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digitalclowns · 5 months ago

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YES YES YES YES YES LET’S FUCKING GO

I AM EATING UP THIS SHIT RAAAAAGH THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!! I need to draw them in the Homestuck/Vast Error style one day istg

AND YOURE WELCOME ABOUT THE COUNSELOR BEING A SYLPH!!!

"But What If They Were A SBURB Session?": A Mostly Self-Indulgent Analysis of the Source Characters' Classpects

Part 1 of ? of "I Can Run But I Can't Hide From My Past Hyperfixations, Therefore I Will Be Psychoanalyzing All The Source Characters Except It Gets Progressively Less Coherent"

Also shoutout to @digitalclowns for hyperfixating/brainstorming these with me!

Anyway within the Homestuck/SBURB universe, each player has a classpect (combination of class + aspect) which not only determines their superpower in an RPG context but also ties into their personality, values, and hero's journey. There's no one unified theory of classpecting, I take and welcome constructive criticism (both about my understanding of the theory and my characterization of the Source cast).

Class is kind of what you'd think of for an RPG class (knight, bard, rogue, etc). There's lots more different distinctions and such but overall, class describes a character's arc and hero's journey. There's twelve of these (14 if you count master classes)

Aspect is like an element (space, light, heart, etc) and often describes a character's personality, skills, ideals, etcetera. These often have both physical and spiritual facets, like Space refers to literal space and good spatial awareness, but also creation, benevolence, and possibilities. Twelve of these as well.

So, similar to SBURB, the characters of the Source have to escape their planet's apocalypse and seed a new world. Two main Homestuck-influenced headcanons here are that the Source characters spend three years awake on the ship before being able to enter cryosleep/undergo transformation into Forevers (that's how long the trip between universes in HS is... don't remember for sure though). Also the main influence of the Forevers in the humans' world is in constellations.

Okay uhh that was a long introduction I will get on to the extended rambling now

TH-1: Thief(?) of Space

Space makes or breaks a session. It is impossible to achieve the objective without SBURB without a Space player, similar to the way escaping Alpha would have been all but impossible without TH-1 on their side. The Spacebound are powerful, expansive, all-encompassing, they see all the possibilities, they have the best grip on controlling everything that is. Kind of like TH-1. He will grow, know his name. Also symbolized by the color green and I always feel the urge to overlay TH-1 with Source Green™️ so yea

In the interest of not having duplicate classes, I have TH-1 as a Thief. A Thief is in a constant need to prove themself, their powers in relation to their aspect (in this case Space) involve stealing it and accumulating it for themself. I see this as TH-1 maybe... wanting to prove his worth, like he's worth not being shut off. And at the end of his arc, he has nothing more to do than take all their Space for himself and his own purpose, and it (indirectly?) causes the loss of vitality and possibility for the whole session.

Anyway I also like Witch of Space for Lord of Space as potential classpects (Witch being a powerful class that controls their Aspect unbound, Lord being a VERY powerful and embodying master class though - given the sheer computational power TH-1 has over everybody else it's certainly possible although I don't know if I want to throw in master classes)

The Captain: Witch of Time

"Time is short, the hour's upon us!"

Time also makes or breaks a session. The Timebound is the keeper of the timeline and the session's emergency hatch. Time refers to literal time manipulation, also ambition, determination, being tenacious really. The Captain is responsible for the Starblade which is how they all survive anyway so he's very much integral to the plot, in my AU he really is kind of an overachiever kid who just... hits a massive burnout at some point. Also Time is symbolized by the color red, guess which Source character in particular I always draw in red

Like mentioned in TH-1's bit, a Witch is powerful, basically what you might imagine when you think of someone "with time powers," honestly Captain could go multiple ways on this one but yeah he really does embody and manipulate the spirit of Time, or determination. The Witch's setback is overkill, like they do TOO much and it kind of spirals out of hand, I see Captain's arc kind of like that as his unbridled energy just kind of... hits a brick wall on Y.

The President: Knight(?) of Breath(?)

I was stuck on this one for awhile but here goes.

Breath - freedom and personal agency. It kind of seems like the President is the opposite of that (or at least he should be, trying to unify the people and all that), which is how the class Knight ties into it. Also Breath is like the patron aspect of good-natured people who aren't like, overly intense. In many of our headcanons, the President's tenure is like a breath of fresh air compared to past political regimes, even if it all goes to pieces soon after.

Knight is described as a "deficit" class - they start out not really being able to use their aspect or manifesting as the opposite aspect (Blood in this case) - and then grow into it. Maybe he just never becomes fully realized. I dunno. He does try his best to unify everybody but he never really achieves the freedom from the 'Frame that he promises everybody. Anyway in a session, the Knight's aspect is typically what the session lacks, I think it's safe to say the Source crew definitely lost their freedom and personal agency.

The Preacher: Rogue of Blood

Borrowing some headcanons from a mutual here I think? Blood is about unity and bonds between people, I believe his part in Deathcry kind of serves that purpose.

A Rogue is like a Robin Hood archetype, they steal their Aspect (not sure where from though) and redistribute it to their team members. Usually at a cost to themself. Anyway headcanon here that Preacher woke up from cryosleep early, alone really, and his last transmission was what we hear in Deathcry - all the while suffering from a lack of said unity and companionship.

The Biologist: Maid(?) of Light

"I can feel her rays caress my skin"

Light is all about knowledge, certainty, luck, physical light as well as she sings a lot about Sirrah. And honestly, yeah she is the Brain Cell Haver, it seems like her role in the album is to be the vote of confidence, whatever she says or confirms goes. Even throughout 01011001 as Forever Ω she kind of reprises that role, not wanting to lose the progress they've made.

Maid is an active class, one who creates (so not really what it sounds like lol). I'm not totally convinced of this one but it is an active class that seems to fit. As a Maid of Light she would be creating knowledge, illuminating all their steps, forging the way to achieve more.

The Historian: Mage(?) of Void

"Trapped in this void, deprived of dignity and joy"

While Void is about secrecy and the LACK of knowledge you could also say that the Historian is the one who makes sure nothing gets lost to the void. I mean he's the one writing it all down, he's the one who has control of whether it's forgotten to memory or not. Do you see my vision.

Mage is a knowledge class. They know stuff. In my headcanon the Historian knows the Starblade inside and out, he's also very familiar with history (yeah) and almost every flavor of academia. Since the events of the Source he also knows how it is to be without. Nothingness, Void if you will. The Mage of Void, keeper of what is and what passes out of memory. (Also my friend's classpect :D it is a cool one)

The Chemist: Bard of Mind

"The guilt weighs heavy on my mind"

Also this is such a metal sounding classpect omg.

Mind - logic, determinism, understanding, and the facades a person sets up. He is pretty contemplative like that (also Mind would be my aspect and I see myself in him a lot lmao), he seems to be quite lost in his thoughts, and in my headcanons especially he craves logical consistency and peace of mind.

Bard is NOT what it sounds like. Bards are agents of chaos, passive destroyers, they let things go up in flames. Also in many headcanons Chemist is something of an agent of chaos. You could also say that by developing Liquid Eternity, the trade-off for extending their lives and such was incapacitating everybody's minds. "Liquid eternity perpetuates our lives, but does it paralyze our minds?" Man you are so right for worrying about that. It does.

The Counselor: Sylph of Heart

"In our hearts they shall never die"

Heart is about the self, feelings and relationships as well. And that's the Counselor's area of expertise, as she helps everybody work through their feelings and identity it seems. She's more ...personal than the Diplomat, the other emotional support guy, as she validates everybody's emotions and generally seems to relate to everyone on a more personal level.

Sylph is the closest to a healing class. She heals their hearts and feelings. It works. It works really well. Ty Rain for pointing this one out :D

The Diplomat: Heir of Hope

"This is not over, even if it all seems hopeless"

Hope - I don't know if there's a better way to describe the man, he's all like "yeah but trust we CAN make it and it WILL all be better!" Like his weapon is just unbridled optimism in the face of disaster, so much so that you have to wonder where it's all coming from. He's all yellow vibes and warm colors just like Hope

An Heir becomes their Aspect, the most classic "hero's journey". I haven't thought about his arc much but the guy literally is on the Starblade to embody Hope. What a fella.

The Opposition Leader: Prince of Rage

"A cold-blooded war rages on"

Conversely to Hope, Rage is about the tearing down of belief, cynicism and "okay but get real here". OL seems fueled by anger at the system, he's the one who feels the active need to tear it all down and Do It Right. For some reason I associate OL with purple which is also Rage's patron color

The Prince is also a destructive class (yea both Prince and Rage are kind of destructive, didn't have a better character to assign them to), going back to his need to tear down and rebuild the system. As for personal arc I think the Prince's is about coming to terms with themself but not too sure about that one.

The Astronomer: Page of Life

"Is this our destiny, a life forevermore?"

My beloved son whose characterization I've thought of more than any other character in this album, stand by for A Textwall.

Life is about growth and yeah maybe literal life too, my understanding of Life comes from this comment (by Tamago?? idk it's on a Google Doc I have bookmarked):

You ever meet a genuine person who's just like "hey I like astronomy and fantasy" and they like astronomy and fantasy? That's Astro. He, like... doesn't do MUCH on the album aside from validating "Yeap that is Happening," his other core trait in my headcanon is that he is Very Idealistic. It's only later on when he appears on 01011001 as Forever 🕈 that he grows into this role of an advocate for life, vitality, of the planet being able to exist and be "a world that's living." I have random unwritten dialogue in my head between Captain and Astro that can be summarized as Captain telling him "please stop trying to be so benevolent to everyone else and take care of your OWN needs too" which I think also fits. He also sings a whole chorus about Planet Y being alive so there's that too.

Anyway. Page. Is a weird class. They have a long character arc, start out without a lot of skill, but given enough time they're near unstoppable. Astro is one of the two characters we track through the several billion years of Source AND 01, and Biologist/Forever Ω strikes me as more of an active leader through all of it. So it makes sense that Astro/Forever 🕈 could be a Page. Throughout his arc he's taking more and more responsibility (idk if that's the best way to phrase it) as he, unwillingly at first, becomes the advocate for the Forevers' vitality and regaining their life. Developing Time Telepathy, his statement of wanting a "world that's living" - pretty significant to his goal of wanting Earth to live in spite of watching both Alpha and Y fall.

The Prophet: Seer of Doom

Doom is about death and finality and fate and that these things bring positive changes as well. Lowkey the aspect of someone who's doomed by the narrative but persists anyway. Anyway if there's anybody who's in touch with their destiny or metaphysical purpose, it's the Prophet.

Seer is exactly what it sounds like, often passively receiving flashes of insight from an unknown source. Literally the Prophet. Seer of their fate.

Realized I had these refs, the infodump never stops. Both classes and aspects can be divided into dichotomies and different pairings, don't mind me, just more random observations. Who am I if I'm not constantly overanalyzing everything at I-should-be-asleep-o'-clock

"Physical" aspects: The ones in control of physical reality and existence: TH-1 and Captain (fan favorites tbh. the most characterized in canon lowkey) The ones in control of relationships and unity: President and Preacher

"Mental" aspects: The ones in control of knowledge: Biologist and Historian (braincell havers) The ones in control of perception of the self: Chemist and Counselor (they appear together in a lot of the same kinds of songs, I think it tracks)

"Spiritual" aspects: The ones in control of belief or what I can best describe as "gut feeling": Diplomat and Opposition Leader (the two politicians, look at 'em go) The ones in control of progress or finality: Astronomer and Prophet (OH MIGRATOR IT MAKES SENSE THAT THEY HAVE OPPOSITE ASPECTS. THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING)

Active classes: Biologist, TH-1, Captain, Historian, President, Opposition Leader. The ones who take a more vocal role in the story.

Passive classes: Counselor, Preacher, Diplomat, Prophet, Astronomer, Chemist. They're there, more low-key, still very important.

The ones who create and heal: Biologist and Counselor

The ones who steal and redistribute: TH-1 and Preacher

The ones who embody and manipulate: Captain and Diplomat

The ones who know: Historian and Prophet

The ones who overcome and exploit: President and Astronomer

The ones who destroy: Opposition Leader and Chemist

#i think ayreon is a seer of time because get it #ayreon #the source #classpect #homestuck #arjen lucassen #overanalyzing the source characters because idk #ayreon the source #classpecting #all tags settled? okay? okay #YOU #IM GRABBING YOU AND SHAKING YOU #post so good I’m gonna kms #snow I hope you know I fucking love this so much #reblog

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