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weaselandfriends · 5 years

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Hymnstoke XIII

Have you heard the story of bladekindEyewear the Blind?

In infinite folly, this man strapped knives to his eyeballs, depriving himself of sight. Nonetheless he was known as the wisest man in Homestuck Tumblr, with a wicked pack of classpect analyses. As Homestuck progressed through its lengthy sixth act, he developed a wide sleight of theories as to how it would end and what it would mean when it ended that way, focused most famously on each character's SBURB class and aspect (classpect for portmanteau).

When Homestuck ended, and then ended a second time, he turned out to be wrong.

In a recent post, he made this comment about his wrongness:

BlastYoBoots 04/26/2019: part of why all my theories were wrong is that they were arrogant and misguided and just all-around regrettable and I thought I "knew" what Andrew morally wanted out of a story when he wasn't after the same thing at all

I bring this tale to your attention not to drag our Sosostris through the mud. In fact, I'd say he's unduly harsh on himself here. He may indeed have had a decent grasp of Hussie's moral purposes regarding Homestuck—in 2013. It has been a long six years since then, during which Hussie followed in the footsteps of other noted New England authors J.D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon and vanished off the face of the planet. It would be fair to theorize that what Hussie "wanted" out of Homestuck changed considerably in those years. And the truth is, because Hussie has disappeared so utterly, any illusion of knowing his "moral" goals has completely dissipated. It's not even clear at this point how much of the Epilogues he wrote. What statements can possibly be made about authorial intent outside of baseless conjecture?

Mr. Eyewear had the unfortunate position of writing critical analysis of a work that was not yet finished, a position not often imitated by critics throughout the ages. It's relatively easy to look at a work by a long-dead author and make some grand, sweeping statement that "this is what it means." Because the author is literally dead, Death of the Author becomes much less controversial to apply. Even now, after the dust has settled, a new installment of Homestuck may unexpectedly arrive that obliterates any previous critical insight on what Homestuck "meant." Homestuck is ostensibly over, but the Epilogues left plenty of room for continuation.

Someone who read the previous Hymnstoke installments came to me and said (paraphrased), "Do you really think Hussie knows anything about Gnosticism? It's far more likely he googled it and used a few names here and there to sound smart." Thinking about it, I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be his modus operandi for the Pale Fire and Waste Land quotes I wrote so lengthily on in previous Hymnstokes as well. Wouldn't it make so much sense if Hussie googled "Literary quotes about April" and put in the Waste Land quote without ever having read the poem, without understanding its historical or literary context?

Would it matter?

Hussie may or may not be ignorant of literary history, or his own literary moment. In that Stanford interview he flatly denied any knowledge of "post-irony." But the author's ignorance doesn't excuse the work from the world. Homestuck itself is rapidly becoming a historical work, fading from the immediate cultural consciousness. Yet it has left a mark. How many works will be created in the coming years that draw heavy inspiration from Undertale, which itself was heavily inspired by Homestuck? And if we take Homestuck's most explicit inspiration to be Earthbound, what works inspired Earthbound? What works inspired the works that inspired Earthbound?

Whether Hussie knows what DFW stands for or not is inconsequential. Homestuck is not a work in a vacuum, neither the beginning nor the end. Con Air, the Greek Zodiac, Insane Clown Posse—whether the reader knows what those things are doesn't matter within the space of Homestuck, because Homestuck invented new meaning out of them all. Whether Hussie, the author, knew what Gnosticism, post-postmodernism, or Dadaism were—I would argue that is similarly inconsequential. Homestuck repurposed all of those -isms, either knowingly or unknowingly, into something new. It is the act of repurposing that is the most important part, not whatever those things were before.

So bladekindEyewear observed Homestuck through the lenses of knives strapped to his eyes. From that perspective, he conceived of what the facts (the text of Homestuck) "meant." I'll also be looking at Homestuck through a certain lens. Neither lens is the same as Hussie's lens. No lens except Hussie's can be Hussie's lens: that is something the postmodernists realized, that "truth" was fragmentary and differed from person to person. Perhaps even different within each person; the Hussie of 2013 may have a different lens than the Hussie of 2019. Put succinctly: No absolute truth exists.

But Homestuck, I feel, moves beyond the problems proposed by postmodernism. In Homestuck, differing lenses, even completely opposite lenses like "irony" and "sincerity," "science" and "magic," "time" and "space," or "author" and "reader" (as seen in the Epilogues) become blurred, indistinguishable, ultimately reconciled as essentially the same thing. It's that reconciliation that I think is Homestuck's most meaty—or candiey—thematic component.

With that in mind, let's continue.

What is under the rug is much worse than any trap you can imagine.

It is a member of a species that you do not recognize, with a ghastly furred upper lip.

I don't even know who this is. Jeff Foxworthy? I guess I might not be a redneck.

Soon these lugs will learn to show you some respect. You made this town what it is after all. Wasn't nothin' but a bunch of dust and rocks before you got here.

Okay. I was right. I knew it, all along when I was reading the Epilogues I knew something was off. I felt certain, and now it's been confirmed for me.

Homestuck does not use smart apostrophes, while the Epilogues did.

For those not in the know, a smart apostrophe is curved based on the text that comes around it, like so: ’

A regular apostrophe, by comparison, is not curved: '

As you can see in the quoted text, Homestuck proper uses your regular dumb apostrophes. Which is good, because smart apostrophes are the devil. They frequently get slanted the wrong direction and conflict aesthetically with Homestuck's monospaced, geometric Courier font. Yet all throughout the Epilogues, smart apostrophes are used. It drove me insane. I hate those things.

Can't overthink this time stuff.

I guess I should actually talk about the Intermission. Internally, it's pretty straightforward, borrowing liberally from Problem Sleuth. But what exactly is its purpose? Yes, on a purely plot level, elements of the Intermission return in Act 5. Spades Slick remains a character who exists all the way until Collide, although he is one of the unfortunate casualties of Act 6's awful ending and is too dead to get any kind of relevancy redemption in the Epilogues, unlike similarly extraneous Act 6 characters Jane and Jake.

Fundamentally, then, the relevance of the Intermission extends only as far as Cascade, with elements malingering longer but never amounting to anything new. Many things will extend only as far as Cascade, which eventually becomes Homestuck's midpoint. In earlier Hymnstokes, I mentioned a few times that I didn't think I had much to say about Act 5. I said that because, while Act 5 is impressive from a technical standpoint, it's a lot less dense in meaning compared to early Homestuck or Act 6. It functions a lot like a machine with many perfectly-placed parts (or rather, parts that were retroactively made to look perfectly placed, depending on how improvisational you think Hussie wrote) that slot together like a machine, rifle, or clock to create a flawless cascade of storytelling. I'll talk more about this kind of "clockwork storytelling" when I actually get to Act 5, but for now one might consider the entire Intermission to be one of those perfectly-placed pieces, and the Spades Slick storyline culminates in Cascade to slot alongside the other pieces in a satisfying way.

One might also interpret the Intermission as a primer for certain elements that will become important in Homestuck proper, such as the aforementioned "time stuff" that gets its first real exploration here before becoming a convoluted but finely-wrought entanglement in Acts 4 and 5. Toss in vague foreshadowing to Lord English and the Intermission's existence is at least purposeful, regardless of whether one considers it necessary.

But what about structurally? I mentioned in the previous Hymnstoke that the Intermission is similar to Act 5 Act 1 and Act 6 Act 1 in that it dramatically downscales the tension, introduces a slew of new characters, and shakes up the tone of the story. Each of these three parts are nostalgic for "Old Homestuck," the Homestuck that is more like Problem Sleuth, and they feature many text commands and faffery like what you see in Act 1. By juxtaposition, then, each emphasizes how far Homestuck has developed across its run, and the differences only become more striking each successive iteration.

The Intermission is probably the fragmenting point. In Homestuck proper, there are no more kids to introduce. John, Rose, Dave, Jade, for each of them we've cycled through the database-structured INTERESTS and INSTRUMENTS and WEIRD PARENTAL FIGURES. Bit by bit that kind of content will vanish in favor of a new sort of storytelling, and the Intermission is where it becomes obvious that this is happening. Jade's introduction already subverted most of the established tropes, and the Intermission reads like a parody of them, with the Midnight Crew's set of traits being plaintively ridiculous (each keeping a different kind of candy in their backup hat, each having a different kind of smutty material, et cetera). Act 5 Act 1 will also be parodic in its approach to these database traits, but I think in a less effective way, as the differences between the kids and the trolls are less extreme than the differences between the kids and the Midnight Crew. Furthermore, the Intermission really drives the nail into the coffin of Problem Sleuth, severing Homestuck finally from its predecessor. Act 6 Act 1, by comparison, is more of a wistful yearning for Act 1 than any kind of new take—which might itself be meaningful in the grand scheme of things.

Still, it might come in handy down the road. Lord English is supposedly indestructible. He's rumored to be killable only through a number of glitches and exploits in spacetime. The doll may ultimately help you work the system if it comes to that.

This line, along with the way Problem Sleuth ended, was probably the primary driver that led to people expecting a final boss fight with Lord English on par with the one with Mobster Kingpin. Although the Epilogues were a fantastic ending, it's still underwhelming to think about just how poorly-conceived Collide and Act 7 turned out to be. Of course, the Problem Sleuth sort of ending is definitely more of a "clockwork" storytelling style, and Act 6, as has become clear by now, has a much different style.

Dirk, the ultimate inheritor of the clockwork style—he specifically describes storytelling in terms of machines—has as one of his INTERESTS robotics and technology. Lord English, likewise, is surrounded by a clockwork motif. Of course, these characters will eventually become explicitly linked via the method of Lord English's creation. But unlike many other INTERESTS, which turn out to be irrelevant, this machinery fascination ties in to Homestuck's final thematic dichotomy. But more on that when we reach the Epilogues.

29/1000 CLOCKS DESTROYED

I guess we know what side of the dichotomy Spades is on.

This is the same calendar Dirk has in his apartment in Act 6. I remember I once had this theory that the Midnight Crew would be reunited at the end of Homestuck even though the B2 Hegemonic Brute was dead because it would be revealed that Hearts Boxcars was still in Dirk's calendar and would come out riding Dirk's mini Maplehoof.

I don't know why I had this oddly specific theory, and it was probably obvious it wouldn't happen.

And thus ends the intermission, with an eye toward the next bizarre deviation in the storyline (Act 5 Act 1).

It's been awhile since I last read Homestuck. My memory of Act 4 is dodgy, so I might actually stumble upon something new. But as I mentioned earlier, the Intermission is the big, obvious breakpoint between the old, Problem Sleuth style of Homestuck and the new, clockwork style. The database-driven character creation will gradually fall away (minus a parodic revival in Act 5 Act 1) and narrative elements will become more consistently introduced with an eye specifically toward Cascade. For many people, this is when Homestuck starts to "get good," and I think it's because there's something innately satisfying about a finely-crafted machine slotting into place. There is a kind of intrinsic beauty about it, art for art's sake if you will, and that is also what seems to draw Dirk toward it.

But more next time.

#homestuck #hymnstoke

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bakeshichi · 4 years

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今日のブライト博士まとめ

Personnel Director Bright's Personnel File ©TheDuckMan http://www.scp-wiki.net/dr-bright-s-personnel-file CC BY-SA 3.0

今日のブライト博士

初対面の新人職員に殺される。彼女の子を惨殺した死刑囚の体だったのが原因。“残機”候補のDクラス選抜基準に「財団職員と関係がないか」を追加するよう上申した。

● お気に入りのネット小説の続きがアップされてご機嫌だ。 SCP-101-FR隠蔽策"tale"の一環として作られた、ブライト博士が探偵役の推理モノで、奇矯だが賢い財団博士達の頭脳合戦に心が躍る。財団の工作が生み出した、思わぬ副産物である。

● 技術開放についての会議に出席している。「既に民間でも量子経路干渉法によるフォノン生成過程の同定成功との発表があり、我々が保有する量子コンピュータ技術受入れ素地は整っているものと──」今日もまた一つ、我々の努力の結晶が日の目を見る。

● 鶯谷デッドボールに入り浸っている。下ネタ発言が過ぎた為、キレた日本支部女性職員達によってブチ込まれたのだが、熟練の技に感激した博士はすっかり虜だ。

● 部下がオブジェクトを削り取ろうとしていたので、慌てて止めた。素材特定の為に、と反論されたので、結晶軸の数が違えば反射光も変わるから目視で宝石は同定できる、と教えたら感心された。 SCP-963の初期研究の際に覚えたことなので、胸中複雑である。

● Explainedへの変更申請３件を審査している。理解不能という恐怖に科学が勝ったという証、《解明済》。いつか、SCP-590などと呼ばれている弟へも、この宣告をしてやれるのだろうか。してみせる。必ず。その日を目指して、博士は今日も財団にいる

● 『通達:女性職員の皆さんへ SCP-963-1は精神的自殺の道具ではありません。不誠実な男への報復には大いに協力しますので、まずは相談をして下さい。妊婦になるのは一度でたくさんだ！！！人事局長 J.ブライト』

● サイト壊滅からの復興の為、5件のコホート研究の詳細なデータを再現している。誰よりも長く生きている、誰よりも記憶力の良い財団職員。私はバックアップメモリ代わりか? と文句を言いながらも、��十年余の記憶の中から、長期観察記録研究の全データを再構築していく。

● ザーション博士共々、膝から崩れ落ちている。 BZHRの脆弱性は過程の繊細さに由来する。効率と正確性を両立させる為にどれだけ苦労したか。それが、こんな購買でお手軽に買える大量生産品で、こんな簡単に改良できるだなんて。 https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASM5X6HTMM5XULBJ01H.html

● SCP-590の配給食に異物を入れた、と担当職員達に詰め寄られている。弟の食生活に少しでも彩りを添えたかっただけで、と弁解しているが、"ミルメーク"を知らない担当者には信じて貰えない。

● 「君達、ご承知の事とは思うが、SCP-504は全てのジョークに反応するんだ。下ネタだけじゃなく、な。エージェント・ディオゲネス、トレビュシェット博士、頼むからその鉢植えと煮え滾ったトマトソースの鍋は、収容チャンバーへ戻してくれないかな？」

● 体乗り換えに伴う、所定の心理鑑定を受けている。《この新たにSCP-963を首にぶら下げた個体は、ブライト博士と定義し得るか否か》父も兄も他界した現在、その判定が可能な人物は、もうグラス博士以外にいないのだ。

● SCP-409-JP担当エージェントに、カビた豆腐を食べろと詰め寄られている。演芸場████亭にて、笑来亭ふしぎ氏に対し「酢豆腐」をリクエストしたらどうなるか。 "研究者として不可欠な好奇心と冒険心"とやらでプロトコルを無視した、これが代償だ。

● プラムを見ると父を思い出す。いち科学者としても兄としても、父が妹に行ったSCiP乱用の件は、未だに許せないでいる。だが昔、晩夏にプラムのケーキを作りながら、先祖伝来のレシピだぞと笑っていた、そんな幸せな親子であった事も、また事実なのだ。

● SCP-2000修復中。催眠学習と体組織複製機の連携をさせなければ、一応正常な人類を生成出来るようになった。意識のない人体を、残機として貰い受ける。ちなみに、BZHRのテストパターンは、“生前”のブライト博士のDNAである

● 「蒐集院接収交渉の時から思っていたのですがね、エージェント・カナヘビ。何故貴方が収容されないのです？」「蒐集院接収交渉の時からおんなじ答えで恐縮やけどね、ブライト博士。アンタにだけは言われたないわ」

● グラス博士に「黒後家蜘蛛の会第9作目に出てきた晩餐のフルコース」を提供させられている。 5人のDクラスの中で、どれがジャック・ブライトか。 7回やったその賭けに、グラスは全て正解したのだ。 ※「9作目の晩餐」=ホストの手料理

● 神経再生に関する論文を読んでいる。蘇生効果を持つSCiPを使って“生き返った”SCP-321は、何故大脳白質の髄鞘が活性化しない= 知性が蘇生しなかったのか。 SCiP乱用の生ける教訓。妹の犠牲を無駄にしない事、それだけが唯一自分に出来る償いだろう。

● 名付け親(教父)は、両親他界の際遺児を養育する義務がある。財団内ではブライト博士がよく教父を依頼されている。「私は"死なない"からな。年中死人が出るココでは一番大事な条件さ。君も名付け親となったからには、生きろよ、ジェラルド博士」

● 食堂のTVで新薬のニュースを見ている。財団フロント企業は、研究の副産物を製品化して資金を稼ぐ、という役目も持っている。この新薬もその一つだ。普段は世界の影に生きる自分達が、今日だけは世界を照らす。そんな気になれるこの瞬間が、彼は好きだ。

● 《通達: イルカ類にSCP-963を暴露させ深海探査に使用する提案に関して

回答: 却下理由: 我々の目の届かない場所にブライトを置けば、こちらの予想の3倍は碌でもないことをしでかす、と何故解らない？

副局長 A.クレフ》

● SCP-590解析班に、やけに熱心に職務に打ち込む女性研究員がいる。理由をきくと、彼女はこう答えた。「この異常性の仕組が完全解明したら、それを利用して『妊婦の悪阻が全部“妊娠させた男”に移る薬』を作りたいんです』あまりの剣幕につい、全面的に協力する約束をした。

● 「クレフ博士、何故その『ブライト博士』が偽物と判ったんです？」「奴のテーブルマナーはガチガチのドイツ式だ。フォークを右手に持ち替えるなんざ有り得ねぇよ」そう言うと、クレフは死体がかけた首飾りの赤い石を、ショットガンで粉々に撃ち砕いた。

● 「ブライト博士、せめて平和な賭けをして下さい」「なら、コンドラキはクレフの素顔を写真に撮れるかで賭けようか、オッズは2:3から」「大惨事の予感しかしませんやめて下さい」「勘が良くて結構、君は長生きしそうだな。デスゲームのオッズを3に変更だ」

● 3ヶ月振りに帰宅したら、自宅が跡形もなく吹き飛んでいた。

Dr Clef's Personnel File by DrClef http://www.scp-wiki.net/drclef-member-page

Dr Glass' Personnel File by Pair Of Ducks http://www.scp-wiki.net/dr-glass-personnel-file

SCP-321 by AdminBright http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-321

SCP-590 by AdminBright http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-590

SCP-2000 by FortuneFavorsBold http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2000

SCP-101-FR by DrGemini http://fondationscp.wikidot.com/scp-101-fr

SCP-504 by BlastYoBoots http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-504

SCP-409-JP by Rhapsodyyyyyy http://ja.scp-wiki.net/scp-409-jp

エージェント・カナヘビの人事ファイル by tokage-otoko http://ja.scp-wiki.net/author:tokage-otoko

Dr Gerald's Personnel File by Dr Gerald http://www.scp-wiki.net/dr-gerald-s-personnel-file

SCP-963 by AdminBright http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-963

#SCP #Dr.Bright #今日のブライト博士

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paocomgergelim · 4 years

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holy fucking shit BlastYoBoots still exists??!!! and his blog is still exactly the same ??!1! why did nobody tell me that?

#i forgot why i stopped following him #its been so long #like 4 years i think #and hes still reading homestuck neat

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tiptoelightlypastmymind · 7 years

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Looking back through your homestuck tags. You reference bladekindeyewear quite a bit, which I find REALLY amusing because I have watched most of those reaction videos on youtube (blastyoboots) and I find it really interesting that he is so insightful and spot on with this stuff, but making predictions in his react videos was ... um.... "amusing" since I was super late to the party and watching them well after the fact.

the stuff they did for classpecting was p spot on, so i did read a lot of what they said. i think sometimes classpecters think a lil too narrowly inside the box — they make it seem like every “X of X” title is gonna be p much exactly the same, and i don’t believe that’s true in the least bit. title should fit the person, not the other way around

and i haven’t ever seen any of their reaction videos but yeaaaaaaaaa their predictions were always a lil grandiose and i think p much sum up a large portion of the fandom’s expectations for homestuck. not that i’m trying to criticize, but i defs got the sense a lot of the fandom worked their expectations up to mythic proportions, and if you were even actually paying attention to the underlying threads of homestuck it was about subverting mythic ideas to begin with, so i literally don’t know what that group expected. it ended how it always had been: meta to the fucking max

but yea, i did read some of their stuff at some points during the giga-pause! just to fill the void that was left from missing all my faves

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infarious-art · 8 years

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Fanart for the theory that gamdirk will endgame, in pretty much this fashion. Read about it here and here!

#homestuck #gamzee #dirk strider #blastyoboots #gamdirk #bladekindeyewear #infarious art #this was on dirk's planet but then it blew up in Collide so I just changed the color of the sky??#epilepsy warning/

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kat-kid · 10 years

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In reply to Knight to D6

First off, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do. It's a very solid theory on how Dave's going to sacrifice himself for the sake of the chance to beat Lord English and bring back Calliope. In a Scratch. The link to the theory's http://bladekindeyewear.tumblr.com/post/38026804846/endgame-knight-to-d6 Anyway, I was reading this post and there's no submission feature to the blog itself, so I figured this would be the best way to reply. I'll probably be talking as if I'm replying to the author (because I am lol) so if I use "you" that's who I'm referencing. First off, couldn't Dave, once creating the Scratch, just time travel back? Provided Caliborn isn't in place to put up a fight (which could be guarenteed if Dave and Jade somehow traveled there, and I have my doubts Jade's staying dead forever. Major doubts.), then I don't see a reason that Dave would have to stay for the Scratch to take its toll on him. Second off, I saw how you don't think it'll be Davesprite, and I'd like to contest you on that point. Davesprite and Dave are the same person, yet had different experiences. For the most part (emphasis on most, not by any means all), the evidence you provide for Dave holds just as true for Davesprite. For example, while the whole "I'm not a hero" thing isn't something Davesprite stated at the time (Bro's death), we can infer that since Davesprite and Dave are the same person in general, Davesprite felt very similar, maybe even moreso seeing that he was actively there to see Bro die yet he couldn't save him. That's only one way though. There are three major differences I see between Dave and Davesprite in the comic itself. 1) Dave is Godtier, Davesprite isn't. The only major role I see this playing in the final battle is Davesprite's mortality. He's a more expendable character. He's been trying to prove himself just as good as normal Dave through the whole arc of the story. We see this when Davesprite comments on how just to call him Dave or something to this effect. It shows he just wants to be seen as his original identity, which essentially, has been stolen from him. Couldn't this fact that he's more mortal, combined with that he's trying to seriously prove himself mean that he would be the more likely person to go and deal the scratch for his own pride/the sake of the team and maybe even further plot development in Dave and the whole "I'm not a hero" thing? 2) Dave is Alpha, Davesprite isn't This means a major deal in my opinion. Seeing that Davesprite is from a doomed timeline, in definition, all doomed timelines must end somewhere. That includes the people in those timelines. Wouldn't it be fitting that Davesprite, the one who tried to exploit time to escape death, ends up being the one to accept his death by existence fading around him? (exactly what would of happened if he stayed in the doomed timeline). Davesprite isn't meant to be alive right now. He's a doomed version of Dave, one marked for death. If anything I think this fits Davesprite's arc really well as well seeing that he evaded death only to, in this situation, go back and willingly die through it. 3) Davesprite is well, a sprite. Dave isn't. Because of this, Davesprite has a more complex understanding of the game. He knows the inner workings, and therefore, able to work through loopholes easier. If him and Rose continue to be separated, then this knowledge may be the thing that lets Davesprite exploit this tactic to destroying Lord English in the first place. However, things that are the same is that Dave and Davesprite can both time travel. They are both Knights of Time, and through this, exploit their aspect. They both had that time cracked symbol (which I think might relate to how LE cracks time, but that's for another day) where the Tumor was located and both had their panels stricken through during Cascade. Seeing this, it seems much more plausible for me for Davesprite to realize himself in this way. An extremely sneaky way for Hussie to kill off the doomed timelines? YUP. But I think it makes sense. Of course we can agree to disagree on the matter, but it seems more plausible at least to me that Davesprite would be on the suicide mission rather than Dave. Now looking at your points against Davesprite being the one to go, I realize he doesn't hold as much plot weight but that doesn't mean it's the logical move for someone to go about. Also, about the quote of Dave being the Pimpslayer. I haven't seen any evidence personally pointing to any significant difference between Dave and Davesprite being the Pimpslayer. I honestly think Pimpslayer might literally, like you said, relate to how they slay the "pimp", or the guy who decks himself out in a gold cane and gold tooth (LE). I don't think there's really a sign of it leaning either way between Dave and Davesprite. On that note, amazing theory! I had a really great time reading it, and it's pretty solid in general. I really, really hope Dave doesn't die due to him being among my top favorite characters in Homestuck so I guess this is why I'm coming up with these counter points, but overall I gotta commend you for finding that evidence. I'm really sorry if this is too long, but I had to put my thoughts together for this. I also put this together relatively quickly so I'm sorry if it's a little jumbled.

#Homestuck #Final Battle #Knight to D6 #BlastYoBoots

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theorykind-abstratus · 11 years

Text

A Clarification on Terminology

Those of you who have read both my theoryposts and BYB's (which should be all of you. Seriously. If you've read my stuff and you haven't read his you should correct this posthaste, and also how did you even understand a word I've been saying?) have probably noticed that the terms I use for inversion theory differ a bit from his. I thought I'd clarify a couple of these differences, so that there's at least a bit less confusion on what I mean.

First, Ascendent and Shadowed roles: these mean exactly the same thing that BYB means when he refers to primary roles and subroles. I'm not trying to make their use a "thing"; as mentioned in my original Classpect Dualism Theory, I just stumbled across them while comparing Homestuck Classpects to some stuff from an obscure corner of the Exalted RPG and borrowed the terminology because, well, it fit.

(If they seem pretentious, it's probably because I borrowed them from a fantasy RPG's description of beings who are more or less deliberately designed to be pretentious as fuck.)

By the time BYB started using his alternate terms, I'd already developed the habit of using mine. They mean exactly the same thing, so use whichever you prefer. Or invent your own. If the theory is correct and it's something that's explained in the comic itself, Andrew Hussie will probably use a ridiculous portmanteau that we can all disagree on how to use grammatically.

Inversion: I use this quite a bit more loosely than BYB does. Or maybe "liberally" would be a better term. I tend to say that someone is "inverted" where he would say that they are "ghosting" or "skirting the edges of" or "in danger of" inverting.

I think that this derives from a subtle difference in our thinking on how inversion works. I may be mistaken, but BYB appears to think of it more as a state of being, a thing that you are. You can act like your inverted Classpect without actually being inverted.

I'm more inclined to think of inversion as being a thing that you do, a role that you play. You're a Seer of Light when you act as a Seer of Light, and you tilt towards being a Witch of Void when you act like a Witch of Void.

And for this reason, I don't think that coming out of inversion is as clear-cut as "it can only happen if you die".

I mean sure--it's possible to be twisted so badly out of shape that there's no going back.

But that's only the most extreme cases, I think. Stuff like Grimdark Rose. Jade, who'd spent so long as a Seer of Time that she'd forgotten how to be a proper Witch, if she ever really knew.

I think it's possible to be inverted in a lesser fashion, one still possible to come back from in the same life.

It's kind of like a scale: an old-fashioned, Libra-style scale. The ideal is perfect balance, but you can tip it pretty far away from there before it actually breaks.

The difference between BYB's view of inversion and my own, as far as I can tell, is that BYB defines only the broken scale as true inversion, while I set the bar quite a bit lower.

But we're not actually talking about different things. When I say "inversion" and BYB says "ghosting inversion" or "in danger of inverting", I mean the same thing that he does--someone who is unhealthily exhibiting traits of their inverse Classpect, but is not yet past the point of no return. Likewise when I refer to an extreme case of inversion (assuming I qualify it at all and am not simply assuming that it is self-evident, which I admit is a bad habit of mine), I mean the same thing that BYB does when he's talking about inversion--someone who has gone past the point of no return.

So again--we use a different set of terms, because our theories have been evolving independently even if they started in more or less the same place. Use whichever one you prefer, or invent your own. It'll all be moot anyway when Hussie either a) explains it himself, thus giving us canonical terminology rather than a few random theorists' placeholder names, or b) debunks the whole theory.

#Homestuck theories #BlastYoBoots #bladekindeyewear #Ascendent and Shadowed roles #Subroles #Inversion #Classpect

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