, but an active use)

Heirs become/invite change in and/or through their aspect. Meaning they control their aspect, but not in the sense of a puppet master, more as a conduit, if that makes any sense. They are also a passive class, meaning they are more likely to use their abilities for others.

So, an Heir of Heart becomes soul/is a conduit for change in themselves, leaning more towards helping others.

An Heir of Blood becomes bonds (ie: gets attached to people)/is a conduit for relationships & leadership

A Knight of Blood weaponizes relationships/exploits being a leader, usually with the goal of benefiting others.

I hope that made sense! This is something I do in my head every time I get into something new, but I’m new to posting about it so putting into words for people who don’t have the same kind of brainrot is something I’m learning as I go.

Apologies for a lack of posts! I fell down an AO3 rabbit hole and just crawled out.

I’ve been reading DCxDP crossovers, despite having 1) never seen Danny Phantom and 2) having never read any Batman comics, and only having seen like.. 3 Batman movies, none of which were the same continuity (The Batman, Batman Begins, and the Tim Burton one, for those curious. Of those three I only enjoyed The Batman).

That being said, I have aspect thoughts for some characters purely based on the fannon in these fics and would like to hear others’ thoughts. Note my above credentials and take everything with a grain of salt.

Batman, at least in any continuity it’s reasonable for him to have the Batfam in (glares at most of the movies other than The Batman), is a Blood player. He’s defined by his relationship to his city, his many children, his dead family, and his adoptive father/butler. He is 100% a passsive class, active use type. I’d say Knight, maybe Heir.

Danny is an Heir of Heart. Did I base this thought mostly on the fact that that is literally “One who becomes/inherits soul”? Yes. Do I still think it fits outside of that? Also yes.

Jason went grimdark when he came back and some of that stuck with him, maybe to the point that either his class or aspect fully shifted. I’m not sure what he was before nor what he is now, but I’m certain that they’re different.

[nonstop-nonsensical-notes]

Scott Pilgrim Classpects pt.5

Onto the final Scott Pilgrim classpection, the villain of the comic himself....

Gideon Graves

Gideon Graves - Lord of Mind

Gideon’s classpect was surprisingly easy to figure out. Let’s start with aspect. He is very clearly a mind player to me, as he created and has complete control over “The Glow” which is a powerful weapon which he can use to manipulate people’s minds when they come in contact to it. He used it to alter Scott's memories, and to control Ramona’s mind. He also used it to become an all-powerful god within Ramona’s head. His use of the mind aspect seems like the behavior of a Lord. A lord is a player who has complete command over their aspect and can pretty much manipulate it to do whatever they want it to. A lord normally has a lot of people working under them, and only does something themselves when they absolutely need to. This is very much what Gideon does, as he can use the Glow to manipulate the mind however he wishes. The only time we see him in the story is for his final fight with Scott. At all other points in the story, he uses the evil exes to accomplish his goals for him. He is basically an evil puppet master in complete control from the shadows, which is why it is so hard to defeat him. That is why I think Gideon is a Lord of mind. 

[hanbeihood]

Meat, Candy, & some Horror movies!

This is a bit of a continuation on my “A take” post.

Plan and simple: Ult!Dirk gives me major vibes of John Kramer & Co. from the Saw series, and Alt!Calliope gives me those of the Facility and ultimately the Organization from The Cabin in the Woods.

Now, what do I mean by this? Surely I’m not equating the Prince to Jigsaw and the Muse to the employees of the Organization, right? No, I’m not, not entirely. What I do mean is that the 2 timelines hit very similar beats to those of certain aspects of the movies based on how the Prince and Muse engage in storytelling. (This is quite long by my standards.)

Meat: In the Saw series we see Kramer and various apprentices/followers “help people appreciate their lives” by actively putting them into traps. There is little choice for the victims if they wish to survive but to “play a game”. Those who fail or refuse the game are then dead meat unless a “Deus Ex Machina” saves the day. In the Prince’s way of storytelling, he actively puts people into scenarios via his abilities of an Ultimate Prince of Heart. That is to say, he is a Destroyer of Souls that has become more, a Destroyer of Agency, a Puppet-master. Very few are able to resist his influence, his game. Those few are likely able to do so because of conflicting Classpect relations with his own. A Defender to his Destroyer; a Mind to his Heart. For the ones bent to his influence, they do things the way /he/ thinks they ought to be done. The thing about the Saw series is that it has so many sequels; some would say too many and that the series could have ended years ago. However, it persisted regardless of what audiences/ critics think because the turn-out is always good enough to justify the next one. Meat offers substance to a diet; one can survive on it as long the diet is balanced well. (Just substitute “meat” for “protein” or w/e if you feel the need to tell me you don’t eat meat.) Even if you get bored of having meat at every meal like how there used to be a Saw movie ready for consecutive Halloween seasons from 2004-2010 then taking a break until 2017 with another in the works for 2020, you can still have snacks or movies of other genres that provide just as much satisfaction. This timeline is /intended/ to be the main course regardless of how we feel about it. If we wanted to, we could liken it to a structure found in anime of the 80s & 90s. (My 1st thought is Space Pirate Captain Harlock; I wonder why!)

Candy: In The Cabin in the Woods, we see the workers at the Facility subtly lead a group of unaware characters to the titular cabin where they will then alter the behaviors and mentalities of the characters by passively allowing certain substances and choices by the characters take effect in order to have things set up in a specific way for their overall goal. This goal is ultimately “good” for the entire world despite the methods that are taken to achieve it. The methods are necessary, resulting in purposeful cliches, archetypes, and OOC scenarios being reacted to IC by victims who /are/ still in their own selves. In the Muse’s way of storytelling, she passively has things happen out of our (the audience’s) view, and we then get to see characters react to their own actions, choices, etc regardless of how OOC they may be. Certain things she illustrates don’t make any sense based on what we know about the characters, their mannerisms, and so on. Taking in the truths and seeing the characters essentially “yes and” them is akin to telling someone a scene about themselves when the script makes it clear these aren’t things they would’ve done at all, at least not in the way presented. The Cabin in the Woods has no sequels as of yet. There is talk of one potentially, but based on the movie itself, a follow-up would likely be a prequel or take place at the same time as the first movie just in a different setting. The movie was highly popular and is a fun possible explanation as to why so many old horror movies have certain tropes in common. Candy just tastes good. Most offer no nutritional value in the long run, but we continue to eat them anyway. Candy is a nice snack between meals after a long day. Holidays like Halloween and Easter provide us with so much candy that can be savored over the course of the year or eaten within a short period of time to the point of feeling sick. This is similar to TCitW being a treat that viewers can go back to. They might not get anything new out of it unless they truly pay attention to each detail. Maybe they’ll even add their own interpretations/ flavor into the mix to see it through a new lens. This timeline is /intended/ to be a small treat for the audience despite how much it will satiate us. If we wanted to, we could draw parallels between it and classic soap operas. (It’s almost as if the Muse is drawn to over-the-top drama!)

tl;dr The Prince & Muse are narrating in ways that they think would make for an enjoyable story regardless of the compatibility of scenes and the characters they’ve put in those scene.

[god-tier-aesthetics]

what does Mod Spacey think the most problematic classpect would be? Can they analyse it, if there's one at all?

Oh, I know. As long as I can choose from Master classes, then this one is easy. Let’s get right into the MOST PROBLEMATIC CLASSPECT OF ALL TIME.

LORD: one who becomes their aspect to control it.

MIND: thought, choices, free will, outer self

In my personal opinion, the Lord of Mind with a bad attitude/not-nice personality is hands down the most problematic classpect. Now sure, this title has it’s perks - but I think the problematic part comes from the very state of the powers it has and a scenario where the Lord isn’t a good person. Let’s break this down - the Lord can become mind. They have completely control over the minds of others by becoming that person's mind. 100% domination, able to competently control all they think and do with little chance of resistance. Now when I say this title has it’s perks, this could be absolutely amazing to defeat the enemies - but in our situation where the Lord is cruel... well. Every thought, every action, every idea, everything that makes up a person’s mind is at at the fingertips of the Lord. They can just control any member of their team like a puppet. Forcing their mind to make the body move as they see fit. Absolute mind control. They could just hide in the shadows while they make a bunch of unsuspecting people do their bidding. Terrifying.

Prior to god-tiering, this person might be the abusive boyfriend. The control-freak. The person who wants to be the leader of every situation. They just wouldn’t be a good person, and their title upon ascension would crank their ego up to 11 and cause absolute chaos. The Lord of Mind is a dangerous combination, especially considering this personality to boot.

A good land for this title might be... Land of Puppets and Haze? [LOPAH]

They wouldn’t even need a strife specibus, honestly. But if they had one, maybe staffkind or spearkind.

This title and that personality with it is terrifying. This is my personal opinion, by the way. Having this title doesn’t automatically make you a bad person. 

[theorynexus]

As we reach 49, we near the half-way mark in the century of posts. My word, how many of these will there be?

Oh, and we are at Page 25 of Meat, which means that if the prologue were not included, this would represent a near perfect, “Two posts per page” ratio.  Buuuut... things haven’t quite worked out that way, I guess.

... This all seems very ominous. Her speaking about trolls in such a way does not bode well for her mental state, I think.  Hard to be certain, but... hmm.  The implications of these generalizations about human nature suggest that she is either having great difficulty with the challenges Dirk is presenting to her, or that her aforementioned ascension is causing continued challenges to her mental stability.   The scrutiny mention makes me lean further toward the former, but I don’t believe I can support either wholeheartedly, at the moment.

While in broad strokes I can certainly embrace this idea, no, it certainly is not sinful or dysfunctional to question it.  This is because human beings are both social creatures demanding intimacy and belonging and individuals demanding singularity and personal excellence. To fully abandon one or the other is in fact to renounce humanity.   In particular, to pour one’s self into a collectivist mentality that would seek to obtain a higher being via the blurring of thoughts and personae together to the exclusion of such matters as the love and concern one might feel for one’s wife is absolutely anathema to humanity, and should be repulsive to anyone who truly understands what it means to be human-- ... even if they have personally obtained a state already that sets them up as being more than human in the sense of capability and mortality.

Grrrrrr...!   You’re taking her agency from her, Narrator!   To take away from her choice as you suppress her powers and seemingly use them to expand your own is just... horrendous.  I struggle now to properly express it, but the suppression of agency is a threat to her identity and undermines any important decisions, consent, or beliefs that she might come to express in the near future. Choosing what is or is not important for someone to know, especially when it is taking advantage of someone who’s in as vulnerable a situation as she is, is reprehensible, and absolutely sickens me, because it flies right in the face of her Classpect, as well. She should be able to understand and see the importance of what’s going on around her, and sense the information he’s suppressing, darnit!

Hmmm.   ***scratches my head***     I do wonder, though.   This paragraph makes it seem as if she might be in a better position than she seems to be in. To ask who is calling is not necessarily to suggest you do not know, in a technical sense, I suppose.  Her hiding her actual face alludes to deception, and the ghostly image of herself seeming to speak, yet leaving the Narrator uncertain, could imply a certain degree of growing capacity to fool him, in general. I suppose this goes back to the statement that both of them think they are acting as puppet masters in their own little games.  There certainly could be a sense of competition that is actively going on between them. A lack of information as far as Rose has been concerned, previously, along with the way that the previous last encounter we were able to have with her before the Kanaya calls made it seem like her body had slipped into unconsciousness, so this sudden contradictory information makes it hard to judge things.

I am sorry to see Rose react that way.   That said: I now see that her earlier statements (at the beginning of the page) were largely meant as ground work in an argument that suggests she does not buy what Dirk’s trying to sell. I am very much glad to see that realization hit me, and quite obviously appreciate her point of contention.  On the other hand, from a philosopher’s perspective, I also very much enjoy the fact that Dirk quite rightly brings that sort of question to the table, which is indeed necessary to answering that sort of question without doing so in a manner that is quite emotionally-based, biased based on deeply-ingrained preconceptions, or otherwise faulty in nature.

HEY, KIERKEGAARD IS GREAT!!!   Also:  I do in fact know that Rose is dealing with a severe migraine, and that it is likely that she might otherwise be more amicable to such discussions... albeit to what degree, it’s impossible to say.

I really do appreciate the fact that the lack of academic studies on the Kids’ parts is being actively integrated into the story.   I would like to suggest that I very much do believe that many of them are quite intelligent, and have developed their minds in such a way that with time, the seeds of great philosophers might sprout inside many of them; however, I do in fact remain skeptical that Dirk has had anywhere near the life experience to be properly judging the issues he’s attempting to tackle, right now. Certainly, if their time in their universe had left the group in their later 20s or early 30s, I could see him being in a better position to make the sorts of weighty arguments and decisions he is apparently making (those of pursuing unity of consciousness and greater godhood of being, alongside the others, it would seem).    Even the example of Kierkegaard, who began publishing important works relatively early in his life for a philosopher, was nearing 30 at that time.

I was quite surprised that Dirk is playful enough to admit the silliness of his prior statement of credentials, for a moment, but honestly, that is quite in-character.  Whether or not this actually causes him to pause and think about things differently is an entirely different matter. I most certainly don’t think it shall do so.

This entire sequence is absolutely beautiful and hilarious.  Also, Hegel’s pretty hilarious to bring up, at least to me.  Specifically:  Kierkegaard was an absolutely vehement opponent of Hegelian branches of philosophy, so his name coming up from Dirk shortly afterward is quite ironic, which I’m sure was quite intentional on Hussie’s part. The fact that this is all being argued via shorthand makes this all surprisingly humorous. As for the last bit he’s bringing up:  that’s a nice segue into the actual argument/discussion.

Indeed, he brings up a somewhat valid point. This is part of the Ultimate Riddle.  However, he fails to realize one greatly important thing:  Free will is totally a thing in Homestuck. It’s just that certain timelines are important to the integrity of reality.  Thus, they have to be pushed for, and the collective will of all life to persist nudges things in that direction, via interactions of Light, Void, Hope, and DOOM. It should also be particularly noted and emphasized that the decisions of individuals determine their fates, as shown especially via the death mechanics of godhood. Beyond this, there theoretically should be quite a bit of wiggle room allowed in getting from point A to point B on the “necessary stuff needs to happen” list, as shown via the fact that the Kids dawdled so bloody long in the first place before giving John their own version of The Choice, and essentially booting his butt out to face LE, in this timeline.

Yes, your flexing of narrative control in your limited, likely temporary fashion most certainly shows a lack of free will, especially in light of the feats of defiance that people have shown to your commands, and how closely your level of influence resembles that of other such writer figures in your position.   My mind particularly turns to Andrew Hussie’s ghost influencing Caliborn, as well as the resulting shaking of the website as he attempted to crowbar its stability out of existence in retribution for Hussie’s mockery.    Of course, that author seemed to be closer to omniscient--- or at least better at managing loose threads ---than the current ego taking up the Narrator’s seat. He certainly didn’t seem to be quite so cocky, and seemed a bit more performative in his role than the current one.  Perhaps that’s because of the fact that he purposefully secluded himself from the main action of the story, unlike you.

***laughs hysterically at the irony of this amateurish lack of self-control, and the surprisingly go-with-the-flow sort of   modus operandi  that someone who projects such Machiavellian capacities has embraced*** This whimsical little break from the serious analysis and following of the story that I generally do has compelled a thought, a question, and an idea into my mind, it would seem.  Namely: of course Dirk’s growing understanding and mastery over Heart will naturally have afforded him an understanding of the narrative nature of the world of Homestuck. After all, Heart, very similar to Light, deals with the true nature of things: while Light deals with broad categories of knowledge, information, data, code (overlapping with DOOM), luck, relevance, and fate, Heart deals with the true nature of things in a simple, core-oriented fashion-- it looks at what a person’s soul is, and what that makes them; the nature of love and of social bonds associated with them (which partially overlaps with Blood), and the core nature of Reality, Truth, and the Aspects which relate to them. Given this nature for Heart, his deepening connection with it would naturally cause him to tend toward a wider understanding of the world around them-- and specifically, the Narrative.   Given his awakened awareness of this, it is logical for him to then become jaded concerning free will, and likewise, given his particular Classpect (Prince of Heart), it is natural for him to attempt to use his heightened capacities to interface and tinker with the story. The fact that his Class, which would traditionally be interpreted as a Destroyer, can be used to subvert its aspect (read: transforming the way it develops by partial destruction in the same way that a gardener pruning a plant manipulates the development of the plant in their care) can be evidenced in numerous ways. Most prominently:    Dirk destroyed Caliborn’s core identity as Caliborn by fusing his soul with three others, thus forming Lord English;    Brain Ghost!Dirk attempted to destroy Aranea’s identity as a living soul, not by fully rending her spirit, but by removing it from its place in contact with the Ring of Life;  finally, Dirk-as-Bro radically altered Dave’s identity over the course of his lifetime, but most clearly and impactfully via the rending of his katana and the scratching of his shirt’s disk (which were both highly symbolic of Dave’s soul, if the fact that the Scratch taking place on just such a disk or his sword[s] later being able to transform from broken to whole via time magic [also an expression of Dave’s soul, and its resilience+destined transformation] didn’t clue you in). To the point:  It is something of a wonder that Dirk has not yet begun to realize his limitations via the constraints that his manipulation of Narrative have placed upon them. My suspicion is that while his interface with Rose(? the way the story presents the aftermath is confusing, considering her continued seeming consciousness+own thoughts) may have increased his capacity to See Light, depending on how precisely it works, he has (as of yet) not such command over relevance and agency as he’d like us to believe. Furthermore, he is still not quite at the point that he has fully realized his understanding of Heart, either. The fact that he is questioning Free Will certainly shows that he is on the brink of an epiphany, but he seems to have become a bit lost in the reeds, as it were.   Many characters have fallen at this point because they have attempted to egotistically promote their own will and desire to the subversion of others and the needs of the wider world. Aranea and Vriska come to mind, but also Lord English, assuming that he has indeed perished as the Narration would have us believe. This is a natural part of Fate, and I am quite certain that if Dirk remains on this path, he will fall afoul of that same Just end.  Even if he does have the capacity to control the influence of one of the four Aspects which seem to deal most with Fate/ (which are Time [for obvious reasons of timing and timeline mechanics {including the Scratch}], Light [via Relevance, Canonicity, Luck, coherence, and Necessity], Heart [with regards to Classpects and their relation to key world interactions/expressions of self, entangling of individuals with one another, and through the reflections of Self across timelines {see Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff persisting on the Alpha Kids’ side of the Scratch, for example}], and DOOM [via most of what the aspect has to offer:  rules, inevitability, factors {especially disasters} outside of one’s control, et cetera]), this does not mean that Dirk truthfully has wider control over Fate, generally, nor does it mean that he can avoid the consequences to his actions. I should also at this point randomly insert a statement suggesting that the other 8 Aspects can be split into two camps: Choice/Freedom ---  Mind, Hope, Breath, Life and Mixed/Paradoxical  --- Space, Void, Blood, and Rage The former of these two categorizations should be mostly obvious:  Mind represents personal choice (both in the way you present yourself, and in your course of actions), Hope represents belief transcending the mundane and Possibility beyond the restrictions of what should be Real and/or opportunities beyond what would seemingly be available to you given the constraints that present themselves; Breath is all about freedom from constraints (up to and including the constraints of physical being) and the ability to fly off in various directions (often beyond the expected/normally available paths); and finally, Life, being the antithesis of DOOM, allows for the breaking of rules (see the sugary explosion of rulebreaking that was Trickster Mode) and the extension of possibility beyond what would be something’s inevitable end (healing, revival, prototyping, et cetera). As for the latter set:   Space has a associations with birth, potentiality, and the breaking of barriers, but Space itself is as much a curse as a boon-- yes, it does allow for the interaction of beings with the physicality of the world, and it allows for the continuation of life; yet Homestuck is a Gnostic text, and that means that one must also take Space to be one of the principle forces which constrains action by allowing the defining and regulating of the world; and it imposes corruption upon things by allowing for a stage wherein the Aspects can mix and form more complex concepts.  (Mind you, this is of course quite important for human life, and those of us who live in the material world could argue that it is therefore a “good”, from our perspective. Nonetheless, that fact-- that it enables such “corruption” demonstrates in and of itself that this belongs in a “mixed” category.) Void is a bit simpler:  It is the Aspect of the unknowable, uncertain, and so on; but most importantly, these barriers which tend toward the production of impossibility do at the same time hide a very important flip-side of the coin --- that is, Void also presides over imagination, which is the force which brings forth possibility from fantasy and drags ideas into physical reality. As such, this slippery element of existence very clearly exists in a liminal state worthy of this group. Blood’s binding capacity ties one to the physical world, but it simultaneously entrenches one in the subtleties of social existence, which is above/beyond the bestial sort of being that Blood’s carnal title would suggest. Furthermore, while blood is by its nature a binding, restrictive force, it is one which allows for one to be given purpose. Binding yourself to a group of friends to cooperate with one another and find higher purpose is at the very heart of what Homestuck is. This allows for greater possibilities than what would be able to be accomplished alone-- and this is the nature of many (perhaps most) contracts and bonds that can/should be made: they allow for the formation of restrictions, but those are in exchange for other benefits.     This is why Karkat would make a great leader:  Blood is the Aspect that is closest to the Social Contract which underlies political life. A player who deeply relates to/embodies this Aspect in a well-fulfilled manner therefore is a natural fit for political power. Rage:  ... Don’t even get me started with Rage. I’m a Capricorn and I don’t understand that nonsense.  It narrows your mind, blocks out your thoughts, and skews your brain. Despite the fact that it should be the Aspect that focuses you and makes sure your head doesn’t hang out in the clouds all the fricking time, it’s like banging your head on a cinder block every single time you try to wrap your thoughts around it. Don’t bother with considering such double-edged Tragi-Comic garbage Aspect. Just... waste your time and focus your thoughts on something else. Now what the heck was I talking about...?