The amount of people reblogging me just saying “DirkJohn works as a relationship and I can use their Classpects to explain why” but not the ensuing analysis itself is mindboggling. I wasn’t shit posting, I really did explain why DirkJohn works as a relationship using their Classpects as evidence.
Anonymous asked:
i hate how dog dick jade they decided is now fully official and kate throws a shitfit if anybody points out how that's not good
I think I’d appreciate it more if it was treated... better than it is.
When I initially read it in the Epilogues, where it was suggested, I was very excited. I saw it as a way to explore gender within Jade, and also as our first canonical technical trans woman (though that’s sort of not true, since she’s gone from dfab cis to suddenly having an additional dog dick, but it’s the closest we’ll seem to get at this point). There was a lot that they could look into with that; a lot of questions that could rise from it, and a lot of self reflection in Jade - a lot of serious conversations - that would’ve been really nice to see.
It could’ve been something they used as more than a joke that amounts to “girls with dicks” and the thing that lets Jade cheat on Rose (because people have pointed out that they could have just as easily used Ectobiology without anything like the emotional and moral hangups that come with actually having sex with your married best friend - so clearly Jade having a penis is what inspired the whole thing to begin with).
I think that’s the most fucking uncomfortable thing about it. It’s like. Okay, Jade has a dog dick. Hee hee haa haa, it’s an animal dong! How crazy is that, a girl with an animal penis! Cus she’s a dog! Get it! We’re not going to go into the mental impact that would have on someone, to one day be dfab cis and the next suddenly have a dick, nor the gender identity journey Jade might go through as a result. In fact, we’re not even going to have it be a thing for Jade at all, even though that’s clearly something a young girl would probably have some confusing thoughts about! And, hey, even if she doesn’t, we won’t have a genuine conversation about how her body parts don’t impact how she sees herself, hence why she’s handling it so well, leading to an actual conversation about dysphoria and how it affects people in different ways - you know, things Roxy went over? In both timelines? So it’s even MORE bullshit, but hey, don’t worry about that! It’s a girl with a dog dick!
It’s not treated the way it should be if they want it to be seen as something even vaguely “good”. It’s a joke, plain and simple. They want it to be a joke. They want Jade to be a joke.
Honestly I’m not focusing on the writers as much, because I know how infuriated I’d get if I read everything they said, but like. If a writer throws a shitfit when someone says “hey, the way you’re treating this character - who is in a very sensitive position in relation to gender and could easily slip into transphobic rhetoric - is pretty bad and here’s why”, then that writer is not only doing a really bad job, but is just being extremely unaware. That just makes my brain hurt.
Seriously. You can’t make a character into a joke and then blame people when they’re upset because of it. You can’t claim that is “good” when you’re clearly not getting whatever point across you’re trying to make.
I’m seriously baffled by these writers. They are so unaware of why people dislike Jade. They’re unaware that they’re the reason for that dislike .
aaah perfect i love it. this actually became one of my favourite ships (weirdly, AFTER the epilogues, like i suddenly was like 'wait, there was potential here that got wasted'), and yeah, the way their personalities lock - john GENUINELY needs guidance, dirk NEEDS to feel like he's helping - is just really complementary (like their theme colours!) and fun to explore. Honestly, I think it hit such a rise in popularity after the Epilogues in part because so many people went “what the fuck” and figured the best way to help both John and Dirk get a better lot in life was to get them together. Another part was because of the heavy focus of Self and Classpect powers, and the deeper dive into how their powers work in much closer context to one another, which definitely helped with this analysis-
John needing guidance and Dirk needing to be helpful, while also being able to call bullshit on each other and being physically capable of dragging the other back down again, is Ideal. Dirk needs to work with someone who ACTUALLY needs his help, and John needs to figure himself out so much more than he currently does. Likewise, John needs to have an actual purpose, and Dirk needs to figure out how to chill the everloving fuck out so he doesn’t go too far.
There is so much about these two that works together (which shows because I completely forgot their colours were complementary, too, which is just a complete loss on Hussie’s part), and frankly, if Homestuck^2 doesn’t in part involve John and Dirk helping each other I’m going to be genuinely disappointed. Even in a non-romantic sense, if they’re cowards.
(Also, JohnDirk is actively one of my favourite ships, too, and a lot of that comes from the fun of exploring their compatability and their conflicts. There’s some good fanfic relating to that, actually - one that I can think of being We Don’t Need An Adventure by Sam_I_Am, and another being A Match Made for Heaven by daedalusdavinci. Very much my faves right now.)
I may have belatedly recognised the irony of me, a Heart Player, Overthinking how two people complement each other in a Relationship based almost entirely on an analysis of something directly correlated to their Sense of Self.
well NOW all i care about in life is reading this analysis. As a Prince of Heart, Dirk is deeply entrenched in the Self. We see this a lot in the main comic; he feels physically haunted by himself, by his Splinters, unable to get away from his own Destruction. He feels Suffocated (in his own words) by his inherent ability to Destroy so perfectly that - quite without realising it - he can Destroy his own progression as a person (such as, perhaps, by convincing himself that he’s some awful villain, and that he was wrong in thinking that he could ever be better when faced by the multitude of Selves that exist across Paradox Space).
What Dirk needs is... to learn to be Free. To let go, to go with the flow. He spends so much time thinking, in his own head, that he very rarely spends time Feeling - and if he does Feel, he then overthinks it to such a degree that he mechanises his own Emotions. It’s well within the role of a Prince of Heart to do this, of course - it’s the natural course of Desruction of the Heart - but it’s more a Prince of Heart that doesn’t know how to stop himself. A Prince who, perhaps, has a tendency to try and Control other people, himself, his Emotions - and who needs to be shown how to relinquish that control.
Naturally, you can see how a Breath Player like John would help here, but a Breath Player who has Inherited Freedom - is quite literally Freedom Incarnate ? This is more likely to help Dirk because of two things:
A) John has always been a narrative anomaly. Yes, Dirk managed to control and kill him in the Meat timeline, but all that did was pave the way for a comeback in the Candy timeline, a more aware Candy John. It is a lot harder to control John as a general rule of thumb, which means, in some ways, he’s a narrative equal to Dirk. He has freed himself from the narrative before. He can do it again, rendering Dirk’s powers fairly useless. (If, of course, the writers had thought about John’s abilities for longer than two seconds, they’d have realised this).
B) John isn’t an active Player. He’s Passive; his use of Breath is relaxed, unassuming; it happens around him. Dirk doesn’t need someone that will try to fix him or force him to face the facts, because Dirk can easily talk about that sort of logic, can fight back against it and ignore it. If he’s exposed to it more naturally, however - put in the presence of someone who can help him Breathe, to relax, to let go - then there’s a higher chance that he’ll accept it. A greater potential that Dirk will allow himself to open up, without even realising he’s doing it, so that he can’t overthink it.
He needs to be Freed from Himself, his thoughts, his ability need to Destroy - but as an Active-Destructive Player, it will always work best for him to be with someone who is Passive-Control (as in, someone who is strong enough to stand up to him, but not going to go out of their way to pressure him or needle him).
On the side of John... John is so unteathered from Reality it’s startling. He has so few connections that he feels as if he has no place in his timelines, and he has a tendency to ignore everything about himself to such a degree that - for instance - he’s not even aware he’s depressed.
John very rarely considers himself. He doesn’t tend to overthink, to analyse, to really look at himself and question who he is.
This is great, in some ways - consider, for instance, that this is exactly the sort of thing Dirk needs to stop doing in such extremes - but also comes with its own drawbacks, since John is inherently very ignorant about sexuality and gender identities, as well as his own mental health. He isn’t aware that, for instance, he feels so Disconnected from his friends because he knows different versions of them that don’t have the same set of memories, because - for some reason - no matter what he does, they are always different .
John needs to be guided. He actually does his best when he has a purpose, has a plan, and knows where to go. Otherwise he just floats along, completely separating himself from everything he loves, without realising that he’s the reason for his isolation. He doesn’t need someone to control his life, of course, but he does need someone that knows how to motivate people and push them back onto course.
Someone like a Prince of Heart who has a history of pushing people in the right direction, perhaps?
Of course, you’d assume immediately that this is a bad idea. A Prince of Heart Destroys the Self and Emotion - why would that help John?
To that, I offer you this: if John lacks a sense of Self... what can Dirk Destroy? John does not understand who he is or what he does, he just exists. There’s nothing really there for Dirk to sink his teeth into, no foothold to step on. Dirk needs a Self to Destroy to do his thing.
Maybe, then, what he’d Destroy is the fake Self surrounding John’s true Self. The Self that exists because John thinks it does, because John’s never really looked into it, but isn’t actually the fully fledged him . In other words, a Dirk that has been influenced positively might be more capable of Destroying the barriers that stop people from being themselves - the temporary Selves we all cling to while we either try to figure out who we are, or try to ignore the Truth of our Selves.
On top of that, one of the best things a Prince of Heart can do, when they have a rein on their powers, is Destroy Negative Emotions, destroy Impulsivity. In other words, Dirk could Destroy all of the things that’re keeping John from interacting with his friends, that are weighing him down yet allowing him to float away at the same time. Dirk can Destroy the desire that John has to flit from thing to thing, and help him settle down a little, to find a form of Stability that helps even him out.
And, to return back to that concept that John perceives himself as different from everyone he loves... Dirk could Destroy that Self. Not the physical Self - the John that we have now - but more the metaphorical Self; the things that makes John feel different, the things that make him struggle to connect. He could quite literally just help John feel like he DOES have a place by Destroying that sense of Displaced Self and making him a part of the group again.
Their Classpects and how they work have a fairly fitting effect. They’re uniquely positioned to be interlocking with the things they struggle with and the things they’re strong at, without having the natural flare-up that tends to happen between Opposing Aspects. Something Dirk’s weak at, John excells in; someone John’s weak at, Dirk excells in.
John helps Dirk be Free while Dirk helps John be Real.
They could actually work as a couple, and work exceedingly well. In fact, I’d argue they’d end up being one of the best couples for how well they could bounce off of each other and mellow each other out.
I’ve seen this as a resurgance in recent JohnDirk fiction, actually, which I love to bits. Even without fully understanding how Classpects work, people can tell that they naturally balance each other’s faults and struggles while improving upon their natural strengths.
Completely off topic but DirkJohn actually does work as a relationship and I can, in fact, prove it through Classpect analysis.
Anonymous asked:
hs^2 writers act like those teachers who take absolute pride in how their students don't learn from them, despite being the actual teacher. like no, you're just shitty at your job, don't take pride in that lmfao, what's wrong with you??
That’s a really apt comparison, honestly. The fact that they’ve looked at fandom criticism and classed us as “clowns” and tried to spout nonsense about how we can “pick and choose” what we read while simulteneously discrediting everything that isn’t exactly what they agree with... Yeah. It’s pretty obvious.
There’s a way to be a good writer, things you need to include, things you need to avoid - ways to present yourself that’s meant to help build up your image and your readers’ desire to follow you and your works. You want to try and engage with your readerbase, to encourage them in to read what you’re doing - not actively work against them, do things you know will make them upset, and then claim that it’s “part of the process”.
To state, as they have, that we are “unjustified” in criticism and that we should be “grateful” for the fact that Homestuck^2 exists completely misses the point, and utterly dismisses why we’re upset. If they, as writers, don’t understand this, then honestly that just shows how amateurish they are. They really shouldn’t be in this sort of professional environment if they react like that, and if their ideology towards criticism is “you don’t get it”.
If your fandom doesn’t get the point you’re trying to make, you’re either no making the point succinctly enough or you’re overwhelming the point with other aspects. You’re disengaging us with the point because there’s just too much going on that we can’t stomach. Again - how are you meant to make your point if a large portion of the fandom has outright stopped reading ?
They shouldn’t take pride in the fact that they’ve chased away so much of the fandom. They really shouldn’t take pride in puffing up their chests on Twitter and crowing that we should bow to them as the overlords of Homestuck, since we clearly don’t know what we want or what good literature is. They shouldn’t hold it over us that they’re the ones writing Homestuck^2, that it’s in their hands, and we should be so thankful to them for writing something we never even asked for.
Once more, I’m going to tout my qualifications on this. I’m a student at Canterbury Christ Church University. I have my Bachelors Degree in English Literature, and I am in the final stretch of my Masters Degree in Creative Writing. I know how you’re meant to pick apart a text and analyse statements being made in them, but I also know how you’re meant to write a text, posit yourself as an author, interact with your readerbase, and make a statement without detracting from your core storyline.
So I can say, very happily, that they’re doing a pretty piss poor job of making it an equal balance between “statement” and “enjoyment” for a fair portion of the fandom.
I’m avidly aware of what’s going on in the fandom because I did one of my assignments on how the fandom felt about the Homestuck Epilogues, a dissertation on how Hussie used experimental narratives to make a point while also making an enjoyable text, and a final assignment how Hussie himself is an author we should look at more closely in academia.
I am not underqualified to make these statements or this analysis. I know explicitly what I’m talking about. And frankly, these writers are some of the worst examples I’ve ever seen. This is a case study for “how not to be a writer” and “how not to interact with your fanbase on Twitter”, right alongside literally everything that’s ever come out of J. K. Rowling’s mouth.
When the fandom is avidly aware of this shit - that’s when you need to worry as a writer. When your fans know you’re bad at your job, when they’re comparing you to bad teachers who laugh when their class fails without recognising that that indicates their own failures - how oblivious could you be to your own faults? How could you still work on something and not think that maybe, just maybe, you’re doing something wrong ?
Anonymous asked:
did the hs writers even read act 6? dirk doesn't seem to care about his entire act 6 arc if being a good person, they seem avid on splitty up rosemary all the time, jane despite her mind control upbringing is an unironic villain, jake is sonehow even worse than canon, and roxcallie was thrown out asap. the only thing that stuck was davepetas 1 single line about ultimate self and that's it
Honestly? Probably not, and if they did, they’re just blatantly ignoring it or using it as a reference for “things to screw up to upset the fans” (since we know that they are pretty into the idea of making us as unhappy as possible). This is like, one of the core reasons that people think Homestuck^2 really sucks. For something that’s meant to be a continuation of the comic, it... really just blatantly ignores some of the key points of the last act.
I get that the Candy timeline is meant to be OOC; they’re slipping further and further away from what is canonical, and that means they’re losing more and more of who they used to be.
But does that really mean Jane, who has been under the mind control of a dictator, would become a dictator herself? Does it really have to mean that she’d be so fucking unaware? Does it really mean that Rose would go behind Kanaya’s back when it would have been just as interesting and shocking to find out that she and Kanaya had talked it over, agreed to it, and that Kanaya had known all along? To be OOC can mean a thousand different things. It can have a thousand different presentations and occurances. Why did it have to be these things, specifically?
Does it really mean that, even in the Meat timeline, roxcallie just sort of disappears? Did it really have to mean that Dirk for god knows why torments Jake over some bullshit heartbreak in the MEAT timeline - the timeline that’s most canonical - and that Jake in the Candy timeline becomes... that ? Some victim of even worse abuse that’s still being dragged along by the people around him (because god knows Jake can’t ever exist without someone making him a puppet) - to the point that there have been jokes about Jake “Incelish” and Jane “Cucker”.
And Dirk. Ironically I did just make a post about this. Dirk - who worked so hard to be good, who went through a whole fucking journey to recognise that he has the potential to be truly evil but that his desire to be good is what makes him different - suddenly becoming the villain again as if literally all of Act 6 didn’t happen just has so many bad connotations.
What makes a good statement does not always make a good text. Especially when Homestuck was so focused on character, on our relationship with these characters and their relationships with each other. And, frankly, it’s just... frustrating to see how these characters are being characterised now, when you could come up with so many different ways to be OOC - and you just know that they’re picking all the ways that will get us most.
You know that I said I’d doubtlessly come up with something else that I dislike about Homestuck^2? I did.
One of the things that frustrates me most about Homestuck^2 is the villainisation of Dirk. Re-villainisation, even.
Dirk’s struggles in Homestuck are reflective of a lot of people in real life, especially of young, mentally ill people or men who struggle with toxic masculinity and overcoming that.
He knows he has the ability to do grevious harm to his friends without even trying. He knows he could easily convince himself that he’s doing it “for their own good”, and that he could easily take it several steps too far. He knows he has this incredible capacity to hurt the people he loves physically, mentally, and emotionally, the same way Bro did to Dave - knows that it would be very easy for him to become that person without even trying.
Dirk is not an inherently good person. That is his struggle.
Dirk’s journey in Homestuck is him actively working to be a better person. It’s him becoming more self-aware of the harm he’s doing and trying to cut it out; it’s him admitting openly how he feels about his friends, and how desperate he is to protect them; it’s him agreeing that, yeah, he can see how he could become Bro - but that Bro isn’t the sort of person he wants to be.
Dirk makes a conscious choice to be better. To do good.
This is something a lot of mentally ill people have to go through. You can so easily hurt people if you’re not aware of what you’re doing, of how your actions affect those around you. It’s so easy to become selfish and wrapped up in yourself, and it’s so easy to use survivor tactics to get what you want or need. It’s so easy to emotionally drain the people you love if you’re not aware of what you’re doing.
You have to make a conscious choice to look at yourself, analyse what you’re doing, and try to get better. It’s always an uphill battle. It’s always going to be hard, especially if it’s something that’s easier to handle when medicated. But it can be done.
At the same time, Dirk is a prime example of young men who could very easily fall into the trappings of toxic masculinity. Men who could become abusive and harmful. Men who are selfish and use their authority to keep others in check. Men who look at what they’re doing and decide they don’t want to be that . Men who try their hardest to stay away from those pitfalls and to become kinder people, more aware.
He is a brilliant example that we are not villains. That we can be the best sort of people we want to be. That it isn’t inevitable for us to fail.
And then the Epilogues happen, and it turns out it is inevitable.
This is what pisses me off most. I get why Dirk could re-convince himself that he’s meant to be the bad guy. I get why in a moment of weakness, all of that progress could break. I get why it had to be him, the Prince of Heart, on a purely Classpect basis.
But what the fuck sort of message is that? “Mentally ill people and especially mentally ill men are always doomed to become the sort of people they try not to be, no matter how much effort they put into it”?
This goes in line with the Gamzee “redemption” arc, too. People wanted Gamzee to be redeemed. They wanted him to get better - another person who is heavily associated with mental illness - and to make up for what he’d done. They wanted him to regret and they wanted him to improve. They wanted him to get that chance to apologise and to show genuine remorse, or to at least end up being somewhat good in the end.
Instead, we get the Candy Epilogue actively making fun out of character redemption arcs. It is quite literally thrown back in our faces that characters aren’t mean to be redeemed. Gamzee? Oh, he’s bad forever. He can’t ever come back from that. He’s just a dirty, perverted, twisted clown, and that sweet medicated kid from the beginning of Act 5, the one who loves his friends and didn’t vibe with the Hemospectrum and was pretty much just trying to live his life? That kid died long ago.
It’s this infuriating ideology that characters can’t be redeemed or improved if they’re signposted as bad. That being a bad person is inevitable, and something you just have to accept. That you can fight against your nature, but your nature will always win through. That you’re not worthy to get better.
It’s this idea that redemption is a joke and something to be laughed at, made fun of. Which is honestly just such a horrible stance to take on the idea of people getting better.
ardenttheoriesThere’s definitely a lot of interest in Homestuck^2, and even I can admit that I’m keeping an eye on it because I’m curious. I’m not full-on reading it (because that just seems like an endeavour I’m really not ready for, and won’t enjoy), but I’ve been keeping an eye on updates, theories, and really sinking my teeth into some of the metanarrative stuff.I said in another post that there is some stuff that’s really cool in Homestuck^2. Stuff like trying to figure out how Alternate Calliope’s control on the Candy narrative works, how the Omega kids are going to get involved in the story, what the overarching goal and theme is going to be. There’s enjoyable moments, like watching John and Vriska hug because it’s been literal years since they’ve seen each other, watching John reconnect with Harry Anderson, and honestly, seeing how each character looks with every new update is always a blast (especially since I really love, for instance, Rose and Kanaya’s new outfits). And if that’s enough to keep you excited and going, then fantastic! I’m really glad you’re enjoying the comic, and that the updates are bringing you the same excitement the old Homestuck upd8s did. I’m glad you’re enjoying where it’s going and how it’s changing, because that is actually a pretty exciting thing at the core of it!I think for a lot of people, though, it’s not enough. Some of that is because of the “this is meant to hurt you” mentality the writers have, and some of that is just a point of enjoyment; the Epilogues were really hard to read for some people, and not for others. So naturally, Homestuck^2 is going to get the same reaction, but this time, I think, on a slightly larger scale.A lot of it comes down to this feeling, I think, that the sanctity of Homestuck is ruined. If you can distance yourself from it, it’s a little easier to stomach - and admittedly I am enjoying theorising when I take a step back from it - but for something to be a good text, you shouldn’t... really have to emotionally disconnect yourself from the text, the characters, and your history with the work. I think summing it up the way you did is pretty succinct. It’s dumb and it’s stupid, and either you love that or you hate it - but it’s so, so much easier to hate it when you know, intimiately, that the writers are out to scorn you, your feelings, and your attachments to something you used to love. When you have to read the words “Yiffany Longstocking” and realise, yes, Rose really did cheat on Kanaya, and Jade really did keep her kid isolated for 15 years, and they really did name a kid after furry sex terms like giggling teenagers naming a pet turtle. #homestuck critical#homestuck^2 critical#homestuck epilogues critical#homestuck#ardenttheories out of theory#homestuck^217 notes
ardenttheoriesI do, in fact, have something more to say:Another set of tags set off another set of thoughts. If Homestuck^2 is the “unofficial” continuation of Homestuck, why does it still appear in thematic and literal relevance to Pesterquest?Lets say that the Marvel theory used by one of the writers was right. I don’t want to read Homestuck^2. However, Pesterquest is a thing - and it seems to be about our feelings on the Epilogues. That they suck, and hurt, and we don’t like them. I play the game, and at first it’s great. I’m befriending characters I love, I’m seeing what they could have been without the game, hell, I’ve actively forgotten that the Epilogues even existed. All I have is my little timeline of paradoxical fuckups and a lot of questions about where it’ll go.Then, I get to Dirk’s route. And suddenly Ultimate Dirk appears again. Did he have to? No. Could Pesterquest have ended quite happily without Ultimate Dirk? Yes. Which means the writers made an active decision to once again thrust in this upsetting feature, this link back to Homestuck^2 and the Epilogues, in something that is meant to be unlinked - in this mythical “other choice” we have if we don’t like those texts.You cannot get away from Homestuck^2, no matter what piece of media you try to go for. It is quite literally tinged in everything they create because it is the biggest project they are working on. We’re made avidly aware that Ultimate Dirk isn’t focusing much on Pesterquest because he’s half-split his attention from Homestuck^2, and we’re essentially told “you have to let Homestuck^2 be a thing by recreating Homestuck’s timeline again”. We are not allowed to escape that unless we get the secret ending. The only way to avoid Homestuck^2? Don’t read anything other than Homestuck. As soon as you get to those end credits, you stop reading. You turn a blind eye. You ignore everything else.But... then what? You drop out of a fandom you’ve been dedicated to for 11 years? You watch other people stay in the loop and realise you’ll never have another upd8 again? You hear some wild shit about what’s going on with Jade and wonder what the fuck is going on? You just ditch the attachments you’ve made to these characters you’ve essentially grown up with?It could be easy for some people, and that’s why a lot of people have outright stopped reading. But it’s going to be harder for others. Because this is the biggest issue. If I told someone “in this fanfic I read, Jade and Rose got together behind Kanaya’s back to have a child”, you could easily ignore it. It’s just fanfiction. Fan interpretation. It’s not “real”. But if I told someone “the actual people writing Homestuck^2, who have been specifically chosen by Hussie to continue writing his comic, had Jade and Rose get together behind Kanaya’s back to have a child”, Candy timeline be damned, that is still an official, canon event. That is something the actual writers of Homestuck approved. That is the final draft.This is not some random person on the internet writing their story for free and for fun. It is actual authors being PAID to write Homestuck, who are making money off of Patreon donations, writing a story that will make them more money. You cannot look at that and tell me it’s the same. That these people have the same intent, integrity, and that their works have the same validity. On top of that, when you ignore criticism, you’re no longer allowing something to be “non-canon”. You are telling the fandom “no, you are wrong, because I control canon now”. You are rejecting the potential for any other interpretations by actively telling us that we are wrong. I think that’s all for tonight, but honestly, there are so many layers of frustration to unpick over the entirety of negative commentary towards Homestuck^2, I could probably go on about this for weeks and still have something new to add in. #homestuck#ardenttheories out of theory#homestuck^2#long post//#homestuck critical#homestuck^2 critical80 notes
ardenttheoriesAnonymous asked:You’ve really hit the ^2 nail on the head. :( Reading your takes is a breath of fresh air because I started to feel like I was the only one! And the main dodge of criticism being “It’s bad on purpose” just... really soured me... like, okay, thanks for verifying it won’t improve. Saved me a lot of time.I’m glad I could give voice to that thought for you! It’s really, really important for people who don’t like Homestuck^2 to recognise they’re not alone in that, especially in the face of some of the writers’ cruder comments. And, tbh, I’m glad about it, too - I thought it’d end up being something that barely took off the ground or received negative attention, so it’s really nice seeing that, like you, I’m not the only one feeling this way. A lot of what I’ve been seeing from people goes along this same theme tbh - that they didn’t feel like their dislike was a unified thing. Which sucks, I think, because that makes it really easy for the writers to deny that the fandom is unhappy. That’s why they can get away with saying “it’s bad on purpose”, on top of everything else. If we’re not a single voice of unhappiness, then they can brush off individual concerns as “the fandom being clowns” or “the loud minority”, when we’re... really not. But, seriously. Who takes pride in telling their fans “it’s bad on purpose”? Who looks at their fans, for something that’s existed as a significant part of some people’s lives for literally 11 whole years, and says, with incredible confidence, “I am writing this to hurt you. You are meant to be hurt, and you will enjoy it. You are meant to find this difficult to read. No, I will not make this better.”Metatextuality is nowhere near as important as fandom enjoyment and writing an actually good story. If you focus so much on making everything “bad” to prove a point - or, frankly, just to be really edgy, which it seems like some of the writers are - then you’re... not going to have any readers left to make the point to. You’re not going to have people who want to read anything else you write. You’re not going to have a dedicated fanbase at all. Like. I’m doing my MA in Creative Writing. We’re quite literally learning about how to be authors, professionally. And I can tell you, without a doubt, that these writers? Are being so incredibly unprofessional. You don’t attack your readers and ignore their concerns, make them feel small and unheard. That’s just. It’s not done. You are a bad author if you do this. You are giving yourself bad publicity. You are reflecting badly on your work. It’s so frustrating to see something we love taken and twisted by people who could not care less about how we feel. Hussie did this sometimes, yes - Homestuck wasn’t perfect - but it wasn’t this heavy-handed or sloggish. It wasn’t intentionally meant to make us hurt.Also, you’re not alone on the “saving time” thing. In my friend server, we have a small section to talk about Homestuck/Homestuck^2 and theories, and the amount of times someone’s said “I’m really glad I didn’t waste my time reading that” is... just saddening. I can remember when updates would happen and the fandom would surge excitedly for the website. When talking about it before someone had read it was forbidden, or explaining it to someone not in the loop garnered a quick “shit, I need to catch up” reaction. Now, a lot of the updates go under my radar unless I’m looking at my emails, because nobody talks about the updates as much as they used to with Homestuck. Like. The tonal shift is just to painfully different, and it’s obvious. And I’m absolutely rambling again, but holy shit, it’s really hard not to because I keep finding more things that just... aren’t right with the comic anymore. But yeah! I’m glad you’re liking the takes I’m making, and I’m glad I could make you feel a little less alone. #ardenttheories out of theory#homestuck^2#homestuck#long post//#Anonymous#homestuck critical#homestuck^2 critical26 notes
ardenttheoriesperisteronicavian replied to your photo “Again, not @-ing the poster of the tags since I’m unsure if they want...”not all the fandom hates it... Of course not. And that’s perfectly okay, too. Homestuck^2 is going to appeal to some people, and there are even aspects of it that people who don’t like it are going to hear and be pleased about. For instance, I haven’t heard one person so far who isn’t happy that Meat DaveKat is a thing, and that Harry and John seem to be fixing their broken relationship - and, personally, I found the John-Vriska hug was extremely sweet. On top of that, I can agree that there’s some fun for theorising - such as whether Rose being confused about why she kept Yiffany’s existence a secret is because Alt!Calliope’s influence is an entirely off-screen thing, and a more Meat-aligned existence occurs as soon as we focus on them. But for a lot of people, these small things aren’t enough, and this metatextual narrative stuff can be extremely heavy to handle. Sometimes it’s not even enjoyable until after the fact, when you’ve been given a chance to distance yourself from it emotionally. This series of posts was made to express a point a large portion of the fandom has either been unable to express or contain in a singular post. Even I had trouble keeping it all neat and tidy. It’s for the people who get that feeling that they don’t like Homestuck^2 but maybe can’t put their finger on way. If you like Homestuck^2, then that’s okay. Different people like different things, and there’s definitely enough there to appeal to people. But there’s a reason why people don’t like it, too - and that’s what I was trying to explain.#peristeronicavian#ardenttheories out of theory#homestuck critical#homestuck^2 critical#homestuck#homestuck^29 notes
ardenttheoriesbecquerel asked:you are just nailing this epilogue/hs2 criticism, dude. i am just loving your posts on the criticism. thank you for wording it so eloquently.Honestly I’m glad people are enjoying it! I read the Patreon email out of interest and ended up pissed at the tone taken towards fandom reaction to Jade, which then spiralled into just about everything I’ve become aware of people disliking in Homestuck^2 as a whole. And, of course, my own dislikes and frustration about it. Which are admittedly a lot. I was worried it’d sound more ranty than anything else, so I’m glad it’s also coming out well-worded!#ardenttheories out of theories#Honestly it's so hard to stay quiet about it#It comes up as a topic a lot in my friend server which leads to a LOT of discussion#And I do like to dip into the tags every now and then#So finding out what the main feeling for each update is isn't hard#And when you know it... fuck you gotta just dissect that#Which. You know. If the writers listened to the fandom they'd know#meenah… See all9 notes
ardenttheoriesAgain, not @-ing the poster of the tags since I’m unsure if they want me to, but this is another reason to add onto my why the fandom hates Homestuck^2 post. You, as writers, literally cannot be so abrasive to your audience and expect optimal results. You cannot go into this with a “fuck you, I’m the writer, you should LIKE what I tell you” mindset and expect the fandom to willingly bow to your presence. You should not actively attack the fandom you’re writing for. If you, as a writer, hate your fandom, your fandom will hate you. It will permeate everything you do. It will be a cloying presence in every ounce of characterisation. On top of that, criticism is such an integral part of writing? You don’t just write a piece and then publish it unpolished. You need it to be edited, you need to go through several drafts, and even published texts go through recalls and revisions if the content they contain is unaccepted by the public. Honestly. Look up the scandalous romantics. Look up “The Monk” by Matthew Lewis, see how many versions of that got published and why. Look at “Perdita” by Mary Woolenstonecraft and note that even that got edited heavily by her daughter before it was published. Criticism changes fiction. This is just how things work.If you deny criticism, tell people that they should be grateful for what you’re giving? You’re just going to piss off your audience even more. Your abject ignorance of what we’re saying will cause your endeavours to fail. Perhaps not monetarily. But in the public eye? In reputation? It will sink fast. Tags like these are exactly why Homestuck^2 is hated by so much of the fandom. We’re not stupid. We are aware that Homestuck isn’t ours anymore. We are aware it’s not being written for us. It’s in the hands of people who should damn well know better - people who were part of the fandom themselves - but are instead using their power to create their own niche interest. This sums it up, I think. In case you can’t see the text, it says this:First and foremost Homestuck is a comedy about growing up and facing the world. Sure yeah things can be interpreted deeply (like how aspects dictate the universe and the whole gnosticism parallels with Dirk) but it being a comedy means its greater audience is probably meant for more casual viewers not people ripping every scene apart looking for greater meaningWhen you try to add so many meta things you detract from the experience and original plot which is- a boy and his friends play a game Homestuck’s love affair with the fandom is gone, and it is in no way a better product for it. #ardenttheories out of theory#homestuck#homestuck^2#homestuck critical#homestuck^2 critical235 notes
ardenttheoriesI think I may have said this before, but if not, let me say it here now:One of the biggest reasons people dislike Homestuck^2, beyond how unsatisfying it is to read unless you’re really into the metanarrative complexities and connecting all the little dots, is that it doesn’t host the feeling of Homestuck anymore.Homestuck was written with the fans in mind. Hussie had us front and centre first and foremost, especially during the first few years of Homestuck’s creation. At no point were we not involved, even when we could no longer include any of our suggestions because the fandom was simply too big for him to pick one. We can all agree that there’s a point where Homestuck stopped being written “for us”. There was just a point at which it didn’t quite hit the same way, but it was still Homestuck, and they were still characters we loved, and to some degree we were still involved. Even at some of the worst times, we were there. We can definitely say there are some parts we disliked, and some things that didn’t quite hit right, but overall we can still look at Homestuck as something worthwhile. Something that we still love even four years after its conclusion. Something we can still reread and produce content for.But when Homestuck was over? When the main story had finished? When the Epilogues were released? That’s when it really stopped being “for us”. That’s when they stopped caring how we felt about the characters, what we wanted, what would hit right for us. The Epilogues were meant to hurt. They were meant to play with our connection to this story, to these characters, and they - for a lot of people - went a step too far. They were heavy. And while the metanarrative stuff was interesting, and there’s so much we can get out of it as theorists and literature students and writers, for the normal fan? The everyday content consumer? There’s nothing enjoyable to get out of reading the Epilogues. Everything is tinged with bitterness. This brings us back to Homestuck^2. Homestuck^2 was touted to have a base storyline that could change - and would change - with fandom involvement. That they’d pay attention to us and would include us in the writing process again. In other words, it was going to be like early Homestuck. We were going to be a fundamental part of something we love. This was the chance for it to feel like Homestuck used to - and, maybe, for us to get something enjoyable out of the Epilogues. But what’s happened instead? More and more of Homestuck^2 is coming out, and every time there is a flurry of posts detailing how much people hate it. How it hurts. How they don’t understand what the fuck is going on with these characters. How it’s just a bit too far. Every time I tell people who don’t read Homestuck^2 what happens, I don’t get a response of “oh shit, I gotta catch up!”. I get “oh thank fuck I decided not to read it”.This is not the response of a fandom that feels they are part of a writing process. This is not the response of a fandom that is enjoying what’s happening as much as they did with the original piece of media. This feels like a fandom watching a train wreck; horrified, uncomfortable, but unable to look away. Does this feel like a story being influenced by fandom voice? When a majority of the fandom is uncomfortable with what they’re reading? When a fair portion of the fandom has outright stopped reading? No. It doesn’t. This is another story being written without thought for the fandom. Arguably, this is being written against the fandom. There’s just so much that is inherently unenjoyable. And when the original text was founded on fandom interaction... this just doesn’t vibe the same. I get that there’s the argument that this is like the Marvel comics multiverse. That there’s different authors, different series, and that at the end of the day, you as the reader hold authority over which you like, which you see as canon. But this isn’t that. This is an actual continuation of Homestuck. This is “what comes after”. You can’t consider this the same as bringing out a new series of Spiderman - because this is the Hussie-approved followup of the original story. This is partly the story he wrote. You know what would have been more like the Marvel comics argument? Paradox Space. Multiple authors writing equally canonical and noncanonical comics that are hosted within the same universe as Homestuck, but aren’t involved in the original, core story. No one PS comic is the true “continuation” of Homestuck. But Homestuck^2 is. You quite literally can’t cut that tie. You can’t state that this isn’t the official continuation of Homestuck when it’s written by Andrew Hussie and the official writing team under him. You can’t disconnect that Hussie Seal of Approval from Homestuck^2. You can’t cut that influence that this is how Homestuck goes on.Trying to tell us that “if you don’t like it, don’t read it” just doesn’t fly. It doesn’t give the writers a right to speak out against an unhappy fandom. It doesn’t give them a right to do worse things and then be angered or upset when we don’t like it. “This isn’t something you have to read” doesn’t work when we’re all avidly aware that this is what Homestuck is now. That it’s completely out of our hands, and there’s nothing we can do about it because the writers aren’t upholding their end of the “we’re listening and co-writing with the fandom” bargain. That it isn’t a Marvel comics situation. Homestuck^2 is Homestuck. There’s no two ways about it. But it fails to hit every note of what made Homestuck the wonderful cult classic it is, because it fails to take into account the fandom in a text that is historically untangleable from the fandom. #homestuck^2#homestuck#long post//#ardenttheories#homestuck critical#homestuck^2 critical630 notes
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ardenttheoriesWhile I rest and recover, I want to let everyone know that the commentary I get from the writers of Homestuck^2 as a Patreon is endlessly frustrating. They joke that Jade pushing a minor character out of the way will go under a long list of reasons why she is evil right under "is a woman" and "who has sex".Which is fucking frustrating because people aren't mad at Jade for being a woman who has sex. They're mad at her for having sex with her MARRIED BEST FRIEND without telling said friend's WIFE for the sole and VERY misguided purpose of having a child to cure her loneliness by then forcing that child to live in secrecy for FIFTEEN YEARS despite knowing how her own isolated upbringing almost drove her mad.People are mad at her because this Jade is so painfully OOC that is just isn't funny - and in a timeline where EVERYONE is OOC and that's kind of the WHOLE FUCKING POINT, that's saying something. People hate this Jade because she is hurting people without thought for anything but herself. Because she is letting her own desperation for SOMETHING to fill that lonely void inside her ruin Dave and Karkat's relationship, her own child's childhood, the sanctity of Rose and Kanaya's idealistic relationship - because she is being selfish, yes, and that is something we need to be sometimes, but she is selfish without consequence and is horrifically playing into the trope of "woman who gets in the way of MLM/WLW relationships". We can see how this Jade would develop from our Jade, sure - how she's an embelishment of all of her flaws, how this is OOC but still connected - but this is. A lot. This isn't "we hate her because she's a woman who has sex". This is "what the fuck have you done to one of the best and nicest characters in Homestuck, even for an OOC character". (Also, like, you're literally forcing Jade to be a catalyst for all things personally bad between various characters. Are you. Are you really surprised that people don't like her. When you're literally making her the reason Dave and Karkat never get together, presenting a toxic version of DaveJade that has Dave regressing from the amazing development he progressed through trauma, and making her the reason Rose cheated on Kanaya? Like. On a fundamental level, are you REALLY surprised that people are looking at this and going "What the fuck". You're making every moment of her on-screen time wildly uncomfortable and upsetting, and you think people... aren't going to start disliking her? For your own shitty writing decisions?)#homestuck^2 spoilers#homestuck^2#ardenttheories out of theory#homestuck#homestuck critical#homestuck^2 critical130 notes
ardenttheoriesI have several regrets. Currently, one of them is “looking in the Homestuck^2 tag and being forced to read the words Yiffany Longstocking Harley Lalonde” and another is “the startling understanding that The Muse is fucking up the Candy timeline so much, characters don’t even know why they acted OOC off-screen, because in absolutely NO timeline would Rose cheat on Kanaya over something like having a child for Jade when Kanaya probably would have been accepting of the idea if she’d just talked it over with her”. #homestuck#homestuck^2#sburbtheory out of theory#I recognise that some of the writers have said that you can treat the Homestuck Extended Universe a bit like Marvel comcis#In that several writers have different interpretations of the characters and their stories so no one comic series is truly the same#And you as the fan and reader don't have to like all of them. It's in your own authority to pick and choose which is your canon#But I also recognise that it's a load of baloney bullshit and this is just#Going to every end possible to upset and piss off a fandom for the sake of making some bullshit metanarrative point#As far as I can tell? A majority of the fandom hates this continuation#If a very big section of your fandom hates what you're doing and what's happening to the characters...#That's probably a sign that you should reconsider the story you're telling and who you're actually telling it for
ardenttheoriesI’m not tagging the person whose tags these belong to unless they specifically ask me to, just in case (since they were put into the tags, after all), but honestly I can’t just... ignore this.This is why I really hate the Hope = Sex theory on a personal level. This is why I wrote the post, and this is fundamentally what was running as an undercurrent through my theory, because I was a little too scared to say it as an obvious statement. I’m ace. When I was trying to figure out what my Aspect was, I Classpected myself as a Page of Hope. If I, as an asexual, was a Page of Hope - someone who has to learn to overcome their flaws, to wholeheartedly lean into their Aspect, to fill that lack they have inside them - and Hope was inherently associated with Sex... then my Classpect would be telling me to fix my asexuality. It’d be telling me I’m broken. That I’m wrong. It hosts some incredibly aphobic and personally triggering topics. If we then put that onto someone who’s gay, who lacks attraction to women, then we’re saying something incredibly homophobic. We’re saying part of their journey would be overcoming that lack. Classpecting if Hope is associated inherently with Sex could become highly triggering. And that’s NOT something we want to involve in something that should be good - something that should help explain how a person should Grow, how they can be the best person they can possibly be.Keep reading#long post//#ardenttheories out of theory
ardenttheoriesallbutterfliesknow asked:if you don't mind, do you maybe have a link to the original post detailing the true/realised/failed classpect theory? your about page says that it has a link, but it's not there. would you also mind explaining the difference b/w a knight & rogue of life? i was convinced i was a knight for a longggg time, but now i'm thinking i might actually be a rogue? i kinda thought i wasn't cool/good enough to be a rogueOf course! Here’s the original True/Realised/Failed post. I might go back over it with a few edits, since it’s a bit clunky and I’ve gone over it a bit more in depth now. Going onto the Knight and Rogue of Life - Knights Protect their Aspect, Protect with their Aspect, Exploit their Aspect, and Weaponise their Aspect.Rogues Steal their Aspect for other people. There’s a fair few differences between the two - some really significant ones being that Knights always have a Facade to cover up things they think they’re Lacking. Rogues don’t. A Knight of Life (which I’ve done recently on the blog, actually - you can probably find the analysis by scrolling back a little!) might have a Facade of composure and strength. They think they’re lacking in everything they do, think they’re not Perfect, hold themselves to such impossible standards they always, always believe that they’re a step behind where they want to be. They hide this by pretending that there’s nothing wrong; that they have everything under control, that they’re the sort of person they want to be. The truth is they’re actually really fucking good at being a Knight of Life, they just... don’t give themselves genuine standards or goals. Rogues of Life, on the other hand, have a tendency to be aware that they Lack their Aspect but don’t know how to overcome it. They don’t hide, don’t pretend - they know they struggle with their Desires, with Motivation and Energy, with directing themselves into the things they want to do and containing themselves when they start to go overboard. Life doesn’t come to them easily, and questionably they don’t have much Life at all. Maybe they don’t know what their Desires are, or how to Motivate themselves. Maybe they splurge on things they don’t even Want, hoping it’ll fill that missing space. Maybe they buy things that aren’t going to improve their current standing because... well, it might help, right? Knights of Life are very driven to be perfect, whereas Rogues of Life are sort of listless and confused. Think of it as a difference between knowing what you want but aiming the bar too high and having no clue what you want to be so never really trying at all. Knights have to learn to chill the fuck out, basically. To recognise that they’re good enough, to lower their standards to something manageable, and to accept how Life works, even if that means accepting eventual Death. They let go of their Facade and let themselves truly exist, being the same Joyful, Exuberant people as before, but with more focus, less pressure, more direction.Rogues, on the other hand, just have to muddle their way through their Aspect. They have to work towards it, to figure it out bit by bit, until eventually they reach a breakthrough - and then, suddenly, it all makes sense! They know their Desires, their Wants, they know the Value of things, they know how to fill that missing space, they know how to Grow, to Improve - like an overwhelming tide, suddenly they just change. There’s also a slight difference in how they use their powers, too. Knights, you see, tend to protect Life. They’re very into protecting the right to Life, to giving someone the chance to Grow, to someone’s right to have the things they Want most in life, even if they don’t need them. They’re likely to step in between a friend and a shitty boss trying to fire them, for instance.On the other hand, Rogues of Life are like Robin Hood; taking from the rich to give to the poor. They distribute Wealth and Life, Luxuries and Wants and Desires, to keep a sort of balance, or to help Improve the people they care about. They’re likely to erase someone’s name from a list to go to a special camp and add in a friend’s, for instance. Really vague, but I think that shows what I’m trying to say. Honestly, being cool has nothing to do with being a Rogue, or even a Knight! It’s more about trying to hide a perceived lack, and recognising an actual lack but not knowing what to do about it. #long post//#ardenttheories#knight of life#rogue of life#Also: sorry for not having this be longer#I'm feeling a little sick right now but I knew how to answer this!!#nearflighted
ardenttheoriesThe fact that I’m still vaguely coherent while off my meds is absolutely incredible, and is also why I’m going to write a quick post to remind people reading this to take their fucking meds, holy shit this is an awful existence in which I currently live. Do not repeat my mistakes. #ardenttheories out of theory
ardenttheoriesRebloggedardenttheoriesFollowI found this post in my drafts, and I decided to finish it up. It’s fairly old, based on some old posts I saw, but I still think it’s important - on the off chance that this is still something that’s going around, and because I’m still a little bitter about it. There is something inherently wrong about the idea that Hope is an Aspect of sexuality (as in “being sexual”, not of figuring out who you’re sexually attracted to) and sensuality. About the concept that all Hope Players are heavily inbued with this concept of sex, sex appeal, and sexual awakening, because some of the interactions we’ve seen with Hope Players were centred around these things. If we were to focus on that as a defining factor of Hope, then we’d have to say Time is heavily influenced by Relationships (Dave is the first character in Homestuck to say he loves anyone; Aradia is the only Beta troll in a redrom relationship prior to the game; Damara has been in several ongoing relationships during her introduction, and is actively persuing someone as her main character motivation).This has no baring on their Classpect. These events, while interesting, are not any part of their abilities as Time players - especially not in the same way that Heart is intrinsically connected with relationships.Читать дальшеmagespuddleThere are some points I can not agree and want to expand on, so let me explain the deal with sexuality, sensuality, sex and Space and Hope aspects. But first of all, I need to highlight: the problem of people putting things into one category solely, because these things share a trait commonly witnessed in that category (but not limited to this one only), is the result of such thinking being easier and not a problem of said trait being common in that category. If someone classpects any romance-focused person as a Heart player, it is because of lack of classpecting skill (which, of course, can be mastered with practice and research), not because there is an issue with Romance being a common motif in the Heart. It’s like we deny that equations are commonly used in Mathematics, just because they are also used in literally every science. I hope, I got the point across, my metaphors are not very good. Onto the sexual stuff…Quite often I see people understanding sex as just some physical act to reproduce (and it is indeed very physical and leads to reproduction) or just a way to get pleasure (and it indeed can be very pleasant). But they totally ignore that this is not only that. And most importantly, there are an emotional and aesthetical parts of it. The ones, that tie it with Hope and Space aspects.As we all remember, Space is often connected with art, aesthetic, creation itself, maternal instincts. But it doesn’t mean, that Space players are machines for producing babies and mothering them. These themes overlap, because for any creator their creation — be it a picture, a sculpture, music, a novel — is indeed, their child. A labor of love of some sorts. Limiting it only to making babies is an example of narrow and simpler outlook, since, really, to create something without much effort is to make a child. And most of the population does just that, while to create an art piece you have to work harder. I am not trying to say, that being a mother is degradable in any way! Just that there are levels of expressing and realizing any intentions. On the basic level creation is getting a child, a more physical and, in spite of this, more easily obtainable result. The intangible stuff is harder to reach.This connection gives Space players, who generally increase the Space aspect in the session, such as Porrim and, actually, Damara as she has a Seer of Space as her inversion, more ways of “naturally creating”. But we haven’t seen their motives as just reproducing? And that is the point, because it is not the reason of such behaviour. Though, it definitely goes deeper, than “I just want it like that”, since wants come from emotions. The secret is actually in the worldview of Space players: they are highly focused on the aesthetics of things, thus they do not really look at the sexuality and sex as a physical act, but something… Beautiful, graceful. Unfortunately, it takes a certain amount of self-development to understand and share this point if view, but the Space players see sex as exactly this: a masterpiece.As you can see, the central motif of the Aspect is affecting the halftones of each of the symbols in it. And it is true to the Hope aspect as well. But beforehand, let’s look, what does art share with sex? Not only in ways it affects someone witnessing it, but the ways someone even has the impulse to indulge in it?It is catharsis and acceptance.Every piece of art is meant to evoke some kind of emotion in the viewer, usually the same, conveyed by the creator. In such way it helps to let these emotions flowing, leading to a catharsis, and them to be accepted by those people, who resonate the same way.The same thing is actually with the sex, too, People get close emotionally, physically, out if the desire to be accepted by the loved one and to accept them. That is what loving means: accepting each other. And this is what sex is actually about on the deeper level, than just getting pleasure or making kids. What is more, this orgasmic pleasure is literally a catharsis. Sex is one of the steps of accepting the person, that is why in media there is alot of depictions of people sleeping around not because they are polygamous or polyamorous, but because they are looking for the way to be accepted. Such characters usually name the reason for this behaviour as “I just wanted to be loved”. If you wonder, what you can learn from exploring your sexuality and sensuality as normal phases of growing up, it is this: accepting yourself.Moreover, though it is a bit on the unusual and weird side, but the religion has lots in common with sexual attraction (don’t hate me for these comparisons, I am merely talking about the connections I’ve discovered while reading R. von Krafft-Ebing’s books, he was a psychiatrist). Both sexual attraction and religious behaviour include love and some way of submission. For the religion submission (as in realizing of something more powerful than us existing) comes first and love comes second, for sex it is the opposite. The catharsis is also shared both in the religion (all those exorcisms and prayers) and in sex (orgasm). And in both the bliss is viewed as something vast and seemingly endless.Wow, look at that, aren’t Religion, Faith, Acceptance and Sex ones of the common Hope aspect’s symbols? Out of all of them, probably, Acceptance is the central. I sincerely hope, this cleared some confusions.ardenttheories(I want to point out, before I begin, that this gives a really good description of how Sapce and Hope can view something as generic as Sex in different ways, and therefore how different Aspects interact with generic concepts differently within the realm of their Keywords - which is deeply intriguing and also incredibly insightful! Thank you for this addition - and I hope people read that, too, for better understanding).This is actually what I was trying to get at, so I’m glad that you went over this, because what you’ve explained above isn’t why Sex should be part of Hope, but how you can use an expression of Sex to add towards the decision to Classpect someone as Hope. In your examples, you show that Sex can be used in both Space (in which it is a representation of the Motherly, Creative points of Space) and Hope (in which it is a combination of Faith, Religion, and Acceptance). You’ve shown that Sex can have a role in Hope, but that it’s also apparent in Space, and that you can’t just say that Sex is part of how we Classpect a Hope Player.In my original post, I wasn’t trying to say that Sex had no place in Hope at all - which is a fault of my own wording if that’s how it came across. Rather, it was that Sex can’t be a singular point of Hope, the way that we use Positivity or Faith or Acceptance. We can’t tack Sex alongside “Positive, Faith, Yes-Orientated” and say “that’s how you know they’re a Hope Player” - which is what I was seeing a lot of, and what sparked the original post. People saying that any inclination towards Sex or Sensuality in a person in evidence that they’re a Hope Player (specifically, I saw this done to suggest how a character is obviously a Hope Player because of their crude sexual innuendos, which - no. That a Hope Player does not make). How people react to Sex, or use Sex, can be used to identify their Aspect, however. Like you said - if they see Sex as a Creative thing, as something that leads to the Ultimate Creation, to the Perfect Masterpiece? Then we can say they’re a Space Player, because their interaction with Sex fits in with how we understand Space. Likewise, if we see that someone views Sex as a monogomous thing - that they have one partner and can’t stray, that Sex is a very special, intimate thing, that it is a way to deepen a Bond with a lover - then we can say they’re likely Blood. And, if someone sees Sex as a way to understand themselves - that they’re constantly experimenting, constantly going out with different people to figure out what they like, or that they’re specifically having Sex to deepen an Emotional bond or as Emotional catharsis - then we can say they’re a Heart Player. But Sex as an actual concept, the way I’ve seen people suggest, isn’t wholly Hope. It can’t be associated with just Hope. It can’t be used to identify someone as a Hope Player because Sex as a whole is a modifier for an Aspect, not part of the Aspect itself. The concept of Sex cannot warrant a full Hope diagnosis in and of itself - but if the Player recognises that they use Sex in line with other parts of Hope? Then it can be used. It’s an example towards those Keywords, not a Keyword itself.Saying that Sex is an entire part of Hope also brings the suggestion that Hope Players inherently understand Sex and Sensuality, which... they really don’t - or that they’re inherently connected to Sex, which they aren’t. Sex is different to Relationships in this sense that we see evidence of Heart Players understanding what makes people tick, and thus who would work best together. They understand Relationships in a way that other Classes don’t, and while they interact with Relationships and obviously can have them - and I’ve made a post about that before, how different Aspects are likely to interact in Relationships - they don’t have that same level of understanding. Karkat knowing everything about the Quadrants isn’t the same as Nepeta being able to take someone’s Love and put it into someone else, or the same as Meulin being able to tell, immediately, who someone’s Soulmate is. So Relationships can be a wholly Heart concept without taking away from other Aspects - but I don’t think the same can be said about Sex. It’s too general of a thing, in my mind, to place it alongside everything else. There’s too little of a defined usage of Sex within Hope to say it’s inherently the Sex Aspect, because Sex is something you put meaning into, not something that has its own meaning. You can put Acceptance into Sex, can put Faith into Sex, but you can also put Desire into Sex (Life), Freedom into Sex (Breath), Creation into Sex (Space) - so what makes Sex specific to Hope? What makes Sex something that is as clear an idicator to Hope as Faith is, rather than an expression of Faith itself? It’s also an expression of Freedom and Desire - so it has too many connections to put it solely into one Aspect. It’s also, I think, too personal and intrinsically connected to sexual identity for us to try and box that into an Aspect. It’s something else entirely to suggest that Sex can only be a Hope subject when Sex and Acceptance are a big aspect of anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community - and that’s just too diverse a spectrum of people to ever suggest that ALL people in the LGBTQIA+ community must be Hope Players because of this overlap. As an aside, it’s also not like any of our Hope Players actually have Sex in Homestuck; only Jake does, during the Epilogues, and that specific instance of Sex is in no way connected to Faith or Hope or Positivity - hell, it’s the complete opposite, considering we get that warning of sexual abuse, and I don’t want real-life Pages of Hope to think that part of the fluctuation of a Page includes being sexually assaulted. (I also personally think what we see there is Jane’s Desire and affinity for Life, rather than Jake’s Hope.) So, I suppose to do a sort of TL;DR:Hope can definitely be influenced by Sex - but so can a lot of other Aspects. We can use how a person views or uses Sex to help Classpect them, but in no way can we attribute Sex to Hope only. And in doing so, we deprive ourselves of the incredibly analysis you’ve given above - how Aspects can be modified by Sex, how they can present through Sex, and the general realisation that Aspects can have a deeper expression in our lives than the obvious. #long post//#ardenttheories
ardenttheoriesHere are the next Classpect posts I intend to work on, with hopefully another one out today, and the rest coming soon:Prince of TimeThief of DoomPage of HeartPrince of BloodSylph of HopeAnd I’ll list the next lot I’ll be working on once these are done!#ardenttheories out of theory
ardenttheoriesAnonymous asked:Could u plz share ur thoughts on Heir of Beeath? Curious how u feel abt the Egg boi’s classpect lolBreath is the Aspect of Freedom, Choice, Apathy, Detachment, Disconnect, Movement, Options, Joy, Flexibility, and the Breeze. Heirs of Breath are those that Inherit Breath - in other words, those that are naturally inclined to Breath, who feel it most strongly as a living force. Heirs of Breath are Joyful people. They can seem Flighty and a bit Airheaded, quite literally with their head in the Clouds. Nothing seems to affect them, and at times you might question whether they really think about the big things in life at all. Philosophy? Physics? Morality? You might as well be talking to a brick wall. It doesn’t indicate stupidity, however. Chances are, they really do grasp what you’re saying, they’re just not that interested in it. Disinterest in the bigger things can be a pretty fundamental trait of the Heir of Breath, since they’re so focused on the little things, the day-to-day - the Joyful things, the Happy things, the things that make them laugh or smile. They don’t want to focus on things that’ll worry them, or things that have a lot of emotional weight; it’s a lot easier to just go with the flow, believe what other people believe, than to make up their own mind. In this sense, Heirs of Breath might just have the same views as the loudest person in their friend group, or of society as a whole. Trying to ask them what they actually think won’t get any good answers; they might never have thought on the topic at all, and being put on the spotlight would make them deeply uncomfortable. Keep reading#Anonymous#heir of breath#classpect analysis#long post//#ardenttheories
ardenttheoriesI found this post in my drafts, and I decided to finish it up. It’s fairly old, based on some old posts I saw, but I still think it’s important - on the off chance that this is still something that’s going around, and because I’m still a little bitter about it. There is something inherently wrong about the idea that Hope is an Aspect of sexuality (as in “being sexual”, not of figuring out who you’re sexually attracted to) and sensuality. About the concept that all Hope Players are heavily inbued with this concept of sex, sex appeal, and sexual awakening, because some of the interactions we’ve seen with Hope Players were centred around these things. If we were to focus on that as a defining factor of Hope, then we'd have to say Time is heavily influenced by Relationships (Dave is the first character in Homestuck to say he loves anyone; Aradia is the only Beta troll in a redrom relationship prior to the game; Damara has been in several ongoing relationships during her introduction, and is actively persuing someone as her main character motivation).This has no baring on their Classpect. These events, while interesting, are not any part of their abilities as Time players - especially not in the same way that Heart is intrinsically connected with relationships.Keep reading#ardenttheories out of theory#long post//
ardenttheoriesAnonymous asked:Hope you get better soon! When you have time, can you get your thoughts on Knight of Life? I’ve been rethinking my classpect recently and I’m vibing with that one most at the moment. Love your analysis work!Of course!Life is the Aspect of Life, Energy, Wealth, Prosperity, Motivation, Desire, Growth, Healing, Power, Luxuries, and Liberation.Knights of Life are those who Protect with/Protect Life. They are also those who Weaponise Life, and those who Exploit Life. Knights of Life are infinitely peppy people. They’re go-getters, always on the go, never stopping for a single second; it must be exhausting watching them, let along trying to keep up with them, because they’re just filled with this boundless Energy. They seem to have a purpetual Motivation to achieve, and always seem to hit their lifetime goals, no matter how large or small; maybe this means achieving a high score in a game, or maybe it means getting that dream job that seemed completely impossible for them to get. However, they’re also perfectionists. Knights of Life have an innate fear of failure. They sincerely can’t handle the idea of being good enough - which, considering this is the general struggle of any Knight, means that they are almost crippled by this fear. They don’t just want to be perfect. They want to be better than perfect; they want to set the highest score, want to create world records that never existed before, they want to be the best of the best. Anything less than this makes them feel as if they’re stagnating. The facade of the Knight of Light would therefore be cool and confident. They have no worries in the world, everything just comes easily! They act as if they don’t struggle because they see this as a form of weakness. As if any sign that they’re finding something hard is proof that they’re not good enough. They might be a bit over-the-top, a big braggy, but it’s not to hurt people; it’s to try and cover up the perceived cracks in their facade. Keep reading#knight of life#classpect analysis#long post//#ardenttheories#Anonymous
ardenttheoriessillysorcerer asked:I am a Sylph of Life and I would like to see this song. What was it?Let Go - Frou FrouSylphs of Life heal broken Life. They heal Growth and encourage Players to keep going even when they find themselves stuck in a rut, predominantly by going out there themselves and leading by example. They can’t create life - that’s wholly in the Maid’s capabilities - but they can fix what’s already there. Wealth, Prosperity, Development, Selfishness, Motivation - these are they things they seek to revitalise in the people around them. Which I think is perfectly described here:It gains the more it giveAnd it rises with the fallSo hand me that remoteCan't you see that all that stuff's a sideshowSuch boundless pleasureWe've no time for later nowYou can't await your own arrivalYou've twenty seconds to complyAnd here:so let goAnd jump inOh well whatcha waiting forIt's all right'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown(So let go) yeah let goAnd just get inOh it's so amazing hereAnd here:Mmm are you in or outLeave your things behind'Cause it's all going off without youExcuse me, too busy oh, writing a tragedyThese mishaps you bubble wrap whenYou've no idea what you're likeThe entire song reads as the singer attempting to get someone to actually Live their Life, to stop holding themself back and to rush in for what they Want - to figure themself out, to keep up with the world and the things happening around them. Even at the risk of things going wrong, there’s something to be found, things to learn from - beauty in the breakdown. And, of course, the general chorus of “let go, jump in, what’re you waiting for?” - that’s a Sylph of Life, hands down. Why are you waiting for your Life to come to you? Go out there, grab it yourself!Also, “such boundless pleasure / We’ve no time for later now”; Life is all about the Luxuries, the Desires, the Pleasures in Life - and a Sylph would be the first to help someone go after these things. That said, the song reads more like a plea than a command or an enforced action. Sylphs are still passive Players, so there isn’t going to be the same sense of abrasivity that tends to come from other Life Players. Still Determined, don’t get me wrong - which still shows through it how persuasive the song is - but not as harsh.I think it scans pretty well as a Sylph of Life song. The melody of it, too, feels sort of Life-y to me; upbeat, go-getting, but also sort of relaxed? It makes more sense to hear it, admittedly- #classpect music#ardenttheories out of theory#sylph of life#dragon1fire
ardenttheoriesI’m so out of it at the moment that in trying to answer an ask about what music would best fit a Sylph of Space, I’ve managed to find the perfect song for a Sylph of Life. And assumed that was, in fact, what I was trying to find in the first place. #ardenttheories out of theory#Yes my name is Dil and I am a complete disaster of a human being#That said I've tucked the song I found away for later to put into the song masterlist#So if anyone asks for Sylph of Life I at least have that as reference!
ardenttheoriesAnonymous asked:Do you classpect people?Yes and no. I can definitely try, and am more than willing to help as I can! But it’s not something I do very often. I’m also taking today as a little break from what I had planned due to my sickness last night. So I might not be able to help specifically today, but by tomorrow I should’ve recovered enough to take a crack at Classpecting proper.If you’re okay with that, and with how awkward I can be with communication, then feel free to send in another message! #ardenttheories of theory#I feel like I could've worded that much better#I'm very tired right now; so I apologise for how daft I'm being#Anonymous
ardenttheoriesAnonymous asked:What determines what moon a character dreams on? I know we have those weird scenarios w Vriska and Nepeta so idk how to pick which one to use for an OCThough I can’t find the post right now (which is incredibly frustrating and I will be trying to find it again later), I did write on this some time ago. From my very vague recollection of how I think it worked best…It’s entirely dependent, I think, on what will benefit the Player most: to be nourished by the welcoming, gentle nature of Prospit, or to be challenged by the harsh, cutthroat nature of Derse. Think, for instance, if Jade would have thrived on Derse. While she probably would have made friends with the Dersites, the Black King and Queen, the Agents, and needless to say the Horrorterrors might have been too much for her. She’s terrified of the Horrorterrors; what if her only source of information had been them from the start? Would she have been able to commune with them in order to learn the truth of their session, to keep paradoxes stable, as she does in Homestuck? Or would she have rejected them entirely, tried to stop herself from sleeping as much as possible, etc, etc. Conversely, what if she tried to start a rebellion on Derse? Jade is incredibly strong-willed, and tends to stick to her guns; if she thought the Dersites were under tyranic rule, would she really just sit there and let it happen, especially if she’s quite literally left in the dark? Would that be beneficial for the session, knowing that if she did this, either the Black Queen would try to take out Jade and John on Derse or the King and Queen would be prematurely defeated? What does that teach her as a Witch of Space?In the same vein, if Rose had been a Prospitian, it… would have been much too easy for her. She’s a Seer of Light. If she was sleeping on the Moon that just threw prophetic clouds at her, what would she learn? She’d never have to seek out Light, never have to Learn from benefactors, because it’d all just be right there. It’d put her at a significant disadvantage, because then she’d never need a reason to - for instance - create the cue ball. Why bother doing that, thereby activating her powers as a Seer of Light, when she can more easily fall asleep?Additionally, would Rose spend more of her time asleep if she were to wake up on Prospit and see the clouds? Would that actually benefit her, or the session, if she ended up spending more time staring at the clouds than putting her plans into motion, actively seeking out her information, when that’s such a significant part of her journey as a Seer?You can see this pattern a lot in all of the characters throughout Homestuck. Why is Vriska a Prospit Dreamer? Because if she’d woken up earlier the kinder nature of Prospit would have encouraged her to be a much softer Player, and being on the same Moon as Terezi and Tavros might have likewise encouraged her to face past mistakes (and thereby go down the same growth path as (Vriska) did as a ghost). Meanwhile, Derse… might have made her worse. Encouraged her bad behaviours and the ideology that she needs to be violent and vicious and abrasive to survive, that it’s her against the world and she can’t reveal weakness. Why is Eridan a Derse Dreamer? Because he needs to see the negative effects of the societal structure that he’s trying to convince himself he holds so dear in a non-Alternian context. He needs to be in a position where he can Destroy Hope and benefit his team - not by Destroying the Hope of the Prospitians, who are so Hopeful and need to stay that way, but by Destroying the Hope of the Dersites to weaken them in the war. He needs to see that this is something he can do, that he’ll be treated positively for it.I think, in some ways, it might also be a subconscious reflection of the Player’s general personality (think John or Jade, both sweet and peppy characters who definitely fit more in with the general vibe of Prospit), or of who they want to be - their Ideal Self (think Jane, who maybe needs to learn some of the positive Prospitial attributes to combat some of the negativities of Life). Sometimes, it’s what they think they deserve, and then becomes something that subverts their expectations (e.g. Dirk, who seems to fit well in Derse’s cutthroat environment, but who instead rises up with the people).So in my mind there’s a lot more to which Moon a Player ends up on than just “Active vs Passive”, and admittedly I think a lot of this is because Hussie never really planned things out in advance. We know, for instance, that the trolls were an on-the-fly addition, as were the Classpects that came with them. It’s not far to assume, therefore, that when Hussie first introduced Prospit and Derse, they were centred more heavily around the HarleyBerts (positive, bright, happy, outgoing, naive) and Strilondes (darker, mysterious, more underhanded, reserved) than anything else - their family traits. Having to then shove 12 more characters into something he hadn’t fully fleshed out at first, and which was focused so exclusively on the four characters he’d actually planned for, can’t have been easy. Trying to then explain what the reasoning for these decisions were a decade later just makes things messy. To bring this back to the actual question about your OC - you essentially have to think about which Moon would most benefit your Player. Which are they going to thrive on, or will most positively affect them? Which will make them grow into a better person? Will the brightness of Prospit encourage or disillusion them? Will the severity of Derse challenge or terrify them? Which motives them more? Which will make them a better Player? You can also think about the other stuff I mentioned - which Moon most vibes with their personality or who they want to be, or what they think they deserve but ultimately subverts those expectations - but I recognise that can be very complicated, too, so you can skip that part. There’s no 100% way to determine if you’re going to end up on Derse or Prospit, unfortunately. It’s just going to take a lot of thinking to come to that decision. It’s predominantly about individual needs.#lunar sway#Anonymous#long post//#ardenttheories#sburb meta#prospit and derse
ardenttheoriesAnonymous asked:What’s your progress on your review of Eridan’s route? No need to rush, but you mentioned a few months back that you were planning an analysis of it and I’m still interested to hear your thoughts!Ah! I haven’t actually looked into that yet. I never got responses as to whether people wanted me to go back over the Pesterquest routes I’d originally missed or not, so I wasn’t sure if I should spend the time posting for them. That said, since you’re interested, I’m more than happy to do it ASAP! I’m hoping to play it tomorrow, though it’s currently almost 2am and I’m being kept awake with sickness, so it may be either late tomorrow or sometime over the weekend. I’m very interested to go over it! I watched my roommate play it and discussed some parts of the route with her - especially the more gender-related aspects - so I’ve already got a few out-of-context thoughts I’m excited to expand upon.#ardenttheories out of theory#Anonymous
ardenttheoriesAnonymous asked:So rage classes based on true or realized, is rage incarnate better than in its focused state and how???As a general rule of thumb any Classpect is inherently better in its Realised form. This is even more true for Rage Players.True Players are the unfettered potential of their Aspects. If you think of Aspects as a primal force, True Players are what that primal force is in its rawest form. There’s no direction, no limitations - and this means, sometimes, that they can cause tremendous harm without having the intention to do so. They live and breathe their Aspect, letting it form through them, to such a degree that it empowers every part of their life. So, if you consider that Rage is Anger, Denial, Doubt, a Steadfast No, Disbelief, Stubbornness to a Fault, then a Player who encompasses everything Rage is in its truest form... wouldn’t be a good Player at all.This is someone who’s permanently Angry with no direction, who Doubts everything without thinking it over twice, who doesn’t Believe in anything but their own truths, who is constantly Fearful of quite literally everything without any foundation - likely someone who has multiple Phobias, suffers from sleep paralysis, or is just deeply Paranoid... They might be incredibly powerful, sure. Might be able to harness that Rage into something Unstoppable, and they’d be truly Terrifying to spend time with; a fuse just waiting to blow. The sort of ace up the sleeve that’ll make your enemies tremble in Fear.But they’re also going to be crippled by their own Aspect. They won’t channel that Fear and that Rage into something that can become beneficial to themselves, and whether they aim that Anger and Disbelief at a friend or a foe is always going to be a crapshoot. They’re not aware of how their Rage holds them back, and they’ll never truly think on the concept of Rage at all. For instance, if we look at something like a Prince of Rage - if you go around just mindlessly destroying all Rage, what’s going to Motivate your team? What’s going to Motivate you? What’s going to stop your teammates from just believing everything everyone says, even if it’s really obviously fake? They wouldn’t even consider these things as an issue, because the general Destruction on Rage is just so imbued with who they are. In some ways, they probably think that things are better that way, even despite the obvious flaws. That, or they know it’s not ideal, but they just don’t care.Conversely, what about a Sylph of Rage? Someone who heals every form of Rage that exists, stokes the fires in people that have no reason to be - maybe through Jealousy, or through Lies, or through making someone who’s finally just calmed down suddenly flare back up again (which, in this case, imagine Gamzee finally becoming a Realised Player only for a Sylph of Rage to heal his Rage and make him go sober again). They’d never question that what they’re doing isn’t actually helpful because they just don’t think that far into it. Essentially, you need to try and keep a balance with any Aspect, but especially with one more volatile like Rage. Being a True Player gets rid of this balance, and while that can mean improved power - which is generally good in certain contexts - it also means an incredible amount of instability in the Player and the session as a whole.So you really want Realised Rage Players. It’s one of those Aspects that you need to be a little more aware about in order for it to not just... completely ruin everything a la sober Gamzee. Especially with how Rage can be, and how easy it is to Deny things and to Reject them. Rage Players who recognise that they can’t take things too far, but that they also need to have a healthy amount of Rage about them, will always grow more and be better for themselves and their friends - and will stimulate the session rather than break it. #ardenttheories#classpect analysis#rage aspect#Anonymous
ardenttheoriesAn update:We did get something nice for 4/13, and it’s a new official album with titles that make my heart wrench. #ardenttheories
ardenttheories@hellspawnsparksI’m hoping that’s the case now, at least. I thought they might still do something to keep people going through 4/13 - even if we’re stuck at home (ironically) and the sale’s pushed back, there’s still a way that a very big company that always does something on the fandom’s biggest holiday could keep up morale. Just some fun event, even if there’s no reward at the end - or an activity pack, maybe the release of something new? I checked an email from FFBF and it seems like they’re shoving their focus right into 6/12, which is understandable, but also... incredibly disappointing. #ardenttheories out of theory
