The EZ says that Heart players are adept at putting on masks as the situation calls for them, but doesn’t this trait reflect a manipulation of the outer self (Mind), as opposed to the inner self (Heart)? Furthermore, it says that a Mind player’s identity is fluid, more concerned with objectivity than consistency. Shouldn’t a Mind player be better at donning temporary masks, where a Heart player would have a more sincerely experienced alter ego/hidden self? (Huge fan of your work, by the way.)

You nailed it at the end, I think!:

Shouldn’t a Mind player be better at donning temporary masks, where a
Heart player would have a more sincerely experienced alter ego/hidden
self?

This confused me for a long time, but I’d say that Heart players’ masks are more like legitimately distinct alternate personalities; personas, if you will. They’re able to compartmentalize different parts of themselves very well–as Dirk puts it, Striders only party “when it’s good and time to party”, so his work and fun personas are very distinct.

Mind players think a lot less about Who They’re Being and a lot more about what they’re thinking. They’re deducers and analysts. If we look to the Persona series for Heart, we might want to look at games like Phoenix Wright or 999 for Mind; affairs where a lot of the drama and tension comes from scrutinizing the logic of a sequence of events, or logic and reasons behind the stated motivations of characters.

Hopefully that makes any sense?

(Thanks a ton, by the way.)

How would a god tiered blood player be useful in combat or just what are the powers of blood?

the Red Miles are a really good example of a more physically manifest Blood power. winning someone over through the power of relationships/bondage is a good idea, too, like with Clover in [S] Collide. theres lots of other ways i can imagine it manifesting but those are some neat canon ones!

Hello I’m not sure if this is okay to ask of you but umm, im a witch of Time (or at least I think I am) but I can’t seem to find out what my familiar is described in your video, could you possibly give me some examples of what a familiar for me would be or if not just completely disregard this

i got u

seriously tho it can be any Time related powerful entity. Just make stuff up or find whatever feels right, not sure what I could say that would be helpful! unless you actually like yugioh enough to prototype this thing and have the sprite sent back to the past which would be suitably asinine for a time player 😛

So i know you have a aspect video, but i was wondering if ut was possible to make a aspect with the amount of description from the joey and jude episode, because i like how they were done in those episodes, but its okay if you dont, its up to you

I’m probably going to eventually, but writing and producing scripts that detailed is actually a pretty serious and time-consuming challenge, and I have a lot of other projects I’m working on right now that I consider just as if not more interesting right now.

Besides, it’s so much work that I’d have to feel like producing it presents a substantial leap in how much better said concepts are presented, both from a production standpoint AND a content standpoint.

I’ve been getting frustrated because in many ways I find the way we currently discuss both Aspects and Classes kind of overly cumbersome and technical–I struggle using it as the characterization TOOL I actually think of it as because I tie myself in knots just figuring out how to put it to words.

Figuring out how to discuss it more efficiently and evocatively is part of the work I’m doing, and it’s real work that takes me time and effort to consider even if that work isn’t immediately apparent to you guys–it’s not something I want to rush.

Luckily, I am considering some avenues that I actually do think have the potential to provide such a seismic shift, and it’s something I’m experimenting with as I explore these Classpect videos I’m already doing.

A lot of my patrons and people who hang in my circles on Discord are already somewhat aware of this stuff, but it’s really difficult to constantly try to package it all into posts when

A) A lot of the polish and depth you’re picking up comes about as a result of my willingness to talk about and explore this stuff in pretty experimental ways that don’t lend themselves easily to concise, clear text posts and

B) the conversation around them is constantly evolving and hypothetical in and of itself.

So the tl;dr is: Working on it. We’ll get to it eventually, maybe even sooner than I think, but there’s other stuff to work on right now. Stay tuned, and keep rising 😉

https://www.patreon.com/optimisticDue…

Jude Harley is both Hiveswap’s unsung hero, and perhaps its most tragic victim. Which in a game with Xefros in it, is saying something! Let’s explore how much this kid does for those around him, and how hurt and sad the world so far has left him in his tender 11~12 years of life, in this video.

But remember, Homestuck works on the tradition of the Earthbound/MOTHER games: No crying until the end. Jude’s done pretty good so far–I believe he’ll learn how to make it better soon enough.

Today’s question of the day is: How much more pissed are you at Pa than you were already? I really want to know. I am like, SO pissed you guys.

Special thanks to Miranda for submitting her rendition of “Hey Jude” for the end credits! Find her at:

@celestialvocalist
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCamg…

Find the Music on Bandcamp!:
https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/…
https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/…
https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/…
https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/…

I noticed something. Going by your understanding of classes, the betas had three passive classes and one active while the alphas had the opposite (three actives and one passive). Do you think that influenced their sessions in some way?

Sure. For starters, it would mean both groups are made up of 4 kids with 1 alignment, and three of the other. 413. It also means both sessions were out of balance, only balancing out when brought together.

And each session was subtly designed against the party’s strengths. As Dirk said, he might’ve thrived in a hectic session that required a man of action, like the one the Betas got.

I see this as partly indicative of the fact that Active classes are more inclined to be forceful agents on the world around them, more innately self-assured and directive, and so more likely to take agency directly as a result.

John and Dave spend pretty much their whole games taking direction from either trolls, Rose, or Jade–and Rose spends HER entire game being manipulated by Scratch and the Horrorterrors. None of them are innately attuned to acting as lone agents.

On the flipside, Passive classes are more attentive and reactive to the world around them–including the people in it. Jane, Jake and Dirk all struggle to get out of the loops in their own heads and communicate with each other, and this is a huge part of why the Alpha’s dead session is such a nightmare for them.

That might also be why the dark horse leader of the session turned out to be the kid who broke the mold:

Jade is the only Beta kid who comes up with her own plan as opposed to taking direction from other sources for most of her adventure, and Roxy is singled out for her selflessness and ability to help her friends and prioritize the team over her own personal feelings.

Note that both girls grow into that role once they enter the session, though–early on, Jade is pretty passive as a result of her Prospit dreaming and Vriska-induced narcolepsy. Roxy starts off INCREDIBLY passive aggressive and manipulates the Jakestakes quite a bit for her personal benefit, even as she pretends not to.

Find me at my own Patrons-only Discord, or the r/Hiveswap reddit and Discord:

https://www.patreon.com/optimisticDuelist
https://www.reddit.com/r/Hiveswap/
https://discord.me/hiveswap

Joey Claire is SO good, you guys. Joey’s a stellar depiction of growing up in the 90’s, and she’s taken a very special and personal place in my heart. I really hope this video helps draw people in to her story.

This is a look at Joey’s arc in Act 1, using only one guess at her potential Hero Title: Maid of Light. Our lack of canon confirmation of Joey’s actual Aspect or Class combined with my personal thoughts on Roleplay mean that this is really just a guess at her title, even moreso than the Xefros or Dammek videos.

I can think of one other potential Classpect for Joey based on the evidence we’ve seen, but this one contextualizes her struggles in Act 1 best in my opinion, so I wanted to share it here. Whenever new information comes out, I’ll probably release a follow-up video, especially if it turns out this interpretation doesn’t tell the full story.

Todays’ question is: Did Joey’s story make you feel like you understand what it might’ve been like to grow up as a nerdy girl in the 90’s a little better? Did it mean something to you?

If you’d like the full-length article this video is based on, nab the link here:

https://medium.com/@RoseOfNobility/born-to-be-a-star-joey-claire-maid-of-light-61cad5f8869f

Find the music on Bandcamp!:

https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/joey-claire-extraordinaire

https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/pilot-light

https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/we-shall-go-together

https://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/voidlight

Homestuck Examination – Classpect Analysis Masterpost

homestuckexamination:

Hello! I’m Homestuck Examination, and for a while now I have been doing Class and Aspect analysis stuff. With the advent of the Canon Aspect Quiz and some pretty interesting explanations of each Aspect, I decided to make a Class Quiz, which you can take following this link:

HSE Class Quiz

Ever since I made this Quiz, people have been asking me to go more in-depth about some of the Classpect Combinations, and until now I’ve been answering them separately- But then, given they just kept coming and repeated ones kept popping up in my Inbox I thought, what the hell? I may as well do every single one of them broadly and get it over with!

Below I’ll post links to analysis for each Class individually on its own, and a broad view over how each Class Pair would interact with each Aspect.

Creator Classes – Sylph / Maid – Aspect Analysis

Giver Classes – Knight / Page – Aspect Analysis

Visionary Classes – Seer / Mage – Aspect Analysis

Innovator Classes – Heir / Witch – Aspect Analysis

Taker Classes – Rogue / Thief – Aspect Analysis

Destroyer Classes – Bard / Prince – Aspect Analysis

Master Classes – Muse / Lord – Aspect Analysis

A foreword about this analysis, the pairings may not exactly match up your personal Headcanons, specially talking about the Knight/Page alignment and the Sylph/Maid and Heir/Witch pairings, but I do explain my reasoning in the analysis, and you should check this if you want a more in-depth analysis about the reasoning between these pairings and power ideas.

Furthermore, Classes sharing the same Verb are similar enough with their powers that they may be interchangeable- So what a Bard of Time can do, a Prince of Time likely can, and so on, so if you don’t exactly agree with my analysis, make sure to check the Passive/Active counterpart!

Hope my analysis helps you come to terms with your own Classpect, or think of fun interactions and things Players could do within a Session!

Kudos to @revolutionaryduelist for his amazing analysis of Homestuck as well as the little Class Cards, and to homestucking-girl for the base sprite I used for the Mage Class!

And if you want to see my original Post about the Class Quiz, you can find it over here!

same hiveswap anon ive been going through your hiveswap tag and reading your theories and I absolutely LOVE your A. Clair = Anna = Jane clone theory (there’s even a pony pals poster in Joey’s room!!!) but I wondered why you see her as a life player and not as a light one? Is it only because she is (probably (hopefully)) Jane’s clone? Or are there other textual reasons I’m missing?

I think it could go either way, which is partly why I can’t tell what JOEY’s true classpect is, and thus why I haven’t felt confident making a Joey video yet. I am going to have to say fuck it and bite the bullet soon because Joey deserves better from me, honestly.

If A. Claire is a Jane well into her prime and roleplaying a Light player rather than Life, that could maybe explain her early death from a classpect perspective, and it would suggest Joey might be roleplaying LIGHT as a result of A. Claire’s influence, when she’s actually naturally a Life player like her mom.

This would be delightfully ironic, and if true I’d wager Joey is actually an Heir of Life by nature, since it would account for how she feels she can’t be assertive all the time.

It would also make sense if her rise to stardom along with Xefros is orchestrated by Doc Scratch, who’s always been fond of manipulating Light players, and her arc eventually involves moving a bit further away from her desire for stardom/the spotlight and towards simply enjoying spending time with her friends and pets.

This makes a degree of sense, especially since her Life imagery is displayed pretty much entirely through the variety of pets she’s accruing–Byers, Slothdad, Deercat–and pets are so far a more consistent source of joy to her than her dreams of stardom. But then, part of Joey’s light imagery also has to do with imagination and stuff like video games, so its not all bad or anything!

Still, if she were an Heir of Life, she’d be a mix of John and Jane’s title, which would be quite fitting, I think. Hence why I just don’t know right now! I think it may be a mystery we’re meant to riddle out as the Acts continue, but maybe Act 2 will contrive to give her a True Sign and thus give us the answer.

I watched your recent video, love it by the way, and I have a question (which might be easy to explain) what if one of the troll calls (namely the oliveblood detective) has the same aspect as their cast aspect but a different moon, how would the aspect be represented then cause from what said aspects go from their original life being the blood aspect and then rising Into their real aspect but what if they are one in the same

Dunno! Presumably, like the true sign trolls themselves, those players would have a leg up since society itself isn’t pulling them away from their true Aspects. But maybe the difference in dreaming moon counts for more than I think, and they’ll have stress on them that way?

Impossible for me to say right now, but the question sure is interesting. Hope we get such a troll in Hiveswap eventually!