Upon first glance, this passage seems to describe the Beta Kids’ kernelsprites...
...The pre-entry prototypings that evolve the battlefield and affect enemy characteristics.
Now, the passage seems to be alluding to the components that created Bec Noir, who we all know has wreaked havoc across the kids’ and trolls’ sessions and universes.
But what if the passage is referring to something else?
“Maimed clown”...
“Undead cat”...
“Impaled crow”...
(Davepeta is kind of both the Undead Cat and Impaled Crow combined.)
“Omnipotent dog”...
(Notice how even though Bec Noir and PM have all four prototyping elements, they’re only ever referred to as dogs at this point.)
“These four shall be held in reverence for the eternity they serve to cut short.”
What if this passage has yet to come, and is related to the end of Paradox Space?
Gamzee is obvious in his role, and Bec Noir would be no surprise, either. But others, such as Jasprose, Davepeta, and the Mayor (recall his dream) would be really interesting and unexpected.
Remember how Dave entertained the idea of becoming a paleontologist?
DAVE: dead things are actually pretty rad DAVE: i feel like if i was legitmately into all this then more should have come of the interest [...] DAVE: maybe i could have really developed this interest DAVE: maybe i could have been something cool as a result [...] DAVE: i could have been a paleontologist DAVE: instead of what i became [...] DAVE: that would have been the dopeness!
Looks like he’s gone into a similar field---archaeology!
He’s searching for and excavating cultural artifacts (of JPEG artifact Liberties). That’s a new level of irony, too: recovering remnants of an ancient civilization created by his older (i.e. future) self from a parallel universe. It’s both figurative and literal layers upon layers of irony, which is so Dave. He’s combining his passions, and it’s beautiful. :’)
Timeline includes events that actually happen, plus what I suspect will happen.
I am almost certain this is wrong, but it's a starting point.
Some notes:
Calliope must be from a non-LOWASplode timeline, where John is present on the golden ship. (MINISTRIFE is optional, since that happened in a dream bubble.) Her knowledge of events comes from this timeline, which she most likely learned through Skaia's vision clouds. Some events she could have learned from Rose's book, but it doesn't seem like John passing out on LOWAS would be something found in the book.
Caliborn is from a non-LOWASplode timeline, as well, because he rips that page out of Calliope's book.
Unless Caliborn's monitors can show events from any timeline, Caliborn must be witnessing events from a timeline where Erisolsprite is Jake's sprite, Arquiusprite is Dirk’s sprite, John is dead, and the kids get trapped in the house Juju and trap the Lord English fusion in Lil Cal. (Caliborn does seem to be aware of John’s ring going missing, though. Hmm. Yeah, it’s pretty likely he can view all timelines, what with being a Lord of Time and all.)
The Caliborn who becomes trapped in Lil Cal apparently has no idea who Arquiusprite is. The Alpha Kids, too, although that’s ambiguous enough that it’s open to interpretation. I’m not sure what to make of this. It’s possible the Caliborn who witnessed this event is making an assumption, but... I dunno.
I'm having difficulty placing both the Green Sun's destruction and the Third Scratch on the timeline.
Right now it seems like Vriska stealing the Green Sun's light will happen in a timeline where everyone's alive and well. I think the purpose of its destruction will be:
To destroy Paradox Space à la Big Crunch,
To hinder the Green Sun powers of Jack Noir (and presumably Lord English),
To create a breach for the heroes to escape both Paradox Space and also the Third Scratch (similar to the kids escaping through the hole in the Fourth Wall during their Scratch).
The kids need to be around if #3 is going to happen.
I have a feeling the Third Scratch is meant to happen in a timeline different from the one where Caliborn et al. are trapped in Lil Cal. Mostly because Dave and Caliborn both need to be around. (Remember the "whilst the pimp's in the crib" prophecy.) I suppose time travel is possible after Jujutrapped (retcons, probably not, since John's trapped), but that would mean these events happen in a doomed timeline, and that doesn't really make sense.
I get the impression the Third Scratch is meant to occur in Caliborn-who-made-Homosuck's timeline (or a branch), but I can't make sense of that either.
The answer to all of this is probably another retcon and timeline branch somewhere. But, just... no. My head already hurts from all this. I’ll sort it out another time.
Updated! Added a bunch more keywords. Go check it out!
If anyone has more ideas, feel free to let me know. :)
The 12 Aspects all mean significantly more than their literal meanings. Supposedly, collectively, they encompass all of reality.
Here are some keywords that can be used as substitutions for the actual Aspect names. Not only are they useful for understanding the Aspects themselves, but they’re also useful for classpecting purposes, for understanding the meaning of a Hero Title.
When paired with my Classes Chart, these Aspect keywords provide broad, basic, simplified information on what a particular role might do.
Read More
what say you that Kanaya's and Karkat's visit to Echidna will still end up be the same choice being asked of them? Jade's quest require resolution post-scratch, John's quest ended up factoring things that APPEAR to be outside sburb's programming (retcon powers), so perhaps Echidna of the troll session was asking a task of Kanaya that's only resolved across 3 sessions(!) so it appeared impossible to her?
Could be. Echidna may very well give both Kanaya and Karkat a second chance to rectify their previous actions. Kanaya, the same “impossible” task as before, which she may accept this time. Karkat, the opportunity to set right his previous mistake of rushing the frog breeding which resulted in the kids’ cancerous universe. (Which wasn’t entirely his fault, but he certainly blames himself for it.)
Maybe Kanaya and Karkat will sendificate the Genesis Frog to Jade in the past. (That still needs to be resolved.) Maybe they’ll breed a second Genesis Frog, so there will be one that becomes the Cherubs’ universe and another that becomes a universe for a new instance of Paradox Space.
If there ends up being two Genesis Frogs, maybe one of these frogs is the “perfect” one from the Trolls’ session that they never found and bred. Echidna could certainly help them with that, and it could easily relate to an “impossible” task that would also be resolved across multiple sessions.
Yes, Terezi regrets killing her, but more significantly, she realizes she was cornered into that choice and wonders, had she been thinking clearly and known all the facts, had any thoughts or circumstances changed, would there have been more options? Would killing Vriska be the only way to stop her?
GC: 1 K33P WOND3R1NG 1F TH3R3 W4S 4NOTH3R W4Y GC: SOM3TH1NG OTH3R TH4N L3TT1NG H3R GO, OR K1LL1NG H3R
GC: WH3N 1 CONFRONT3D H3R, 4ND 1T W4S T1M3 TO M4K3 UP MY M1ND GC: 1 THOUGHT 1 H4D 1T 4LL F1GUR3D OUT, L1K3 TH1S W4S WH4T 1 H4D TO DO. NOT JUST TO S4V3 3V3RYBODY, BUT 4S SOM3 STUP1D R1T3 OF P4SS4G3 OR SOM3TH1NG? GC: TH3N 1T C4M3 T1M3 TO DO 1T, 4ND 1T W4S 4LL H4PP3N1NG SO F4ST... GC: 4ND 1 FORC3D MY OWN H4ND. 1 COULD 31TH3R L3T 3V3RYON3 D13 1N ON3 R34L1TY, OR K1LL 4 FR13ND 1N 4NOTH3R GC: 4ND 1 T3LL MYS3LF THOS3 W3R3 TH3 ONLY TWO VORT1C3S 1 S4W... GC: BUT TH3N, 1 W4S TH3 ON3 WHO M4D3 TH3 S3R13S OF D3C1S1ONS WH1CH L3D UP TO TH4T CHO1C3, 4ND COMPL3T3LY P41NT3D TH3 OPT1ONS 1NTO TH4T CORN3R
TEREZI: 4ND NOW 1T F33LS L1K3 TH3 ONLY "H3RO1C" TH1NG 1 3V3R D1D W1TH THOS3 POW3RS TEREZI: W4S US3 TH3M TO JUST1FY K1LL1NG MY FR13ND [...] TEREZI: 4ND WH4TS WORS3 1S TEREZI: TO TH1S D4Y, 1M ST1LL NOT 3V3N TOT4LLY SUR3 1F 1T W4S N3C3SS4RY [...] KARKAT: WELL, YEAH. OF COURSE IT WAS NECESSARY. KARKAT: EVEN IF IT WASN'T THE MORALLY RIGHT CHOICE OR WHATEVER, IT WAS OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING THAT HAD TO HAPPEN. [...] KARKAT: IT'S SIMPLE. IF YOU HADN'T KILLED HER, YOU WOULD HAVE WITHERED AWAY IN A DOOMED TIMELINE.
Maybe, in the end, these retcons reinforce to Terezi that indeed, killing Vriska is the only viable option, and she makes that decision with a clear mind and of her own accord—not one limited by Rage. By knowing Vriska is responsible for Tavros' death and not all the others, as well as no longer viewing their confrontation as a JUST1C3 role-playing game of sorts, Terezi will no longer have lingering doubts and regrets, and instead embrace her role as a Seer of Mind.
If the retcons are geared toward this intent, they wouldn't so much undo events as undo Terezi's outlook and attitude—her depression, self-hatred, and rejection of her role. Really, only events post-Cascade and events revolving around Terezi would change. And there weren't even that many of those during the meteor trip.
But here's the main reason nothing significant will change pre-Cascade: Doc Scratch's narration.
The Seer of Mind had challenged the Thief of Light to a simple game of chance. If the result was the undamaged side, the Thief would agree to stay. If not, she would "go." [...] The actual result was trivial; it was a constant across all timelines. [...] The Thief used her abilities to steal the fortune of her opponent, and forced the flip to yield what she regarded as the most favorable outcome. The Seer anticipated this move, correctly.
I've never much enjoyed navigating the vortices of alternative possibility. The path which alone has my absolute mastery is the alpha timeline, a continuum I define as that which boasts exclusive rights both to my birth and to my death, two circumstantially simultaneous events. Any divergence from this path to my knowing will taper into blackness like rotting roots.
(Bold emphasis mine.)
Why is this information significant? The Alpha Timeline seems to have already taken John's retcons into consideration. So far, all events as known from Caliborn's perspective, like John dying in an explosion and his "ghost" returning periodically to haunt him, seem to be accurate post-retcon information. (Of course, this is also assuming the Jade and Jane hanging out with Calliope are from the same and Alpha timeline.)
If retcons don't change or contradict Caliborn's knowledge, I would think this concept would extend to Doc Scratch, as well, considering his omniscience and influence. Undoing Vriska's death would dramatically change his story.
Not to mention, it would change this:
But it is the desecration of a priceless timepiece where I must draw the line. I'm afraid I must now insist that you take your beating quite personally.
Events that directly affect and influence Doc Scratch, Spades Slick, and the destruction of the universe leading to the creation of the Green Sun.
The one way events could change is if Doc Scratch is playing a rare prank. If that is the case, Terezi doesn't need to kill Vriska, but someone else does in order for the god tier clock-related events to occur. An escaped Gamzee would be the likely culprit.
Regardless, Vriska still has to die Justly, or too many crucial events change.
Do you do sessions analysis? If so, could you tell me how a session with a Page of Hope, Knight of Heart, Rogue of Space and Mage of Time woule go?
I don’t really do that; sorry. There are way too many variables and not enough information for me to be able to analyze sessions, especially if I’m going by player titles alone.
All I can really tell is that this session is theoretically viable, since it has a Space and Time player.
Tavros has cat allergies and has only been prototyped once. What if GCat shows up, triggers Tavros’ allergies, and...
ACHOO!
...He crashes into and fuses with GCat! It’d make a nice parallel with Jade and Bec sprite-fusing, plus be all kinds of hilarious and ironic.
Plus, Tavcat? Catros? could be super effective against Bec Noir and PM because cat distraction + animal communing powers + First Guardian powers. Although he’d probably be a perpetual sneezing mess.
Even if this doesn’t happen, I have a feeling Tavros’ cat allergies will result in him inadvertently double prototyping with something or someone. And, also, Tavros controlling GCat would make a great distraction for the Becs. (As would Jaspers.)
With all the happiness and fun times happening on the meteor trip, I’d like to point out one thing:
VRISKA: I think I’ve just decided that 8eing surrounded 8y horses might 8e the ultim8 8ad omen. Nothing good can ever follow or precede those circumstances.
UU: . . . yoU have already spent a long time gathering intelligence Unbeknownst to the aUthorities.
!CALLIOPE: my soul would have to wait here. !CALLIOPE: for what felt like a very, very long time. CALLIOPE: wait for what? !CALLIOPE: you. !CALLIOPE: echidna told me that your visit would be my signal.
UU: how mUch more do yoU expect to accUmUlate even if yoU coUld stay Undetected? UU: and how mUch strategic advantage is left to gain by delaying yoUr discovery for mUch longer?
UU: as i told yoU earlier, my brother is hUnting for me. so i have created a little sanctUary in space to stay hidden from him. UU: . . . he is highly sensitive to my presence, so it is very easy for me to get his attention if i'm not carefUl.
CALLIOPE: this is it then, is it? CALLIOPE: am i to spend the rest of eternity hiding inside this vortex? CALLIOPE: how can i go in search of myself if i am blown to smithereens the moment i set foot oUtside? CALLIOPE: maybe the trUth is... CALLIOPE: sUch a fate woUld be preferable to this. CALLIOPE: i am so dreadfUlly lonely. u_u
UU: i say the time to make a stand is now!
UU: make yoUr presence known. let them see that the [mUse] is awake, and make it abUndantly clear what that means.
[T]hose in the territory of a good cheru8 will likely come to view it as a protector, waiting quietly for millenia in deep space, ready to attack any encroaching threat.
UU: perhaps it is their tUrn to be nervoUs? to cower in the shadows and live in Uncertainty?
UU: i mUst remain hidden from everyone for as long as i can. TG: why? TG: why not come out and be all like TG: here i am yo its me! secret weapon ghost callie ;)
UU: that is my advice. do with it as yoU will.
!CALLIOPE: live.
your method of determining classpects is actually really interesting and useful. i had thought i was a mage of mind for a long time, but then i did this (and of course did some more research on my possible titles) and discovered i fit more as an heir of time! i still have the mage in there since my opposite is mage of space. it works really well!
Classpect Profile? Thanks! I’m glad it helped you! :]