Not An Enigma, And Certainly Not A Curse: The "Ultimate Self" In Hussie's Own Words

I just had an epiphany on the Breath aspect, and how intricately it connects to the concept of ghosts/the afterlife

*rubs my greasy little hands together* time to get my ip address banned through sharing possibly my most disturbing headcanon heheheh

For a while, I was thinking about the jades. Specifically how damn weird Hiveswap's lore about them is. From very young, they're condemned to the caverns to help raise grubs... But only certain, arbitrarily selected jades are picked to be cloistered? So that means there are other jades allowed to do whatever. And instead of joining the workforce like literally every other troll, SPECIFICALLY the cloistered jades are sent to be space nuns, hidden from everyone. It... Doesn't really add up if you think about the kind of place the Alternian Empire is. They're all about making as many warriors as possible, why bother with a tradition like that? Doesn't help anyone. Just seems hard to imagine Meenah coddamn Peixes tossing funds to a useless sisterhood, is all I'm saying.

So! Mothergrubs. There's the headcanon that they share an evolutionary root with trolls to explain how they can produce grubs, but what if we go one step further? Let's say the trolls are neotenies (an "adult" species that actually has another stage of life past the one they're in, like axolotls). Perhaps once upon a time, they could turn into mothergrubs naturally, but for whatever reason, they can't now.

Or so it'd seem.

Uhh yeah tired of the suspense: the cloistered jades are "special" because they actually might possess the rare gene that turns trolls into Mothergrubs. So the space sisterhood? It's actually some Bloodborne shit. Horrific cult antics that literally strip away all personhood, in all meanings of the word, turning them into nothing more than slurry-processors to be sent back, furthering the troll race. Possibly a fate worse than death to some.

Idk. Figure it makes sense the Empire would keep that under wraps from the jades, y'dig

Blocked blocked blocked blocked i hate this

but honestly that's a really really interesting perspective because I do agree that the mothergrub is a troll. Just a different type of troll (much like if you were to look at the life cycle of a fern) so I think you hit some interesting points especially with the de-trollization of the mothergrub into something to be revered but never considered a troll, an equal

also here is the lifecycle of a fern for funsies (where the mothergrub is essentially the diploid phase and normal trolls are the haploid

soooo, with the new aspects descriptions and the traits they are focusing on and putting in the spotlight as major defining traits of those aspects, do you think you'll reconsider Joey as Life now instead of Light? (and Jude as Light instead?)

I hadn’t really gotten to Jude yet at all–he still seems like a Doom player, but now I’m more uncertain about all of them.

I have been reconsidering Joey as a Life player pretty heartily, actually, BUT…I think in the end, at least so far, it’s only left me more sure she’s a Light player. 

But the reason why, I think, suggests some new infomation relevant to how the Classpect system works. I’m curious to know what you’ll think about it! And since I’m about to record this in video form and it’s pretty overwhelming and difficult to talk about, I think it’ll help to get my thoughts in order somewhat, so I think I’ll do some prep here. 

My logic goes something like this: 

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The heart aspect is clearly connected with lions (the trolls’ heart player being Leo the lion, and the Prince of the aspect having the lion-headed God Yaldabaoth as a denizen), but I wonder if that means anything for any of the other aspects?

Maybe it’s lions for heart and dragons for mind?

The lion is the symbol of God, and is king of the land animals, while the dragon is the devil and the king of the skies. Nepeta is a lowblood who uses her physical strength instead of psychic powers, and Dirk is Homestuck’s resident manly dudebro machofighter, and Yaldabaoth is the God of the physical realm; meanwhile dragons are capable of a whole bunch of powers associated with psychics (laser eyes, telepathic communion) and Terezi was a master manipulator.

(of course, heart is the aspect of the soul, not the body, so part of a heart hero’s quest must be rejecting some of this focus on the physical aspect and becoming more spiritual; so I wonder what the equivalent of this is for mind heroes?)

This time we dig into Gamzee’s recurring links to the masks of Comedy and Tragedy, historical worship of the Greek god of Theatre, Dionysus, and what all of this tells us about Gamzee’s arc and, potentially, even the Rage aspect.

Today’s question is: Can you think of other trolls with strong ties to figures in Greecoroman/Egyptian/Judeo-Christian mythologies?

You can find links to sources & support the project at: https://www.patreon.com/optimisticDuelist

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Clownhood is masculine -> rage aspect is respresented by clowns -> rage aspect is masculine -> rage aspect is contrasted to hope aspect -> hope is feminine as rage is masculine -> hope is represented by cherub/angel wings -> cherubhood is feminine -> Caliborn overcoming cherub nature and transitioning to clownhood can be taken as a transition from feminine/female to masculine/male

it feels counterproductive to label cherubs as one particular gender, and counterintuitive to say that transitioning is overcoming cherub nature when it is in fact the very core of their nature... I'm also hesitant to say any aspect has a sexual sway outside of the fundamentally feminine space and masculine time, though I can concede that clowns being men in Caliborn's paradigm would lend itself toward Caliborn associating rage with masculinity (the same way Calliope genders certain classes based on her preconceptions?), and therefore making attempts to feminise the hope bloodline?

Breath and Blood: Hands in Spirit and Flesh

(p. 6094)

John’s retcon arm event toward the end of Homestuck is often compared to MS Paint Adventures’ recurring “retrieve arms” gag, but it also forms part of a repeating pattern surrounding John Egbert and the concept of ghostly hands.

Out of sympathy for John’s perceived lack of arms, you pick up the CAKE for him and put it on his BED.

Page 6 is an oft-talked about example of this phenomenon, largely because it doesn’t seem to really have any place in the rest of the story. Despite frequent claims that the fourth wall is being broken, the “YOU as READER” character essentially does not interact with the story ever again after this.

Notice the cyan-and-blue colour scheme the cake takes on while being carried by the “reader’s” hand.

You make a LEFT HANDED REMOTE GHOST GAUNTLET to complete the pair.

An uncannily similar concept crops up over a thousand pages later with the ghost gauntlets, which John alchemises from slime left over by Nannasprite. This explains their colour scheme, but it’s important still to take note of the similarities to John’s iconic god tier colour scheme that appears a whole lot later, as well as to the colour scheme of the cake picked up back on page 6.

Also take note of this line used to describe the ghost gauntlets’ power:

The GHOST GAUNTLET appears to have a considerably higher lift capacity than your own puny arms.

This is because all of these ‘ghostly arms’ around John are actually manifestations of his powers as a Hero of Breath, if not literally - though we know alchemised items often do literally channel a player’s internal powers - then symbolically.

The Breath aspect is one of freedom and separation from that which binds. In the heavily Gnostic context of Homestuck, this especially relates to the soul breaking free from the chains of the flesh. As such, the Breath aspect is one that connects heavily to the spirit. Consider the biblical story in which God breathes live into the clay Adam through his mouth (which also ties into John’s role as the a creator father figure, and the association between ghosts and fatherhood).

When the comic says that the ghostly arms John uses as an extension of his physical form are stronger than his flesh arms, this is a comment on his powers as the Hero of Breath and that his soul will always be stronger than his body.

(p. 2303)

Compare this to the Blood aspect’s association with hands. Jack’s offered “blood pact” with Karkat on page 2303 is often considered a precursor to the Blood symbol, and importantly takes place in the joining of two hands. The Blood aspect is not concerned with separating the spirit hand from the hand of flesh, but rather by making the flesh stronger through bonds.

Take note of another phenomenon that frequently befalls Jack Noir; almost every iteration of him loses one of his physical arms. This is another occurrence often connected to the “retrieve arms” gag, but we can also contrast it with the ghostly “removal” of one of John’s arms.

Vriska’s connection to this phenomenon could be read in two ways. It acts as a symbol of her connection to the Blood aspect when she antagonises Tavros, a Hero of Breath; but it also connects her with a “blood fued” shared with her “blood” ancestor Mindfang as well as Jack Noir himself.

part of the universe's inherent cruelty that all the parts of being a grownup that you idolized as a kid are both the best and worst parts of adulthood

Musing on Rogues and Knights

While the Thief is inspired to take what’s around them for themselves, the rogue is inspired to share themselves with others. This selflessness affords them a veneer of morality and care from others, no doubt. I mean, who doesn’t love Roxy? Or Nepeta?  Of the two “stealer” classes the Rogue appears to be the most well adjusted. Yet, like their counterpart they are infected by a feeling of incompleteness. As though their aspect is an unrequited lover they are constantly pursuing in the form of the people around them. Nepeta desires the pure heart of Karkat, but her feelings are largely ignored. Roxy idealizes the physical reality of Dirk and his “manliness”, but his identity prevents him from being in a relationship with her. it as though the rogue is invisible to their own aspect at times. This is the fatal flaw of the Rogue. Like the thief they have locked their powers outside of themselves. Except, their power is not just outside of themselves but inside the hearts of others in the form of ideals. And so they relentlessly attempt to pick the locks of the hearts of those around them. They are in a constant battle with their greed for love which results in them doing amoral things in the pursuit of it. Whether that be enabling a facist dictator to rise to power, or unwanted romantic advances. However, this is balanced by their innate sense of empathy and responsibility to those they love. Transgressions lead to guilt and their guilt ultimately leads to them growing as a person and doing the right thing. The Knight, like the page, is complete in and of themselves. They perceive a lack in themselves because society tells them that their uniqueness, their eccentricities, their empathy (the part of their aspect which humanizes them) makes them deeply flawed. Seeking comfort in others they remove the parts of their aspect that are ridiculed and criticized at worst and obscure them at best. Of course this is false knowledge acquired by being caught up in the lies (void) of society. Dave’s empathy and giving nature is not any more of a weakness than Karkat’s ability to deeply connect with those around him. But this feels like reality to them. Karkat and Dave both ignore the empathetic components of their own aspects in favor of the “powerful” elements. They see themselves as tools that need to be refined. Beings somehow broken. And so the Knight pursues an ideal just as the Rogue does and live in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction until they learn that they are whole and it is society that is incomplete. Like the thief, they are pushed for more, but rather than acquiring more they seek to become more than what they are. 

Thinking back on the idea that sprites represent the Platonic “geists” of their associated heroes, when we consider that both Roxy and Calliope contain “Nepeta-ness”, it starts to look a lot like the theory put forth in Plato’s Symposium that humans, having been created with two heads and then split into two, search for a romantic partner who literally completes them; Roxy and Calliope both contain different parts of Nepeta, and they attract each other because these different aspects of Nepeta-ness want to join together into a whole Nepeta.

Which makes complete sense in Homestuck, because that’s exactly what the cherubs are: “two-headed” beings who split in two upon reaching maturity, and spend their lives seeking out a mate who matches their missing half!