#Princes/Bards

[derangedthoughtssideblog]

the struggle between wanting a tv show of your favourite books so you can watch edits of your favourite characters and the knowledge that if the actors don't look exactly like the characters in your mind you're going to kill everyone in that show and yourself

[woetoy]

has Prince E's time spent listening to bards ever resulted in a full womb?

it has to now

[red-dead-sakharine]

He's composing a ballad about Tav...

[starlit1daydream]

Dipper Pines is a Dersite Heir of Mind

Mabel Pines is a Prospitian Witch of Heart

Stanley Pines is a Prospitian Thief of Void

Stanford Pines is a Dersite Mage of Light

Soos Ramirez is a Prospitian Page of Life

Wendy Corduroy is a Dersite Knight of Time

Fiddleford McGucket is a Prospitian Bard of Light

Gideon Gleeful is a Dersite Prince of Space

Pacifica Northwest is a Dersite Maid of Rage

Bill Cipher is a Prospitian Lord of Mind

[nightingale2004]

Why do I feel like these two idiots👇

Are the older version of these two idiots 👇

(Am I alone? They would have aged so freaking gracefully in adulthood. That or this is them in the Hobbit universe if they were Bf allies)

[arachnidsgrippysocks]

woah i drew characters other than Vriska for once!!!!!!!!

[pxndragvns]

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა his butler, ♡ taking off ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

[propheticclown]

Gamzee Makara: The Bard of Rage and Puppet of Faith

I've seen a lot of people talk about certain characters classpects and how it plays into their characters. Usually, it's about how Eridan as a Prince of Hope is destined for misery. But I wanna talk about how it relates to Gamzee as a Bard of Rage. Rage is described as this: "Those bound to the aspect of Rage are bringers of chaos. They possess great contempt for lies or false ideas, including the stability that false ideas can impart. To them, the true is far more important than the good; they would tear down a system just to destabilize it if, by their reckoning, it is built on faulty premises. Often the Rage-bound prefer anarchy to any of the alternate forms of civilization, which they believe to be riddled with lies and foolishness and obedient masses. They are bringers of confusion and doubt, and they can be frustratingly difficult to convince otherwise when they have attached themselves to an idea. If they sound dangerous, they are. The Rage-bound tend to be the most volatile and unpredictable of the aspects. At their best, they are original, revolutionary, and fearless. At their worst, they are cruel, uncompromising, and vicious." To summarize; Rage is quite similar to Light in a way, but instead of wanting information, they want the truth. They are skeptical until all possible doubts are not just cleared, but destroyed. So how does this apply to destroyer classes like Bard and Prince? Well, for a Prince of Rage, destroying rage is like destroying skepticism. Obliterating motivation for questions until there is only one true belief, which we see in Kurloz through his unwavering faith. But for Bards, as a passive class, instead of destroying rage actively, they destroy it passively. How do they do that? Simple. Through belief in everything. Saying that Gamzee is gullible is an understatement. As long as it's under the guise of "mIrAcLeS" he'll believe it. As he's dragged along for the ride, his aspect manifests as his observations and passively noting things that don't add up, which we can see through his breakdown during Act 5 Act 2, when Dave shows him the ICP video. He's also shown to be easily mind-controlled and manipulated and that's where the tragedy of the clown shines through. Gamzee is destined to be nothing more than a means to an end. His purpose is to serve and nothing more. If he dares not to do so, he is punished severely. As a Bard of Rage, he is relegated to that of subservience to everyone and everything, due to his lovingly gullible nature. He is more of a puppet than Lil Cal. His breakdown in Act 5 Act 2 was the beginning of his loss of freedom, being controlled by Lord English to kill and bring about his arrival. Gamzee Makara is a character who pleads to have free will and is given nothing but neglect because he is nothing more than a plot device to a cruel story. His own.

[hisbutleronhiatus]

It has been 180 days since the Kuroshitsuji hiatus was announced.

Today is, of course, the Phantomhive twins’ birthday! Since his introverted young master is often left drained by boisterous parties, Sebastian tried to keep the festivities to a manageable level, allowing O!Ciel to sleep in, cancelling his lessons for the day, and making him a decadent triple chocolate layer cake—though the demon still insisted that the boy eat a reasonable portion! The servants were ecstatic in wishing the earl many happy returns, as were the Midfords, Madame Red, Soma, Sieglinde, and Alois (plus their respective butlers). After being bundled up by their guardians, the children had a splendid time building a snow fort together on the lawn. Even R!Ciel was able to attend, though he had to leave early to receive his scheduled blood transfusion (Sebastian and Undertaker glared daggers at each other but kept things civil for the sake of the younglings). O!Ciel settled down to sleep that evening in the nightgown that Mey Rin bought for him, which was covered in a fanciful pattern of blue bunnies, and drifted off to gentle reveries.

[geraskierfanficprompts]

Prompt 142

Prince Geralt is the second of three sons born to King Vesemir. Court... Isn't his thing. Court isn't really any of the three boys' things. Eskel was certainly polite enough for it, but many thought him too intimidating looking to even approach. Geralt detested the finery and the clothing that made him look like a sad silk trader. Lambert nearly killed a woman with a heart attack the last time he was in court and opened his mouth to speak. Geralt doesn't like court, or meetings, or what-have-you. He much prefers riding his favorite mare, Roach, into the nearby woodland. Whether they'd just go for a trot, or hunt something, or swim in a creek was a choice he usually made up on the spot. One afternoon however, as he dismounts from his trusty steed, he hears a noise on the wind. A rather lovely one, at that. It's singing. Someone's singing, and they've the voice of an angel. Geralt freezes in place for multiple minutes, too engrossed in just listening. Geralt glances around, attempting to make sense of which direction it's coming from. He doesn't even tie up Roach before he sprints off in the direction of the singing. He doesn't know what he'll do. Applaud? Say 'thank you, that was great'? Faint? But he does want to get closer. Just the slightest bit, so he can hear the singing better. After a moment or two of trompsing through the underbrush, however, the singing stops. Geralt loses all traces of the voice, and is left to return to his horse, stood where he left her, in disappointment. He tells his brother of the encounter, tells them to try hearing the voice in the woods. Lambert warns him it might be a troll in disguise, and Eskel gets so caught up correcting Lambert's thoughts on trolls that Geralt can't even gush about the voice any more, and returns to his room, eager to set out to the forest as soon as he can.

It's been two weeks, and Geralt is saddened by the voice's disappearance. It was a once-in-a-lifetime blessing he'd just have to hold onto. Even as he hears the voice in his thoughts and dreams every night. It's not the same. Not the real thing. Geralt is being moody about all of this as he lays on his back, floating in a small pond. Roach is there, on the shore, occasionally bending her neck down and taking a sip. He tried to invite her in to swim with him, at least get her feet wet, but she'd harshly declined, giving him a little nip on his arm. And then, he hears it. The voice. The singing. Geralt is so shocked, he flails in the water, and inhales some. Geralt rushes to the shore, hacking like a cat about to present it's owner with a hairball, and rushing to put all his clothes back on. As soon as he's fully dressed, the voice has stopped. He hadn't even had the time to try and seek them out again! He kicks the dirt, and sits down to pout next to his horse. Despite the failure, he was overjoyed when he revealed the news to his brothers. "My siren is back!" He said with a grin. Eskel loved when Geralt grinned, he didn't do it nearly enough any more. Not since they were all children. "I was in the pond when-" "Can't be a siren if you were in the water and they weren't." Lambert points out, mouth full of food. "I know they're not really a siren, that's just what I call them!" "Why is that?" Eskel inquires, raising an eyebrow. "Every time they sing, I- I feel as if I'm bespelled." Geralt whispers with awe, his eyes sparkling. Lambert begins chortling as loud as possible. "Prettyboy is whipped over a VOICE!" "You would be too, if you could hear them!" Geralt argued, just before a servant came in to alert them all that it was getting rather late, and their father requested them all in bed.

Another few weeks go by without his siren, but Geralt knows they must still be out there. They're just biding their time before they enchant him again. Geralt is home after a long day of messing around in the woods hoping to hear them. He's stood on his balcony, looking out toward the forest, sighing. It's just as he's about to walk back inside when he hears it... Ever so quiet, ever so soft, in the distance, coming from the woods. His siren. He freezes, and listens for a moment, before shaking his head. He slams his door open and races down the hall, only to run straight into Eskel. "Geralt? What's wrong?" "My siren! They're singing! I have to go to the woods!" "Geralt, it's the middle of the night-" Eskel worries. "You haven't found them yet, but you think you can find them now?" Lambert pipes up from the room farther down the hall, rubbing his eyes, evidently annoyed he was awoken by his brother's urgency. "I have to try." is all Geralt tells them, as he pushes past Eskel and continues down the hall. After a few minutes, both Lambert and Eskel are out on their own balconies, hearing nothing but the ambient sounds of night. "He's gone fuckin' batty!" Lambert shouts over to Eskel's balcony. "SHUSH! You'll wake father!" Eskel hisses back. Geralt came back that next morning, disappointed, and no closer to finding the mysterious vocalist.

Two entire months pass, and Geralt is distraught. It's beginning to feel like his siren is really gone for good this time. "Smiiiile, it's a happy day for you." Eskel lovingly reminds Geralt. They're all sat on their thrones, awaiting nobility and gentry to pass by and give Geralt gifts, for it was his birthday. All Geralt wanted for his birthday was to hear from the siren again, but even if his siren came back, he wasn't in the woods to hear them anyhow. "The Pankratz family!" A servant loudly introduces, snapping Geralt out of his thoughts. They looked the same as every other noble family did, though there was an exception. A boy around Geralt's age was the first to give Geralt an actual, genuine smile. "We are delighted to present you with our gift, it's a-" "I have a gift for the prince, too!" The boy interrupts his father, taking a step closer. "Julian!" The mother hisses. "It's a song." "Julian, don't embarrass us like this." The father snarls. Geralt holds up a hand. "...I'd like to hear it." The boy, who was quite handsome in retrospect, races to their bags and finds a lute he smuggled along. He steps in front of his family, looks into Geralt's eyes, and begins to sing. Geralt freezes. Eskel glances between the viscount and his brother, who was seemingly in a trance. Eskel was at first worried about the way his mouth parted a bit in shock as he realized what was happening, but then he looked to see Lambert was gaping like he was physically incapable of shutting his mouth... Which... It being Lambert, was actually quite possible. When the boy finishes, everyone politely claps, except for Geralt, still staring in awe. The boy flushes and fidgets in place. "..I cannot accept this song as a gift." Geralt says. "We're so, so, so dreadfully sorry about Julian, your highness-" Geralt shuts the man up with a wave of his hand, still staring at the musician who captured his heart. "I would rather my gift from your family to be your son." The Pankratz all gasp and gawk, as Julian's eyes widen. King Vesemir leans over and whispers "What the hell are you doing, boy?" "I would like to give him the official position as court bard, and I'd like to hear him sing again. Every day, if I can." Geralt explains. "Your highness, we simply can't just give away our dearest son-" "I'll do it!" "Julian-!" "I'd love to be the court bard, Prince Geralt!" Julian crows, bouncing up and down in delight. "...Then it shall be." King Vesemir said, giving a confused glance to Eskel. Eskel and Lambert are alone that night. Geralt was busy being serenaded, they assumed. "So. Geralt found his siren." Eskel says softly. "I really thought he was just nuts." Lambert snorts. "Apparently not." "..." "..." "..." "..." "Wanna bet on how long it takes until they start fucking?" "You know it."

[wannastayugly]

Thinking about them

The bard guy and his royal boyfriend from The Witcher

[doogieverse]

Sonic Classpects <3

I designed them to be a twelve player session because I thought that was more fun :-) I didn't necessarily keep gender specific classes/aspects in mind. Do, however, keep in mind that classpects aren't always a one-to-one with characters' personalities. Sometimes, they're roles that they have to come into, or accept.

Also, if anyone draws them in their godtier outfits I will be eternally grateful. Sonic: Heir of Hope Sonic is a symbol of hope; whether he realizes it or not, his actions carry weight. That means that although overall he inspires a positive change— bringing hope to others— if he makes a mistake, it brings despair instead. In this regard, Sonic is hope personified.

Tails: Mage of Light Tails uses knowledge as a weapon, sometimes to his detriment. He's often given seemingly impossible quests, with not much time to complete them. You could argue that he's cursed to be the brains in a team full of brawns. That being said, he seeks out knowledge like a moth drawn to a flame; he lives off of it.

Knuckles: Knight of Rage Knuckles's entire purpose is to protect and serve, both his friends and Angel Island. However, rather than being a level-headed knight archetype, Knuckles is a hot-headed warrior, thinking with his fists, rather than his brain. This leads him to have a bit of an anger problem, which can also bring rage to those around him.

Amy: Sylph of Heart Amy is self-absorbed, only in the sense that she believes that what is in her heart is always right. Apart from that, she looks to heal the heavy hearts of those around her, even animals, and complete strangers. She is caring and giving at her best, and volatile and clingy at her worst.

Metal Sonic: Page of Doom Metal Sonic was built to be a harbinger of doom, and continues to do so of his own volition. He has great potential, but is held back by his own insecurities— which can mean he was programmed with limitations, or that he has a more human side that conflicts with his programming. Because of this, he becomes doomed himself, in an infinite cycle of being destroyed and rebuilt.

Shadow: Prince of Blood Shadow is driven by his bonds, whether it's to his friends or enemies, and those in the past or those in the future. He uses these relationships as excuses to wreak havoc. Therefore, he can be seen as selfish, whether his cause is noble or not. In truth, Shadow is more stubborn than anything. Though he defines himself by his relationships, he is often misunderstood.

Rouge: Thief of Space Rouge is incredibly patient and adaptable, traits that are imparative for a jewel thief. Her passion is taking things for herself, which may be egocentric by nature, she is known to have good intentions. She is naturally confident when it comes to her abilities, and isn't above using her feminine charm to accomplish her goals.

Blaze: Maid of Mind Blaze is calm and collected, weighing the multitude of options before acting. She also has this effect on others as well, getting them to see her reasoning. She is often rigid, as she's used to making the tough decisions, and carries that burden with responsibility. However, hardships can cause her to act out of character, being paralyzed by choice, or leaving her fiery temper to take over.

Silver: Witch of Time. Silver has been known to manipulate time, both figuratively and literally. While he can time travel with ease, he also has an unwillingness to take things as they are. That being said, he also has a tendency to end up in difficult and dreary situations. He's constantly stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Vector: Rogue of Breath Vector may be a detective, but he doesn't play by the book. He lives as he pleases, being able to slip into the role of leader, bodyguard, comedic relief, etc. However, this can make him hard to pin down. As a detective, he takes others' autonomy by bringing them to justice. This not only helps feed him and his partners, but it also keeps the streets clean.

Espio: Bard of Void Espio is a stealthy character, at first glance, Able to become invisible, he's able to stealthily gain the upper hand on his opponent. However, he also has the innate desire to show off; he's cool and he wants others to know it, even if he acts nonchalant about it. In both ways he destroys void: either by filling it or filling its role.

Charmy: Seer of Life Charmy is the charisma and joy of Team Chaotix. He wants to bring life to his friends by being upbeat and having fun. Though he may be a naïve child, he's still attuned to others' feelings, and desires to empower them best he can. He isn't always great at it, sometimes coming off as annoying and overeager instead.

[rayquazaxd]

so… you’re telling me that our dad isn’t actually our dad, and we’re just his genetic clones?! and my dad wasn’t even my dad… HE WAS JUST A BODY DOUBLE???

[mrsthunderkin]

Boy do I love drawing men being causal sluts

Tonio and Perth there on the right belong to @owlcatchyoul8r

[starlit1daydream]

Princes & Bards: Instability and Destruction

I want you all to picture me with an incredibly evil grin on my face right now. That is me. I am a supervillain and you are about to fall for my evil plans. I have been waiting for this.

The Princes & Bards, the most contentious classes in Homestuck; consistently lumped in with the nebulous 'bad guys' and given little thought beyond the absolute ugliest manifestations of their powers and personalities.

The Prince:Bard dichotomy embodies instability, destruction and deconstruction. They shatter their Aspect, break it down to its constituent parts, tear it into a million pieces; it is their scourge, and they terminate it however they see fit.

Similarly to the Knights & Pages symbolising deficiency, the Princes & Bards signify instability; their presence usually means their Aspect is in flux, and often it's due to their presence too in a roundabout way.

Canonical Prince players are Dirk Strider (Prince of Heart), Eridan Ampora (Prince of Hope) and Kurloz Makara (Prince of Rage).

Canonical Bard players are Gamzee Makara (Bard of Rage) and Cronus Ampora (Bard of Hope).

Point A - the narrative function of the Prince.

The word I'd use to describe the Princes is... obsessive. Obsessed, in particular, with eradicating their Aspect. They tend to hold a deep-seated dislike for their Aspect in their lives, and so they seek to purge it in whatever way they can - and yet it still haunts them in every way they can think. If anything, tearing it apart only means it haunts them more.

This destruction often leads to a superficial manifestation of their opposing Aspect; but not nearly to the degree that most people would suggest. It's there, but not the be-all-end-all.

Dirk, for all of his self-loathing and obsession with appearing methodical & disingenous, can't help letting his emotions get the better of him when the going gets tough - and he surrounds himself with echoes and splinters of his 'godawful personality' despite his efforts to destroy himself completely.

Dirk projects outwardly as cold & calculating, like a player of Mind may be.

Eridan is a hopeless romantic at his core, and yet hope & aspiration still form the basis of his character. He's a man constantly hung up on destiny, constantly thinking about his fantasies of genocide & eternal love from Feferi; trying to live up to the image of a tyrannical ancestor he barely knows. And yet, he's utterly without Hope at his core and seeks to eradicate it.

Eridan projects outwardly as a skeptic who believes in science over fantasy, as a Rage player may do.

Kurloz (speculation time!) is a man defined by his own negativity. Appearing calm, collected & rageless; he conceals a deep-seated devotion and a desire to eradicate Rage in the form of removing skepticism & rebellion from his session. He has a hand in puppeteering Meulin and injuring Mituna, all to remove their potential presence as a spanner in the works for his nebulously defined plans.

Kurloz projects outwardly as an exuberant preacher obsessed with spreading the belief in his gods, as a Hope player would do.

And oftentimes, this destruction spreads to their session mates.

The Alpha kids' romantic prospects and emotional stability erodes the more time they spend in the Medium 'til they all reach boiling point.

The Beta trolls lose all hope of rescue and turn to pulling teeth & murdering one another in a desperate attempt to turn their situation around.

The Alpha trolls are too caught up in their echo chamber of gossip & teenage delusion to understand the gravitas of what they're all dealing with, and it shows.

What the Prince needs to do should they aim to be successful is learn to live with their Aspect. Their frayed & fractured relationship with their Aspect can be healed, and once they've done that healing and moved away from obsessive and mindless destruction, they turn their head to the unhealthy manifestations of their Aspect in their session.

They destroy their Aspect where it needs to be destroyed, and destroy through it when necessary.

And this segues quite nicely into...

Point B - The practical function of the Prince.

The Prince's powers of destruction are nothing to be scoffed at.

Dirk Strider showed the ability to tear out a woman's soul.

Eridan Ampora channels Hope as a weapon of mass murder and destruction.

Kurloz Makara erodes the agency of his peers and robs them of the capacity to rebel through his mind control (I'M NOT CALLING IT THAT) and mental manipulation.

The Prince's power to destroy translates physically into immense physical capability, and in any way their Aspect can be manifested; the Prince can tear it down.

Their role becomes that almost of a really weird healer; because in a sense, what they're doing is mending their Aspect by breaking it where it can't be fixed, and allowing it to continue in a healthier fashion.

It's strange, but the Princes are a strange bunch.

Point C - the narrative function of the Bard.

This is where things get fun.

The Bards are best described as representing decay. Their Aspect passively rots away in their presence, they use it both as a tool to erode it and as something to be slowly degraded in itself. This destruction is often unconscious, and subsequently the Bard has little control over this destructive force; it's like a miasma, surrounding them.

Gamzee Makara erodes his own capacity to question, openly preferring the quiet uncertainty of blind faith; he tells Karkat he'd rather believe in miracles than know the science behind them. He's a boy that thinks pretty lies are better than ugly truths, and by drugging himself up with sopor slime he only compounds that lack of capacity to question. This, of course, then leads to him having his own capacity for skepticism repeatedly taken by the narrative agents that use him as a walking plot device later in the story.

Cronus Ampora is beyond hope, beyond all redemption, designed in every way to be disgusting and hated in every facet. He's an awful, awful man who embodies the worst entitlement and delusion imaginable, falsifying minority identities for attention and using his position of privelege to prey upon those he sees as beneath him; he doesn't believe a word of what he says, and yet he's terrified of being 'exposed' for what he is.

Gamzee is more complex in this regard since he has far more screen-time, and we get to see directly his transition from destroying Rage to destroying through Rage as he goes sober and starts believing himself a God. It's hard to definitively pin down anything about Gamzee since he's... a walking plot device with far too much baked-in bigotry, but there's something to be scraped out of him for sure if you're willing to wade through how really uncomfortable he gets.

Cronus is easier to analyse as a Bard of Hope despite his limited screentime; and there's some really interesting analysis to be found in him being crafted by the narrative to be awful.

Point D - the practical function of the Bard.

Here's where it gets interesting. The Bards erode and decay their Aspect in some very interesting narrative ways.

Gamzee uses Rage as a force for destruction by allowing other people's negativity & overwhelming rage to destroy them. He aggravates everyone he targets into striking him first, before hitting back with three times as much force; we see it with Equius, Nepeta & Terezi very clearly.

Cronus uses Hope as a force for destruction through lies and shit-stirring. He sabotages the image of anybody he wants to victimise, lies and spreads rumours until they're disbelieved and shunned; and he does this very openly to Mituna. It's disgusting, but it's interesting to look at. He's both destroying Hope in Mituna, and destroying Mituna through Hope.

...This got very Cronus-centric, didn't it? I guess he has the distinction of not being written in a way that hurts my brain to think about for too long.

I've been excited for this one for a while; I'm sorry that it was pretty late, but I at least managed to get it out on the right day.

Next week is gonna be another interesting one because it's another group that tend to be villainised quite a bit! Thieves & Rogues are up next.

Enjoy the impending Vriscourse. I'm going to go and nurse the Makara-induced headache I now have.

[grelleswife]

Stills from Episode 8 of Kuroshitsuji 2024, which airs this Saturday, June 1st!

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