#but the Maid class uses their aspect to benefit others more than themselves

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

here to ask about your voice classpecting!!

sorry i asked for this and then immediately took twelve years to answer it anyway

The Broken as Maid of Doom - because of his role serving The Princess, especially the iterations of her more connected with her apocalyptic powers (The Tower, the Moment of Clarity.) using the interpretation of "Maid" class being in the service of their aspect, or serving another more powerful player (Porrim babysitting Kankri/The Dolorosa raising The Signless, Aradia tidying up timelines and eventually coming into the service of godtier!Calliope, Jane being conscripted into the service of The Condesce (notably another Life-aligned individual)).

The Cheated as Mage of Light - The Cheated's obsession with the "unfairness" of their situation reads to me as a good thematic link with the concept of Light as it's defined in Homestuck as a representation of luck, especially with his occasional gambling references ("we're the house now, we make the rules" from the ending for example.) As for Mage, I'm going with the speculation that Mages are those deprived of their aspect but who are able to bring it to others (Meulin being a talented shipper but not having much luck in love herself, Sollux correctly foreseeing the deaths of his friends and his virus causing their session to be cursed, but cheating death again and again.) The Cheated, while generally at the butt of the most unfair situations, brings about luck to others; He can be a part of The Thorn route, where despite being betrayed he breaks the cycle of violence with The Princess, and his role as a ringleader in The Razor's route is what inevitably gives The Quiet the lucky break of empyting his mind in order to fight The Razor.

The Cold as Sylph of Void - The Cold just HAD to be a Void player there was no other way. being empty is His Whole Thing. I decided on Sylph as the class bc of the healer/protector connotations - "healing through nothingness" is hard to conceive but is arguably what The Cold was doing in the Moment of Clarity and Razor routes by trying to convince the other Voices to adopt his emptiness in order to shield themselves from pain.

The Contrarian as Witch of Rage - Rage, the aspect of chaos! While the Contrarian does seem keen on bringing chaos, at first they seem a poor fit for Rage as they don't seem to bear any negative emotions, never getting angry that I can recall. However, this ties into the Witch class as "one who defies the rules of their aspect" - The Contrarian is addicted to the chaos that Rage brings, but facilitates it without the anger or physical strength that are usually also tied to it. He's also able to defy the rules of the narrative in general, being the only Voice whose presence allows throwing the knife out the window.

The Hero as Rogue of Hope - The Hero is hard to place, being less of a larger-than-life character than the other voices, but I think of them as someone willing to facilitate any plan that they think is for the greater good. He gives up much less easily than some of the other Voices, so Hope is a natural choice, and as for Rogue - I think no matter what route you go down, the Hero ends up going along with it in a way that ruins one character's dreams in order to benefit another character, but not himself. He goes along with killing the Princess, robbing her of hope, in order to feed the Narrator's hopes of a world without death. He helps free The Damsel, crushing the Narrator's hopes but feeding hers and the Smitten's. Even in the ending, his arrival gives the Quiet hope, where it previously had none, while also at the same time ruining the Shifting Mound's hopes of ending the clash quickly.

The Hunted as Page of Life - The Hunted's number one concern is keeping themself and the other voices alive, with everything else coming second - he is content to dodge forever, as it keeps him alive, which ties into the motives of a Life player. Pages, of course, are known for the inauspicious starts leading up to massive potential. The Hunted starts off as meek and frightened, but when his instincts kick in, he is one of the most capable Voices in a fight, able to keep the system alive against The Razor longer than the other Voices as well as having the instincts necessary to dodge The Beast and defeat The Eye of the Needle out in the open.

text block break because apparently Tumblr parses lists as one text block and this hit the character limit

The Opportunist as Thief of Heart - The Opportunist is self-interested, and willing to screw others over to get his own way - the essence of a Thief's role! He also has a tendency to put on different "masks" depending on who he's dealing with, which is apparently a quintessential Heart player thing according to the Extended Zodiac (and true given what we see in the comic - Dirk is constantly being duplicitous and Meulin subconsciously hides the fact that she's working with Kurloz. Nepeta's roleplaying could tie into this as well.) "Thief of Heart" would be "one who robs the soul or identity of others in order to benefit themself," and the Opportunist's handing of the knife to The Witch, leading to The Thorn route, robs the princess of her agency, a central part of The Witch's identity (as she is one of the Princesses who quickly escapes her own chains.) It's also worth mentioning that four of the six routes which lead to The Wild - the route where the player is robbed of their individual identity - involve The Opportunist's influence.

The Paranoid as Heir of Mind - I'm going with the "Heir as protector/protected" interpretation here (John saved by the Breeze before he learned to use his powers consciously, Equius blocking out Scratch's omnipotence/his blood blocking out information/him using his fists to defend himself AKA using nothing, Mituna burning out his psychic powers saving the dancestors from an enigmatic disaster). The Paranoid uses a mind-over-matter approach to protect himself and the other Voices from The Nightmare's effects, and his anxieties about what could happen after any given choice also seem very Mind-coded.

The Quiet/The Player as Knight of Breath - The Quiet's defining role in the story AND within the system itself is as "the one who makes the choices." this makes him logically a very active class, and Breath a suitable aspect, as it deals with having freedom and choice more than is afforded to other players (John being unstuck from the narrative, The Summoner's revolution being an attempt at bringing freedom to the lower castes.) Knight as the class choice is mostly just because of the hero associations, but also because The Quiet, when freed from the other voices, is a competent fighter as seen in Mutually Assured Destruction. Knight of Breath would be "one who uses freedom/self-expression/choice/self-direction as a weapon," which is somewhat true of the player; if the player attacks the vessel while in The Long Quiet before his awakening, it says that you lash out with your "will."

The Skeptic as Seer of Space - The Skeptic, regardless of route, is intent on testing the boundaries of the world to discover its secrets. He wants to know the rules of the world they live in - as such it makes sense for him to be one uniquely equipped to find those answers. Admittedly I think this one is kind of weak.

The Smitten as Bard of Blood - THIS ONE IS PERFECT AND I WILL HEAR NOTHING AGAINST IT. Bard of Blood would be "one who invites destruction/allows destruction through their relationships with others." The Smitten's ENTIRE THING is that their passion for the Princess in all forms leads to her always advocating letting her out, thereby destroying the world. Bards are also known as wildcards that either save or doom their teams, and The Smitten is one of the few Voices that seizes control and does so for varying motives, including ending his own life after the player slays the Damsel. 10/10 no notes lines up perfectly.

The Stubborn as Prince of Time - Time is one of the most combative aspects, according to the Extended Zodiac, and the Prince one of the most combative aspects. What's more, Princes are usually devoid of their aspect, having destroyed it in themselves, and The Stubborn is characterized as deeply impatient (lacking in time). The Stubborn is certainly a destroyer, as they are the only Voice who suggests smashing the mirror. What's more, their obsession with fighting to the death with the Princess could be seen as wanting to "destroy the time" that both of them have left.

I'll also throw out lunar sways based solely on vibes:

Prospit: The Contrarian, The Hero, The Hunted, The Opportunist, The Quiet/The Player, The Smitten

Derse: The Broken, The Cheated, The Cold, The Paranoid, The Skeptic, The Stubborn

[freidyne-aigis]

Personastuck? Tartarusstuck? Idk but both source materials involve QUESTIONABLE ARCHITECTURE implemented in REALLY FUCKING TALL BUILDINGS. And the END OF THE WORLD.

Edits by yours truly - please don’t repost or use them without permission.

Arcana-themed chumhandles and really fucking in-depth classpect discussion for each character below the cut. In this essay, I will...

~~~~~~~~

I’ll first give a brief summary of the framework I used when deciding on classpects so that each individual character’s explanation makes more sense. This framework is largely based upon the writings of optimisticDuelist - look them up if it’s of interest to you, their work is really insightful if you’re looking for an analytical reading of Homestuck.

Aspects are literally the aspects or “ideas” that SBURB’s reality is made of. They exist on a wheel, with opposite ideas on opposing sides. These opposed aspects are often two sides of the same coin, which opens the door for some neat parallels to be drawn between characters of opposing aspects.

[Image credit: Hiveswap extended zodiac]

I’ll touch on the specific ideas evoked by each aspect as we get to them in the individual character classpects.

Classes are split into active and passive, and some are more active/passive than others. There are two broad ways to define the active/passive dichotomy, both of which are equally true and unlinked:

Active classes “force” their aspect to bend to their will, passive classes “flow” through the will of their aspect.

Active classes act to benefit themselves, passive classes act to benefit others.

[Image credit: optimisticDuelist]

According to this framework, the active/passive spectrum is like a seesaw. The maid and prince are the most active classes, while sylph and bard are the most passive. Being “more passive” or “more active” means that a character is more “stuck” per se in a certain active/passive approach, and departures from that approach will be more dramatic (within canon Homestuck, examples of such dramatic departures from a character’s norm include events like Aranea’s outburst, Kanaya sawing Eridan in half, and Gamzee’s murderous rampage on the meteor, among others). This makes classes that are not strongly active or passive (witch, heir, mage, seer) inherently more flexible but also less specialized.

I also gave everyone in our SEES session a chumhandle, a land in the Medium, and a lunar sway. I’ll briefly outline my framework for deciding lunar sway here so that I don’t need to do so in each character’s analysis. Hussie never provides a clear explanation of what makes a character a Prospit or Derse dreamer, though he suggests that perhaps it may have to do with the environment one grows up in. If they’re from a culture of aggression, that may correspond to being a Derse dreamer, while a more laid back environment may link to Prospit. I take this to be the most powerful explanation of lunar sway because it is the one most able to account for the lovely outlier known as Vriska Serket the Prospit dreamer. Vriska grew up idolizing Mindfang, who was a sylph (one of the most passive classes) in another life. Vriska spends a lot of time early in the trolls’ session attempting to emulate Mindfang by trying to help Tavros reach his full potential (an inherently passive action). I postulate that lunar sway is inherently tied to the active/passive leaning of the most influential forces (be those character-driven forces like in the case of Vriska emulating Mindfang, or environmental forces like in the case of Rose’s experience living with an alcoholic parent) in a character’s upbringing.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about Persona 3′s cast in relation to SBURB’s hyperflexible mythos.

Minato, ouroborosOverture [OO]: Heir of Doom Derse dreamer; Land of Prologue and Dread

I spent quite some time debating aspects for the twins. One idea I really liked but ultimately discarded was that the twins would be the time and space players. Because canonically one of the twins always dies in a car crash, I think this idea is really fun, as it inevitably gives the kids a doomed session which mirrors their doomed reality in P3′s canon. I tossed this idea out because, at the end of the day, could Minato really be anything other than the doom player? There are a lot of characters in the P3 cast that could realistically be heroes of doom (Shinjiro in particular comes to mind), but the aspect really does feel most salient to Minato, and offers some fun interplay with its opposite aspect, life, which I’ll touch on in the next section about Minako.

Doom represents the restriction and adversity that bind us and how we react to hardship. The heir is the passive “change” class. An heir of doom like Minato changes doom for others, which he does quite literally at P3′s climax. Heirs are also known to sometimes “become” or “inherit” their aspect, which Minato also does quite literally in sacrificing himself to become the seal.

Minako, xx_intrepidIdiot [XXII]: Witch of Life Prospit dreamer; Land of Epilogue and Blossoms

While doom represents the confines of an oppressive reality, life represents agency. And what does the FeMC route of P3 offer but agency in troves? No matter how much some may dislike this narrative choice, Minako is the one and only person able to save Shinjiro, should she complete his social link.

The witch is the active “change” class, mirroring the heir. While Minato generally takes a passive “I don’t care” approach, Minako is much more active in her own life, at least as far as we can tell via differences in dialogue options.

A witch of life like Minako bends and breaks the rules of the life aspect to suit her will. With enough determination to get to know him, she can end up saving Shinjiro (who, for all intents and purposes, is unsaveable without her). Likewise, a witch of life seems very much the type to say “fuck you” when the literal unbeatable god of death shows up at her doorstep. Her story (both narratively and mechanically) is not nearly as much of a downer as Minato’s because she acts with so much more agency than her twin.

Junpei, outfieldImpowered [OI]: Page of Heart Derse dreamer; Land of Alchemy and Heroes

If any character could be called the “heart” of the SEES team, I’d argue that it’s Junpei. Heart is the aspect that represents the soul and one’s identity.

The page is the active “servant” class. Pages start out weak and lacking in their aspect, but have huge potential to grow with the help of those around them. Junpei fits the role of page of heart because he feels he lacks an identity or something to make him special at the beginning of P3. He wants to be a leader to prove his worth, but he’s not cut out for it. He struggles academically, and feels that his ability to fight with a persona is all he has.

When he meets Chidori, he starts to learn that he doesn’t need something special to be a worthwhile person and have his own identity. Just having connections with others is enough.

At the conclusion of his character arc in P3, when Chidori sacrifices herself for Junpei, he is literally “served” her heart, as her persona fuses with his. 

Yukari, valkyrieIncarnate [VI]: Maid of Breath Prospit dreamer; Land of Crossroads and Clouds

There’s a joke to be made here, it’s on the tip of my tongue.

Astounding as it may sound, Yukari is not a maid because of the whole maid thing she has going on in canon, but because maids are active creator/healer classes.

Breath represents freedom, but also detachment, both from reality and from others. A maid of breath creates freedom and detachment for themselves, and, uh, yeah, that’s Yukari. For someone so popular, she’s very self-isolated and actually a bit naïve in some ways, too. Her self-isolation plays out in her social link, while her lack of grounding in reality is most obvious in scenes like the one where she’s perfectly willing to drag Junpei and the protagonist out with her to investigate a back alley in the middle of the night.

Akihiko, indomitableVantage [IV]: Prince of Void Derse dreamer; Land of Mountains and Constellations

Void is the aspect of lack, obfuscation, and plot irrelevance. This does not particularly sound like Akihiko. However, considering the entire title, prince of void, may provide some clarity. The prince is the active destroyer class, one who destroys their aspect or destroys through their aspect for their own benefit.

Now, dearest reader, you may be thinking, “OP, I don’t see what you’re saying, Akihiko is a very selfless guy, he's so protective of his loved ones, he can’t be an active class!” and rest assured, I hear you. Aki is selfless, sometimes to a fault, but in a roundabout way, his selflessness is self-serving. I do not intend to slander Akihiko here - being selfish is not a bad thing, it is just a thing.

Akihiko spends the first half of P3 so wrapped up in guilt over his past and feelings of powerlessness. While Shinjiro’s way of coping with guilt is very *ahem* passive (we’ll get there), Akihiko deals with these emotions by using them as fuel to the fire to get stronger. It’s always training, training, training, with him. He believes that if he’s strong enough, he’ll never have to face the same loss he did in his past. There’s a void inside him, but no amount of determination and training will destroy it.

This obsession ironically plays into Akihiko’s irrelevance when it comes to preventing Shinjiro’s death.

When Shinji is killed, Akihiko finally realizes something. He realizes that his obsession with becoming stronger for others was, deep down, an attempt to assuage his own grief. If he could have just protected those important to him, this grief wouldn’t eat him alive, so he attempts to placate his grief with empty assurances that it won’t happen again, he’ll be stronger next time.

His persona’s evolution coincides with the point at which he finally learns how to destroy his feelings of lack: by accepting them for what they are, accepting himself for what he is, and opening up to others.

Mitsuru, ornateIIIuminati [OIII]: Mage of Mind Derse dreamer; Land of Eden and Hoarfrost

Let’s establish one thing. Mitsuru is smart, and she knows it (except for when it comes to fast food-related excursions). In the same way that Junpei is the heart of the group, Mitsuru is the brains behind SEES.

The mind aspect has connotations with logic, decision-making, and the masks we wear to cover up who we really are. And mages are an equally cerebral class. The mage is the active “know” class - one who understands their aspect for their own benefit.

As the leader of SEES (outside of combat situations where protag-kun is their lovely leader), Mitsuru is calm, calculated, and informed. She wears the no-nonsense mask that’s necessary for the job, and keeps everyone organized, even to the point of keeping crucial information away from her team members when she knows it will hinder their performance (see: Yukari). I’d hardly call Mitsuru maliciously manipulative, but she certainly understands what she’s doing and how to effectively use others to achieve her ends.

The one thing she doesn’t understand is Marin Karin’s poor accuracy. As we all know, this is because Marin Karin is a move that evokes heart imagery, the aspect opposite to mind.

Fuuka, investigativeInventor [II]: Seer of Space Derse dreamer; Land of Technomancy and Frogs

Fuuka is perhaps the single most obvious class of the bunch, due to her supportive role as the party’s navigator through most of P3. A seer is a character who knows their aspect for the benefit of others.

Space can refer to a lot of concepts, ranging from the physical properties of the world around us to the more abstract notion of creation. And Fuuka is very much a creative, for better or for worse. She’s skilled working with technology, but her culinary innovations are perhaps a little too innovative. A seer of space sees possibility at their fingertips, but it just so happens that in Fuuka’s case, possibility is using cough syrup as a dinner ingredient. On a more concrete note, we also know that Fuuka managed to survive for ten hours in Tartarus on her first visit without running into a single shadow, as if she could instinctively tell where in space they are. She’s been shown to be capable of scanning the entirety of Tatsumi Port Island from a single spot, and she (from the ground floor of Tartarus) can navigate the party with little issue, even 264 floors up. She has the range.

Aigis, vanadicImmortal-I [VII]: Knight of Time Prospit dreamer; Land of Phoenixes and Foundry

Oh Aigis my beloved, you’re one pair of shades away from being the coolest kid on the block.

I briefly considered having her be our hero of blood. What an interesting and ironic take that would be, and how fitting for a robot who develops emotions and friendships to be represented by the aspect of relationships and bonds. However, time feels to be a better fit. Time, akin to space, has a very literal meaning in the passage of time, along with some more abstract meanings like decay, inevitability, and the often cyclic nature of reality. Time is a concept that Aigis struggles with. Because she does not age and can always be rebuilt, Aigis is not affected by time like her friends are. Regardless of how soon their deaths come, Aigis will outlive them. Time is the one thing that prevents Aigis from truly being human. And yet time is also her strength, as she has unlimited time to work with. From her association with the chariot arcana (determination, willpower to get back up and try again) and the aeon arcana (cycles and rebirth) P3 paints a picture of Aigis that cements her place as an eternal, ever-present and ever-persistent force that runs parallel to time, but is never touched by time the way the people around her are.

The fun/terrible thing about the SEES cast is that there are a lot of characters here who could realistically be knights. The knight is the passive servant class. They’re the type to give little regard to their own safety, but throw themselves in harm’s way to protect others. While this fits several of our dozen heroes (I���m looking at you, Shinji), I believe it to be most salient to Aigis, as her character arc revolves around grappling with her mission and ultimate inability to protect the protagonist.

Koromaru, x_Infernalshibe [XI]: Rogue of Light Prospit dreamer; Land of Beasts and Fireflies

Light has a good number of meanings, most of which are well-explored within Homestuck canon. Light is fortune, luck, information, literal light, and plot relevance (see also: “the spotlight”). Quite an odd fit for our Mamudoon-casting shibe. And to be honest, the SEES group doesn’t feel like it has any members with exceptionally strong connections to the light aspect, unlike P4′s Investigation Squad, which has Naoto, Rise, and Yu as strong contenders to be heroes of light.

I will say, however, that Koromaru feels like the best candidate to be the SEES light player, especially in the context of being a rogue of light specifically. The rogue is the passive “steal” class. A rogue of light would perhaps steal wealth, information, and/or luck for their allies. Or, in the case of Koromaru, this classpect could steal the spotlight for their friends.

After the 12 giant shadows are defeated, Ikutsuki’s plot comes to a head and most of SEES finds themselves crucified. Ikutsuki is certainly threatening to become way too plot relevant for anyone’s liking as he threatens to have Aigis shoot everyone up. But thankfully, Koromaru shows up just in time to literally snatch away both his plot relevance and the Control Aigis Button he was holding.

It’s also worth noting that Koromaru seems consistently the most upbeat of SEES (likely due to being a dog, but I digress), and close to the end of the story, he’s very much a positive grounding force for team when they feel like fading away into the background and giving up on life. (This is most visible in the movie adaptation, especially between Koro and Ken.)

Also, mechanically speaking, Koro frequently “finds” valuable items when out on walks with the protagonist. Whether or not these are actually stolen from somewhere isn’t something we can confirm or deny, but he’s regardless providing his allies with Sweet Loot.

Ken, vigilanteTrident [VIII]: Thief of Hope Prospit dreamer; Land of Angels and Ruin

Ken has a lot of character beats linking him to the hope aspect. Hope represents faith/belief, justice, idealism, delusion, and plot coherence. As a kind and naïve yet vengeful kid whose character arc slots very cleanly into the story he’s in, our pint-sized justice arcana representative is very much hope-bound.

SEES doesn’t particularly have any characters who are clearly “steal” classes, unlike P5 which has rogues and thieves in troves. The thief is the active “steal” class, meaning a thief of hope steals hope for their own benefit. Ken is very much an active class, as most of his actions revolve around enacting his vengeance. I would argue that there’s a decent case to be made for him being a thief of hope specifically. Outside of getting justice for his mom, Ken struggles to find a reason to live, a reason to have hope. Justice is the only hope he has, and in getting vengeance, he believes he has to literally take away whatever hope his mom’s killer has. This mindset, as we all know, falls apart when Gun Jesus interrupts Ken’s revenge plot, killing Shinji and forcing Ken to finally reevaluate his beliefs and will to keep on living.

Shinjiro, oathboundVagrant [OV]: Bard of Blood Prospit dreamer; Land of Moonlight and Iron

Shinjiro as a bard may sound like a weird choice. That’s a fair take. I didn’t want to draw the bard outfit on him; he deserves better than that hood and codpiece. But we have twelve players and twelve classes, and Shinji seems the best fit.

The bard is the passive destroyer class. That is to say, they either allow destruction of/via their aspect, or destroy for the benefit of others, or both in Shinji’s case. As I touched on in my analysis of Akihiko, Shinjiro takes a very passive approach to grieving, removing himself from the situation that caused his grief rather than convincing himself to tackle that grief head on like Akihiko.

The aspect of blood represents relationships and the grounding force they have on our lives. As a bard of blood, Shinjiro’s classpect shines through in slightly different ways as his approach in life changes. Years prior to the events of P3, he allowed the destruction of Ken’s most treasured bond - his mom. For the benefit of those around him, Shinjiro then feels he has to destroy his own bonds and isolate himself such that his persona never harms another innocent. And on the fateful night he’s killed (before Gun Jesus turns up), Shinjiro is ready allow one of his bonds (Ken) to destroy him for what Ken believes to be his own vengeful benefit.

Chidori, x_indebtedIris [XII]: Sylph of Rage Derse dreamer; Land of Gallows and Flowers

Rage is a bit of an oddball aspect, because the main canon lens we get to view it through is Gamzee, but more depth can be seen in this aspect when you consider that it’s the opposite of the faith aspect. Rage represents anger (especially anger for false ideas and faulty systems), revolution, skepticism, lack of faith, cynicism, plot contrivance, and the acknowledgement that you’re but a pawn in a game or an actor in a play. The sylph is the passive creator/healer class, which is to say that a sylph of rage creates or restores rage for others.

Chidori starts off her P3 arc pretty cynical, and understandably so, given her situation. She lacks faith in the world around her and fears attachment because of the pain that inevitably comes with caring for another. She is the embodiment of the rage aspect with respect to her belief that life is cruel.

As her relationship with Junpei develops, her relationship with her classpect changes as well. She evokes so much emotion from Junpei, who had previously been feeling lost in life and without purpose. With Chidori by his side, Junpei feels more than able to tear down his previous conviction that he needs to be something exceptional to be worthwhile.

With her death, her mythological role goes a step further. Chidori sacrifices herself to revive Junpei, which stokes his rage and determination like nothing else.

And then there’s the plot point where Chidori can potentially be revived by the flowers she’s healed. It certainly feels like a plot contrivance to some, potentially to the point of evoking rage (in the player in this case, lmao).

In conclusion, the SEES session would be a disaster, and I love that for them. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[ask-the-page-of-space]

The more i read your analisis the more i learn about the classpects :D A knight would cause the session to be lacking in that knight's aspect, a page player would mean that they need lots of growth, can you do a analysis on how each class could affects the session?

A quick overview on how all the classes are supposed to work in a typical session? Sure, can't hurt to refresh ourselves once in a while! The Knight uses their aspect as a weapon to defend themselves and others, becoming a heavy hitter in their field, but as you mentioned, they are chosen to carry their classpect because, for whatever reason, the session is expected to be lacking, somehow, in their aspect. The Maid maintains and "serves" their aspect, making sure there is always enough of it, and its presence is strong. They also often use their aspect as a weapon, like the Knight does, though not always as effectively. The Mage obtains, over time, a comprehensive knowledge of their aspect and acts upon that knowledge. This insight, however, can prove a burden, and Mages tend to be manipulated by what they learn. The Seer, like the Mage, obtains great knowledge of their aspect, but becomes more of a font of information, allowing others to benefit from their insight rather than running off to act upon it themself.

The Thief steals things using their aspect - or, often, steals the aspect itself! Either way, they will make great use of whatever they take, on a personal level. Their more team-oriented counterpart, the Rogue, also steals from or through their aspect, but then distributes the benefits and to others, in the most effective way they can find. The Sylph heals others through their aspect, or sometimes heals the aspect itself in some way. They are the ultimate support and recovery players, but don't count them out of a fight, when they decide that 'healing' a situation means laying down the law! The Page's domain is to distribute their aspect to others in great measure. They hold some of the greatest potential within their aspect, but they are slow starters, and very often begin their session strongly lacking in their aspect, requiring much personal growth to achieve their goals.

We then have the Witch, who manipulates their aspect, often even going so far as to bend or break its perceived rules. They're a tricky class that often can seem to reach beyond what they are given. The Heir gathers their aspect around them and at times can even seem to embody the aspect themself, obtaining a level of fine control that even the Witch has difficulty matching! The Prince is a destroyer - either they destroy things using their aspect, or they destroy the aspect itself. It seems to be a trend that they achieve their highest potential only after their aspect is destroyed in themself, in some way. The Bard is also a destroyer, but in a more passive fashion. They allow the aspect to destroy things, or else act in a way that lets the aspect itself fall apart. Their indirect approach to things can make them both the most and least influential player in any session.

Finally, we have the two so-called 'master classes'. The Lord commands their aspect in ways neither the Heir nor the Witch can hope to quite achieve, and will use that power to command and control others. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Muse advises, supports, and inspires through the careful application of their aspect, often achieving great things from the sidelines, without it every becoming clear if they really got involved at all...

I hope this class retrospective helped clear some things up for you! And remember, this is just my observations and notes on how I identify the classes to work; new information is being found all the time, and one never knows how things might shake out in a session!

[thepageofhopes]

Undertale Multiverse Classpects Part 1/??

It’s inevitable once I get super into something that I do this.

I will most likely do more characters but for now I started with just some of the biggest characters of the multiverse/underverse specifically. 

Explanations will be under the cut. Long, long, explanations. (Almost 3k words!)

Error: Bard of Time Ink: Rogue of Space Nightmare: Knight of Doom Dream: Page of Life Cross: Witch of Blood XChara: Prince of Heart XGaster: Thief of Light

Most of this was done using the theories of 0pacfica, whose amazing classpect theory posts can be found on Ao3 here:

https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960270

Though this was also cross referenced with bladekindeyewear’s older theories (particularly on the roles of the classes and active/passive pairs) and a sprinkling of the extended zodiac. 

So this is another classpect where it’s actually easier to do in pairs for a lot of the characters due to how intertwined they are. 

Error: Bard of Time

Ink: Rogue of Space

When starting with these two, it really was a giant debate between me and my friends about whether Ink and Error were time and space or hope and rage. It was very hard to move away from Hope/Rage when it represents unchecked creation and destruction which...is pretty much the entire backbone of underverse, but after lots of back and forth we found Time and Space fit better overall. 

It’s useful to think of Space as Beginnings and Time as Endings. Ultimately what Ink does is facilitate a bunch of new beginnings. Ink is also all about the growth of the multiverse, which is the closest analogue we really have to Skaia. Hope may be creation, but it is creation as counter to the greater narrative, and often counter to Skaia and the reproduction of the universe. On the flip side, Rage, while being destruction, is generally destruction of anything non-fundamental. Error, by contrast, does not care what is being destroyed. His goal is ultimately the end to the multiverse itself; the end of the narrative. Time and Space are also the main building blocks of the universe and without them sessions become void. Ink and Error ultimately represent the core of the multiverse and are also key in most of the big multiverse spanning stories. As well, there’s really no escaping how similar Error and Caliborn act in both personality and actions. 

Finally, looking at the extended zodiac, even their personalities fit decently well, though mostly Ink and Space. While classpect is actually much more about narrative arcs and roles than personalities, it’s still useful to look at the most personality based descriptions of the extended zodiac. Space has the description ‘They are patient, masters of the art of 'wait-and-see', and are inclined to take things as they come. That isn't to say that they're pushovers or willing to let injustice lie-they just choose their battles wisely, understanding that sometimes you have to let something burn to the ground in order to build it back better and stronger than before. To this effect, they tend to be innovators, concerned with creation and redemption.‘ and if that doesn’t describe Ink in underverse at least, then nothing else does. Time is a little less fitting personality wise for Error, but these few bits are pertinent: ‘Their lives are often marked by struggle, not so much because fate has it in for them, but because they are fundamentally incapable of just accepting things as they come.’ ‘At their worst they are ruthless, defensive, and impulsive.‘ 

So now that Aspect is out of the way, I can explain classes. Let’s start with the easy one first. There’s no way we could have Error as anything other than a destroyer class, so Bard or Prince had to be one of the titles. Then from there it comes down to whether Error is active or passive. While it may be easy to say ‘well he actively destroys things’ it’s useful to remember someone's powers can look very similar even if active or passive. My go to for this is Roxy who despite being a passive void class, ultimately can still actively steal nothingness from concepts.

And I have to ask- does Error really actively use his aspect? Because I don’t think so. There’s a popular fan concept of Error as a ‘Forced god of Destruction’ that I think really cements this. Time as an aspect tends to also represent Fate, and if there’s a character who has been actively fucked over by Fate, it’s Error. Even from his time as Genos, Error has been the butt monkey of terrible circumstances. 0pacifica talks about ‘Student’ classes (Thieves, Seers, and Bards) as one where the aspect changes the player, and if that doesn’t describe Error just. 

Also it gives Error a codpiece and isn’t that just fucking perfect.

So onto the harder class to explain- Ink being a Rogue. Unlike the Destroyer class, there’s no ‘Creator’ class to nicely fit Ink into (although some suspect that the Heal class of Sylph and most likely Maid class can double as both Heal and Create) but even then, Ink doesn’t really actively create. Rather he tends to try and inspire creators to create. For Ink it made more sense to use 0pacifica’s chart to lower down the class, and then make sure the powers still fit from there. 

To start with, there’s no way Ink is anything but a mutualist class. Both Ink and the multiverse benefit from Ink’s role in the multiverse. But even more telling that Ink is a mutualist class is the line in the flowchart ‘The story is not complete until I have accomplished what I have set out to do or found another way to satisfy my initial impulse.’ From the start of Underverse at least to now (though I also suspect to the end of Underverse) the story has been driven by Ink’s actions and motivations. There wouldn’t be a story without him, for good or ill. 

From there using the chart, it was easy to lower it down to Rogue or Knight. Ink really isn’t changed or used by their aspect, unlike Error. So it really comes down to does Ink use his aspect or change his aspect. From here I really like 0pacifica’s one sentence descriptions. Rogue is ‘I change my aspect to a more useful form’ while Knight is ‘I use my aspect like a tool’. Eventually we decided on Rogue because Ink doesn’t really actively use his aspect- he’s much more about inspiration- allowing others to steal his ideas, if you will ;P. He ultimately changes other beginnings in service both to the multiverse and himself- squeezing them for paint so he can keep feeling. 

Also Rogue just kind of fits Ink’s aesthetic with that cute little bandit mask

What’s really cool is these two classes are also on opposite ends of the ‘Reinvent/Change’ segment of the class chart. 

Hopefully this is the longest segment..

Nightmare: Knight of Doom

Dream: Page of Life

Here’s another pair we really had to decide between Hope/Rage for and Doom/Life. But honestly there wasn’t actually a lot of debate. If Doom is Stasis and Inertia, then that fits Nightmare’s ultimate goal to a T. If Nightmare gets his way, the entire multiverse will be plunged into negativity, and with no contrast, everything would just be mired in the same. In contrast to both Nightmare and in particular, Ink, Dream is all about growth and making things better. Joku has specifically stated that Dream and Ink had a falling out due to this- Dream doesn’t care about creator intentions or their story. If there is someone suffering, Dream wants to fix it. 

Another way these two fit is in something 0pacifica observes regarding Doom and Life players- Life players come from ‘the top of the pile’ with every advantage behind them, while Doom players come from the ‘bottom of the heap’ with everything working against them. From their beginnings Dream has always been put upon a pedestal, with the love and adoration of the villagers surrounding them, while Nightmare was always hated, always considered as a problem before he has any type of sway over negativity. In actuality, they were born equal, but the circumstances of which side they happened to represent tilted them in their respective directions. 

For the extended zodiac, since Nightmare is such a terrible person, even more so than Error in a lot of ways, means that it’s not as useful. The descriptions ar emeant for people to identify with after all, and no one is gonna self-identify with being told they are a monster. There is a bit of the extended zodiac we can use though, and that’s Nightmare as a commiserator. In underverse he gains Cross’s trust by empathizing (in a way) with his negativity, and he surrounds himself with crew that have been in as bad circumstances as he has been. Life however, has a great section that fits Dream perfectly: ‘ Those bound to the aspect of Life are the universe's healers. They are concerned with the betterment of themselves and those around them, as well as the onward march of positive progress. Deeply empathetic, they have an intuitive understanding of other's suffering and the best way of righting those wrongs.’

When looking at classes, we considered the Commensalist sections for both Dream and Nightmare for a while. But we ultimately decided against that specifically with the line that ‘my accomplishments and failings are purviews of the fringes of the narrative’ which just can’t be true for two beings so fundamental to the multiverse. Indeed, you’ll actually see none of the characters in this post fall under this side specifically because I started with the most ‘important’ characters. We ultimately decided on mutualist for Nightmare- despite his ‘bottom of the heap’ status, he ultimately tends to take control of the narrative, and much of underverse and even a lot of fan works are centered around his actions, much like Ink. Dream, by contrast, is constantly fighting an uphill battle and for most of underverse is more a pawn than any true figure of movement in the story. Parasitic fits quite well for poor Dream who no matter what ending of Joku’s story you go by, always dies.  

There really is no other character who quite wields their aspect and powers to their advantage like Nightmare. I really can’t find a lot to add here, it was a pretty unambiguous choice and had very little debate in our classpect talk. All his manipulations are steeped in death and decay and well, negativity, all which fall under Doom. Knight is theorized to be the active Exploit class which fits nicely into 0pacifica’s class descriptions. So, for Dream, looking under parasitism, Dream doesn’t really change his aspect, he’s pretty much defined by Life. This lowered it down to Prince and Page. Dream, unlike Nightmare, isn’t really an active manipulator of his aspect and of his positivity. It’s more a part of him, and thus Page, who in the flowchart literally uses the line ‘I am defined by my aspect’ seemed to be the perfect fit.

Like Ink and Error, these two are also opposites on the ‘manifest’ side of classes, and even better, Knight is the active Exploit class while Page is the passive exploit class. 

Thank god this section was actually shorter

Cross: Witch of Blood

XChara: Prince of Heart

While these two characters aren’t opposites in aspect or class, it’s useful to talk about both of these two at once both because of how closely they are tied together, but also because how similar their goals and narrative journeys are in general. 

Basically with aspect it came down to Blood and Heart for both of them. The more material aspects really have nothing to do with either of them, both of them are much more focused on narrative meaning. Light/Void is out of the question as when it comes down to it, through all their posturing, they ultimately are much more focused on themselves than any kind of big picture or big over-arching questions on the nature of reality. This also phases out Mind for both of them. And finally, this sentence on Breath is about as anti Cross/XChara as it comes: ‘what’s meaningful and important is discovering something new, expanding that perspective, broadening the meaning-horizon and rising above the mere material of the world until ‘tradition’ is a speck of dust on a marble’.

Ultimately we went with Blood for Cross over Heart. Cross is primarily motivated by the past in a way XChara really isn’t. Hell, one of the main reasons Cross decided to fight against Frisk and XChara in Timeline X was because the timeline they were currently in was a happy place for him and the rest of the monsters. Cross is also shown to utilize bonds- it’s a vision of Cross that stops XChara in his fight against Swap/Blue. XChara, on the other hand, is much more focused on the idea of control and being in control, because they know what’s best better than anyone else. Heart is appropriately labeled as ‘egoism’ in 0pacifica’s chart and if there’s one thing XChara has, it’s an ego. There’s also the line ‘Heart is the reading into and reading out of, the situating of what’s been read in the personal and the familiar, the reshaping and reinterpreting of the text outside of the author’s hands.’ If we see XGaster as an author, then what better describe’s XChara’s role?

Honestly the extended zodiac isn’t really great for these two, once again due to the fact they are largely negative and corrupted characters. Most of what’s there isn’t truly yet in the text but implied in the opening to Underverse Season 2 (Cross being a leader through inspiration) or something that I’ve basically already covered (Heart being self-obsessed). This is long enough already so lets just move on. 

There’s no way either of them are anything other than a parasitic class. ‘I could beat myself bloody against the bars of the narrative and still get no closer to the form of success I personally desire’ describes both of their experiences in XTale and Season 1 perfectly. (’All my efforts were for nothing..’) As well, for how much these characters were corrupted and damaged throughout the course of Underverse, what changed them was much more outside forces than anything having to do with their aspect- they both tend to own their aspect. 

XChara is pretty definitively a Prince- He is incredibly talented at utilizing his own personal potential and even his own ego to advance his own agenda, even as it actively fucks him over. And how do his overwrite powers manifest? A complete domination of others personalities and identity. He destroys others identities and personal narratives. Cross is a tough one because most of what we’ve seen of his powers and actions have been actively manipulated by XChara whose very aspect dominates identity. But one thing that we very much see in Underverse is how Cross actively forces other people to team up and form bonds to stop him. This forwards the narrative while being actively detrimental to Cross himself. And finally, one of the last moments we see with the new Cross at the end of season 1 is him actively changing his bond/deal with Nightmare to save Dream, which gives Dream the determination and ability to escape to the Omega Timeline with the other survivors. Unfortunately most of what is in the actual text isn’t super concrete but there is enough foreshadowing and implications of where Cross’s character is going to go that Witch just ‘feels’ like the right fit. 

Whew I was afraid this was somehow going to be as long/longer than the first segment

XGaster: Thief of Light

This one should hopefully be fairly short as if there was a classpect title there was the least amount of debate and back and forth on, XGaster was it. 

There’s no way XGaster isn’t Light. The literal second I saw the sentence of Light that says ‘There is one answer’ there was no way he could be anything else. XGaster’s entire storyline is about finding/creating the one true perfect universe. Essentially, in classpect and narrative terms, his entire narrative is about the Search for truth and meaning. Which is literally the sentence used to describe Light in 0pacifica’s writeup. 

In the interest of wrapping. this. shit. up. I’m just gonna post this section from the Light part of the extended zodiac. It feels fairly self explanatory. ‘The Light-bound will go after knowledge with a fierce intensity that others may find distasteful. They aren't overly concerned with laws or norms, either. They often take rules as simple suggestions, instead searching for loopholes or work-arounds.’

Class is where I will probably actually have to explain a little more. I don’t think mutualist is anything I really need to extensively justify- the narrative of Underverse bends to accommodate the goals of Ink and XGaster, basically everything I said about Ink also works with XGaster with how closely they are tied. 

The fundamental shift of XGaster’s narrative arc and even personality is all based around knowledge. He learns from Ink that other multiverses exist and in that instant it sets him on a new path. Thieves are all about acquiring more of their aspect to change and benefit themselves, and XGaster literally gathers ideas and knowledge from other universes to create and enrich his own. I know it’s cheeky to not have just one but two canon titles, but they undeniably fit. 

Also he sure does have all the irons in the fire *shot*

Aaaaaaaaaaand we’re done! Look how fast that last segment went. 

[land-of-classpects-and-analysis]

The Maid Class Analysis

Maids are those who are often thought to only be a servant to those around them, answering to every beck and call that someone higher in authority than them gives. Rarely ever catching a break or being shown much respect, instead tending to play the role of a silent caretaker - a person meant to be seen rather than heard. When whatever job they have been assigned for the time being has been completed, they are often shunted aside, locked away in waiting until the next chore must be done by someone with such a delicate, skittish touch. Oftentimes Maids are those looked down upon - they are the underdogs who no one ever sings about, no one ever makes murals in their memory, rarely given the kindness and respect they so deeply deserve. 

Yet, it is also the Maid who is meant to be the one to keep order in one fashion or another. They are the ones who clean, after all - whether that cleaning is merely tidying up any dust or grime collected over the years, or the mess leftover by those surrounding the Maid. To be rather blunt, the Maid is one who is underappreciated, as well as underestimated in how large of a part they play in the groups they are a part of. Chances are that a Maid is the reason for countless important, largely defining moments for one or even several people they have come across. Maids leave impacts wherever they go, whether they realize this or not. Much like the scrubbing of a cloth against a wall, the bristles of a broom on a dirty floor, or the gentle feathers on a dusty desk - a Maid will always leave a mark wherever they depart from; good and bad alike.

Although some of what has been described may describe that of a typical, non-Classpect related Maid, those who are bound to this creation Class are ones who go through these similar struggles. The life of a Maid is rarely ever an easy one, as they often will face countless challenges along the way of - to be quite honest - their entire existence. One of the biggest defining struggles of a Maid is their Aspect itself. More specifically, the fact that their Aspect is something that has nearly consumed every last piece of the Maid’s world - themself included. While at first it may seem like a play-on-words for a Maid’s Classpect title to be “Maid of Aspect”, there is an unfortunate truth to such a label; one in which the Maid never truly agreed to in the first place. 

The Maid is one who has a seemingly endless supply of their Aspect to the point where it feels almost inescapable to the Maid themself if they ever wished to get away from it. Down to the Maid’s very own decision making - their Aspect is a weight placed on their back and shoulders from the exact moment they were born, and it is one that has rarely ever seemed to become lighter, no matter what they do. As much of their Aspect they have, it is rarely ever something that truly benefits the Maid. In fact, for some Maids, their Aspect is something that is extremely debilitating - an oppressive force that has its claws dug in deeply into the Maid’s heart and soul. Even an Aspect as seemingly beneficial as Space, Life, Breath, Blood, Light, etc. would have their own downsides to someone as unfortunate as the Maid.

They are someone who could be argued to be at constant war with their Aspect, one side always trying to dominate over the other since, if the Maid is not entirely careful, their Aspect could eventually overthrow them entirely - leaving only a lifeless husk of the Aspect to wander around and serve whoever calls their name. However, that is only one of the struggles that the Maid faces, yet there is no doubt that it is still one of the biggest and most difficult obstacles in their way. Unlike the Prince or Bard who seek to destroy their Aspect yet must instead learn how to destroy through it, or the Knight who must learn how to wield their Aspect like a shield or blade, the Maid is one must learn how to put the excessive amount of their Aspect to good use. Although it appears to be a force that only wishes to oppress and perhaps even damage the Maid, it is still up to them to figure out what exactly they wish to do with it. Unfortunately, they won’t ever be able to truly rid themselves of their Aspect, there is no doubting that. That doesn’t entirely mean they have to simply learn to live alongside such a lingering, almost oppressive force, though. There may be some Maids who do find a purpose for their Aspect, one way or another. 

Of course, there are the variety who don’t wish to even associate with it and may even be afraid to become accidentally, completely submissive to it. In these cases, they will most likely go with the option of ignoring or even running away from any and everything that has to do with their Aspect. Whether it is avoiding discussing it, places or locations that are filled with it, people who are linked to it, etc, there will always be the Maids who will merely try to rebel against it as much as they can. In a way, it could be seen as them running away from the duties and responsibilities tied into their Class. Maids are often a crucial part for any group that has been given the privilege of having one amongst them, after all.

Before heading into the powers of a Maid, and just how they can put the excessive amounts of their Aspect to good use, let’s take a moment to reflect on the social life of a Maid, as well as the overall personality this busy and bustling Class are known to have. Starting off, Maids are those who are quite dedicated to doing what is best - at least in when it falls under the light of what they deem to be the most important. If there is one thing Maids dislike, it is having their time and energy wasted on a job, person, or thing, especially if it all turns out to be pointless in the end. This is often because Maids can become extremely dedicated to anything, as well as anyone, that they put their mind to. Maids tend to enjoy working towards some type of goal, fulfilling a promise, making a dream into reality - these are often the things they will deem as far more important than anything else in their life. However, these things that a Maid views as being the most important and deserving of their care and attention will always take the top of their to-do list, pushing aside anything and anyone else closer towards the bottom. 

When a Maid has chosen to commit themself to a belief, individual, cause, group, task, or what have you, then they will do whatever they can to make sure the end product will always be one of perfection. Details are often a large priority for a Maid, especially when it comes to their own private or personal plans, projects, or otherwise creative endeavors. If there is one thing out of place or not exactly perfect, chances are it will be something that will fester and gnaw away at the Maid’s mind and emotional state until one of two things happen. They will either get to fully delve into their project, perfecting every last nook and cranny of it, or they will become fully enraged that their plan or project has not become the best it could be, and may even go as far as to tear apart or throw out whatever it was that they spent so long working on. Oftentimes, when a Maid puts in so much effort, energy, and time into a project, they inevitably begin to associate their very own worth with that project, seeing it as their sole purpose in life. As such, when their project is incapable of reaching such a state of perfection, what does that say about them? That they are not perfect, but rather flawed, and will never, ever be able nor allowed to reach such a state of perfection? 

As eager as Maids can be in regards to dedicating themselves to something, they are often just as quick to begin neglecting themselves if they deem their own health to be not as important as other chores, tasks, or even people. On the other hand, a Maid may be one to seek out ways to live their personal best life; one of luxury, peace, success, and so much more. In order to do so, however, they will often begin neglecting everything and everyone else around them - including their own Aspect. If they believe that their Aspect is truly holding them back, then they will often invite others to come and take their own bits and pieces of it, if only so that it will allow some temporary peace for the Maid. Little does the Maid know that this is one of the biggest, most self-destructive mistakes to make. That is something to be discussed later. As the Maid builds themself up to be a person of grand appearances, wealth, health, and more, they will only truly be able to achieve this by stepping on the toes, backs, and shoulders of other people and places around them. To simply put it, the Maid is one who could either become the most selfless person in the world, or the most selfish. 

No matter how a Maid may present themself towards the world or even the people they meet, it is best to keep in mind that, in life, there is always a weak point to even the grandest, most breath-taking structures. For the Maid, it should come as no surprise that it is their willingness to help anyone they deem worthy or in need of such care. Although some could merely say it is the friendships and relationships in the Maid’s life that is their weak point, that is a point which assumes every Maid has any relationships - real or otherwise - to speak of. In reality, Maids are those who will often have large, open hearts that tend to steer towards being caring souls. Every Maid has their own soft spot for at least one individual, whether they care to admit it or not. While there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to help those who are in need of support, mending, or even love, there is a flaw in being a person so quick and eager to be the one who helps anyone who cries loud enough. Give a wild animal some food, and chances are it will come back. Give a person an inch, and they will eventually ask for another, then another, until they have claimed an entire mile. Allow someone into a section of your heart, showing them unconditional love and support, and chances are that someone will inevitably come around and ask for more than what they are already getting. To simply put, the Maid is one who is often a victim of being used by others - their kind, trusting, loving nature being seen as just another slab of rotting meat for vultures to swoop in and peck away at.

Maids will rarely often do anything about this, as their sympathy - or perhaps even empathy - is that which runs extremely deep; coursing through every vein in their body. The longer the Maid allows for such selfish souls to strip away all that they have and all that they are, hoever, and eventually the Maid will be left with nothing to give but the biggest part of their entire person: their Aspect. Yes, even the Aspect of the Maid can fall victim to being mistreated and even abused by those in the Maid’s life. If these vultures see a chance to have it, then they will stop at nothing to sink their talons into its metaphysical flesh, during which the Maid, too, shall suffer greatly. 

Even though the Maid may hold grievances towards their Aspect for all the trouble it has brought them, this force is still a fact of their personality that they simply cannot ignore forever nor allow it to be destroyed, stolen away from them, or manipulated into something it is not meant to be. Although Maids are capable of standing up for and taking care of themselves it’s their lack of confidence - or rather the fear of stepping out of line - that is often what holds them back. Rather, it is their submissive, conflict-avoidant nature that so often lands them in situations of mistreatment. When a Maid has had enough of such a thing, however, there is no doubt that the Maid will make quite the show of declaration that not only have they had enough, but that their services are now closed off to anyone; allies and enemies alike.

Within every songbird is a phoenix, waiting for the fires to come and unleash their true, untameable spirits. Within every Maid is a person waiting for the day where someone will repay their kindness and free them of their shackles. The company in which the Maid finds themself within is often wide and extremely diverse, if only because the Maid is someone who attracts people of all walks of life. Yet as many people as the Maid is happy to know, so comes the stress of having to figure out who is truly a friend and who is merely a wolf hiding amidst the shrouded masses of the Maid’s social group. After all, they are someone who is often prone to falling prey to the gnashing teeth and razor claws of monstrous people, and so it might be likely for them to develop a sense of anxiety or underlying trust issues towards the people around them. On the other hand, they may also be just as quick to dismiss all previous negative, toxic relationships as flukes, mistakes, small errors in their own judgement that will never, ever happen again. The Maid is meant to be perfect, are they not? No perfect being would ever allow such a silly thing to happen over, and over, and over, and over again. If there is anything the Maid is, it would be perfect with no flaws to speak of whatsoever. 

People who are aware of the Maid often are those who are either extremely eager to try and befriend, spoil, and care for the Maid, but there may be just as many who are off-putted and unnerved by the Maid, sometimes finding them, their mannerisms, or their ideologies and philosophies on anything to be perturbing or even downright upsetting. Just as well, there are others who are looking to only use them and their trusting, kind-hearted ways for selfish, twisted reasons that rest within such tainted hearts. Despite all of this, though, the Maid will typically, and simply, sit in the center of it all; appreciating and loving every last person to ever show them kindness and care. If there is one thing for certain amongst most, if not all, Maids, it is that they are more often than not complete and utter hopeless romantics in some fashion or another. Whether this means the poetic, literary type of romance; of love for the innocent, tender, far more natural ways of life, or maybe it is the emotional sense of romance that comes with some variation of attraction. Maids wish to dedicate themselves to something, but they will almost always be wanting to dedicate themselves to someone more than anything else.

When it comes to a group setting, Maids are often those who play a far more neutral role in everything that transpires amongst everyone else. Rarely, if ever, are they the ones to ever start something of great importance. If anything, they are the ones meant to see that everything plays out as it is meant to; maintaining order, coherence and appearance in the greater narrative of it all. If life is a play, then the Maid is often the set designer - the one who pushes every set piece, plot device, etc. into place. Whether this is done by their own want to do so, or if their hand is being forced by someone or something else, this is often something that depends on the Maid and whichever predicament they find themself within. No matter what, though, even when it seems that the Maid is the root cause of one plot point, positive, negative, or otherwise, it is quite likely that they were forced into such a position of center-stage-performance. A director, unseen, pulling the curtains back far too early or turning on a stagelight at the wrong moment. Do not take this as Maids being deemed as unimportant or even disposable, however. On the contrary, Maids are one of the most crucial parts for anything, as well as anyone, to function in a world full of plot holes and loose threads. It is merely that due to their title of Maid, others tend to downplay the dire importance in someone such as them. 

The biggest reason for the Maid’s importance is that of their powers - their abilities to affect and leave grand ripples in wherever they go and whoever they meet. There has often been some debate as to a Maid’s true powers for as long as they have been around. The two biggest powers that stand on the top is that of whether a Maid is one who creates their Aspect, or creates through it, or if they are those who heal their Aspect, or heal through it. Their counterpart Class, Sylph, is one that has been noted to have healing properties. As such, would it not make sense for the Maid to have such powers, as well? Well, personally speaking, the powers of the Maid are much like that of a Knight: far more completed when one tries to put them down on paper. The powers of the Maid are that of someone who creates their Aspect while also capable of healing it, or they can create through their Aspect so that they may heal through it. 

Quite a mouthful, as well as seeming quite convoluted, no? If one were to wish to shorten it or make it far easier to read, then the Maid’s powers are that of merely creating their Aspect, or creating through it. Nevertheless, the reason for this extensive conclusion is merely one question that seemed to pop up when personally pondering the powers of this Class: what is, ultimately, the difference between creating and healing? Is healing not the process of creating something better than before, building up from the rubble of what has been soiled and destroyed? Is creating not healing an empty space where something once was, only to be torn out one way or another?

Let’s take a step back and revisit the fact that Maids are ones whose kind, loving natures are often taken advantage of - used and abused by those far more cruel and selfish in this world. When the Maid, or any of their true friends for that matter, is incapable of keeping their Aspect - and therefore themself - safe from the talons and jagged beaks of those who seek to consume all the Maid has to offer, what will ultimately be left of it; of them? Tatters, ragged clothes, bruises, tears - bloodied and forgotten by those who only sought to tear down the Maid and take away all that they are. A broken person in an even more broken world, with their Aspect left in shreds. 

As much as the Maid may hold hesitance and perhaps even ill-feelings towards such an ingrained part of themself, it would be no different to hating one’s own hands, or their legs, or even their lungs or heart. Their Aspect is as big a part of the Maid, as well as everyone else around them. Because of this,  is just as vulnerable as any other part of these mortal, organic coils. Who is to be the one, then, to come forward and mend what has broken? Who is to be the one who takes charge and heals what has been harmed; to create, heal, and restore balance not only within themself but wherever else the Maid’s Aspect may lie? After all, a Maid’s Aspect is something that completely defines them and their actions just as much as it is a fog that lingers upon everything they encounter throughout their life.

Maids are creators first and foremost, whether it is taking their Aspect - or what is left of it - and creating more of it so as to not only benefit themself but the world around them, or they create through their Aspect, honing in on all of its properties, perspectives, and forms so as to build, restore, and configure whatever they wish or need. The idea that Maids are healers is merely an offshoot of their creative powers, which can occasionally have secondary healing effects on those who are touched by the Maid. A Maid may restore the Hope within another person via creating it, but some could see this as the Maid healing that person’s Hope directly. It is an extremely thin line that the powers of the Maid walk upon, always teetering towards one definition over the other. 

This balancing act is why, personally speaking, Maids will be remarked as those who create their Aspect, or create through it, as their primary power. Any possible healing that comes from these acts of creation is uncommonly an accident, though some may try to claim it more as a miracle than anything else. Let’s not forget, as well, the questions brought up before and their core themes: what is truly the difference between creating and healing? Does the difference truly even matter? For some, yes, it does, but for others, they may be just fine accepting this idea that thematically and in regards to action, there truly is very little that separates the two of them.

As for the journey in which the Maid would go about unlocking these powers, that can become quite an elaborate tale to tell. To give a brief summary here, the Maid’s journey to unlocking their powers is often one of great pain, loss, and suffering that will always force the Maid out of their comfort zone - if they even had one to begin with. To further elaborate, the Maid is one whose life is one marked with struggles, internal or otherwise. Ever since the Maid takes their very first breath of air, their Aspect will latch onto and embed itself throughout the entire Maid’s mind, body, and soul. One could argue that the Aspect is like that of a parasite to the Maid, always taking, taking, and taking, yet rarely ever giving anything back to the Maid. What can be said about this argument is how that is only a slightly accurate description of the relationship between a Maid and their Aspect. If the question being begged in one’s mind is ‘well then, what is the relationship’, one might be slightly disappointed to hear that, as is often the case, it simply depends on the Maid and their circumstances. Ultimately, the relationship between them is an extremely complicated one, but there will always be one thread that runs throughout all of these cases; the ever-looming threat of being totally and utterly consumed by one’s Aspect.

Much akin to Heirs, Maids are those whose Aspects are extremely difficult to shake off. Unlike Heirs, however, who simply drift ever closer to the blackhole that is their Aspect, the Maid is one who has already fallen into some sense of servitude to their Aspect. It is already a force that controls almost everything in their life, whether it is seen in a Maid of Void constantly being overlooked or left with countless secrets, or a Maid of Hope being shoved into a box of rules, standards, and laws for them to play by, or surrounded by countless people, places, and things related to faith and beliefs. The Aspect to a Maid is ever-present, almost to a suffocating extent, and it is one that rarely ever benefits the Maid directly. If anything, the Aspect of a Maid is a force that only seeks to bring torment, harm, and perhaps even death to such an unwilling victim of circumstances. 

Yet as much as their Aspect is something that seeks to harm them, and as much as the Maid may come to despise their Aspect, neither of them could truly exist without the other. At the end of the day, though, a Maid’s Aspect is that which seemingly only wishes to envelop the Maid, making them into a vessel only meant to carry out and fulfill tasks related to their Aspect. This is something that often terrifies Maids, and, as such, they may try to seek out ways to handle such a ravenous beast.

Perhaps some Maids subconsciously seek out destructive people; those who will rip and tear and use up all the resources and energy the Maid has to offer, their Aspect included. Maybe it is simply an unfortunate side effect of their naive, far too loving and kind nature. No matter what, though, there will inevitably come a handful of times throughout the Maid’s life where their gentle, near submissive, way of socializing will be taken hold and advantage of. This will come to happen until, finally, the core of their very being has been revealed for all to see, and the Maid’s Aspect will be shown no mercy. The brightest flower, the freshest and most succulent fruit, the most healthy, bountiful soil, and the most tender of meat is that which will always be torn apart and ravaged the most when it comes to those selfish souls. 

Although the Maid may have thought it good that their Aspect will finally be chopped down like an invasive plant entangling them, suffocating them, a horrific discovery would be awaiting them. As their Aspect is savagely and haphazardly used and abused, exhausted and ragged from a never-ending crescendo of everyone wanting to get their own sliver of Breath, or of Mind, or of Light, there would come a point where the Maid would realize that once all their Aspect has gone, they will have nothing left to offer to those around them. If the Maid were to truly allow for all pieces of their Aspect to be ripped away from them and consumed by these wolves and vultures, then what would be their purpose? Who would see any point in keeping the Maid as a companion if they cannot dazzle everyone with their Aspect and what it holds? Moreover, who would the Maid even be without their Aspect? Who is a Maid if not their entire Aspect, flaws and everything?

If they are to survive, then the Maid cannot allow their hatred and rivalry with their Aspect to persist. As much as it has tried to destroy them - to overtake them and make into a husk - such a similar fate is what awaits the Maid if they are to have every last part of their Aspect picked clean from their soul. The two of them are one in the same - two forces who oppose yet must continue to coexist with one another; especially if neither wishes to be left with a longing sense of emptiness. Because of this, the Maid must not only learn how they and their Aspect can coexist with another, but also how to save both forces from being destroyed for good.

Although some of the Maid’s friends played a part in this act of self defamation, it will also be the Maid’s friends who will help them and their Aspect not only become whole again, but, ultimately, become one. Indeed, the Maid must first learn how they can help to restore their Aspect - create it so as to help fill in the gaping spaces that lack its presence - before learning how to create through it. There are many Maids who see such a long-winded journey as far too daunting, and so they often abide by the ways of only ever creating and restoring their Aspect. For as powerful as it may sound, there still lies that underlying tension and fear of losing themself in their very own Aspect. After all, in order for them to create through their Aspect, they essentially have to swear themself over to its whims, ways, and wires, becoming synchronized and aligned with one another to allow peak performance of power to occur. 

However, those who hide and run away from such power will never be able to truly unlock their full potential, even when it comes to their base powers of creating their Aspect. Never will they be able to fully heal, create, or restore what has been lost of their Aspect, not if they don’t fully submit to it. Even the Maids who know this and still choose not to are often content as is when it comes to their powers. Perhaps it is because they still hold a grudge to those who hurt them, and as such see no reason as to why they should make such a grand sacrifice for a few saps who most likely would never do the same in return. Who is to say other than the Maid themself? Who is to say even the Maid knows the reason for this defiance.

At the end of the day, the base power to create their Aspect is one meant to heal their Aspect. Oftentimes, though, they do end up playing the role of a healer to those around them, as well. The longer the Maid creates and heals their Aspect, the more they will come to realize how truly important they are to not only the people around them, but in the grander schemes of everything, as well. 

By creating their Aspect, the Maid is one who manages to maintain the balance needed for everything, and everyone, to function and grow. They are the ones who make certain every last domino falls, exactly as it needs to be. Whenever there is a hole to be filled, chances are that the Maid will do that job well, if only in a rather arbitrary and seemingly convoluted way of doing so. Such a thing is not uncommon for Maids, though, as they do often show themselves to be either victims of outside forces - often ones far out of their own control - or they are ones who orchestrate such a thing; going against the grain as they see fit. 

Their minds are ones of grand creativity, and their powers are ones most certainly meant to accentuate such a trait. Even if a Maid never ventures further on their path of creation, even the base power of creating their Aspect is one that can surely evolve into something extremely grandiose. A Maid of Doom capable of wiping out or rooting away a hundred mile radius of any life with a wave of their hand, a Maid of Breath creating a storm so disastrous it could rip away entire mountains, or even a Maid of Hope who can bring back a lawful and justified balance; soothing whatever rageful beasts may be surrounding them. The Maid and their Aspect have always meant to work side by side, beneficiaries to one another; when such synchrony has even been partially fulfilled, the Maid is one who can prove themself to be quite the daunting force to behold.

Once the Maid has proven themself well equipped in their power of creation, so will come the moment where they can decide whether they wish to further their power or not. To become one with their Aspect, to create through it, is a power not many Maids may wish to partake in as spoken of before. However, for the ones who do take up this challenge, knowing the risks that may come in their possible failure, they are the ones who will not only truly know their Aspect, but will act as a type of ambassador for it. They will represent all that their Aspect is - the good, and the bad - in order to become one of the finest creators of their time.

By creating their Aspect, there may come a time where the Maid finds themself to once again have an excessive amount of it. It is through this excess that the Maid will find their power of creating through it; honing in on what has bubbled over the brim of the pot, the Maid will be able to create whatever they wish from such concentrated amounts of their Aspect. Through stardust itself, a Maid of Space could create what they wish - or what they need, a Maid of Mind could use their ability to foresee consequences of actions to create the ultimate battle strategy, or a Maid of Time could create a perfectly synced series of events across countless timelines; dominoes falling until they make the final push that allows for the Alpha Timeline to continue pushing forward.

To create through one’s Aspect is to use all that is, was, and ever will be to one’s advantage. However, much like their base power of simply creating their Aspect, these actions tend to have an odd offshoot, or rather side effect, of healing to them. When a Maid creates their Aspect, they may unknowingly be healing someone that they never even considered to be in need of such a service. The same goes for the Maids who create through their Aspect, though this can be one on a far broader, or perhaps even more personal, scale. After all, when creating through one’s Aspect, it is often an action that requires a more direct approach from the Maid. No longer do they sweep the halls or dust the artifacts of a castle, but they now have a far better say as to what happens in the castle; they have more control over it. Although they will never reach the levels of control that a Muse or Lord holds over the castle that is their Aspect, they most certainly are ones who hold the ability to come close to such power.

The role of a Maid is one of great importance, yet also one often looked over. They are the ones who help to bring and maintain balance in a group, no matter how many conflicts seem to threaten the stability of it all. Although such a task is one that often calls upon their powers of creation to be used, and still be given very little reward for their efforts, such a fact is one that the Maid can learn to live with. Of course, there may be moments of hot-headedness from the Maid when it comes to their efforts of healing and creating being unacknowledged, but so is often the life of the Creative Classes. After all, some of the best creators are those who were rarely truly appreciated during their time of life.

A Maid is a healer, creator, and a cleaner. They are meant to fix what has been broken, polish what has become rusted, grimy, or smudged, and, most importantly, love what has been neglected. Their Aspect was once left in such a state of disrepair, and the Maid is not one afraid to admit that it was by their own hand. Becoming lost in pettiness, hatred, and fear is often problem the Maid is known to have. It is only when they enter such a state of mind that not only themself, but other things and peoples around them will begin to truly suffer and descend into a state of disarray. After all, when the bringer of balance no longer does their job, who is going to be the one to look after the castle and the people who reside in its kingdom? Perhaps the Knight, though they are most certainly not ones meant to clean things up.

No, a group without a Maid, or at least one who does not play their part, is most certainly a group destined to be filled with many moments of internal and external strife, complications, and struggles. Considering the nature of the Maid, and how people are often drawn towards them, chances are that the Maid will most likely find at least one or a few people within the group worth the time and energy in healing whatever they lack of the Maid’s Aspect. After all, even the most stubborn Maids will always have their weak points - those bleeding hearts inside of their chests - and there will always be the people they simply cannot say no to, for better or for worse.

Ultimately, though, a Maid is someone who merely looks towards doing the right thing - even if that “right thing” holds questionable morals in order to achieve it. Maids can be excellent friends and allies to have, primarily due to their dedicated nature. While at first they may have been more than ready to put someone in front of themself and their Aspect, the Maid has learned through all of the hardships and trauma from such self-destructive actions that, truly, if one wishes to be the change in other people’s lives, or even the world, they must first change how they treat themself, flaws and everything. They have learned that in order to see the true value and worth in everything and everyone, they must first value themself and their Aspect.

Once they manage to climb over this obstacle that is their hatred and/or fear of their Aspect, they will manage to see the good in not only it, but also themself. When they achieve this state of realization will they be allowed to begin their own journey of personal healing. Such a journey will be long, and at times seemingly treacherous. As long as the Maid keeps to the path that they set forth themself, then it will be their true self that will be there to greet them. When they shake hands, they will finally become the mystical, magical mender they were born to be. For it is not the Witch who sews the clothes and relationships when they have become torn and ragged, it is not the Bard who keeps everything in order and equally distributed, and it is not the Thief who is capable of restoring what once seemed lost and forgotten. No, it is the Maid who does this, and it is why they are one of the most important players out of any of them.

[creative-de-stuck-tion]

Some classpect assumptions I’m working on...

So that my role assignments for the Troll Call and fancestors make sense.

-Classpects as in the comic are not a specific thing in this world, but aspects exist as universal forces and each person has some ability to use their aspect in different ways. The class titles are literal, as standard for Kingdomstuck; Aradia is an actual maid, Dirk is an actual prince, etc.

-I will be doing/have done some classpect analysis of my own to inspire the characters’ stories for this AU.

-”Active” and “passive” does not mean “can only use their abilities for their own/other people’s benefits respectively”. Jade didn’t pull off Cascade for only her own benefit, did she? Active means they make use of their aspect themselves, e.g. Thieves taking their aspect to use it, and passive means they bring about the aspect in others in their class’s manner, which gets a bit more complicated, but think of Gamzee the Bard allowing Karkat to destroy his Rage. Any of these things can benefit or hinder any party involved; Cronus bringing about the destruction of others’ Hope in the sense of everyone’s positive feelings towards him didn’t benefit anyone, and Lord English has a thing about forcing active classes (Thief Condesce and Witch Handmaid) to use their abilities to benefit him.

-Sylph/Witch (change) and Heir/Maid (create) are paired. The name pairs make more sense that way, among other things.

-Knights and Pages are the “use” classes. “Serve” as a term and butler imagery is used of more characters than the Knights and Pages in a non-classpect concept - Equius and Aurthour for one - and we already have a giver class in the Rogue. Tying in with the above, Knights are active and Pages are passive, not least because they have a tendency to be used.

[murdereraisuha]

Classpecting TWST: Octavinelle

Time to assign Homestuck classpects to the fish mafia!

Spoilers for chapter 3 and some of the trio’s personal stories. No knowledge of Homestuck required to read.

[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Azul, the symbol for the space aspect, and the words “Azul Ashengrotto: Thief of Space”]

For Azul, I think it’s easier to narrow down what his class is first.

To get back at his childhood bullies, Azul developed his unique magic “It’s a Deal,” which lets him make contracts with others. 

He uses clever loopholes and tricks to shift his contracts in his favor, letting him reap the magic and abilities of his victims. 

However, despite his power and skills, he still has self-image issues. 

In chapter 3, he overblots during a desperate magic stealing spree to make a more perfect him who isn’t a “stupid, clumsy octopus who can’t do anything by himself.”

What I get from this is that he steals from others, he worked hard to shape himself into a successful person, and he perceives fault in himself. Based on this, I think his class is either thief, the active theft class, or knight, the active exploitation class.

With that in mind, what exactly does he steal/exploit, and what do his insecurities relate to? Rather than concepts like luck, freedom, or the soul, Azul seems centered on concrete objects. In his childhood, he was tormented due to his physical appearance. In the present, he carefully controls his diet to maintain a slender physique. He also hoards things like coins and his contracts. 

Based on these things as well as the creativity he exhibits in his elaborate schemes (exam notes, beans day, investigating Scarabia, etc.), I think that Azul’s aspect is space, the aspect of physical attributes, creation, and patience.

So, thief of space or knight of space? After research into both, I think that thief fits the best. First of all, though Azul has amazing abilities on his own, he relies a lot on maintaining a hoard of contracts. Rather than working with what he has, he constantly seeks out more: more power, more profits, more restaurant locations. Similarly to how Azul’s downfall in chapter 3 stemmed from trying to steal too much (Yuu’s house & the photo), the 2 thieves in Homestuck also get into trouble for being too overconfident. Finally, while a knight generally protects and shelters those around them, Azul isn’t afraid to do stuff such as wring Floyd out like a towel to use his eel slime for developing a beauty product. Therefore, Azul is most likely a thief of space.

[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Jade Leech, the symbol for the light aspect, and the words “Jade Leech: Rogue of Light”] 

To figure out Jade’s aspect, let’s consider some facts about him. 

His unique magic, “Shock the Heart,” forces a person who looks him in the eye to truthfully answer a question he asks them. 

He dislikes predictable things, which is a reason why he loves his chaotic brother and enjoys growing unknown plants. 

He prefers to stay in the shadows while Azul/Floyd takes the spotlight.

Based on these factors, Jade seems well suited to either the void aspect, the aspect of secrets, confusion, and irrelevance, or its opposite the light aspect, the aspect of truth, awareness, and importance. Now, how does he interact with his aspect?

Though Jade, Azul, and Floyd are equals, Jade still usually acts in a supportive role to them. For example, in his ceremony robes story, Jade gives the list of the new students’ private Magicam accounts to Azul for him to use instead of using the list himself. Therefore, I think that Jade probably has a passive class.

Jade does not have a deficit of light/void and he does not have a destructive relationship with light/void, ruling out page and bard. He doesn’t truly embody either aspect, ruling out heir, and he doesn’t seem to do much creating/healing of light/void, ruling out sylph. That narrows it down to seer of light, seer of void, rogue of void, and rogue of light. 

Though I originally thought he was probably void and just kept the light option open just in case, Jade might actually be a rogue of light. A rogue, the passive theft class, invites theft of their aspect and through their aspect. Jade reveals knowledge (ex. contract violations & the Magicam accounts) and then leaves Azul and Floyd to do with it as they please. Also, Shock the Heart is activated using his eyes, and eyes are a symbol of the light aspect in Homestuck. 

Furthermore, the rogues of Homestuck often have trouble coping with having their aspect, correlating with Jade being uncomfortable with having people’s attention on him. He also has problems with giving information/the truth about himself. For example, his exaggerated fake tears after Idia doubts his wish during the Wish Upon a Star event strengthens Idia’s belief that Jade's wish is insincere, even though Jade might have really wanted to use his wish for Azul and Floyd’s benefit. Though Jade is pretty different from the typical descriptions of rogues of light I have read, I think he probably is a rogue of light.

[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Floyd, the symbol for the blood aspect, and the words “Floyd Leech: Bard of Blood”]

For Floyd, I have an aspect already in mind.

Breath represents freedom and flexibility. From his general refusal to wear his uniform properly or take on responsibilities to specific events like trying to play dodgeball during basketball club, Floyd certainly exhibits freedom. His unique magic, “Bind the Heart,” references the concept of freedom/captivity in its name. By deflecting any magic aimed at him, it basically ensures his freedom from injury and other harmful effects like Riddle’s” Off with Your Head!”

Just so we’re not narrowing our focus too much though, I’d like to point out that the rage aspect is also a possibility. Rage represents negative emotions, defiance, and persistence. For Floyd, he rebels against conformity and also exhibits some stubbornness in his teasing of Riddle. Floyd’s aspect might also be the opposite of breath or rage, blood or hope, since each aspect and its opposite are just 2 sides of the same coin as we saw with Floyd’s brother.

Anyway, on to class. First off, thief and rogue are out since he doesn’t do much theft. He doesn’t hide behind any masks or act very pessimistic, so knight, page, and prince are out, and he doesn’t seem to struggle with knowledge of things, so mage and seer are out. Of the remaining classpect combos, I was thinking witch of rage, bard of rage, heir of breath, or maid of breath. However, as I just said, the aspects blood or hope might also apply. After looking into god tiers of those aspects, one stuck out at me: bard of blood.

Bard is the passive destruction class, which invites destruction of their aspect or through their aspect. Bards and princes, the active destruction class, are notable in how they exhibit traits of the opposite aspect since they destroy their own aspect in themselves. In Floyd’s case, his abundance of freedom & spontaneousness can also be seen as an absence of commitments & responsibilities.

However, a bard doesn’t destroy all traces of their aspect, which is how I can find evidence that Floyd’s aspect is actually blood rather than breath. In Homestuck, those of the breath aspect tend to be rather emotionally detached or passive. For example, John handles shocking revelations with ease and Tavros uses sleep to escape sadness. On the other hand, blood players tend to be emotionally explosive and assertive. Karkat and Kankri are well known for being rather... cranky. Now, for Floyd,

I don’t think an emotionally passive person would have a murder mode face like this. There’s also the fact that Floyd specifically hates shackles, while a breath player would probably take their freedom more for granted. Anyway, going to how being a bard would interact with Floyd’s aspect, as a bard his actions lead to destruction of bonds/responsibilities. However, a bard’s aspect is still a part of them/an inevitability even if they try to act like it isn’t.

Let’s take the one big example of anguish within Floyd that we have: his school uniform story. While Floyd is having a blast riling Riddle up and trying to bait him into a game of tag, Riddle remarks that Jade doesn’t bother with this sort of mischief and he’s completely different from Floyd even though they’re twins. This causes Floyd’s mood to take a 180 and he abruptly leaves. Even though Floyd does stuff like steal Jade’s clothes or shove work on him—things that might suggest Floyd doesn’t care about Jade—Floyd actually doesn’t want their bond with each other to break. This also holds true for Azul: though Floyd explicitly says in chapter 4 that he and Jade will leave Azul if he becomes boring, that seems like a half-truth: with Azul being the person he is, how likely is it that he would ever become boring?

Floyd is a genius, talented in everything from academic subjects to music to sports. However, as noted by some other characters, his mood swings and flippantness prevent him from being the even more terrifyingly powerful person he could become. His personal challenge may very well be to find a middle ground between running from and depending on his bonds/responsibilities. Therefore, based on Floyd’s values, attitude, and faults, I can say that he is very likely a bard of blood.

-- Final notes --

Firstly, If you actually read through all this and enjoyed it, I recommend checking out mia-pon289’s Octavinelle theories and Dahniwitchoflight’s classpect stuff since this post drew a lot of inspiration from those. 

Secondly, I am going to flip my shit if Ace’s aspect turns out to be blood too once I get to analyzing Heartslabyul. Is basketball club just gonna become blood club?

Thirdly,

[Image description: A venn diagram with 2 circles. One circle is labeled “Animal with 8 legs” and contains “Vriska” in it. The other circle is labeled “Aquatic” and contains “Meenah”. The intersection between the circles contains “Azul”. The whole diagram is inside of a rectangle labeled “Thief”]

[thexfridax]

© Claire Mathon

Translated interview with Director Sciamma

‘We started a culture war‘

Andreas Busche and Nadine Lange, in: Der Tagesspiegel, 29th of October 2019

Additions or clarifications for translating purposes are denoted as [T: …]

Manifest on the female gaze: Céline Sciamma speaks about her period film ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’, MeToo in France and queer visibility.

In France, Céline Sciamma, born in 1978, is already revered as the new feminist and notably queer voice of French cinema, in the tradition of Claire Denis and Catherine Breillat. The director (‘Tomboy’, ‘Girlhood’), who writes her own screenplays, is largely unknown in [T: Germany]. This is most likely about to change with her fourth and most beautiful feature film so far. At the Cannes Film Festival, the period love story between the young painter Marianne and her model Héloïse, daughter of French aristocrats, won the Best Screenplay. Between the rugged landscape of the coast of Brittany and the candlelit interiors of an old villa, the film creates a utopia of solidarity and female desire, in which the characters of Marianne, Héloïse and Sophie the maid overcome class barriers.

Interviewers: Ms Sciamma, ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ is your first period film, it takes place a few years before the French Revolution. Why is this era important for your story?

Céline Sciamma: My interest in those years came from art history. At the time, there was an unusual number of female painters, hundreds in France and across Europe. It really moved me to discover the biographies of these women, who had successful careers. They supported each other and were very political. There was for example feminist art criticism at the time.

I: Noémie Merlant plays the painter Marianne, who is commissioned to do a portrait of Héloïse, a daughter of aristocrats. There are two main themes: the representation of female painters in bourgeois society and the female gaze – and how this [T: gaze] is reflected in the art world at the time. How are these themes connected?

CS: When I went into more detail about the work of female painters in the late 18th century, I realised how much the female perspective is missing from art history. For me this is the most painful loss, which results from the elimination of the female gaze: this relates to the artwork themselves, but also to what art brings to our lives, the memory of a kind of intimacy.

I: Marianne is not based on a specific female painter. But is she representative of women at the time?

CS: I collaborated with an art sociologist, who did extensive research on this era. All biographical details for Marianne correspond to the time in which she lived. The dynamics of a biopic – a successful woman who defies societal norms – never really interested me. My film is a manifest on the female gaze. But there’s also melancholy in this process, because we have to restore something that has been ignored for a long time.

I: Why melancholy?

CS: It makes me sad, because this perspective was withheld from me all my life. That is why the scene, where Marianne, Héloïse and Sophie the maid re-enact an abortion, is so important for the film. By painting an abortion, the act becomes art and is therefore represented. Art gives women the opportunity to tell their own stories. But it’s not only about the past. The topic of abortion is still virtually invisible in cinema.

I: How do you deal with this lack of female perspectives as a screenwriter and director?

CS: I was aware about the lack of queer and lesbian representation in cinema early on. But it becomes dangerous, when we don’t realise anymore that something is withheld from us. I noticed this again, when I watched ‘Wonder Woman’ by Patty Jenkins. It is hard to express how you feel when you know you’re not represented, and at the same time are oblivious to the power it can give you to recognise yourself in cinema. That was a new experience for me.

I: You were one of the initiators of the 50/50 by 2020 movement, which is committed to gender parity at festivals and in film. What do you expect from Cannes next year?

CS: I’m glad that this topic is finally taken seriously. We set out our target for Cannes and want more transparency in the selection committee. However, to achieve these, you have to introduce quota. The board will be replaced [T: next] year, let’s see how it works. We started a culture war. One of the most important things for me is the work on inclusion. The 50/50 [T: movement] and the film production/promotion agency CNC created a fund for cultural diversity in [T: film] productions last year. There’s usually less budget for films made by female directors, this inequality will be slightly mitigated. More than 20 films have already benefitted from this fund.

I: There is progress on one hand, but on the other hand some things are deteriorating again. Do you see it in a similar way?

CS: We had no MeToo-debate in France, unlike the one in the US. The [T: debate] was quickly hijacked and reinterpreted as discussion about free speech: that feminist film criticism would lead to a new form of censorship. You could feel the backlash in France. A good example: Sandra Muller, who created the French MeToo movement ‘Balance ton Porc’ [T: ‘Denounce your pig’, see here for the evolution of the term ‘pig’ in this context] just lost a libel lawsuit. Action was filed by the man, whose harassing statements she made public. The level of societal discourse is not where it’s supposed to be.

I: You lead by example: There are mainly women working on your sets.

CS: It creates a different atmosphere, that is for sure. But I’ll tell you something: Women only make up 50% of the crew, my crew is probably one of the most diverse in France. Claire Mathon is my cinematographer, but a lot of men work with her. My cutter is a man though. It’s about the right balance. The film world is very much dominated by men, but I don’t want to exclude anyone.

I: In Cannes, you said something similar about your colleague Abdellatif Kechiche, who was criticised for his voyeuristic gaze on women, for example in the Palm d’Or winner ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’. Do you want a cinema, in which your and his gaze can exist side by side?

CS: We have to be conscious about our perspective. In France, I’m always asked about my female gaze, but no one is ever asking a [T: male] filmmaker about his male gaze. Which is still considered as gender neutral. Of course, you can love ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’ as much as you love ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ [T: 😈], otherwise cinema will become a battlefield of ideologies. We just have to learn to read the images correctly. I would like to invite Abdellatif Kechiche to this relatively new discourse. But he should be asked the same questions as me.

I: You call ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ a manifest on the female gaze. What does that mean?

CS: It starts with the screenplay. I wanted to tell a love story on equal terms. There is no gender-specific power imbalance in the film. That was important for me, especially in a time, in which gender inequality was the social norm. There is also no intellectual dominance between Marianne and Héloïse, they both come from the upper class, are sophisticated and self-determined. Between them, they did not have to negotiate a status.

I: What role did your actresses play in this?

CS: I wrote the film for Adèle Haenel. But it only works if she has a partner who is equal to her. Noémie Merlant is about the same age as Adèle, they are even the same height, which cannot be underestimated in cinema. That’s why shorter actors often have to stand on a pedestal. All these considerations are political, but they are also an offer to the audience: for new emotions, for surprises. Equality creates freedom, because social rules are overturned.

I: As Marianne, Héloïse and Sophie keep to themselves, they are not exposed to the male gaze. They can move freely.

CS: That’s why I don’t think of my film as social utopia. Every utopia is based on our experiences and ideas. You cannot easily find this kind of solidarity among women, you have to create this freedom. That’s why I decided to exclude male characters. What I exclude from the shot also defines what is shown in the picture. That’s the power of cinema.

I: Your film is about the visibility of women. They tell each other, how they see one another – and thus create an image of themselves. At the same time, desire arises from their gazes. How do you create this feeling of intimacy?

CS: We offer a philosophy and politics of love. Even the depiction of queer sexuality in cinema is based on heterosexual paradigms. We first had to learn how to deconstruct this gaze on us. Similarly, it’s also about abolishing the outdated ideal of the muse. There is of course a hierarchy on set, but we tried to transfer the working relationships in the film to our shooting.

I: All your films have queer aspects. Do you ever had any problems to fund your films?

CS: No, but that’s because I don’t need so much money. ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ did cost 4 Million Euros. If I had asked for 12 Million Euros, it might have been different. I can’t complain. I live in a country, in which I can make these kinds of films and be radical. 23 percent of French films are made by female directors.

I: It seems like there were more [T: female directors] recently?

CS: No, the figure has been constant for 20 years. We are just forgotten and then ‘rediscovered’. Think about Alice Guy-Blanché, who made films at the time of Méliès [T: around the turn of last century]. She did everything by herself, used the first closeup. She literally co-invented the cinema. But like all the women, who were active at the beginning of film history, they were driven out, when it was suddenly about money.

Still from ‘Be natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché’ (Pamela B. Green, 2018)

[gilded-green]

Sburb headcanons for your Dai Li ocs pleassssse (and Long Feng too i guess 😫)

asdlkhdslkfjlksdjfsdlkafl you actually asked

Okay so I don't have a complete list because I wasn't really thinking about it when I came up with these years ago, I just wanted to note the ones that were obvious/easy to figure out/intrigued me, so I don't have EVERYONE, but I have a bunch!

Some basic themes - Reeducation tends to lean towards Mind, obviously, and Preservation tends to lean towards Time, obviously.

Long Feng - Heir of Light He had to work for it, but everything DID pretty much just land in his lap after he managed to get all the pieces in place.

Shirong Zongzheng - Mage of Mind - Land of Silk and Lanterns Kinda iffy because we don't actually know how Mages operate, but one speculation is that they benefit themselves by arming themselves with knowledge pertaining to their aspect. Another is that they create their aspect.

Yong Diao - Thief of Blood or Heart Tuan Teng - Page of Heart or Blood I've never been able to make up my mind on these two, but whichever of them is Blood, the other is Heart. Yong is obviously a thief because he literally steals Tuan's subordinates and takes what he wants for himself in life, whereas Tuan is a Page because he...has a lot of potential but nowhere near as much self-confidence and this is kind of a Vriska/Tavros situation, unfortunately. :/ Blood is bonds and community, and Yong takes that from Tuan in a lot of different ways, but Tuan also needs to develop that for himself. Heart is soul and the self, and Yong definitely captures other people's attention and takes things for himself, while Tuan really needs to grow more comfortable and confident in himself. Either one works, really. I might be leaning towards Tuan being Page of Heart, tho, and Yong being Thief of Blood.

Delun Jing - Seer of Time - Land of Dust and Artifacts Listen. You can't tell me you're surprised.

Quy Dai - Seer of Heart Again with Heart and souls and stuff. I could probably rethink this one, I'm not overly attached to it, but it can definitely make sense. Quy is a very observant person, and he can see a lot of different things in each of his family members - many of which he then purposefully ignores or refuses to acknowledge, either because it'd cause trouble or it'd be awkward. Also, Seers and Knights tend to work well together, and, well...

Roulan Li - Knight of Blood She challenged Long Feng to a duel because of what he was doing to the Dai Li and she continues to work to make sure that their ACTUAL JOB isn't COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN over here.

Sunan Dai - Maid of Breath - Land of [IDK] and Poetry I don't care about gendered terms. :P Maids maintain, right? And Breath is individuality and freedom. Sunan suffers from a chronic illness that may or may not be sickle cell anemia, which can cause shortness of breath, and despite that he still does his best to create the life he wants.

Zan Dai - Witch of Time Look she's gonna turn out better than Damara ever did okay? Okay.

Wenli Dai - Sylph of Time I probably went for the Sylph title because her husband, y'know, has a chronic illness, and Sylphs are healers, and yeah. She can't literally heal him, but she can make sure that the time they have together is healthy and wonderful.

Mu Li - Heir or Mage of Time - Land of Thread and Stories I literally just came up with the classpect, lol, I only had the land ready to go. Either class would work for him, I think, but if he's an heir then he matches...

Peizhi Li - Heir of Blood - Land of Strings and Irises This is Roulan's mom and Mu's older sister, in case you forgot.

Antoan Nan - Thief of Mind or Heir of Rage Could go either way on this one. He's in Reeducation and he's a Nanyuese war child.

Now that I think about it tho, Heir of Rage could actually be a good class for Hoang Trung...she didn't exist when I first came up with these, lol, so she's not included unfortunately. I'll have to think about it!

Huo Bai - Sylph of Mind Shirong's most trusted subordinate, and definitely a healer.

Fen Bai - Maid of Space - Land of Sugar and Frogs Huo's wife.

Enlai Tong - Bard or Page of Light Enlai reminds Long Feng a lot of himself, I think, so I have them share an aspect to reflect that. Bard would fit because he kind of did use luck/fate to destroy Iroh's Siege by passing on the intel that got Lu Ten "killed." Page would also fit because he's another one with potential that he has to learn how to use.

Huang Xu - Knight of Life or Rage - Land of Pumas and [IDK] We haven't gotten to know Huang very well yet, but he is...definitely a protector, and also has a lot to be angry about.

Wu Sheng Shi - Rogue of Breath - Land of [IDK] and Laughter Rogues redistribute their aspect and Breath is, again, freedom and individuality, and trust me this fits.

~~~

And that's pretty much it so far! I do have a few more, but not for anyone you'd recognize and one's a spoiler, so. *shrugs* Maybe I'll share those some other time! And also any others I might come up with in the future! Thanks for asking this, this was fun! :D

[thirtheenprimes]

The Gaang+Iroh Classpects

I'd like to start off by saying there are no gender restrictions on classes nor aspects. Hussie himself said in a post I'm not going to take the time to find that any indication otherwise by the characters was just speculation. Let's be honest, gender restrictions are dumb.

Aang - Witch of Breath. First the obvious, he manipulates air as an air bender. But more than that, he pushes boundaries, and he redefines what the aspect means. Breath is about more than air, and Aang isnt just an air bender, he's the avatar. He is a leader, and he takes things into his own hands because he wants to do the right thing. Witches are bubbly, nice, and make great friends. Breath is also about freedom, direction, finding your own path in life and going with the flow. I would also consider Maid of Breath, but I'm pretty positive on the Witch thing. Though the Heir title does strike me as it still manipulates, but it has responsibilities and inheritance tied to it, but they more let their aspect control them than they control it. Aang doesnt let his destiny control him.

Katara - I compare her to Kanaya, I think. She's a passive class, but will still cut you for hurting someone she cares about. Given "because hope is all we have" isnt based off nothing, Hope is a viable aspect. She kindles and heals the hope in Aang and plenty of others, sort of mothering everyone into a rebellion and believing in themselves. But she could also be blood. She represents keeping people grounded, bonded to their loved ones. Her village, her deep care for everyone, and a great compliment to Aangs Breath. Plus, it would be great poetic symbolance with her whole blood bending arch. I think my official judgement for her is Sylph of Blood.

Sokka - Either Mind for his deductions, planning, and critical thinking, or Space for his creative thinking and ingenuity. Sokka uses his brain a lot, but he's also the creator of the group. Initially, I am split 50/50 on which one he is. So let's move onto class before deciding. Again, I have a gut instinct for him and that is Knight, because he sees himself as a warrior and as the only nonbender of the group, he has to be a fighter at heart... right? No, he is the plan maker, the schedule keeper and the inventor. Sure he's a warrior, but he's too open about himself to be a Knight. Knights hide behind something and that just isnt Sokka. So, moving past that, I consider a rogue. Rogues are fighters too, but they are more clever about it. They take their aspect and use it to benefit the team. Most everything Sokka does, especially later is because of the team. Rogues tend to be nice and earnest, like Sokka. So, then is it Rogue of Mind wherein he takes the logic and thoughts of others to benefit the team by coming up with new plans and ideas, or a Rogue of Space, wherein he takes physics and general creativity to do essentially the same thing? Personally, I lean a bit more toward Rogue of Space.

Toph - Toph is a Knight. That or a Thief, since she's def an active role as a foil to Katara's passive. She weaponized her aspect, and knights hide behind a facade of some kind, you know Toph hides behind her 'I'm tough and independent, I rely on no one!' act. But Thieves are forceful and unbending, like Earth. Not that all earth benders need to be thieves, but Toph is kind of the greatest Earth bender in the world for a reason. I'm feeling more Knight, though. As for aspect, I had a bit more difficulty. I was stuck between Life and Heart. Life I associate with vitality, luxury, privilege, and power. She comes from a wealthy family and even when she more than happily forsakes that life, living in wilderness and being a dirty barefooted rock child is luxury to her. It is fulfillment, and she needs to be in charge of her own life, a common trait for Life players. Heart I associate with soul and willpower, the force of an individual. That fits her well too, as an earth bender who understands her need to be true to herself. So I'm still not sure if I consider her a Knight of Life or a Knight of Heart but I am leaning more to Heart to be honest.

Zuko - Heir. He inherits, struggles with inheriting, and never fully controls his aspect, whatever it is. Rather, he learns to live with it and redirect it. We all know he's the group dad, and I see heirs as having to do with father figures. John and his dad, and you know Popop was a great dad. Mituna was a failed heir, as they all were, but Zuko is so successful at being an Heir he somehow breaks the definition and evolves into King (I know he becomes Fire Lord, but lord is a class and it isnt him). Now after saying all that, I also admit he fits the role of a Page really well too. He takes so long to find himself and come into his own, but when he does he is fantastic. But thematically, I believe he is an heir. As for his aspect, I'll start off by saying that if he is a Page, I'll go full Blood. Page of Blood, in which case Katara would be Sylph of Hope because I dont believe there should be two of the same aspects in one group. Thematically speaking, they are too different, even if everyone embodies their aspect differently. As an Heir, which again I am more of a proponent for, he would be an Heir of Life, given he is royalty and used to the finer things in life, then learns what the real finer things in life are from his uncle. Relating fire bending to the sun and sustaining life supports this too. Life is luxury, duty, and vitality. Again, I dont believe in repeated classes or aspects in a group, so if he is an Heir of Life, Toph would most certainly be a Knight of Heart.

Iroh - Zuko's ancestor, certainly. In homestuck, the humans share no pattern with their ancestors but the trolls share their aspect. I do not see Iroh as a Hero of Life, but I could see him as a Hero of Blood. If his aspect were blood (understanding others, what's important to them and how their culture is significant, it just screams Iroh of the white lotus and master of tea), I believe Iroh could be a Muse of Blood or Mage of Blood. I lean more toward Mage myself, as mages suffer from their aspect. Look at who his brother is, know his suffering from his son's death, and how much do you think he hurt when he thought he lost Zuko to the abuse of the Fire Lord? A mage is a sage because of their experience and you cant tell me Iroh isnt the best old sage ever. I'm not saying Zuko is a Page of Blood because they are related and he learned how to reach his full potential because of Iroh, because they dont have to have the same aspect, I'm just saying Zuko was lucky to have such a great Mage of Blood taking care of him. Muse might work also just because the most important thing a Muse does is exist, and the most important thing Iroh does is just being a good person, though I think he's too active in taking care of everyone to be a Muse myself.

So my final decision

Aang: Witch of Breath

Katara: Sylph of Blood

Sokka: Rogue of Space

Toph: Knight of Heart

Zuko: Heir of Life

Iroh: Mage of Blood

*Iroh and Katara embody Blood differently and can have the same aspect because Iroh is an ancestor, not one of the kids. I just put him in here because he is my favorite character.

[classpect-crew]

Hi! If you're still doing session analyses, can you tell me what you think of a session with a Witch of Time, Mage of Space, Sylph of Life, and a Knight of Doom?

For sure! It’s 4/13, after all, so this is the perfect time to bring out the big guns for some session analysis. It appears you’ve got a pretty good team setup as far as power goes, but I will warn you that if these players aren’t closely in sync, things could go awry very quickly. It’s going to be of utmost importance to keep everyone’s head on straight.

As we’ve seen with our favorite canon Witch of Time, Damara, having such a powerful Class and Aspect combination can be either a ticket to victory, or a surefire way to massively doom your entire session by way of emotional catastrophe. Think about it this way: Witches aren’t often keen on doing what others want them to, at least once they’ve accepted their role. Their great power comes with great responsibility, and they aren’t well-known for bowing down to authority, so that self-discipline has to develop from within. Granted, this Classpect isn’t a death sentence for your session just because Damara managed to fuck shit up so spectacularly. After all, the main reason she went off the rails is because Meenah was doing her best to spur the team into action, and her attempts to strengthen them through constant bullying backfired. Rather, it’s up to the individual Witch—as well as their allies—to put the team down a path that will secure victory.

The Witch of Time is going to have an incredible amount of sway over the timelines themselves, being able to travel through time as easily as breathing. They’ll certainly be able to increase or decrease an entity’s lifespan at will, or manipulate the flow of time in ways that will give their team a humongous advantage in the endgame. Doomed timelines will seem quite arbitrary to the Witch, who may not fully understand—or care—about the consequences of creating them. After all, while the Witch is gifted with an insane amount of power over their Aspect, it’s all quite instinctual. They don’t fully understand the inner workings like a Mage would, therefore their abilities will likely remain limited in their scope as far as creativity goes. You likely wouldn’t find a Witch of Time theorizing about timelines resembling musical staves and trying to combine them in harmony for some sort of metamagical feat, for example. That’s closer to the Mage’s domain. I analyzed the Witch of Time briefly here, almost exactly one year ago.

On the opposite side of the coin, you have the Mage of Space, which I’ve briefly discussed here. This is another very powerful Classpect, but for reasons quite different than the Witch of Time. The Witch/Mage opposite pair is defined thusly: Change/Manipulate versus Know/Understand. While a Witch can use their Aspect to create devastating effects, they lack the ability to understand its inner workings, which keeps them from using it in more creative ways. The Mage, on the other hand, isn’t going to inherit the game-breaking power of a Witch. Rather, their power comes from studying and understanding their Aspect inside and out. The Mage isn’t going to be surprised by the revelation that the purpose of frog-breeding is quite literally tied to the creation of the new universe. After all, this was all part of a theory they’ve been formulating since reaching their planet.

Having a Mage of Space in particular means your team is going to have a very clear shot toward victory, so long as you keep the Mage from doing something insanely reckless. This mostly depends on the Mage, since some are quite content to use their knowledge to benefit their team’s ultimate goals, but others will try to go off on their own if they feel their team is dragging them down. When the endgame hits, though, your Mage of Space will no doubt be a powerhouse, capable of an incredible array of utility-based feats. Need a place to recuperate mid-battle? Don’t worry, the Mage has pocket dimensions on speed dial. Think of it like a D&D Wizard using Rope Trick. When you fully understand how to shape and fold the fabric of spacetime, suddenly beating the Black King seems like child’s play.

One of the biggest indicators that your team can succeed is your Sylph of Life. As your team’s healer, and a powerful one at that, they’ll be tasked with ensuring your team stays buddy-buddy with existence. After all, the Aspect of Life isn’t just about health and vitality: it’s also about securing one’s ability to impact the universe. It’s not quite the same as relevance, since that’s part of Light’s domain. One doesn’t need to be relevant to have an impact, even from the shadows. In this way, your Sylph will also be your biggest cheerleader, making sure everyone has an impact on the path toward the Ultimate Reward. They’ll also be your go-to when team morale dips low, since they’ve got a hundred and one ways to get people feeling optimistic again.

Life players are insanely durable. Death rarely finds them, and in the odd case that it does, it simply doesn’t stick for long. A Sylph of Life would keep the team alive, but they would only be able to do so as long as the teammate in question is able to make further impact in a way that’s sanctioned by the universe. Think of it this way: when a God Tier dies a Heroic or Just death, they do so because their impact on the universe has come to an end. A Heroic death passes the torch onto the survivors, while a Just death ends the monopoly of influence that the person holds at the expense of others. Therefore, unlike the Maid of Life’s limit of one resurrection per person, regardless of past or future impact, the Sylph of Life would more or less be able to resurrect at will, though they wouldn’t be able to bring someone back from beyond a Heroic or Just death, and other limitations may apply. (Note: this is all theory on my part, since we’ve never seen this Classpect in canon. Because the Sylph is a Passive Class, though, it stands to reason that their Aspect would influence them, rather than having control over it. Therefore, their ability to bring entities back from the dead would be subject to the universe’s balance of influence regarding Heroic and Just deaths.)

Finally, we’ve reached the Knight of Doom. This one’s going to be a player to look out for and watch carefully. From the very onset, Knights have a way of masking their true feelings and intentions, putting up a mask to shield the more vulnerable parts of themselves. For a Knight of Doom in particular, this can be incredibly dangerous. Doom players have a tendency toward depression and anxiety by virtue of their Aspect’s influence over them. Thankfully, since the Knight is an Active Class, and a very scrappy one, they’ll likely be able to push through their own troubling thoughts, and can even use them to their own advantage. As one who weaponizes Doom, they’ll have a very good understanding of bending rules to meet their needs, exploiting loopholes and restrictions to support their end goal. They may also excel at hacking or programming in general, which will assist them in exploiting the rules of the game and the universe itself.

Look to your Knight to bypass the most difficult restrictions and open up the weak points in the game to devastating ends. They’ll be the one to ask when a seemingly insurmountable obstacle appears. Chances are, they’ll have at least five backup plans tucked away. They know how to game the system better than anyone, and when “the system” involves the entire multiverse, you’re looking at someone with a lot of game-changing power. The biggest risk you face by having a Knight of Doom at your side is the double-whammy of a Knight’s self-flagellation and a Doom player’s affinity for great power at the cost of great sacrifice. Your Knight will try their best to be the self-deprecating hero. They won’t just jump on the grenade: rather, they are the grenade, ready to sacrifice their life for a chance at victory. Don’t let them play the martyr until your team is good and ready to take full advantage of the massive effect their demise will cause. This should only be taken as a last resort, when shit truly hits the fan and victory is impossible without it.

All in all, you have a very solid chance of winning with this team, as small as it is, but team cohesiveness is of utmost importance, especially since there’s no Blood player to keep everyone working together. Still, as we’ve seen with the Beta Kids, sometimes the power of friendship can arise from within. Keep them focused toward the goal, make sure you take full advantage of their powerful Classpects, and you’ve got yourself a one-way ticket to a brand-new universe.

[skeletorific]

CLASSPECTING TIME

You have no idea how fucking long this took. Also I’m willing to like hear ideas about this but as these are my personal headcanons don’t be like….weird about it ahfdksafd classes are FAKE AF and we are all just guessing bitches out here.

Ardata Carmia: Maid of Doom. A Maid is typically understood as “one who creates [aspect]/creates though [aspect]” for the benefit of others. The Doom aspect represents death, suffering, misery and destruction, something Ardata quite literally serves up on a silver platter for her subscribers. She creates (relatively) low stakes of misery for her subscribers to watch and enjoy, as well as to feed her lusus’ hunger for blood. Despite the apparent selfish motivations, its clear that Ardata doesn’t really enjoy what she does. At least, not for its own sake. Its a means to fulfill the role she believes society demands of her, even if filling it makes her actively miserable and very, very lonely. 

Diemen Xicasi: Page of Hope. A page is typically understood as one who “provides [aspect]/provides through [aspect]” for themselves. While his meal of choice may be some savory meat products, Diemen’s real bread and butter is his unwavering optimism. Not to say he’s always looking on the bright side, merely that he allows the miserable realities of being a homeless rustblood on Alternia to wash off his back. Like other pages that have proceeded him (Tavros Nitram and Jake English), Diemen has been noted to have an effect on people that makes them want to help him, without any apparent psiionic tricks to force it out of them. Furthermore, when he really wishes for something (and its usually hot dogs), well, things have a way of working out in his favor, no matter the twists and turns it takes to get there.

Amisia Erdehn: Heir of Mind. I’m gonna be honest, Amisia was tricky. Mind doesn’t on first glance seem like a natural fit for her. However, while there’s a variety of definitions for what an Heir does, I prefer the description of the Heir as someone who strives (or succeeds) to wholly embody their aspect. As such, Amisia is the pure embodiment of both Mind’s decisive problem solving and single-minded logical framework. Need paints? Well, blood is multicolored. Actual creation is difficult, yes, but when it comes to getting the right materials, well, there’s no one more driven and no one less deterred by mere sentiment. This isn’t to say she’s emotionless, merely that emotions are often an obstruction to her true potential, rather than an aid.

Cirava Hermod: Prince of Hope. Awful dark class for such a chill motherfucker, but like most things about Cirava, it makes far, far more sense in context. Hope is about convictions, about right and wrong, about doing what your internal code compels you towards. And, there was a time when Cirava felt like this. They would constantly get into fights on Chittr with highbloods, despite knowing it was risky, because they felt it was wrong to take credit for their work. However, the Prince is ultimately one who bring about destruction through/destruction of their aspect. Cirava certainly brings about destruction in a physical sense: they destroy their eye in order to prevent injustice. Likewise, they take the time to try and destroy their own connections to the hopeful aspect, attempting to kill off their morals and content themselves with keeping their head down and quietly streaming.

Skylla Koriga: Knight of Time. While Time is perhaps the aspect most bound up in the mechanics of Sburb/Sgrub, its ultimately defined by a determination to triumph despite the odds. In Skylla’s case, like Dave Strider, that desire is tempered by a sense that what she does should be for the sake of others. Skylla is one of the most selfless trolls we encounter, expressing generosity and kindness to a stranger even at her own personal costs and even expressing confusion when others (like Konyyl) are not so kind. Skylla, while she may slip into despair when the situation is pulled beyond her control, ultimately refuses to take anything lying down that she can fight against.

Bronya Ursama: Sylph of Breath. The typical verb applied to a Sylph is “one who heals through/heals their aspect” for the sake of others. In general, I prefer the verb “restores”, as it has a broader application. However, in Bronya’s case, that healing is for the most part literal. Breath is the aspect of freedom and individuality, which seems an odd choice for the rules-oriented Bronya. However, by looking at the people in her life it begins to snap into greater clarity. Bronya may restrain herself, but her presence provides freedom to so many characters: she gives the reject wrigglers a chance at new life even when the culling system would condemn them to death. The other jades are allowed the freedom to explore themselves and the world around them because, on some level, they know Bronya will protect them from consequences as much as she can. Bronya does not serve freedom or necessarily provide it wholecloth, but she restores it to others who would have it taken from them otherwise.

Tagora Gorjek: Thief of Space. Space is hard. Like time, its an aspect very bound up in the mechanics of Sburb. How Kanaya describes it, as concerned with propagation, didn’t seem to have much to do with a guy who doesn’t seem concerned with much more than the propagation of his own wealth. This is part of why Thief felt natural for Tagora: “one who steals/steals through their aspect” for themselves. However, as we’ve seen from Meenah and Vriska, while the motives of a Thief may often be selfish, it doesn’t mean that they are necessarily harmful to the party. The Thief will take the most direct path to getting what they want, but if what they want is the good of the party, then they make powerful allies. Space heroes, like Tagora, are creative and very aware of the way they go through the world. Tagora is environmentally aware, which is part of what makes him an effective legislacerator (and an effective con artist).

Vikare Ratite: Mage of Mind. The Mage, like the Seer, is bound up in knowledge about their aspect. However, they are often cursed by either an excess of or severe shortage of their aspect. Vikare, arguably, suffers from both an excess AND a shortage of Mind. On the one hand, atmospheric flight a logical first step before interstellar flight, and the fact that Alternia didn’t take that step is in fact, pretty fucking wild if you consider it. Vikare suffers by being (apparently) the only one aware of this level of absurdity. However, in other respects, Vikare is cursed by a lack of Mind when it comes to decisive action. Rather than actively pursuing his desires, he hides them behind an apparent embrace of his true role, and eventually has to have flight “forced” on him for him to truly enjoy it.

Polypa Goezee: Rogue of Breath. Polypa here can be seen to be stealing her aspect in two regards. One, she is literally stealing “breath”, or life (not to be confused with Life GODS ASPECTS ARE HARD) from her targets. Two, she is in some sense stealing their movement and independence, in particular from highbloods, who are not used to the fear of death impeding their choices in the way it impedes the lowblood. However, unlike the Thief, Polypa steals for the sake of others, whether it be working as a hired killer, getting vengeance for her lost lusus, or protecting her friends from the uncomfortable truths that would force them to act against their true wishes (as with Tegiri).

Zebruh Codakk: Heir of Doom. One who invites misery and despair wherever they go. Definitely sounds like how it feels when Zebruh walks in a room. Jokes aside, Zebruh is drawn to situations of misery and destruction (e.g., his attraction towards lowbloods) out of some latent sense that he can exploit it. If the Heir is someone who reaps the benefits of their aspect, then Zebruh certainly fits the bill. Likewise, the world is affected when the Heir is finally allowed to “Become” their aspect. Easily one of the endings most literal about it being a “doomed” timeline is Marvus’ bad ending; notably, its also the only ending where Zebruh dies. When Zebruh finally fulfills the promise of doom, the entire timeline goes down with him. That is very possibly some powerful godtier commentary.

Elwurd: Witch of Hope. One who changes their aspect/changes through their aspect. Elwurd doesn’t believe in shit if she doesn’t want to, and if she wants to believe something then damn it if she won’t make it true. She commits herself consistently to relationships that she knows are a bad idea under the presumption that she can change them. You can’t ever properly convince her that she’s not hung up on her relationship with Bronya. In the end, the only one who can change Elwurd is Elwurd.

Kuprum Maxlol: Knight of Hope. optimistic Duelist has a good video already on the topic and while I disagree with their classpecting for Folkyl ultimately I don’t really feel the need to add much onto it. Suffice to say, Kuprum defies fate for another person. Rather than let voidrot run its course, Kuprum volunteers himself as a battery for his moirail. While its perhaps a short sighted plan, its one that stems wholly from Kuprum’s belief in his ability to make a difference, if not for society at large, at least for one person.

Folykl Darane: Seer of Void. One who is wholly in sync with their aspect, in full understanding of it. Folykl is entirely aligned with the nothingness and emptiness associated with Void, being quite literally denied vision, power, and even the ability to ambulate on her own. Likewise, though, she has a clarity of vision in the metaphorical sense. She accurately assesses both Kuprum’s feelings towards Trizza and Trizza’s worthiness of those feelings, emblematic of Void’s disdain for a comfortable lie. However, true to the passive nature of her class, while she often chastises Kuprum for his feelings she isn’t ultimately willing to do more than bicker about it. 

Remele Namaaq: Page of Space. Initially I thought we might end up with two Thieves of Space, but what important to note is that whle Remele does steal artwork, theft isn’t necessarily her true nature. At her core, she’s an artist that has been forced to become cynical because of the society she lives in. Sburb roles aren’t just meant to embody you. Often they’re meant to challenge you. As such, her more derivative works can be seen less as the final fulfillment of her role and more the beta stage of her coming into her aspect. While it may not show in her artwork yet, Remele demonstrates a great potential for on the spot creative thinking that could potentially be bolstered into a powerful force in its own right. Likewise, like Diemen she demonstrates the Page’s intuitive ability to get people to aid her in her quest, regardless of whether or not its in their own best interests 

Konyyl Okimaw: Prince of Light (because gendered classes are FAKE NEWS). One who destroys/destroys through their aspect. Light is associated with both fortune and knowledge, and Konyyl can be seen destroying (and destroying through) both. Her matesprit, Azdaja, is the Mind aspect: he supplies knowledge to Konyyl, who in turn uses that knowledge to destroy the lives of others. Likewise, she’s heavily resistant to doing the thinking for herself, seeming to intuitively sense its not her role. She’s also a bit on the unlucky side (I mean, what are the odds of an adult troll being there at that exact drop off point) but can destroy the luck of others. By killing them. Worst luck ever. Also she’d look cute in the puffy pants don’t tell me otherwise.

Tyzias Entykk: Page of Blood (damn there’s a lot of pages in here its almost like most of these characters have yet to come to their true potential or something). While its not always the case (Jake English being a notable exception, to my mind), Pages may often start the game with a deficit of their aspect. Tyzias has a deficit of friendships. She mentions she doesn’t have time for any quadrant but her matesprit, who is arguably the only troll on Alternia more overworked than she is. Beyond that, her social circle is restricted to people she meets in class. Despite this, Tyzias has a unique capacity to reach out to other people, which, once tapped into her, makes her a force to reckon with, especially so far as the empire is concerned.

Chixie Roixmr: Witch of Mind. GODS Chixie was so hard. However, what ultimately unlocked it for me was the rap battle. A witch is one who manipulates/manipulates through their aspect. Chixie, for as sweet as she is, is a pretty effective manipulator. She keeps Zebruh on the hook without getting forced into a quadrant with him, she manages to sway the crowd into her favor (despite the fact that no one in their right mind should be siding with a bronzeblood in a highblood owned club), she even manages to get the Reader to act in her favor on certain occasions. She does this through clear, decisive action, and through careful combinations of absorbed information, all of which come to a head in the rap battle. Despite potentially risking everything she’s worked to build, she forces herself onto that stage and, under pressure, synthesizes everything she knows about the band from social media and her own encounters with them into some pretty sick lyrics.

Azdaja Knelax: Thief of Mind. Azdaja, as previously mentioned, is the information half of Konyyl’s duo. Utilizing powerful psiionics, a quick grasp of strategy, and a willingness to do whatever it takes (all of which can be understood as part of the Mind aspect), Azdaja manipulates scenarios into ones that will directly benefit him. Often, he quite garners literal monetary gain, but equally as powerful for him is the added notoriety his actions gain him.

Chahut Maenad: Knight of Hope. No title more fitting for a defender of the faith. Chahut has strong convictions that run to the core of her being, something vital to a Hope player. However, while her convictions may render her single minded, they do not necessarily render her selfless. When the player does not antagonize her morals Chahut seems happy to benefit them (although most players would probably not view being a sacrifice as a benefit). She is happy to learn at the feet of people who have earned her respect, and defend those like Amisia who she considers worth protecting, all of which render her an apt candidate for the Knight category.

Zebede Tongva: Heir of Light. One who embodies their aspect, often perhaps to the point of excess. Zebede is many things, but he is certainly knowledgeable, in particular about his interests. At times, that interest can be cute, but at other times it can lead him towards creepy and possessive behavior. He knows everything about Cirava, to the point that he feels comfortable posting fanfiction about their life. Likewise, he displays frustration and anger when he is not allowed knowledge (or, in a meta sense, is denied union with his aspect), as in hs bad end when the Reader implies they are talking to other people while at Zebede’s house. Zebede, though his method of expression isn’t the healthiest, at his purest form is really just curious about the lives of the people he watches, and allows that curiosity to overcome him. 

Tegiri Kalbur: Rogue of Void. If Tegiri embodies anything to me, its how much the temperament of a person affects their expression of their classpect. On first glance he and Roxy Lalonde have nothing in common. However, like Roxy, Tegiri has the ability to “steal” nothingness by replacing it with something else. He replaces it with order, imposing laws whether otherwise no sane troll would think to enforce them. By doing so, he’s not only stealing away the chaos associated with the Void, but also the sense of meaninglessness he might otherwise succumb to if he ceased to believe in Alternian law (much like a few other teals I could mention). Also like Roxy, Tegiri seems troubled by the sense that he may be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, and becomes determined to impress his status as a hero of the blade upon us as quickly as possible.

Mallek Adalov: Witch of Time. Ok this one’s a little weird, but hear me out: a Witch, inherently, is about a refusal to accept your aspect as it is. Mallek demonstrates an understanding of the lacking nature of Time. With his Rites of Maturation perigrees away, he has a hard time coming to terms with how little time he has to do everything he wants to do. This might imply a Mage or a Seer, but what strikes me is not that Mallek wants to understand time, but that he is frustrated with his inability to do anything about it. We aren’t really told what he does after his conversation with the reader, but it can perhaps be assumed that, inspired by their words, he is doing what he has to to give himself the time he needed. Were an sgrub session to take place, he would be given the literal chance to do just that.

Lynera Skalbi: Maid of Rage. Again, whipping through an unusual class combo. The Maid is one who creates their aspect, for the benefit of others. Rage is not just about anger (although Lynera certainly has that in spades), but about convictions and truth. Lynera creates her truth and beliefs, and makes them in alignment to the people that matter to her. When she understands that keeping under the radar of Alternian society is important to Bronya, she becomes the bad cop needed to enforce those convictions. When she understands her making other friends is important to the Reader (and to Bronya), she immediately latches onto them as her nearest and dearest friendship. Ultimately we never see Lynera at a healthy place with her aspect, but she’s a dedicated soldier, ready to evangelize (or, create convictions) on behalf of the people in her life to matter to her.

Galekh Xigisi: Seer of Blood. The Seer is of course, associated with understanding. However, its important that unlike the Mage, one who already understands and suffers from it, the Seer is rather one who invites understanding. They may have a large knowledge base already as regards their aspect (a la Terezi with Mind) but are constantly on the hunt for more to the benefit of their party. Galekh, while he can be pompous and uptight, at his very core wants to understand people, and the people who matter to those he cares about especially. He is one of the few trolls to approach us with the explicit intent of forming a relationship (and deepening an existing one with Tagora). That wordiness and sense of self-righteousness likewise aligns him with our other known Seer of Blood, Kankri Vantas, although Galekh has arguably gotten more of a chance to mature than Kankri got.

Tirona Kasund: Thief of Heart. Tirona seeks to override the convictions, and by extension the “soul”, of others, whether by force or by persuasion. Her memeaganda is one branch of this, ingratiating the Heiress to people in a way that will make them forget the various ways in she has harmed her. Likewise, she goes rooting through the offices of their friends to dig up details about their personal opinions and politics in order to expose them for her own gain. Heart Players really can’t catch a break outside of Boldir huh. Speaking of…

Boldir Lamati: Muse of Heart. Unusual, I know, but then, she’s an unusual lady. Not much is known about the muse class, given that our only Muse is Calliope. Typically, the verb that I would assign to the Muse is “inspires” or “unifies”, as a contrast to the Lord’s “command” or “dominates”. Boldir’s strong unity of the self would likely explain how she demonstrates an uncanny awareness over the strange time activities. She is, arguably, on the verge of becoming her ultimate self. Likewise, simply by being around her the reader becomes deeply aware of their alternate selves. However, unlikely Dirk’s existential dread in the face of his splinters, Boldir inspires that peace and independence unique to the Muse class which allows her to transcend the division of self so often toxic to Heart Players.

Stelsa Sezyat: Knight of Blood. Together with Galekh, they’re two halves of a whole Signless kin. Knights defend their aspect and defend through their aspect. In the case of relationships, Stelsa does both. She is a loyal and caring friend, always on call for both the Reader and her matesprit Tyzias even when she disagrees with their actions. Likewise, Stelsa’s strongest asset, in addition to her boundless energy and organizational talent, is her capacity for networking. More so than perhaps any other troll, Stelsa understands that the key to victory sometimes isn’t what you can do, but who you know. In the event she goes godtier, though, the first thing she’s doing is ditching the hood. Not subjecting her hair to that, no sir.

Marsti Houtek: Heir of Void (side note, Inherit Nothing by phemieC may have been written for Equius but it is a jam and a half and kind of snaps this class into greater perspective for me). Like every troll on Alternia, Marsti has been forced most of her life to confront her limited options under the hemocaste system. True to her nature as a Void player, she seemed to have accepted her apparent irrelevance in the grand scheme of thing. As an heir, she embodies not only this irrelevance, but the enigma around it. We’re never truly given an insight into how Marsti actually would want her life to go. She seems resistant to any attempts to force her into some kind of emotional arc. Rather, she frames her actions in terms of simple “this is what I do” statements. Marsti is content with her own nothingness, and is frustrated by people who cannot accept that about her.

Karako Pierot: I uh…..really like the Lord of Mind theory. There are a lot of mind players in Hiveswap, but Karako, to me, embodies the karma aspect of Mind more clearly than any that proceed him. He either gets justice against his attackers, or, should he be killed, the reader feels compelled to enact that justice on others. Karako at once breaks the rules of his aspect (his illogical speaking patterns, his afterlife return to the Dark Carnival, the embodiment of whimsy and mystery) while commanding it through his will and the forces surrounding him. 

Charun Krojib: Sylph of Rage. If Lynera embodies the part of Rage that deals with convictions, then Charun embodies the more anarchic, confusing parts of the Aspect. However, they do not seem to use it for destructive purposes, but deconstructive. Charun meets the player at a point when they are feeling low and burnt out and angry. However subtextually, Doc Scratch’s imposition over their narrative is starting to chafe at them a bit. Charun utilizes that anger and that confusion into a tool for healing via their art. They encourage the Reader to make something. Doesn’t matter what: if it turns out crap that it can just be stripped down and made again. And working with those nebulous guidelines, the Reader is able to process their frustration into art. Art that has no set meaning, but who’s lack of stakes and general confusion bring healing to the reader. Thus, Charun embodies the Sylph’s restorative role. 

Wanshi Adyata: Seer of Doom. Seers are often seen as already understanding their aspect in some respect, but the role of Seer is one who is perpetually learning and understanding more about their aspect. Notably, Rose and Terezi are both still having revelations about the nature of their aspects and abilities even as late as Act 6, where most of the other players have broadly figured out their own as far as they need to. Wanshi has demonstrated a proclivity towards knowledge and understanding, being a voracious reader. However, we as the Reader are there with her as she takes her first steps into her aspect. Though no stranger to the suffering of Alternia, we see her experience death in the most direct way she has at that point in her life, and struggle to comprehend it. Depending on how Hiveswap goes, as she grows older she may be forced to reckon with this role, and part of her maturation will be whether she buckles under the negativity of doom, or successfully incorporates it into her worldview, allowing it to inform her without sinking her. 

Fozzer Velyes: Bard of Heart. Man, heartbound derse players just canNOT catch a break….criminal. In any case, the heart has to do with the self, the soul, and the identity. The Bard is not someone who destroys, but someone who invites destruction of (or destruction through) their aspect. Notably, bards often demonstrate avoidant personalities, often refusing to directly confront the things that scare them (as Fozzer with the ghosts), and are prone to talking big game but falling victim to minor hitches in their plans (as the Reader notes contrasting his cowardly reactions with his revolutionary spiel). Fozzer’s self is in fact destroyed over the course of his route, and rewritten by forces beyond his control. Its possible he will continue to enact this role on others. If we’ve seen anything from homestuck, its that bards are the ones to watch out for.

Marvus Xoloto: Seer of Time. Alright, so like I said, I’m like 99% sure we’re do for some kind of twist with Marvus. However, the Caprist sign he’s been previously associated with is timebound, and based on his bad end especially I’d say that’s a good fit. The Seer is the role I chose because Marvus doesn’t really seem to exert any particular control over his aspect, nor does he feel bound to serve it (actively defying it, in fact). Rather, he demonstrates a more in-depth of the machinations of paradox space and “canon” than any character prior, arguably even more than Dirk. Marvus may not successfully wrest control of the narrative, but he provides further insight into the function of doomed timelines, as well as some possible hints as to how paradox space’s pull can be resisted by means other than the retcon juju. 

Daraya Jonjet: Rogue of Hope. Something notable about rogues is that in their immature stages: a lot of them seem to initially covet their opposite aspect. Roxy, Rogue of Void, struggled with a desire for recognition from others (Light). Rufioh, Rogue of Breath, tries desperately to forge relationships that ultimately he isn’t ready to live out (Blood). Likewise, Daraya seems desperate to perform the anarchic and embittered Rage aspect. Her bad ending is her giving herself fully to these bitter teen “burn it all down” impulses. However, that’s not ultimately how she’s happiest. She is at her best when she learns to redistribute Hope to other people. Notably she’s the first person we make legitimate effort to connect with Tyzias’ revolutionary actions. Tyzias is a powerhouse in her own right, true, but she’s one person, and though her Blood aspect gives the the ability to connect to other people, as we’ve seen she’s not the best at rallying the troops (given that her attempts at a pep talk with Daraya fall flat with the Reader not there to help). Daraya, as she grows into her role and partners more with Tyzias, may be able to help with that, stealing the Hope so long denied alternian trolls and giving it back to the people with her rebellious actions. One things for sure: the two are stronger together than they are apart.

Nikhee Moolah: Knight of Rage. She weaponizes anger into her powerful arsenal, but arguably does do it for the benefit of others. In her good ending she strengthens the reader to their utmost, actually reaping muscular benefits as a result. Likewise, her fights are (arguably) a place of catharsis for Alternian trolls and may draw in more outsiders (given the only non-clown purple we have ever seen is….there PLEASE SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS NOT CLOWN TO ME WHAT’S THEIR STORY). That anger becomes just as powerful a tool turned against the Reader as it is for the Reader, but ultimately Nikhee seems to do what she does for the good of her audience.

Lanque Bombyx: Thief of Life. Insert mandatory vampire joke here, but its not far off from how Lanque goes about his day to day. Life isn’t just about literally being alive, its also associated with growth, betterment, and positivity. We see Lanque take these things, especially from Lynera. While the amount of growth Lynera really demonstrated is VERY debatable, its hard to argue that Lanque immediately shut down the first attempt at reaching out to someone romantically that Lynera has done for anyone but Bronya, immediately turning it into an opportunity to put the moves on someone else. This may nudge him into the Prince class, but I think its more accurate to assert that Lanque isn’t destroying his aspect, necessarily, as he certainly seems to benefit from it. Instead, he’s simply ensuring that no one else gets it. Lanque is childish in temperament, and may assume that other people are as slow to mature as he is. Likewise he displays the Thief’s attitude that “I should get what I want if I’m smart enough and strong enough to take it” that we see with both Meenah and Vriska. Like both of those characters, he’s not necessarily doomed to evil behavior, merely that its more realistic to hope that he’ll start to see the good of the party as beneficial to him as well, rather than wish he’d just lose his self-interested ways (as Bronya does).

Barzum and Baizli Soleil: the fact that these two embody two different aspects (Breath and Doom respectively) seems to imply that there is at least some difference between the two twins, but whatever it is is hard to riddle out, given that they effectively switch personalities on a whim. As such, its possible to see Breath and Doom as merely two potentials towards which they could drift, either becoming more and more individuated as they embrace their Breath aspect or more and more singular as they embrace Doom. As such, I would probably assign them both the page role, as they are both untapped potential yet to mature enough to really embody anything but chaos.

[homestuck-session-analysis]

Hi! I wanted to ask if you could do a session between a seer of space, sylph of void, mage of blood, maid of life, heir of time, knight of breath, thief of light, prince of light, rogue of heart and page of hope? Its 10 players which is pretty big so i understand if you dont feel up to it, either thanks in advance! :)

Here you go!  The way this story unfolds is really interesting, so I wish you the best of luck!

Seer of Space

Personality: Seers are exceedingly intelligent, bright, and calculating.  They are the people who seem to be wise beyond their years, though they are often afflicted with hubris.  As a Space player, they would come off as a dispassionate observer with an uncanny awareness of things happening around them, as well as someone with a phenomenal artistic and creative sense.  They very much are the tortured artist, and I can envision them struggling with creative block.

Abilities: The Seer of Space would get visions of other locations.

Session Contribution: This player basically knows everything that’s happening at any given time.  The Space player’s quest calls them to breed the Genesis Frog, and knowing where it is will definitely be a big advantage!Sylph of Void

Personality: Sylphs are people who have a great sense of someone’s potential, and they tend to be driven to help in any way possible.  This can make them seem to be incredibly nosy and a little annoying, but they have nothing but good intentions.  As a Void player, they would be a living representation of “ignorance is bliss.”  They solve problems through distraction and comfort, never really addressing the heart of the issue at hand.  Is it healthy?  Not really.  Is it effective?  Kinda.  A Sylph’s biggest weakness is that they can’t seem to grasp when something is a lost cause.

Abilities: The Sylph of Void would be able to literally erase injuries by making them disappear, as well as induce amnesia.

Session Contribution: This is somehow a very good healing class.Mage of Blood

Personality: Mages tend to be very intelligent and bright, but also tend to be jaded and cynical.  However, they gain their knowledge through experiences, often painful ones.  As a Blood player, the Mage will likely have a lot of experience with relationships and teamwork, thus making them a strong leader.  However, the Mage has experienced some extreme betrayal or manipulative relationship, causing them to be distrusting and bitter.  Alternatively, they might have grown up in a society hostile to them, and they had to learn how to conform to it or suffer forever.  Either way, the Mage of Blood learns from the darker side of humanity and uses that for their own benefit.

Abilities: The Mage of Blood would be able to use their knowledge of interpersonal connections to bring people together, and they will perhaps be able to use those bonds to their advantage.  Maybe they can forge a bond between two people magically, like some form of second degree glamour.

Session Contribution: The Mage of Blood isn’t a commander and leader...they’ve worked their ass off to achieve the level of ability they have.Maid of Life

Personality: Maids often feel a great deal of responsibility that was pushed onto them without their consent.  They feel that it is their job to ensure that everything is working properly, even when they are not recognized for their efforts.  As a Life player, their personality may manifest as a manic go-getter, possibly a manager or a ruler of some form.  Maids also tend to rely on others to feel valuable, so please make sure she knows they are perfect just the way they are.

Abilities: The Maid of Life would be able to resurrect the dead and perhaps give life to inanimate creatures.

Session Contribution: Hello healer my old friend.Heir of Time

Personality: Heirs tend to come off as very dumb, but a more accurate term would be happy-go-lucky.  They are very much a representation of “ignorance is bliss,” for they tend to grow up very sheltered and secure, especially under by aspect.  As a Time player, their source of security would, ironically, be change and moving forward.  This Heir would value personal growth very heavily, and difficulty appears once they form a more stable sense of self and life becomes stagnant.

Abilities: The Heir of Time would avoid danger through time travel, though it would take a while to be able to use this ability on a non-incidental level.

Session Contribution: The Heir of Time’s time travel can be very helpful in avoiding doomed timelines, and I can also see this as an offensive player.Knight of Breath

Personality: Knights are a very insecure lot, typically using their aspect to attempt to create a facade that makes them seem more impressive.  As a Breath player, the Knight would pretend to be overly easy going.  However, they aren’t easy going at all.  They tend to instead be scared of commitment, or afraid of conforming to society.  They can’t be held down, because if they are, then they’ll suffocate.  To develop as a person, they should learn to trust others and lower their walls.

Abilities: The Knight of Breath wields the wind, as well as freedom.  They would be able to bring people to think for themselves.

Session Contribution: Knights are called to sessions that don't have enough of their aspect for them to win, and in this case, that means that the players are probably too conforming and not at all individualistic.  Perhaps the Mage of Blood is doing their job too well?Thief of Light

Personality: Thieves are extremely ambitious and tend to appear to be very selfish and overly self-confident, but their confidence is an act of false bravado.  What makes a Thief a Thief is their overwhelming sense of envy toward others, especially when it comes to their aspect.  As a Light player, the Thief would be jealous of the luck, success, intelligence, and/or attention of others.  This makes them an attention whore.  Thieves need to learn how to be happy for other people and allow them to prosper, while finding and accepting their own worth.

Abilities: The Thief of Light would be able to steal knowledge and/or luck.

Session Contribution: They are gonna mess your shit up.  Make them feel important and smart.Prince of Light

Personality: Princes have fairly destructive personalities and resent others, mostly because they strongly resent themselves.  Their self-hatred often leads to them harming others, either intentionally or unintentionally.  As a Light player, the Prince will likely feel too smart and dumb themself down, or always get attention and hates it.  They would also be the kind of person who attacks smart people and believe that it’s impossible to know.  Princes need to learn how to accept accountability for their actions and accept themselves for who they truly are.

Abilities: The Prince of Light would be able to induce amnesia, shoot lasers, and perhaps bypass a person’s luckiness.

Session Contribution: Princes are called to sessions with an obstructive surplus of their aspect, so this Prince’s presence implies that your enemies know too much, or perhaps your players might know too much.  Perhaps something to do with your observation classes?  Whatever it is, it is up to your Prince to prevent this from harming the session.Rogue of Heart

Personality: Rogues are very selfless people, as they share a worldview with Robin Hood.  Their strong sense of justice and equality makes them easy to talk to, as they are very respectful.  They are also very spunky and ready to do what’s right!  As a Heart player, they tend to be empathetic.  Sometimes, the Rogue puts themself into danger to right a wrong, so make sure they understand that it’s okay that life isn’t always fair.

Abilities: Allocating a person’s emotions and identity can have countless implications, but a late-stage power they can likely harness is body-swapping.  Empathy is also a likely ability.

Session Contribution: This player is important in creating mutual understanding and respect among the teammates.Page of Hope

Personality: Pages are known to be very weak and impressionable.  Like the knight, they are very insecure about their weaknesses, but instead of acting impressive, they display their weakness in hope that someone will help.  As a Hope player, the Page would likely be very open-minded and trusting of others.  This naivety causes them to be taken advantage of very easily.  They can only grow once they learn who they should trust.

Abilities: The Page of Hope would be able to provide hope to your team and eventually use Hope to bring about their fantasies.

Session Contribution: Eventually, the Page of Hope may be your saving grace.

Interpersonal Dynamics

The Sylph and the Prince are gonna be really close buddies, and I would stay away from them.

I believe the Prince and the Knight are heralding the Mage of Blood going mad with power.

The Rogue and the Knight are best friends, because they are the only people who understand the other.

The Thief and the Page need to be kept apart.  Please.  The Page will suffer.

The Maid and the Mage will work together to advance their vision.

The Seer would be kinda friends with the Knight and Rogue, but they tend to distance themself from everyone.

The Heir will be close with the Rogue and the Sylph.  Heir/Sylph actually has a pretty good synergy here.

Session Overview

Too Bright!: Your Prince of Light is more important than your Thief of Light.  The Prince has a job to do, and the Thief has a job of making everything about them.

Leader: The Mage of Blood will be the official leader, but the Prince of Light and the Knight of Breath tells me that they will start a dictatorship with their powers.  The Knight of Breath is probably the more compassionate leader.

Offense: Prince, Thief, Knight, and maybe Mage and Rogue are more than good enough.

Survival: The Sylph of Void isn’t the best Sylph, but the Maid of Life definitely makes up for that.  Also, your Heir of Time will be fine.

Foresight: The Heir of Time probably isn’t that good at predicting things that will happen, but the Seer of Space would know anything that’s happening around them.  Also, the Mage of Blood would also know a lot about the players, so they could probably predict how people would behave.

Loyalty: The Thief has to go, man.  Also, the Mage is gonna stage a coup, but at least everyone is going to work together until the Knight and the Prince deal with it.

Breeding: The Seer of Space would know where the necessary frogs are, and I suggest the Rogue and/or the Knight for help.

Overall: Your team is very fragmented (when the Mage isn’t doing bullshit).  If your Mage is a good person, you don’t really have anything to worry about...your players are strong and they will work together in a way that works.  If not, then everyone is going to fall apart and maybe everyone gets killed.

]>>Maso

[waitineedaname]

(I really hope you don't mind me asking you about this; googling it would be far too mortifying an ordeal to submit to!) In the simplest possible terms, what's up with classpects? Like, what does each type of player do/represent?

I absolutely do not mind you asking omg I LOVE getting an opportunity to explain lore about random shit, it’s one of my favorite things

Classpects are basically the players role in their game of Sburb. It dictates what they can do in the game, and it’s generally related to their personality. Classpect is a portmanteau of class + aspect. There are twelve aspects, which are supposedly the basic building blocks of reality, and then the twelve (technically fourteen) classes are the ways the person uses/serves their aspect!

The Extended Zodiac test has pretty good explanations of what each of the aspects mean about a person, and the wiki does its best to explain the classes (though it’s a little less concise since we don’t get a lot of explanation on how some of them work). But if those links are too mortifying, I’m happy to sum up the aspects and classes as best I can! I fuckin,, love explaining this kind of thing lol

Putting them under a read more because there are a Lot of them

I’m going to try to put the aspects in as short of a sentence as possible. The aspects behave in both a literal sense (i.e. a Time player gets powers related to time) and in a personality typing sense (i.e. a Space player tends to be focused on the big picture)

Time: goal-oriented problem solvers; literally associated with, well... time

Space: big picture oriented, journey is more important than the destination; literally associated with physical space (both space as in where the planets are and space as in size) and with propagation

Heart: self-obsessed, but not necessarily in a bad way; associated with identity and the soul

Mind: rational; associated with choices and thought

Hope: driven by their convictions and what they feel is right and wrong; associated with creativity and imagination

Rage: driven by what they feel is true or false, truth is more important than goodness; associated with chaos

Light: intense knowledge seekers; associated with fortune and luck

Void: secretive, enjoys mystery; associated with the lack of things and the literal void

Breath: flexible, natural leaders that lead by example; associated with freedom and the breeze

Blood: "do as I say, not as I do,” stubborn, motivators as opposed to generals; associated with the bonds between people

Life: empathetic and intuitive; associated with growth and health

Doom: commiserators; associated with suffering

A player’s class can completely change how they work with their aspect. For example, a destructive class like Prince would use their aspect very differently from a healing class like a Sylph. Also, there are several classes that we don’t know a whole lot about, like Mage, so a lot of this involves theories about what the classes do. I made this list of summaries to bother my sibling and also make a bunch of fantrolls with my moirail lol but it’s all based on the wiki page

Thief: one who steals their aspect, one who steals using their aspect; steals for themselves

Rogue: one who steals their aspect, one who steals from their aspect; steals to redistribute their aspect or for the betterment of others

Heir: one that invites change in/through their aspect, one that is consumed by their aspect, one who becomes their aspect, one who is surrounded by their aspect, one who is controlled by and represents their aspect, one that manipulates their aspect, one that changes their aspect, one who inherits/receives their aspect

Maid: one who creates through their aspect for the betterment of others, one who protects their aspect, one who is protected by their aspect, one who allows others to be protected by their aspect, one who protects their aspect, one who surrounds others with their aspect, one who protects themselves with their aspect, one who gives their aspect

Page: one who equips others with their aspect, one who serves their aspect, one who serves through their aspect for others; slowburn class that starts off super weak but can end up immensely powerful

Knight: one who serves aspect, one who serves through aspect for the betterment of others, one who uses their aspect to protect others rather than advance themselves, one who protects/conceals their aspect; one who exploits their aspect as a weapon; might represent what their game session lacks

Seer: one who understands their aspect, one who understands through their aspect for others

Mage: one who knows about their aspect as it relates to themselves, one who benefits themselves with knowledge of their aspect, one who guides by setting example using knowledge of their aspect, one who forfeits their aspect to gain knowledge about it, one who gains knowledge through their aspect one who arms themselves with knowledge about their aspect, one who creates their aspect, one who is given protection from their aspect, one who uses their aspect to the benefit of others but to the detriment of themselves

Sylph: one who heals their aspect, one who heals through their aspect

Witch: one who manipulates their aspect

Bard: one who allows destruction of their aspect, one who invites destruction through their aspect, one who builds up their aspect within themselves

Prince: destroyer of their aspect, one who destroys via their aspect, one that destroys in order to make new opportunities for creation; destroy their aspect within themselves before destroying it in others

Muse: one who inspires their aspect, one who inspires through their aspect

Lord: one who instructs their aspect

So, if you want examples of how they work, I can talk about the Strilondes’ classpects because they’re all pretty straight forward. Rose is a Seer of Light, which means she can foresee the most fortunate path. Dave is a Knight of Time, which means he was able to weaponize time and use it to advance their session. Roxy is a Rogue of Void, meaning she could steal from/steal using the void and basically make Whatever The Fuck She Wanted appear once she got her powers figured out. Dirk is a Prince of Heart, which meant he destroyed his sense of self (leading to a shit ton of “splinters” aka alternate selves) and can destroy another person’s soul

Also some more tidbits because I Just Won’t Shut Up

the aspects come in pairs, denoting their opposite! I have them lined up in pairs with their opposite, so it’s Time/Space, Heart/Mind, Hope/Rage, etc.

Time and Space are probably the most important to their session’s success. A game won’t be successful if they don’t have both a Time and a Space player. Part of this is because the Space players are responsible for breeding the Universe Frog that’s basically the final objective! If the Beta kids’ and trolls’ sessions are representative of other sessions, they’re assisted in this by the Knight in their session, if they have one

I mentioned it up above, but Knights possibly represent what they’re lacking in their session! Dave (the Knight of Time) was in a session that didn’t have much time, Karkat (the Knight of Blood) was in a session where nobody knew how to work together, and Latula (the Knight of Mind) was in a session full of idiots that wasn’t logical

Both Breath and Blood players tend to be natural leaders, but in different ways! Breath players tend to inspire other people around them by just doing what they do. They lead by example! Blood players, on the other hand, are less defined leaders and tend to inspire from within the crowd as opposed to being a general leading the charge. They lead by inspiration!

Muse and Lord are the extremely rare “master classes.” They’re in sessions with only two players, and they’re really fucking powerful

this is. Such a long post, but I hope that helps lskdjfkldsjf

[ask-a-mage-of-heart]

If you’re not too busy, may I ask for a Knight of Life analysis? I like hearing different takes on my classpect, general personality traits, and what sort of powers it can have! Also, maybe what a Knight of Life gone Grim Dark would be like? Thanks! You’re doing great btw!

Well thank you! I’m glad to hear people think I’m doing a good job.

Knight of Life. That’s an interesting one. Life is related to wealth, growth, liberation, positivity, and living things. Knights utilize and protect through their aspect and begin with some kind “armor” put in place to mask a part of themselves that they wish to hide from others and/or themselves. A Knight that grows into their class will learn to stop overcompensating and will let down that shield they put up. Knights also commonly represent the aspect that’s missing from a session.

A Knight of Life would likely be someone that acts very optimistic and positive, but fears things that they view as failures. They’d use that energy for their own benefit and would probably be able to use money to get what they wanted as well. I can see a Knight of Life that may bribe a doorman at a club to get in and party. The Knight would be the type to get a raise at their job so easily, that they probably wouldn’t expect it themselves, but they’d just roll with it like everything else. As hard working and perseverant people, they’d just keep getting what they want simply because they put in the effort to get it, but they’d never stop trying to get more, and would more than likely overwork themselves. As people that easily stay active, they may end up ditching things, including people, that they view as barriers for their progress. This could be a good or bad thing, depending on the situation. They’d be perfectionists to a fault. Another analysis page has labeled Black Star from Soul Eater as a Knight of Life and I couldn’t agree more. His catchphrase is “I am the man that will surpass God!” That in if itself sums up the Knight’s outlook. “My best won’t be good enough unless it’s perfect.”

Power-wise, they’d be pretty powerful and their abilities have potential to be super cool. As weaponizers of Life, if I stretch the imagination a bit, I could imagine a Knight of Life that’s able to control plants and use them in a Poison Ivy-like way. If any class can do this, it would be the Knight of Life, Witch of Life, Heir of Life or Prince of Life. The Knight of Life would also have strong healing abilities. Maybe not as strong as a Maid or Sylph of Life, but certainly strong enough to heal allies while in combat or to have some kind of healing factor like Wolverine. Hell, they may even be able to use the collective energies of their teammates to boost the power of the whole team. Like a healing buff or some kind of shield. A Knight of Life would be extremely difficult to fight as they balance defense with offense very well. Even if they weren’t around any plants, they could still heal themselves and even use their “life force” as a weapon, again, similar to Black Star with his soul force ability.

The Knight of Life is extremely unlikely to go Grimdark in my opinion, but if they were to, they’d invert to a Rogue of Doom. Rogues have a hard time feeling like they can handle the responsibility of their aspect. They also steal or redistribute their aspect for the sake of their team. Doom is related to restrictions, limitations, caution, negativity, and sacrifice. It also often has ties to explosions, fire, and decay. In this case, because I like to view inverted Grimdark players as having negative powers, the Knight may end up stealing rules and order from their team or could end up imposing restrictions on the team that they steal from a foe, because they believe it is best for everyone. They could also take away caution from the team and could potentially cause some serious damage by making everyone reckless. If someone was fated to die, they could redistribute the thing that kills them to someone else, which could end up being a teammate if they get too far out of control. The Knight would definitely need someone to snap them out of it somehow before they harmed the session too much.

[land-of-classpects-and-analysis]

Hello again! Wanted to ask this for a friend, and I apologize for asking this in DM- I hit the wrong button by mistake 😓. Is there any chance you could do a brief analysis for the Rogue of Time?

OH GOODNESS this has been sitting here longer than I anticipated

But, yes! I have some time (no pun intended) to do a brief Rogue of Time analysis! (At the time of writing this, I actually have only 40 minutes until I continue working on my Maid of Breath analysis!)

Now, this is a Classpect that I have always found quite interesting. In fact, it's one of the very first ones I ever attempted to analyze, if only by the request of someone I knew at the time. The reason it is such a fascinating persona to observe is because of how those connected to the Rogue Class on its own function.

Rogues are those who are often seen as charming individuals, some might even say capable of sweeping people off their feet with a single wink, stealing away their heart like its no problem, before disappearing into the shades of night-time; your wallet and that mysterious stranger never to be seen again. However, that is only partially true.

It's no doubt that Rogues are indeed charming individuals, but such charm is often brought upon by the Rogue's desire to survive. For you see, as strong, capable, brave, and independent many Rogues present themselves to be, the real person behind all these layers of facades is that of an insecure person who is trying their best to keep their head above the water. It's one of the many things Thieves and Rogues have in common; a facade meant to keep them alive, and to prevent the bigger, badder foes in the world from picking on them. A fox who presents itself as a wolf, wolverine, coyote, or perhaps even a bear. Anything to keep people fearful of them.

However, there is one difference between Thieves and Rogues; Thieves are those who tend to make themselves appear far scarier than they really are on the inside, relying more on intimidation than persuasiveness and charms. On the other hand, Rogues are those who do the opposite, wherein they rely more on seeming cool, capable, and charming towards others in order to get by. Someone so suave and sly, clearly they have all their ducks in a row, right?

Now, another large facade of the Rogue is wherein they act like they have a hold on their Aspect, and are even aligned with it. When, in reality, the Rogue is one who inadvertently invites theft of their Aspect wherever they go. When faced with their Aspect, they are fearful of it, unsure of what to expect from it, or may not even know how to actually approach it. Because of this, Rogues tend to turn tail and run from it, allowing for more and more of their Aspect to be taken away from them.

To be fair, Rogues are at least aware of their Aspect's existence; they just are merely those who do not know nor have the confidence to truly take hold of it. After all, the true powers of the Rogue are one who steals their Aspect, or steals through it, often to the benefit of others. That is what a Rogue is meant to do when it comes to other literary appearances, after all: steal away from those more fortunate, and give back to those who are in need.

However, I'll try to hold off on saying more about the Rogue Class itself here, as the fuller Rogue Class analysis will be in the works soon enough!

Now, for the Rogue of Time themself, they are someone who often promotes themself as quite the fighter and justice warrior. Time-bound are those who seek to fix what is wrong in the world they live in, not resting until all the kinks have been worked out, all the scratches have been buffed out, and everything is working to perfection and according to the plan. However, in regards to the Rogue of Time, their brags of being a hero, fighter, and justice warrior are often just for that - bragging, and seeming far braver than they really are.

When the Rogue of Time is one faced with a true manifestation of their Aspect - a problem in which things are wrong, or even broken, and are in dire need of fixing and repair work - they are someone who will become overwhelmed, and perhaps even scared. And they will run. They are someone who prefers to sit and wait for when the moment feels "right", bidding their time until they feel capable enough to fix the problem. However, the longer the wait, the worse it's only going to get, and the more overwhelming it all will seem to someone like them, allowing for their drive to fix what is wrong to continuously be stolen from them.

There are two ways in which a Rogue can learn how to harness their true powers. By stepping out of their comfort zone, in which it is often a task of great difficulty and fear, or by having someone - or multiple people - hold their hand(s) and guide them through the process. Some Rogues may feel that it is the people around them who hinder their growth, and so they may decide to go about this process alone. Other Rogues may feel that their cowardice ways need to be dismantled by another pair of hands, and so they will seek out someone they know and trust to help lead them down this path.

Ultimately, the Rogue of Time is one who is meant to steal Time and give it back to their group. This can be seen by the Rogue giving everyone more Time to do what needs to be done - extending the deadline as much as they can, which is to say until they begin to run out of Time to steal and give away. However, this can also be seen in the Rogue stealing away a section of someone else's rowdy and restless spirit in wanting to fix things, and instead giving it over to someone who may be lacking that drive in life. In a large-scale battle, the Rogue of Time is one who could steal away the fighting spirit of their enemy, and use it to power up all of their allies and friends on the other side of the battlefield.

As for their power of stealing through their Aspect, the Rogue of Time is one who would be able to reach their hand(s) throughout Time itself and steal whatever someone needed - whether it was requested by someone or the Rogue wished to do it out of the kindness of their heart is often done an individual basis. Either way, they are not held back by the ways of timelines and rules when it comes to stealing through Time, as they can either steal things or people from across their own timeline, or from one of the millions of timelines that spawn every moment. However, this power often calls for the Rogue to have gone quite far on their journey, and to actually have a strong grip on their Aspect. As always, to do anything through one's Aspect is to partially become a part of their Aspect, and this power is no exception.

However, such a fuller explanation of what this means for the Rogue is for another day. To say at the very least, this part of their journey is one that not only means they must become a part of their Aspect, but to find that perfect internal balance between it and themself. Not only do they need a strong grip on their Aspect, but it must be one that will ensure it will never, ever best the Rogue at being the one in control.

Hopefully this helped you and your to get a brief insight into not only the Rogue of Time, but also Rogues in general!