Vriska Serket, Whose Lusus Constantly Demands She Feed It, Received Cetus As A Denizen, A Monster Known

of course it could just be that Lord English is using his vast network of recooperacomputers to mine for calcoins

Classpects as Real-Life Magick: Aspect Archetypes

So, here we are again, discussing the absolutely bonkers idea that Homestuck's Classpect system could be used to form a coherent, real-life magickal system. I've talked briefly about the various Forces and Wills that affect the Homestuck universe, and how those directly translate to our modern understanding of magick, but I'd like to touch on Aspects and how one could use them in a system loosely constructed from the mythology of Paradox Space. Each Aspect can be treated as having its own Domain, which includes both concrete and abstract symbols, as well as what the Aspect itself represents in the Universe. The Aspects as they're represented in the form of universal Forces are also represented in the human form, and in following this system one can "tap into" those Forces, whether for personal development or for directing those energies outward. (I definitely draw inspiration from the idea of panpsychism for this.)

I'll begin the discussion of the Aspects by delving into their Archetypes, and will expand more upon their Domains for another post. While the Classes have obvious inspiration from Jung's primary archetypes, the Aspects can also be represented similarly. If you were to personify each Aspect, they would look a bit like the following:

Space: The Creator. Infinitely patient, Space is generally calm and collected, if a bit cold at times. Yet, it's also responsible for the creation of the universe, over which it watches with a protective gaze. If its propagation is threatened, Space is capable of an incredible fury, evoking the unforgiving chaos of a star gone supernova, or the inevitable terror of a black hole.

Time: The Destroyer. Controlling, steady, and ever-present describe Time quite well. Despite its generally destructive nature, it's quite capable of incredible works of creation, most notably in the realm of music. Synchronicities are the calling card of Time; when meaningful events happen simultaneously, take notice. Time contains endless passion and drive, its fires unquenchable.

Mind: The Actor. This Aspect embodies cognitive dissonance and the ability to completely disappear into a role. Mind appears differently to anyone who comes across it, which can make signs of its influence difficult to track down. Epiphany and synthesis are the children of Mind, sought by creatives and intellectuals alike. A deep understanding of abstract reality comes with understanding Mind.

Heart: The Romantic. When dealing in matters of the soul, Heart embraces that identity which remains stable and encourages genuine connection between people. It holds the mirror to nature and exposes virtue and flaw alike. Clear self-awareness and a complicated relationship with that self are hallmarks of Heart, as well as a tendency toward melodrama, with or without an audience.

Hope: The Storyteller. Intense euphoria, unbound by pragmatism, heralds the influence of Hope. It painstakingly crafts a story for its chosen ones, who are encouraged to submit and live fully in that truth. This Aspect lends itself to to the miraculous and fantastical, opening minds to a myriad of possibilities, and those who embody Hope can get utterly lost in its labyrinth of the theoretical.

Rage: The Satirist. Contempt and a vindictive nature are part and parcel of Rage's nature, as an Aspect that inspires doubt and insanity, as well as a refusal to engage with frivolity. It stirs melancholy in dark hearts and is manifest through gallows humor and rejection of fantasy. It is the hammer to which everything else appears as a nail, though its steadfast determination is invaluable.

Breath: The Trickster. Those under Breath's influence share its nature of playfulness and constant motion. At times, this manifests as immaturity through a lack of groundedness. Breath is prone to distraction, constantly shifting its own path upon encountering any sort of resistance or responsibility. The Aspect is self-driven and individualistic, disconnected from others of its kind.

Blood: The Wounded Healer. Much as its name suggests, Blood is fully grounded in the struggle and suffering inherent to life. However, it also embodies a profound empathy for others and an unmatched dedication to those bonds, as well as an understanding of what personal sacrifices must be made to accomplish a given goal. It is relentless and deeply dedicated to building vast networks of allies.

Life: The Alchemist. Even in the deepest cracks in the sidewalk of the Furthest Ring, Life finds a way. It flourishes in the bountiful harvest and transmutation of energy, wealth, and influence. Those blessed by its influence are durable and ever-present, making decisions that utterly transform the world around them. This constant cycling of energy is necessary to keep the universe balanced and in motion.

Doom: The Martyr. Limits and restrictions are just as important to the universe as negative space in a piece of artwork. Doom generally festers like a slow-growing mold, but the telltale sign of Doom's influence is a massive, unsustainable release of energy that usually results in burnout. The Aspect also has a deep connection to inorganic systems and constructs, many centered around death.

Light: The Teacher. Knowledge itself lies in the realm of Light, which is made manifest through instruction and understanding of important information. Omniscient beings receive their enviable sight through Light, which ultimately seeks to scour the universe, leaving no stone unturned in its hunger to learn and teach. It promises great fortune to those who assist in its declared purpose.

Void: The Occultist. Endless hunger and inescapable darkness are the left and right hands of Void, which offers gifts of arcane knowledge and long-hidden power in exchange for the fame and fortune many would seek with such gifts. It twists the mind and forces their student to acknowledge their Shadow. Its power is addictive and all-consuming, but well-worth the price...to the insane.

Not an Enigma, and Certainly Not a Curse: the "Ultimate Self" in Hussie's Own Words

I've found myself, lately, in several conversations in a row where the other guy and myself weren't on the same page about what the Ultimate Self meant; and though I welcome the opportunity for discussion, explaining my position over and over again has cost me minutes of my screen life that I simply won't win back. So this post is a departure from my usual fare in that it's more for my own benefit than that of anybody else.

I've been over Davepeta's "superceding bodyless and timeless persona that crosses the boundaries of paradox space" enough already, so if you're interested in the Ultimate Self as it is in Homestuck, I recommend you read "Homestuck's Gnosticism: The Conflict", and then, if that piques your attention, you continue with the follow-up "The World/The Wheel". For the purposes of this post, though, I want to keep analysis, interpretation and hypothesising to a minimum. As the title indicates, this is the Ultimate Self not as I describe it, or as characters describe it, but - so to speak - straight from the horse's mouth.

In Andrew Hussie's commentary on Homestuck: Book 6, p. 312:

Oftentimes, when characters lose certain qualities that came to define them, there's this sense of liberation they seem to experience. They become a happier, more relieved, easier-going version of themselves. When Aradia ditches a defining quality we came to know her by (being dead), she becomes a much happier and self-actualized Aradia. Sollux also seems to be chilling out now that his defining properties (bifurcation, etc.) have been KO'd. He had a mouth full of gnarly teeth that gave him a wicked lisp (gone), eyes full of nasty laser beams (gone, along with his eyesight), and a brain full of doomsday visions and bipolar disorder (also gone—well, maybe not the bipolar thing, because that's probably not how that works, but whatever). You get more of this kind of thing in even higher degrees with some of the fusion stuff that happens later (Arquius, Davepeta), where characters become almost euphoric versions of themselves for having been completely liberated from certain self-limitations which previously defined them. The concept of an "ultimate self," which appears much later, probably has its roots way back to stuff like this, which got the ball rolling on the idea that a more complete or fulfilled self is one that becomes free from mortal limitations, or the idiosyncrasies which comprise a specific instance of one version of yourself. Hence an ultimate self is an aggregate of someone's full potential. It's not just doing away with negative traits, but summing up all iterations of yourself, including ones without those traits, allowing you to move beyond them. Or maybe more accurately, to view them as insignificant in the grand totality of what a person really is.

Importantly, what Hussie does here is draw the conceptual line from the themes of Acts 1-5 to what are often interpreted by some as radically different, even left-field themes through Act 6. Think of this as an extension of one of Homestuck's meta-themes, where the comic undergoes a series of escalations that take simple conflicts to their logical extremes: we start the story worried about a Reckoning which might destroy the Earth, then end up with the more pressing concern that a Rapture is about to end reality as we know it. The Ultimate Self is the end result of the exact same kind of escalation; where the God Tiers are a method of becoming a better version of oneself by merging with one's "ideal" dream body, the Ultimate Self is the logical conclusion that one can become the best version by unifying with every body.

To draw my own conceptual line back to Homestuck: Book 5, page 409:

This connects to the basic question of whether to embrace the regimentation of a heroic path conveniently laid out for you (the expectation), or to reject it as the shallow and rigid confinement of personal destiny (the deviation). These issues are expressed through the fundamental language of platonic idealism: perfect ideas of things, and then specific, imperfect instances of those ideas, or varied permutations, evolutions, or hacks of those ideas through alchemy. The way Sburb "should" go is an ideal (expectation), but the disastrous, chaotic way it actually goes is an imperfect instance (deviation). An "idea" of a person, such as Rose, along with her regimented heroic quest for growth, and all the great things she might imagine herself to become if she followed it, is an ideal (expectation). The messy, flawed, yet more genuinely human individual she does become resulting from her errant choices and rejection of formalism, is an imperfect instance of an ideal (deviation). What's the bottom line here? This is a lot. I know it's a lot. Homestuck is, in fact, a lot.

I've added some of my own emphasis there again, but that whole extract is worth reading. The reason I bolded that part is because this "Platonic idealism" is something Hussie talks about a lot in his commentary, and I think that commentary is essential reading for anyone who wants to even get their foot in the door on this topic. Again, this is something I've blogged about extensively already, so there's more than just Hussie's word to take for it if you're really interested; but for the sake of this post, I'll finish off with, again, what Hussie himself has to say on the matter, all the way back in Homestuck: Book 1, page 123:

With things like Athenums and Perfectly Generic Objects locked and loaded, Sburb architecture seems to be circling widely around a game abstraction-based systemization of Platonic idealism. Homestuck deals with what I am going to roughly characterize as THEMES.

Root Spells

Base spells with one core objective that may be modified or specified for certain functions. Some classes have a focus on certain root spells, while some root spells are class-locked. This is not to say that a class can only use magic derived from one root spell, but that their magic is tailored better for certain functions. They are able to use other root spells but often to lesser effectivity if it is not compatible with their class. Some classes, however, are fully unable to access certain root spells due to the innate nature of their magic. This does not mean, however, that they will be unable to fulfill certain goals, as magic should always be seen as a tool to achieve a means.

ROOT SPELLS (VOLUME ONE)

ENCHANTMENT

The act of imbuing a target with one’s own magic. This target can either be an object, a person, or a make-spell (objects or creatures that can created from magic). Proficient enchanters are also able to do self-enchants, which is the act of enchanting oneself to achieve specific functions. Enchantments allow power sharing, grant power ups, or create enchanted items for other people to use. This is most useful when aiding non-combat classes.

MANIFESTATION

The ability to take existing abstract concepts, ideas or emotions and make them a reality, either by the caster’s magic manipulating circumstance to achieve the nearest possible match to the concept being manifested, or by amplifying certain traits of an object, person or aspect. This differs from Creation due to the fact that it solely relies on concepts, ideas and emotions being present - either from the caster or the people around them - alongside the caster’s magic as those are the things that will be exploited, while Creation only needs to rely on the caster.

KINETICS

Ability to consume the magical output of another caster / another object and transform it energy into one’s own magic. This is set apart from Heist and Distribution due to the fact that it does not forcibly take magic from a target but rather catches magic from a target, and the energy is not redistributable as it is subsumed into the caster’s magic. destruction classes can destroy consumed magic as they take it, while other classes can take the magic and blast it back towards the opponent.

CREATION

The ability to create objects or entities out of one’s own magic or an object that is governed by one’s aspect. This is categorized as a separate root spell from Protection due to Protection’s nature to take already-existing objects or circumstances and use it to manifest a caster’s spell, while Creation’s mode is solely the caster’s magic given physical form.

MANIPULATION / TRANSFIGURATION

The ability to shape, manipulate and customize a certain aspect and all that is governed by it to one’s wishes. Depending on the class, this is not locked to only physical things or concepts, but applies to the aspect as a whole entirely.

INHERITOR

The ability to become certain aspects or certain things that are governed by certain aspects. This is an Heir specialty.

GENERATION

The ambient, innate ability to be made out of or to generate certain aspects. This is a Maid and Heir specialty.

DESTRUCTION

The ability to destroy the very make-up of magic, or the ability to destroy a certain target. While most classes’ offensive spells are destruction-aligned, in terms of raw firepower, this is a Destruction class specialty.

PROTECTION

The ability to give one’s magic physical form to protect oneself or a certain target. The magic may or may not have specific modes of manifestation in order to achieve this form of protection. This is a Knight class specialty.

SCRY

The ability to forcibly see into the timestream of the universe, or see into other universes within the same infinity set. Scrying is often an ambient ability, but can be honed with practice and time. This is a Seer class specialty.

HEIST

The ability to forcibly take magic from an enemy, or a portion of an aspect from the universe, and add it to one’s arsenal, either to restore one’s magic or to use the opponent’s own magic against them, proficiency in spells included. This is a Thief class specialty.

DISTRIBUTION

The ability to forcibly take magic from an enemy, or a portion of an aspect from the universe and redistribute it to certain targets. This is a Rogue class specialty.

RESTORATION

The ability to restore lacking aspects or heal injuries. This ability is sadly in accessible to Destruction classes.

CONNECTION

The ability to connect with people or objects, or create connections between people or objects. Hope players are known to display this ability in ambience, often attracting people to them.

TERRITORY

The ability to mark a certain area as a surefire target of one’s magic. Territory magic locks onto certain coordinates as fixed points and release magic onto the area at the caster’s whim; this is a root spell that never misses. Space players achieve easier proficiency of this root spell due to the nature of their aspect.

INFESTATION

The ability to invade another target with your magic. This is differentiated from Connection and Destruction due to Connection simply being a bridge while Infestation burrows into a target’s being, and differentiated from Destruction due to Infestation not being destructive on its own. 

Hey. You've mentioned in occations Hope's connection with sexuality, and I am, sort of very puzzled about it. Can you explain why?

Sex Appeal, Charm, Attraction, idolization, they all seem to be part of Hope. For Jake, it was a constant sexualization by those around him, while Eridan and Cronus' pursuit or concupiscent relationships tend to paint them in a bad light. There's more to it and it's not the only Aspect that could be considered to have ties, but there's like, Some Stuff.

Hiveswap seems to double down on this. Diemen is constantly referencing phallic imagery, Kuprum and Lanque are both... Pretty intense and blatant about it. Elwurd uses her charms on Joey and brings the reader for a fake date to make her ex jealous and ends up hooking with another Troll in one of her routes. Chahut, Daraya and Cirava don't seem to have that much, but Cirava does have the idolization and attracting large groups of people that led to people turning on them due to their fame, and Daraya goes against the Status Quo, which in her particular case is not wanting to be sent to a cloister- Her archetype is that of a rebellious teen, punky, rebelling against society, and the very kinda religious 'christian school' vibe the Jades have, so that kinda tracks.

Chahut doesn't seem have much in regards to that explicitly though she flirts HARD with Daraya. However, her very name is also a reference- The Maenad were women followers of Dionysus, defined by frenzied and orgiastic rites.

So yeah there seems to be... Some Connection.

Classpect powers and skill

So I was thinking about god-tier abilities in Homestuck, and it struck me that rather a lot of the so-called “classpect powers” showcased in hs are either A: a more “supernatural” expression of something the person in question had already been doing prior, or, rarely, B: a direct response to a previously established problem. And in aggregate, these feel like they point toward a fairly particular conception of classpect abilities, that of skills that are learned (or levelups gained in a special ability, if we want to get video gamey with it).

Let’s use John as an example. As the predominant early viewpoint character, his growth is fairly well detailed. As he enters his Land and starts properly growing, he goes from using the Breeze to send objects across his Land using the Parcel Pyxis network, to subconsciously summoning the Breeze to save himself from a fire, to subconsciously having the Breeze emanate in massive quantities from his very body to put out the planet-spanning Green Tragedy, to finally as a god-tier (and with some valuable advice from Vriska) taking full control of the Breeze and using it as a tool and weapon. All of these fall into the A category, but John also has two solid B category abilities, the ability to resist detection via scent, and the ability to turn into wind to protect himself against attacks. And both those abilities are perfect for protection against Bec Noir, who tracked John down via his scent and stabbed him in the chest shortly before John god-tiered, at which point he immediately gained the first of these abilities (he showcased the second when fighting Noir in the Furthest Ring later).

Keep reading

Masculine (Yang) and Feminine (Yin) and the Distinction

The distinction between Yin and Yang interpretations of aspects is proactiveness versus reactiveness.  For example, emotions are generally a heart associated thing. However, identity and the construction of a cohesive self requires conscious thought and awareness beforehand. Feelings, in contrast, are inherently reactive. They require an external stimulus. Thus feelings are part of the yin interpretation of heart and identity is the yang interpretation.  Thus heart players of derse are less concerned with experiencing their feelings and more concerned with compartmentalizing and keeping them under control to the aid of whatever mask/persona they strive to project.

“For the very essence of a troll becomes sallow when devoid of love and of truth, which are often the same spiritual element,” Exodus said, gesturing emphatically with one hand as his other trembled against the podium upon which he leaned, projecting his rich voice to the very back of the slim and somewhat stuffy room he had managed to transform into some approximation of a church. The air was made stuffier by the excited breaths of his followers, gathered en masse on benches and below his feet, and he felt sweat or condensation cling to his brow and seep under the bridge of his glasses. “It may not seem readily apparent, but love is the pursuit of truth. Truth is the expression of love. While not inextricably linked, it is improper- or, rather, inadvisable to deny that in the absence these two gleaming facets, life loses its meaning and its justification. One must recognize the relation between truth and love, and their pertinence to life itself.” 

Exodus’s sermons were improvised nearly every time he gave them. While he was finding it harder and harder to sift through the dichotomy between what he truly believed and what beliefs he had fabricated for the sake of others, he did find it somewhat amusing that when he stood in front of the slick wooden podium, it truly felt as though a spirit compelled him to speak. The words were delivered to him, and with surprising competency - they had to come from some outside source, he thought, because rarely what he said he agreed with. That, or he agreed, but he could never realistically apply his tenants to himself. He was utterly contradictory, but of course this needed to be kept under wraps to stave off his doomsday, when it all would come crashing down. 

What strange things he was saying today. Utter drivel. He was making himself sick, describing some hypothetical state that was his direct opposite. Truth and love - he wanted to scoff, to spit at himself, as he lacked both in equal measure: untruthful, loveless, a contradiction of all he claimed to stand for. No more than a living lie. 

“It… ah.” He faltered. That wasn’t good, he wasn’t supposed to falter. He lowered his hand and clung to the structure before him, looking down. Long, heavy seconds passed. 

“Why are you crying, my Lord?” Someone said. Similar inquisitive, adoring murmurs rose from the crowd he had assembled. It sounded like birdsong to him: “Why? Why? Why?” 

Quickly now. Make something up; truth isn’t an option, it never has been.

“Fear not,” he said, trying to keep the thickness in his voice at bay. “I have simply thought of a troll I intimately know, an unfortunate soul, who I have known to lack the virtues I just described. I have become emotional, thinking of his life and the consequences of his deficiencies, and I… I weep for him.” He performatively wiped away a tear, though his anguish was real. 

He did something he knew the crowd would appreciate, and stepped out from behind the podium. Wide eyes searched his entire body. 

“Will you join me in prayer?” He asked them. 

“Yes, Lord,” was the resounding response. He continued to walk forwards, down the few stairs of the stage, into the thrum of his following. They crept closer to him with a shy reverence. 

“Together we must tell him, and all trolls like him, that we forgive him. Through this we will deliver him peace. Please join me.” He took a deep breath, and the collective did the same. 

“I forgive you.” He heard their parroted response echo, amplified by the high ceiling, and he felt the sound hum in his chest. He willed himself to glow, tears spilling onto his uniform, and the open faces that surrounded him were alight with a rose wash, petal-tender and hushed. The Heart symbol appeared, shimmering close to the rapid thumping of his own blood-pump adrenaline, and tentative hands ran over him, pressing palms to the pink curved sign, shaping themselves to his warm body. His shaking legs gave out, and, taking this as yet another sign, his collective supported his weight, lifting him above their heads, safe in their arms. 

“Say it with me,” Exodus whispered to their eager ears. 

“I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you,” they said. It was all he had ever wished to hear. 

HEIR OF MIND

PRIMARY: PHYSICAL SECONDARY: CONCEPTUAL

Primaries and Secondaries are how a player’s powers manifest. Physical primaries mean they manifest physically and manifest conceptually as a secondary.

ABILITIES

JOSEPH JOESTAR

Heirs of Mind have an uncanny ability to follow someone's thought process easily. This can make them amazing friends or eerie people who always seem to be able to see through others.

PROFILER

In line with being able to follow someone's train of thought, Heirs of Mind are able to metaphorically step in a person's mind should they put in the effort. A more literal version of this ability can be used as a spell.

AMBIENT ABILITIES

As an Heir, this class has ambient, uncontrollable abilities as every other Heir does. This is because Heir classes are served and protected by their aspect, meaning Heirs of Mind are naturally protected by Mind.

ANGEL RADIO

Heirs of Mind may accidentally pick up stray thoughts, especially those pertaining to wishing them harm so they may avoid it.

THINK OF ME FONDLY

When in danger, enemies may suddenly find themselves thinking positively of an Heir of Mind.

CUE CARD

In battle, an Heir of Mind may pick up on opponents strategies eerily fast; a physical version of JOSEPH JOESTAR.

STARTER SPELLS

Any spell this class can use at Level One, including but not limited to:

I THINK THEREFORE I AM - the ability to actually assume the mind of someone else, EXTREMELY disorienting.

SIMON SAYS - Jedi mind trick. Yeah.

HORROR GAME TAPES - the ability to infuse memories into items, allowing Heirs of Mind to deliver vital information to party members.

TELEPATHY - the ability to communicate with someone through thoughts - if the creature thinks, telepathy works.

THRALL - A cross between SIMON SAYS and TELEPATHY, controlling someone's actions by beaming thoughts into their heads.

On Life, Light and HIC

@pagedelight said:

This thought arose from my memory about a post about Meenah and her unwillingness to allow things to develop or grow. I couldn’t find the original post for this, so I may be a bit off base.

Could the Condesce’s name and motifs (and to an extent the motifs of Life players since they’re super closely related) relate heavily to information. In particular, the Condesce’s name is a joke on Meenah’s tendency to reduce information to it’s essentials? Something along the lines of condensing information? 

The weapon of choice, a trident, would also evoke the imagery of a three hole puncher which she ironically uses to kill Rose. This relation between life and information is also semi-shown with the binder that HIC gives to Roxy to construct the matriorb.

Life, the aspect most strongly associated with power, would derive it’s power from the condensing of information. Which is exactly what trickster mode (life-coded grim darkness) is in hindsight. It is looking at characters who are complex and saying “Nope, screw that, I only care about what I want” and extracting that complexity from them. 

If trickster mode is oversimplification/reduction of information and grim-darkness is it’s only known counterpart, that would seemingly imply that grim-darkness would be an abundance of information/complexity rather than it’s presumed lack. It’s not instant nihilism. 

Meaning, Rose’s grimdark transformation wasn’t triggered by receiving meaningless answers alone, but receiving extremely dense, complex (indecipherable) information all at once (multiple answers show up in the cue-ball in [S] Descend). Jade’s grimdark transformation at the sight of Jake’s page outfit would be similar. 

1. This is really strange timing: not two days ago, I was browsing the SomethingAwful MSPA thread and found a post from like 2012 musing that Feferi’s Land of Dew and Glass might be a joke on condensation, linking her the Her Imperious Condescension. I was kind of skeptical tbh, but the way you’re putting it here is making me reconsider cause like..

Recently, it came about that Dirk’s supply of orange soda is characterized as the ‘distilled’ orange essence of the pumpkins Roxy has… 'distill’ being the word of choice because Dirk associates Ben Stiller with the Mobster Kingpin, who runs a moonshine distillery. This set up is probably a result of Dirk 'being’ glasses, the matter of only having orange color is part of being a detached gaze, color is what the eye drinks. (Tangential: Dirk’s picture of Ben Stiller is next to Rainbow Dash)

This aligned with the independent supposition that 'rainbow drinker’ doubles as a euphemism for the eye, with Kanaya’s penchant for boiling complex subjects down to their basics being an act of 'distilling’ analogous to the object > essence work performed by the gaze.

“Her Imperious Condescension” is itself a reference to the domineering gaze of authority, which together with your 'condensation’ reading puts it perfectly in line with the Dirk and Kanaya stuff. What’s more, the first time we see the acronym HIC is an advertisement on John’s TV for the literal fruit juice! The ghostly essence flavor no less, Ectocooler Blast!

So agreed re: condensing information

(Tangent: All this talk of eyes and distilling is making me associate the death of Mobster Kingpin with the skewered olive in Mom’s martini… or Rose stabbing eyes out, for that matter)

2. The thought of HIC using her 2x3dent for paperwork is adorable. Endorsed, even though I’m not sure about the binder’s applicability to everything here.

3. I think the topic of essences goes beyond the Life aspect (as in various aspects intersect with the matter), and I don’t know what to think of the dichotomy you pose between Trickster Mode and Grimdarkness, but I don’t think I can dispute the bit about information density from the cueball, given how many images flash on screen in that last second before Rose’s eyes darken…

Something to keep in mind!