— Carapace Titles (as of 2013.05.19) —

This is NOT a definitive list, and will be updated and replaced as we find in-comic hints and get better information. You can keep track of my blog and theorylist in the future if you wish to see if anything else shows up.

I mentioned some (not all, of course) of this in the Breath and Blood post. You can find more elaboration on WV, PM, and Jack Noir there.

Let’s see… oh, and to reiterate, I’d like to make it clear again that we have little idea if Andrew ever had specific titles in mind to serve as patterns for these characters. When I say they “have” a title, I’m not saying that I’m entirely convinced that they canonically have some sort of game title beneath the surface, or even that Andrew ever thought of the characters this way. (Though in certain cases, especially with the major players like Jack Noir, he indeed might have.)

These titles are just very good ways of thinking of their impacts to the story and situations where they show up:  a general, shorthand representation of their “impact on reality”. In shorthand:

• Jack - Prince of Blood
• WV - Heir of Blood
• PM - Knight of Breath
• AR - ???? of Doom
• WQ - ???? of Light
• (BQ - ???? of Void?)
• CD - Rogue of Doom
• DD - Mage of Mind
• HB - Nobody cares.

Descriptions under the cut.

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EDIT: Updated/rebloggable version made, read this link instead.

I mentioned some - but not all - of this in the Breath and Blood post.

Let’s see… oh, and to reiterate, I’d like to make it clear again that we have little idea if Andrew ever had specific titles in mind to serve as patterns for these characters. When I say they “have” a title, I’m not saying that I’m entirely convinced that they canonically have some sort of game title beneath the surface, or even that Andrew ever thought of the characters this way. (Though in certain cases, especially with the major players like Jack Noir, he indeed might have.)

These titles are just very good ways of thinking of their impacts to the story and situations where they show up:  a general, shorthand representation of their “impact on reality”.

• Jack Noir is a very good example of a Prince of Blood: one who detests the very concept of Blood and often results in its destruction, but at the same time honors it repeatedly, and forms it into an effective weapon in the form of his crew.
• The Wayward Vagabond fits best as an Heir of Blood, one who acts as a nexus around which Blood coalesces and changes. Soldiers from opposing factions ally instantly under his flag, and sword-to-the-throat arguments find themselves resolved diplomatically around his influence. He’s a universal heir of friendship and unity, Democracy personified.
• The Peregrine Mendicant is a clear Knight of Breath. Delivery is her element, and her quests and paths her weapon; she even has the sword to show for it.
• I don’t know the Aimless Renegade’s title, but his patron aspect is clearly Doom. His element is both that of inflexible laws and rules, and that of explosive destruction. (Oh, and Sacrifice!) I don’t have a clue which class fits at all… exploits/flow, gives, changes/manipulates? I just figure he probably isn’t an Understanding class, Destruction class (Doom accounts for all the destruction he’s done on its own), or Stealing class.
• I don’t know the White Queen’s title, but her closest association seems to be with Light. All her onscreen actions have been demonstrations of key knowledge of important things, even to the point that she knew Rose played the game in the first place to resurrect and speak with her dead cat. She also chose to accept an advisory role to PM, with a Sun-adorned sticker attached to her robes as a royal insignia. So… an Understanding class or one which Gives/Creates/Repairs would seem appropriate, but I can’t rule out many of the others except the Destroying and Stealing classes. (The destructive, vanishing, submission-compulsing, barely-visible-texted Black Queen might be linked with Void by association. As the monarchs of the Kingdoms of Light and Darkness, this would be appropriate.)
• Clubs Deuce seems to fit the archetype of a Rogue of Doom. Unassuming, frightened, obedient, and frequently (almost innocently!) redistributing both disastrous items and Doom-bringing explosives.
• Diamonds Droog seems to fit the archetype of a Mage of Mind, but I’m not a hundred percent sure about the class. One of his primary concerns is his appearance (façade), and he’ll impose such class on others if necessary. More to the point, however, he negotiates around others’ logic and decisions skillfully, intentionally getting what he wants without seeming to others like he’s imposing his own will on the situation. His plans often involve anticipating the moves and decisions others will make, and then arranging the situation so that they walk straight to their destruction of their own accord.
• Hearts Boxcars is unimportant.

That’s all I have right now, and it’s up for negotiation.

Anonymous asked:

If “True Will”, or “Following one’s Calling” is the entire Message of Homestuck… And the Point of the Ultimate Riddle… To the point that these wills effect ALL of reality… Wouldn’t this all just come down to “Be yourself”?! I mean, “Follow Your True Will/Calling” and “Be Yourself” mean the exact same thing! (More or less anyways!

Sort of.

“Being yourself” alone can be immature and dangerous. Say, Vriska Serket. What the game attempts to teach you is not only what your true calling is and how to pursue it, but how to *mature as a person* (which is HARD!) to realize what you really want to accomplish with your role… and most importantly of all, not just how excessive hesitation/inaction will lead to stagnating failure, but how *reckless exercise* of your role leads to disaster.

This was the flaw in Vriska’s mindset emphasized by her recent speech.

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EDIT: Click here for a rebloggable version.

Sort of.

“Being yourself” alone can be immature and dangerous. Say, Vriska. What the game attempts to teach you is not only what your true calling is and how to pursue it, but how to *mature as a person* (which is HARD!) to realize what you really want to accomplish with your role… and most importantly of all, not just how excessive hesitation/inaction will lead to stagnating failure, but how *reckless exercise* of your role leads to disaster.

This was the flaw in Vriska’s mindset emphasized by her recent speech.

VRISKA: I only ever wanted to do the right thing no matter how it made people judge me, and I don’t need a magic ring to do that.
VRISKA: You don’t have to 8e alive to make yourself relevant.
VRISKA: And you don’t have to 8e a good person to 8e a hero.
VRISKA: You just have to know who you are and stay true to that.
VRISKA: So I’m going to keep fighting for people the only way I ever knew how.

VRISKA: 8y 8eing me.

Vriska understands that being a hero entails embracing your true calling, and has done so more eagerly and readily than most of her team… It’s no coincidence that she was the very first to Ascend.

But what she doesn’t understand:

“When two great forces oppose each other, the victory will go to the one that knows how to yield.” -Oscar Wilde

…is that knowing when to yield your will in favor of others’ is essential to being right, just, and succeeding. (And as Meenah now understands, knowing when to yield your innate calling can keep you from overreaching and leaving behind that which you truly care about.)

As I covered in the Ultimate Riddle post, Vriska received a Just death because of her trial with the coin flip. By stealing just enough of Terezi’s luck and agency to decide the flip inevitably in her favor, Vriska made a statement that - regardless of her reasons, ego, stubbornness, or otherwise - NOBODY’S will deserved to matter to the outcome of whether her fight with Jack would take place except for HERS. She was going to exert insurmountable influence as a Thief of Light, and none of her teammates would have so much as a coin flip’s chance, not the LEAST shred of coincidence or probability, of thwarting or obstructing her.

The Answer to the Ultimate Riddle is that reality is made of EVERYONE’S wills. If you pursue your will too eagerly, you may end up stepping on and harming your goals… and if you try to crush the wills of others en masse in favor of your own, you may find yourself deserving a Just demise.

Vriska still believes that acting unreservedly as a Thief of Light, amassing importance, yielding to few and being herself without hesitation, will be an important key total victory over Lord English.

However, just because you’re important doesn’t mean your influence will help. And as we know too well, Lord English’s plans likely entail Vriska’s indomitable will leading her to responsibility for the destruction of all that exists!

There are a number of acceptable translations, especially considering the heavy thematic message intended in the amulet’s inscription! That’s part of why its translation on the Wikipedia page has changed so many times.

However, it’s rather clear from context (supposedly) that it relates to True Will, as was linked and I quoted in the previous post.

I find “will” is the clearest word to describe it here, implying not just passive ‘dreams’ or ‘wishes’ or ‘wants’, but that on which you substantively act and move.

Hot damn, that is a good point!

As I remarked in edits to my major post on the Answer to the Ultimate Riddle a while ago, the answer to the Ultimate Riddle is written on the back of AURYN, the wish-granting amulet from the Neverending Story whose shape appears in the cherubs’ combined lollipop. From wikipedia on it:

Two mythological serpents, symmetrical, bite at the other’s tail. In the book, they form an oval, and are not intertwined. One serpent is white and one is black. Each has an eye to correspond to the color of the book’s print, red and green. It may be noted that the film version has the two snakes in an “Infinity Knot”, a kind of grief knot which looks like a more intricate variation of the figure “8” infinity symbol and another sign of ouroboros. The two snakes represent the dual nature of the two worlds, Fantasia (German: Phantásien) and Reality, but also the twin nature of their mutual creation and destruction. On the back of AURYN are these words:

“Do What You Will” (German: “Tu, was du willst”).

And that link it gives on ‘true will’ is similarly enlightening, sounding quite a lot like the role of hero titles in Homestuck:

True Will

According to Crowley, every individual has a True Will, to be distinguished from the ordinary wants and desires of the ego. The True Will is essentially one’s “calling” or “purpose” in life. Some later magicians have taken this to include the goal of attaining self-realization by one’s own efforts, without the aid of God or other divine authority. This brings them close to the position that Crowley held just prior to 1904. Others follow later works such as Liber II, saying that one’s own will in pure form is nothing other than the divine will. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law for Crowley refers not to hedonism, fulfilling everyday desires, but to acting in response to that calling. The Thelemite is a mystic. According to Lon Milo Duquette, a Thelemite is anyone who bases their actions on striving to discover and accomplish their true will, when a person does their True Will, it is like an orbit, their niche in the universal order, and the universe assists them. In order for the individual to be able to follow their True Will, the everyday self’s socially-instilled inhibitions may have to be overcome via deconditioning.

Such as, if one’s true calling were that of a “Seer of Light”, for example, tasked with guiding others with one’s understanding of importance and fortune? :)

Now, granted, that wikipedia page on AURYN has changed quite a few times. However, even if you look at the version of the page as it appeared right before Homestuck started, or even before Problem Sleuth started, the wording is similar:

On the back of AURYN are these words:

“Do what you Wish” (German: “Tu, was du willst”).

And it still linked to the concept of True Will, et cetera.

Of course, Andrew probably read The Neverending Story quite a while ago, not just cliffnotes as a refresher, considering he felt the urge to reference it heavily (and AURYN) even with his Wizardy Herbert drafts (the important “mobius slipknot” artifact therein).

So, Andrew could very well have been hiding a reference to the answer to the Ultimate Riddle in every intro page in Homestuck…

Except, to be fair, the phrase also started Problem Sleuth. So probably not. But you know how he is with things becoming retroactively important, after all.

The choice was a natural one: natural for the reader submission and command format, and natural for its Problem Sleuth consistency. But that doesn’t rule out the possibility that he had another reason in mind as well, especially considering how he started the story with the Ultimate Riddle in mind as a major theme, if not the (heh) ultimate one.

Sit down, little boy… it’s time we had “the talk”.

You see, when a daddy theorist and another daddy theorist hate each other very much…

I’m only 2x.y% done with the Cherub Backstory Theoryguide you guys are waiting on, where x and y can be substituted with any number pulled out of my ass, respectively. So in the mean time, here’s a sneak preview shot of part of the draft, highlighting a section that has precious little to do with cherubs.

The Cherub Backstory Theorypost will be linked on my main theorylist when it’s done and posted in the next week or two, if this post makes the rounds for a while and you don’t know me / are wondering where it is later.  :)

Her Condescension allegedly used cloning for her race resurrection attempts, not Mother Grubs. If she had access to a Matriorb, why not use that?

However, she *may* indeed have a spare Matriorb in reserve, given her Arc-like ship, in case she reaches a realm where her race can safely and assuredly be deployed without the risk of Glub wipeouts. Then again, I get the impression that she doesn’t expect to be able to control a race of Trolls without one of Gl’bgolyb’s species paired with her as a nuclear button, and since that kept failing with it wiping out the cloned race repeatedly, choosing a new race of obedient, easily-ruled, weak citizens like Carapaces seemed the most favorable option.

Basically: there’s little chance that Condesce would leave behind a Matriorb on Alpha Earth, though it’s indeed possible. However, you raise a good point in that Her Condescension MAY still possess a Matriorb on ice! In her ship, her sylladex, or somewhere else for safe keeping.

Perhaps she could use it as negotiating leverage with Kanaya…?

It would raise the question, however, of why she didn’t just re-hatch her race WITHIN her own universe, giving her something to do and likely a new psychic engine to power her ship in a scant few decades instead of waiting for the manual drive to get her to her deserted home again centuries later. If she was able to clone people of different castes from her own DNA later, I doubt the lack of initial slurry would have been TOO much of an issue.

Nah I’m fine!

What I need is less a hug, and more about two free hours a day on an actual keyboard to notch effort into the Cherub post.