#stp sburb au

[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.

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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