#classpector

[bunes-jr-classpecting]

Hi, my name is Buné/Damion [all pronouns]

and this is my little jr. classpecting side blog

i'll just post aspect and class rambles here as i learn about them and theorize about them.

I am not taking any requests atm but feel free to ask questions and ill try my best to get to them ::)

I'm excited to get started, whooppiee‼️‼️‼️‼️

[proshippers, pedos, zoophiles, terfs, n-zis, dni]

[charmikarma]

a thought about classpecting real people: most people will not change aspects throughout their lives, but changing classes is normal

rationale: aspects represent the lens through which you view the world. yes, your views will change, but it is not often that how your views are constructed will change. or something. someone smarter than me can put this into better words maybe. or maybe make an argument against this. this is your invitation

meanwhile your class is more representative of the overarching "story" of one's life. no real person has a linear story. we all go through different shit at different times of our lives. we look back on events right now and say, "it's like this; it happened because of that." and years down the line, we get some more context - and maybe that context is more recent events - and we look back again and realize, "no, it wasn't like that - it's like this. it happened because of this other thing."

in general, typology encourages a static view of the self. it's probably not a good idea to take it too seriously. you are a person who changes every day. you're not the same person you were a year ago. is that a good thing? maybe. you get to make that decision. but typology is never going to be able to recognize that you are a living, breathing person who changes.

i dunno where i'm going with this. send post

[insufferablemod]

from @calibergirl

yesssss these are great 100%

[classpectanon]

hello homestuck kinnies that live in my computer

i finally went ahead and made a classpect quiz based on my personal conception of how things work. that means it's probably one of the more accurate classpect quizzes out there. consists of two parts. 20 questions total. go take it, share it, argue about it, whatever. have fun.

[msnihilist]

Anyway, so in my FOP Homestuck AU, Timmy, Remy, Tootie, and Chloe are the four kids who play SBURB. Why them? Because two boys, two girls. (Chester and AJ, get meteor-ed, idiots.)

Timmy and Chloe are Prospit dreamers, Tootie and Remy are Derse dreamers. For their classpects, Timmy is Page of Blood, Remy is Bard of Heart (their aspects are very close together, which makes them class a lot), Tootie is Thief of Hope and Chloe is Mage of Breath.

(the girls win this one, these looks slay)

Naturally, since there is no Knight nor is there a Space player in this session, it's automatically Doomed. The kiddos are walked through how to Scratch their session thanks to some alien/mystical kids who also played.

So we end up with teenaged Wanda, Cosmo, Cupid, Juandissimo, Binky (every session needs a punching bag), Jorgen, etc.

Wanda would be Timmy's "patron troll" and the one who helps him out the most — she is a fuchsia blood who was unlucky enough to be hatched at the same time as another viable fuchsia blood, AKA her "twin sister." Wanda has more or less accepted that she's the weaker/more merciful of the two and will die once her "sister" is old enough to murder their ancestor and take over the throne, killing Wanda as well to make sure there's no competition.

Cosmo is a rare jade blooded male who doesn't belong in the Brood Caverns. He feels that his life is meaningless so he tries to find joy in the smaller things — a lesson that Wanda could stand to learn, haha.

The Scratched session will include Hazel, Dev, Winn, and Jasmine — and probably Peri and Irep as the fairies' counterparts.

And that's as far as I care to go, I've put too much thought into this already.

So like how long do we have to wait until there's a fop homestuck au

[aortaobservatory]

I need a little help, i have been mostly confused about my classpect since i have described myself as a sylph of heart, but i have been doubting my classpect since people (offical homestuck quiz) has told me im the light aspect

Aspect is the force that is most important in a person's life, whether lacking or abundant, whether good or bad, whether they want it or not.

The official TEZ quiz isn't bad for telling what your aspect is, but I wouldn't necessarily call it good either. If you know how to juxtapose the aspects and classes, it can be a somewhat viable springboard; it classified me, for example, as Mind Prospit, but I am Heart Derse. My class just happens to be Seer, which warped my answers on the quiz to appear as the inverse of what I was. (Seers study their true aspect through the lens of their inverse - I study Heart and Identity via Mind and Rationality. This means I appear to be a Mind Player on a surface level, but my deep desires are aligned with Heart; this is something a simple quiz cannot discern.)

For a lot of the people I have helped classpect (my friends, in private, because the way I classpect is extremely personal), they skipped the quiz entirely. What I found was that it helped the most to look at what their inverse was and see if that fit their experiences as much as the potential true classpect they were looking at.

Here's how I look at it:

If you describe yourself as a Sylph of Heart, your inverse would be Bard of Mind. A Sylph of Heart fulfills the Bard of Mind inverse by passively destroying that which is Mind (Rationality and Logic). Being a pure source of their aspect, a Sylph of Heart is either "scared of" or "sees no need for" what is Rational and Logical. They focus on actively enhancing Identity and Emotion, and thus, passively cause the destruction of Rationality and Logic. A Sylph enhances their aspect so much that they end up completely snuffing out their inverse aspect, which is very similar to what the Bard class does.

But AO, if both are supposed to fit, how do you tell which one you actually are?

Fall back on what an aspect is: Aspect is the force that is most important in a person's life, whether lacking or abundant, whether good or bad, whether they want it or not.

Now examine yourself, and be willing to be honest with yourself too. Which class holds what you struggle with the most?

For Sylphs, their challenge is to learn how to listen to the needs of others instead of assuming they know best, and to balance themselves by learning that it's okay to rely on others for their aspect sometimes.

For Bards, their challenge is to be able to embrace their aspect and not be ruled by its whims, learning to control the way it impacts themselves without letting it be destroyed.

As you can see, despite their similar actions, there is quite a difference in challenge and motivation! Though I will say, these are my class definitions, and class definitions can vary from classpector to classpector. At the very end of it all, only you can decide what fits and what doesn't. I hope I was able to help a little.

[ghostkit]

Vrolik Antilo Character Shits

OKAY NOBODY ASKED BUT I'M DROPPING THIS

Under a readmore because it got really fuckin long! Talk about disabilities and such under da cut

Vrolik was originally going to be a more general representation of myself, but slowly overtime, they came to symbolize one specific part of my identity that I thought would be interesting to explore in an environment like Alternia: my disability. I have Brittle Bone Disease (aka Osteogenesis Imperfecta), and I used Vrolik partly as a way to analyze how it’s impacted me as a person and how that might’ve been exaggerated on a different planet. Vrolik represents the struggles I had in relation to my disability, especially when I was around 13 like the Homestuck kids were.

Their name comes from Vrolik Syndrome, another name for BBD. Their last name, Antilo, comes from Antilocapra Americana, AKA the pronghorn like Vrolik’s lusus and horns are based on. Their name also contains the word “anti,” which I think is really funny considering their tendency to get in petty internet fights that mean absolutely nothing.

Their Trolltag (fragilitasOdium) comes from Fragilitas Ossium (again, BBD) and Odium: general/widespread hatred or disgust directed toward someone as a result of their actions. Foreshadowing.

Vrolik’s land is the Land of Ash and Vitriol, a desolate wasteland so uninhabitable they doubt there’s any other form of life left here at all. In every direction, all they can see is the smoky, dark sky, the ashy ground, the harsh sun burning through the clouds and smoke wherever it can. The only evidence of any life at all Vrolik can find are their remains. Gigantic skeletons protrude from the ground, huge rib cages and skulls acting as the only cover from the blistering heat.

Vrolik is an Heir of Rage, and there’s a lot of symbolism and shit there. I’m not super great with classpect analysis, so I’ve referenced a bunch of stuff from @dahniwitchoflight, @sylph-of-hope-analysis, and @classpector.

Rage as an aspect represents… Well, rage, but also fear, defiance, doubt, despair, and limited choice. Rage players are stubborn and rarely see any other path than the one they’re set on, but oftentimes other paths are simply unavailable to Rage players, something that might frustrate other players who can’t see how little choice the Rage-bound truly have. (almost like having an invisible disability. Some actions simply aren’t available to you, but since others can’t see it, they assume it isn’t there.)

Based on what I’ve seen, there’s a lot more speculation about what the Heir class represents than other classes, and I think they’re all relevant and important to Vrolik’s characterization. From the Homestuck wiki:

It is speculated that heirs are ones who invite change through [aspect]; they are apparently drawn to their aspect, subconsciously seeking it out. They may also be defined as one who is consumed by [aspect], one who becomes [aspect], or one who is surrounded by [aspect].

If inheritance is thought in terms of programming (which is a commonly visited subject in Homestuck), it can be speculated that heirs are those whose behavior and existence is controlled by and expected to represent [aspect], sometimes, independently of their own will. 

The title "Heir" could also have the more literal meaning one who inherits/receives [aspect].

Heirs are also passive rather than active, something that would greatly anger Vrolik. They desperately try to do things on their own and make changes happen and feel important to something, but they will never be the main character. Their “destiny” doesn’t include them being independent, but even if it means tearing the fabric game apart themself, even if it means destroying everything in the process, they refuse to sit back and feel useless again. Big Monika DDLC syndrome.

(I’m realizing they kinda ghost destructive classes/aspects like Princes or Doomplayers.)

So with all this, Vrolik is someone who is subconsciously drawn to/seeks out their own rage and negative emotions, often feeling surrounded by them or trapped within them with no way out. They feel trapped and helpless in many aspects of their life, and it enrages them. Hell, they feel trapped within their own anger sometimes, often being controlled by their negative emotions more than they can control them. They feel completely powerless in their disability, so they overcompensate in other areas where they do have control. They’re deeply stubborn, digging their heels in the ground and refusing to give in, even on silly and inconsequential conflicts simply because it’s the only way they know to retain any power over themself. They refuse help even when they might really need it, preferring to fail at their goals through their own means than succeed while depending on someone else again. Having help means they couldn’t do it alone, and when they already can’t do so much, they desperately want to prove to both themself and the people around them that they’re capable.

Vrolik also harbors a lot of anger and frustration toward this. They’re angry that they’re so angry all the time, and that they have so little agency, and that they’ve been put on this path without any input from them. By nature, Vrolik is consumed by Rage because of Rage. Their life is controlled by and completely represents Rage, and in a way, they’ve literally inherited it as well. Vrolik’s frustration and anger toward the world ties directly to their disability. When Vrolik inherited their disease, they inherited the anger with it. You could almost say it’s in their bones.

They also sometimes intentionally seek out content or people they know will upset/trigger them. The people in their life have been trying to put a stop to it, but telling Vrolik not to do something kind of only spurs them on even more in a “you can’t tell me what to do” kind of way. Vrolik is the type to get in heated arguments in someone’s Twitter replies because they don’t know when to just stop typing. They’re easily manipulatable in this way and internet trolls can very easily take advantage of that. In terms of seeking out people they know might anger them, I imagine this also makes them very susceptible to emotional self-harm and abusive relationships. Not because they think they deserve to hurt, but because they’re naturally drawn toward anger and fear. They can’t just stop when they’re upset and they don’t know how to walk away.

Getting into the content of Vrolik’s hypothetical session and some more of that symbolism shit:

Vrolik wasn’t really intended to survive their entire game. When they entered into the Land of Ash and Vitriol, a barren, unforgiving wasteland, they weren’t fated to make it. This environment wasn’t made to accommodate them, nothing ever really has been. Maybe they were meant to die a long time ago or maybe they were meant to die here, but Vrolik knows they were meant to die.

So they do. They die as they lived: consumed by their own anger, running off alone, doing some stupid shit from their rage. They die angry for the life they’ve been robbed of, terrified of what comes after, and deeply jealous of their teammates, wanting to scream but being unable to. They’re inconsolable, and yet they’re grateful nobody else is there. Even while they slowly bleed out underneath the smoky, gray sky, the idea of someone else seeing them in their greatest moment of weakness and pain terrifies them more than death does.

However. Someone else in their session is right behind them. Their body is found very shortly after, and their teammate refuses to just let them die now. They drag their body to their quest bed, forcing them to be revived via godtiering. Again, lack of choice, things being decided for them, etc.

There’s a reason I called Vrolik’s land the “Land of Ash and Vitriol,” even though it doesn’t relate to their whole BBD shtick. Godtiering gives them a lot of new power and control they’ve never had before, and considering their insecurity about feeling helpless, that can become incredibly dangerous if they aren’t careful. For their entire life, Vrolik has been like bottled fire, raging on the inside but contained by their own circumstances outside their own control. But now that the bottle’s shattered, they need to learn to control their fire alone. Vrolik is like a phoenix, completely consumed by and now representing the fire inside them. They literally rise up from the ashes, given new life and blazing.

In modern terms, vitriol refers to “abusive or venomous language used to express blame, censure or bitter, deep-seated ill will.” However, vitriol was originally an alchemical term for sulfuric acid. Vitriol was one of the main ingredients needed to create a philosopher’s stone, used to give eternal life (almost like godtiering might).

Additionally, vitriol was a Latin acronym for alchemists. “Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem” roughly translates as, “by visiting the center of the earth and by purifying yourself, you will find the hidden stone.” In order to create the philosopher’s stone (and to cleanse one’s own soul), it takes a lot of work, and failure to do so correctly will cause the acid to corrode everything (or cause your faults to consume you). If the work was easy, everyone would do it. Vrolik might’ve already godtiered, but this is just the beginning of their uphill battle. They’ve just gotten the vitriol, they’ve only just gotten that important and dangerous part. Now they’ve gotta treat it with care and put in the work to keep it from dissolving them from the inside out. 

IN CONCLUSION. I’m crazy <3

[zerotheclasspector]

So good to see an active classpector these days. Can I ask you how you personally decide upon land quests for a given classpect?

Thank you! I really enjoyed reading your takes on the Homestuck aspects!

To create a player’s Land and Quest, I need to know a bit more about them than just their Classpect. I’ll use an idea I had for the Prince of Time as an example. I proposed that one reason they may be lacking in time is that they are dying to a terminal disease or that they have a condition that has shortened their lifespan. Having more knowledge on the character allows me to take the first step: Creating the player’s land.

A player’s land is composed of two main elements. These aspects are usually based on the player’s aspect and how they interact with it (aka their Class). However, if the player’s aspect is Space, then one of those elements is guaranteed to be “Frogs”. Another thing that sometimes affects the Land elements is that some sessions have a theme of sorts. We only see them in the Human sessions, but not in the Troll sessions, for some reason. The B1 theme was the classical elements (Earth, Wind, Water, Fire), and the B2 theme was Noble Gases (Helium, Neon, Xenon, Krypton). If I was creating Lands for a whole session of players, I may create a theme for them all. So, for a Time player who has a deadly illness, and assuming their not in a session with a particular theming, I propose the “Land of Rot and Machines”. The “Rot” element refers to the Prince’s condition and the destructive nature of the Prince class, and the “Machines” element is mean to call back to hospital devices, as the Prince is likely quite familiar with them. With these elements, I can imagine a Land that has been devastated by some kind of plague, needing machines to keep it alive. Consorts are another part of Land creation, but are far simpler. There are four basic choices, Turtles, Lizards, Salamanders, and Crocodiles. It’s also implied that Serpent-Angels and Giant-Floating-Brains can function as consorts, but that’s unclear. Honestly, there are no real patterns to the consorts, so just it doesn’t matter that much. Now that I know the general characteristics of the Land, I can start to actually create the Quest itself.

The Quest for a player should A. Use the characteristics of the Land B. Be solved using the skills of the player’s Classpect and C. Help the player grow as a person. For our planet LORAM, the player’s goal would be to stop the plague from killing all of the consorts on the planet, as the machines can no longer hold it back. However, during the quest, the player would realize that plague is completely unstoppable, and that nothing they can do would completely remove the plague. The Prince would realize that they only have one option to stop the plague, freeze it in time. They would use their ability to destroy Time to permanently stop the plague from spreading. This would help the Prince of Time grow by giving them some insight about themself. They would have to confront the plague, which represents the inevitability of their disease, head on. However, by stopping the plague with their Time powers, they would learn that they actually have a way out of their fate: Fully embracing their role as a Prince of Time by going God Tier. They would be in a new body, unaffected by their condition. This would allow them to better themselves easier, now that they have escaped a predicted death.

So this is my long-winded explanation of how I come up with Lands and Quests. To sum it up, I need the character’s Classpect and a few things about their life/personality so I can create a planet’s elements, which I use to challenge the player to embrace their Classpect’s role so they can grow as a person.

[techtakesoff]

Witch of space analysis?

Cheers.

The Witch of Space

Oh, canon classpect! Jade is my second favorite beta kid.

Witch - one who manipulates their aspect or manipulates with their aspect.

Space - control over placement, speed, and size within Space.

A Witch of Space is one who manipulates Space or manipulates with Space.

The opposite of a Witch of Space is a Seer of Time.

With the Witch of Space, it's hard to say what they can exactly do and what is first guardian. Classpector's inspection of the Witch of Space does a better job of it than I could.

But regardless, the Witch of Space is sort of the penultimate of Space players. They have unmatched power (only by a Lord) and use this to their direct advantage.

While I don't think they have powers on the same level as Jade, who is part first guardian, they would have something similar.

They could teleport, and do everything else Space players can do. Manipulate Space to essentially be their bitch.

The Witch of Space is someone who is open to suggestions at all time. They are surrounded by their passions, always seeming to have so much stuff about whatever they're interested in. If they like movies, their collection is probably massive. If they like cars, they might even own a few cars of their own. Witches of Space surround themselves in their aspect, and their interests.

They also are big encouragers of their friends to get into something that they enjoy doing. They are just as invested as their friends are about something, even if the Witch of Space barely knows anything about it.

They like making personalized gifts, and they always go the extra mile to show their appreciation to those that they love. The Witch of Space is the kind of person to give you the biggest hug known to man just for being their friend.

They're also loyal to a fault. They'd do anything to protect their friends, even if that means moving the rocks that make up the Earth for them. They are dedicated and loyal and will stick by someone til the very end.

[edits4thosestuckathome]

knight of heart moodboard please

You got it! It's up now. Enjoy!

Definitely let me know if you want anything changed. I was in my Heartbound/Classpector feels with this one, so it might be a little sad.

-- Mod Mage

[charmikarma]

Breath as Influence and John in the Epilogues

Breath is probably one of the better understood aspects. “What is it?” someone asks – and the whole fandom is like, “Oh, Breath is about freedom and wind and detachment.” Which I don't disagree with. But I think most people miss a key piece of it – Breath as influence.

I'm no seasoned classpector, but I am a Mage of Breath, so I feel like I have a deep and personal understanding of Breath, particularly because of how it has manifested in my life. Yeah, I know, claiming I'm an authority on the subject because of my self-imposed alignment within a fake typology system makes me sound like an asshole. But I'll have to ask you to trust me, because if I start talking about my own experiences, I'll sound like even more of an asshole.

Anyway, let's kick this off with the official description of Breath, per the Extended Zodiac:

In summary: the Breath-bound are flexible, driven, detached, and maybe a little self-centered. Also, other people tend to get caught up in their personal development, which tends to make them good leaders. But the most important thing here for the point I'm making is this:

others ... feel inspired by them.

This word, inspired, has been rolling around in my brain for the past few weeks, because of its connection to Breath. Hey, did you know that “inspire” comes from Latin spirare, meaning "breathe"? And if we include the Latin prefix in-, it becomes "breathe into."

The Breath-bound have an ability to breathe into, or inspire others. They're not aware of it – after all, they are just living their lives for themselves. But wherever they go, they are inspiring people. Or, more accurately, they are influencing people. Actually, the influence of Breath goes beyond just people. I could even get meta with it (and I will. I apologize in advance). But let's start small for now.

Tavros Nitram

So, Tavros. Page of Breath. Pretty much all of Tavros's contributions to Homestuck as a story happen as a result of someone doing something to him. Vriska paralyzes him, which kickstarts the whole FLARP cycle of revenge arc. And again when the truce is broken in Act 5 Act 2, it is because Vriska kills Tavros. If this doesn't sound like influence to you, you're right. Tavros has very little influence. He's a Page, after all, and if there's one thing I know about Pages, it's that they're weak as shit until they reach their "true potential," which is pretty much always something stupidly overpowered. Y'know, like Jake overpowering Jade's first guardian powers. That was pretty batshit, I'd say.

But Tavros's contributions don't end there. He actually does reach his true Page-y potential right at the very end of Homestuck, when he gathers an army of ghosts – honestly, probably every single ghost in the furthest ring – by just talking to them. Was this something of a punchline to a very long joke? Probably. But it is also a pretty good example of the kinds of things Breath players typically do.

On a meta level, though, this argument kind of falls apart, because... As far as I can tell, the army of ghosts doesn't really do anything. Nothing important, anyway. Lord English's defeat is pretty much entirely at the hands of John, Dave, Davepetasprite^2, and alt!Calliope in the body of Jade, as described in the Epilogues. The ghost army just isn't relevant, in the end.

But you know what is relevant? Vriska.

Half the people reading this just groaned, I can feel it. Why are we talking about Vriska, a Light player, on a post about Breath?? I hear your question and I raise you this: Why the fuck is Vriska so obsessed with Breath players???? Personally, I think it's because she has an innate sense for their passive ability to decide what's relevant.

But before we get into Vriska, let's talk about John.

John Egbert

John, Heir of Breath. The protagonist of the story. In the context of my thesis of "Breath as influence," isn't it interesting that the protagonist is a hero of Breath? And even beyond that, he's an Heir, a class typically interpreted as "becoming" their Aspect, or "inheriting" it. If you find my argument compelling, you could even say John is the influence that drives the story. Which is exactly what a protagonist does - after all, what is a story without a protagonist?

This question is actually addressed in Homestuck, kind of. At some point in Act 4, Terezi manipulates John into visiting his denizen early, which gets him killed. The story is left without its protagonist, and progress grinds to a screeching halt. Jade doesn't enter the Medium and presumably dies. The reckoning never happens. Dave and Rose are trapped in a doomed timeline. They lose contact with the trolls. For what is a world without the breeze, without air, but a place of complete standstill? The story needs John to continue. Okay, it needs Rose and Dave and Jade just as much. But it's interesting that the story makes a point of John's death being the turning point that makes this particular timeline doomed.

Okay, sorry for the wait. It’s Vriska time. Vriska's driving motivation is to be relevant. She does everything in her power to steal the spotlight, which may or may not be related to the fact that she's a Thief of Light. Again, I'm not an experienced classpecter. I only really have a surface level understanding of Light. But I'm getting off topic here.

In Act 5 Act 2, Vriska starts talking to John. Why? Well, partially because she wants to compete with Terezi, who is talking to Dave. But there's also the fact that she wants to be the force responsible for Bec Noir. And also for John reaching god tier. And everything relevant really??? She's really fucking good at being relevant, I'll give her that. Or at least presenting the illusion of relevance, but that's a big topic that I think I should save for another day. Another essay, maybe. The point here is, John has a tremendous amount of influence over Things That Happen just by existing, and Vriska knows it. Maybe she torments Tavros because she senses the same sort of potential in him, but that's probably a stretch.

In any case, this is baby shit. There's better evidence than this. Let’s talk retcon powers.

You could argue that the retcon powers are separate from John's abilities related to his classpect, and on some level you'd be right. But in a game that "knows" everything that is going to happen, I have to question if extraneous powers like this are taken into consideration when Sburb "decides" what classpect it gives a player. I feel similarly about Jade's First Guardian powers. Teleportation is a pretty space-y power, in my opinion. And definitely one that... "breaks rules," I guess. Among all the other things First Guardians get to do. Once again, I'm no classpector. But Jade getting access to First Guardian powers upon reaching God Tier strikes me as very Witch of Space-y. I feel similarly about John's retcon powers - they strike me as very Heir of Breath-y.

And not just because I view Breath as influence, though that is definitely the most obvious way the retcon powers could be interpreted as Breath-y. Even on a surface level, they're pretty Breath-y. When John first talks to Roxy, he gives a whole spiel about everything he's been to up until this point, most of which is obscured by "blah blah blah." But little phrases come through occasionally, and when he starts talking about his brand new retcon powers, he uses the phrase "UNSTUCK FROM CANON." Which sounds a lot to me like "freedom from the narrative." But maybe more telling is the fact that John's quest as an Heir of Breath requires that he use his retcon powers. Getting rid of the oil, freeing the fireflies - his quest as established at the very beginning was always intended (in universe at least; I can't speak for Hussie's intentions) to be solved by his retcon powers.

So retcon powers are at the very least Breath-adjacent. What’s that got to do with Breath as influence? I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. Retcon powers are basically the ability to do whatever the fuck you want to any point of any timeline. I’d call this influence but I’d sound silly, actually. It goes way beyond influence. It’s way less subtle. I guess you could call direct intervention like this influence at its most powerful. Well, almost. There’s one step above this that John never really taps into. Which brings us to...

The Epilogues

For better or for worse, I fucking love the Epilogues. I think Candy, on its own, is a fantastic and surreal deep dive into a mind high on depression. And as for Meat, I’m an absolute sucker for metafiction and narrative fuckery. I eat that shit right up. My favorite anime is Princess Tutu, etc., etc. This is your warning: Yes, this section will contain evidence toward my claim that Breath is influence. It also doubles as an Epilogues analysis. It kind of turns into one at the end. Sorry, but I needed to get it out of my system.

So, in case you missed it, the step above retcon powers that John never taps into is direct narrative control, like we see Dirk engaging in throughout the Meat side of the Epilogues. The fact that Dirk is revealed to be the narrator of Meat begs the question: who is narrating Candy? It’s never outright stated, but it’s probably alt!Calliope. Unlike Dirk, alt!Calliope doesn’t have an agenda, as far as we’re aware. So why is Candy so fucked up and weird? Why is everyone out of character? I know this comes as a shock, but: it’s probably John’s passive influence over the narrative.

Before the Epilogues even begin, John’s been wasting away in his house all day, every day. He’s depressed as hell. Sort of dissatisfied with how artificial and "perfect" Earth C is. Some have suggested he also feels disconnected from the post-retcon versions of his friends, and I think this holds some merit. It would explain why he feels disconnected from reality in Candy.

(Candy, 11)

Depression colors your view of reality. It darkens some parts, brightens others. People who look happy will appear so to an unsettling degree. Fucked up things will appear even more fucked up. Depression ups the contrast, if you will. And that’s pretty much what happens in Candy. Jane’s pretty bad in Meat, but she’s like a billion times worse in Candy. Jade causes some awkward moments in Meat, but she is pretty much a sex pest in Candy. The positive parallels are a bit harder to find, since Meat pretty much sucks too, but you could speculate that John perceives Rosemary to be happier together than they actually are, so they’re, like, uber happy together in Candy and raising a daughter and shit. It is John’s warped perception of reality that in turn warps it beyond recognition.

This isn’t just me theorizing, by the way. There’s pretty compelling evidence to suggest that this idea is accurate to what is happening. It’s pretty clear in a conversation between (Vriska), who has just arrived on Earth C via the black hole in the furthest ring and her descendant/clone Vriska (aka Vrissy in HS:BC). The two of them stare up at the sky, pointing out clouds and what they are shaped like, when (Vriska) has a realization.

(Candy, 37)

John’s influence over the reality is so absolute, even the clouds bend to his will. I think Vriska only notices it because she’s a new arrival to Johntown. It isn’t long before she’s absorbed into the John-ness of the timeline. And then, she goes on to say exactly what I’ve been saying this whole time. Remember earlier, when I said Vriska knew that John had an incredible amount of influence over Things That Happen?

(Candy, 37)

Yeah. That wasn’t speculation.

The last thing she says, though, that he’d be relevant even if he was dead, is actually a reference to Meat. So let’s talk about it!

As we know, Meat is narrated by Dirk. Dirk’s narrative style is a lot of fun for me, personally. He’s sassy, kind of an asshole, and has no time for bullshit. The second John puts that meat in his mouth, he gets to work, pulling the strings of his little puppet show.

(Meat, 1)

He wastes no time putting words in John’s mouth, writing him out of the story of Earth C as quickly as possible. It’s almost with a sense of urgency that he pushes John to complete his mission. Which is probably necessary, seeing as the sanctity of canon relies on him going back to tie up the loose end that is Lord English. But I think Dirk has ulterior motives. I don’t think Dirk has the ability to impose his will so overbearingly with John around, because for some reason, John’s power of passive influence prevents him from doing so. Is John more powerful than Dirk, even after his ascension to Ultimate Selfhood? Maybe. I certainly think so.

But John’s pretty gullible. He’s easily influenced. He doesn’t have the same safeguard around his own mind, for some reason. Or maybe he does, and it’s just taken Dirk this long to crack him? This is speculation at this point. Not important.

So Dirk eventually kills John. Why? Well, first of all, it’s harder to control the narrative with him around. Though I speculate that’s not very important to Dirk anymore since he fucks off to who knows where around when John comes back. I think, more likely, Dirk finds John’s influence on the narrative unsavory. I mean, just look at Candy. What an absolute disaster of a timeline. Maybe his awareness is such that he knows that letting John live will result in a similar degradation of his friends’ personalities as he knows them. I can’t really say one way or another. It’d explain why he wants John’s body on the ship with him, though. Y’know, to make sure he never gets revived. And yes, he wants him on that ship. He pretty much tells Terezi outright to captchalogue his body before convincing her to join him.

(Meat, 35)

There’s one problem, though. I don’t think John being dead even erased his influence on the narrative?

(Meat, 36)

Right there at the end:

The gentle breeze is all she can hear. It’s louder than my voice, and in some understated way, makes my case for me more persuasively.

I don’t think there’s any other way to read this than the breeze representing John. This is a literal manifestation of John’s influence. I guess it could be symbolic – like Terezi doing a “what would John do?” kind of thought process. But I dunno, Dirk doesn’t strike me as that kind of narrator. Besides... It’s a little too on the nose. Say what you will about the Epilogues, but I believe a great amount of care went into them. This certainly isn’t a throwaway line.

Conclusion

Okay, sorry. I really went off the deep end into Epilogues Analysis Land there. You may have noticed that I didn’t talk about Homestuck: Beyond Canon. That’s partly because I haven’t gotten there in my reread, but mostly because I’m not yet convinced that it has – or will have – nearly the level of plot consistency of its predecessors. We’ll see, I guess.

In any case... Breath as influence, huh? There’s probably more evidence for this hidden away somewhere. I probably could have talked about Rufioh. I didn’t want to though. I also probably could have pointed out the word inspire from the Extended Zodiac thing and called it a day, but instead I blacked out and wrote this. Weird!

If you read all, uh... *checks word count* 2.7k words of this??? Jesus fuck. If you read all this, thank you for reading. I’m open to feedback! I’d love to discuss some of this more! Especially the Epilogues stuff. I have a million thoughts. Bye!

[ultra-clashpects]

Vague Rules for Clashpecting that I Drafted Up

~~ Enjoy or smth ~~

1. Titles have to be equal. If playing with two titles, players must be divisible by 2 (4, 6, 8, etc), three titles divisible by 3 (6, 9, 12, etc), four titles divisible by 4 (8, 12, 16, etc.)

2. Furthermore titles have to balance out. In a 12 player 3 title session, there should be 4 players of each title (four 1:2 clashs, four 2:1 clashs, four 2:2 clashs [or whatever combination]) and so on. Exception is if you have an unbalanced or uneven number (8 players but 3 titles, 13 players, etc.)

3. Cannot have a repition of titles within the same group. For example, cannot have two Princes or two Doom players in one single group of players. This does not carry to paired sessions, like the Alpha-Beta trolls in Homestuck.

4. Cannot have repeating titles if dual classing / clashpecting. For example, cannot have two Bard-Knights in one group. However you can have a Bard-Knight and a Knight-Bard.

5. As a step further to [4], if so chosen, you cannot have repeating clashes among the whole session (eg. Alpha-Beta kids And Trolls in Homestuck)

6. If using another classpector's classpects, like @classpectpokerap 's for example, you couldn't have two Waste class players (Bard - Knight) regardless of the order (Bard-Knight or Knight-Bard).

7. Troll players still share an aspect, but not a secondary aspect. Human players can share an aspect with their dancestor BUT ONLY if both players have 2 aspects. Otherwise they must have different aspects.

--

This is an example of my oc's session and all their clashpects. This follows all the rules stated above (and yes, it was a lot of work to make sure nothing contradicted each other).

[ I may come back and update these rules as I see fit. I dunno lmao ]

[vexobexo]

Mind Versus Heart: Ramblings Of An Amateur Classpector

I Want To Preface Þis By Saying Þat My Main Sources Of Info Are Þe MSPA Wiki And My Background Knowledge, So If I Just Get Someþing Plain Wrong, Please Correct Me! But I Am Trying To Check Everyþing lol :þ

So I Was Doing Some Þinking 'Bout Þe Mind Aspect (Cuz Imma Mage Of Mind :3), And I Started Contemplating Þe Differences Between Mind And Heart When It Comes To Creation. Considering That Dirk's "Heart" (Soul) Splintered When He Made Hal, Could A Prince Of Mind Þeoretically Make A Mind Splinter? Wiþ A Valid Vessel, If A Maid Of Heart (Creator Of Soul) Could Give A Soul To, Say, A Robot, Could A Maid Of Mind Give A Vessel A Mind? How Would You Even Differentiate Þe Two? What Would Be Þe Difference? Hal Keeps A Large Amount Of Intelligence, And Because Of How Þe Striders Are, Þough It's A Bit Hard To Judge, I Don't Þink Þat His Emotions Are Any Different To A Flesh-Bound Human, For A Strider At Least. But He Is Also An Imprint Of A Full Ass Human. Going Back To Þe Maids Of Heart And Mind, Would A Vessel Imbued Wiþ Heart's Intelligence Suffer? Would A Mind Bound Vessel Be Emotionless? If You Got Maids Of Life, Heart, And Mind, Could Þey Make A Whole Ass Person? Rambling Over!!!!!!!! :3

[mangosjest]

Classpectors pspspspspspsspp I gotta be ANALYZED

Pretty pls with a cherry on top

[toweringboottreads]

>"Space is boring" you'll be hearing from our lawyers if we could ever muster up a fraction of a shit to give about classpecting.

look i am a long time classpector i know about the space and creating and lifebringing and beginning and all that jazz i dont mean its boring anylitically i mean power wise its way WAY lamer than hope. or time. or blood. or void. or breath. or

[aortaobservatory]

hey! i just started classpect researching to better understand the system. do you pull any of your sources and understanding from homestuck canon itself? if so, how do you separate class influence from aspect influence from general character traits? i know that the characters/classpect system were catered to eachother, but do you have any thoughts? sorry if this doesnt make any sense

I love this question, I think this is one of my favorite questions I've ever received on this blog. Yes, I do pull a basic understanding of the classes and how they interact with the aspects from Homestuck canon! I try my best to keep my understanding and research of the classpecting system true to what is shown to us in canon and what comes from canon sources, with a little dash of what makes sense in real life. We are given canon explanations for the aspects from [The Extended Zodiac], so I pull my understanding of the aspects from the canon summaries that are given and what we are shown in Homestuck canon.

We are not given canon class explanations, so that area will always remain nebulous ranging from classpector to classpector (unless we suddenly are given canon explanations). As such, how I've been able to separate class from aspect from character traits in regards to canon is based almost entirely on my understanding of the aspects, then comparing two characters of the same class to see what is similar and what is not.

Karkat is a good example. At first glance, we can see he is an extremely angry character. He yells a lot, curses a lot, he's full of rage, and yet, he is not a Ragebound character. Why that is, has everything to do with what an aspect is. What does an aspect mean to a person, or what does it mean to have or be an aspect of something?

Ah, this became a long post. I'll put it under a read-more.

Aspect is the force that is most important in a person's life, whether lacking or abundant, whether good or bad, whether they want it or not.

Karkat is not Ragebound because Rage is not his driving force. [Rage as an aspect is about fighting and tearing down the system, rebellion, and discovering the truth.] It is activism and change. Karkat is a very stubborn and angry character, but the Rage aspect traits are not what drives him forward. In fact, Karkat is actually the antithesis of a Ragebound; he loves Alternia's empire, and it's one of his dreams to serve as a part of it as a Threshecutioner! He doesn't question the empire, despite its rules regarding the hemocaste that tell him he will never belong to it. That's actually more of a Hopebound trait than Ragebound trait.

So, he is not Ragebound despite being an angry character. What drives him forward is Blood, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. His own blood color is what drives his entire character, but aside from the literal symbolism, Karkat's driving force is his friends. [Blood as an aspect is about the ties that bind, the weight that promises hold, the value of relationships and keeping everyone together.] It is unity as a group, camaraderie within, the relationships you make and the responsibility you have to maintain those ties. I do talk a bit about Karkat and Kankri in my post about the Blood aspect; I've linked it in the brackets above.

So then, what is class, and how do we separate it from the aspect traits and just plain character traits? We hear a lot about "active classes" and "passive classes". Some class mechanics are even explored and explained in canon, but we never get a concrete definition; only pieces of a bigger picture. From these little pieces, I defined it down to a single sentence.

Class is how a person interacts with or is shaped by their aspect, either actively (directly) or passively (indirectly).

To separate class traits from aspect traits and character traits, I compared the two Knights in canon who get a lot of screen-time; Karkat and Dave. Being Knights of different aspects, I figured that, theoretically, if I subtracted their known aspect traits from their characters and then compare what is the same and what is not, I could find a pretty good ground for the Knight class to stand on. Whatever was not the same between them would be character traits. Whatever was the same could be a class trait pertaining to the Knight.

What I got was this:

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

Knights are an Active Utilizing class; they have a direct relationship with their aspect and make use of it, and with Karkat, this is very true! He's the self-proclaimed "relationships guy", and honestly, when he actually shuts the fuck up and gets to his point, he's pretty spot on with a lot of his stuff. He uses Blood because he has an extremely direct relationship with it (his own blood defines how he sees himself and what he strives for, after all). He's very gifted with Blood; it's how he was able to bring twelve very different and very difficult people (himself included) together for long enough to succeed at an extremely long and convoluted game where the mechanics aren't exactly explained to you. In fact, I might even argue he was so good at Blood that him "giving (the Beta Kids') universe cancer" was him accidentally forging a tie with them (perhaps that's why they all have mutant candy red blood like him). Of course, the other trolls affected the kids' universe as well, but it was through Karkat's leadership over the trolls that the Beta Kids crossed sessions and came together with the trolls as one big group.

Anyways, this kind of became a love letter to how Karkat's character is written, my apologies.

Though the dancestors were written quite flatly, we are given at least three of each class in canon between the Beta Kids, Alpha Kids, and the trolls (except for four; the Thief, Mage, Sylph, Bard). The dancestors are caricatures, which made analyzing them harder, but it was extremely interesting to subtract their aspect traits and parse out what was similar between the classes of the dancestors and characters who were written with more thought behind them.

As for the four classes who had one well written character to represent them and one flatly written character to represent them, I looked to their paired active/passive class. The Thief and Rogue are Allocators; while the Rogue is passive, the Thief is active. The Mage and Seer are Understanders; while the Seer is passive, the Mage is active. [The Sylph and Maid are Enhancers; while the Maid is passive, the Sylph is active.] Finally, the Prince and the Bard are Destroyers; while the Prince is active, the Bard is passive.

Since I had already constructed the other eight classes from analyzing the characters in canon and what little tidbits are given to us in canon, I figured I could look at how, let's say, the Knight (Active Utilizer) and the Page (Passive Utilizer) interacted as a fully analyzed class pair, then follow that pattern for the remaining four classes that needed a proper analysis.

[You can read my basic overview of the 12 classes here.]

Thank you so much for asking, this question was extremely fun to answer! So sorry I made it about Karkat, I just happen to love him.