Classpect
| Synonyms: | |
| See also: | Hemospectrum, Sburb, Sgrub |
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A classpect (a portmanteau of "class" and "aspect"), in the universe of Homestuck, is a combination of various traits for a player in Sburb (and its various other iterations) that determine what powers both innate and learned that player will have and how they operate.
A classpect has two parts, as its name suggests, the player's Class and Aspect. Examples of classpect titles include Heir of Breath and Knight of Blood. With twelve classes (not including muse and lord) and twelve aspects, there are a total of 144 classpect titles.
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Terms
Classes
Each player has a class, which is dependent on a number of factors that even now are only vaguely understood. Classes occur in pairs, each one either specified as active or passive, and some (but not all) classes are gendered as male or female oriented, while others are considered neutral. The Muse and Lord classes are special, only given to players in a 2 player session. As such, the only examples are Calliope and Caliborn, respectively. Because of this, they are not often assigned to original characters or characters in other works.
- Rogue
- Thief
- Heir
- Maid
- Page
- Knight
- Seer
- Mage
- Sylph
- Witch
- Bard
- Prince
- Muse
- Lord
Aspects
Each player also has an aspect, one of twelve, lain out in a wheel:
- Time
- Light
- Life
- Breath
- Hope
- Mind
- Space
- Void
- Doom
- Blood
- Rage
- Heart
Theory
Over the course of Homestuck, a number of theories about how exactly a person's Class and Aspect were determined and what the differences between the classes are were made. Some of these were later given more evidence by canon. For example, the idea of classes being on a scale from passive, or reactive, to active, or proactive, was first a fan theory, then later almost explicitly confirmed by canon[1]. A controversial theory was "inversion theory", initially proposed by bladekindeyewear[2], purporting that every classpect has an inversion and that characters sometimes act as their inverted classpect, sometimes to a dramatic degree. Examples of this are Aradiabot's rampage being more like a Bard of Space than her actual role, Maid of Time, and Rose's Grimdark period being more like a Witch of Void than a Seer of Light.
Due to the little early canon information that elaborated on classpect, a lot of early understanding of classpect was founded upon fan theory. This lead to situations where widely accepted fan theory was contradicted by official material coming years afterward. Fan responses towards such situations ranged from integrating the new material into the one's personal understanding of classpect, or rejecting the official material. An example is the Extended Zodiac[3], which included official descriptions for the aspects. While it had been openly embraced by some fans, other fans rejected it for reasons including seeing it as an excuse to make more merchandise, or believing it contradicted previous material about the aspects[4].
Classpecting
The process of creating a classpect is known appropriately as classpecting. In-universe, players are generally assigned one by the game, destined to have a class and aspect that suits them, but not so comfortably as to not pose challenges to their abilities, thus being able to bring out their full potential. In the fandom, selecting a classpect can be simple or involved, depending on how you go about it. Some people prefer to select their own classpects, while others prefer to take a quiz or rely on luck to determine their outcome.
With the release of Hiveswap and Friendsim, an offical quiz allowing someone to find their place in the Extended Zodiac[3] was created. It allows a person to easily find their Aspect, and this, along with their lunar sway (being a Derse or Prospit dreamer) and their place on the Hemospectrum, determines their sign on the Extended Zodiac.
As for Classes, there are many online tests created by fans to determine classes that have been used. As Classes are less well understood than Aspects, there have been some contention as to the nuts and bolts of how they work, and thus, people's perceptions and feelings about the classes tend to change and shift over time.
While having a Classpect isn't required or demanded, it is a common practice for both Homestuck fans and their OCs, being just one of the many ways that Homestucks group and label themselves.
Fan Classes and Aspects
Fans sometimes create fan classes and fan aspects in addition to the fourteen canon classes and aspects. Though these are often not absorbed into more widely accepted understandings of classpect, they are another way that fans interact with the classpect system.
Example Fanworks
- Find your Sburb title! by rvalle
- Classpect Test by jungianclasspecting, based on several other personality tests
- Zules Title Test by Zules and Groggert331
- Homestuck Mythological Class Quiz created by Wakraya
- Homestuck Classpect Analysis Masterpost by Wakraya
- Homestuck Examination - Classpect Analysis Masterpost by homestuckexamination
- Fan classes and aspects masterpost, Archived version by classesandaspects