Rogue of Light

If you've been on the internet for any amount of time, you've come across a self-identification test. Something like the Myer's Briggs personality test, or even something as basic as a "What Harry Potter House Are You?" quiz.

It doesn't take a genius to realize there are patterns in human behavior. Some people fall into similar behaviors, and have similar insticts. Almost like they're working off the same script.

There has been an ongoing attempt to explain, and understand this phenomenon, for as long as there have been stories. Although, the effort seems to be redoubled in the modern era. It's easy to find a "what ____ are you" for most popular works. Harry Potter has the houses, Divergent has it's zones, Avatar has it's nations, et cetera.

I'm here to tell you, these systems are mostly terrible. It's pretty easy to reduce everyone to 4 groups, and might even be possible to do, but what meaningful knowledge can be gained from this? How can it help us understand each other, and ourselves? It can't. But, what if there was one that could? A system that was specific, and had many permutations, allowing for the expression of many unique individuals? A system that accounted for, and took into consideration the many contradictions and fallacies that come with being a person? A system that helped you understand others better, and could even help you understand yourself?

Well, I'm here to tell you, you've found it. And it comes from the most unlikely place - Homestuck. The weirdly popular webcomic most well known for it's rabid fans and ruining anime conventions.

This is, perhaps, the biggest lie about Homestuck. Judging by the community, you would expect nothing more than a mediocre series, primarily existing to give fans characters to ship, and to make fan art and fan fiction for. But Homestuck is so much more than that. There is depth, and good, effective character writing here. Writing that went unappreciated by it's fans, too young to properly engage with the material.

In the lore of Homestuck, each character has a classpect, a mythical title that informs their personality and special powers. Each classpect has 3 parts - lunar sway, class, and aspect. Lunar sway is if you are a derse or prospit dreamer, which plays more uniquely into Homestuck's lore. It will be elaborated on later, but for broad strokes, think of it as a split between introvert/extravert.

Classes are the most important part to get right, and also reveal the most about the person. A class is a mythological title, such as Heir, Lord, Prince, or Seer. These are the archetypes, the core essence of an individual's personality.

Aspects are less important, but still a useful piece of the puzzle. An aspect is a platonic ideal, a certain concept that individuals are "bound" to. Each aspect has association with a number of terms, all related to and tying into each other.

Put all of these together, and you get your classpect title. For example, I am a derse rogue of light. I am a derse dreamer, a rogue, and lightbound.

Prospit Heirs

Similar to pages, prospit heirs are probably the first thing you thought of when reading. They can take a lot of forms. Surprisngly down to earth jocks. Adorkable nerds who can't resist esposuing on whatever they're currently into (Scott the Woz, anybody?). Silly, loveable goofballs who everybody loves for some unexplainable reason. It's easy to see a bit of John in each of these, and as far as "true north" goes, he is a fine example.

Derse Heirs

Pretty hard to define. Homestuck gives us Equius as an example, but there's not a lot to glean from him. He's a weird kid, living in a weird, backwards alien society, going through an intense puberty. Derse heirs have rougher edges. Passionate ramblings are darker, and are more concerned with things they dislike, than things they like. There's more of a willingness to resort to violence if the situation calls for it. Equius has that down at least.

Closing Thoughts

In the lore of Homestuck, Heirs start out as the most powerful players in their sessions, but their max strength caps out pretty quick. This is pretty analogous to how heirs work in real life. They start out being comfortable with themselves, and knowing how to make friends. They don't have the same long journey of self-actualization that other classes have, which could be seen as a good or bad thing. They know themselves, but there's rarely motivation to know themselves.

If you are an heir, I don't have much to say to you. Chances are, you're pretty comfortable with who you are, and what your life is about. You're probably not causing problems for the people around you, and if you are, they're small and easy to fix. Keep at it, just remember a few things. Don't be afraid to disagree on something, or call out asshole behavior. Most people don't think like you, and have your pure intentions. It's better to rip out a tumor than let it fester.

Have fun. For god's sake, you're an heir. An inheritance is no good if you hoard it. Share some of that natural charisma and social skills with the people who lack it. Make them feel seen. Make sure good ideas are heard, and the people behind them recognized. You have a wonderful gift, use it well.