Homestuck Analysis - Tumblr Posts

Gordon Freeman's classpect: and why you're all wrong about it

well forgive me for the hostile-sounding title there, but as it stands i'm yet to see a single other person with this take.

the unanimous agreement for gordon's title seems to be heir of hope - which i will give credence to as making a lot of sense at face value. the heir is the class of the typical 'hero' and hope is the aspect of belief, faith, deficiation, angelic symbolism. on paper, it works perfectly for a man held in such high regard as a saviour and liberator.

but what of gordon's personality? what little of it we see, of course.

the heir of hope argument applies a classpect to gordon not as a person, but as a concept.

gordon freeman the concept is an heir of hope, for sure.

but gordon freeman, the man?

gordon freeman, the scientist who was late to his first day on the job? whose brief glimpses into his personality include blowing up a man's casserole for no clear reason and solving every problem with a crowbar?

the gordon freeman who has been jumping from trauma to trauma for twenty years under the machinations of a sinister interdimensional bureaucrat?

hear me out here.

gordon freeman is a bard of void.

now, i should probably explain my thoughts on the bard class and the void aspect before going any further, since this entire take hinges on my very specific take on both things.

in my eyes, the bard (the passive destroyer) is somebody who initially ghosts adherence to their opposing aspect, until a traumatic incident or dire crisis suddenly pushes them into an influx of their real aspect. they change their tune from passively destroying their aspect in themselves to passively destroying through their aspect. bards are capricious, unpredictable people who are often cowardly, avoidant or lazy in their ways.

the aspect of void, the antithesis of light, deals with the eldritch and the unknown. void is shadow, void is doubt and obsfucation, it is by its very nature unknowable and exists in the dark corners of one's mind. void is narrative irrelevance given (a lack of) form.

so, how does this fit into gordon freeman's narrative?

let's get into his head.

gordon freeman is a man who, prior to the black mesa incident, has lived his life adhering to knowledge and science. he's studied, got a degree, probably quite passionate about science. the statistics, the thirst for knowledge and understanding, all of this paints a picture of light.

light players are the ultimate students, as the extended zodiac says, they are the knowledge-seekers who wish to understand the world around them and comprehend the most fortuitous path better than any other.

the guy shows up late to his first day on the job. a man with more degrees than should be feasible and he can't even show up to work on time. this is the first hint of gordon being a bard, it's an incredibly lazy and capricious action that also hints at his passive destruction of light through his lack of fortune.

and it's that fateful test that changes everything - you all know the one i mean.

the one that suddenly inundates him with void. suddenly, gordon's world is unknowable, incomprehensible, he is a slave to the plot and forced to keep driving forward a narrative to which he ultimately has no say in. it's another example of the traits of a bard, who generally do seem to be reduced to narrative devices. (we see this a lot with gamzee.)

gordon is consumed among the alien and eldritch, and emerges from black mesa's ruins anew. a man whose existence is defined by contradiction, doubt, obfuscation, and everything that void stands for.

we see it again and again throughout the series. his very existence within the combine's rigidly defined, meticulous and mechanical empire defies principle. he is the anticitizen, his presence within their world is a contradiction just by his very being. he is undocumented, an anomaly that shouldn't be. and that scares the shit out of them.

and it should! because, as a bard of void should, gordon destroys their empire through void. his very existence is enough to spark the revolution (which in itself is tied to the aspects of hope and rage) and the destruction he brings about is through his nature as the anticitizen. the contradiction, the hole in their logic. he casts doubt upon the system that they've forced into place and he does so while continually being surrounded by the eldritch and the unknown.

he does so while in servitude to the eldritch, actually. i think that g-man himself is a player of space (to be more specific, i think he is a lord) but i think that there is also a lot of void symbolism within the g-man's character and his 'employers' more specifically.

and you know what really cinches my argument?

gordon freeman, player of void, embodiment of the unknown and the obsfucation, of the silence and emptiness, of the doubt and darkness?

he never utters a single word.

i will revise this entire thing once i wake up tomorrow because it's currently 10pm for me and this is going to look incredibly lazily worded/formatted when i get up in the morning

but for now i suppose you can all take this rambling mess of uncoordinated madness and tell me how wrong i am

isolated thought that i don't have the energy to turn into a full essay just yet: joseph joestar is 100% a breath player

his powers revolve around breathing

he self-describes himself as incredibly lazy and can't be bothered to work unless he absolutely has to

struggles a lot with commitment, cheated on his wife

his whole fighting style revolves around backing off and running away

he's just such a fundamentally free-spirited, apathetic, irreverent person that i can't think of a better fit for his aspect than breath. (a lot of people are in the 'mind player joseph' camp but i don't think joseph really fits mind at all beyond his mind games and even that could also be explained away with another title)

i would argue that he's maybe a seer of breath, but one who completely and utterly fucks up his whole quest.

either that, or maybe the precise opposite (a mage)

would like to hear other people's thoughts on joseph's classpect

so i finally did it: flowey the flower's classpect & asriel dreemurr

obligatory disclaimer that this post will include massive spoilers for undertale and undertale yellow.

let's get the obvious out of the way first - what is flowey's ASPECT? this is something that i feel is pretty obvious, he's a very clear-cut doom player.

he deals with inevitability and predestination, has a very nihilistic and cynical worldview based on his soulless perception of the world and the repetitions he's gone through, and he's associated a lot with some very morbid and edgy imagery. in particular, i think it's his manipulations with fate and inevitability that solidify him as a player of doom (save states and such). it's for this same reason that i believe sans is a doom player, but that's for another essay.

what's his class? well, let's get into how flowey experiences doom.

flowey's existence, from the very moment of his creation, has been defined by doom. an inability to die or cessate his own existence that leads to a plethora of lives full to the brim with death, experiments with predestination and a general morbid curiosity. flowey does things until he's exhausted every single possible outcome of the situation, and then he moves on to the next until he's sucked all novelty and nuance out of it, effortlessly manipulating doom and making it bend to his whim.

a lot of people would be quick to place him as a witch because of this, but personally i think that flowey's absolute will and dominion places him at an even higher tier.

flowey isn't a witch, he is a lord of doom. he holds absolute control over the aspect of doom, exhibiting full control over inevitability and decay in every facet.

let's just look at some of the things flowey does. he subjects clover to countless resets and deaths at his hand for his own amusement, sets up the denizens of the underground like little dolls for him to play with until they break apart, all the while plotting to grasp more control and seize true dominion. he's a textbook lord, endlessly determined and power-hungry as he lets nothing stand in the way of his goal (acquisition of the SOULs). much in the same way, we see caliborn's quest for power leaving similar destruction in its wake and he holds the same determination, hell, they're even associated with the same laugh soundbyte! the similarities are all there, and the stunted mental development definitely shows for both of them given they're a kid who never properly got the chance to grow up.

in fact, it's the link to caliborn that brings me to my next point. what of asriel?

simple. in the same way the caliborn has his calliope, the muse of space, flowey has his asriel, the muse of life. this may sound contradictory to the asriel we see in the finale of undertale, but i propose that this is an asriel still under the throes of the inversion that brings flowey his classpect.

their true classpect has always been the muse of life, it's merely that flowey's soulless state brings about an inversion that is only 'fixed', if you will, after asriel is brought back to normality.

the real asriel is much like a muse. he is tender, emotional, caring, perhaps a little weak-willed or timid at times. he is the narrative's driving force but in a wholly passive manner. throughout the whole game asriel is the inspiration that hangs over the plot (throughout BOTH games in fact, his role in deltarune very much cements his role as a muse) but we never see him until the final hour. much like a muse, he has become his aspect for the sake of the narrative. life, of course, represents growth, affluence, the natural energy of all things, and uses both baking and plant-life as symbolism. consider what asriel and chara used for their plot, and what flowey is now, and those two symbols make a lot more sense.

so, though asriel and flowey have two separate classpects by technicality, they are still the same person and it's a inversion similar to that people say rose underwent during her descent into 'grimdarkness', going from a seer of light to a witch of void.

now, this is a controversial statement to make because a lot of homestuck fans question the validity of the 'inversion' argument, saying that it's never explicitly stated in canon and to that i say that homestuck is quite possibly the poster child for 'death of the author'. i want you to bear in mind this is my personal view on the subject and homestuck's fanbase has never been one to agree on any concrete interpretations of the classpect system.

that's all from me. until next time, tumblr.

some thoughts on UTY aspects

clover is a mind player (mind's association with justice, right/wrong, logic, the superego, morality, etc. mostly basing this assumption on terezi since we don't have many other mind players to draw from)

dalv is a space player (associated with isolation and creation, the "reclusive artist" archetype is 100% space-coded plus the corn he grows accounts for the association space has with nature and gardening)

martlet is either a breath player (scatter-brained, air-headed bird girl who is a self-admitted freeloader and struggles to hold down anything stable or concrete) or maybe a hope/rage player? (something about her faith being shaken in every route you play, in neutral her belief in clover's goodness being wrecked by flowey, in genocide her belief in humanity as a whole being crushed by clover and in pacifist her faith in the royal guard & judicial system being destroyed after everything she sees on her journey to the point she resigns)

starlo is 100% a heart player (his entire character arc revolves around him being lost in a persona he creates for himself, clear-cut heir of heart tbh)

ceroba is a blood player (does this even need an explanation? the woman whose entire story arc is based around continuing her family's legacy, saving her daughter and depending on route avenging her best friend? yeah okay)

axis is somewhere in the heart-mind dichotomy (he's an "emotionless" robot whose entire characterisation revolves around him being very emotional and aggravated, you literally win his boss fight by turning him on for fuck's sake)

CLASSPECTING YELLOW GUY: DHMIS and the aspect of Light

Well, Yellow won the poll I put out a few days ago, and I have a very clear idea of what I see in him (fitting, given his title) so I'll detail my thoughts down below. This is all my personal analysis, you're free to come to any different conclusion, Classpecting is subjective even if some answers are clearer than others.

Yellow Guy. David, Doi, Manny, whatever debatably official/completely unofficial name you want to refer to him by, he's arguably the most important character to Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Some may argue that Red Guy takes on the role of protagonist in the sense that he moves forward the narrative, but Yellow is the one it centres around. The whole show is, from an in-universe perspective, built around him.

This is going to go over mostly his role in the TV series, but include some aspects from the web series.

I think Yellow is a Page of Light.

He begins as a simpleton, struggling to grasp the most basic knowledge and very much filling the role of the team idiot. Despite this, however, he's always filled with this inherent curiosity and desire to learn things. He's the integral student, seeking to understand Light even though he so fundamentally lacks it.

This is, of course, a dead ringer for a Page of Light. Yellow is incredibly deficient with his Aspect, but nonetheless it's still an integral part of his life and how he leads it - like Tavros with Breath, Jake with Hope and Horuss with Void.

Naturally, the Page holds great potential to understand their Aspect and share it out and lead through it once they fully comprehend how to use it. Yellow's moment of understanding, that 'lightbulb' moment if you will is when his batteries are restored.

Suddenly, he's unlocked that potential with Light. It's... equivalent to God Tiering, let's say. But he's not a master. The Page has a far longer road to walk than that. He's merely beginning to comprehend Light, his relationship with it and his search for it. Not only that, he's willing to share it; he ends up schooling one of the teachers, after all!

Naturally, the world has it out for him. The Page, to put it bluntly, is the narrative joke. Hussie did not like any of the characters he made Pages. Tavros is portrayed as a softie, a crybaby and the punchline of some very ableist jokes by the fandom, Jake is called 'jape' or 'joke' more than his actual name by Vriska, and Horuss is a thinly veiled and very tasteless parody of therians and systems.

Naturally, Yellow follows this pattern of being fucked around by the narrative, just in a way that makes more sense in-universe beyond 'the author's being a dick'. Yellow is the narrative plaything. Knowledge is constantly distorted or withheld from him, he's surrounded by Void given to him by other people (Roy is most definitely a player of Void) and thus those brief sparks of Light, those points of data and precise moments that makes up the aspect, they're very few and far between.

The house's upper floors represent his quest for knowledge and relevance. He steps closer and closer to the truth, every higher floor is another tier of knowledge reached. He's growing to understand that Aspect, confronted with false understandings of Light and pushing them away. Like any Light-bound, he wants the truth, he wants that linear point of data that gives him clarity.

But, as the Page, the narrative plaything, Lesley and Roy's toy to torture and play with as they see fit... he doesn't get it. He has the answers held in front of his face, and then all of that development is reversed. Amusingly, this seems to mirror certain arcs at the end of Homestuck, but I digress.

Yellow fails his quest, but not of his own volition, and we'll see if the TV series drops a new season (9 days away, people!) whether or not we'll see him ever fully realise the truth.

Next up, Red Guy as a Breath-bound and Duck as a Doom-bound.

CLASSPECTING RED GUY: DHMIS and the aspect of Breath

So, Red was technically tied for first with Yellow in the poll I made, but given that I had more clear ideas for Yellow I elected to make this first. Now I've taken some time to think over Red's classpect, I think I'm confident about my answer.

Red's characterisation hinges on two key factors, I think.

Factor one: Red Guy is disaffected, apathetic and bored. He seems to enjoy doing nothing, to the point where he gets frustrated when his plans of doing nothing are scarpered. Red Guy is lazy.

Factor two: Red Guy always seems to want to leave wherever it is he is. He never belongs. Consistently, throughout both series, Red Guy has the urge to depart the most frequently.

With this, it's pretty clear what Aspect he's bound to? Red Guy furthers the narrative, is in constant pursuit of freedom, and remains avoidant and detached throughout it all. He's a very clear Breath-bound, and I'm irritated it took me this long to realise it.

Red Guy's desire for escapism and refusal to fit into boxes comes into play particularly during the Family episode, which serves as a little mini-arc for him, I feel. He seems to like the idea of family, connection and 'belonging' (a very Blood-coded idea), but finds very quickly that he's not cut out for it and is rejected outright by the people he seems to think he belongs with. It happens again in the Dreams episode of the TV show. Red's among those whom by all accounts he should conform with. They're quite literally carbon copies of him... but he doesn't connect.

So, what Class does this place him as? What do you give to a player who has quite literally been rejected by their opposing Aspect? I'm going to pin him as a Seer of Breath. He has the stubbornness, argumentative nature and self-destructive nature that most Seers have, for sure, particularly Rose. Much like Rose, he begins without his Aspect and disregards it (lacking in freedom, adhering to Blood rather than Breath) and his quest begins once he starts searching for it. Once he has his eyes on the Aspect, he is relentless in his thirst for knowledge of it. Red, like Rose, rejects the role given to him by the higher powers (Roy & SBURB) in the name of something greater and desires to destroy what's been laid out in front of him. And, as you can see in Transport, that's what he does.

Ultimately, Red's motivated wholly by desire to understand Breath in the name of others, working tirelessly to free himself and his friends from the chains they're bound by. And, of course, in the web series narrative he grants them that freedom.

There's an alternative reading for sure that Red is a Thief of Blood - not understanding the value of Blood whilst continuing to crave it and obsessively hoard it, but Thieves aren't really known for ghosting their opposite and he doesn't really strike me as being selfish or callous enough to be a Thief. Plus, the Breath in his characterisation outweighs the Blood significantly.

Finally, I'll be going over Duck Guy for June 19th, as a player of Doom. Don't miss it.

CLASSPECTING DUCK GUY: DHMIS and the aspect of Doom

Saving the best 'til last, of course. I'm not at all biased.

I love Duck Guy. I think this crusty old son of a bitch is the best character in the show and I think he's a very interesting one to analyse.

His Aspect is, of course, very simple to pin down. Duck dies all the time. He dies so much they have backups to make sure he can come back. There's an entire episode revolving around him dying. Duck is an obvious Doom player.

His relationship with the Aspect, though, goes far deeper than just 'he dies a lot'. When you expand Doom to cover rules, regulations, acceptance & compliance, you realise just how well he fits into the box. Duck is the only one of the guys never to reach self-awareness. His attempts at rebellion end in his mutilation and destruction. He's the only one with the wool pulled over his eyes, obedient to the system that controls them.

This, of course, makes him sound more like a Hope player, but... Doom has more facets than people give it credit for. Duck is 'fate's chosen sufferer', to use the EZ's description, for sure. Plus, who better to represent the aspect of rules and compliance than the guy very much portrayed as a right-wing bootlicker? ('Memories of him telling me about the military, digital currency, etc'...)

The Class is where things get interesting. Duck is a narrative joke, just in a different way to Yellow. Duck is the chewtoy, the plaything, when somebody needs to get hurt, he's the one there. He's an arrogant jackass to boot, and, here's the kicker - Duck passively influences the other characters to gain awareness. He destroys their suffering and limitations, he's just unaware of it. Episode Five, anyone?

That's why he's the Bard of Doom. Sure, he doesn't exactly fit the pattern of the Bard's journey (ghosting their opposing Aspect 'til a dire crisis pushes them into their own), but he's definitely got the traumatic incident that gives him an influx of his Aspect covered. Episode Five, anybody?

Duck's a tragedy, made to suffer over and over again, existing to demonstrate the limitations of their universe and ultimately showing the dangers of falling into compliance. But in his mere presence, his actions erode the limitations and regulations that bring suffering to those around him, his rebellion and irascibility leading to their liberation.

Plus, a series like DHMIS could sure use somebody to represent the aspect of predestination and acceptance. One could argue Duck destroys that too - his death is the straw that breaks the camel's back and leads the other two on to fight against the cycle.

Tomorrow, I might be giving another little insight into two of the show's most prominent figures...

you know, the funny thing with me & homestuck is i genuinely cannot think of a single character that doesn't interest me in some way

all of them, even the most overlooked, even the most unambiguously evil have enough nuance that there's merit in analysing them

i love this comic

Have you done an analysis for a page of mind?

I haven't.

The Page of Mind

I don't typically get a lot of Mind requests, so this was refreshing.

Page - one who serves their aspect, or serves through aspect for themselves.

Mind - the power over thoughts or control over minds.

The Page of Mind is one who serves Mind, or serves through Mind for themselves.

The opposite of a Page of Mind is a Rogue of Heart.

Page classes tend to put up a facade, very similar to a Knight. But, whereas a Knight would put up a facade so that others see them a certain way, a Page will put theirs up so how THEY want to be percieved. And this facade often both mirrors their aspect and is their aspect.

The Page of Mind puts up a front of someone both in-tune with emotions and feelings, but able to see the logic in their aspect. They put up the facade of being able to logically pick apart the emotions of others, and do it as simply as breathing.

Pages tend to be incredibly smart, they're not stupid, so a Page of Mind would definitely be one of those smart people. Mind as an aspect is all about facts and logic, and while Light is about knowledge, Mind is about balance. The balance of knowing something, and knowing what to do with it.

That's Mind.

The Page of Mind is a very useful friend, because they are good at analysing, yes, but they need to grow out of their 'old front' first. They need to put their facade down and step into their aspect.

A Page's journey is described as long and slow, and while this could be their own willful ignorance, or it could be situational, their journey to coming into themselves entirely is a long, often arduous journey.

And once they reach the top of their scale, you will know exactly why Pages are one of the most powerful classes. Someone (I can't remember who, not for the life of me) once described Pages like a literal 'blank page', throwing in their potential.

The Page of Mind has massive potential. They can become the analytical backup that your session will massively benefit from, and they are fully capable of it. Babying them gets nobody anywhere.

Good luck, Page.