Aspects and Narrative Structure

What exactly are Aspects, anyways? Well, in the comic itself, Aspects are forces of the universe that influence and are influenced by the “Heroes” present in the story. But what does this mean on a broader scale? We all have a pretty good idea of what each Aspect represents in canon, but what if that’s not the whole story?

Before we begin, I’d like to direct you to an excellent video by @revolutionaryduelist (optimistic Duelist on YouTube) that will prime you for what I’m about to discuss. I highly recommend checking out their channel, as it’s extremely informative and fun to watch!

So, now that you’ve no doubt enjoyed the video I’ve linked, let’s get into what each Aspect represents in terms of a broader narrative. One of the big narrative themes of Homestuck is that the story is essentially a stage performance, or an “interactive play,” which we see throughout the comic, from the “Acts” and “Intermissions” to the curtains opening and closing on each Act. There are plenty of times where the “fourth wall” is completely shattered, and the layers between the cast and the audience start to blend together. With this in mind, it’s not difficult to reason that each Aspect not only represents a certain universal force in the comic’s universe, but also represents an aspect of narrative structure. I’ll begin with the definitions shown in optimistic Duelist’s video, and then expand upon them from my own perspective.

Let’s start with some easy ones: Space and Time. Space and Time represent the Setting and Pacing of a story. In our stage play metaphor, we can expand this further. Space is represented by the scenery that tells us where the characters are, but it also represents the physical space that the actors take up. Different prop placement, lighting, and scenery can make the stage feel bigger or smaller to fit the needs of the scene, and a change in these things will naturally translate to us as a scene change. Time, on the other hand, is represented by the progression of the story through actions, dialogue, the opening and closing of curtains, and even the music that accompanies each scene and plays continuously during intermissions. In a musical, this is even more obvious, as each song tells a distinct part of the story and opens up ideas about character motivations, illustrates choices, and so on—though this aspect of Time is merely the lens through which these things are viewed, since choices/motivations/etc. are truly representative of other Aspects entirely. As in real life, these two Aspects intermingle considerably, creating “spacetime” as the spatial and temporal backdrop of all the events we witness as audience members, the framework that allows both depth and progression to occur in the narrative and sets the foundation of the stage itself.

Light and Void represent Relevance and Irrelevance. The difference between the cast and crew on stage is easy to tell because the spotlight will always be on a character, not on a member of the crew, unless ironically referencing a crew member (thus breaking the illusion) is a part of the performance itself. Those who are illuminated hold the attention of the audience, and the light allows us to see their facial expressions, their clothing, their movements, etc. and understand the character better through these things. A character who is self-assured may wear a smug grin, holding themselves upright with confidence. A character who is poor might wear old, ragged clothing. Light is all about which characters are relevant, and it also allows the audience to discern information about the characters and about the larger world within the play itself. On the other hand, Void is represented by the unlit areas of the stage, the shadows behind props and characters, and even the crew itself. The ties between Void and the stage crew can be illustrated through bunraku, also known as ningyō jōruri, a traditional Japanese puppet theatre with a long and fascinating history. Puppeteers are clothed in black robes, often hooded, and blend into the black backdrop in order to direct attention onto the puppets themselves and away from their operators. Stage crews in American theatre will often wear dark clothing for the same reason, moving props and scenery as necessary without drawing attention away from the story itself. Although they’re absolutely vital to the execution of the play itself, the crew is in most cases irrelevant to the play’s narrative, thus they work in the shadows to place pieces where they need to be, going unnoticed by the audience.

Life and Doom represent Agency and Conflict. As every good storyteller knows, both of these are vital to the lifeblood of a story, as characters who have no agency are simply puppets, empty vessels with no will of their own, and a story with no conflict doesn’t go anywhere or challenge the characters in any way. In our stage metaphor, Life is the appearance of each character’s free will. Even though we recognize that a script is in place, and the actors are simply working within the framework of scripted interactions, they bring the characters to life through their performances and give the illusion that the world presented onstage is a vibrant one. A good actor can draw an audience into the story by fully embodying the character in question, stepping into the role and allowing us to relate to them, cheering on the heroes and rallying against the villains as the story progresses. We begin to forget that the world we’re presented is mere fiction, and we come out of the experience feeling much different than when we entered. This is what makes a good stage play so compelling, as we watch these characters grow and change based on what they endure and how the world reacts to their actions. In the same vein, Doom is the conflicts, obstacles, and limits placed in the way of the characters to challenge them and help them to grow. In the case of a tragedy, this can also be the end result, whether through a character failing to achieve their goals, a villain succeeding in their heinous plot, or even the death of a protagonist, which removes their agency in the story itself. No real person becomes stronger without facing hardship, and the same is true in fiction. What sort of character would Hamlet be if he wasn’t challenged to find a way to cope with the death of his father, or the knowledge that his uncle was the one who killed him? These conflicts enrich the stories we’re told and provide roadblocks on the road of success, testing the limits of each character’s willpower and strengthening their resolve, or even forcing them to reconsider their goals entirely. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and these necessary hardships fill out the story itself, ensuring that something is learned through the experience through delayed—or, in some cases, entirely absent—gratification.

Breath and Blood represent Plot Development and Character Dynamics. As the Aspect of movement and change, Breath translates into our metaphor quite nicely, ensuring that the story is as dynamic as the characters themselves. It’s the sequence of events that takes us from exposition to resolution—in essence, it’s pretty much the story itself, which is why John is able to do what he does, escaping from the narrative of Homestuck entirely in order to affect things from the outside. The plot is the engine that drives the story—the twists and turns that the narrative takes as difference pieces take their turns on the board. Character motivations are explored, actions are taken, unexpected events take place, and lessons are learned. All of this happens within the plot, and it’s a very external force, as opposed to what we’ll explore in a moment with Blood, which hones in on characters specifically, rather than the whole narrative. Breath is also represented by change, and any change in motivations, scenery, tone, and even tempo can be attributed to Breath in addition to the Aspects normally represented by those things. Blood, however, is a matter of interpersonal relations between characters in a story: their feelings about—and for—each other, the various factions within a story, and the natural associations one can make, such as “protagonists/antagonists, nobility/commoners, obedient civilians/ruthless scoundrels, and so on. Part of what makes characters so interesting is their dynamics with other characters. For example, on her own, Elphaba Thropp from Wicked is a very interesting character. Blessed with innate magical skills, but cursed with green skin, she is ostracized by many and reluctantly admired by some, and this makes her interactions with others very dynamic. Her insistence on bringing much-needed attention to the oppression of Animals in Oz, social consequences be damned, comes in direct conflict with a character like Galinda Upland, who strives to maintain her place in the social hierarchy, even if that means masking her true feelings on controversial subjects to paint herself favorably in the eyes of others. As the story progresses, the two find that they have much more in common than they could’ve guessed, and they begin fighting for the same cause, shifting from bitter enemies to best friends through the course of a few excellent musical numbers. This shift in their dynamic is vital to the story, yet this is merely one of many such dynamics.

Let’s move on to two Aspects that are a bit more abstract in our narrative format. Hope and Rage represent Coherence and Contrivance. These words may sound quite different from what we’re used to from these Aspects but hear me out, because there’s a method to my madness. A story’s coherence is how well it can be understood, and furthermore, how well it can be related to by an audience. It also represents the enthusiasm with which an invested audience will respond to the narrative taking place. In our stage play metaphor, this is part of what drives us to immerse ourselves in the story. It’s the excitement we feel when our favorite character completes their goal as set up in the exposition, or the fear we experience when an adversary comes close to unraveling it all. It’s the ability to escape from our own lives and enter the world presented onstage, and a big part of why walking out of a great performance can feel like we’re waking up from an intense lucid dream. It’s the magic of excellent storytelling. Hope is what drives us to overlook mistakes, either in the narrative itself or in the performance, and allows us to enjoy it as a whole. On the other hand, Rage’s contrivance delights in tearing open plot holes, exposing the divide between performers and the audience, and dispelling the illusion that the world on stage is in any way “real.” It’s the heckler at a comedy show, or the critics in the nosebleed seats. It’s the breaking of the fourth wall that occurs when a character in the story directly addresses the audience, or begins to critique the narrative itself. While it can certainly seem like a negative force, this Aspect is what keeps us firmly grounded in reality, pulling us out of “la la land” when the show is over and it’s time to return to our lives. It marks an end to the magic, a disbelief in the “miracles,” and the voice of reason.

Finally, our last two Aspects, Heart and Mind, represent Inner Character and Outer Character. This is fairly obvious, given what we already know from canon, and it translates fairly literally in our metaphor. Heart is represented by a character’s “true self,” or what remains the same in every performance of the play. It’s what makes each character recognizable, no matter how the script, costumes, set design, etc. have been adapted. Peter Pan, for example, is always presented as childlike and carefree, bold in his actions and protective of those he loves. He can also be incredibly naive and immature, which humanizes him and allows room for growth. Regardless of which actor might play him, or whether the story is adapted to a sci-fi setting, or tells the tale of a much older Peter, or is even presented from the perspective of an entirely different culture, these character traits and motivations will always be the same. They’re what make him the “Peter Pan” we all know and love. The “true self” involves every trait that is essential to a character. If these traits were changed in some way, they would cease to be the same character, much like adding or removing a proton from an atom would change its element entirely. On the contrary, Mind is represented by a character’s “projected self,” or how they present themselves in the company of others. For some characters, their “true self” always shines through, and they rarely act in ways that aren’t in accordance with their deeply-held values. For others, such as Billy Flynn from Chicago, the creation and maintenance of a constructed, outward “self” is vital to their survival and prosperity, and sometimes deception is the name of the game. Billy, an incredibly successful defense lawyer, comes across in his musical number as a caring, compassionate man who couldn’t care less about money and values “love” more than anything else. This is extremely ironic, however, as the audience is soon presented with a very different view of Billy: as a stern, ambitious man who’s very concerned with money, but also loves the challenge of winning cases for clients on death row. As his “true self” is revealed, his choices and motivations begin to make sense to the audience, and we gain a deeper understanding of the man behind the mask, so to speak.

Each Aspect plays a vital role in the narrative structure of any story—or performance, in this case—and perhaps we can use these interpretations to further understand what our own Aspect connections are. After all, all the world’s a stage, right?

do you have more details on what aspects affect what part of story? space and rage seem really cool, and if you have things for the others, id love to see!

You should check @revolutionaryduelist‘s blog, he’s amazing and my main source regarding the relationship between Aspects and various things as of late! Specially now that he’s doing a few videos on various different takes on the Aspect Wheel.

GUEST ANNOUNCEMENT: OPTIMISTIC DUELIST

Taz 'oD' is the writer and producer of youtube series like "Hiveswap Lore" and "Homestuck Explained", and several essays exploring deep dives into Homestuck's symbolic and mythological motifs! He's written a couple novels' worth of Homestuck boys kissing, and hosted a livestream of the Homestuck Epilogues that Dante Basco showed up in earlier this year. He is a vocal advocate of the Earth C Furryification agenda.

@revolutionaryduelist & @gamblignant8 present Episode 15.

Hey! Just wanted to say thanks for your video on Kingdom Hearts/Persona's shared Jungian motifs, it helped me crystallize a lot of thoughts I've been having about KH lately and even helped me gather my thoughts on some nuances of Homestuck's worldbuilding i've been considering, so it was really super helpful. Hope to see you in Homestuck circles someday, between all the Jungian stuff and you playing deltarune of late it seems like you'd get a kick out of it!

I gave Homestuck a try before and it didn’t really strike a chord with me, but I tend to get into stuff pretty late, so who knows? In any case, I’m always glad to hear that people got something out of my work, despite my variable and very irregular output. It’s really all that I’m trying to do by making these things, ahaha!

I wanted to do a tribute to one of my favourite pieces (so far) from the fanmade Hiveswap Musical- Sincerely, Joey. 

P.S- @revolutionaryduelist makes an appearance in one of the posters in this image!

oD & Case read Karkat: Troll This Worthless Human

It’s 6/12! Have this stream snippet.

I took a break from music streams to do a Friendsim stream with @revolutionaryduelist, so he can educate me a bit on how the hell classpects work. At the end of first stream, this went down. 

Happy Hivebent!!

Want more Jude feels?

Hey I found an ancient post of yours of Rebecca Sugar owning some Mawaru Penguindrum figurines, and I was wondering if there was any hope you might remember which interview that's from because I'd really love to see it/might want to use it for Reasons(tm). TIA either way!

it’s this one here  ^__^

revolutionaryduelist replied to your post: zofia-asilo replied to your post: ...

Curious as to what you’d think of all the Abraxas|Karkat parallels i’ve picked up on, btw! Been meaning to ask at some point. Gr8 breakdown of Prometheus, too, I’m totally sold on him as a Blood figure

yeah I’ve basically been sold on Abraxas as Karkat’s denizen since Karkat first spoke about him ever, but I’ve definitely pondered on the possibility of it beforehand as well, simply due to Abraxas/Yaldabaoth’s connection to gnosticism/The Cherubs and Karkat’s connection to those things as well

I think the easiest thing to do is just give you a link to everything I’ve ever tagged as Abraxas lol

http://dahniwitchoflight.tumblr.com/tagged/abraxas

heya, just wanted to say thanks for those jake and dirk drawings, the jake in particular really warms my heart for some reason. good kids. good art. thank u

:-) this means a lot to me thank you!

Some Thoughts on Homestuck as Gnosticism

(Inspiration due to @revolutionaryduelist ‘s posts on Gnosticism in Homestuck. Give his stuff -- especially this -- a read I promise it’s got some good takes! The content of this post is basically summed up from a discussion I had on Discord.)

Let me take you back in time. Centuries back, even, to the earliest days of Christianity. What in the sam hill has this got to do with Homestuck? Stick around and you might find out the origin of a term cherished and despised by every fandom in existence.

Let us begin with the origin of the Gnostics. The term is an umbrella one, encompassing various schools of thought with differing cosmogonies that can trace their origins to an eclectic fusion of philosophies, esotericism, and different religious traditions (chiefly Christianity, its historical rival). Some of the beliefs commonly associated with Gnosticism include the inherent evil of matter, the distinction between the (evil) creator of the physical world and the (not-evil) pure spiritual being who is the true source of everything actually worth giving a shit about, secret knowledge (gnosis, hence the name) available only to a chosen few, and a particular dislike for earthly authority (because again, matter is evil and therefore so is any earthly power).

This stood in sharp contrast with early Christianity (for reasons which I will not go into but suffice to say the two never really saw eye to eye), which had a particular insistence on double-checking new developments with the teachings handed down to them by the Apostles and their successors. For the first couple of centuries or so, early Christianity and Gnosticism grew side by side, and with that growth came tensions and conflict -- especially considering the two groups shared terminology and were hard to distinguish in the early stages.

Just as the philosophers before them, and the Christians beside them, the Gnostics wrote, and they wrote a lot. The biggest known cache of Gnostic writings is the Nag Hammadi Library discovered in 1945: thirteen papyrus codices containing an astonishing fifty-two (4x13 for you Homestuck fans, wink) Gnostic treatises. With titles bearing the names of various Apostles, and frequent mentions of Jesus and his doings in several of them, the Gnostic writings caused a fair bit of consternation for the emerging Church, which found itself in the midst of more writings than they knew what to do with, not all of which agreed with each other.

By the middle of the AD 100s, the situation was in need of clarification. There was now a need to sift through the massive influx of books, like one would do in a mailroom, and determine which ones were authoritative and which ones were not. It was rather like measuring them with a rod, the rod here signifying the standard of whether a given writing was authoritative or not. It was slow going, what with the long distances between Christian communities and the occasional outbreak of persecutions, but slowly, gradually, the canon of the New Testament was developed (alongside that of the Old, which I could write about if I were concerned with not boring you to death with more ancient Church History), being fixed into its final form in the mid- to late- AD 300s. This then is where we get our word “canon”, the Greek word for the measuring rod, the yardstick of official-ness, whether for Scripture... or for fandom.

Look now, I have written far too much about the origin of the term “canon”. No doubt some of you are impatiently asking what this has to do with Homestuck and any Gnosticism that may linger in its narrative. The answer, if you subscribe to the “Gnostic Homestuck” view, is a lot.

This essay, by @revolutionaryduelist, lays out a pretty forceful argument for the resolution of Homestuck’s narrative being deliberately laid upon our, the readers’ shoulders, and that being presented as a good thing. It is, if you will bear with me, a rejection of the very concept of the closed canon, one that opens the door to myriad further developments, boundless possibilities. The sky’s the limit! There may even be authorial evidence for this reading of Homestuck: Hussie has in fact established a sort of sliding scale of of canonicity for his other projects: Hiveswap Friendsim (semi-canon) > his Paradox Space comics (possibly canon) > Paradox Space comics not by him (not canon), paralleling Eusebius’ classification of scriptures as universally received > disputed > spurious.

In a sense, this is exactly true to Homestuck’s Gnostic influence. The Gnostic texts themselves are now termed “apocrypha”, a word which is usually used as a synonym for “extracanonical”, i.e. outside the canon. What better way for Homestuck to wrap up than to invite us to transcend its canon? I end with a quote from @arrghus: “Canon is over, now begins the apocrypha.“ Did not Act 7 use an Overture -- a piece meant to be played at the beginning of a production -- as its soundtrack?

Something to think about.

now im curious, what other aspects have themes of duality? i never really thing about that until now

@revolutionaryduelist has talked about it before! I may check his stuff and the Aspect Descriptions later and compile a list of examples.

i am predictable and will always ask dirkjake if i have the chance. love your art by the way!

Episode 10: optimisticDuelist

This week on the podcast, @revolutionaryduelist joins @gamblignant8 for a discussion of subjects from the Washington Post interview, the upcoming epilogue/sequel and the "meat, candy and vegetables" theory of Homestuck storytelling. Send any meta questions in now!

Hello. I'm not sure exactly if I qualify as a "creator" by these metrics, but I certainly try to ensure my videos are designed with a level of polish and accessibility. My biggest goal is to help reach out to Hiveswap's considerable Youtube audience and bring them into the conversation about Hiveswap, to which end I do lots of analysis on various elements of Homestuck, including Classpects and Lands, into accessible formats for relatively easy consumption. Let me know if that sounds interesting?

It’s interesting for sure but we currently only have invites open for artists and writers!

There are certain exceptions that can be made I suppose (such as roleplayers could be classified under writers in cases where they mostly rp in paragraphs which can qualify them as co-writing with someone else)

M’sorry.