Author: optimisticduelist

I just remembered to ask you this: Do you think that Roxy/Mom Lalonde’s interest in wizards has anything to do with the Witch/Heir classes? Neither characters have any strong influence from figures with those classes (Except arguably Roxy with HIC). Is it just a coincidence that they are enamored by a class’ archetypal figure, or do you think there might be more going on there?

I honestly don’t know about Mom yet. Excited to learn more about her in Hiveswap. I think Roxy’s most intense roleplay is as a Prophet early on, but she does also roleplay a magician in some ways, yes.

Note the pesterlog where Dirk notes her wizardly indulgences + where she’s passive aggressively trying to pressure him into *changing* to be more like AR. Ie: more willing to romantically/sexually indulge her.

Jake also roleplays a witch, while we’re on the subject. The hope players in general seem to have a fascination with magic and wizardry, though Jake is by far the most effective at it (and still fairly catastrophic, at that)

I remember you said in one post that grimdark Rose (and even Rose just before she turns grimdark) is roleplaying fairly successfully as a witch, but do you have any thoughts on Jade acting like a seer at the very beginning of the story? Like we’re introduced to Jade as someone who has an ability to see into the future, but this is completely dropped as an attribute of her character later on, so I was wondering what you thought of how that coincides with her character development or anything

I don’t really think Jade is acting like a Seer at all. At least, I haven’t seen that referenced in the story so far. Roleplay is a way that players deviate from their native active/passive states, but it doesn’t seem to be the only way. Dreaming moons influence players to be more Active (in Derse’s case) or more Passive (in Prospit’s) on their own.

Jade *is* acting more Passive during that section of the story, but that’s explicitly due to her waking up early on Prospit, and Prospit’s Passive influence. I don’t really know that we need more of an explanation for her behavior there.

Similarly, I don’t really think Jade’s ability to see the future is dropped as an element of her character–it just stops being relevant as the timeline catches up to Jade and other characters start waking up. 

Everything Jade does is, by Kanaya’s own admission, something Kanaya also does. So unless Seer roleplay is a thing all Space players default to early on (which I suppose is fairly possible–Skaia certainly qualifies as a divine influence), I don’t think that’s what’s up.

It’s important to note *why* I think Rose is roleplaying a Witch. It’s a byproduct of her interest in wizardry and an inability to really understand Mom’s true nature as a Rogue. She isn’t assigned the Witch roleplay from abstract, Skaian forces–she’s driven into it by her own confused admiration of her mom and desperate desire for power.

If Jade is roleplaying a Seer, I’d expect some similar impetus or drive or associated imagery from her. Along those lines, I think there’s *sort of* an argument Jade might be roleplaying a Page, though I kind of feel like Grandpa and Nanna’s relative absences mean there’s not a ton of ancestral influence from them. It’s hard to say.

How do you feel about the way Tavros’s and Jake’s relationship in the end of the comic was portrayed, and how they relate to their characters?

I feel like I don’t really want to talk about late-game Jake because so much of how I feel about him is tied up in what the Epilogue seems to be leading towards, so I’ll abstain from the question for now.

That said, hit me up again once the Epilogue happens, and I might have something more thoughtful to say for you. It’s a good question!

Have you ever thought about the trolls’ ectobiology? I mean, it was obvious to know how the humans were made (Jane and Jake with John and Jade; Roxy and Dirk with Rose and Dave) but we’re never shown who went in each ectobiology chamber for the trolls. Do you think that the Derse dreamers were cloned in one and Prospit dreamers in the other, or something else? Also, who’s your favorite troll from the Troll Call so far?

my favorite troll is definitely Tegiri, with Charun and Maxlol sharing the #2 spot.

As for the ectobiology, not really, to be honest! There’s plenty of cool people looking into stuff like that, but the biological/genetic details have never really been my thing. I’m a lot more invested in symbolism and thematic reference at the time being. 

Hey, I found your youtube videos on the classpects a couple of days ago and I just wanted to say that they’re very, very good. I was also wondering if you had any thoughts on Trizza’s class? Her being blood-bound certainly got a chuckle out of me, but that aside I’m having a hard time trying to fit that into my theorizing, even compared to some of the other characters with aspects that were unexpected to me, like Charun or Chahut.

I may as well throw in Dammek and the rest of these new trolls, too, since it’ll set a precedent for how I want to evaluate this class stuff as the games tell us more.
I think Roleplay’s biggest advantage is that it’s pretty falsifiable, though you gotta be careful to get access to all the potential information possible before making a decision–I’m often caught off guard by the way this stuff lines up.

Since I’m not interested in getting the fandom SUPER EXCITED for classpects or lore in general in ways that lead to disappointment with the way the story develops later on, it’s REALLY important to me that A) roleplay as an idea gets held up to scrutiny and B) that I don’t try to overreach what I can derive from the information we’re given.

So talking about my own mental process for evaluating Class, I think, can only be helpful for both. I’m gonna do this in more depth in video form soon (so much to say about Xefros), but since you’re asking here’s a rough roundup. This got long so its under the cut.

I only have guesses as to a few of the trolls’ classes, because we just have too little information on them. I was able to guess Xefros would be linked to the Serve classes, probably Knight, only because he happened to be noted as being interested in Butlers.

Even then, I wasn’t guessing his actual class. It was implied pre-release that Xefros was a butler unwillingly, so I figured he was most likely being forced into Knight roleplay. Knights being the butlers associated with serving to benefit others–in this case, the Empire, though a lot of his service ended up being directed at Dammek as well.

That was all I figured. It didn’t account for his Page nature at all, and since I wasn’t thinking about Aspects as something that could be roleplayed, I took his Time thinking at face value, though there’s plenty of references to his relationship with Rage in Act 1.

Now that said, I don’t have a clue about Trizza’s true class, honestly. There’s so many ways her character could shake out that there’s no way to tell before getting to know her more. I’m going to guess that she might well be “roleplaying” the Life aspect, if there’s any merit to the Caste Influece/Aspect roleplay idea.

If that’s the case, she’s probably being at least strongly encouraged to roleplay either a Destroyer class–if the narrative emphasis is on her adopting Alternia’s hemospectrum superiority to heart  and considering herself biologically superior by dint of aristocracy.

Or an Heiress–if she’s like Jane and has been raised to constantly perceive herself as related to her eventual inheritance of the empire.

I like this idea, because it would relate the two Crocker heiresses who are actually forced to live under the Condesce’s thumb. And because if A. Claire is Jane, then the contrast between Anna as Heiress and Trizza as Heiress would be narratively interesting.

I also think it’s the slightly likelier option, because Xefros is already referring to her as the Heiress, meaning she hasn’t abdicated/abandoned the throne like Meenah and Feferi did.

It seems to me Dammek is likely a Thief. He’s got the outlaw imagery going on, and Xefros mentions Dammek “taking his stuff.” Dammek is also forced into Butlering, just like Xefros, and being a Thief means that being put into a position of Serving for the benefit of Others is essentially counter to his very nature.

Kind of the inverse of Tavros being forced to roleplay a Rogue of Breath, in fact. It’s not a good place to be, if Tavros is any indication, so it’s no wonder Dammek is pretty fucked up.

It’s worth noting that while Dammek is demonstrably a Blood player–he’s able to steal from Xefros because of Xefros’ feelings for him, essentially, making it theft through Blood–the most notable object Dammek steals is the Hoverpad, which is a Breath item. It links to motion, flight and freedom, but also it’s laser is literally Breath blue.

So like Xefros, Dammek seems to be simultaneously manifesting his true Aspect, while also manifesting his Blood Castes’ Aspect, usually while linked with unhealthy or toxic behavior. The microphone can be interpreted as Dammek’s warped attempt to Serve Xefros Breath, for example, and theres grounds to read him as roleplaying a Knight at the time being, much like Xefros.

I treat these new trolls the same way. If there’s a suggestion of one of the archetypes in their design or text bites, I think there’s a chance they’ll be linked to the corresponding classes, either because it’s their true class or, maybe more likely, because they’re roleplaying.

I’m currently thinking there’s a chance almost every blood caste is encouraged to roleplay a particular role, so I’m keeping an eye out for that, but I’m not convinced. The strongest point of evidence would be the Olivebloods so far all qualifying as Outlaws, so I assume they’re all roughly roleplaying Thieves or Rogues.

Maxlol (god I love him) is marked by being an internet crusader (in other words, a kind of Warrior) and by a desire to serve the empire. So I think there’s a solid chance he’s a Knight, and if there’s a cultural force encouraging him to act like a Mage or Prophet, then Knight is probably even his true class?

Amisia references “making” her own Paint, which means she might have some relationship to Sylphs or Maids.

Not a class thing, but it’s worth noting that Tyzias is a Blood player and is associated with lack of sleep and, uh, maybe drinking literal blood? So I do think there’s grounds to be looking at classpect details in these little blurbs, where they appear.

That’s about all I’ve personally got right now. I’m curious about the troll call trolls, but there’s not a ton to say about each of them individually other than some idle speculation. I’ll be interested to see to what extent, if any, I’m right about any of them.

I’m not sure any of these will be the case because I’m still not 100% how much I’m full of shit about the way Roleplay seems to work, but that we’re being presented with so many trolls presents a very interesting case study.

Hello! First off, great Homestuck posts and discussions, furthering my enjoyment of the comic in general. In a post you said that Jake English’s being… Well, English, was a fan misunderstanding? I’ve been looking into canon references and other discussions and I am no clearer, I was wondering your reasons for thinking the fan assumption is wrong? Kind of a silly question. Anyway, keep it up

I remember that post, but I also remember a conversation that followed where I recanted the position because there wasn’t actually much explicitly debunking the position and I don’t see a need to harsh on the headcanon. British Jake is pretty neat, I like imagining it contrasting against Dirk’s affected Texan accent.