#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!

[yarmiko-art]

Something bad has happened

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

[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):

[alpacacare-archive]

Not to post knight papyrus on main or anything but

[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]

Previous Medallion Owners

Early Poptropica Island: The chief of Early Poptropica

Possible reason: Political

Shark Tooth Island: Professor Hammerhead

Possible reason: Science

Time Tangled Island: Your future self

Possible reason: Adventuring

24 Carrot Island: Mayor McTeague

Possible reason: Political

Super Power Island: Chief of Police/Ned Noodlehead

Possible reason: Public service

Spy Island: Top Secret Secretary

Possible reason: Agent work

Nabooti Island: Nabooti African Museum Curator

Possible reason: Public service

Big Nate Island: Mrs. Godfrey

Possible reason: Public service

Astro-Knights Island: King Richard

Possible reason: um... royalty

Counterfeit Island: The Curator

Possible reason: Public service

Reality TV Island: The helicopter pilot

Possible reason: Game show award

Mythology Island: Athena

Possible reason: Offering

Skullduggery Island: Governor Roland

Possible reason: Political

Steamworks Island: Mayor Crumb

Possible reason: Political

Great Pumpkin Island: Lucy van Pelt

Possible reason: Good student

Cryptids Island: Harold Mews

Possible reason: Public service

Wild West Island: Marshal Flint Taylor

Possible reason: Public service

Wimpy Wonderland Island: Greg Heffley

???

Red Dragon Island: Jack and Annie

Possible reason: Adventuring

Shrink Ray Island: C.J.

Possible reason: Good student/science

Mystery Train Island: Grover Cleveland

Possible reason: Political

Game Show Island: Dr. Harold Langley

Possible reason: Science

Ghost Story Island: Magistrate Henry Flatbottom

Possible reason: Political

S.O.S. Island: Captain Boomer

Possible reason: Public service

Vampire's Curse Island: Count Bram

Possible reason: Science

Twisted Thicket Island: Elf Queen

Possible reason: Peace offering

Poptropolis Games Island 2013: MC

Possible reason: Contest winner award

Wimpy Boardwalk: Greg Heffley

Possible reason: ???

Lunar Colony Island: Director McNabb

Possible reason: Public service/science

Super Villain Island: Security Guards

Possible reason: Public service

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory Island: Mr. Willy Wonka

Possible reason: Business

Zomberry Island: Samuel Brains

Possible reason: Business

Night Watch Island: Slugger's Storekeeper

Possible reason: Sports

Back Lot Island: Sofia May

Possible reason: Business/Hollywood related award

Virus Hunter Island: Dr. Lange

Possible reason: Science

Mocktropica Island: A woman working at Poptropica headquarters

Possible reason: She's written to give it to you

Monster Carnival Island: Edgar

Possible reason: ???

Survival Island: Max McGullicutty (supposedly)

Possible reason: Piloting

Mission Atlantis Island: Cam Jameson

Possible reason: Science

PoptropiCon Island: Tessa Turncoat

Possible reason: ComicCon related... award

Arabian Nights Island: Sultan

Possible reason: Trading

Galactic Hot Dogs Island: Cosmoe

Possible reason: Adventuring

Mystery of the Map Island: Mya

Possible reason: ???

Hub Island/Tutorial Island: The pilot

Possible reason: Piloting

Timmy Failure Island: Timmy Failure

Possible reason: Detective work

Escape from Pelican Rock Island: Marshal Tex Brannigan

Possible reason: Public service

Monkey Wrench Island: Race Officiate

Possible reason: Racing award

Reality TV: Wild Safari Island: Jim Probably

Possible reason: Game show award

Fairy Tale Island: Amelia

Possible reason: Adventuring

Goofball Island: Mayor Naise

Possible reason: Political

Jade Scarab Island: Claria

Possible reason: Public service

These are the only characters where I wonder how they got their medallions:

I guess Greg Heffley could've gotten his medals from winning a video game competition. That's the only thing he's good at.

Edgar... has zero talent. Except for eating. Maybe he won a pie eating competition or something.

Mya is not a native to Poptropica. Where did she get it?

[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

[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.

[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

[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

[candor-creator]

gods are not people. gods are stories.

when the Greeks created Zeus and Hera, they did not create them with the thought that people thousands of years later would declare their relationship atrocious and their actions cruel. they didn't write these characters with the idea that they should be scolded for punishing victims.

because gods are not people. Hera is marriage. beyond the goddess of marriage. she Is Marriage.

if you do not respect your marriage, terrible things will happen to you. to tell a story and to make their world clearer, the Greeks attributed those terrible things to Hera. do not break your oaths, or Hera will punish you.

if you are inhospitable, trouble will find you. a tyrant king will be toppled by the angry army of peasants crushed beneath him. a thief of renown shall be hunted down by those they've robbed and they will lose everything they once had. attack those around you who trust you, and hell shall follow. they named this hell Zeus.

with this in mind, I wanted to talk about the deities of Hallownest.

The Pale King gives the gift of mind to those who live in his kingdom, has the ability to predict the future, was an engineer, a researcher, and he was very, very, prideful. egotistical. he fully believed his kingdom would never fall, better than all the rest. he believed his plans to protect his land would succeed. he made countless sacrifices and was full of regret. he made innumerable mistakes, but remains beloved by his people, who endlessly called out to him when he vanished. he holds affection for his wife, his home, his people, his children. he gave a gift to someone he believed did not care for him, and crafted a memorial for them when they were sacrificed.

the pale king is the Mind. he is the concept of thinking highly of one's self, thinking one can do no wrong, he is pride and joy, he is curiosity, he is embarrassment and regret and shame and mistakes and fumbles and learning and growing, he is memory and he is hindsight and he is foresight, forethought, carefully considering every option on the path ahead, he is grief and he is love and he is the inability to cope with loss and he is the inability to understand the finality of death and he is the hope that things will never change and everything will be comfortable just as it is forever. he is Mind.

The White Lady is the wife of the pale king, and she is a mother, but not a Mother. she is a wife, but a cold one. she is a queen, but she is absent. she is a god, and she is selfish. when a vessel stumbled into her chambers, where she imprisoned herself of her own volition, she gave away her late husband's wedding ring, speaking of its potential power. not of its sentiment, for it was broken and useless without its other half, not of its purpose or who owned it or why she carried it, no. she gave it away and asked her child to sacrifice their own life for her.

trees do not care what happens to the fruit they bear. it falls from their branches and is either carried off by animals or reduced to rot in the grass. the seeds inside are all the tree could care about, flourishing for its own gain. the more trees, the better. nature does not care. The White Lady is Nature. and she does not nurture. The Mind loves her dearly, for her branches and her life and all she is and ever will be. Nature is neutral in return.

The Radiance is an arrogant goddess who believed in herself just as the Mind did, believing in her own beauty and power, that she could unite everyone beneath her if they just focused entirely on her, on achieving the feats she wished of them, and from arrogance she birthed arrogance, as her people abandoned her for better, clearer things the moment they were able. she wished for them to follow their Dream, and once they did, she made them regret it.

The Hollow Knight was born to be purity and perfection. something mindless and yet clever, something stoic yet without will, something silent yet sending a message. and the hollow knight looked upon this impossible task, then out across the kingdom that would be relying on its success, then up towards the eyes of its proud father, the Mind believing in its Patience and perseverance and its ability to hold strong for as long as they would need, and Patience acted for the good of the world around it.

and an eternity later, a lone knight stepped into a kingdom, listening to its final breaths, suspended in a moment between life and death, and the knight came forward to decide its Fate.

[hms-no-fun]

i remember a while back you saying in one of these asks that you didnt find classpects that interesting as a writing tool (or something similar, i don’t remember the exact wording) but you seem to be referring to them significantly more since then, both textally in godfeels and when you’ve discussed the work like in these asks - has anything changed in your perspective on them?

astute observation!

so, i don't find classpects particularly interesting as a writing tool. i'm not a big fan of mapping out a character beforehand, engaging in that sort of reverse personality quiz process of defining their wants, their needs, their astrological sign, etc. no hate to anyone who does, but for me it's far more interesting to just let the character decide that stuff for themselves. it's the same process of discovery i apply to the rest of godfeels, which is admittedly a sort of insane way to work and probably shouldn't be taken as an example.

so that's a very specific definition of "writing tool" that maybe isn't what other people are thinking of. i can get didactic about these things because i don't like writing advice or things that seem like writing advice if you squint.

you're right though that classpects are more at the front of my mind than they used to be. part of it is just that classpects are about to be a lot more actively relevant to the narrative (albeit not in the way you would expect), so i've obviously been thinking about them more. which, you know, those thoughts do naturally generate fiction activity which shapes how i intend to write future chapters-- in that sense, are classpects not a useful "writing tool" for me? i dunno.

it's not even that i find them more meaningful structurally. i think giving someone a title and then building their character around it is a great way to come up with wooden characters. in the case of the upsilon kids (who you will be meeting very soon), their classpects emerged through writing a bunch of little test scenes. i'd put them in a room together and give them something to react to. i really want to avoid conventional group dynamics with this crew, so i always pushed them to behave in messy ways. and over time it became apparent that what makes them work is their seeming incompatibility, which i shouldn't say much more about until you've actually got some material to draw your own conclusions from. but the point is, it wasn't until i got a good handle on each kid's vibe that i assigned them their classpects, and i assigned them in a way that was deliberately "underwhelming" or seemingly a bad fit. i did this because i don't like the narratological determinism that can arise when you give a character a title they like too much.

i don't like giving writing advice but i highly encourage young writers out there to not be afraid of writing unusable scenes. it helps to be able to think of the writing in the early planning stages as, in some sense, disposable. because the prose isn't the point-- it's getting to the characters as you understand them. there's so many scenes i've written that will not make it into godfeels proper without significant alteration if at all! and look, i know how it is when you feel like you can barely write, so every word you manage to get on the page is precious and needs to be preserved towards the Final Product. sometimes that's correct! precious things always emerge in this process. but it's nowhere near as many as you think, and the hard lesson is understanding the difference between precious and enjoyable. just because you enjoy the thing doesn't make it right for the story. even pretty trash belongs in the bin eventually.

but again, it isn't wasted work. the words aren't the goal, they're just a happy accident. the real work happens in your head.

uh shit anyway so for instance Dana Straten's classpect is Knight of Mind. i must admit she's an outlier among the upsilons in that i picked her classpect in the gf3 prologue with an understanding of her character that was vastly different from who she would end up becoming. back then all i knew about the upsilons was they'd be Dana, Jade's as-yet unnamed daughter, and two others. for a long time, once Julia came in and really breathed life into Dana, i was convinced that Knight of Mind was just wrong. it was a bad choice for her, it didn't make sense, she should have been something else that had cooler power implications and i should just retcon it to something better before anybody notices. this worry resulted in a lot of conversations with my collaborators, ultimately concluding that it was more fun to just play with the hand i'd unwittingly dealt us. so we took the Dana we felt and asked her what Knight of Mind meant to her, figuratively speaking. wrote some scenes, had more conversations. Julia and i have spent a LOT of time discussing Dana's whole situation.

the thing about this is that i don't think our idea of her changed all that much between when she came into her own in like march/april 2021 and when she properly entered the story in summer 2022 (god it feels like that gap should be a lot longer, but i double checked and it's right). much of what we already implicitly understood about Dana remained true. but through our discussions and test scenes, we were able to define those truths in some really useful ways. it was through this process that we textually solidified Dana as someone who doesn't have cool powers, at least not flashy ones anyway. Dana's weapon is her mind-- the ability to use her razor sharp clarity of perception to act on many different forms of knowledge at once. she's not a mind control person, she's not a seeing all eventualities person, she's just a really smart punch person. Knight of Mind, it turns out, was perfect for her, because she doesn't need it. and that realization was very much why i tried to create a similar dynamic with the rest of the upsilons.

so again we ask, does that not make classpects a useful "writing tool" for me? again i answer, i dunno. i don't really care. it's just the process to me. all of it is just the process.

maybe that points to why i was so free with referring to Rose in short as Seer of Mind in that ask. having reached the endpoint of Rose's role in this story, i finally understand what Seer of Light means for her (in godfeels, at any rate). it's that she saw the truth of how the narrative was changing and accepted that it wasn't for her. as in, she saw the light at the end of the tunnel and chose to walk towards it. it's become a shorthand for Rose, you see? i say "Seer of Light" the way i say the name of a friend who was really more of an acquaintance realistically speaking, like we only hung out a couple times a few years ago, but we hit it off so well every time that i was always like "man, i wish we could hang out all the time, we'd be great friends" but just, for one reason or another, it never quite lined up for that to happen. the name of a beloved missed connection, perhaps...

i guess, basically, to put a bow on this: i try not to think about classpects until the character in question is real enough in my mind that they define it rather than the other way around. once again i have no idea if this makes any kind of sense procedurally or if i'm just making my life harder by being stubborn. but then again, the only writing advice any writer can ever give you is how to write the things they already wrote, so

[botanicalcanopus]

Okay. I know you said you don't do session analysis’ as a blog, so there are absolutely no stakes/expectations here and I’m cool if you ignore this ask or just say no. But do you want to have a crack at how a session with my OCs would go? They’re all brothers.

It’s with a;

Prince of Heart

Knight of Time

Thief of Space

Mage of Mind

(The matching classpects with two canon characters was a complete accident 😭)

I don't mind to try! I will preface this by saying this for anyone who has never encountered my rambling: I believe that classpects (while useful for determinating some fun facts about the character) depend entirely on the characters personalities. Essentially meaning just because we've seen a Prince of Heart in the comic doesn't mean they're gonna be exactly like Dirk.

So starting off, I will say your session has a Time and Space player so it's a viable session (yippee!). The down side to this is that you have more at stake and boy howdy your OCs classpects (without knowing their full personalities) are gonna be constantly treading the line here. Not that their classpects are bad, in fact, they have a really great skill set but the cost is that most of these classpects are prone to mistakes that could cost lots of time and energy (or their lives if shit hit the fan).

A Prince of Heart that is still learning to use their powers or have an uncontrollable attitude can pull a Dirk and splinter themselves to exhaustion, or possibly other co-players if they're not careful. Lots of emotional tampering (by accident or not) will be likely even if it's just "making logical statements".

Your Thief of Space may end up stealing Space (literally or metaphorically) from their brothers and this can be something from storing things in others rooms/inventory or worst case scenario they go full villain and essentially vacuum pack someone. Their whole deal is to find their own path with Space rather than having to rely on what's stolen, which if they are too self absorbed or self isolating they may not achieve.

Now Mages of Mind are also the over rational sort, which isn't bad altogether. However in this scenario, you're already given a splintering emotional time bomb who needs to find themselves and a player whose ego and powers rely on theft. So someone who struggles with understanding why they have to be so logical all the time or doesn't even know/want to plan ahead is also gonna throw a wrench in plans if they don't get support they need to understand their potential and how their braniac skills can better everyone's lives.

Finally, the Knight of Time is our double edged sord here. Knights usually cover up their feelings of inadequacy by ghost the opposite aspect. So while this person may be helpful when they do act, they tend to ghost Space and be all distant and might even be like Dave and put up a cool persona even if they're wrought with anxiety. They'll have to come to accept that their abilities are incredibly useful and that they are so much more than what they believe they are.

So best case scenario: through trials and tribulations, the brothers will eventually learn to depend on each other. The Knight can get some pep talks from the Thief while the Mage and Prince can talk them through logically how it's dumb they feel that way about themselves when they're so cool. The Knight can give their bros all the time they need to work through any emotional out burst or fits of other thinking, and the Thief learns to aid others for once by providing comfort (environments, food, materials, etc). In the meantime the Thief gets all the support with finding themselves and becoming their own person rather than a copy paste persona.

Worst case scenario: Jesus the amount of failed timelines. Like shit does this Knight have it cut out for him. Any too big emotional burst from the Prince can cause literal frenzy or rip their souls (maybe actually doing harms with some sick burns). The Thief if ticked off enough may straight up avoid everything and do whatever they want to do without any input. The Mage can become too lax and not want to deal with solving any questions that makes them think too hard and tank every personal relationship by being too logical. And the Knight might end up like one of the Dave's who just exist in a failed session because they gave into their self doubt and couldn't rise to the challenge.

Lots of warnings but honestly if they act like a good family and talk it out they have really decent odds. This is said without knowing what they'd prototype but these things have a character limit lol. I hope this is something along the lines you were looking for, if not sorry!