Compliment: Time Role: Frog Breeder, Stoker of the Forge. Traits: Law-Abiding, Instructive
Frog breeding, their denizen being the “mother of all denizens,” other obvious shit.
The Maryams’ shared roles as caretaker of a mother grub and keeper of her egg.
Kanaya’s chainsaw references their historical use in “aiding birth.”
Interestingly, this is heavily contrasted with chastity and infertility:
The story mandates that Jade is always alone (both in the literal and romantic sense), even negating her relationship with Davesprite in the alpha timeline
Kanaya has no concupiscent relationships until Rose, with whom reproduction is probably impossible. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Porrim is highly sexual.
“[Kanaya’s] name comes from the Sanskrit counterpart of Virgo, which is 'Kanya'; and 'Maryam' is the Arabic name for 'Mary', as in the Virgin Mary.”
Calliope, both her alpha and doomed forms, lived lives of complete solitude. Alpha Calliope, having been socialized largely as a human, is unlikely to ever take the lonely journey required to find another cherub to mate with, and is probably undesirous of such a thing in the first place.
Both Jade and Kanaya are shown to have very lush planets teeming with life.
Jade, Kanaya, and Calliope all live in solitary places with large, empty spaces.
They are all shown wandering the lands around their homes simply to enjoy the outdoors, which no other characters do while alive.
Jade and Kanaya both show an interest in botany.
Calliope has a fascination with trees.
Jade’s interest in robotics: unlike Dirk and Equius, she exclusively creates things with a specific purpose and intent. She never creates something “for fun” or “as an experiment.”
Kanaya and Porrim’s interest in fashion: Kanaya makes her own clothing (and Vriska’s fairy dress), while Porrim knits Kankri a sweater to stop him from complaining. While this interest is definitely also expressive, it serves an obvious function.
Calliope’s art: ordinarily, this would be a primarily expressive form of creation, and I’d chalk this difference up to a mistake on my part. However, in Calliope’s case, her artwork is always a visual representation of what she knows/believes to happen in a historical epic (a.k.a. the lives of her friends) and “fanart” or theories, which fill in the gaps. In other words, her artwork’s primarily serves the function of chronologizing history, the ongoing story, and future possibility, much like Egyptian hieroglyphs or paintings of historic battles. This became most clear during A6A6I5, when she draws the images to fit Jade and Jane’s stories.
Transcendence and Rebirth:
Kanaya as a Rainbow Drinker.
Jade as a post-mortem dream-self sprite, then merging with this alternate self as a godtier.
Calliope’s death and return to life via the Life Ring.
The three of them are also known to indulge in fantasy and various personas.
Kanaya’s fetchmodus is “chastity,” which only allows her to access items when “the time is right.”
Kanaya waits three years for even a hint of a chance at reviving her race.
Jade and Kanaya are both the last of their groups to be brought into the medium.
Jade travels the golden ship alone for three years. She first must wait to understand, then must wait to reunite with John and Davesprite until after everyone else does.
Jade is constantly stolen from: her pumpkins, the White Queen’s ring, and even her consciousness are all stolen from her.
Jade loses her good dog, best friend. :(
Kanaya, like all Jade Bloods, loses her luscus at an early age, due to her nature as a Mother Grub who has abandoned her path.
Doomed Calliope chooses to sacrifice her life in order to do the most good for the rest of existence.
Alpha Calliope dies because “it’s what has to happen,” then waits alone and in fear for an immeasurable amount of time until receiving the Life Ring from Roxy.
Seeking Information from Strange, Extraterrestrial Sources
