Main is actually @themidnightpanda || Actual mage of mind and still figuring out friendsim || PLEASE ask me to analyze the personality of any given class/aspect/classpect I will write so many paragraphs
btw gonna start doing analyses again soon! Just finished my first year of uni like. This Thursday
In other news sometime soon I'm gonna upload a summary of all of my fantrolls because I just realized corvie is a social media mod. Guy's a bird themed Blueblood known to "shoot the messenger". I accidentally made a twitter coded troll
I'm thinking of turning this blog from only classpect analysis to just be the blog where I talk homestuck?
Like, I'd still do analysis (... sometime in the future. I'm working on it.) but also then I could talk (and maybe draw??) stuff for my AU that I've been working on for a while, or talk about my troll OCs beyond when their classpects finally show up in my askbox?
IDK I just want to do more stuff with this blog because writing these analyses takes up a casual 4+ hours to do all the making sure canon supports my theories (or at least doesn't outright disprove anything) part and recently that time of my weekends is being taken up by being Very Busy with homework (but hey, four years from now I'll be able to tell people I know what I'm talking about in regards to media analysis because I'll have a degree in that stuff, so, y'know, worthy sacrifices and all that jazz)
Uhm.
Should I expand this blog to be where I talk about all my Homestuck related writing?
Could you analyze page of life? Thank you and have a good day!
Haha, sorry for the long wait, life happened (haha, life). Uhm. Yeah I usually think up some sort of intro to the posts but now I’m just coming up blank, so, let’s just get to it?
Anyways, what do we know about the Page class, to begin with?
Pages are a class centered around self-growth. A lot of sburb/sgrub is based on allowing the players to grow more as people, but Pages have a lot to achieve in the span of the game, and as such we barely see a glimpse of what a fully realized Page can do in the source material at all, except that they are considered one of the most powerful classes out there.
Pages generally adapt traits of their Aspect into their personality, and grow more into themselves as they do so. There’s a lot of work in being a Page, and not everyone is built for it, because you need the ability to learn to look at yourself in a non-judgemental way and think of ways to improve yourself that are feasible and not just “I want to be better”. And that’s hard to do.
As Pages need to learn more about themselves and their aspect (and sometimes just the world at large), they’re very receptive to new ideas and concepts, and can have very flexible mindsets when it comes to certain things (and yet, unfortunately, usually not themselves). Pages can be very earnest and genuine people, which can lead them to accidentally learn things harmful to both themselves and the people around them, and they have to work very hard to unlearn such things on their journey.
So Pages need to learn to embrace their aspect in order to become the best versions of themselves they can be. What about the aspect, then?
Life is… an interesting aspect, in that all the Life players we meet in homestuck are members of the Peixes family. So all Life players are very confident in themselves, at least by the time we meet them at first. And also Life as an aspect tends to push people towards leadership positions? Like, Meenah didn’t particularly want to be an important princess and ran away over that. Feferi wants to take over Alternia and make the world a better place. And Jane is also a princess kinda. Idk Jane gives me a headache in terms of what exactly she’s considered an heir of. Too many timeline intersections to decide whether her being the heir to the crocker brand (or. whatever?) has any impact on how much power she actually holds. I’m so confused about that.
Anyways. Life players like to be in charge. They know their plans and listen to their teammates. A good Life player is someone to look up to and trust with ideas and plans, and a formidable enemy should you be the opponent instead of an ally. They might not be as heartfelt as Heart players or as creative as Space players, but a Life player on your side is pretty much always a good thing? Unless they’re a thief or a destroyer class, in which case. Maybe not so much.
Life players are usually very headstrong about stuff; they know a lot about the way the universe works, not in the way space and time players do, but simply in the way where they understand how some things can have some outcomes and sometimes refuse to hear otherwise, especially if it doesn’t fit with what they already decided upon.
So, with all that (very little rambling) in mind, what would a Page of Life be like?
There’s a lot to consider in this combination, which makes it feel very volatile. I think this is a classpect where lunar sway has a lot more importance than, say, a Sylph’s or a Heart player’s situation.
A Page of Life is someone who is both very confident in their choices, while also constantly doubting their positions as leaders. But it’s not like they can just choose to relegate, because nobody else would volunteer to pick up the role otherwise. In a session where someone else has more charm or energy for leadership, the Page might simply sit tight and watch the other leader learn nothing from their mistakes, but nobody would want them as the leader, not even them. They might grow in that quiet corner enough to stand up and say enough is enough and take charge anyways, but you can never be certain.
A Page of Life can also go the exact opposite direction, and be a person who really wants to lead but has no idea how. In which case they can simply lean away every time they make a mistake. This Page would need to learn that some times you fuck up, and that’s ok, but you should learn from it and admit you’re not perfect before your team gets sick of your blaming everyone else’s plans. Listen to the other members of your group, let them voice ideas, and don’t be hasty when pointing fingers.
Either way, a Page of Life needs to learn to learn from their mistakes. That’s how people grow, even if facing your fuck ups is usually the most mortifying thing to do. The Page won’t let go of their leadership position once they have it, even if they don’t like being a leader, because nobody else would step up, or at least nobody they would trust with these people.
I think a Prospit dreaming Page of Life would be too headstrong and would need to learn to listen to others on their team, learn to let go and also understand that pointing fingers won’t help anyone. They need to learn to be proud of their position on the team, even if they make mistakes, because then the others will see you as dependable and confident, which you absolutely can be.
Alternatively, a Derse dreaming Page would lean too far into “what-if”s, would focus on all that they haven’t done rather than what they did, and there would be their downfall. Focus on the future, learn from the past, and do your best to remember that the present is still the future’s past and you can always learn more, about your team and your goal and yourself.
A grown Page of Life can be a really good leader, someone who the group trusts and depends on and comes to with ideas and problems because they know you can solve it. Don’t let the past’s mistakes take your future away from you.
Anyways, sorry for the long wait (and also sorry to everyone else sending asks and getting ignored, I promise I’m working on it. Just. Very slowly) and also sorry this is not at all edited whatsoever, I don’t have energy to make sure I don’t repeat myself too often. Just. I hope this is coherent enough for you to learn something? Maybe? Or just to have fun, if that’s what you’re looking for…
hey yall, if I started talking Homestuck in a general sense beyond my analyses, would you like that? I usually do that on main but idk. It's not even often.
Maybe some stuff about my music au? Definitely stuff about my fansession, once I've figured it out, or at least had all the trolls for it done with...
yall I got. So many asks. Some from like a month ago and I so wanna answer yall. But also I will be going on hiatus bc apparently I can't have energy to go on my computer to do the proper research and grammar correction stuff so. Yeah. Apologies for that I promise I'll get to it at some point but I also feel really bad about making yall wait for so long
Ok, so, I was kinda hesitant to answer this one because I have a troll in my fansession who is a Knight of Heart, but I put this off long enough so, here's the disclaimer, this might be totally stupid and inaccurate. I'll try my best but at least part of this might be biased because Tongty Honbee is my favorite of the fantrolls I already have designed, so. Here we go, I guess.
I usually start on classes, so, what are the distinct personality traits of Knights?
The main thing we know about knights is that they tend to hide things, especially about their own aspect. The knight class is an aspect manipulation class, along with witches, implying they have a unique take on their aspect. Mages and seers may understand the aspect, but knights can tame it, like a medieval knight with a steed they shall ride into battle. The knight would have a solid understanding of their aspect that would bring new ideas to light. They're not as creative as maids, but they like hearing new ideas; not that they always listen to said ideas, and especially not about their own aspect, but while a witch would understand their aspect's ability to change from the inside, a knight might distance themselves in order to get a new perspective. This distancing also makes them hard to get along with for most people; they put on a facade that lets them keep their distance, or feel like they're keeping that distance, anyways. This attempt to be someone farther away from their aspect than they are doesn't necessarily mean they succeed; in fact, Karkat himself is "too friendly" compared to other trolls, as much as he may pretend otherwise (and friendship is a blood aspect thing, as I've previously mentioned).
The knight's attempts at distance are tiring even to the knights themselves, but they do give the knights the ability to provide Hot Takes on their aspect. Honestly, I'm trying really hard not to describe knights like they're seals but I might as well indulge the metaphor of a feral wet cat, that looks like one thing (smol and fluffy) while knowing themselves to be entirely different (friendly reminder that seals are carnivorous!). I should clarify that different doesn't mean "opposite"; Seals can be both at the same time, and, theoretically, so can knights. Why shouldn't you have a great sense for irony while still being present for your friends when they need you? Why not have a temper and yet be a caring person? Why not have a coolkid persona and not have it replace your personality?
The problem with that is mainly that the knights are holding themselves back. They think, usually, that this outsider perspective on their own lives, that the distance they put between themselves and their aspect, is entirely necessary, or entirely black and white; either you're as far away as possible and doing great, or you're too close; that the distance is the only way for them to keep their power and understanding of their aspect. This is obviously not true, but knights aren't great at self-reflection, as we've noticed. So, for the knights out there, consider this a wake up call; why are you holding yourself back from your aspect? Do you really have to, or is it yourself holding you back?
... Speaking of aspect, actually, we should probably get to it. I'm probably gonna be saying a lot of stuff I already said in previous posts about heart players, but maybe something unexpected would happen and a new puzzle piece will lock into place, and I'll have something new to say...
First things first, I'll say heart is the aspect of the self, or even the soul. It's an aspect regarding identity; having a sense of self, self exploration, knowing and learning more about who you are as a person. It's also the aspect of emotions and, to a sense, truth (oh hey, would you look at that, something I didn't say before!)
The emotional aspect of the heart comes with being able to feel your emotions to the fullest and embracing them, as well as being very emotionally intelligent. A heart player can sense and empathize with their friends, and are usually very willing to listen if you need to talk, and may even help with putting names to feelings, or offering comfort if needed. They have a very wide range of emotions, which can get overwhelming at times, but they embrace it completely; they probably consider themselves sensitive people, or at least highly emotional.
The truth element of the aspect is actually a mirror to its opposite aspect, the mind. While mind speaks of objective truths and undoubtable knowledge, the heart is about subjective truth; how you feel about something, and how reality doesn't cancel out your feeling about the situation. It can be very overwhelming (and, as an emotional mind player, I can at least offer comfort in the knowledge that your truth is very valid and at least you're not stopping yourself from crying because it "doesn't make sense". We all make choices in life and mine apparently include emotional ineptitude and a penchant for tears). It's also about being true to who you are, and being unapologetically you. Loud and proud about your personal values and opinions.
Heart players are also very animated, which ties into both the previous points; they're very emotional and aren't afraid to put said emotions on full display. You're happy, and bouncing all over the place, and grinning so wide and bright it's infectious and now everyone else around you is vaguely giddy with no idea why. You're sad and suddenly the world is wilted and lacking colors, and it's like the air is as thick as honey. People notice your emotions and catch them like they're in the air. They notice when you're missing because you express yourself with all that you are, and the world around you is more colorful for it.
This also makes heart players more impulsive, though, usually when their emotions override their logic. Even those of them who pride themselves for being incredibly logical can sometimes let the world in too deep and interfere and get hurt, the moment something becomes personal.
The last part of the heart aspect is the self. The most important part; both within the aspect, and to the players. The sense of self of a heart player is their compass, and they're always looking for the right direction. Heart players like to explore, see and experience, both the world around them and who they are. They can get very intense when learning about something new, because every new passion is like a badge they can wear to say "this is part of who I am now". To them, every thought and opinion that crosses your mind is part of what makes you you, and should never be discounted. They wear every positive adjective you assign them with pride, and acknowledge the others by addressing them carefully. They strive towards self-achievement and understanding and betterment, which can look strange from an outsider's perspective but for them it's normal, and they have a difficult time understanding anyone who doesn't want to be the best they can be.
That lack of understanding of others is also just a general part of being a heart player; most people may see you as intense or awkward at first, because different people have different priorities in life, which, well, of course, you may say, but you still don't really get it, even if you do respect the fact that maybe, for some people, their relationship with themselves is at the core of all their values. If you know there's someone you're gonna meet, you may prepare some questions; simple "getting to know you" icebreakers, supposedly, but the further you delve the more obscure or specific your questioning becomes, which can throw people off; not everyone can offhandedly answer questions like your favorite breed of cat or what they'd most like to have a collection of if they could. To a heart player, these are questions you ask yourself and carefully collect the answer to into the marvelous patchwork of your personality, an opinion you hold that, combined with all your other ideals, makes you your own, unique person.
As such, they're also very decisive people, who form an opinion and hold onto it like it's their defining characteristic; because every characteristic is defining to a heart player, and all those traits can only make up one person who cares so deeply about things like the name of a childhood plush or how many teaspoons of sugar you put in their tea, and that knowledge can make heart players very detail-oriented, in the way where they want to know everything about you that you'd be willing to tell them- it also makes them great at understanding interpersonal relationships between any two people; because this person is a cat person, while this other person actually does have a favorite dog breed, so they're going to have disagreements in a work scenario but be good friends if they aren't (I'm very much extrapolating; I'm no heart player, I could be completely wrong and hyper dog fans can entirely get along with cat people, who am I to know?)
(yes, that last paragraph is shamelessly stolen from my last analysis. I'm tired and it's still entirely correct so I'm just reusing this. Also helps make sure I'm not too close to this because the aspect analysis is half stolen from my previous one!)
Well, all that out of the way, we can combine the class and aspect to understand better the Knight of Heart.
A Knight of Heart hides their heart; be it their true personality, or their feelings for others, in order to understand emotions in other people. They're explorative and try for open-mindedness but constantly miss the mark when it comes to social interaction. A knight of heart might be trying so hard to distance themselves from their aspect that they become obsessed with who they are and how they're not what they "should" be, for example.
They might market themselves as patient while inside their emotions are a whirlwind, and only break down willingly to a few people. I imagine they're the type to be proud of any adjective given to them, so much so that their black-and-white thinking implies to them that that means they cannot be anything that may contradict said adjective (see; the seal metaphor).
A Knight of Heart may have similar characteristics to a prince of the same aspect, if only because knights hide who they are, which is a major part of this aspect. However, unlike a prince, who destroys themselves unwittingly, a knight would just hide. They know who they are, or who they should be, incredibly well; they just have a reason to believe that they shouldn't show that to the world.
(Bonus content under the cut? More likely than you think!)
Decided to show off my single art piece for my knight of heart fantroll and also give a tiny ramble about zem!
Meet Tongty Honbee, a selectively mute purpleblood who only has the courage to talk through ventriloquism, which, coincidentally, is also a thing ze found thanks to zir best friend, the indigo scriptwriter who was originally my trollsona (who has also evolved beyond that and now needs a new name and design... why am I doing this to myself).
Tongty is a bee themed troll, zir sign is the honeybee waggle dance pattern and zir clothes are all striped (even the clown makeup is hexagons). Ze talks with a lot of made up sign language and even more body language, much like how bees communicate via a dance... Ze also has a pale crush on zir best friend and is content to not ruin a perfectly good friendship for a chance at a moirail... which is how I ended up classifying zem as a Knight of Heart :3
(Extra design notes, because I won't talk about it anywhere else: zir horns are based on bee antennae. Ze's signing the sign for "happy" in the drawing :D the name Tongty originated with the phrase "tongue tied"... I have more but they're really small things, like how I had to tweak zir colors 8 times because the stripes and fluffy collar for the jacket keep reminding me of Mina Ashido from MHA and I don't even watch that show)
Maid of heart? And can a maid of heart put her splinterself into toys, plushies and any inanimate object?
I don't usually delve into the theoretical powers one would have during a game session unless it's relevant to personality things or is just something I haven't seen mentioned anywhere... but I can definitely try?
We're starting with personality analysis though, I'm still a mage of mind after all.
SO! Starting with the class, maids are a creation class. I believe I've mentioned that before briefly, but now I get to expand that. So, maids are a class that can make more of their aspect out of thin air, pretty much. Aradia seems to be so far the only player we meet that I can think of that therefore uses her classpect in a creative way; when dog-Jack attacks their session right before they win, she stalls him, giving her session... more time. Porrim puzzles me because I can't understand so much of the alpha trolls' session so bear in mind if her actions in their session completely contradict me it's because I actually really dislike most of the alpha trolls and therefore skipped most of their dialogue, apologies in advance.
So, what are maids actually like, then, as a creation class and as people?
Well, for one, maids are pretty goal-oriented people, but in a rather big-picture way. They want an ideal life for themselves and everyone around them, if they can swing it, and aren't afraid to fight for it if that's what it takes; however, in pursuit of a picture where there's nothing apparently wrong, they miss details. They're idealistic enough to think some problems are "less important" for the moment, and can be returned to when everything is "fixed" so to say. It's hard to get a maid to leave the theoretical perfect world behind, because they really want to make just that much of a change; and I'm not saying it's impossible, but Rome wasn't built in a day and the world can't be fixed by one person. I hear a lot of people say sylphs are healers, but it's actually the maids that want to change everything for the better.
Maids aren't afraid to take action, but also tend to turn a blind eye to problems they don't know how to fix. Procrastinators at heart, they want the change to be immediate and are intimidated by lengthy processes; but they're definitely determined. With people at their side telling them to keep going, a maid on a mission can make waves. They're people of very distinct opinions who voice said opinions to anyone willing to listen. They talk with a passion about the change they want to see and can be charismatic about it. Like sylphs, they're great friends to the people around them, but they also tend to be polarizing; you either love hanging out with a maid, or you can't be in the same room as them. And the maid won't change for you, because if their loud exclamations at the world are too much for you, whether you disagree or are simply intimidated by the maid's pure fiery passion for the topic... well, the maid probably wouldn't much like having you around, either.
So, maids are an acquired taste, and are fierce and passionate and very loud about their opinions. What about that aspect, then?
I'll be honest, last time I wrote anything for the heart aspect was my second post here and I was too nervous and tired to go the whole way and write the many paragraphs heart players deserve, so, here we go.
Heart is an aspect that regards the self first and foremost. It's about having a sense of self and experiencing emotions to the fullest. They're usually very emotionally intelligent people (Dirk Strider notwithstanding, but he's a prince so I suppose that makes sense enough) and should be willing enough to listen and give advice if they sense something is wrong. I think the heart-bound are very animated people; they're bright and tend to gesture wildly, and people notice when they're not in the room. Heart players are also very sensitive, and their emotional range is so wide I almost made a shrimp colors metaphor. They're really unique people and would probably wear that adjective with pride; they likely wear a lot of adjectives with pride, actually.
Heart players are explorers, they like to see and experience the world, but they also like to explore their own selves. They're not very good when it comes to understanding other people's thought process, and can thus be a bit awkward to converse with for the first time, but they are anything but shy about it. Heart players can be considered very impulsive, mostly because their emotions can sometimes overcome their logic; even those of them who pride themselves for being incredibly logical can sometimes let the world in too deep and interfere and get hurt, the moment something becomes personal.
Heart players are entirely the center of their own world, but not anyone else's; to their knowledge, everyone's center is themselves, and it kind of makes sense. You are made by the things you like and the people you know, and not those of any other person. They expect people around them to be just as driven towards self-achievement and understanding, which makes their first impressions be either intimidating or standoffish, depending on the mood and whether they expected to meet a new person or not; they just want to get to know you, and are surprised when you hesitate and not know some obscure thing about yourself that they know about themselves, like your favorite movie studio or dog breed or whether or not you like an obscure music genre. Obviously when such questions arise you have to explore both yourself and the world around you and form such views, who doesn't? (I'll tell you who, it's people who aren't heart players, that's who). As such, they're also very decisive people, who form an opinion and hold onto it like it's their defining characteristic; because every characteristic is defining to a heart player, and all those traits can only make up one person who cares so deeply about things like the name of a childhood plush or how many teaspoons of sugar you put in their tea, and that knowledge can make heart players very detail-oriented, in the way where they want to know everything about you that you'd be willing to tell them- it also makes them great at understanding interpersonal relationships between any two people; because this person is a cat person, while this other person actually does have a favorite dog breed, so they're going to have disagreements in a work scenario but be good friends if they aren't (I'm very much extrapolating; I'm no heart player, I could be completely wrong and hyper dog fans can entirely get along with cat people, who am I to know?)
... So, now that we've done both class and aspect justice, let's see how well they combine, yes?
Well, let's start with things the class and aspect have in common, the things most likely to be describing a maid of heart; they'd be a passionate person, who cares a lot about the world around them, but they might also get scared off if they don't know how to help a friend in need. They're idealistic yet charming in their awkward and sincere conversations with their peers. A maid of heart is true to who they are as a person and isn't afraid to yell it from the rooftops, which can be either mesmerizing or terrifying, depending on who you are. They're creative thinkers and explorers who aren't afraid to try something new and try to make everything better, though they might find troubles that would make picking themselves up harder once they fall, which makes them also dependent on the unspoken support of the people dear to them, as they are very in tune with both their own emotions and those of the people around them. A maid of heart with a good support system is unafraid of challenges and is energetic to meet new people. Find your true friends who let themselves feel to the fullest around you, and you will thrive.
... Now, that the analysis is all over, I do want to try my hand at theorizing about the powers a maid of heart might have, so, let's give this a shot after the cut;
Here's an obligatory disclaimer because the fun thing with classpect powers is that, depending on how you interpret your aspect and how creatively you think of it, your game powers can be incredibly diverse, and this is just my take on the powers of a maid of heart; if you have a different interpretation and can justify it well enough, who am I to say it won't work?
Well, as I've said in the personality analysis, maids are creators; they make more of their aspect where there is none. Heart players have a strong sense of self, which can result in splintering and making multiple versions of oneself, and are also in-tune with the emotions of themselves and the people around them. So, a maid of heart can make... more of themselves? I'm imagining either Aradia-bot style duplicates or some version of time-shenanigans, or maybe they're just actually multiple different people in a trench coat, what do I know. Alternatively, a maid of heart can intensify emotions, or bring new emotions to a person; imagine you're angry and suddenly that anger is being overshadowed by overwhelming love for your enemy, that would be a possible power for a maid of heart.
To answer the question of whether a maid of heart can put their splinterselves into dolls, I imagine not? Taking a preexisting thing and inserting part of your soul into it feels more aspect-manipulation-class, like knights or witches, than an aspect-creation-class, like the maid. However, you might be able to make more of yourself inside the dolls to begin with, or make the dolls when you make more of yourself automatically.
Again, this is entirely my personal interpretation of how those powers should work; the only things limiting your powers are your imagination and your interpretation of your classpect.
COULD WE GET A MAGE OF TIME CLASSPECTING????? XXXO
Specifically if they went of the deep end…. went rogue…. went evil…. tried to take another player down….
Aw geez ok so I'm assuming this ask is for an OC? Unless you're confessing to attempted murder in my askbox, in which case, please don't I already overthink life as is (and also, please don't attempt murder, but that's kinda obvious).
So, because this is for a character and not a person, I'm dividing this one into two parts; the practical one where I talk Mage of Time as if I'm analyzing a person, and the part where I go into evil oc territory. I'll probably divide with a reblog, we'll see how long this post gets and decide there.
SO! Mage of Time... As per usual, starting on class before aspect.
Mages are... well, in my brain I call us "the anxiety class", but there's good odds it'll be just me. Mages understand their aspect in its entirety, the good, the bad, the nightmare inducing... all of it. It makes us clever, or just smart, because we understand the inner mechanisms of our aspect. You observe and understand and form answers regarding that aspect and learn all that you can about it until you suddenly wish you had a bit less of it in who you are. It won't form your personality; we're not heirs or pages, we just know what we're talking about. Which can occasionally bite you back; as a Mage of Mind, I constantly think about choices I should make, and the consequences thereof. Slightly maddening when you build yourself to panicking over what to eat for lunch, right? (Then again, being a person who "fully understands choice and consequence" is a bit different to someone who "fully understands time and possibility", though of all the aspects I think those two have the most similar in terms of Mages).
A Mage can get overwhelmed by their aspect, a lot more so than the Seer who can choose what they want to learn, instead of having experienced their aspect. No one wants to learn about the terrifying facts of the world, the things they'll never be able to change, but Mages get pulled into their aspect in a way that allows (or perhaps even forces) them to acknowledge their aspect and learn all that exists within it. And aspects are the essence of the world, the things to keep the universe running, so having all the knowledge on any of them feels like it'd be... too much, almost, for any one person
So, what about the aspect? What is Time all about?
Well, to be honest, Time and Space are both really difficult to explain; they're the core of reality, how do you explain what makes time? I'll do my best to attempt it, but the three Time players we meet have all very different attitudes towards their aspect, and in general (and I generally refuse to listen to the extended zodiac, which decided all Sagittarius people are overly bouncy and indecisive, which... I mean, it doesn't quite follow not only troll culture and what indigos from actual comic Homestuck are like but also is probably only accurate to one indigo in Hiveswap and it's the one that's Eridan but Worse. I don't listen to what they have to say).
Time, as far as I understood, implores its players to live in the here and now, for all the time travelling they do. They see possibilities, things they want to change and ways to change those things, and are usually intensely focused people (yes, I'm including Dave "derails every conversation he's part of into convoluted metaphors" Strider in this sentiment). Time players are goal-oriented and are great planners; either ahead of time, or on the spot. They try for clever but end up just drawing inspiration from the world around them; opposing the out-the-box thinkers of Space with confirmed knowledge to make sure the thing would happen they way they want it to. Sometimes, that knowledge comes from research, or past experiences. A fully realized Time player would probably use their knowledge from other timelines, either by meeting alternate selves or by visiting those alternate timelines to see for themselves. They're also fiercely independent people- not in that they won't ask for or accept offered help, especially in a game like Sburb or Sgrub that relies on multiplayer co-ops. If they know that they can't solve a puzzle on their own, so be it, they can ask the resident Seer for help. But if they know a failed attempt or two won't hurt, they refuse to just be given an answer; let them wear themselves down, in that case. They'd get the answer on their own, or go looking for it elsewhere, but they don't want help with the first attempt.
That all means the Mage of Time might not be all that prone to overthinking. They have the potential to look at the options laid before them, and make a calculated choice. They can see the world unravel before their eyes, and dissect it to little timelines and possibilities and choices they never made, and feel like their timeline is the one they're bound to, and that's that. However, they're not immune to the endlessness of Mage knowledge, and can accidentally fall down the rabbit hole of possible timelines. Maybe this isn't the right one for them, and they wish they could have changed that one thing, taken or passed up on any one thing to make something- their life, the life of a loved one, a small insignificant exchange to get a friend in someone who doesn't even know them in their current timeline- change. That's a dangerous road to go down, and unfortunately, the game isn't real (and if it is, for the love of any god that may or may not exist, someone send me a download link). They can't god tier and go back to change this one thing, and this Mage, who thinks about "could have"s and "should have"s and whatnot, they'll only get hurt down that path. To quote a pretty overplayed Disney song from what is apparently a decade ago, the past is in the past. Let it go. Be a new you, look forward for the future and see what you can change, what you can do, right now.
All that said, I think we can do a short moment to talk Evil Mage of Time. The rambling is surprisingly short this time around; maybe the few weeks I took off while my internet was down made me rusty (apologies for that, by the way, life decided to kick my butt and I kept going "oh I'll just answer my ask later" but then I got a new ask the other day and for once I've got stable internet connection so here we are, right?). I'm putting a ~keep reading~ function here for this bonus bit, then.
So, I honestly can't really see a Mage of Time being downright evil at all- that sounds... exhausting. Planning out everything for when your coplayers try to take you down? You'll exhaust yourself thinking up all the possible paths your opposition can take and end up driving yourself up the wall with madness.
However, if a Mage of Time made a mistake in an alternate timeline? If this other player betrayed them, or cost them the game? This is payback. Not evil coming out of nowhere, this is revenge for something that, as far as the other player would be concerned, never happened. It's unwarranted, but maybe becoming the villain of a session is the only way to prevent the other timeline's tragedy from occurring. Maybe it isn't, and yet the fury from the other timeline seeped through so thoroughly that you can't overlook it- they wronged you. This isn't on you, but on them. Good luck explaining that to other players without sounding entirely crazy, though.
... And for the record I still think being evil would be too tiring to be worth it. Not to dictate the emotions of an evil possibly-oc, but the planning it'd take to not doom the timeline, get yourself killed, or do anything else that's bad (say, the thing you're trying to prevent by stopping this other player) and also complete your goal at the same time? Too much effort, if you ask me. Which you technically didn't, but also you did go to my askbox so... take that as you will. Sorry this was late and also I hope you like it? ^^"
So, starting off with the class, sylphs are generally described as healers, or people that fix things, but I like to broaden horizons and suggest them as the second creation class (with the first being maids). While maids make from nothing, sylphs make from the absence of the element, or draw upon the lack of something in order to make something new.
The personality of the sylph is difficult to parse; we only have two and they barely act anything alike. People like to say sylphs are inherently kind, but... well, for starters, I'm not sure if that's quite the word for Aranea. And also saying anyone is inherently anything feels a bit incorrect, to me.
I can say, though, that sylphs are a lot more by-the-book compared to, say, heirs or witches. They feel as though there is a correct way to do things, and everyone likes to do things right, y'know? So even if they're a bit misguided, or end up making awful mistakes, it's usually because they believe, or have been lead to believe, that they are making something better. It makes them a stubborn class, since they're unlikely to be deterred when someone warns them of mistakes they're bound to make with their current mindset.
... Which, coincidentally, is also part of being a player of the blood aspect.
Players bound to this aspect are stubborn in the sense that they don't give up on people- because blood is the aspect of connections to other people. Blood players are the glue of their team- blood of the covenant is thicker than water, and all. They're the kind to mediate between two party members not because they're impartial, but rather the opposite. They care, so much and so thoroughly, that they want everyone to be well. That does mean sometimes telling people to give up on some relationships, platonic or otherwise. They're very people-oriented, though that doesn't necessarily make them an extrovert; they might just have a few friends they're intensely close to. Really, the word intense does describe blood players well; it's simply that they care a lot, and aren't much afraid to show it (unless they're knights, but knights hide the manifestations of their aspect in themselves regardless of what that aspect may be).
So, a sylph of blood? They'd be stubborn, and wouldn't let their friends run from conflict, and they'd forge friendships off of their own self-righteous confidence, and I kinda look up to those kinds of people, who are wholly themselves around other people and are unapologetic about it. Just. Stay you. Learn from your own mistakes, if you make them, but don't let other people tell you what to do when you've got your mind on something; though, I don't think you need me to tell you that. Be your own amazing brand of a person because you can be the kind of person people look up to for your fierce kindness and care for your people. You've got yourself right more than a lot of the rest of us, but don't let your overconfidence in the power of yelling people into caring for each other get to you and lead you astray.
Really, just learn from self-reflection and be kind when you can, it's the only advice I've got to give to someone as bright and brilliant as a sylph of blood.
Thoughts on The Heir of Hope? I could really use an outside perspective right now. (Thank you)
Hallo! I have not been active on the internets from my computer in multiple days because my internet died and I wanted to give you a proper answer with correct grammars :33
... Ok so I really am sorry for not answering my internet has been spotty at best for like a week but it’s pretty good now so I can finally actually answer!
Well, heir of hope... let’s start with heirs, shall we?
Heirs, as far as I interpret them, are more literal versions of pages; while a page would channel the spirit of their aspect as part of their personality, a heir would become their aspect physically (which is a fact that’s supported by canon! I love having theories and then remembering that they’re actually entirely canon ^^”). So heirs’ personalities tend to reflect their aspect more literally as well, being almost archetypes for “this is what being X aspect means”.
I’d say they’re a simpler class, but that might not be entirely accurate, because aspects have a lot in them, if you’re willing to look. Like how void may be about mysteries and things hidden in shadows, but also includes contradictoriness (is that a word? It feels like it should be a word), or how breath can be wind but also scatterbraininess (never let a breath player build their own schedule, it’s like a hurricane went in and messed all their meetings up... which, I suppose it is.. but that’s a tangent for another post, maybe). There’s a lot of room for exploration there, finding where you fit into your own aspect, and whether there’s traits there that you wish to change, or improve upon, and whether you’re willing to put in the work (you’ll find that, if you’re willing, it may come easier than you expected to start the change you want to see in yourself, though it’s still bound to be difficult.. as is any change one should make. The key is being truly, actually willing and eager to better yourself, and know that sometimes you should ask for help, and that regardless, things take time...)
So. If a heir’s personality is built on existing within the space of their aspect... what about hope?
... You know, hope is surprisingly hard to figure out. Though, the same can be true for rage, since both of them have two players that destroy their aspect, making them act inherently unlike said element... so we literally only have Jake to go off of and saying “you’re like Jake English but your personality is more hope” wouldn’t be particularly helpful... not to say kind of inaccurate.
I found (through two hours of research, god, apparently I’ve been sitting here trying to not get confirmation bias over theories for two hours... Then again I have been thinking about heirs for a while anyways, so it would’ve been longer if I had been putting off answering any longer...) that hope is one of those aspects that are dreadfully unclear. It’s pretty difficult to take hope literally, as even in its literal sense it’s not tangible like void and breath are, so, how do you become hope?
Well... I’m sorry to disappoint, but I believe that’s up to you. Hope’s one of those aspects that are, in essence, whatever the player makes of them. Like most others, actually, I just find that the players we follow happen to be wholly uncreative in their use of their aspects... Except those that use it subconsciously, in which case it’s more that the game looked at them and probably said something like “wouldn’t it be really funny if I made Dirk Strider a Prince of Heart?” which, well. I’d say “sad” is a better word, but the game’s got a weird sense of humor and is also wholly irrelevant to right now!
Hope can mean a lot of things, but literally it’s more... well, the way my brain tried to put it together is kind of like how determination works in Undertale (… without the space-time shenanigans, since those are both elements in actual Homestuck). You don’t give up, and there lies your power. By believing in yourself, you have power. By trying hard you can do.. whatever you want. At least, that’s the literal way to see it (which is the only way we see it in actual Homestuck, but, again, aspects contain so much more than just their literal definitions, and the players we meet during our time reading are dreadfully unimaginative). We never see any other definition, though I’ve seen some people mention that hope may also have to do with the literal definition of light, or holiness, because.. magic. Or something. Not sure I buy that, but also visualizing “hope”, which is a wonderfully grand concept is probably hard, so, glowing it is, I suppose.
What all of this ends up meaning is.. Well, the Heir of Hope is someone who is embodied by their hope. I usually suggest stuff like a horoscope but it’s getting pretty late here and it’s also 10 degree weather, and saying “don’t give up” feels awfully tacky of me... So I’ll say this, instead; stay true to who you are. I’m not implying you’re perfect, or anything, but more that your true self is a wonderful person who, had I not been a Mage of Mind who dreams on derse’s moon and therefore an expert in overanalyzing social interactions before I even know the other party’s name, I’d love to talk to. I feel like you can be an uplifting person, if you let yourself be, and that you’re an inspiration to be around once you start talking about stuff you’re passionate about. A presence to light up a room, maybe, or at least one that people notice when it’s missing (because you only notice the absence of light in the darkness).
Again, sorry this came out late, I hope me working on this post for... three hours (yeesh, how the time flies when you double check against confirmation bias that the third heir we meet is, indeed, Mituna Captor, and that he did indeed “become” doom by accidental brain deletion) makes up for the three days where I was looking at this question from my phone and going “I should start writing” and then instead made my trollsona art and also read fics I have memorized because I tend to procrastinate (and also I spent 10 minutes just now trying to remember the word for procrastination and googled it as “word for not doing thing”. It was not there. I'm in agony/j).
Hope (hah) you still enjoy it even if it’s late? ^^”
..... cause I am, maybe, perhaps, a tad self centered.....
Can you tell me more about the page of heart!!! im heart for sure, and lean sylph (as you know) but id love to hear more about pages!
honestly all of the heart classes but thats a tall order lol
Hi hello I would gladly say more about the page of heart! And later about the sylph as well but that’s for a later post :3
Well then. As I mentioned in the post about pages as a whole, the page is a class of self-growth. They need to learn to better themselves in order to become unimaginably powerful, which, unfortunately, isn’t something we see from any canonical pages, but we can definitely tell they’re not even scratching the surface on how much potential a page can have if they let themselves have it.
Also mentioned in that post is that a page’s lesson at self-betterment would be difficult; they might not like what they’re told they need to change in themselves, or it might be ingrained too deep into who they perceive themselves as, which is also part of why a page of heart can be on both sides of the spectrum when it comes to self-love.
The heart aspect is that of emotions, such as love, and is also about the self, or the soul (hence the concept of fragmentation when it comes to heart players). A heart player would probably be invested in the people around them without any want to mingle, though in a different sense to that of the people-watching mind players. A heart player is likely to give emotional advice, and may even be willing to be the shoulder for you to cry on, as long as you haven’t been looking for them specifically. They’re the center of their own world, but would likely despise being thought of as anyone else’s. I don’t mean that in a mean way, either- I almost thought myself to be a heart player for quite a while, so I say that all with love to all the heart players out there <3
A page of heart, in that sense, is even deeper in self-betterment than any other page, since their sense of self is so strong - the question is just what opinion they may have on that “self”. On one hand, they can adore who they are, which can easily become a fault in the way they treat other people as “other”- the entire “you wouldn’t get it” tirade is strong in that case. They see themselves as entirely separate to anyone else in the sense where they’re higher, and their struggles are more unique or even sophisticated for anyone else to understand. In that case, I recommend a good whacking over the head with a rolled up newspaper (quick disclaimer: this is a joke, I usually use that phrase when talking about characters I like who act like idiots) and a call for them to wake up and see they’re being a bit of a diva. Alternatively, and perhaps more commonly attributed to pages, they might be a person of self-loathing. They see flaws in who they are and find compliments ingenuine or just incorrect. No amount of love would wake them up because everyone else has “unrealistic” expectations of them, and they’re sure they’re failing even when with loved ones who reassure them. I see those pages like most artists probably do when looking at their own art three days after they finish it and immediately go “oh no this is terrible”. They lack that ever-important self esteem that makes them any amount of confident in what they love to do. This page may need some time alone or, perhaps, to truly fail something and be told that nobody in their session thinks them to be perfect; they truly are good at stuff, and all those compliments were well-earned.
The point is, a page of heart would need to reflect about how they see themselves in order to better their session. How do they feel about the stuff they like to do? Would it matter that they’re bad at it, if they are, or is the happiness they receive from it more important? They should define their own worth, and study themselves to make it as accurate as they could, without any bias towards whether they think they’re good or bad at anything in particular. That does mean that if, for example, you’re an artist, and a lot of people like your art, it means its good, regardless of if you see it two days later and think it’s actually awful. We all do that, but that opinion is rather biased. Learning to go beyond that bias to see what you love for what it is, which is something you enjoy and can always get better at (because not all of us can be lords of mind, what the heck), is really hard, and also is the lesson for the page of heart to learn.
I was about to say “tl;dr: but then I realized this summarizing paragraph is going to be very long. The page of heart struggles with who they are and what they love, and whether they’re good at it or not. My best advice as some random internet person would be to take a deep breath, and try to look at things objectively. Maybe ask someone you trust for help in reminding you to be objective, too, because your feelings are all intense and you should follow them, but never let them be your downfall, because a page of heart is someone who’s heart leads them and honestly.. that’s quite admirable, if you can sort out whatever your heart is feeling <3
what do you think about the page class? ive seen a lot of people get very upset to get classed as a page
Aw geez, where do I start?
Pages are... well, they usually lack self confidence, at least in the beginning, but that's been mentioned so many times and by so many people, I feel like it's almost redundant to mention.
The specific power of pages is that they can adapt their personalities to fit in their aspect as part of who they are, which makes them very impressionable people. That's not a bad thing at all, for all that the word may have negative connotations. They're eager to learn, and often are very receptive to learning stuff about their aspect, even if it's pretty difficult for them to embrace said knowledge, since usually it should override part of themselves they're already familiar with and may even be used to have as a descriptor of them.
Pages unfortunately don't tend to realize their own power; I think that's part of why people are upset to be classified as pages (well, that and the fact that most quizzes seem to decide that if you aren't a clear copy of any character's personality, you should be a page. I got Page of Light on many, many quizzes, but neither powers nor personality seem to fit me... even if light players do tend to monologue ^^")
Point is, if you think you can be a page, you should probably be less upset - canon says, multiple times, that pages are one of the strongest classes, if only they can find the power that was in them all along. It may sound like a dumb cartoon motivational line, but if you're used to being called weak, you should work towards empowering yourself - stand up for yourself and be prepared to relearn who you are and who you want to be, because your idealized version of yourself may not be entirely possible to achieve (seriously, none of us are perfect, don't worry about that all too much) but you can still turn a look inside yourself and change something you dislike in yourself. Gain some confidence (but like, real confidence, don't just tell yourself that you changed) and see how much better it makes life.
It would take a lot of work, removing bad habits from your life, I'm not saying otherwise, but don't let it deter you because you have the potential for unimaginable strength.
I'd say more if I knew what aspect to focus on, because those do change how you view the world, but since I don't know... idk, feel free to ask for specifics?
... I also feel like I should mention that for a first post this is... wholly unpolished? I wrote it from my phone while watching TV with my family so if there's mistakes or lack of proper syntax (and, gosh, for someone studying linguistics and literature, incorrect language is so terrible...) I sincerely apologize and also might edit... Tomorrow. Shh
