#Knight of Time Analysis

[bisclavret]

like many who have suffered at the hands of bbc merlin before me, i recently indulged in a thought experiment in which i outlined my own version of seasons 3-5 that stay thematically and tonally in line with the show (except they're less fucking stupid). but then i quickly realized that focusing on details is pointless: all you need is to solve the one Big Problem the show has, and the rest will follow. the problem in question? ✨morgana✨

i like the first two seasons. s1 achieves what it sets out to do and has fun while doing it, and s2, while flawed, sets up a ton of potential that the following seasons unfortunately squander, beginning with the insidious season 3. you can only distract me with cute knights and goblins and fart jokes for so long before i start seeing through you, evil, evil season of television.

my hypothesis is that if the writers had crafted s3 morgana into anything more sympathetic than a violent half-alive poltergeist that can never be reasoned with because she's suddenly terminally off her rocker, everything would've fallen into place. a sympathetic morgana would've made real, valid arguments against uther (and arthur) that wouldn't just be the ramblings of a woman possessed. her betrayal of arthur would have stemmed from her feeling increasingly morally superior to him because of his complacency in the face of their father's tyranny. under morgause's guidance she would stop believing that arthur is capable of change, and the whole point would be that she might actually be right. arthur would have to actively try and prove her wrong, instead of getting praised for doing the bare minimum because the bar is on the floor.

furthermore, morgana's prophetic dream about arthur and gwen becoming king and queen and her decision to prevent this however she can is a direct parallel to merlin learning about that same prophecy and making it happen by any means necessary. merlin's desires about his and arthur's futures are subtextually fueled by gay love and devotion, so why couldn't morgana's be? why couldn't she properly express her bitterness that arthur gets to be with gwen in a way she can't "took gwen away" from her, instead of suddenly declaring that gwen is nothing more than a servant, after two seasons of demonstrating again and again that she loves, values, and respects gwen more than anyone else in that godforsaken castle?

following this, an angry and emotionally volatile but still sensible morgana asking gwen to stay by her side during the coup of the castle in the s3 finale and gwen going behind her back to help arthur and the knights would've hurt like a bitch. double-sided betrayal! gwen having a real plot! the proper beginnings of a toxic yuri that would shape a generation!

then there's the utter hubris of having morgana shoot arrows at the same civilians she worried herself sick over for 2 seasons — even morgan, her medieval counterpart that was rooted in every sexist trope in existence, doesn't just go around killing senselessly but instead has (often petty!) personal vendettas against gwen, arthur, and the knights. morgana had every right to be sick of the pretensions around chivalry in camelot (she was always quick to mock it, even in s1), and to lash out at the knights and soldiers after years of feeling powerless in a castle full of armed men that blindly followed her oppressor. the show conveniently forgets that morgana was victimized as a woman as well as a sorcerer those first 2 seasons.

but like i said, this is not just about morgana. allowing her to remain a real and multifaceted character even as she betrays everyone in pursuit of her ambitions would've given the rest of the core four more interesting conflict to work with: merlin because he would have to experience real consequences to his actions, arthur because he would watch his sister go against his father (and his knights, and his birthright) and experience some actual internal dilemmas about it, and gwen because she would be forced to choose between morgana and arthur without the pretense that it's an obvious or easy choice for her to make.

even morgause and gaius would come off more interesting as mentors: neither one inherently evil or inherently good, both jaded by events that happened before our protagonists were even born, both heavily influencing morgana and merlin into fulfilling roles that they think are appropriate, but that morgana and merlin may not have chosen for themselves had they not been under their care.

you get the gist. if the show followed its own setup, morgana's mistakes wouldn't lie in cheap and senseless acts of violence but in alienating the people she loves because she is too hurt and jaded to trust them. meanwhile, everybody else would feel guilt over "failing" her and yet they would be too caught up in their own (sometimes flawed!) beliefs of right and wrong to truly see her point of view.

arthur would convince himself it was sorcery that corrupted her. merlin would know that isn't true but he wouldn't be able to argue without confessing everything, which is the defining conflict between him and morgana and it's cheapened when she's just an evil witch caricature and merlin is framed as inherently virtuous in contrast. gwen, too, would become a more active participant in her own life by choosing arthur over morgana and choosing to rule camelot with him instead of just waiting politely to see where things go.

and, of course, uther's downfall and death would be quick, final, and completely earned — when and why did the show even decide he of all people was the sympathetic villain, anyway?

lastly, and perhaps controversially, i think morgana should've learned merlin's true identity by season 4. her being the first of the main characters to find out makes perfect sense considering their shared history and their interconnected and mirrored arcs. even the show seems to agree, considering she does find out a little before arthur. but the narrative itself tried pointing flashing neon arrows towards this way earlier — there is a whole entire episode in s4 where merlin being emrys is repeatedly spelled out for morgana and she still isn't allowed to see it. that episode makes her look like the stupidest person to ever live, which is pretty funny im not gonna lie, but also another frustrating thing in the endless string of frustrating things that make up this show.

morgana learning that merlin has magic would've transformed the source of merlin's anxiety from a crippling fear of being outed someday to the crippling fear of knowing she could out him at any moment. this would make him want to beat her to the punch (perhaps he'd consider killing her for a minute and decide against it because she isn't a cartoonishly insane evil person in my version of events) and maybe he would even feel some tentative excitement at the idea of coming clean, now that it seems inevitable. after all, he always intended to tell arthur eventually! and i think gaius would have to admit outright that he does not want merlin to tell arthur he has magic because he, gaius, simply cannot risk such a gamble. it would be so interesting to see gaius and merlin clash and disagree once it becomes obvious that it's not merlin that isn't ready for the reveal, it's gaius. delicious!

with morgana's knowledge looming, things would inevitably spiral into a magic reveal by the end of season 4. i picture this season as an absolute mess of miscommunication between everyone at camelot, which is, y'know, canon. growing increasingly cunning and vengeful, morgana would use this tension to her advantage, destabilizing the court from the outside while she creates alliances with other sorcerers outside of camelot (instead of living alone in a hovel for no reason — morgana le fay i'm sorry i'm so sorry they gave you agravaine instead of your all-female entourage oh my god).

and here's where the events would change beyond recognition (aka here's where the meta becomes the fanfic i refuse to write). picture it with me: a militia of sorcerers infiltrates camelot and arthur and gwen have to set aside their differences (assuming gwen kissing lancelot and arthur overreacting happens, which it should) for the good of the kingdom as well as for love. picture high priestess morgana in her element, side by side with a bunch of misfit sorcerers that aren't so easily vilified, chopping down camelot's soldiers and knights and assuredly making their way to the newly-minted king.

then, just as it starts to seem that all hope is lost, in swoops merlin (the actual merlin, not his old fart disguise) on dragonback (kilgharrah hates morgana so much i know his sexist ass would stoop to anything to stop her)!!! imagine merlin showing off the extent of his powers in front of everyone and preventing the sorcerers from getting any further, declaring loud and clear that camelot is protected by him, by emrys. imagine that display of power alone being enough to send everyone home.

imagine the loyalties clearly drawn: merlin on arthur's side, morgana on the sorcerers'. imagine arthur, feeling confused and betrayed by everyone at this point, banishing merlin despite everything he's done for him in the angstiest, most emotionally dysregulated scene the show had ever put to screen. imagine merlin starting season 5 free at last but very lonesome, an embittered dragonlord like his father. imagine the absolute mess camelot would become without him, even with gwen — now queen guinevere — there to pick up the slack. imagine arthur actually earning merlin back, finally growing into his role as king as he does so. imagine the reunion.

all this and more could've been not just possible but inevitable if morgana was allowed to remain a complex character that is neither inherently good nor inherently evil: it was undeniably the biased and one-note treatment of morgana's downfall by the writers that set the precedent for literally everything else that happened after merlin chose to poison her. the show wouldn't have even had to jeopardize its tone or the monster-of-the-week vibe, all it would've had to do is admit that even the "good guys" are capable of mistakes and what makes them good is the ability to feel remorse and change for the better. (as opposed to uther, who was miles beyond redemption since way before the pilot and deserved to lose everything and die alone. OBVIOUSLY???)

in a world where morgana remains multifaceted and sympathetic, mordred would get a better arc as well, so if we really wanted to, we could still end on the same tragic note that the show ended on. with so much harm inflicted onto so many innocent people by the pendragons for so long (including mordred and the many druids and sorcerers that raised him), it could realistically end up being a little too late for anything more than one shining glimpse of king arthur and the sorcerer merlin's short-lived golden age before fate catches up to them. glimpsing that reality just to immediately lose it would've been far more satisfying and far more tragic than whatever the writers thought they were doing with all that pointless carrot-dangling.

and finally, an ending in line with morgana's new and improved arc. in this version, rather than bleeding out on the forest floor alone, she would channel the morgan le fay we know from the legends: sobered up by the reality of her brother dying, she would use her high priestess status (and perhaps also her pendragon status) to be granted passage over to avalon alongside arthur on the boat — a one-way ride — just to make sure he gets there safely. this is her penance for the harm she has caused, the same way arthur's penance is to die and leave the true ruler of camelot (gwen) behind to achieve everything he was too slow and indecisive to build while he still had time.

merlin's penance, then, would be to stay behind and watch them cross over without him, waiting and waiting and waiting until they come back or until he can finally join them. which is a bit fucking harsh if i'm honest, so i'd at least make it slightly more faithful to the legends by having him return as an old man and letting him take a long nap under a tree by the shore, his body slowly enveloped by vines like the cobwebbed fisher king in 3x08, never fully sure if he's dreaming or if there really are strange shapes fading in and out of the fog over the lake. still tragic, but nevertheless a little more open-ended and whimsical than [TRUCK NOISES] THE END!

[eregar]

heinrix had access to an imperial knight stripped from him and instead, he just made himself into one. he’s still piloting this representation of imperial ideal like he was raised to, only the war-machine carapace isn’t plasteel and adamantium, it’s his body. the sixth canticle of the ritual of becoming asks that you become your knight as it becomes you and that’s exactly what he did.

[starlit1daydream]

Knights & Pages: Deficiency and Exploitation

Well, then... here we are.

A day in delay, I'm aware; but I'm afraid I can't always be accounting for extraneous real-life factors. My apologies.

The Knight:Page class dichotomy embodies deficiency, exploitation and arguably compensation as well. They imbue their Aspect into their fighting prowess, utilise it both as a weapon and a tool, and often use it to constitute a shield as well. (Literally and metaphorically).

The presence of either (or both) of these classes also functions as a signal; as by their very nature, they exist to compensate for a deficiency in their Aspect within their session proper.

Canonical Knight players are Dave Strider (Knight of Time), Karkat Vantas (Knight of Blood) and Latula Pyrope (Knight of Mind).

Canonical Page players are Jake English (Page of Hope), Tavros Nitram (Page of Breath) and Horuss Zahhak (Page of Void).

So, Point A. The narrative function of the Knight.

Narratively speaking, the Knight is one who defends their Aspect; and uses it as a defense in turn. They are defined by maintaining a rigid facade, born of their Aspect and used to hide a perceived deficiency in it. Their Aspect is their sword and their shield, and this oft manifests as a deep-seated insecurity.

Dave's insecurity is with his masculinity, mortality and conception of 'heroism'. Karkat's insecurity is with the colour of his blood, his fear of ostracisation and social exile. Latula's insecurity is less clear-cut, but the most prevalent theory is that the injury that rendered her anosmic also left her with brain damage.

Thus, we see here that their fear comes from lacking in their Aspect. Dave lacks confidence in his ability to face closure & his projections of masculinity (something he misconstrues with heroism). Dave doesn't want a great destiny; he wants to be a normal guy who lives a normal life and dies a normal death. He's essentially a tutorial NPC thrust into plot bullshit after plot bullshit.

Karkat lacks confidence in his sense of self caused by his mutant blood and his persistent fear of social ostracisation and subsequent death should his status be exposed. One could also argue it is a disillusionment with the Alternian social order that he does not fit into by design, but feels he must follow anyways (hence his ass-kissing dreams of threschecutioner greatness).

(Here's where the conjecture comes in...)

Latula lacks confidence in her capacity for rational thought and ability to use logic for her own (and others') defense. If we're going with the TBI narrative for her, she feels as if she lacks intelligence as a result. Tying into Latula's commentary on the misogyny in online gaming circles and we get a girl who is deeply, deeply terrified of rising above her station and displaying an intellect.

So, Dave pretends to be a self-assured, chauvinistic 'cool kid'.

Karkat pretends to be a bossy, self-righteous 'perfect leader'.

Latula pretends to be an air-headed, radical 'gamer chick'.

All of them deny themselves depth and identity for the explicit purpose of denying people the right to know them on a deeper level.

Let's simplify this - Knights feel they lack their Aspect and compensate for it. End of.

Here's where the dramatic irony comes in; Knights are the only people in their session who are proficient with their Aspect at all. Dave is the only Beta Kid concerned with Time management, Karkat is the only Beta Troll concerned with maintaining social order and collaboration, Latula is the only Alpha Troll concerned with logical thought and logical argument.

Because the Beta Kids lack Time on their side, the Beta Trolls lack Blood to bind them together, and the Alpha Trolls lack Mind to... well, to be totally blunt, to use their fucking brains.

(The Beta Kids' lack of Time being tied moreso to the nature of their Game as opposed to the nature of themselves is absolutely a matter of Lunar Sway, by the way).

That's what they need to learn, and subsequently use their Aspect to defend. Dave defending his co-players from certain death and entropy, Karkat defending his co-players from turning on eachother and descending into conflict, Latula defending Mituna from disbelief and abuse through logical counterargument.

Here, we're dovetailing directly into Point B - practical function.

We're all caught up in flowery metaphors and abstract conceptions, but how does this translate to a literal function within SBURB?

Simple. The Knight imbues, exploits and weaponises their Aspect. They don't generate it or control it in any way - that's the caveat of their function. Knights must exploit an already existing well of their Aspect and use that minimal supply to the best of their abilities.

It's the literal manifestation of their abilities for compensation! They have to merely 'make do' with what's available. After all - if there was an influx of their Aspect to work with, there wouldn't be a deficiency to combat.

This journey ties into their narrative function as learning to use it and defend through it also comes with dropping the mask and putting down your sword every once in a while. We don't ever get to see this fully with Latula, unfortunately, but we see Dave and Karkat (through means of eachother, actually) learn to relax in eachothers' presence and drop some of their unhealthy preconceptions.

Now, let's go on to the Pages!

Point C - narrative function.

Pages function in much the same way as Knights on a base level - existing to cover for an existing deficit in their session by virtue of compensation. The difference, obviously, comes in their passivity - and their different manifestation of their Aspect which more directly feels to be a shield as opposed to a sword.

Pages turn the Knights' overcompensation on its' head. Like Knights, they too believe their lack their Aspect, and thus project an image of possessing an influx of it. The difference is that Pages... actually do have that deficiency.

Jake lacks Hope. He lacks faith in himself, lacks the belief in his own capacity to bring a better future and finds it difficult to hold onto his convictions when the going gets tough.

Tavros lacks Breath. He lacks a direction or an objective to follow, lacks freedom by virtue of his disability and Vriska's control of his life. He prefers to avoid things and run away from problems.

Horuss lacks Void. He lacks the ability to cope with imperfection and the fact he doesn't know things. He can't deal with being absent or bereft of purpose.

And, likewise, their sessions lack their Aspect as well in equal measure!

The Alpha Kids lack Hope in the same manner - they don't have the motivation to keep going and find themselves falling into depression and passivity. Dirk even lampshades this!

The Beta Trolls lack Breath - none of them have freedom to choose their own destinies due to oppressive Alternian society and thus fall into the trappings of the roles laid out before them.

The Alpha Trolls lack Void - the teenage echo chamber of drama and gossip denies anybody the right to secrecy or privacy, and their presence in the dreambubbles forces them into proximity and furthers this absence.

Now, it's a common conception that this absence means a Page is weak by default, or outright useless. I absolutely abhor this notion. A Page is not the 'weakling' class - they merely rely upon guidance.

For Jake, it's his fantasies. His masks. His projections of heroism and adventure - and Brain Ghost Dirk is the literal manifestation.

For Tavros, it's his false confidence. It's his assurance that he can stand up for himself and fly to safety should the going get tough - and Rufio is the literal manifestation.

For Horuss, it's his 'renaissance man' projection. It's his showcase of absolute perfection and ideal highblooded taste - and his alters and therian identity are the literal manifestation. (However poorly executed it was, and oh boy was it poorly executed and oh boy was it ableist.)

For this, they're prone to subsequently use their Aspect as a defense mechanism in a more passive manner than the acerbic Knights who prefer to fight with it.

Jake hides behind his fantasies, Tavros runs away from everything he can't face and Horuss pretends he can't hear the sound of Rufioh breaking up with him.

And, of course, as everyone will tell you - this comes with a vast well of potential. Pages are not uniquely powerful or the 'strongest class' like some people would have you believe, but it is true that upon undergoing development, they become incredibly confident in that Aspect. It just happens to be a long journey that no Page fully completes on-screen.

It is learning to accept their own lack of proficiency with their Aspect, drop the mask and begin forging a more genuine relationship with it. Knights must learn to relax, Pages must learn to stop relaxing. It's almost like a little inversion of their active:passive roles, if you want to see it like that!

Point D. Practical function.

Pages... yeah, this is really fucking obvious. Look at Jake. Look at that thing he does. You know? The gigantic shield of pure Hope energy he generates when his full potential is tapped into.

That's what a Page does. They tap into the well of their Aspect to use it as a great shield, making their defense of themselves through their Aspect literal. And, yeah, that's pretty goddamn powerful!

It's like they're meant to embody the little 'sidekick' role in shonen. Koichi Hirose. Koichi Hirose is a Page.

So, there we have it. The classes of compensation. I'll be putting out individual analyses of all of these class combinations soon-ish once the main seven posts are out, so be looking forward to that! I'll be back with you soon wiht the second part of this: Mages and Seers.

And that should be fun, 'cause I am one.

Take care.

[yarmiko-art]

Something bad has happened

This isn't fair, he was just starting to warm up towards her

[txyloria]

(Me trying to explain that Tom Riddle's journey at Hogwarts is literally the twisted version of Harry's journey)

We all know that both of them are orphans, had a rough childhood and both found solace in Hogwarts. However, their time at Hogwarts parallel eachother, but one of them is literally the twisted version of the other's journey.

When Harry goes to Hogwarts for the first time, he has immediately got the attention of Dumbledore in an affectionate, mentor-like way. Meanwhile, when Dumbledore visits tom in the orphanage, he doesn't trust him and always observes him from afar.

Because of that, Harry cares for Dumbledore while Tom loathes him.

Another noticeable parallel is that Harry always has friends and people who care for him surrounding him, and he enjoys every part of it. On the other side, Tom never cared about his Knights of Walpurgis, nor did he ever have an actual friend (since the Knights probably saw him more of a leader than a friend).

Tom and Slughorn's dynamic is quite literally the dark version of Harry and Dumbledore's dynamic. Dumbledore "manipulates" Harry but it's for the boy's well-being, meanwhile Tom manipulates Slughorn by getting information out of him to use it for dark means.

Some other thing I noticed is that in OOTP, Harry gets called a liar because the government doesn't want to believe Lord Voldemort has returned, on the other hand, Tom is congratulated for (supposedly) finding the culprit who opened the Chamber of Secrets, even though he framed Hagrid and was actually the one who killed Myrtle.

After Hogwarts, Harry goes on to become an auror, while Tom becomes the most dangerous dark wizard in modern history.

[weekdaysend]

So me and my bestie began our annual rewatch of MCD and after several hours of discussion (and throwing pillows at each other) we concluded my previous redesign for Zenix didn't match what we thought his character was anymore so after an hour or two of sketching we concluded with this:

(Third image is my bestie @jvicybadvssy's sketch!) I am literally obsessed with him to an unnormal degree he is literal my bestie my soulmate my little guy forever I need to pick apart his brain like a surgeon !!!!! We wanted to go for something young but clearly tired and aged. He has the physique of a teenager but the mind of a bitter adult oouhh Zenix !! ZENIX!!! (Old design below for reference):

[artemistorm]

So I'm rereading all of LU and I didn't even make it past the very first introduction Linked Universe post before I started finding things I wanted to talk about, so here we go!

In Jojo's initial description of Time, the thing that stands out to me is that he's wise and stoic but has a youthful sense of humor. I know a lot of people headcanon Time as being a gremlin and although it hasn't come up much in the main comic so far, I wonder if this is a confirmation of that headcanon.

Most of Twilight's intro is basically what you expect, but one thing that is interesting to me is that he is the leader type but feels otherwise. Are we going to see some Twi angst at some point in the comic where he needs to step up and be a leader but he doubts himself?

What stood out to me in Wild's initial description is that 3 out of the 7 bullet points are angsty. It's just interesting to me that one of the big things that Jojo latched onto in the initial character development of Wild was all of the opportunity for angst that he has.

It's fun thinking about how Jojo's characterization of Wild has evolved and become more complex/nuanced over the years. Despite how Jojo latched onto the Wild angst in the beginning, as the comic has progressed, we see he is so much more than just the angst. He's cheerful, resilient, fun-loving, adventurous, and mighty in battle. I wonder if Jojo were to rewrite these character introductions now, how different would they be?

"Yes he has courage but this little one is brave." I love this that Four specifically gets called out as being extra brave. When I read that my first thought was back in Sunset Part 1, as soon as Wolfie got chopped by giant silver knight Dink, Four immediately charges and attacks it (long before Wild goes after it).

I like that it says that Four tends to disappear at times. I wonder if we will get to see that in the comic at some point. The Chain's walking through the dungeon and they suddenly realize "Oh no, where's Four?"

What jumped out to me here that it says that it says Legend seems emotionally unaffected by his travels.

It's undeniable, in the comics, Legend has a bit of a spicy edge to him. He's not afraid to speak his mind, argue, express annoyance or disgust. (Obviously that's not his whole personality but it certainly is part of it.) I know a common headcanon is that he is jaded/salty because of all of his trauma/adventures but this implies that this is not the case but that he's got a sharp edge to him because that's just the way his personality is.

This is kind of reading in between the lines here, but when this intro says stuff like "He's the most experienced adventurer! He's got a tool for that! He's the most reliable! You want him on your team!" It sounds to me like Legend actually really enjoys going on adventures and he takes pride in being so experienced and because of his many adventures, he can bring a lot to the table.

[lookslikethatsallthetimewehave]

Wait, who are you

If that's supposed to be Elyana, why did they change her dress color.

They keep changing the princess in these different versions of Poptropica 😭

[overlyimmersed]

We learned so much about Fairies in this latest chapter!!

That's so exciting! Everyone else is spewing negativity about the Nasiens situation and it's making me sick to my stomach! So I'm going to focus on all the cool

✨Fairy lore✨

and fight back with positivity instead!

So! Here's all the things we learned!

The sky in the Fairy Realm is green! - It's believed this is so because it's the leaves of the Sacred Tree! -The Sacred Tree must be stupid big O.O

Those really big mushrooms are called "God's Seats" and they grow on the Scared Tree's roots.

We also learned a little bit more about the lack of modesty in Fairy culture :p. -And that Tioreh's kinds of a creep, even though she actually knows better XD.

The top of Sacred Tree is filled with "strange plants" and only the Fairy King is allowed up there.

It's not uncommon for Fairies to be flightless.

It's not uncommon for Fairies to be sort of hermaphroditic. -Though I don't know if this type of hermaphroditism exists irl. My (admittedly not exhaustive)research only showed me two types and neither start off androgynous.

NAMES!! We learned all of the Fairy kids' names! So! We have; - Mertyl - Sixtus - Belte - Zana and Zilian - Phao - Tioreh Not the best names ever, but I'm still happy to know them ^-^

The air in the Fairy Realm is "really thick and sweet and actually bad for human" causing respiratory trouble. Further into the conversations Tioreh uses the word "toxins" so this environment probably explains why Fairies are naturally resistant to poison. -As a side note Mullein is a real plant and what Nasiens said about it is how it was used as a medicinal herb! It's leaves are fuzzy and it look like this

[typographic-horror]

i wonder what fucked up shit had happened to me when ive suddenly decided to move from the prince of space to the fucking maid of space

[autie-stuck]

could you analyse a sesh with a prince of blood, a knight of heart, a mage of life, a mage of mind, a mage of time, and a witch of hope?

Wuhoh. That's one mentally ill session.

I’ll start with a quick rundown of how the classpects would interact with each other

The prince of blood and witch of hope will be at consant odds, with the prince desprately self sabotaging their relationships and the witch drying desperately to hold everything together. I could see the witch getting especially upset at the prince while trying to self sabotage because the witch is trying so hard to hold everything together and this is the thanks they get? They won't have a fun time.

And all the mages. Oof mages are especially troubled, and will go through a lot throughout the session. The mage of time self isolating out of panic, and sprinkled with a high possibility of someone dying right in front of them or they themself dying.

The mage of life would likely be shoved into a leader role that they can not mentally handle, forced to make decisions they do not have the confidence to make.

The mage of mind would likely succumb to the witch of hope, forcing themself to grit their teeth and get through the session without a complaint. This won't last long, they'll break eventually.

The knight of heart would naturally hide behind themself, likely not knowing how to do anything else. They’d get along with the mind player as they would be going through similar things. I could see them having the closest relationship within the group.

Now, we know a session is not viable without a knight, a time player, and a space player, which we are missing the latter. However, I personally like to subscribe to session fuckery so let’s see how we can make this session alive.

The mage of time would know the session is already doomed, and would try to explain this, likely getting nowhere with the witch. The session would be an absolute mess until the witch of hope sucks up their pride and understands that the session is doomed.

If god tiered, the witch can go absolutely drunk on hope, making a universe tadpole, or at the very least a ghost imprint of one to be created.

The mage of life can bring the tadpole to life, leaving the knight to take care of it. I wouldn’t be surprised of the knight went to the time player for assistance as well.

Once met with the Ultimate Reward, the time player should be able to release the tadpole, making the new universe.

Congratulations, thank you for playing.

[aortaobservatory]

what are your thoughts on knights of time.......

Knight of [Time]:

Utilize - Too Much Skill with Time

A player extremely skilled with [Repetition and Goals], and actively uses every part of [Restlessness and Efficiency] as a tool to defend themselves and those around them

A Knight of Time would be very skilled in using restlessness and the efficiency born of it, to protect and defend the repetition of striving towards a goal in others.

Knights are extremely adept with their aspect, their driving effort to protect it and others through it. They are loyal to their aspect's cause and naturally gifted with it, using it as a tool to achieve whatever they set themself to. Their challenge is to learn how to be less harsh on themselves, to accept and learn from failure, and to accept the assistance of others when they need it.

Inverse Classpect Analysis of Knight

Knight of Time: Time (Repetition, Goals, Efficiency, Restlessness) is actively there. Too much skill with aspect causes innate utilization of it.

Inverse: Rogue of Space

By being actively skilled in Time (Repetition, Goals, Efficiency, Restlessness), the Knight passively gives Space (Innovation, Journeys, Variation, Patience) to others as they utilize Time (Repetition, Goals, Efficiency, Restlessness).

Value of Space (Innovation, Journeys, Variation, Patience) in others is given by the Knight's skill with Time (Repetition, Goals, Efficiency, Restlessness).

The analysis written above is my own writing, analysis, and thoughts. The statements are my own analysis, but they may function as a “fill in the blank” statement for you to create your own interpretation of the classpect as you please.

-aortaObservatory

[starlit1daydream]

Introduction to my Classpecting Ideas

This felt like a good idea for something to put out before I put my Knight & Page analysis out there, since I plan on making this a 6 part series. (Potentially 7 if demand for a Lord/Muse addendum is high enough).

So, I'll be laying out my most important philosophies on the subject here for future reference.

Classpecting is...

Point A. Classpecting is malleable.

There is not one rigid, set definition for any Class pair, or any Aspect pairing. The freedom of the author is that they may assign any symbolism to a concept that they may like.

What I mean by this is that people often seem to think that manifestations of an Aspect within Homestuck's narrative paint that object or idea as a concept inherently tied to that Aspect.

Example: Pumpkins & Void. You would not believe the amount of people in the early fandom who swore by the idea that pumpkins were inherently just Void constructs because of their role in Homestuck's narrative.

No? Pumpkins symbolise Void in Homestuck itself and Homestuck itself only only due to a running gag inherent to Homestuck itself.

Anything, with enough narrative basis and existing thematic ties, can serve to symbolise an Aspect. Furthermore, two different authors may have different ideas of what Aspect something represents.

Some authors may see alcohol, for example, as a Void-bound concept owing to its obfuscation of fair judgement. Some may see it as a Light-bound concept owing to the idea of 'in vino veritas' and the tendency of drunkenness to induce truthful confessions. Some may see it as a Life-bound concept owing to its associations with hedonism and impulsive behaviour.

With enough narrative consistence, anything is possible. Homestuck's narrative is not as rigid of a point of reference as some people would swear by it being. This is deeply important.

Point B. Classpecting is not the whole of a character.

I can't exactly phrase this in a satisfactory manner, but... a Classpect is not a personality type in of itself. An individual being a Prince of Heart does not instantly make them Dirk Strider. It merely means that their core value is identity & selfhood, and they interact with it by destroying it. It is that simple!

I see, time and time again, Classpecting blogs acting as if a Classpect is indicative of a character's whole personality and giving guides as to the exact behaviours & quirks a character with that Classpect should have.

I am imploring you to explore wider possibilities when it comes to this. Even if it means sharing a title with a canon character! It doesn't mean you have to just rewrite that canon character because that's not how Classpecting works.

I've seen fanventure characters share titles with canon characters. (Sovereignstuck's Annomi Errata & Dynama Zarrow sharing titles with Dirk & Porrim respectively, and Porrim herself is also a player in that narrative, mind you!)

I've seen fanventure characters share titles with eachother. (Vast Error's Dismas Mersiv is a Rogue of Mind. One of my fantrolls is also a Rogue of Mind!)

In every instance, they are fundamentally different people. I cannot put it any simpler than this.

Point C. Classpecting is always applicable.

That is the perfection of the Classpecting system. You can give a title to any character, from anything ever made. It's not even that difficult if you're half-decent at media analysis!

Quite literally all you need to do is ask yourself two questions.

"What's this character's core value?" and "How do they interact with that?" Do that, and you've got yourself a Classpect.

That's the beauty of it! It's obviously not going to be as airtight as a story that has the Classpecting system baked directly into the narrative, but it's still going to work out!

Hell, do it to yourself! Do it to your friends! The world's your oyster. You can do anything you want, forever, for the rest of time. I'm a Seer of Life! My best friend is a Page of Blood! My mother is a Witch of Hope! Go wild.

Post formatting

For my Classpecting posts, I'll aim to give two related definitions for every Class.

Definition A is the narrative function, what the Class says about the person and how they interact with their Aspect as an abstract concept.

Definition B is the practical function, what the Class says about their role in the session and how they interact with their Aspect as a SBURB construct.

Therefore, we get an idea of both the abstract, personal definition of a Classpect, and the functional, game application of a Classpect.

I'll also aim to give about two or three examples for each individual title about how you could write a character with them, since there are always going to be multiple directions you can take with a Classpect.

Conclusion

tl;dr - what I'm trying to say is this. Classpecting is malleable, easily applicable & capable of saying any number of things, and my posts will aim to give two concise definitions of both narrative and practical function for every title.

I'll get the Knight:Page analysis done either today or tomorrow, and the rest of the Class posts will be staggered releases in order of poll results. Thus, the order is going to be:

Knights & Pages, Deficiency and Exploitation.

Mages & Seers, Experience and Comprehension.

Witches & Heirs, Adherence and Manipulation.

Princes & Bards, Instability and Destruction.

Thieves & Rogues, Inundation and Redistribution.

Maids & Sylphs, Maintenance and Generation.

And, potentially...

7. Lords & Muses, Absolution and Dominion.

And then, subsequently, the order for the Aspect posts, which I've decided based on relevance to the canon, roughly speaking anyways...

Space & Time, Genesis and Terminus.

Breath & Blood, Fluidity and Stability.

Light & Void, Potential and Simplicity.

Heart & Mind, Instinct and Dialectics.

Life & Doom, Progress and Stagnation.

Hope & Rage, Conviction and Iconoclasm.

I look forward to the next post. Until then, take care.

[tareloin]

i should make a neocities or something just for my personal interests and fill it top to bottom with whatever i want/feel like. like a mini wikipedia but just for myself. sighs

[velvet-vox]

Hi, I'm Velvet-Vox! I'm an avid media consumer with a special interest in character analysis, essays, and general art/writing rants. Consider this post a work in progress that might be rewritten over time.

Come here if you seek analysis on any of these works:

- Murder drones (I'm specialized in Doll analysis but I can vary)

- Wakfu (only the first 4 seasons, the Julith movie, Ogrest, Nox and Goultard specials)

- DuckTales 2017 (I prefer to talk about the villains)

- Undertale/Deltarune/Undertale Yellow

- Kung Fu Panda (all 4 movies, holiday special)

And you can also ask me questions about these other things in particular:

- A hat in time

- Bloodborne

- Amphibia

- The Owl House

- Avatar the last airbender

- Spiderverse

- Hollow Knight

- Shovel Knight (all four campaigns)

Hope to be useful to some of you!

You can ask me anything but I tend to avoid personal questions and if you make me feel uncomfortable I will take countermeasures. Be warned.

I speak Italian/English and I am currently learning Russian, French and German.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I DO ACCEPT CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, AS LONG AS IT ISN'T AGGRESSIVE OR MOCKFUL.

[tavtiers]

Knight of time

The Knight of Time [symbols: shield, gear]

The Knight class has its basis in the classic knight from Arthurian legend. An example would be Lancelot.

The Time aspect’s main themes are endings and destruction. You can find its official description here.

A Knight of Time is among those who use physical existence. This is the “classpect group” they belong to. Members include: the Knight, Page, Thief, and Rogue of Space/Time. These classes are all opposites or inverses of each other that use the Space/Time dichotomy (physical existence). A description of classpect groupings can be found here.

The Knight of Time actively utilizes the Time aspect. Active classes tell themselves what to do and do so for their own benefit. They are more likely to stand up for themselves, but more likely to be cruel. Knights and Pages use their aspect and everything it symbolizes as a tool. Simplified, the Knight of Time is motivated by themselves to utilize endings and destruction.

In personality, the Knight of Time puts on a front to hide an insecurity and has a strong desire for closure. Personality descriptions can be found here.

Their archetype is the Defender Harbinger, defined by guarded endings and destruction. Archetypes are explained here.

Their opposite is the Page of Space, who passively utilizes creation and beginnings.

Their inverse is the Rogue of Space, who passively steals creation and beginnings.

A classpect or “god tier” is an individual’s best self. All classpects go through a journey from unrealized, to struggle, to realized. When a character is unrealized, they neutrally exist as their inverse. On their struggle, they will wildly flip back and forth between their inverse and true classpect. In their worst moments they will act as their inverse, in their best their true classpect. When realized, they will stabilize as their true classpect. They will still have room to grow, but will become happier, more successful people.

This means that the Knight of Time begins life motivated by others to steal creation and beginnings. When their struggle arrives and they are at their worst, they will continue this behavior in negative extremes. However, when at their best, they will find purpose in instead utilizing endings and destruction for themselves. When realized, they will stabilize and continue to utilize the Time aspect actively, in a positive way.

They share their archetype with the Witch of Doom, the Harbinger Defender.

The Knight of Time would quest on a planet similar to the Land of Haze [Knight] and Time [Aspect]. An example would be the Land of Ash and Graveyards. An explanation of planet naming conventions can be found here.

Two possible gods, or denizens, to reign over their planet would be Chronos (God of Time) or Hephaestus (God of the Forge). Other Time aspect denizens can be found here.

When the Knight of Time completes their planet quests and dies on their quest bed, they would rise to ascension on the wings of crows (symbols of death). A list of soul animals can be found here.

The characters that I have currently classpected as Knights of Time are: Dave Strider from Homestuck [canon example], Dave Strider (post-scratch) from Homestuck [canon example], the Third Doctor from Doctor Who, Cable from X-Men, Nicholas Daley from Night at the Musuem, and Mac McDonald from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

If any of the links not connected to my blog break, the content can be found on my Google Drive.

Official Aspect Descriptions

Personality Descriptions

Aspect Denizens