Also, a brief aside, but I love how the goals of both Serkets boil down to incredibly similar things despite their very different personalities. That they both happen to be noble goals with troubling undertones is even better.
Funny thing about that. My first reaction was 'Dangit, have you learned nothing from Vriska's non-ghost-killing plans generally going up in flames? The same flames that you're haphazardly throwing irons into?'
One really cool thing I've noticed about Homestuck: It does a really good job establishing how the series's universe works so that when rules get broken, it means something.
Also, this update made me very sad. It's starting to look like Aranea is even worse than Vriska.
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
Eh, I doubt many of his actions could be attributed to her, ultimately. It seems pretty clear he's been helping Caliborn for the most part, albeit in his own weird way.
That being said, though I don't like him, I still found potion selling Gamzee entertaining.
I think I just figured out why I don't like how Hussie defines the aspects.
Usually, if someone's going to use a symbol in a way that defies the usual expectations, there's an in-story reason for why that symbol is symbolizing that thing. I mean, we don't associate light with good or the moon with insanity apropos of nothing. It's because of centuries of cultures associating one with the other.
With Homestuck,as far as I can tell, the symbols mean such and such because SBURB dictates it. Princes destroy things. Bards cause things to be destroyed. Light is Luck. Void and Heart work a bit better, but it still feels a bit arbitrary.
^^^ Light is about making things clear and revealing potential paths. It's not literal, but metaphorically it makes perfect sense, at least to me. Similarly, the Prince and Bard classes appear to represent the dramatic archetypes of the conquering noble and the "black fool" who throws plans into disarray.
^^^ Light is about making things clear and revealing potential paths. It's not literal, but metaphorically it makes perfect sense, at least to me. Similarly, the Prince and Bard classes appear to represent the dramatic archetypes of the conquering noble and the "black fool" who throws plans into disarray.
Honestly, I can't think of any game examples atm, but needlessly complicated game mechanics are sort of Hussie's signature.
Problem Sleuth. All of Problem Sleuth.
Speaking of class/aspect/mythological role stuff, I have this odd theory that the passive/active equivalents to each master class might not necessarily be the other master class. Consider that it has never been established that a complementary class must be as passive/active as its equivalent is. Given that the pairs tend to be gendered, the fact that the second most active class if female and the second and third most passive are male seems to indicate this.
Given the nature of the master classes however, I could be totally wrong quite easily. But given how pairs like Prince and Bard tend to be related, the possibility of, say, Lord and Heir being related strikes me as a distinct possibility.
Also, now we kind of know what Sylphs do now! Huzzah!
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Most of the Titles and Aspects work on the obvious. An "Heir" becomes. A "Knight" protects. A "Seer" forsees. "Breath" is the wind. "Heart" is the self. "Void" is nothingness.
Personally I feel that if we thought about it a little harder, the rest make sense too. A "Prince" destroys because that's the traditional fairytale role; they kill the dragon, slay the giant, ruin kingdoms, and bring death, in the name of noble love or selfish ego.
This said, Doom and Blood are still kind of nebulous, although were we given more hints, I think that it would probably fall into that latter category of "oh... why didn't I catch that?"
The MSPA Wiki points out that Gamzee has one of Aradia's music-box time machines in at least one panel. I had totally forgotten that. So that explains at least part of how he manages to be all over the place.
The MSPA Wiki points out that Gamzee has one of Aradia's music-box time machines in at least one panel. I had totally forgotten that. So that explains at least part of how he manages to be all over the place.
He has them in the flash where he's selling potions for the first time, too.
My issue isn't that the symbolism doesn't make sense. It does. It's just that there's no lore explaining why the symbolism works the way it does, and with only certain aspects.
It's also arbitrary in that the symbolism tends to be really character-specific. As in, it's only done in an atypical way when it's used as supplementary character exposition. The Prince is the way it is in order to connect with Eridan's actions; same with the Bard and Gamzee. Hussie never talks about the symbolism when it doesn't justify or connect with the appropriate character in a relevant way.
^^ The game tailors the role to the player, often posed as a challenge to the individual's character in some way that will ideally lead the player to action, whether heroic or... demanding justice.
As for talking about symbolism in the meta-sense, Hussie doesn't bring it up when he doesn't need to, which makes sense. Sure, it can be frustrating to those of us that like to minutely analyse things, but to be honest, having few answers directly given to us makes the search and the ultimate discovery more interesting.
I actually think that the open-ended, frequently obscure nature of the role system is ultimately more realistic than having everything carefully outlined given the bizarre nature of SBURB itself and how little the players generally know themselves.
Well, to each their own. I'm probably never going to like the comic as much as I did before Act 6, and I shouldn't expect everyone to fall down to my own levels of apathy. You have your reasons for liking it, and I have my reasons for being critical of it.
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
I do think Act 6 on the whole has been weaker than the rest. That being said, it's HAD it's moments, Caliborn: Enter sent shivers down my spine, for one and also...like any of Act 6 with Roxy.
This latest development has given me hope that things will pick up, as well.
^^ But the mythological role thing has been in the comic since very early on, and many aspects of it were planned from the very beginning. If anything, Act 6 has clarified more than it has made obscure.
^^ The flashes, in general, have been top-notch, even the trickster flashes. I won't deny that. Nothing's been quite as exhilarating than the pair of session entry flashes.
^ I guess I'm more bothered by how Act 6 has been clarifying things. But that's enough out of me on that. I don't have concrete reasoning to back up how I feel. When I do, I'll get back to you.
The thing is that Caliborn/Lord English hasn't really had the chance to do anything equally ghastly since that point. Were he given the chance, I think that he could be again. After all, the day-to-day nature of evil is rarely as impressive or shocking as the grand gestures.
I can't believe there was a point where Caliborn was viscerally frightening instead of just 'all-powerful misogynist twerp' frightening.
i think that the way all of "what makes Caliborn scary" was packed into a relatively short timeframe, followed up with him being merely awkward and unpleasant is definitely a problem with the way things have been rolling yeah. It would help some if he did something really shockingly cruel or absurdly violent, or found some sort of direction, y'know? 'cause right now he's just kinda dicking around making comics and that's not scary at all.
The thing is that Caliborn/Lord English hasn't really had the chance to do anything equally ghastly since that point. Were he given the chance, I think that he could be again. After all, the day-to-day nature of evil is rarely as impressive or shocking as the grand gestures.
Don't get me wrong, I still hate Gamzee; but I am more mad at Hussie for using Gamzee as a convenient way to get rid of characters he no longer knew what to do with.
Andrew Hussie has frequentlyjokedthat thesessionthat created the Alternian universe was played by 48 Squiddles and that he shall reveal these characters and/or kill them soon. It should be noted that the Alternian universe has a 48 sign horoscope suggesting that the Sburb session that created it did indeed have 48 players, that The Ultimate Reward of Sburb is to create a new universe and then inhabit it whilst repopulating, and that Squiddles and horrorterrors are often treated synonymously (such as in Jade's dream, or Jane's trickster mode). Coincidentally, horrorterrors (sometimes addressed as gods) are, in fact, currently being killed off (by LordEnglish). However, whether the horrorterrors are the previous players (or the offspring of those players) and creators of the Alternian universe or simply game constructs like denizens and carapaces is yet to be seen.
Depending on how one takes this, I think that this really adds plausibility to the whole "the Horrorterrors are regretful former players" theory...
On the one hand, enthralling someone instead of working with them is the first toll gate on the road to evil (that may or may not be paved with good intentions). Aranea's becoming more and more dangerous looking. And I choose to blame that on Vriska.
On the other hand, I never liked Gamzee's dialogue anyways.
This said, Doom and Blood are still kind of nebulous, although were we given more hints, I think that it would probably fall into that latter category of "oh... why didn't I catch that?"
Blood makes sense to me, actually. It's pretty much the aspect of unity, so, you know, "blood brothers" and things of that nature.
But unlike the others, we have never really seen a Blood or Doom player using their aspect, at least not directly. Nor have we really seen what certain classes can do; Mages are especially obscure in their abilities and purpose.
That's pretty ambiguous, although I do find the proposal an intriguing one.
As an aside, it is interesting to note that while Gamzee does exhibit his Rage and Bard powers from time to time (more offstage than on), it seems like a lot of his most effectively scary or weird behaviours were tied not to his role, but to his caste. Reading Hussie's exegesis on the purple-bloods was particularly enlightening in this respect, although it deviously hints at more than it states directly.
Wait.
Does that mean that Aranea could perform a double psychic reacharound and use Gamzee's chuclevoodoos to do something completely insane? I kind of hope so.
Comments
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
Take that, Gamzee!
Apologies to Kexruct.