#homestuckl aspects

[heartspecting]

Blood, Updated Pt 1: Active Classes

Blood is the aspect representing the mortal coil, its responsibilities, obligations, loyalties, and pleasures. In canon, it is presented as friendship, responsibility,  loyalty, determination, warrior spirit, blood, and anger. I believe it also extends to the “obligations” of sustaining life and existing, e.g. hunger, reproduction, and the various laws of physics. Obviously there is some overlap here - I’ll address these overlaps when I discuss other aspects. The strongest heroes of Blood will be able to parse and reach these very diverse interpretations. Blood has strong connections with Space, Doom, and Light. Let me stress: powerful heroes of Blood, especially the Prince, Maid, and Witch could sabotage the loyalties of Dersite armies, accelerating, delaying or outright preventing the Reckoning.

Thief of Blood The Thief draws Blood to herself at the expense of others. Like KK, the Thief would surround herself with friends and debts. In fact, she is the ideal recruiter/mafioso/debt collector, breaking bonds between former allies and gaining new minions. This would make her excellent at non-violent resolutions to combat.  If in combat, the Thief may take many cues from a Witch of Space, summoning gravity to herself to prevent Space shenanigans and leave others tumbling. The strongest Thief of Blood might simply drain Blood from her enemies, killing them off and rejuvenating herself.

Prince of Blood For his own reasons, the Prince destroys Blood around him, even while using it as a vicious weapon. He would tear apart contracts, promises between friends, debts, and any feelings of obligation/guilt in his allies. Like the Thief, in combat he could simply vaporise the blood in his enemies’ veins. Alternately, like a Maid of Blood he could crush his enemies 1) by overwhelming them with guilt and debt, or 2) by drowning them in blood. I would expect a fraymotif between the Prince and a Witch of Life or Void “Deafening Distance” in which altering minute nuclear forces releases an explosion of energy. Finally, destruction of minute chemical bonds would essentially allow the Prince to combust any material - free fireballs! He would be extremely powerful in combat, but destroying too much Blood in the party could leave it fractured, without purpose, responsibility, or camaraderie. 

Witch of Blood The Witch alters the properties of Blood to suit her own purposes. She would change the target or conditions of friendship, contracts, debts, etc. which would allow her to remove toxic interpersonal elements in the party or sabotage the loyalty of the enemy party. This makes her an excellent troubleshooter for drama, and she would be able to direct focus where needed (e.g. frog-breeding, landquests).

She would be devastating in combat if that was ever necessary, manipulating gravity, chemical, and nuclear bonds, etc. Other blogs have suggested a powerful Witch could simply manipulate others through their blood, e.g. ATLA’s bloodbending. I believe she could also use “Deafening Distance”, or the Maid’s fraymotif “Grounding Crescendo” which, a lá Skyrim’s Dragonrend, would bring flying enemies crashing to Earth. 

Knight of Blood The Knight utilizes Blood as a multitool, sword, and shield. In canon, KK doesn’t develop his strongest abilities, instead using his subtler strengths to use his friends as sword and shield. The Knight is extremely charismatic, using (without altering) the interpersonal elements of his party to complement his own abilities, and exploiting any weaknesses in the enemies’ relationships. 

In combat, he may default to guiding others.

Mage of Blood The Mage comes to a deep understanding of Blood by suffering a hypersensitivity to obligations, feelings of guilt, the literal pressure of gravity and blood pressure, etc. He will find himself compelled to notice the subtlest shades of responsibility and structure in any situation. 

This makes him an excellent taskmaster, as he will learn which tasks require the most attention and ensure they are completed. However, he may be just as likely to be overwhelmed by simple/small tasks. 

Maid of Blood The Maid creates ties and structure. The most powerful Maids can cripple an army (literally, via “Grounding Crescendo”, or figuratively by instilling terrible guilt, devotion to an idol, debilitating hunger or lust, etc.).

The Maid, like the Witch, Knight, Page, and Sylph, would be excellent at building healthy relationships and cultivating a sense of responsibility.